title: Primed and ready: understanding lineage commitment through single cell analysis.
abstract: Regulation of lineage commitment in multipotential cells is key to maintaining a balanced hematopoietic output throughout life while retaining the capacity to respond to stress and infection. Cell fate decisions are made by individual stem cells, but population-level analysis obscures the mechanics of cell fate choice by averaging the molecular and functional heterogeneity that exists even in the most highly purified stem cell populations. Therefore, single cell analysis of both molecular and cellular phenotypes is crucial to delineate and interrogate the process of lineage commitment. We review recent single cell expression profiling, imaging, and clonal tracking studies that have provided new insights into commitment, focusing on the hematopoietic system, and suggest how new technologies may illuminate our understanding of lineage commitment in the near future.
authors.affiliation: University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, Huntley Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: r.nimmo@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rachael A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nimmo
authors.affiliation: University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, Huntley Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Gillian E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: May
authors.affiliation: University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, Huntley Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Tariq
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Enver
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
keywords: commitment; hematopoiesis; hematopoietic stem cell; multilineage priming; single cell