Human adipose tissue contains erythroid progenitors expressing fetal hemoglobin

Figure 2 Hematopoietic transcription factors genes are expressed in isolated stromal vascular fraction cell populations. A: Freshly isolated CD45⁺ and CD45^- cells from stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and CD34⁺ cells from cord blood (CB) or adult peripheral blood (PB) were isolated via immunomagnetic methods and used for a gene expression analysis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The transcripts were normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH); B: CB CD34⁺ cells and CD45⁺ and CD45^- cells from the SVF were cultured in liquid serum-free medium containing early-acting cytokines for 7 d and then analyzed by RT-PCR to determine changes in the expression of selected genes. The transcripts were normalized to GAPDH, and the ratio between the gene quantity in cultured cells and the gene quantity in isolated cells was determined to yield a normalized fold change. CB CD34⁺ cells, n = 6-8; PB CD34⁺ cells, n = 3-4; SVF populations - CD45⁺ cells, n = 6; CD45^- cells, n = 6. Levels of statistical significance: ^aP < 0.02, ^bP < 0.001. ND: Not detected. All samples were assayed in duplicate. SVF: Stromal vascular fraction; CB: Cord blood; PB: Peripheral blood; GAPD: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.