Hematopoietic Stem - and Progenitor Cells Are Differentially Mobilized in Response to Flt3-Ligand

Abstract Flt3 is a tyrosine kinase receptor expressed mainly on primitive hematopoietic cells and its ligand, Flt3-ligand (FL), is a slowly mobilizing agent in mice when administered for 5–10 days. This provides a time-frame to study the HPC and HSC migration kinetics in detail. BALB/c mice were injected for 3, 5, 7 and 10 days with FL (10 ug/day, intraperitoneally). Mobilization of hematopoietic stem- and progenitor cells was studied using colony-forming-unit granulocyte/monocyte (CFU-GM) and cobblestone-area-forming-cell (CAFC) assays. The radioprotective capacity of mobilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was studied by transplantation of 1.5 × 106 FL-mobilized PBMNC into lethally irradiated (9.5 Gy) recipients. Hematopoietic progenitor cell mobilization was detected from day 3 onwards and prolonged administration of FL showed a steady increase in mobilized progenitor cells (CFU-GM; 23.1±20.1 [PBS], 219.0±213.7 [3 days FL, n=10], 1,007.8±742 [5 days FL, n=21], 3,526.6±1,406 [7 days FL, n=10] and 19,149±2,338 [10 days FL, n=10]). Administration of FL for 10 days lead to a 5.5-fold increase in CAFC-week 4, compared to FL administration for 5 days (0.69 vs 0.13 CAFC per 105 PBMC respectively) and a 5.0-fold increase in CAFC-week 5 (0.27 vs 0.05 CAFC per 105 PBMC respectively). No CAFC week 4/5 were found in PBMC obtained from PBS-injected control mice. Transplantation of 5-day FL-mobilized PBMC did not radioprotect lethally irradiated recipients (mean survival time (MST): 66 days; MST PBS: 13 days). In contrast, transplantation of PBMC obtained from a 10-day FL mobilization regime radioprotected 100% of the recipients (Table 1). These results indicate that HPC and HSC show different mobilization kinetics in response to FL, resulting in preferential mobilization of HPC at day 5, followed by HSC mobilization at day 10. We speculate that this difference in mobilization kinetics might be due to the selective recruitment of HPC and HSC from their respective bone marrow compartments. Table 1. HPC and HSC frequencies in peripheral blood following Flt3-ligand-induced mobilization CFU-GM per ml PB CAFC-day 28 per 105cells CAFC-day 35 per 105cells % Radioprotection day 150 * fold increase compared to 5 day FL 5 days Flt3-L 1,007 (n=21) 0.126 0.054 0 (n=10) 10 days Flt3-L 19,149 (n=10) (19.0)* 0.694 (5.5)* 0.272 (5.0)* 100 (n=10)

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Directed Differentiation of Mobilized Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells into Functional NK Cells with Enhanced Antitumor Activity

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells9040811 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 811

Author(s):

Pranav Oberoi ◽

Kathrina Kamenjarin ◽

Jose Francisco Villena Ossa ◽

Barbara Uherek ◽

Halvard Bönig ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nk Cells ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Cell Expansion ◽

Nk Cell ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Feeder Cells ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Cd34 Cells ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells

Obtaining sufficient numbers of functional natural killer (NK) cells is crucial for the success of NK-cell-based adoptive immunotherapies. While expansion from peripheral blood (PB) is the current method of choice, ex vivo generation of NK cells from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSCs) may constitute an attractive alternative. Thereby, HSCs mobilized into peripheral blood (PB-CD34+) represent a valuable starting material, but the rather poor and donor-dependent differentiation of isolated PB-CD34+ cells into NK cells observed in earlier studies still represents a major hurdle. Here, we report a refined approach based on ex vivo culture of PB-CD34+ cells with optimized cytokine cocktails that reliably generates functionally mature NK cells, as assessed by analyzing NK-cell-associated surface markers and cytotoxicity. To further enhance NK cell expansion, we generated K562 feeder cells co-expressing 4-1BB ligand and membrane-anchored IL-15 and IL-21. Co-culture of PB-derived NK cells and NK cells that were ex-vivo-differentiated from HSCs with these feeder cells dramatically improved NK cell expansion, and fully compensated for donor-to-donor variability observed during only cytokine-based propagation. Our findings suggest mobilized PB-CD34+ cells expanded and differentiated according to this two-step protocol as a promising source for the generation of allogeneic NK cells for adoptive cancer immunotherapy.

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In Vitro Manipulation of Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cell Collections

The International Journal of Artificial Organs ◽

10.1177/039139889802106s01 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 21 (6_suppl) ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

C. Carlo-Stella ◽

V. Rizzoli

Keyword(s):

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Progenitor Cell ◽

High Dose ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cells ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Therapy Strategies ◽

Mobilized Peripheral Blood

Mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) are increasingly used to reconstitute hematopoiesis in patients undergoing high-dose chemoradiotherapy. PBPC collections comprise a heterogeneous population containing both committed progenitors and pluripotent stem cells and can be harvested (i) in steady state, (ii) after chemotherapeutic conditioning, (iii) growth factor priming, or (iv) both. The use of PBPC has opened new therapeutic perspectives mainly related to the availability of large amounts of mobilized hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Extensive manipulation of the grafts, including the possibility of exploiting these cells as vehicles for gene therapy strategies, are now possible and will be reviewed.

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Human CD34+Cells Mobilized by AMD3100 Demonstrate Enhanced NOD/SCID Repopulating Function Compared to CD34+ Cells Mobilized by Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor.

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v106.11.1962.1962 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 106 (11) ◽

pp. 1962-1962 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David A. Hess ◽

Louisa Wirthlin ◽

Timothy P. Craft ◽

Jesper Bonde ◽

Ryan W. Lahey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Progenitor Cells ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Paired Comparison ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Human Cells ◽

Lymphoid Cells ◽

Post Transplantation ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Cd34 Cells

Abstract Interactions between stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1 or CXCL12), and its receptor CXCR4 regulate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell retention in the bone marrow. AMD3100, a bicyclam molecule that selectively blocks the interaction between CXCL12 and CXCR4, has recently been used in clinical trials to rapidly mobilize hematopoietic progenitor cells. However, the functional properties of human stem and progenitor cells mobilized with this agent are not well characterized. Here, we directly compared the NOD/SCID repopulating function of CD34+ cells rapidly mobilized (4 hours) by AMD3100 versus CD34+ cells mobilized after 5 days of G-CSF treatment. A total of 7 HLA-matched sibling donors were leukapheresed after a single injection of 240ug/kg AMD3100. After 1 week of drug clearance, the same donor was mobilized with G-CSF, allowing a paired comparison of the repopulating function of cells mobilized by the two agents. Total CD34+ cells mobilized by AMD3100 treatment averaged 1.2±0.4x106 CD34+ cells/kg (range 0.4–2.1x106 CD34+ cells/kg), as compared to G-CSF treatment at 3.2±0.9x106 CD34+ cells/kg (range 1.7–5.7 x106 CD34+ cells/kg). Leukapheresis total mononuclear cell (MNC) fraction or purified CD34+ cells (>90% purity), were isolated and transplanted into sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice at varying doses. BM, spleen, and peripheral blood of mice were harvested 7–8 weeks post-transplantation and analyzed by flow cytometry for the presence or absence of engrafting human cells. Low frequency human engraftment events (<0.2% human cells) were confirmed by PCR for P17H8 alpha-satellite human DNA sequences. Injection of 1–40x106 MNC or 0.5–5x105 CD34+ cells produced consistent human engraftment and allowed limiting dilution analysis using Poisson statistics to be performed on paired samples of AMD3100 and G-CSF leukapheresis products from 3 individual patients. The calculated frequencies of NOD/SCID repopulating cells (SRC) were 1 SRC in 11.5x106 AMD3100-mobilized MNC (n=50) compared to 1 SRC in 44.8x106 G-CSF-mobilized MNC (n=55). For purified CD34+ populations, the overall frequency of repopulating cells was 1 SRC in 1.0x105 AMD3100-mobilized CDC34+ cells (n=53) compared to 1 SRC in 3.1x105 G-CSF-mobilized CD34+ cells (n=45). These data correspond to a 3–4-fold increase in overall repopulating function demonstrated by AMD3100 mobilized cells. Multilineage hematopoietic differentiation of transplanted CD34+ cells was similar for AMD3100 and G-CSF-mobilized CD34+ cells, with equivalent production of myelo-monocytic cells (CD33+CD14+), immature B-lymphoid cells (CD19+CD20+), and primitive repopulating (CD34+CD133+CD38−) cells 7–8 weeks post-transplantation. These studies indicate that human AMD3100-mobilized MNC and purified CD34+ cells possess enhanced repopulating capacity, as compared to G-CSF mobilized counterparts from the same donor. Thus, AMD3100 mobilized peripheral blood represents a rapidly obtained and highly functional source of repopulating hematopoietic stem cells for clinical transplantation procedures.

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Enrichment of CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells from Human Bone Marrow Using a P-Selectin-Coated Microtube.

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v110.11.1219.1219 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 110 (11) ◽

pp. 1219-1219

Author(s):

Srinivas D. Narasipura ◽

Jane L. Liesveld ◽

Joel C. Wojciechowski ◽

Nichola Charles ◽

Karen Rosell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Adhesion Molecule ◽

Mononuclear Cells ◽

Single Cells ◽

Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells ◽

Cell Capture ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Coated Surfaces

Abstract Enrichment and purification of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) is important in transplantation therapies for hematological disorders and for basic stem cell research. Primitive CD34+ HSPCs have demonstrated stronger rolling adhesion than mature CD34- mononuclear cells on selectins (Blood2000; 95:478–486). We have exploited this differential rolling behavior to capture and purify HSPCs from bone marrow, by perfusing mononuclear cells through selectin-coated microtubes. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were perfused through the cell capture microtubes coated with adhesion molecules. These utilized a parallel plate flow chamber (Glycotech), and the P-selectin was adsorbed with laboratory tubing of appropriate lengths attached to the inlet, outlet, and vacuum ports of the gasket chamber. After perfusion, the device lumen was washed and captured cells were visualized and estimated by video microscopy. “Rolling” cells were defined as cells translating at less than 50% of the calculated hydrodynamic free stress velocity. Velocities of single cells were determined using a MATLAB program designed to measure the change in position of the cell centroid in a given time period. Adherent cells were eluted by high shear, calcium free buffer and air embolism. Immunofluorescence staining followed by flow cytometry was used to analyze CD34+ HSPCs. CD34+ HSPC purity of cells captured in adhesion molecule-coated devices was significantly higher than the fraction of CD34+ cells found in bone marrow- mononuclear cells (2.5 ± 0.8%). P-selectin coated surfaces yielded 16–20% CD34+ cell purity, while antibody coated surfaces yielded 12–18%. Although the CD34+ cell purities were comparable between selectin and antibody surfaces, the total number of CD34+ HSPCs captured was significantly higher in P-selectin devices (∼5.7–7.1 × 104) when compared to the antibody device (∼1.74–2.61 × 104). Furthermore, analysis for cells positive for CD133, a surface marker for more primitive HSPCs, depicted approximately 10–14 fold enrichment in P-selectin samples over control bone marrow mononuclear cells. The captured cells were viable and exhibited in vitro colony forming capabilities. Thus, P-selectin can be used in a compact flow device to capture and enrich HSPCs. This study supports the hypothesis that flow-based adhesion molecule-mediated capture may be a viable physiologic approach to the capture and purification of HSPCs.

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Disruption of CXCR4 Utilizing AMD3100 Bypasses Mobilization Deficiency Exhibited by CD26−/− Mice and Results in Efficient Mobilization of Myeloid Progenitors

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v112.11.3492.3492 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 112 (11) ◽

pp. 3492-3492

Author(s):

Laura A. Paganessi ◽

Andrew L. Walker ◽

Stephanie A. Gregory ◽

Henry C. Fung ◽

Kent W. Christopherson

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Blood Cell ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Cxcr4 Antagonist ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Genetically Engineered Mice ◽

Colony Forming Units ◽

Myeloid Progenitors

Abstract The exopeptidase CD26 (also known as DPPIV/dipeptidylpeptidase IV) cleaves dipeptides from the N-terminus of proteins that contain the required X-Pro or X-Ala motif. We have previously reported that inhibition or loss of CD26 activity results in a deficiency in normal granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) induced mobilization, suggesting that CD26 is a necessary component of mobilization (Christopherson, et al Blood 2003 and Christopherson, et al Exp Hematol 2003). The chemokine CXCL12 (SDF-1, stromal cell derived factor-1) contains the appropriate recognition sequence for CD26 induced cleavage. This combined with the importance of CXCL12 in the trafficking of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSC/HPC) suggests CXCL12 as a likely functional target of CD26 during G-CSF induced mobilization. For this reason we therefore decided to investigate whether genetically engineered mice lacking CD26 (CD26−/−) could be mobilized utilizing the CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100. To evaluate this, ten week old C57BL/6 and CD26−/− mice (also on a C57BL/6 background) received a single subcutaneous injection of AMD3100 (1mg/1kg). One hour following injection the mice were euthanized by CO2 inhalation. Peripheral blood was then obtained by heart stick with a 1.2 ml syringe containing EDTA as an anticoagulant. A complete blood count was taken for each peripheral blood sample. Following red blood cell lysis, cells were plated for myeloid colony formation in a standard 1% methylcellulose colony assay containing the appropriate cytokines. Following 7 days of incubation at 5% O2, 5% CO2 and 37°C plates were scored for colony-forming units-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM), burst-forming units-erythroid (BFU-E), and colony-forming units-granulocyte, erythroid, macrophage, and megakaryocytic (CFU-GEMM). Data is presented as the number of colonies per femur for the bone marrow and as the number of colonies per ml of whole blood for the peripheral blood. AMD3100 treatment resulted in an increase in white blood cell (WBC) counts from 5.05±0.48 × 106/ml in untreated mice to 10.21±0.88×106/ml in treated mice (p≤0.01). An increase in WBC counts was also observed during AMD3100 treatment in CD26−/− mice from 7.77±1.28×106/ml in untreated mice to 16.7 ±2.11 × 106/ml in treated mice (p<0.01). AMD3100 treatment resulted in an increase in circulating myeloid progenitors in the peripheral blood of C57BL/6 and CD26−/− mice as compared to untreated C57BL/6 and CD26−/− mice respectively (p≤0.01). Specifically, a 2.38, 3.75, 12.33 fold increase in CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM were observed in the peripheral blood of C57BL/6 mice after treatment. A 2.63, 5.48, 14.29 fold increase in CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM were observed in the peripheral blood of CD26−/− mice after treatment. Existing pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that the CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100, rapidly mobilizes hematopoietic progenitor cells from the bone marrow into the periphery. The results presented here provide pre-clinical evidence that disruption of the interaction between the CXCR4 chemokine receptor and CXCL12, via sub-cutaneous injection of AMD3100, mobilizes significant numbers of myeloid progenitors in mice, even in the absence of CD26. These results support the notion that CD26 is downstream of G-SCF treatment. Additionally, these results support the potential use of AMD3100 to treat patients that may have an altered ability to respond to G-CSF treatment as a result of a reduction or loss in CD26 activity. Future studies are warranted to evaluate potential variations in CD26 levels or activity in the general population, in differing patient populations, and during different treatment regimens.

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ALL Cells Mobilized by AMD3100 Are More Proliferative, and Remain In the Circulation Longer Than Normal HSC, Enhancing the Action of Vincristine

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v116.21.2137.2137 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 116 (21) ◽

pp. 2137-2137 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Linda J. Bendall ◽

Robert Welschinger ◽

Florian Liedtke ◽

Carole Ford ◽

Aileen Dela Pena ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Bone Marrow Microenvironment ◽

Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽

Cxcr4 Antagonist ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Cell Mobilization ◽

Cycle Dependent

Abstract Abstract 2137 The chemokine CXCL12, and its receptor CXCR4, play an essential role in homing and engraftment of normal hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow, with the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 inducing the rapid mobilization of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells into the blood in mice and humans. We have previously demonstrated that AMD3100 similarly induces the mobilization of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells into the peripheral blood. The bone marrow microenvironment is thought to provide a protective niche for ALL cells, contributing to chemo-resistance. As a result, compounds that disrupt leukemic cell interactions with the bone marrow microenvironment are of interest as chemo-sensitizing agents. However, the mobilization of normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells may also increase bone marrow toxicity. To better evaluate how such mobilizing agents affect normal hematopoietic progenitors and ALL cells, the temporal response of ALL cells to the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 was compared to that of normal hematopoietic progenitor cells using a NOD/SCID xenograft model of ALL and BALB/c mice respectively. ALL cells from all 7 pre-B ALL xenografts were mobilized into the peripheral blood by AMD3100. Mobilization was apparent 1 hour and maximal 3 hours after drug administration, similar to that observed for normal hematopoietic progenitors. However, ALL cells remained in the circulation for longer than normal hematopoietic progenitors. The number of ALL cells in the circulation remained significantly elevated in 6 of 7 xenografts examined, 6 hours post AMD3100 administration, a time point by which circulating normal hematopoietic progenitor levels had returned to baseline. No correlation between the expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 or the adhesion molecules VLA-4, VLA-5 or CD44, and the extent or duration of ALL cell mobilization was detected. In contrast, the overall motility of the ALL cells in chemotaxis assays was predictive of the extent of ALL cell mobilization. This was not due to CXCL12-specific chemotaxis because the association was lost when correction for background motility was undertaken. In addition, AMD3100 increased the proportion of actively cells ALL cells in the peripheral blood. This did not appear to be due to selective mobilization of cycling cells but reflected the more proliferative nature of bone marrow as compared to peripheral blood ALL cells. This is in contrast to the selective mobilization of quiescent normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells by AMD3100. Consistent with these findings, the addition of AMD3100 to the cell cycle dependent drug vincristine, increased the efficacy of this agent in NOD/SCID mice engrafted with ALL. Overall, this suggests that ALL cells will be more sensitive to effects of agents that disrupt interactions with the bone marrow microenvironment than normal progenitors, and that combining agents that disrupt ALL retention in the bone marrow may increase the therapeutic effect of cell cycle dependent chemotherapeutic agents. Disclosures: Bendall: Genzyme: Honoraria.

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Prostaglandin E2 Inhibits Apoptosis in Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells and Enhances Their Survival Following Sub-Lethal Radiation Injury,

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v118.21.3401.3401 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 118 (21) ◽

pp. 3401-3401

Author(s):

Rebecca L Porter ◽

Mary A Georger ◽

Laura M Calvi

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Radiation Injury ◽

Bone Marrow Cells ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Cox 2 ◽

Apoptotic Genes

Abstract Abstract 3401 Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are responsible for the continual production of all mature blood cells during homeostasis and times of stress. These cells are known to be regulated in part by the bone marrow microenvironment in which they reside. We have previously reported that the microenvironmentally-produced factor Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) expands HSPCs when administered systemically in naïve mice (Porter, Frisch et. al., Blood, 2009). However, the mechanism mediating this expansion remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that in vivo PGE2 treatment inhibits apoptosis of HSPCs in naïve mice, as measured by Annexin V staining (p=0.0083, n=6–7 mice/group) and detection of active-Caspase 3 (p=0.01, n=6–7 mice/group). These data suggest that inhibition of apoptosis is at least one mechanism by which PGE2 expands HSPCs. Since PGE2 is a local mediator of injury and is known to play a protective role in other cell types, we hypothesized that it could be an important microenvironmental regulator of HSPCs during times of injury. Thus, these studies explored the role of PGE2 signaling in the bone marrow following myelosuppressive injury using a radiation injury model. Endogenous PGE2 levels in the bone marrow increased 2.9-fold in response to a sub-lethal dose of 6.5 Gy total body irradiation (TBI)(p=0.0004, n=3–11 mice/group). This increase in PGE2 correlated with up-regulation of microenvironmental Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) mRNA (p=0.0048) and protein levels at 24 and 72 hr post-TBI, respectively. Further augmentation of prostaglandin signaling following 6.5 Gy TBI by administration of exogenous 16,16-dimethyl-PGE2 (dmPGE2) enhanced the survival of functional HSPCs acutely after injury. At 24 hr post-TBI, the bone marrow of dmPGE2-treated animals contained significantly more LSK cells (p=0.0037, n=13 mice/group) and colony forming unit-spleen cells (p=0.037, n=5 mice/group). Competitive transplantation assays at 72 hr post-TBI demonstrated that bone marrow cells from irradiated dmPGE2-treated mice exhibited increased repopulating activity compared with cells from vehicle-treated mice. Taken together, these results indicate that dmPGE2 treatment post-TBI increases survival of functional HSPCs. Since PGE2 can inhibit apoptosis of HSPCs in naïve mice, the effect of dmPGE2 post-TBI on apoptosis was also investigated. HSPCs isolated from mice 24 hr post-TBI demonstrated statistically significant down-regulation of several pro-apoptotic genes and up-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes in dmPGE2-treated animals (3 separate experiments with n=4–8 mice/group in each), suggesting that dmPGE2 initiates an anti-apoptotic program in HSPCs following injury. Notably, there was no significant change in expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Survivin, which has previously been reported to increase in response to ex vivo dmPGE2 treatment of bone marrow cells (Hoggatt et. al., Blood, 2009), suggesting differential effects of dmPGE2 in vivo and/or in an injury setting. Additionally, to ensure that this inhibition of apoptosis was not merely increasing survival of damaged and non-functional HSPCs, the effect of early treatment with dmPGE2 post-TBI on hematopoietic recovery was assayed by monitoring peripheral blood counts. Interestingly, dmPGE2 treatment in the first 72 hr post-TBI significantly accelerated recovery of platelet levels and hematocrit compared with injured vehicle-treated mice (n=12 mice/group). Immunohistochemical analysis of the bone marrow of dmPGE2-treated mice also exhibited a dramatic activation of Cox-2 in the bone marrow microenvironment. This suggests that the beneficial effect of dmPGE2 treatment following injury may occur, both through direct stimulation of hematopoietic cells and also via activation of the HSC niche. In summary, these data indicate that PGE2 is a critical microenvironmental regulator of hematopoietic cells in response to injury. Exploitation of the dmPGE2-induced initiation of an anti-apoptotic program in HSPCs may represent a useful method to increase survival of these cells after sub-lethal radiation injury. Further, amplification of prostaglandin signaling by treatment with PGE2 agonists may also represent a novel approach to meaningfully accelerate recovery of peripheral blood counts in patients with hematopoietic system injury during a vulnerable time when few therapeutic options are currently available. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Disruption of the Normal Hematopoietic Hierarchy Leading to Stem Cell Exhaustion in an Animal Model of Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2019-128707 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 1698-1698

Author(s):

Yang Jo Chung ◽

Peter D. Aplan

Keyword(s):

Stem Cell ◽

Myelodysplastic Syndrome ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Brdu Incorporation ◽

Compensatory Mechanism ◽

Self Renewal ◽

Hematopoietic Stem

The ineffective hematopoiesis that is characteristic of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) suggests functional defects of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC). NUP98-HOXD13 (NHD13) transgenic mice recapitulate many features of human MDS such as ineffective hematopoiesis, peripheral blood cytopenias, dysplasia, and transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and have been used as a pre-clinical model for human MDS. NHD13 mice universally develop signs of MDS (e.g., peripheral blood cytopenia, macrocytosis, dysplasia) at approximately 5 months of age, with median survival of 10 months. Two month old NHD13 mice do not show clear evidence of MDS such as peripheral blood cytopenia, dysplasia, or transformation to AML. Bone marrow nucleated cells (BMNC) from two month old NHD13 mice have a modest 1.3-fold increase of lineage negative (LN) BMNCs compared to age matched WT mice. The increased number of LN BMNCs appeared to be primarily due to a 3.4-fold increase of the LN Sca-1+cKit-(LS+Kˉ) cells, an early lymphoid-committed precursor. Lineage negative Sca-1+ c-Kit+ (LSK) cells, which include the most immature, undifferentiated cells, can be divided into five sub populations, based on expression of Flk2, CD150, and CD48. These populations have been designated Long-Term Hematopoietic Stem Cell (LT-HSC), Short-Term HSC, (ST-HSC), and Multi-Potent Progenitor 2, 3, and 4 (MPP2, MPP3, and MPP4) based on functional assays. Two-month old NHD13 mice had decreased MPP4 (5-fold), decreased LT-HSC (3.6-fold) and increased ST-HSC (2.3-fold) compared with the age matched WT mice. The expansion of ST-HSC two-month old NHD13 mice was associated with increased cell proliferation of ST- HSC, as assessed by bromo-deoxy-uridine (BRDU) incorporation. We next studied LSK subsets from NHD13 mice aged seven months, which coincided with peripheral blood findings consistent with MDS (e.g. anemia, thrombocytopenia, macrocytosis), BM from seven month old NHD13 mice showed significant reductions of all LSK population subsets. LT-HSCs show differential expression of the CD41 antigen, and CD41ˉ LT-HSCs are more quiescent than CD41+ LT-HSCs and are thought to reside at the apex of the hematopoietic differentiation hierarchy. Although there was no difference in the absolute number of quiescent CD41ˉ LT-HSC between two and six month old WT mice, six month old NHD13 mice show a marked decrease (4.2 fold) in CD41ˉ LT-HSCs, suggesting exhaustion of LT-HSC in NHD13 mice. Colony forming assays were used to assess function of the five LSK sub-populations in vitro. LT-HSC and ST- HSC from NHD13 BMNC did not produce any colonies in two independent experiments, whereas MPP2 and MPP3 from NHD13 BMNC produced a similar number and lineage distribution of colonies compared to WT BMNC. This result suggested that HSCs from NHD13 BMNC may be functionally impaired, and that NHD13 hematopoietic progenitor cells may instead be derived primarily from MPP2 and MPP3. To evaluate HSC self-renewal activity, the five LSK subsets from NHD13 BMNC were transplanted to lethally irradiated mice together with 5 x 105 WT BMNC competitor cells. None of the NHD13 LSK sub-populations showed evidence of engraftment. Since NHD13 LN BMNC have previously been shown to be more prone to apoptosis than their WT counterpart, it is possible that lack of engraftment of NHD13 LSK subsets was due to the ex vivo sorting procedure. However, we also considered the possibility that NHD13 lineage positive (LP) BMNC had acquired self-renewal potential, and were contributing to long term hematopoiesis in the NHD13 BM. Therefore, we transplanted LP and LN BMNC from NHD13 or WT mice into WT recipients, again with WT competitor BMNC. Almost half of the NHD13 LP recipients showed long-term (>26 weeks) myeloid engraftment, whereas none of the WT LP recipients showed long term myeloid engraftment. Taken together, these findings suggest that the primitive LT-HSC (LSK Flk2ˉ CD150+CD48ˉ CD41ˉ) from NHD13 BM become exhausted with age, corresponding to the presentation of findings consistent with MDS (peripheral blood cytopenia, macrocytosis). Furthermore, self-renewal activity of NHD13 LP BMNCs suggest the existence of a compensatory mechanism for the homeostasis of hematopoiesis in MDS. Disclosures Aplan: NIH: Patents & Royalties: royalties for the invention of NUP98-HOXD13.

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PTPN11D61Y/+; Vavcre+ Animals Commonly Succumb to Leukemia Relapse Despite Robust Engraftment of Transplanted Wild-Type Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v128.22.496.496 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 128 (22) ◽

pp. 496-496

Author(s):

Stefan P. Tarnawsky ◽

Mervin C. Yoder ◽

Rebecca J. Chan

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Stem Cell ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Wild Type ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Donor Cells ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Leukemia Relapse ◽

Conditioning Regimens

Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) is a rare childhood myelodysplastic / myeloproliferative overlap disorder. JMML exhibits myeloid populations with mutations in Ras-Erk signaling genes, most commonly PTPN11, which confer growth hypersensitivity to GM-CSF. While allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is the treatment of choice for children with JMML, 50% of children succumb to leukemia relapse; however, the mechanism leading to this high relapse rate is unknown. We hypothesized that the hyperinflammatory nature of JMML may damage the bone marrow microenvironment, leading to poor engraftment of normal donor cells following transplant, permitting residual leukemia cells to outcompete the normal graft, and thus promoting leukemia relapse. Using Vav1 promoter-directed Cre, we generated a mouse model of JMML that conditionally expresses gain-of-function PTPN11D61Yin utero during development. While PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+embryos did not demonstrate in utero lethality, we observed a modest reduction of PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ mice at the time of weaning compared to predicted Mendelian frequencies. Further, surviving PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ mice developed elevated peripheral blood leukocytosis and monocytosis as early as 4 weeks of age compared to PTPN11+/+; VavCre+ controls. To address the hypothesis that an aberrant bone marrow microenvironment in the PTPN11D61Y/+ mice leads to poor engraftment of wild-type donor cells following transplant, we examined engraftment of wild-type hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in the PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ mice and monitored animals for disease relapse. 16-24 week-old diseased PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ and control PTPN11+/+; VavCre+ mice were lethally irradiated (11 Gy split dose) and transplanted with 5 x 105 CD45.1+ wild-type bone marrow low density mononuclear cells (LDMNCs), which simulates a limiting stem cell dose commonly available in a human HSCT setting. 6 weeks post-HSCT, PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+recipients demonstrated an unexpected elevated CD45.1+ donor cell contribution in peripheral blood compared to the control PTPN11+/+; VavCre+ recipients. However, despite superior engraftment in the PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ recipients, these mice had a significantly shorter median survival post-HSCT due to a resurgence of recipient CD45.2-derived leukemic cells. We repeated the experiment using a high dose of CD45.1+ LDMNCs (10 x 106 cells) to determine if providing a saturating dose wild-type cells could prevent the relapse of recipient-derived leukemogenesis and normalize the survival of the PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+recipients. While this saturating dose of wild-type cells resulted in high peripheral blood chimerism in both the PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ and PTPN11+/+; VavCre+ recipients, the PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ animals nevertheless demonstrated significantly reduced overall survival. When we examined the cause of mortality in the HSCT-treated PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+mice, we found enlarged spleens, hypercellular bone marrow, and enlarged thymuses. Flow cytometry revealed that the majority of cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen were recipient-derived CD45.2+ CD4+ CD8+ T cells. To verify that the disease was neoplastic in origin, secondary transplants into CD45.1/.2 recipients were performed from two independent primary PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+and two independent primary PTPN11+/+; VavCre+ controls. Secondary recipients of bone marrow from PTPN11D61Y/+; VavCre+ animals rapidly succumbed to a CD45.2-derived T-cell acute lymphoid leukemia (T-ALL). Previous studies demonstrated that wild-type PTPN11 is needed to protect the integrity of the genome by regulating Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) during the mitosis of the cell cycle (Liu et al., PNAS, 2016). We now demonstrate that even when PTPN11 mutant animals are provided with saturating doses of wild-type HSCs, dysregulated residual recipient cells are able to produce relapsed disease. Collectively, these studies highlight the propensity of residual mutant PTPN11 cells to transform after being subjected to mutagenic agents that are commonly used for conditioning regimens prior to allogeneic HSCT. These findings suggest that modified pre-HSCT conditioning regimens bearing reduced mutagenicity while maintaining adequate cytoreductive efficacy may yield lower post-HSCT leukemia relapse in children with PTPN11mutations. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Effect of FLT3 Ligand and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor on Expansion and Mobilization of Facilitating Cells and Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Mice: Kinetics and Repopulating Potential

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v92.9.3177 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 92 (9) ◽

pp. 3177-3188 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Michael Neipp ◽

Tatiana Zorina ◽

Michele A. Domenick ◽

Beate G. Exner ◽

Suzanne T. Ildstad

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽

Mononuclear Cells ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor ◽

Colony Stimulating Factor ◽

Flt3 Ligand ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Murine Bone Marrow ◽

Stimulating Factor

Abstract We have previously identified a cellular population in murine bone marrow that facilitates engraftment of highly purified hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) across major histocompatibility complex (MHC) barriers without causing graft-versus-host disease. Here we investigated the effect of flt3 ligand (FL) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on the mobilization of facilitating cells (FC) and HSC into peripheral blood (PB). Mice were injected with FL alone (day 1 to 10), G-CSF alone (day 4 to 10), or both in combination. The number of FC (CD8+/βTCR−/γδTCR−) and HSC (lineage−/Sca-1+/c-kit+) was assessed daily by flow cytometry. Lethally irradiated allogeneic mice were reconstituted with PB mononuclear cells (PBMC). FL and G-CSF showed a highly significant synergy on the mobilization of FC and HSC. The peak efficiency for mobilization of FC (21-fold increase) and HSC (200-fold increase) was reached on day 10. Our data further suggest that the proliferation of FC and HSC induced by FL in addition to the mobilizing effect mediated by G-CSF might be responsible for the observed synergy of both growth factors. Finally, the engraftment potential of PBMC mobilized with FL and G-CSF or FL alone was superior to PBMC obtained from animals treated with G-CSF alone. Experiments comparing the engraftment potential of day 7 and day 10 mobilized PBMC indicate that day 10, during which both FC and HSC reached their maximum, might be the ideal time point for the collection of both populations. © 1998 by The American Society of Hematology.

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