Visualizing hematopoiesis as a stochastic process

Abstract

Stochastic simulation has played an important role in understanding hematopoiesis, but implementing and interpreting mathematical models requires a strong statistical background, often preventing their use by many clinical and translational researchers. Here, we introduce a user-friendly graphical interface with capabilities for visualizing hematopoiesis as a stochastic process, applicable to a variety of mammal systems and experimental designs.Wedescribe the visualization tool and underlying mathematical model, and then use this to simulate serial transplantations in mice, human cord blood cell expansion, and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. The outcomes of these virtual experiments challenge previous assumptions and provide examples of the flexible range of hypotheses easily testable via the visualization tool.