Northshore University HealthSystem Research Institute, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
J Cell Physiol. 2010 Jun;223(3):549-52. doi: 10.1002/jcp.22065.
Hematopoietic stem progenitor cells are the source for the entire hematopoietic system. Studying gene expression in hematopoietic stem progenitor cells will provide information to understand the genetic programs controlling early hematopoiesis, and to identify the gene targets to interfere hematopoietic disorders. Extensive efforts using cell biology, molecular biology, and genomics approaches have generated rich knowledge for the genes and functional pathways involving in early hematopoiesis. Challenges remain, however, including the rarity of the hematopoietic stem progenitor cells that set physical limitation for the study, the difficulty for reaching comprehensive transcriptome detection under the conventional genomics technologies, and the difficulty for using conventional biological methods to identify the key genes among large number of expressed genes controlling stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. The newly developed single-cell transcriptome method and the next-generation DNA sequencing technology provide new opportunities for transcriptome study for early hematopoietic. Using systems biology approach may reveal the insight of the genetic mechanisms controlling early hematopoiesis.
造血干细胞是整个造血系统的起源细胞。研究造血干细胞的基因表达情况可以为理解调控早期造血的遗传程序提供信息，并能鉴定基因靶点以干预造血紊乱。大量运用细胞生物学、分子生物学和基因组学方法，为涉及早期造血的基因和功能途径生成了丰富的知识。然而，仍然存在挑战，包括造血干细胞的稀有性限制了对其的研究，传统基因组学技术难以实现全面的转录组检测，以及在控制干细胞自我更新和分化的众多表达基因中使用常规生物学方法来鉴定关键基因的困难。新开发的单细胞转录组学方法和新一代 DNA 测序技术为早期造血的转录组研究提供了新的机会。运用系统生物学方法可能揭示调控早期造血的遗传机制的深入见解。
