3039 – YAP REGULATES HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL FORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THE BIOMECHANICAL FORCES OF BLOOD FLOW

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are born from cells in the dorsal aorta that adopt hematopoietic potential and commitment during development. Physical forces, namely wall shear stress (WSS) and cyclic stretch (CS), produced by hemodynamic blood flow are required to generate HSCs from arterial endothelium, but the mechanisms by which these forces are transduced into a “stemness” regulatory program remain unknown. Using a novel...