Single-Cell Approaches to Deconvolute the Development of HSCs

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) play a core role in blood development. The ability to efficiently produce HSCs from various pluripotent stem cell sources is the Holy Grail in the hematology field. However, in vitro or in vivo HSC production remains low, which may be attributable to the lack of understanding of hematopoiesis. Here, we review the recent progress in this area and introduce advanced technologies, such as single-cell RNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, and molecular barcoding, which may help to acquire missing information about HSC generation. We finally discuss unresolved questions, the answers to which may be conducive to HSC production, providing a promising path toward HSC-based immunotherapies.

Keywords

• HSC
• single-cell technology
• molecular barcode
• spatial transcriptomics