Project description:Advances in pluripotent stem cell and reprogramming technologies have given hope of generating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in culture. To succeed, greater understanding of the self-renewing HSC during human development is required. We discovered that glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored surface protein GPI-80 (Vanin 2) defines a distinct subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) with self-renewal ability. CD34+CD90+CD38-GPI-80+ HSPC were the sole population that maintained proliferative potential and undifferentiated state in bone marrow stroma co-culture, and engrafted in immunodeficient mice. GPI-80 expression also enabled tracking of HSC migration between human fetal hematopoietic niches. The most highly enriched surface protein in GPI-80+ HSPC as compared to their progeny was Integrin alpha-M (ITGAM), which in leukocytes cooperates with GPI-80 to support migration. Knockdown of either GPI-80 or ITGAM was sufficient to perturb undifferentiated HSPC in stroma co-culture. These findings indicate that human fetal HSC utilize common mechanisms with leukocytes for cell-cell interactions governing HSC self-renewal. We used microarrays to identify genes enriched in the GPI-80+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor population in fetal liver. RNA was extracted from enriched fetal liver hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and downstream progenitors, for comparison based on Affymetrix arrays.
Project description:Advances in pluripotent stem cell and reprogramming technologies have given hope of generating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in culture. To succeed, greater understanding of the self-renewing HSC during human development is required. We discovered that glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored surface protein GPI-80 (Vanin 2) defines a distinct subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) with self-renewal ability. CD34+CD90+CD38-GPI-80+ HSPC were the sole population that maintained proliferative potential and undifferentiated state in bone marrow stroma co-culture, and engrafted in immunodeficient mice. GPI-80 expression also enabled tracking of HSC migration between human fetal hematopoietic niches. The most highly enriched surface protein in GPI-80+ HSPC as compared to their progeny was Integrin alpha-M (ITGAM), which in leukocytes cooperates with GPI-80 to support migration. Knockdown of either GPI-80 or ITGAM was sufficient to perturb undifferentiated HSPC in stroma co-culture. These findings indicate that human fetal HSC utilize common mechanisms with leukocytes for cell-cell interactions governing HSC self-renewal. We used microarrays to identify genes enriched in the CD90+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor population in fetal liver. RNA was extracted from enriched fetal liver hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and downstream progenitors, for comparison based on Affymetrix arrays.
Project description:Advances in pluripotent stem cell and reprogramming technologies have given hope of generating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in culture. To succeed, greater understanding of the self-renewing HSC during human development is required. We discovered that glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored surface protein GPI-80 (Vanin 2) defines a distinct subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) with self-renewal ability. CD34+CD90+CD38-GPI-80+ HSPC were the sole population that maintained proliferative potential and undifferentiated state in bone marrow stroma co-culture, and engrafted in immunodeficient mice. GPI-80 expression also enabled tracking of HSC migration between human fetal hematopoietic niches. The most highly enriched surface protein in GPI-80+ HSPC as compared to their progeny was Integrin alpha-M (ITGAM), which in leukocytes cooperates with GPI-80 to support migration. Knockdown of either GPI-80 or ITGAM was sufficient to perturb undifferentiated HSPC in stroma co-culture. These findings indicate that human fetal HSC utilize common mechanisms with leukocytes for cell-cell interactions governing HSC self-renewal. We used microarrays to identify genes enriched in the GPI-80+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor population in fetal liver.
Project description:Advances in pluripotent stem cell and reprogramming technologies have given hope of generating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in culture. To succeed, greater understanding of the self-renewing HSC during human development is required. We discovered that glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored surface protein GPI-80 (Vanin 2) defines a distinct subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) with self-renewal ability. CD34+CD90+CD38-GPI-80+ HSPC were the sole population that maintained proliferative potential and undifferentiated state in bone marrow stroma co-culture, and engrafted in immunodeficient mice. GPI-80 expression also enabled tracking of HSC migration between human fetal hematopoietic niches. The most highly enriched surface protein in GPI-80+ HSPC as compared to their progeny was Integrin alpha-M (ITGAM), which in leukocytes cooperates with GPI-80 to support migration. Knockdown of either GPI-80 or ITGAM was sufficient to perturb undifferentiated HSPC in stroma co-culture. These findings indicate that human fetal HSC utilize common mechanisms with leukocytes for cell-cell interactions governing HSC self-renewal. We used microarrays to identify genes enriched in the CD90+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor population in fetal liver.
Project description:Bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a major source of secreted factors that control hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) function. We previously reported the generation of revitalized MSCs (rMSCs), which support functional HSCs in culture more effectively than control MSCs. In a secretomic screen using rMSCs, we identified semaphorin 3A (SEM3A) as a secreted factor upregulated as part of a pro-inflammatory signature that may underly HSPC expansion by rMSCs. Similarly, SEM3A expression is upregulated by BM-MSCs in vivo in response to hematopoietic stress. Recombinant SEM3A directly promotes HSPC quiescence ex vivo. Analysis of a SEM3A loss of function mutation in vivo revealed hematopoietic progenitor expansion and accelerated recovery after myeloablation, consistent with a role for SEM3A in regulating the HSPC stress response. This work highlights proteomic screening using rMSCs as a method to identify novel secreted niche factors and uncovers a novel role for SEM3A in promoting HSPC quiescence in stress hematopoiesis.
Project description:Objective Recent evidence indicates that the adult hematopoietic system is susceptible to diet-induced lineage skewing. It is not known whether the developing hematopoietic system is subject to metabolic programming via in utero high fat diet (HFD) exposure, an established mechanism of adult disease in several organ systems. We previously reported substantial losses in offspring liver size with prenatal HFD. As the liver is the main hematopoietic organ in the fetus, we asked whether the developmental expansion of the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) pool is compromised by prenatal HFD and/or maternal obesity. Methods We used quantitative assays, progenitor colony formation, flow cytometry, transplantation, and gene expression assays with a series of dietary manipulations to test the effects of gestational high fat diet and maternal obesity on the day 14.5 fetal liver hematopoietic system. Results Maternal obesity, particularly when paired with gestational HFD, restricts physiological expansion of fetal HSPCs while promoting the opposing cell fate of differentiation. Importantly, these effects are only partially ameliorated by gestational dietary adjustments for obese dams. Competitive transplantation reveals compromised repopulation and myeloid-biased differentiation of HFD-programmed HSPCs to be a niche-dependent defect, apparent in HFD-conditioned male recipients. Fetal HSPC deficiencies coincide with perturbations in genes regulating metabolism, immune and inflammatory processes, and stress response, along with downregulation of genes critical for hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and activation of pathways regulating cell migration. Conclusions Our data reveal a previously unrecognized susceptibility to nutritional and metabolic developmental programming in the fetal HSPC compartment, which is a partially reversible and microenvironment-dependent defect perturbing stem and progenitor cell expansion and hematopoietic lineage commitment. Examination of differentially expressed genes between gestational day 15 (+/- 0.5 days) C57BL/6 mouse fetal livers from diet-induced (60% fat diet) obese or control female mice.
Project description:We developed a novel scRNAseq analysis pipeline called SingCellaR. This tool provides a comprehensive set of the functionalities necessary for analysis of large-scale single cell datasets generated by different single-cell technologies. The utility of SingCellaR is illustrated by analysis of a unique dataset capturing hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) across different stages of human ontogeny, from early fetal liver to adult bone marrow, identifying developmental stage- and site-specific differences in the HSPC compartment.
Project description:DNA methylation analysis on purified human long-term and short-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSC, ST-HSC), common myeloid and megakaryocyte-erythrocyte progenitor cells (CMP, MEP) using HELP arrays. FACS-purified hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) subsets were analyzed for changes in DNA methylation using NimbleGen HELP microarrays. Analysis of DNA methylation of bone marrow-derived HSPC subsets of healthy human donors.
Project description:RNA expression analysis on purified human long-term and short-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSC, ST-HSC), common myeloid and megakaryocyte-erythrocyte progenitor cells (CMP, MEP) using microarrays. FACS-purified hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) subsets were analyzed for changes in RNA expression using NimbleGen gene expression microarrays. Analysis of RNA expression of bone marrow-derived HSPC subsets of healthy human donors.