Single-cell profiling reveals three endothelial-to-hematopoietic transitions with divergent isoform expression landscapes

https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-025-00740-z 11th November 2025

Article highlights & insights

Hemogenic endothelium (HE) is recognised as the origin of all definitive blood cells, including haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs); however, the mechanisms governing the haematopoietic progenitor versus HSC fate choice within the HE remain unknown.

Here the authors combine differentiation assays with full-length single-cell transcriptome data for extra-embryonic yolk sac (YS) and intra-embryonic aorta–gonad–mesonephros (AGM) region HE populations. They identified and localised three differentiation trajectories, each containing a distinct HE subset: erythromyeloid progenitor-primed HE in the YS plexus, lymphomyeloid progenitor-primed HE in large YS arteries and haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell-primed HE in the AGM. Chromatin modifiers and spliceosome components were enriched in AGM HE. This correlated with a higher isoform complexity of the AGM HE transcriptome.

Distinct AGM HE-specific isoform expression patterns were observed for a broad range of genes, including stemness-associated factors like Runx1.

These data form a unique resource for studying cell fate decisions in different HE populations.

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