Reconstructing the in vivo dynamics of hematopoietic stem cells from telomere length distributions.

ABSTRACT: We investigate the in vivo patterns of stem cell divisions in the human hematopoietic system throughout life. In particular, we analyze the shape of telomere length distributions underlying stem cell behavior within individuals. Our mathematical model shows that these distributions contain a fingerprint of the progressive telomere loss and the fraction of symmetric cell proliferations. Our predictions are tested against measured telomere length distributions in humans across all ages, collected from lymphocyte and granulocyte sorted telomere length data of 356 healthy individuals, including 47 cord blood and 28 bone marrow samples. We find an increasing stem cell pool during childhood and adolescence and an approximately maintained stem cell population in adults. Furthermore, our method is

SUBMITTER: Werner B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4744200 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature