From hematopoiesis to neuropoiesis: Evidence of overlapping genetic programs
- Alexey V. Terskikh*,†,
- Mathew C. Easterday‡,
- Linheng Li§,
- Leroy Hood§,
- Harley I. Kornblum‡,
- Daniel H. Geschwind¶, and
- Irving L. Weissman*
- *Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Beckman Center, Stanford, CA 94306; ‡Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; §University of Washington, Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Seattle, WA 98195; and ¶Neurogenetics Program and Department of Neurology, Reed Neurological Research Center, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769
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Contributed by Irving L. Weissman
Abstract
It is reasonable to propose that gene expression profiles of purified stem cells could give clues for the molecular mechanisms of stem cell behavior. We took advantage of cDNA subtraction to identify a set of genes selectively expressed in mouse adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) as opposed to bone marrow (BM). Analysis of HSC-enriched genes revealed several key regulatory gene candidates, including two novel seven transmembrane (7TM) receptors. Furthermore, by using cDNA microarray techniques we found a large set of HSC-enriched genes that are expressed in mouse neurospheres (a population greatly enriched for neural progenitor cells), but not present in terminally differentiated neural cells. In situ hybridization demonstrated that many of them, including one HSC-enriched 7TM receptor, were selectively expressed in the germinal zones of fetal and adult brain, the regions harboring mouse neural stem cells. We propose that at least some of the transcripts that are selectively and commonly expressed in two or more types of stem cells define a functionally conserved group of genes evolved to participate in basic stem cell functions, including stem cell self-renewal.
Footnotes
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↵ † To whom reprint requests should be addressed at: Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, B259 Beckman Center, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305. E-mail: Alexey.Terskikh{at}Stanford.edu.
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Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. BG833695–BG833716 and AF385682).
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See commentary on page 7652.
- Abbreviations:
- HSC,
- hematopoietic stem cells;
- BM,
- bone marrow;
- NS,
- neurospheres;
- 7TM,
- seven transmembrane;
- SVZ,
- subventricular zone;
- VZ,
- ventricular zone
- Copyright © 2001, The National Academy of Sciences
