Comparative genome-wide analysis of human BM IL3Ra-high precursors show a more MF-, DC- and OC committed gene expression profile, as compared to IL3Ra-low precursors

To clarify the lineage relationship between IL3Rahigh- and IL3Ralow precursor cells and to find potential molecules involved in their differentiation, we compared the IL3Rahigh- and IL3Ralow precursor populations from three independent donors by mRNA deep sequencing and used the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA)- and Multi-experimental Viewer (MeV) to analyze the differentially expressed genes (p<0.001). Analysis of the protein coding genes showed that the samples from IL3Rahigh precursor cells clustered together, as did the IL3Ralow samples. This indicated that the gene expression patterns of these cells are likely to be conserved. Further analysis revealed a list of (649) differentially expressed molecules between the two populations. Among these, most notably, genes involved in the differentiation of cell in general, amongst which differentiation of MF, OC and antigen presenting cells appeared to be activation increased. Overall design: Examination of two hematopoietic precursor populations in human BM