Compare HSCs between WT and Merit40-/- mice. Mus musculus

The adaptor protein MERIT40 is a core subunit of deubiquitinating (DUB) complexes that specifically cleave Lysine63-polyubiquitin chains. We found that MERIT40 is an important negative regulator of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) homeostasis, quiescence and self-renewal. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism by which MERIT40 regulates HSC expansion and cell cycle. We performed expression profiling of bone marrow CD150+CD48-LSK LT-HSCs from WT and Merit40-/- mice. Results identify select MERIT40-mediated pathways with potential involvement in HSC cell cycle regulation. Overall design: CD150+CD48-LSK HSCs were double sorted from WT and Merit40-/- mice at young age. RNA was isolated using miRNeasy kit from QIAGEN and processed using the NuGEN Pico kit. The microarray analysis was performed at the PENN Molecular Profiling/Genomics Facility using GeneChip Mouse Gene 2.0ST array (Affymetrix).