Bloodspot: A Web Resource Facilitating the Analysis of Transcriptional Programs in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis

Decades of studies on developing cells in human and murine haematopoiesis have resulted in a large number of gene-expression datasets that may answer questions regarding normal and aberrant blood formation. To researchers and clinicians with limited bioinformatics experience, these data remain available, yet largely inaccessible. Current resources provide information about gene-expression patterns but disregard key aspects such as genetic co-regulation of genes, and the effects on patient survival.

Here, we present a new web-based resourced termed, BloodSpot, which provides a) a comprehensive representation of gene-expression throughout haematopoiesis, b) a single gene-based Kaplan-Meier analysis and c) a novel, simpler, yet more informative, type of expression plot. Significantly, users can compare their own expression profiles to normal haematopietic populations within the statistical framework of Bloodspot. We illustrate the potential of key features in BloodSpot to identify new putative C/EBPa targets.

Accessible at http://servers.binf.ku.dk/bloodspot/