Epigenetic landscapes of embryonic lymphoid progenitors and HSCs

 描述(申请人提供)：再生医学的一个重要目标是从胚胎或诱导的多能干细胞(ESCs或IPSCs)制造造血干细胞(HSCs)。造血干细胞是从胚胎中的一小部分内皮细胞分化而来的，这种细胞被称为血源性内皮细胞。HSCs与血源性内皮细胞的分化涉及一个中间步骤，即血细胞以前HSCs的形式聚集在主要血管中，然后释放到循环中定植于胎肝，在那里前HSCs成熟为完全功能的HSCs。我们计划描述在胚胎前HSCs和胎肝HSCs之间过渡期间发生的基因表达和表观遗传学变化。我们还将分析差异表达的细胞表面标记在纯化胚胎HSCs中的作用。该项目涉及一名发育生物学家和一名生物信息学家之间的合作。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An important objective in regenerative medicine is to make hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells (ESCs or iPSCs). HSCs differentiate from a small population of endothelial cells in the embryo called hemogenic endothelium. The differentiation of HSCs from hemogenic endothelium involves an intermediate step in which blood cells accumulate in the major vasculature as pre-HSCs before being released into the circulation to colonize the fetal liver, where the pre-HSCs mature into fully functional HSCs. We plan to profile the gene expression and epigenetic changes that occur during the transitions between embryonic pre-HSCs, an intermediate population that we call "HSC explant" (HSCex), and fetal liver HSCs. We will also analyze differentially expressed cell surface markers for their utility in purifying embryonic HSCs. The project involves collaboration between a developmental biologist and a bioinformatician.