Figure 5

RNA-seq identified the downregulation of transcription factors involved in erythroid differentiation of HSPCs in the myeloma microenvironment. (A) Heatmap of differentially expressed genes in CD34⁺ cells from MM patients and healthy controls. (B) GSEA comparison of gene expression inCD34⁺ cells from MM patients and normal controls with respect to erythrocyte development (upper panel) and positive regulation of erythrocyte differentiation (lower panel). The normalized enrichment scores (NESs), p values and FDR q-values are indicated in each plot. (C) GSEA revealed that the expression of the transcription factors GATA1 and KLF1 was significantly decreased in CD34⁺ cells from MM patients. (D) KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway enrichment analysis of the genes involved in the chemokine signalling pathway. CCL3 was upregulated in CD34⁺ cells from myeloma patients. (E) RT-PCR indicated that the expression of the transcription factors GATA1 and KLF1 was significantly decreased in CD34⁺ cells from MM patients. (F) RT-PCR indicated that the expression of CCL3 was significantly increased in CD34⁺ cells from MM patients.