RNA-sequencing of murine wildtype and E2F-2 knockout hematopoietic progenitors and mature erythroblasts

We identified a role for E2F-2 in the regulation of erythroblast nuclear condensation and enucleation. To help define the mechanism by which E2F-2 regulates these processes, we performed RNA-sequencing on undifferentiated hematopoietic cells and sorted, orthochromatic erythroblasts obtained from wildtype and E2F-2 knockout animals. In undifferentiated progenitor cells we find a limited number of differentially expressed genes associated with E2F-2-loss, likely due to compensation by other E2F family members. However, in late-stage erythroblasts, loss of E2F-2 results in the down-regulation of over 1200 genes. Our subsequent analyses focused on the role of a particular mitotic kinase, Citron Rho-interacting kinase, which we find is induced in an E2F-2-dependent manner during terminal erythroid maturation and identify as a novel regulator of erythroblast enucleation. RNA-sequencing of murine wildtype and E2F-2 knockout hematopoietic progenitors and mature erythroblasts