scholarly journals Pharmacological Regulation of Oxidative Stress in Stem Cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungwoon Lee ◽  
Yee Sook Cho ◽  
Haiyoung Jung ◽  
Inpyo Choi
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Regenerative Medicine ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Cellular Oxidation

Oxidative stress results from an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant defense mechanisms. The regulation of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation is crucial for early development and tissue homeostasis. Recent reports have suggested that the balance between self-renewal and differentiation is regulated by the cellular oxidation-reduction (redox) state; therefore, the study of ROS regulation in regenerative medicine has emerged to develop protocols for regulating appropriate stem cell differentiation and maintenance for clinical applications. In this review, we introduce the defined roles of oxidative stress in pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and discuss the potential applications of pharmacological approaches for regulating oxidative stress in regenerative medicine.

scholarly journals Clonal-level lineage commitment pathways of hematopoietic stem cells in vivo

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 1447-1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Lu ◽  
Agnieszka Czechowicz ◽  
Jun Seita ◽  
Du Jiang ◽  
Irving L. Weissman
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cell ◽  
Lineage Commitment ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Hematopoietic System ◽  
Different Levels

While the aggregate differentiation of the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) population has been extensively studied, little is known about the lineage commitment process of individual HSC clones. Here, we provide lineage commitment maps of HSC clones under homeostasis and after perturbations of the endogenous hematopoietic system. Under homeostasis, all donor-derived HSC clones regenerate blood homogeneously throughout all measured stages and lineages of hematopoiesis. In contrast, after the hematopoietic system has been perturbed by irradiation or by an antagonistic anti-ckit antibody, only a small fraction of donor-derived HSC clones differentiate. Some of these clones dominantly expand and exhibit lineage bias. We identified the cellular origins of clonal dominance and lineage bias and uncovered the lineage commitment pathways that lead HSC clones to different levels of self-renewal and blood production under various transplantation conditions. This study reveals surprising alterations in HSC fate decisions directed by conditioning and identifies the key hematopoiesis stages that may be manipulated to control blood production and balance.

scholarly journals Osteoblast ablation reduces normal long-term hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal but accelerates leukemia development

Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 125 (17) ◽  
pp. 2678-2688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Bowers ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Yinwei Ho ◽  
Puneet Agarwal ◽  
Ching-Cheng Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cell ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Leukemia Development

Key Points Bone marrow OB ablation leads to reduced quiescence, long-term engraftment, and self-renewal capacity of hematopoietic stem cells. Significantly accelerated leukemia development and reduced survival are seen in transgenic BCR-ABL mice following OB ablation.

Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) Dampens Self-Renewal and Promotes Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Mouse Models

Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 2460-2460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hairui Su ◽  
Szu-Mam Liu ◽  
Chiao-Wang Sun ◽  
Mark T. Bedford ◽  
Xinyang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Bone Marrow Transplantation ◽  
Arginine Methylation ◽  
Poly I:C ◽  
Differentiation Potential ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Arginine Methyltransferase ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem

Protein arginine methylation is a common type of post-translational modification. PRMT1, the major type I protein arginine methyltransferase, catalyzes the formation of asymmetric dimethyl-arginine and is implicated in various cellular processes, including hematopoiesis and tumorigenesis. We have shown that PRMT1 expression is naturally low in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). However, the functions of PRMT1 in hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are yet to be revealed. We have found a cyanine-based fluorescent probe (E84) that can specifically label PRMT1 protein. E84 staining dynamically captures intracellular PRMT1 level and was used to separate live HSC populations with differential PRMT1 expression by flow cytometry. Subsequent bone marrow transplantation of E84high or E84low Lin−Sca1+cKit+ (LSK) cells showed that E84low LSK cells were much more advantageous in reconstituting each blood cell lineages, compared to the E84high counterparts, meaning that the stem-ness of HSCs is negatively correlated with endogenous PRMT1. Therefore, inhibition of PRMT1 was expected to enhance the number and differentiation potential of functional HSCs. The treatment of a PRMT1-specific inhibitor (MS023) to mice resulted in an enlarged LT-HSC population in bone marrow and decreased frequency of granulocyte progenitor cells. In vitro colony formation assays further demonstrated that PRMT1 is required for GMP differentiation. Then we asked whether copious expression of PRMT1 promotes the differentiation of HSC. In this line, we made a LoxP-STOP-LoxP-PRMT1 transgenic mouse model, which induces PRMT1 overexpression upon the expression of Cre recombinase from tissue-specific promoters. We established Mx1-Cre-PRMT1 (Mx1-Tg) mice. Mx1-Tg mice were injected with poly(I:C) for PRMT1 induction and analyzed at four weeks after the last dose. We found that, as predicted, LT-HSC population was reduced and the Pre-GM population was raised. Accordingly, more CFU-Gs but less GEMMs were grown on CFU assays. We further utilized this animal model to compare the blood reconstitution capabilities of bone marrow cells from Mx1-Tg vs. WT mice in the same repopulating conditions. We performed competitive bone marrow transplantation by injecting Mx1-Tg/WT (CD45.2) bone marrow plus supporting cells (CD45.1) to irradiated mice, followed by 5 doses of poly(I:C) induction. Recipient mice were analyzed during a course of approximately 16 weeks. Mx1-Tg cells were outcompeted by WT cells in reconstituting every blood lineages. Taken together, we conclude that PRMT1 promotes HSC differentiation and accelerates HSC exhaustion during the stress caused by bone marrow irradiation. To understand the mechanism on PRMT1-mediated stress hematopoiesis, we also made Pf4-Cre PRMT1 transgenic mice. When PRMT1 is specifically expressed in MK cells, the number of LT-HSCs was also reduced, implying that PRMT1 affects the self-renewal of LT-HSCs via communication between MK cells and HSCs. Mechanistically, two PRMT1 substrates - RBM15 and DUSP4 - are critical for stem cell self-renewal. We further characterized how PRMT1 activates p38 kinase pathway via directly methylating DUSP4 thus induces ubiquitylation and degradation of DUSP4. The arginine methylation site on DUSP4 has been identified. Moreover, introducing methyl-R mutated DUSP4 back to PRMT1-overexpressing cells partially rescued the loss of HSC differentiation potential. This data adds a new link between arginine methylation and protein phosphorylation mediated by MAP kinases/phosphatases. In addition, we discovered that RBM15 controls alternative RNA splicing and RNA processing in a PRMT1-dosage dependent manner. In this report, we will further address how RBM15 target genes, such as enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolic pathways, affect HSC differentiation. In summary, we report that arginine methylation is a novel regulator for the HSC differentiation via controlling p38-regulated stress pathway and metabolic reprogramming. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Essential Role of Jun Family Transcription Factors in PU.1-Induced Leukemic Stem Cell Transformation.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 463-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Steidl ◽  
Frank Rosenbauer ◽  
Roel G.W Verhaak ◽  
Xuesong Gu ◽  
Hasan H. Otu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Malignant Transformation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Leukemic Stem Cell ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Transcriptional Pattern

Abstract Knockdown of the expression of the myeloid master regulator PU.1 leads to the development of an immature acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice. Recent reports suggest that functional inactivation of PU.1 might also play a role in human AML. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying PU.1-mediated malignant transformation are unknown. We examined leukemic PU.1 knockdown mice and found a 3-fold expansion of lin-, c-kit+, Sca1+ (KLS) hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) as compared to wildtype controls, which was not observed during the preleukemic phase. When we transplanted double-sorted leukemic KLS-HSC into NOD-SCID mice the recipients developed AML after 9–12 weeks indicating that the leukemic stem cells derive from the HSC compartment. This finding prompted us to examine the transcriptome of PU.1 knockdown preleukemic HSC to identify early transcriptional changes underlying their malignant transformation. After lineage-depletion and FACS sorting of preleukemic KLS-HSC we performed linear amplification of RNA by 2 cycles of RT-IVT and hybridized the cRNA with Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 arrays. Principal component analysis as well as hierarchical cluster analysis clearly distinguished PU.1 knockdown and wildtype HSC. Several in-vitro targets of PU.1 such as c-Fes, BTK, TFEC, CSF2R, and Ebi3 were downregulated demonstrating that those are also affected in HSC in vivo. Differential expression of 16 genes was corroborated by qRT-PCR. Strikingly, several Jun family transcription factors including c-Jun and JunB were downregulated. Retroviral restoration of c-Jun expression in bone marrow cells of preleukemic mice rescued the PU.1-initiated myelomonocytic differentiation block in this early phase. To target cells in the leukemic stage we applied lentiviral vectors expressing c-Jun or JunB. While c-Jun did not affect leukemic proliferation, lentiviral restoration of JunB led to an 80% reduction of clonogenic growth and a loss of leukemic self-renewal capacity in serial replating assays. Expression analysis of 285 patients with AML confirmed the correlation between PU.1 and JunB downregulation and suggests its relevance in human disease. These results delineate a transcriptional pattern that precedes leukemic transformation in PU.1 knockdown HSC and demonstrate that downregulation of c-Jun and JunB contribute to the development of PU.1-induced AML by blocking differentiation (c-Jun) and increasing self-renewal (JunB). Therefore, examination of disturbed gene expression in preleukemic HSC can identify genes whose dysregulation is essential for leukemic stem cell function and are potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

Antibody-Based Depletion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Empties Niches for Efficient Transplantation.

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. LB2-LB2
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Czechowicz ◽  
Daniel L. Kraft ◽  
Deepta Bhattacharya ◽  
Irving L. Weissman
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Conditioning Regimen ◽  
Myeloablative Conditioning ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Exact Function ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Conditioning Regimens

Abstract Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are used therapeutically in bone marrow/hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (BMT/HSCT) to correct hematolymphoid abnormalities. Upon intravenous transplantation, HSCs can home to specialized bone marrow niches, self-renew and differentiate and thus generate a new, complete hematolymphoid system. Unfortunately BMT has had limited applications, due to the risks associated with the toxic conditioning regimens, such as irradiation and chemotherapy, that are deemed necessary for HSC engraftment. Elimination of these toxic conditioning regimens could expand the potential applications of BMT to include many non-malignant hematologic disorders, a wide variety of autoimmune disorders such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis, as well as in the facilitation of organ transplantation. The exact function of these traditional myeloablative conditioning regimens is not clear. To elucidate the barriers of HSC engraftment, we transplanted 50–1000 purified HSCs (Ckit+Lin−Sca1+CD34+CD150−) into immunodeficient, Rag2−/− or Rag2−/−gc−/− recipient mice and show that HSC engraftment levels rarely exceed 0.5% following transplantation without toxic conditioning, indicating that the immune system is not the only barrier to engraftment. Additionally, we did not observe a significant increase in HSC engraftment when HSC doses of >250 cells were transplanted. Even when up to 18000 HSC were transplanted, we did not see a linear increase in HSC engraftment, indicating that the increased doses of HSCs transplant inefficiently. We believe this is due to the naturally low frequency of available HSC niches, which we postulate may result from the physiologic migration of HSCs into circulation. Conversely, separation of the graft into small fractions and the subsequent time-delayed transplantation of these doses did result in increased engraftment due to the natural physiologic creation of new available HSC niches. When 1800 HSC were transplanted daily for seven days, the engraftment was 6.1-fold higher than transplantation of 12800 HSC in a single bolus. Here, we provide evidence that, aside from immune barriers, donor HSC engraftment is restricted by occupancy of appropriate niches by host HSCs. Through elimination of host HSCs we are able to increase available HSC niches for engraftment. We have developed a novel system where HSCs can be eliminated by targeting C-kit, a cell surface antigen that is highly expressed on the surface of HSCs. Cultivation of HSCs with ACK2, a depleting antibody specific for c-kit, prevented stem-cell factor (SCF) dependent HSC proliferation in vitro and resulted in cell death. Administration of ACK2 to mice led to the rapid and transient removal of >98% of endogenous HSCs in vivo thus resulting in equal numbers of available niches for engraftment. Following ACK2 clearance from serum, transplantation of these animals with donor HSCs led to chimerism levels of up to 90%, representing a 180-fold increase as compared to unconditioned animals. This non-myeloablative conditioning regimen had few side effects, other than temporary loss of coat color. The HSCs in even untransplanted animals rapidly recovered and animals remained healthy and fertile. This work redefines the way we approach BMT/HSCT, and places great emphasis on the necessity to create available HSC niches prior to transplantation. Extrapolation of these methods to humans may enable efficient yet mild conditioning regimens for transplantation, thus expanding the potential applications of BMT/HSCT.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Cycling Dynamics In Steady State and Upon Hematopoietic Challenge

Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 572-572
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Takizawa ◽  
Chandra S Boddupalli ◽  
Roland R Regoes ◽  
Sebastian Bonhoeffer ◽  
Markus G Manz
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Blood Formation ◽  
Serial Transplantation ◽  
Limiting Dilution

Abstract Abstract 572 Life-long blood production is maintained by a small fraction of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Steady-state HSC cycling kinetics have been evaluated by in vivo labeling assays with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) (Cheshier et. al., PNAS 1999; Kiel et al., Nature 2007), biotin (Nygren et. al., 2008) and histon 2B-green fluorescent protein (H2B-GFP) transgenic mouse models (Wilson et. al., 2008; Foudi et. al., 2009). While the former studies showed that all HSCs equally divide and likely contribute to blood formation (clonal maintenance), the latter suggested that some HSCs divide frequently and contribute to blood formation until cell death or full differentiation, while some HSCs are quiescent and then get activated to follow the same fate as frequently dividing ones (clonal succession). However, due to low resolution, none of the labeling techniques used were able to track single cell divisions. Furthermore, methods used might have direct influence on cycling activity of HSCs. Thus it remains to be determined a) if HSC divide continuously, sequentially or repetitively and contribute to steady-state hematopoiesis, b) what is a relationship between divisional history and repopulating ability, and c) how self-renewal and differentiation capacity of HSC is impacted by naturally-occurring severe hematopoietic challenges as infections. To address this directly, we set up a high resolution non-invasive in vivo HSC divisional tracking assay with CFSE (carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester). We here show that i.v. transfer of CFSE-labeled HSCs into non-conditioned congenic recipient mice allows evaluation of steady-state HSC cycling-dynamics as CFSE is equally distributed to daughter cells upon cellular division. Transfer of Lin-c-kit+Sca-1+ cells (LKS) into non-irradiated mice revealed non- and 1–7x divided LKS in recipient bone marrow over 20 weeks. To test in vivo limiting dilution and single cell HSC potential, non- or ≥5x divided cells were sorted based on divisional history from primary recipients at different weeks after transplantation, and transplanted into lethally irradiated secondary recipients. Single non-divided LKS at 3 weeks post primary transfer was able to multi-lineage repopulate 24% of recipients long-term, while 50 of ≥5x divided LKS did not engraft. Interestingly, both non- and ≥5x divided LKS at 7 or 12–14 weeks after primary transfer engrafted and showed fluctuating contribution to multi-lineage hematopoiesis over serial transplantation. Mathematical modeling based on limiting dilution transplantation, revealed no evidence for a dichotomy of biologically defined HSCs in different groups. Instead, steady-state serial transplantation with temporary fast-cycling cells revealed that they can slow down over time, suggesting dynamically changing cycling activity of HSC. We next tested the effects of hemato-immunological challenge on HSC proliferation. Mice transplanted with CFSE-labeled LKS cells were repetitively treated with LPS. Analysis 8 days after final LPS injection, i.e. three weeks after steady-state transplantation revealed that all LKS entered cell cycle and the number of ≥5x divided LKS was increased. Secondary transplantation showed that 2–4 time and ≥5x divided LKS from LPS-treated mice reconstituted multi-lineage hematopoiesis whereas both fractions from control mice failed to engraft. This data clearly indicate that HSCs are activated from quiescence upon LPS challenge and provide evidence, that naturally-occurring hemato-immunological challenges, such as gram-negative bacterial infection induces proliferation and self-renewal of HSCs. Our data suggest in contrast to previously proposed concepts, a novel “dynamic repetition” model for HSC cycling activity and blood formation where some HSCs participate in hematopoiesis for a while, subsequently enter a resting phase and get reactivated again to contribute to blood formation in repetitive cycles, leading to homogenous total divisional history of all HSCs at end of life. These findings might represent a biological principle that could hold true for other somatic stem cell-sustained organ-systems and might have developed during evolution to ensure equal distribution of work-load, efficient recruitment of stem cells during demand, and reduction of risk to acquire genetic alterations or fatal damage to the whole HSC population at any given time. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Enhanced Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal Enabled by Controlling Feedback Signaling From Lineage Committed Cells

Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 1274-1274
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Csaszar ◽  
Daniel Kirouac ◽  
Mei Yu ◽  
Caryn Ito ◽  
Peter W. Zandstra
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Population ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Stem Cell Population ◽  
Fed Batch ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Cell Numbers

Abstract Abstract 1274 Clinical outcomes of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation are correlated with infused progenitor cell dose. Limited cell numbers in a typical umbilical cord blood (UCB) unit restricts the therapeutic potential of UCB and motivates ex vivo expansion of these cells. Strategies to grow HSCs have relied on the supplement of molecules acting directly on the stem cell population; however, in all cases, sustained HSC growth is limited by the concurrent growth of more mature cells and their endogenously produced inhibitory signaling factors. Despite increasing evidence for the important role of intercellular (between cell) communication networks, the identity and impact of non-stem cell autonomous feedback signaling remains poorly understood. Simultaneous kinetic tracking of more than 30 secreted factors produced during UCB culture, including TGF-b1, MIP-1b, and MCP-1, in combination with computational simulations of cell population dynamics, enabled us to develop a global control strategy predicted to reduce inhibitory paracrine signaling and, consequently, increase HSC self-renewal. By maintaining endogenously produced ligands at specified levels using a tuneable fed-batch (automated media dilution) strategy, we achieved significant improvements in expansions of total cell numbers (∼180-fold), CD34+ cells (∼80-fold), and NOD/SCID/IL-2Rgc-null (NSG) repopulating cells (∼11-fold, detected at limiting dilution). The fed-batch strategy has been integrated into an automated bioreactor, allowing for the generation of a clinically-relevant cell product after 12 days of culture, with minimal user manipulation. As this strategy targets the HSC environment and not the stem cells directly, it has the ability to act in combination with other expansion strategies to produce synergistic results. Unexpectedly, supplementation of the soluble protein, TAT-HOXB4, to the system, yielded the expected boost in progenitor expansion only in “sub-optimal” control conditions but not in the fed-batch system. Hypothesizing that the efficacy of HOXB4 may be dependent on the skewing of supportive vs. non-supportive cell populations, and the consequent impact of paracrine ligand production, we performed kinetic tracking of 20 hematopoietic cell types during several supportive (fed-batch, HOXB4 supplemented, Notch ligand Delta1 supplemented) vs. non-supportive (control) cultures. Meta analysis of these data revealed a non-autonomous link between HOXB4, increased megakaryocyte production, and stem cell proliferation, as well as between Notch delta-1 ligand, decreased myeloid cell production, and a decrease in the growth inhibition of stem cells. These predictions have been experimentally validated using co-cultures of sorted purified HSCs and CD41+ megakaryocykes and CD14+ monocytes. Our results identify complex connections between mature cell lineages and stem cell fate decisions and we expect to report a direct link between cell-cell interactions emerging from culture manipulations and the resulting impact on HSC self-renewal. Collectively, these studies support a dominant role for non-stem cell autonomous feedback signaling in the regulation of HSC self-renewal. Overcoming cell non-autonomous inhibition of HSC self-renewal has allowed for novel strategies to enhance HSC numbers ex vivo, thereby facilitating the production of clinically relevant quantities of stem and progenitor cells and enabling more effective strategies to treat hematologic disease. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Interferons and by DNA Methylation: Implications for Bone Marrow Failure

Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. SCI-20-SCI-20
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Goodell
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow Failure ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
Primary Myelofibrosis ◽  
Differentiation Potential ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem

Bone marrow failure (BMF), the inability to regenerate the differentiated cells of the blood, has a number of genetic and environmental etiologies, such as mutation of telomere-associated protein genes and immune-related aplastic anemia. Recently, mutations in DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) have been found to be associated with approximately 15% of cases of primary myelofibrosis (MF), which can be a cause of BMF. The role of DNMT3A more broadly in hematopoiesis, and specifically in BMF, is currently poorly understood. DNMT3A is one of two de novo DNA methylation enzymes important in developmental fate choice. We showed that Dnmt3a is critical for normal murine hematopoiesis, as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from Dnmt3a knockout (KO) mice displayed greatly diminished differentiation potential while their self-renewal ability was markedly increased1, in effect, leading to failure of blood regeneration or BMF. Combined with loss of Dnmt3b, HSCs exhibited a profound differentiation block, mediated in part by an increase of stabilized b-catenin. While we did not initially observe bone marrow pathology or malignancy development in mice transplanted with Dnmt3a KO HSCs, when we aged a large cohort of mice, all mice succumbed to hematologic disease within about 400 days. Roughly one-third of mice developed frank leukemia (acute lymphocytic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia), one-third developed MDS, and the remainder developed primary myelofibrosis or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. The pathological characteristics of the mice broadly mirror those of patients, suggesting the Dnmt3a KO mice can serve as a model for human DNMT3A-mutation associated disease. Strikingly, bone marrow of mice with different disease types exhibit distinct DNA methylation features. These will findings and the implications for disease development will be discussed. We are currently investigating the factors that drive different outcomes in the mice, including stressors such as exposure to interferons. We have hypothesized that HSC proliferation accelerates the Dnnmt3a-associated disease phenotypes. We have previously shown that interferons directly impinge on HSCs in the context of infections. Interferons activate HSCs to divide, generating differentiated progeny and cycling HSCs. Repeated interferon stimulation may permanently impair HSC function and bias stem cell output. When combined with loss of Dnmt3a, interferons may promote BMF. We will discuss broadly how external factors such as aging and infection may collaborate with specific genetic determinants to affect long-term hematopoiesis and malignancy development. Reference: Challen GA, Sun D, Jeong M, et al. Dnmt3a is essential for hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. Nat Genet 2012; 44: 23-31 Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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