Genome-wide analysis of promoter and enhancer usage in hematopoietic stem cell differentiation

Background Somatic stem cells are the basic tools of regenerative medicine and gene therapy, providing unique opportunities for the therapy of genetic and acquired disorders. The molecular mechanisms underlying fundamental characteristics of human somatic stem cells, such as selfrenewal, commitment and differentiation, are still poorly understood. A better knowledge of these mechanisms is crucial to the understanding of stem cell biology and to the development of stem cell-based therapies. The rapidly expanding information on the structural and functional characteristics of the human genome allows the development of genome-wide approaches to investigate the molecular circuitry wiring the genetic and epigenetic programs of somatic stem cells. High-throughput approaches are essential to study the transcriptome, the epigenome and the usage of regulatory elements in the genome.