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Studies on coding genes, miRNAs, and lncRNAs during erythroid development have been performed in recent years. However, analysis focusing on the integration of the three RNA types has yet to be done. In the present study, we compared the dynamics of coding genes, miRNA, and lncRNA expression profiles. To explore dynamic changes in erythropoiesis and potential mechanisms that control these changes in the transcriptome level, we took advantage of high throughput sequencing technologies to obtain transcriptome data from cord blood hematopoietic stem cells and the following four erythroid differentiation stages, as well as from mature red blood cells. Results indicated that lncRNAs were promising cell marker candidates for erythroid differentiation. Clustering analysis classified the differentially expressed genes into four subtypes that corresponded to dynamic changes during stemness maintenance, mid-differentiation, and maturation. Integrated analysis revealed that noncoding RNAs potentially participated in controlling blood cell maturation, and especially associated with heme metabolism and responses to oxygen species and DNA damage. These regulatory interactions were displayed in a comprehensive network, thereby inferring correlations between RNAs and their associated functions. These data provided a substantial resource for the study of normal erythropoiesis, which will permit further investigation and understanding of erythroid development and acquired erythroid disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human embryonic stem cells (hES cells) are pluripotent and provide a unique, unlimited resource for human hepatocytes, which can serve as a novel cell source for cell transplantation and bioartificial liver (BAL). Here, we have developed a procedure by which hES cells can differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells. After being cultured in suspension in bacteriological petri dishes for 7 d, hES cells developed into cystic embryoid bodies (EBs). The EBs were then cultured in conditional medium containing dexamethasone and insulin in collagen type I-coated tissue culture dishes for two weeks. The hES cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) displayed some morphologic characteristics of hepatocytes. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence cell staining proved that the induced HLCs expressed several hepatocyte specific genes including AFP, ALB, CYP1B1 and cytokeratins CK18 and CK19. Furthermore, the induced cells executed a range of hepatocyte functions, such as ICG uptake/excretion, glycogen deposits, albumin production and ammonium metabolism. Taken together, our results show that HLCs exhibit similar morphologic, phenotypic, and functional characteristics to hepatocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]