Dynamic transcriptomes during human erythroid differentiation and development

To explore the mechanisms controlling erythroid differentiation and development in human, we analyzed the genome-wide transcription dynamics that occurs during the differentiation of HESCs into the erythroid lineage and development of embryonic to adult erythropoiesis using high throughput sequencing technology. Undifferentiated HESCs as well as erythroid cells at three developmental stages-ESER (embryonic stage), FLER (fetal stage) and PBER (adult stage)-were analyzed. Our findings revealed that the number of expressed genes decreased during the differentiation, while the total expression intensity increased. At the 3 transitions (HESC-ESER, ESER-FLER and FLER-PBER), differential expression of many types of genes was observed at every transition. These differentially expressed genes were involved in maintaining the pluripotency of stem cells, early erythroid specification, rapid cell growth and enucleation potential. In addition, differentially expressed genes were found to constitute networks and central nodes at each transition. Clusters of genes in some chromosomal regions switched between expression and silence. We also discovered that differentially expressed genes constituted networks and central nodes of them in each transition. Our studies provide a fundamental basis for further investigation of erythroid differentiation and development. Overall design: Compare the transcriptome of embryonic stem cells and three erythroid cell types at different developmental stages