Rapid upregulation of CTGF under stress conditions is required for HSC maintenance through cross-talk of canonical Wnt and AKT signaling

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) fate decisions are regulated by the ’niche.’ However, precise interaction networks between these two entities are poorly understood. To understand the initial interactions during culture stress, time-series (TS) gene expression analysis of co-cultured Lin-Sca1+cKit+ (LSK) and HSC-supportive UG26-1B6 stromal cells was performed. Clustering and candidate gene prioritization using a training set of hematopoiesis-related genes identified connective tissue growth factor (Ctgf) as a niche-secreted HSC regulator.