Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Bioengineering of Humanized Bone Marrow Microenvironments in Mouse and Their Visualization by Live Imaging
Published on: August 1, 2017
Architectural fragility of gene regulatory networks underlies hematopoietic stem cell aging
Harlan P Stevens1,2,3, Ali Doğa Yücel3, Russell A Gould1
1Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract:
Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) aging contributes to immune dysfunction and age-associated disease, but its regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we present the largest single-cell multiome atlas of human circulating HSPCs to date, with >380,000 paired RNA and ATAC profiles across 77 donors. Beyond recapitulating established hallmarks of HSPC aging, we reconstructed a high-resolution gene regulatory network and identified a global rewiring in which stress-response and myeloid transcription factor (TF) programs expand, while self-renewal and lymphoid lineage-defining circuitry collapses. We associate these phenotypes with increased cis-regulatory entropy, including elevated transcriptomic noise, weakened peak-to-gene coupling, and chromatin peak broadening. This rewiring is selective, where TFs with GC-rich, promoter-proximal architectures are preserved or amplified, and complex, distal enhancer-dependent identity networks are eroded. Thus, these findings suggest that progressive entropic destabilization of gene regulatory architecture simultaneously drives stress hyperactivation, myeloid bias, and identity loss in aging HSPCs.
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Replicative Cell Senescence
Replicative Cell Senescence
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
The Effect of Aging on Tissues

