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Measuring the Aging Process in Stem Cells

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Stem Cell Protocols

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1235))

Abstract

Stem cells persist in replenishing functional mature cells throughout life by self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are among the best-characterized and understood stem cells, and they are responsible for the life-long production of all lineages of blood cells. HSCs are a heterogeneous population containing lymphoid-biased, myeloid-biased, and balanced subsets. HSCs undergo age-associated phenotypic and functional changes, and the composition of the HSC pool alters with aging. HSCs and their lineage-biased subfractions can be identified and analyzed by flow cytometry based on cell surface makers. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) enables the isolation and purification of HSCs that greatly facilitates the mechanistic study of HSCs and their aging process at both cellular and molecular levels. The mouse model has been extensively used in HSC aging study. Bone marrow cells are isolated from young and old mice and stained with fluorescence-conjugated antibodies specific for differentiated and stem cells. HSCs are selected based on the negative expression of lineage markers and positive selection for several sets of stem cell markers. Lineage-biased HSCs can be further distinguished by the level of SLAM/CD150 expression and the extent of Hoechst efflux.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Edward P. Evans Foundation (to G.V.Z.) and The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number KL2TR000116 (to Y. L.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

We acknowledge Jennifer F. Rogers for editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplantation, Department of Internal Medicine, Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA

    Yi Liu, Gary Van Zant & Ying Liang

Authors
  1. Yi Liu
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  2. Gary Van Zant
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  3. Ying Liang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ying Liang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HemoGenix, Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

    Ivan N. Rich

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Liu, Y., Van Zant, G., Liang, Y. (2015). Measuring the Aging Process in Stem Cells. In: Rich, I. (eds) Stem Cell Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1235. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1785-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1785-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1784-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1785-3

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