Tο πρώτο μέρος της εργασίας αφορούσε την παρακολούθηση της ερυθρολευχαιμική σειρά ποντικού (MEL) διαμολυσμένη με το επισωματικό αυτό-αναπαραγώμενο όχημα pEPI-EGFP, τα κύτταρα της οποίας δεν παρουσίαζαν φθορισμό ενώ παρέμεναν ανθεκτικά στο αντιβιοτικό (G418). Αποδείχθηκε η επισωματική κατακράτηση του οχήματος για δύο μήνες μετά τη δημιουργία της διαμολυσμένης σειράς. Η διαπίστωση επίσης ότι το μεταφερόμενο γονίδιο μπορεί να μην εκφράζεται αλλά το όχημα να παραμένει για τουλάχιστον 60 ημέρες επισωματικό και χωρίς ενσωμάτωση μας ώθησε σε νέες προοπτικές αναζήτησης. Το δεύτερο μέρος της εργασίας έγινε παρασκευή δύο οχημάτων τα οποία διαφέρουν ως προς τον υποκινητή του γονιδίου αναφοράς ΕGFP τόσο μεταξύ τους όσο και από το όχημα pEPI-EGFP, το βασικό όχημα μελέτης έως τώρα. Η παρασκευή αυτή βασίστηκε στην αντικατάσταση του υποκινητή pCMV από: 1 τον υποκινητή pSFFV για την παρασκευή του οχήματος pEPI-pSFFV και 2 τον υποκινητή της β-σφαιρίνης (pβ-globin) για την παρασκευή του αντίστοιχου οχήματος pEPI-pβ-globin. Η παρασκευή των δύο αυτόν οχημάτων, του pEPI-pSFFV και pEPI-pβ-globin αποτελεί ένα σημαντικό βήμα στη ανάπτυξη νέων οχημάτων που αποτελέσουν οχήματα μεταφοράς γονιδίων σε αρχέγονα αιμοποιητικά κύτταρα. / The first part of this work concerned the observation of the mouse erithroid cell line (MEL) transected with the Replicating Episomal Vector pEPI-EGFP. The cells even thought that they had lost their florescence a few days after the transfection with the Vector pEPI-EGFP, they still endure to the antibiotic (G418). In the fist place we have shown that the Replicating Episomal Vector pEPI-EGFP remains in episomatic condition at list two months after the transfect ion of the cell line with out any insertion eventhought the transferred gene is not translated. The second part of this work concerned the construction of two new vectors. The new vectors have the same reference gene with the pEPI-EGFP vector the EGFP gene but they have tow totally deferent new promoters for the EGFP gene. This contract was based on the replacement of the promoter pCMV 1. with the promoter pSFFV for the contraction of the pEPI-pSFFV new vector 2. with the promoter pβ-globin for the contraction of the pEPI-pβ-globin new vector These two new vectors the pEPI-pSFFV and the pEPI-pβ-globin were tested for their ability of being used as Replicating Episomal Vectors to Hematopoietic Stem Cells, HSC sach as CD34+ cells.

L’expansion des cellules souches hématopoïétiques ex vivo représente une option des plus intéressante afin d’améliorer les greffes de moelle osseuse. Le facteur de transcription HOXB4 semble être le candidat ayant le plus de potentiel jusqu’à présent. Cependant, la très courte demi-vie de la protéine représente un obstacle majeur dans l’élaboration de protocoles cliniques. Par contre, la substitution d’un acide aminé (3 mutations individuelles) dans la partie N-terminale de la protéine augmente de près de 3 fois la stabilité intracellulaire de HOXB4. Nous avons comparé l’activité biologique de ces mutants à celle de HOXB4 natif (« wt ») dans des essais in vitro et in vivo. Nous avons démontré que la surexpression de HOXB4 muté par infection des cellules souches hématopoïétiques n’affectait pas leur pouvoir de reconstitution hématopoïétique à long terme dans des souris transplantées. Par ailleurs, nous avons noté que dans les essais de reconstitution hématopoïétique en compétition et en non compétition, les cellules surexprimant les protéines mutées ont une expansion supérieure in vitro et reconstituent le sang et la rate avec une répartition de cellules lymphoïdes et myéloïdes plus près de souris non-transplantées comparativement aux cellules exprimant HOXB4 « wt ». De plus, les cellules surexprimant la protéine HOXB4 mutée apparaissent beaucoup plus rapidement et en plus grande proportion dans le sang comparativement aux cellules surexprimant la forme native. Une des protéines HOXB4 mutées (1426) ne permet pas l’expansion des progéniteurs myéloïdes immatures (CMP) contrairement à la protéine « wt ». Et finalement, par les études de modulation intracellulaire protéique, nous avons démontré que les comportements des protéines HOXB4 « wt » et mutées envers les cellules souches hématopoïétiques et progéniteurs n’étaient pas complètement dus à un effet de concentration protéique. / Ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell expansion represents a most appealing option to improve bone marrow transplantation. Utilization of the unique hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) expansion abilities of the transcription factor HOXB4 for clinical applications is hampered by its short intracellular half-life. To overcome this difficulty, 3 different single amino-acid substitution mutants of HOXB4 with 3-4 fold increased half-life were generated and their biologic activity compared to that of wild type (wt) HOXB4 using in vitro and in vivo assays. We have shown that overexpression of mutated HOXB4 in HSC using an infection strategy did not impair their long term hematopoietic reconstitution potential in transplanted mice. We have found that cells overexpressing mutant HOXB4 had greater expansion in vitro in competitive and non-competitive designs than wt HOXB4. Moreover, in vivo peripheral blood and spleen repopulation had lymphoid and myeloid contributions closer to untransplanted animals with mutant than wt HOXB4. In addition, cells overexpressing mutant HOXB4 protein were detected much more rapidly and in greater proportion in peripheral blood than cells overexpressing the wt form. One of the mutated HOXB4 proteins (1426) did not promote the expansion of common myeloid progenitors in comparison to wt HOXB4. Finally, using intracellular protein modulation studies, we have shown that the effects of mutated and wt HOXB4 proteins in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells were not completely due to a HOXB4 concentration effect.

The central properties of stem cells are the pluripotency and the capacity of self-renewal. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) posses such common features that allows them to generate all the cells of the hematopoietic compartments, maintaining in the same time the HSC pool. We develop approaches focused on ex vivo HSC expansion through activation by exogenous HOXB4 (human HSCs) or Notch/Dll-4 ligand (murine HSCs). Two independent transcriptomic analyses surprisingly converged toward an increased expression of two genes never identified sofar as crucial for HSC functions: Pumilio1 (Pum1) and Pumilio2 (Pum2). Pum1 and Pum2 are posttranscriptional regulators belonging to the Pumilio-FBF (PUF) family of RNA-binding proteins. Although it was established that the primordial role of PUF proteins is to sustain mitotic proliferation of stem cells in Invertebrates, so far nothing is known about the role of Pum1 and Pum2 in human and murine HSCs.For these reasons, we have investigated the roles and mechanisms of action of Pum1 and Pum2 in murine and human HSCs through shRNA strategy. Pum1 and Pum2 knockdown (KD) in murine HSCs led to a decreased HSC expansion and clonogenic potential ex vivo, associated with an increased apoptosis and a cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase. KD of both Pum1 and Pum2 enhanced these effects, suggesting a cooperative effect. Expansion and clonogenic potential of KD Pum1 HSCs were rescued by enforced expression of Pum1 (insensitive to our shRNA), thus validating the specificity of our shRNA. Enforced expression of Pum1 could not rescue the functions of Pum2 KD HSCs, highlighting the non-redundant role of these proteins. Furthermore, when Pum1 or Pum2 KD HSCs were inoculated into lethally irradiated mice to follow the long-term hematopoietic potential, only rare bone marrow cells derived from Pum1 and Pum2 KD HSCs were evidenced after 4 months, contrary to control HSCs. Identical results were obtained with human Pum1 or Pum2 KD HSCs.In conclusion, our results demonstrate the involvement of Pumilio factors in stemness maintenance, expansion and survival of murine and human HSCs. Identification of Pumilio factors and their targets as new regulators of HSCs expansion will allow consider them as new tools for therapeutic perspectives.

Les cellules T mémoires (Tm) protègent l’organisme contre les réinfections de pathogènes qu’il a déjà combattu. Les Tm possèdent plusieurs propriétés en commun avec les cellules souches hématopoïétiques (CSH), notamment la capacité de se différencier, de s’auto-renouveler et de maintenir une population relativement constante au sein de l’organisme via des mécanismes homéostatiques. Il a été démontré que Hoxb4, un membre de la famille des facteurs de transcription Hox, était capable d’induire l’expansion des CSH in vivo et in vitro de façon rapide. Au vu de ces parallèles, nous avons posé l’hypothèse que la surexpression de Hoxb4 pourrait induire l’expansion de populations de Tm. Nous avons analysé les populations de Tm et lymphocytes T naïfs (Tn) dans les organes lymphoïdes de souris transgéniques surexprimant Hoxb4 et les avons comparées à des souris de type sauvage (wt). Alors que la fréquence des cellules T matures Hoxb4 diminuait avec l’âge, leur phénotype ainsi que leur viabilité demeuraient inchangés. Ensuite, nous avons procédé à des transplantations en compétition de Tm (CD4+CD44hi) Hoxb4 et wt chez des hôtes dépourvus de lymphocytes T (CD3-/-) dans le but d’évaluer leur contribution à la reconstitution du compartiment T après 2 mois. Au final, les Tm wt avait contribué un peu plus que les Tm Hoxb4 à la reconstitution (~60%). Des analyses fonctionnelles et phénotypiques ont montré que les Tm Hoxb4 possédaient une fonctionnalité normale, mais se distinguaient des Tm wt par la présence d’une faible population qui présentait un phénotype « mémoire central » (Tcm), conférant habituellement une longévité accrue. Les cellules des ganglions lymphatiques totaux des hôtes furent transplantées de façon sérielle chez trois générations de nouveaux hôtes. Le phénotype Tcm observés chez les Tm Hoxb4 était récapitulé chez les hôtes secondaires uniquement. Les ratios sont demeurés en faveur des Tm wt lors des deux transplantations suivantes, mais les Tm Hoxb4 ont commencé à montrer un avantage compétitif chez certains hôtes quaternaires. Une transplantation en compétition à court terme de Tm Hoxb4 et wt marqués avec un marqueur cytoplasmique ont démontré la présence chez les Tm Hoxb4 seulement d’une faible population CD62Lhi proliférant lentement. Ainsi, l’expansion préférentielle de Tcm CD4 par le biais d’une sélection ou d’une différenciation induite par la surexpression de Hoxb4 pourrait potentiellement leur permettre de maintenir un état de quiescence leur permettant de persister plus longtemps suite à des transplantations sérielles. / Memory T cells (Tm) protect the organism against reinfection from pathogens they’ve already encountered. Tm share characteristics with hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), such as the capacity to differentiate, self-renew and maintain a relatively constant population via homeostatic mechanisms. Hoxb4, a member of the Hox genes family of transcription factors, has been shown to expand HSCs rapidly in vivo and in vitro. Thus, drawing from these parallels we hypothesise that Hoxb4 overexpression could lead to expansion of Tm populations. Tm and naïve T cell (Tn) populations were analysed in the lymphoid organs of young and aged transgenic mice overexpressing Hoxb4 in comparison with wild type (wt) mice. While the frequencies of mature Hoxb4 T cells in lymphoid organs seemed to decline with age, the phenotype or the cell viability remained unaffected. Next, CD4+CD44hi Hoxb4 Tm were transferred into T cell deficient (CD3-/-) hosts in competition with wt CD4+CD44hi Tm and evaluated for their contribution to T cell reconstitution after 2 months. Engraftment of wt Tm in secondary lymphoid organs was slightly higher than Hoxb4 Tm (~60%). Functional assays and phenotypic analysis showed that Hoxb4 Tm exhibited normal functionality, but in contrast to wt Tm, a fraction of Hoxb4 Tm exhibited a more central memory (Tcm) phenotype, indicative of a longer lifespan. Total lymph nodes from hosts were serially re-transplanted for three generations. The Tcm phenotype of the Hoxb4 Tm present in the primary hosts was recapitulated in the secondary but not in the tertiary hosts. The ratios remained in favor of the wt Tm after two subsequent expansion rounds, but Hoxb4 Tm showed a competitive advantage over wt Tm in some quaternary hosts. Cell tracking of a short term transplantation of Hoxb4 and wt Tm in competition exposed a small population of CD62Lhi cells displaying slow proliferation in the Hoxb4 Tm only. Thus preferential CD4+ Tcm expansion by selection or differentiation could potentially allow Hoxb4 Tm to persist longer following serial transplantations due to a more quiescent state.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 18, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma. / Bibliography: leaves 137-158.

Κατά την ανάπτυξη ενός οργανισμού η απόκτηση εξειδικευμένων κυτταρικών λειτουργιών είναι μια προοδευτική διαδικασία η οποία περιλαμβάνει την ασύμμετρη διαίρεση των βλαστικών κυττάρων για την παραγωγή προγονικών κυττάρων τα οποία σταδιακώς εξέρχονται από τον κυτταρικό κύκλο και διαφοροποιούνται μέσω της εγκαθίδρυσης του κατάλληλου μεταγραφικού προγράμματος. Προκειμένου να κατανοήσουμε τη ρύθμιση αυτών των γεγονότων μελετήσαμε την Geminin, ένα κεντρικό ρυθμιστή του κυτταρικού κύκλου, στο ανοσοποιητικό σύστημα. Δημιουργήσαμε ζωικά μοντέλα στα οποία απενεργοποιήσαμε το γονίδιο της Geminin στα λεμφοκύτταρα. Τα αποτελέσματα μας έδειξαν ότι η απενεργοποίηση της Geminin στα λεμφοκύτταρα δεν επηρεάζει σημαντικά τη διαφοροποίηση των προγονικών Τ κυττάρων στο θύμο. Απουσία της Geminin τα προγονικά θυμοκύτταρα δεσμεύονται προς διαφοροποίηση στην Τ κυτταρική σειρά και παράγουν διαφοροποιημένα θυμοκύτταρα. Παρατηρήθηκαν μικρές μειώσεις στον αριθμό των DN1, DN4 και DP κυττάρων. Σε αντίθεση τα αθώα (naïve), ρυθμιστικά (regulatory) και Τ κύτταρα μνήμης (memory T cells), παρουσίασαν σημαντικές μειώσεις απουσία της Geminin. Επιπλέον βρήκαμε ότι ο πολλαπλασιασμός των περιφερικών Τ κυττάρων ύστερα από την ενεργοποίηση τους μέσω του TCR υποδοχέα παρουσίασε σημαντικές ανωμαλίες ενώ παρατηρήθηκαν και σημαντικές διαταραχές της προόδου του κυτταρικού κύκλου απουσία της Geminin. Οι μεταβολές που παρατηρήθηκαν στην έκφραση του Cdt1 και σε κυκλίνες των ενεργοποιημένων περιφερικών Τ κυττάρων μπορεί να εμπλέκονται στο μηχανισμό που εξηγεί τις διαταραχές των περιφερικών Τ κυττάρων απουσία της Geminin. Επίσης Τ κύτταρα από τα οποία είχε απενεργοποιηθεί η Geminin δεν είναι ικανά να αποικίσουν τα λεμφοειδή όργανα μυών από τους οποίους απουσιάζουν τα λεμφοκύτταρα, αποτέλεσμα το οποίο δείχνει διαταραχές του ομοιοστατικού πολλαπλασιασμού αυτών των κυττάρων. Συμπερασματικά η Geminin είναι απαραίτητη για την αυστηρή ρύθμιση των επαναλαμβανόμενων κυτταρικών διαιρέσεων των περιφερικών Τ κυττάρων αλλά δεν επηρεάζει σημαντικά την διαφοροποίηση των προγονικών Τ κυττάρων. Επιπλέον τα αποτελέσματα αυτά προτείνουν ότι υπάρχουν εγγενείς διαφορές στην ρύθμιση του κυτταρικού κύκλου μεταξύ θυμοκυττάρων και περιφερικών Τ κυττάρων. / During development, acquisition of specialized function is a progressive, gradual process that involves the asymmetric divisions of stem cells to generate progeny that will exit the cell cycle and terminally differentiate through the establishment of an appropriate transcriptional program. In order to understand this process we studied Geminin, a key cell cycle regulator, that has been shown to affect cellular decisions of differentiation. Towards this direction we focused on the immune system and investigated the role of Geminin in self-renewal and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells. In order to gain insight into the in vivo role of Geminin in progenitor cell division and differentiation, we have deleted Geminin in cells of the lymphoid lineage. The inactivation of Geminin in the lymphoid lineage does not alter progenitor T cell differentiation in the thymus. In the absence of Geminin progenitor T cells commit, differentiate and generate differentiated thymocytes. Minor reduction in the number of DN1, DN4 and DP progenitor T cells were observed. In contrast naïve, regulatory and memory peripheral T cells show a significant reduction in the absence of Geminin. Moreover, proliferation of Geminin deficient peripheral T cells upon TCR activation is severely compromised, accompanied by cell cycle progression defects. The deregulated protein levels of Cdt1 and cyclins in activated peripheral T cells lacking Geminin, may be involved in the mechanism responsible for the observed phenotype of Geminin deficient peripheral T cells. More importantly Geminin deficient T cells fail to repopulate lymphopenic hosts suggesting defects in homeostatic proliferation. In conclusion Geminin is essential to regulate the repeated divisions of peripheral T cells but does not significantly affect progenitor T cell differentiation. In addition our results suggest that there are intrinsic differences in cell cycle regulation of thymocytes and peripheral T cells.

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Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:49:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-09-30. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-08-11T03:25:27Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 Publico-00264.pdf: 1668171 bytes, checksum: dbdf365617164c11a9a209e69d18f997 (MD5) / O ƒÑ-tocoferol tem sido o foco das pesquisas dentre os demais componentes da vitamina E por ser a forma predominantemente encontrada nos tecidos de mamiferos, e por possuir uma extensa gama de atividades biologicas. O ƒÑ-tocoferol pode atuar como regulador de enzimas especificas e de fatores de transcricao de forma a influenciar estruturas celulares como membranas e dominios lipidicos, desencadeando respostas celulares que muitas vezes se mostram independentes de sua funcao antioxidante. No sistema hematopoetico, seus efeitos foram favoraveis em casos de anemias hemoliticas, aumentando a resistencia dos eritrocitos a lise. Tambem foi observado que a suplementacao previa com ƒÑ-tocoferol a irradiacao resulta em aumento da sobrevida de camundongos por induzir aumento no numero de unidades formadoras de colonias (CFUs). Entretanto, os mecanismos biologicos ativados pelo ƒÑ-tocoferol nas celulas hematopoeticas ainda nao foram descritos. Assim, os bjetivos deste trabalho foram verificar os efeitos do ƒÑ-tocoferol na hematopoese murina e os mecanismos intracelulares relacionados a estes efeitos. Para tal, camundongos foram tratados intraperitonealmente com doses de 40 mg/kg/dia de ƒÑ-tocoferol durante 2 semanasem dias intercalados, sendo sacrificados 24 horas apos a ultima dose; condicoes estas que nao causaram toxicidade as celulas da medula ossea. Amostras histologicas dos femures dos animais que receberam o tratamento com ƒÑ-tocoferol apresentaram hiperplasia medular. O tratamento com ƒÑ-tocoferol induziu aumento na porcentagem das celulas progenitoras hematopoeticas (Lin-Sca-1+c-Kit+ e Lin-Sca-1-c-Kit+), assim como o aumento do estado proliferativo destas populacoes (com mais celulas primitivas na fase S/G2/M do ciclo celular), com o consequente aumento da capacidade de formar CFUs de granulocitos e macrofagos. Dentre as distintas populacoes de celulas maduras da medula ossea, houve um favorecimento da linhagem granulocitica/monocitica (Mac-1+Gr-1+) em detrimento das linhagens eritrociticas (Ter119+) e linfociticas (B220+ e CD3+). Como forma de avaliar o mecanismo de acao do ƒÑ-tocoferol, investigou-se tambem a ativacao das proteinas relacionadas com a sinalizacao das celulas hematopoeticas. Assim, observou-se que as populacoes primitivas medulares apresentaram uma menor ativacao da cinase regulada por sinais extracelulares 1/2 (ERK1/2), da proteina cinase C (PKC), do ¡§ativador de transcricao e transdutor de sinal ¡V 5¡§ (STAT-5), mas nao da proteina cinase B/Akt. Tambem foi verificado que a diminuicao do estado fosforilado da ERK1/2 ocorreu desde os primeiros dias de tratamento. Interessante destacar quer o ƒÑ-tocoferol potencializou o efeito da interleucina-3 (IL-3) sobre a ativacao da ativacao da ERK1/2 nas celulas primitivas hematopoeticas. O inibidor da MEK (PD98059) foi capaz de restabelecer as porcentagens normais das linhagens eritrocitica e granulocitica/monocitica, assim como os niveis normais da fosfo- ERK1/2, alem da resposta da ERK1/2 ao estimulo com IL-3. Entretanto, o PD98059 nao restabeleceu as porcentagens normais das celulas primitivas hematopoeticas, nem da linhagem linfocitica. A quantificacao das especies reativas de oxigenio nas diferentes populacoes da medula ossea mostrou que, nas condicoes de tratamento estabelecidas, o ƒÑ-tocoferol nao exerceu funcao proou antioxidante, pois nao houve alteracao significativa dos niveis de especies reativas de oxigenio entre os grupos controle e tratado com ƒÑ-tocoferol. Desta forma, foi mostrada uma nova propriedade do ƒÑ-tocoferol independente de sua acao redox: a inducao de hiperplasia na medula ossea pelo aumento dos progenitores hematopoeticos e favorecimento da diferenciacao destes em granulocitos e macrofagos, pela potencializacao da resposta da ERK1/2 ao estimulo com IL-3. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Orientador: Dimas Tadeu Covas / Banca: Dimas Tadeu Covas / Banca: Rodrigo Alexandre Panepucci / Banca: Haroldo Wilson Moreira / Resumo: A maior expressão de alvos transcricionais e componentes da via NFkB é uma característica distintiva das células-tronco hematopoéticas (CTH) CD34+ de sangue de cordão umbilical (SCU) comparadas às CTH CD34+ de medula óssea (MO) e pode estar relacionada com o estado mais primitivo das CTH dos neonatos. No entanto, as células CD34+ são um grupo heterogêneo de célulastronco (CT) e progenitoras em diferentes estágios de maturação e diferenças na composição celular entre MO e SCU poderiam contribuir para os resultados mencionados. Estudos recentes têm identificado o marcador de superfície CD133, como um marcador de CT mais primitivas, expresso em uma subpopulação de células CD34bright, com um sugestivo potencial de hemangioblasto. Com o objetivo de caracterizar a composição celular de MO e SCU e identificar mecanismos moleculares envolvidos com a maior primitividade das células CD133+, propusemos avaliar o perfis imunofenotípico (quanto à expressão de CD34 e CD133) por citometria de fluxo e de expressão gênica de células CD34+ e células CD133+ selecionadas imunomagneticamente, de ambas as fontes, pelas técnicas de microarray e PCR em tempo real. Nossos resultados revelaram que enquanto a maioria das células CD133+ são CD34+, independente da fonte, as células CD34+ de SCU possuem uma porcentagem significativamente maior de células CD133+ do que às células CD34+ de MO. A análise de clusterização revelou que as células CD133+ de MO se agrupam com as células de SCU (CD34+ e CD133+), enquanto as CD34+ de MO aparecem como um grupo distinto. A comparação dos perfis de expressão gênica entre as células CD133+ e as células CD34+, revelou a hiper-expressão... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: A higher expression of transcription targets and components of the NF-kB pathway is a distinctive feature of umbilical cord blood (UCB) CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) when compared to bone marrow (BM) CD34+ HSC and this could be related to the more primitive state of the newborn's HSC. However, CD34+ cells represent a heterogeneous group of cells composed by stem and progenitors cells in different developmental stages, and differences in cellular composition between both sources could contribute for these finding. The surface marker CD133 has been identified as a very primitive marker, expressed in a subpopulation of CD34bright, with a proposal hemangioblast potential. Thus, in attempt to better characterize the cellular composition of UCB and BM and to identify molecular mechanisms related to the more primitive characteristics of CD133+ cells, we proposed to evaluate the immunophenotypic profile (expression of CD34 and CD133) by flow-cytometry and the gene expression profiles of immunomagnetically selected CD34+ and CD133+ cells, from both sources, by microarray and Real time PCR. Our results highlighted that, while almost all CD133+ cells are CD34+ independently of the evaluated source, the UCB CD34+ cells showed a significantly higher proportion of CD133 expression, compared to BM CD34+ cells. After obtaining the expression profiles from distinct HSC pooled samples generated by microarrays, cluster analysis showed that BM CD133+ cells preferentially grouped with UCB cells (CD34+ and CD133+) instead of BM CD34+ cells, which appeared as a very distinct profile The comparison between CD133+ and CD34+ samples revealed the over-expression of 47 transcriptional factors (TF) in CD133+ cells, many of them well-known and related... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre