Aging of the hematopoietic stem cell compartment is believed to contribute to the onset of a variety of age-dependent blood cell pathophysiologies. Mechanistic drivers of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) aging include DNA damage accumulation and induction of tumor suppressor pathways that combine to reduce the regenerative capacity of aged HSCs. Such mechanisms do not however account for the change in lymphoid and myeloid lineage potential characteristic of HSC aging, which is believed to be central to the decline of immune competence and predisposition to myelogenous diseases in the elderly. Here we have prospectively isolated functionally distinct HSC clonal subtypes, based on cell surface phenotype, bearing intrinsically different capacities to differentiate toward lymphoid and myeloid effector cells mediated by quantitative differences in lineage priming. Finally, we present data supporting a model in which clonal expansion of a class of intrinsically myeloid-biased HSCs with robust self-renewal potential is a central component of hematopoietic aging.

Lineage specification and development require a hierarchy of transcription factors. Murre and colleagues have compiled a genome-wide set of cis-acting targets centered on E2A, EBF1 and Foxo1 that govern early B cell development. It is now established that the transcription factors E2A, EBF1 and Foxo1 have critical roles in B cell development. Here we show that E2A and EBF1 bound regulatory elements present in the Foxo1 locus. E2A and EBF1, as well as E2A and Foxo1, in turn, were wired together by a vast spectrum of cis-regulatory sequences. These associations were dynamic during developmental progression. Occupancy by the E2A isoform E47 directly resulted in greater abundance, as well as a pattern of monomethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4) across putative enhancer regions. Finally, we divided the pro-B cell epigenome into clusters of loci with occupancy by E2A, EBF and Foxo1. From this analysis we constructed a global network consisting of transcriptional regulators, signaling and survival factors that we propose orchestrates B cell fate.

In clinical bone marrow transplantation, the severe cytopenias induced by bone marrow ablation translate into high risks of developing fatal infections and bleedings, until transplanted hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells have replaced sufficient myeloerythroid offspring. Although adult long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) are absolutely required and at the single-cell level sufficient for sustained reconstitution of all blood cell lineages, they have been suggested to be less efficient at rapidly reconstituting the hematopoietic system and rescuing myeloablated recipients. Such a function has been proposed to rather be mediated by less well-defined short-term hematopoietic stem cells (ST-HSCs). Herein, we demonstrate that Lin^–Sca1⁺kit^hiCD34⁺ short-term reconstituting cells contain 2 phenotypically and functionally distinct subpopulations: Lin^–Sca1⁺kit^hiCD34⁺flt3^– cells fulfilling all criteria of ST-HSCs, capable of rapidly reconstituting myelopoiesis, rescuing myeloablated mice, and generating Lin^–Sca1⁺kit^hiCD34⁺flt3⁺ cells, responsible primarily for rapid lymphoid reconstitution. Representing the first commitment steps from Lin^–Sca1⁺kit^hi CD34^–flt3^– LT-HSCs, their identification will greatly facilitate delineation of regulatory pathways controlling HSC fate decisions and identification of human ST-HSCs responsible for rapid reconstitution following HSC transplantations.