Description
The homeodomain protein Meis1 is essential for definitive hematopoiesis and vascular patterning in the mouse embryo. Our present study suggested it exerts two distinguishable effects in differentiating ES cells. First, it increases the numbers of hematopoietic progenitors and extends their persistence in culture. Second, Meis1 skews hematopoietic differentiation by suppressing erythroid while enhancing megakaryocytic progenitor differentiation. To identify the underlying transcriptional bases of these actions, we carried out microarray analysis to compare the various populations of cells developing in ES differentiation cultures in the presence and absence of Meis1 induction.