Epigenetic regulation of self-renewal related genes by DNA methylation in hematopoietic stem cell differentiation

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are cells with self-renewal and multilineage differentiation potential. Recent studies suggest that epigenetic modification plays an importance role in controlling stem cell differentiation and cell fate decisions. In this report, to determine whether DNA Methylation is involved in the regulation of factors related HSCs maintenance, we investigated the DNA methylation status of promoter locus of these factors and expression in prospectively purified mouse hematopoietic stem cell and progenitor cells. There was tissue-dependently differentially methylated region (T-DMR) in the 5’region of the genes related HSCs self-renewal. Here we propose that transcriptional regulation of Bmi1, Mel18 and P21 during HSC differentiation involves epigenetic system by DNA methylation.