Anna Konturek-Ciesla, Rasmus Olofzon, Shabnam Kharazi & David Bryder – Nature Aging

Abstract
A decline in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function is believed to underlie hematological shortcomings with age; however, a comprehensive molecular understanding of these changes is currently lacking. Here we provide evidence that a transcriptional signature reported in several previous studies on HSC aging is linked to stress-induced changes in gene expression rather than aging. Our findings have strong implications for the design and interpretation of HSC aging studies.

In this study, by reanalyzing transcriptomic HSC aging data from multiple previous studies, we identified a stress-associated signature that was uncoupled from aging. We found that some cell isolation procedures could evoke this response strongly in primary HSPCs. We discuss its implications for previous interpretations on HSC aging.

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