Gene expression profiling of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)

Transcriptomic analysis to decipher the molecular phenotype of hematopoietic stem cells, regulatory mechanisms directing their life cycle, and the molecular signals mediating proliferation, mobilization, migration, and differentiation is believed to unravel disease-specific disturbances in hematological diseases and assist in the development of novel cell-based clinical therapies in this era of genomic medicine. The recent advent in genomic tools and technologies is now enabling the study of such comprehensive transcriptional characterization of cell types in a robust and successful manner. This chapter describes detailed protocols for isolating RNA from purified population of hematopoietic cells and gene expression profiling of those purified cells using both microarrays (Affymetrix) and RNA-Seq technology (Illumina Platform).