Project description:Bone marrow transplantation therapy relies on the life-long regenerative capacity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs present a wide complexity of regenerating behaviours at the clonal level, but the mechanisms underlying this diversity are still unclear. Recent advances in single cell sequencing have described transcriptional differences amongst HSCs, providing a possible explanation for their functional heterogeneity. However, the destructive nature of sequencing assays prevents simultaneous observation of stem cell functions. Thus, it is unclear to what extent transcriptome states carry information about stem cell outcomes. Here, we applied expressible barcodes to simultaneously recover lineages and transcriptomes from single adult HSCs, and investigated their clonal trajectories during bone marrow reconstitution in vivo. Using clonal readouts, we unveiled a previously underappreciated subset of quiescent HSCs that cell-autonomously retains native-like behaviours. Transcriptome enrichment using clonal information identified a distinct molecular signature that characterizes functional long-term repopulating HSCs. Probing this signature through in vivo CRISPR screening, we described the transcription factor Tcf15 to be required, and sufficient, to drive HSC quiescence and long-term self-renewal. In situ, Tcf15 labels the subset of native multipotent HSCs and its expression is inherited in a hierarchical fashion. In conclusion, our work elucidates molecular programs associated with stem cell function, and identifies a mechanism for the maintenance of the native-like quiescent state.
Project description:The emerging notion of hematopoietic stem- and progenitor cells (HSPCs) as a low-primed cloud without sharply demarcated gene expression programs raises the question on how cellular fate options emerge, and at which stem-like stage lineage priming is initiated. Here we investigated single-cell chromatin accessibility of Lineage-, cKit+, Sca1+ (LSK) HSPCs spanning the early differentiation landscape. Application of a signal-processing algorithm to detect transition points corresponding to massive alterations in accessibility of 521 transcription factor-motifs revealed a population of LSK FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3(Flt3)intCD9high cells that concurrently display stem-like and lineage-affiliated chromatin signatures pointing to simultaneous gain of both Lympho-Myeloid and Megakaryocyte-Erythroid programs. Molecularly and functionally, these cells position between stem cells and committed progenitors, display multi-lineage capacity in vitro and in vivo, but lack self-renewal activity. This integrative molecular analysis resolves the heterogeneity of cells along hematopoietic differentiation trajectories, and permits investigation of chromatin-mediated transition between multipotency and lineage restriction.
Project description:Infections are associated with extensive consumption of blood platelets representing a high risk for health. How the hematopoietic system coordinates the rapid and efficient regeneration of this particular lineage during such stress scenarios remains unclear. Here we report that the phenotypic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment contains highly potent megakaryocyte-committed progenitors (hipMkPs), a cell population that shares many features with multipotent HSCs and serves as a lineage-restricted emergency pool for inflammatory insults. Our data show that during homeostasis, hipMkPs are maintained in a primed but quiescent state, thus contributing little to steady-state megakaryopoiesis. Moreover, homeostatic hipMkPs show expression of megakaryocyte lineage priming transcripts for which protein synthesis is suppressed. We demonstrate that acute inflammatory signaling instructs activation of hipMkPs, as well as Mk protein production from pre-existing transcripts and drives a rapid maturation of hipMkPs and other Mk progenitors. This results in an efficient regeneration of platelets that are lost during inflammatory insult. Thus, our study reveals an elegant emergency machinery that counteracts life-threating depletions in the platelet pool during acute inflammation.
Project description:Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation into mature lineages has been studied under physiological conditions in vivo by genetic barcoding-driven lineage tracing. HSC clones differ in output (differentiation-inactive versus differentiation-active), and in fates (multilineage versus lineage-restricted). Single-cell sequencing data revealed transcriptome diversity of HSC and progenitors, and suggested differentiation pathways. However, molecular hallmarks of functionally distinct HSC clones have not been resolved because existing lineage tracing experiments did not provide transcriptomes, and single cell RNA sequencing lacked information on precursor-product relationships, and hence fate. To close this gap, here we introduce PolyloxExpress, a Cre recombinase-dependent DNA substrate for in situ barcoding in mice that is expressed as mRNA. PolyloxExpress barcoding allows parallel readout of clonal HSC fates (via comparison of barcodes in HSC and mature lineages), and transcriptomes (via single-cell RNA sequencing and barcode matching). Analysing a total of 91 individual HSC clones, we show that differentiation-inactive versus differentiation-active HSC clones reside in different regions of the transcriptional landscape. Inactive HSC clones are closer to the origin of the transcriptional trajectory, yet are proliferatively not more quiescent than active clones. Multilineage versus myelo-erythroid fate-restricted HSC clones show very few transcriptional differences at the HSC stage, yet pronounced fate-specific profiles at the multipotent progenitor stage. Projecting HSC clones with defined fates onto transcriptional landscapes provides a basis for future studies into the molecular determinants for stem cell fate.
Project description:Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation into mature lineages has been studied under physiological conditions in vivo by genetic barcoding-driven lineage tracing. HSC clones differ in output (differentiation-inactive versus differentiation-active), and in fates (multilineage versus lineage-restricted). Single-cell sequencing data revealed transcriptome diversity of HSC and progenitors, and suggested differentiation pathways. However, molecular hallmarks of functionally distinct HSC clones have not been resolved because existing lineage tracing experiments did not provide transcriptomes, and single cell RNA sequencing lacked information on precursor-product relationships, and hence fate. To close this gap, here we introduce PolyloxExpress, a Cre recombinase-dependent DNA substrate for in situ barcoding in mice that is expressed as mRNA. PolyloxExpress barcoding allows parallel readout of clonal HSC fates (via comparison of barcodes in HSC and mature lineages), and transcriptomes (via single-cell RNA sequencing and barcode matching). Analysing a total of 91 individual HSC clones, we show that differentiation-inactive versus differentiation-active HSC clones reside in different regions of the transcriptional landscape. Inactive HSC clones are closer to the origin of the transcriptional trajectory, yet are proliferatively not more quiescent than active clones. Multilineage versus myelo-erythroid fate-restricted HSC clones show very few transcriptional differences at the HSC stage, yet pronounced fate-specific profiles at the multipotent progenitor stage. Projecting HSC clones with defined fates onto transcriptional landscapes provides a basis for future studies into the molecular determinants for stem cell fate.