scholarly journals Biomechanical Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells in the Developing Embryo

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Paulina D. Horton ◽  
Sandeep P. Dumbali ◽  
Krithikaa Rajkumar Bhanu ◽  
Miguel F. Diaz ◽  
Pamela L. Wenzel

Abstract Purpose of Review The contribution of biomechanical forces to hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) development in the embryo is a relatively nascent area of research. Herein, we address the biomechanics of the endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT), impact of force on organelles, and signaling triggered by extrinsic forces within the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM), the primary site of HSC emergence. Recent Findings Hemogenic endothelial cells undergo carefully orchestrated morphological adaptations during EHT. Moreover, expansion of the stem cell pool during embryogenesis requires HSC extravasation into the circulatory system and transit to the fetal liver, which is regulated by forces generated by blood flow. Findings from other cell types also suggest that forces external to the cell are sensed by the nucleus and mitochondria. Interactions between these organelles and the actin cytoskeleton dictate processes such as cell polarization, extrusion, division, survival, and differentiation. Summary Despite challenges of measuring and modeling biophysical cues in the embryonic HSC niche, the past decade has revealed critical roles for mechanotransduction in governing HSC fate decisions. Lessons learned from the study of the embryonic hematopoietic niche promise to provide critical insights that could be leveraged for improvement in HSC generation and expansion ex vivo.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Mohammadalipour ◽  
Miguel F. Diaz ◽  
Sumedha Pareek ◽  
Pamela L. Wenzel

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 3568-3568
Author(s):  
Mattias Magnusson ◽  
Melissa Romero ◽  
Sacha Prashad ◽  
Ben Van Handel ◽  
Suvi Aivio ◽  
...  

Abstract Expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) ex vivo has been difficult due to limited understanding of their growth requirements and the molecular complexity of their natural microenvironments. To mimic the niches in which human HSCs normally develop and expand during ontogeny, we have derived two unique types of stromal niche cells from the first trimester human placenta and the fetal liver. These lines either support maintenance of multipotential progenitors in culture, or promote differentiation into macrophages. Impressively, the supportive lines facilitate over 50,000-fold expansion of the most immature human HSCs/progenitors (CD34+CD38-Thy1+) during 8-week culture supplemented with minimal cytokines FLT3L, SCF and TPO, whereas the cells cultured on non-supportive stroma or without stroma under the same conditions differentiated within 2 weeks. As the supportive stroma lines also facilitate differentiation of human hematopoietic progenitors into myeloid, erythroid and B-lymphoid lineages, we were able to show that the expanded progenitors preserved full multipotentiality during long-term culture ex vivo. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the supportive stroma lines also direct differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) into hematopoietic progenitor cells (CD45+CD34+) that generate multiple types of myeloerythroid colonies. These data imply that the unique supportive niche cells can both support hematopoietic specification and sustain a multilineage hematopoietic hierarchy in culture over several weeks. Strikingly, the supportive effect from the unique stromal cells was dominant over the differentiation effect from the non-supportive lines. Even supernatant from the supportive lines was able to partially protect the progenitors that were cultured on the non-supportive lines, whereas mixing of the two types of stroma resulted in sustained preservation of the multipotential progenitors. These results indicate that the supportive stroma cells possess both secreted and surface bound molecules that protect multipotentiality of HSCs. Global gene expression analysis revealed that the supportive stroma lines from both the placenta and the fetal liver were almost identical (r=0.99) and very different from the non-supportive lines that promote differentiation (r=0.34), implying that they represent two distinct niche cell types. Interestingly, the non-supportive lines express known mesenchymal markers such as (CD73, CD44 and CD166), whereas the identity of the supportive cells is less obvious. In summary, we have identified unique human stromal niche cells that may be critical components of the HSC niches in the placenta and the fetal liver. Molecular characterization of these stroma lines may enable us to define key mechanisms that govern the multipotentiality of HSCs.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 2708-2717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha J. England ◽  
Kathleen E. McGrath ◽  
Jenna M. Frame ◽  
James Palis

Abstract In the hematopoietic hierarchy, only stem cells are thought to be capable of long-term self-renewal. Erythroid progenitors derived from fetal or adult mammalian hematopoietic tissues are capable of short-term, or restricted (102- to 105-fold), ex vivo expansion in the presence of erythropoietin, stem cell factor, and dexamethasone. Here, we report that primary erythroid precursors derived from early mouse embryos are capable of extensive (106- to 1060-fold) ex vivo proliferation. These cells morphologically, immunophenotypically, and functionally resemble proerythroblasts, maintaining both cytokine dependence and the potential, despite prolonged culture, to generate enucleated erythrocytes after 3-4 maturational cell divisions. This capacity for extensive erythroblast self-renewal is temporally associated with the emergence of definitive erythropoiesis in the yolk sac and its transition to the fetal liver. In contrast, hematopoietic stem cell-derived definitive erythropoiesis in the adult is associated almost exclusively with restricted ex vivo self-renewal. Primary primitive erythroid precursors, which lack significant expression of Kit and glucocorticoid receptors, lack ex vivo self-renewal capacity. Extensively self-renewing erythroblasts, despite their near complete maturity within the hematopoietic hierarchy, may ultimately serve as a renewable source of red cells for transfusion therapy.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Na Yoon Paik ◽  
Grace E. Brown ◽  
Lijian Shao ◽  
Kilian Sottoriva ◽  
James Hyun ◽  
...  

Over 17,000 people require bone marrow transplants annually, based on the US department of Health and Human Services (https://bloodcell.transplant.hrsa.gov). Despite its high therapeutic value in treatment of cancer and autoimmune disorders, transplant of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) is limited by the lack of sufficient source material due primarily inadequate expansion of functional HSCs ex vivo. Hence, establishing a system to readily expand human umbilical cord blood or bone marrow HSCs in vitro would greatly support clinical efforts, and provide a readily available source of functional stem cells for transplantation. While the bone marrow is the main site of adult hematopoiesis, the fetal liver is the primary organ of hematopoiesis during embryonic development. The fetal liver is the main site of HSC expansion during hematopoietic development, furthermore the adult liver can also become a temporary extra-medullary site of hematopoiesis when the bone marrow is damaged. We have created a bioengineered micropatterned coculture (MPCC) system that consists of primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) islands surrounded and supported by 3T3-J2 mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Long-term establishment of stable PHH-MPCC allows us to culture and expand HSC in serum-free medium supplemented with pro-hematopoietic cytokines such as stem cell factor (SCF) and thrombopoietin (TPO). HSCs cultured on this PHH-MPCC microenvironment for two weeks expanded over 200-fold and formed tight clusters around the periphery of the PHH islands. These expanded cells also retained the expression of progenitor markers of Lin-, Sca1+, cKit+, as well as the long-term HSC phenotypic markers of CD48- and CD150+. In addition to the phenotypic analysis, the expanded cells were transplanted into lethally irradiated recipient mice to determine HSC functionality. The expanded cells from the PHH-MPCC microenvironment were able to provide multi-lineage reconstitution potential in primary and secondary transplants. With our bioengineered MPCC system, we further plan to scale up functional expansion of human HSC ex vivo and to better understand the mechanistic, cell-based niche factors that lead to maintenance and expansion HSC. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Yu ◽  
Wenqian Yang ◽  
Xiaoxiao He ◽  
Chiqi Chen ◽  
Wenrui Li ◽  
...  

Bone marrow niche cells have been reported to fine-tune HSC stemness via direct interaction or secreted components. Nevertheless, how niche cells control HSC activities remains largely unknown. We previously showed that angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) can support the ex vivo expansion of HSCs by binding to human leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B2 (LILRB2). However, how ANGPTL2 from specific niche cell types regulates HSC activities under physiological conditions is still not clear. Herein, we generated an Angptl2-flox/flox transgenic mouse line and conditionally deleted Angptl2 expression in several niche cells, including Cdh5+ or Tie2+ endothelial cells, Prx1+ mesenchymal stem cells and Pf4+ megakaryocytes, to evaluate its role in the regulation of HSC fate. Interestingly, we demonstrated that only endothelial cell-derived ANGPTL2 and not ANGPTL2 from other niche cell types plays important roles in supporting repopulation capacity, quiescent status and niche localization. Mechanistically, ANGPTL2 enhances PPARD expression to transactivate G0s2 to sustain the perinuclear localization of nucleolin to prevent HSCs from entering the cell cycle. These findings reveal that endothelial cell-derived ANGPTL2 serves as a critical niche component to maintain HSC stemness, which may benefit the understanding of stem cell biology in bone marrow niches and the development of a unique strategy for the ex vivo expansion of HSCs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 956-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guruchandar Arulmozhivarman ◽  
Martin Stöter ◽  
Marc Bickle ◽  
Martin Kräter ◽  
Manja Wobus ◽  
...  

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) generate all cell types of the blood and are crucial for homeostasis of all blood lineages in vertebrates. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a rapidly evolving technique that offers potential cure for hematologic cancers, such as leukemia or lymphoma. HSCT may be autologous or allogenic. Successful HSCT depends critically on the abundance of engraftment-competent HSPCs, which are currently difficult to obtain in large numbers. Therefore, finding compounds that enhance either the number or the activity of HSPCs could improve prognosis for patients undergoing HSCT and is of great clinical interest. We developed a semiautomated screening method for whole zebrafish larvae using conventional liquid handling equipment and confocal microscopy. Applying this pipeline, we screened 550 compounds in triplicate for proliferation of HSPCs in vivo and identified several modulators of hematopoietic stem cell activity. One identified hit was valproic acid (VPA), which was further validated as a compound that expands and maintains the population of HSPCs isolated from human peripheral blood ex vivo. In summary, our in vivo zebrafish imaging screen identified several potential drug candidates with clinical relevance and could easily be further expanded to screen more compounds.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (15) ◽  
pp. 3453-3460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalija Buza-Vidas ◽  
Min Cheng ◽  
Sara Duarte ◽  
Hojjatollah Nozad Charoudeh ◽  
Sten Eirik W. Jacobsen ◽  
...  

Abstract Originally cloned from hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) populations and its ligand being extensively used to promote ex vivo HSC expansion, the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3; also called FLK2) receptor and its ligand (FL) were expected to emerge as an important physiologic regulator of HSC maintenance and expansion. However, the role of FLT3 receptor and ligand in HSC regulation remains unclear and disputed. Herein, using Fl-deficient mice, we establish for the first time that HSC expansion in fetal liver and after transplantation is FL independent. Because previous findings in Flk2−/− mice were compatible with an important role of FLT3 receptor in HSC regulation and because alternative ligands might potentially interact directly or indirectly with FLT3 receptor, we here also characterized HSCs in Flk2−/− mice. Advanced phenotypic as well as functional evaluation of Flk2−/− HSCs showed that the FLT3 receptor is dispensable for HSC steady-state maintenance and expansion after transplantation. Taken together, these studies show that the FLT3 receptor and ligand are not critical regulators of mouse HSCs, neither in steady state nor during fetal or posttransplantation expansion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfang Lu ◽  
Miao Liu ◽  
Jennifer Yang ◽  
Sherman M. Weissman ◽  
Xinghua Pan ◽  
...  

AbstractThe hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche has been extensively studied in bone marrow, yet a more systematic investigation into the microenvironment regulation of hematopoiesis in fetal liver is necessary. Here we investigate the spatial organization and transcriptional profile of individual cells in both wild type (WT) and Tet2−/− fetal livers, by multiplexed error robust fluorescence in situ hybridization. We find that specific pairs of fetal liver cell types are preferentially positioned next to each other. Ligand-receptor signaling molecule pairs such as Kitl and Kit are enriched in neighboring cell types. The majority of HSCs are in direct contact with endothelial cells (ECs) in both WT and Tet2−/− fetal livers. Loss of Tet2 increases the number of HSCs, and upregulates Wnt and Notch signaling genes in the HSC niche. Two subtypes of ECs, arterial ECs and sinusoidal ECs, and other cell types contribute distinct signaling molecules to the HSC niche. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive picture and bioinformatic foundation for HSC spatial regulation in fetal liver.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 3746-3746
Author(s):  
Mo Yang ◽  
Jieyu Ye ◽  
Enyu Liang ◽  
Chunfu Li ◽  
Beng H Chong

Abstract Objective: Thrombocytopenia is a common clinical problem in patients with cancer or bone marrow transplantation. Currently it is mainly managed by platelet transfusion. Repeated platelet transfusions are associated with the risks of transfusion reactions/alloimmunisation and may lead to platelet refractoriness. Infusion of ex vivo expanded megakaryocytic (MK) progenitor cells is other strategy for the treatment of thrombocytopenia. This study aimed to establish efficient conditions for the expansion of the MK progenitors from enriched CD34(+) cells of umbilical cord blood. Methods: This study investigated the effect of flt-3 ligang (FL), stem cell factor (SCF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in combination with other megakaryocyte-promoting cytokines such as thrombopoietin (TPO) on the differentiation and proliferation of megakaryocytic progenitors. As an early acting growth factor, FL may promote the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. We compared the effects of FL and SCF in combination with other megakaryocyte-promoting cytokines in megakaryocytic progenitors. Results: In liquid cultures of enriched CD34+ cells from human umbilical cord blood for 14 days, FL plus TPO, interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-6 promoted the expansion of nucleated cells, CD34+ cells, CD34+ CD38- cells, and megakaryocyte colony-forming units (CFU-MK) by 300 +/- 115-, 23.8 +/- 11.3-, 33.9 +/- 28.6-, and 584 +/- 220-fold, respectively. Replacing FL with SCF significantly decreased the yield of all cell types. While one human acute lymphoblastic leukemia sample expressed high levels of flt-3 receptor, the four megakaryocytic cell lines (Meg-01, CHRF-288-11, M-07e, and Dami) did not show any positive expression. Our data suggest that the effect of FL in augmenting the expansion of MK progenitors might be due to the early action of FL at the pluripotent stem cell stage. Our results also demonstrated that TPO alone produced a high proportion of CD61(+)CD41(+) cells but a low total cell count and high cell death, resulting in an inferior expansion. The addition of in IL-1 beta, FL and to a lesser extent IL-3 improved the expansion outcome. The treatment groups with three to five cytokines produced efficient expansions of CFU-MK up to 400-fold with the highest yield observed in the presence of TPO, IL-1 beta, IL-3, IL-6 and FL. CD34(+) cells were expanded by five to 22-fold. PDGF improved the expansion of all cell types with CD61(+)CD41(+) cells, CFU-MK and CD34(+) cells increased by 101%, 134% and 70%, respectively. More significantly, PDGF enhanced the engraftment of human CD45+ cells and their myeloid subsets (CD33+, CD14+ cells) in NOD/SCID mice. Conclusions: This study showed that the present cytokine combination and expansion conditions provide an effective and potentially useful system for the clinical expansion of cord blood for bone marrow transplantation (BMT). PDGF might be a suitable growth factor to improve the ex vivo expansion of MK progenitors for clinical applications. Disclosures Yang: National Natural Science Foundation of China: Other: National Natural Science Foundation of China(81270580).


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 1167-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben S. Lam ◽  
Cynthia Cunningham ◽  
Gregor B. Adams

Abstract The ability of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to undergo self-renewal is partly regulated by external signals originating from the stem cell niche. Our previous studies with HSCs obtained from fetal liver of mice deficient for the calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) have shown the crucial role of this receptor in HSC lodgment and engraftment in the bone marrow (BM) endosteal niche. Using a CaR agonist, Cinacalcet, we assessed the effects of stimulating the CaR on the function of murine HSCs. Our results show that CaR stimulation increases primitive hematopoietic cell activity in vitro, including growth in stromal cell cocultures, adhesion to extracellular matrix molecules such as collagen I and fibronectin, and migration toward the chemotactic stimulus, stromal cell-derived factor 1α. Receptor stimulation also led to augmented in vivo homing, CXCR4-mediated lodgment at the endosteal niche, and engraftment capabilities. These mechanisms by which stimulating the CaR dictates preferential localization of HSCs in the BM endosteal niche provide additional insights into the fundamental interrelationship between the stem cell and its niche. These studies also have implications in the area of clinical stem cell transplantation, where ex vivo modulation of the CaR may be envisioned as a strategy to enhance HSC engraftment in the BM.


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