Transcriptomic fingerprinting of bone marrow-derived hepatic β2m−/Thy-1+ stem cells

The aim of the present study was to determine if the bone marrow (BM) β2m−/Thy-1+ stem cells isolated from common bile duct ligated (CBDL) rats possess hepatocyte-like characteristics in their global gene expression profiles. The Affymetrix RG U34A arrays were used to conduct transcriptomic profiling on BM β2m−/Thy-1+ stem cells isolated from CBDL and control rats as well as primary hepatocytes. Forty-one probe sets were up-regulated more than 2-fold in CBDL-derived β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells compared to control BM stem cells. Twenty-seven probe sets were present in both CBDL-derived β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells and control hepatocytes but absent in control β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells, including Tcf1 and Dbp. Compared to the control β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells, CBDL-derived β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells shared more commonly expressed genes with hepatocytes. Overall, CBDL-derived β2m−/Thy-1+ stem cells displayed a different transcriptomic fingerprint compared with β2m−/Thy-1+ BM stem cells isolated from control rats; and CBDL-derived β2m−/Thy-1+ stem cells started to express some hepatocyte-like genes.