| Introduction |
| Haematopoiesis serves as a model system for the multi-lineage differentiation of adult stem cells. The current paradigm of sorting cells based on cell surface markers and performing functional assays to reconstruct the hierarchy of haematopoietic stem cell differentiation is evolving. There is a growing emphasis on transcriptional drivers that assign cell states by altering the genomic landscape. Cell type specific expression of transcription factors, and cell type specific accessibility of enhancer elements, control gene expression profiles that give blood cells of various lineages their distinct identities. A core set of transcription factors work in combination to regulate gene expression in HSPCs. Knowledge of how these transcription factors cooperate with each other and interact with other lineage specific transcription factors to regulate gene expression during HSPC differentiation is key to improving our understanding of normal blood development and how these processes are corrupted in leukaemia. |
| What is BloodChIP? |
BloodChIP is a user friendly database that integrates genome-wide binding profiles of haematopoietic transcription factors in human blood cell types with chromatin accessibility profiles from the Human Epigenome Atlas and corresponding gene expression. An interactive web interface allows users to query BloodChIP and ascertain the relative expression level of their genes across different cell types. Importantly, the user is then able to associate expression levels in these cell fractions with chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding profiles in primary human HSPCs and other cell types to gain insights into the transcriptional regulation of these genes. The database supports exploration and selection based on either genes or transcription factors of interest. All queries, as well as the complete database, can be exported by the user for further data analysis.
To start using the database
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Table 1. Datasets currently in BloodChIP (updated 20-Sept-2013)
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| How to cite |
| Chacon D, Beck D, Perera D, Wong JWH and Pimanda JE. BloodChIP: An Atlas of Genome-wide Transcription Factor Binding Profiles in Human Haematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan;42(Database issue):D172-7. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkt1036 |
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