Single-cell measurements of osteolineage cells within the bone marrow cell niche. Mus musculus

We report an approach biased only by the anatomic proximity of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) to a putative niche cell as the criterion for molecular analysis. Comparative RNA-Seq profiling of single mesenchymal cells immediately proximal to transplanted HSPCs and those located further away revealed that HSPC-proximal cells have a distinct genome-wide transcriptional signature, highly enriched for genes previously implicated in HSPC niche function. Overall design: RNA-seq samples.