OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Stem cell fate can be influenced by metabolite levels in culture but it is unknown whether physiological variations in metabolite levels regulate stem cell function within normal tissues. We developed a metabolomics method for analysis of rare cell populations isolated directly from tissues and used it to compare haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to restricted haematopoietic progenitors. Each haematopoietic cell type had a distinct metabolic signature. Human and mouse HSCs had unusually high levels of ascorbate, which declined with differentiation. Systemic or cell autonomous ascorbate depletion in mice increased HSC frequency and function and promoted myelopoiesis. Ascorbate regulated HSC function in part through Tet2, a dioxygenase tumor suppressor enzyme. Ascorbate depletion cooperated with Flt3ITD leukaemic mutations to accelerate leukaemogenesis, and this was reversed by dietary ascorbate. Therefore physiological variations in ascorbate levels in vivo regulate Tet activity, regeneration and leukaemogenesis.
