Effect of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) gene knockout on expression profiles of murine hematopoietic stem cells. Mus musculus

As part of a study of the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) in maintenance and senescence of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), global gene expression profiling was done with HSC isolated from Ahr-knockout and wild-type mice. HSC from young-adult (8 wk old) AhR-KO mice had changes in expression of many genes related to HSC maintenance, consistent with the phenotype observed in aging Ahr-KO mice: decreased survival rate, splenomegaly, increased circulating white blood cells, hematopoietic cell accumulation in tissues, anemia, increased numbers of stem/progenitor and lineage-committed cells in bone marrow, decreased erythroid progenitor cells in bone marrow, and decreased self-renewal capacity of HSC. Overall design: 7 samples: 3 Ahr knockout, 4 wild-type