Characterization of Canine CD34+/CD45 diminished Cells by Colony-forming Unit Assay and Transcriptome Analysis

In veterinary medicine, peripheral blood stem cells have been successfully used for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, especially in cases of canine B-cell and T-cell lymphoma. However, the cell surface antigens and gene expression profiles of canine Haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are yet to be elucidated. The goals of this project are attempted to characterize the canine HSPCs using colony-forming unit assay and RNA sequencing analysis. We compared the haematopoietic colony forming abilities and HSPC-specific cell surface antigen gene expressions among whole viable cells (control), CD34+ cells, and CD34+/CD45dim cells. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because our observations highlight the potential of the CD34+/CD45dim cells to be used as markers for studying canine haematopoietic stem cells. Further, we believe that this paper will help to exclusively identify the canine HSPCs, which, in turn, will help to develop treatment options for canine patients suffering from haematopoietic tumour diseases.