miRNA expression during UCB-CD34 cells erythropoiesis

We investigated the miRNA expression in ex vivo human erythroid cultures from umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived CD34 cells. Hypothetically, the decline of certain miRNAs may promote erythropoiesis by unblocking expression of key functional proteins while the up-regulation of other miRNAs may block commitment to non-erythroid lineages. Therefore, discovering the patterns and sequence of miRNA expression during hematopoietic differentiation will provide insights about the functional roles of these tiny noncoding genes. Keywords: miRNA expression profiling miRNA probeset was purchased from Ambion and printed onto glass slides. miRNA was extracted from the cells at regular intervals throughout the induction period using commercial miRNA isolation kit (Ambion), labeled with cy-dye (Amersham Pharmacia) and hybridized onto the slides as described by the manufacturer's protocols (Ambion). Samples from all other days were compared to sample from Day 0 (untreated).