Fig. 1: Chemical screening platform.

a Framework of the experimental design. b Schematic diagram of multi-cell one-step PCR. Cells were collected into one tube containing enzymes and primers, frozen at –80 °C, and then underwent multi-site reverse transcription (RT) and sequence-specific amplification (SSA). The pre-amplified cDNA was ready for the subsequent qRT-PCR based gene quantification. Collection of 2,000 fresh human CD34-positive cells and detection of ACTB, CD34, GATA2 and THY1 transcript levels in HSPCs (bottom right corner). c A dot plot showing the result of primary chemical screening. Using the chemical screening platform, 2,000 human CD34-positive cells exposed to 186 individual small molecules were assayed for relative transcript expression of ACTB and CD34. IMDM supplemented with serum substitute served as control. C, CHIR-99021; F, Forskolin; O, OAC1