Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-16-2026
Original Citation
Safina K,
Salik B,
Kotliar D,
Curtis M,
Good J,
Weng C,
David S,
Raychaudhuri S,
Kreso A,
Trowbridge JJ,
Sankaran V,
van Galen P.
An inflammatory and quiescent HSC subpopulation expands with age in humans. Genome Biol. 2026;27(1):30.
Keywords
JMG, Humans, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Aging, Inflammation, Single-Cell Analysis, Cellular Senescence, NF-kappa B
JAX Source
Genome Biol. 2026;27(1):30.
ISSN
1474-760X
PMID
41546063
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-03936-z
Grant
v.G. and J.J.T. are supported by the NIH (U01AG077925), the Edward P. Evans Foundation, and the Vera and Joseph Dresner Founda- tion. J.J.T. is a Scholar of Blood Cancer United and supported by NIH grants R01DK118072 and R01AG069010 and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.
Abstract
Aging of the blood system impacts systemic health and can be traced to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Despite multiple reports on human HSC aging, a unified map detailing their molecular age-related changes is lacking. We developed a consensus map of gene expression in HSCs by integrating seven single-cell datasets. This map reveals previously unappreciated heterogeneity within the HSC population. It also links inflammatory pathway activation (TNF/NFκB, AP-1) and quiescence within a single gene expression program. This program dominates an inflammatory HSC subpopulation that increases with age, highlighting a potential target for further experimental studies and anti-aging interventions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.