Description
A leukemia cell fraction highly enriched for LSCs was generated in a mouse model of AML induced by co-expression of MLL target genes Hoxa9 and Meis1. Limit dilution transplantation analyses performed on various prospectively isolated leukemia cell subpopulations revealed that cells capable of transplanting AML to syngeneic recipient mice (the operational definition of LSCs) were highly enriched in the leukemia cell fraction displaying an immunophenotype (Lin- Sca1- c-kit+ CD16/32+ CD34+) comparable to normal GMPs, referred to as L-GMPs. For the purpose of identifying genes that are differentially expressed in LSCs, microarray expression profiling was performed on L-GMPs (from leukemic mice) and GMPs (from normal mouse BM) purified by flow cytometry.