Figure 2.

HSCs overexpressing Hoxa5 maintain self-renewal and multipotency. (A) Primary recipients engrafted with HSCs expressing Hoxa5 showed higher ratios of Mac1+ and Ter119+ cells in peripheral blood. Lineage cells not expressing Hoxa5-GFP (GFP-) were used as internal control for each single mouse (n = 3). (B) Blood smear of PB showed that red blood cells were mature. (C) Secondary transplant showed predominant red blood cells in PB during the first 1–2 months. (D) Secondary transplant showed that HSCs overexpressing Hoxa5 still possessed properties of self-renewal and multipotency. A half million sorted cells (GFP positive) from primary recipients were transplanted into each secondary recipient. Twenty-four weeks after transplantation, myeloid (Mac1+), erythroid (TER119+), T lymphoid (Thy1.2+), and B lymphoid (B220+) lineages in peripheral blood were analyzed by flow cytometry. The results from one representative recipient are shown. (E) Giemsa-Wright staining of bone marrow cells from secondary recipients showed more erythroid progenitors (black arrow) in recipients transplanted with Hoxa5 HSCs compared to those transplanted with GFP control.