Pleiotrophin Signaling Is Necessary and Sufficient for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal In Vivo

Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 404-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather A Himburg ◽  
Pamela Daher ◽  
J. Lauren Russell ◽  
Phuong Doan ◽  
Mamle Quarmyne ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 404 Several signaling pathways have been elucidated which regulate hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal, including the Notch, Wnt, HOX and BMP signaling pathways. However, several of these pathways (e.g. Notch, Wnt) may not be necessary for maintenance of HSCs in vivo. We recently demonstrated that treatment of murine and human HSCs with the heparin binding growth factor, pleiotrophin (PTN), was sufficient to induce self-renewal of murine and human HSCs in culture (Himburg, Nat Med, 2010). In order to determine if PTN signaling is necessary for HSC self renewal and normal hematopoiesis in vivo, we examined the bone marrow HSC content and hematopoietic profile of mice bearing a constitutive deletion of PTN (PTN−/− mice) as well as mice bearing constitutive deletion of the PTN receptor, receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase β/ζ (RPTPβ/ζ) (courtesy of Dr. Gonzalo Herradon, Spain and Dr. Sheila Harroch, L'Institut Pasteur, Paris, FR). PTN−/− mice demonstrated no significant differences in total bone marrow (BM) cells or BM colony forming cells (CFCs) but had significantly decreased bone marrow CD34(-)c-kit(+)sca-1(+)lin(-) (34-KSL) cells compared to littermate controls which retained PTN (PTN+/+) mice (0.007% vs. 0.02%, p=0.03). Consistent with this phenotype, PTN−/− mice also contained 2–fold decreased CFU-S12 compared to control PTN+/+ mice (p= 0.003). PTN−/− mice also demonstrated an 11-fold reduction in long-term repopulating HSC content compared to PTN+/+ mice as measured via competitive repopulating assay (12 week CRU frequency: 1 in 6 cells vs. 1 in 66 cells). Taken together, these data demonstrate that PTN signaling is necessary for maintenance of the BM HSC pool in vivo. Since PTN is known to antagonize the phosphatase activity of RPTPβ/ζ, we hypothesized that deletion of RPTPβ/ζ would increase BM HSC self-renewal and result in expansion of the BM HSC pool in vivo. Consistent with this hypothesis, RPTPβ/ζ−/− mice displayed a 1.3-fold increase in total BM cells (p= 0.04), 1.8-fold increase in BM 34-KSL cells (p=0.03), 1.6-fold increase in BM CFCs (p= 0.002) and 1.6–fold increase in BM CFU-S (p< 0.0001). RPTPβ/ζ−/− mice also demonstrated 1.4–fold higher long-term repopulating capacity (12 weeks) following competitive repopulating assay compared to RPTPβ/ζ+/+ mice (Donor CD45.1+ cell engraftment: 4.2% vs. 1.5%). Interestingly, RPTPβ/ζ −/− mice had significantly increased PB white blood cell counts, hemoglobin and platelet counts compared to RPTPβ/ζ+/+ mice coupled with splenomegaly. The RPTPβ/ζ−/− mice also had significantly increased BM vascular density (via quantitative mouse endothelial cell antigen staining) compared to RPTPβ/ζ+/+ mice, suggesting that PTN/RPTPβ/ζ signaling may augment the HSC pool size directly and also indirectly via activation of the BM vascular niche. These results demonstrate that PTN signaling is necessary and sufficient for induction of HSC self-renewal in vivo. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 1292-1292
Author(s):  
Jian Huang ◽  
Peter S. Klein

Abstract Abstract 1292 Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain the ability to self-renew and to differentiate into all lineages of the blood. The signaling pathways regulating hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) self-renewal and differentiation are not well understood. We are very interested in understanding the roles of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (Gsk3) and the signaling pathways regulated by Gsk3 in HSCs. In our recent study (Journal of Clinical Investigation, December 2009) using loss of function approaches (inhibitors, RNAi, and knockout) in mice, we found that Gsk3 plays a pivotal role in controlling the decision between self-renewal and differentiation of HSCs. Disruption of Gsk3 in bone marrow transiently expands HSCs in a μ-catenin dependent manner, consistent with a role for Wnt signaling. However, in long-term repopulation assays, disruption of Gsk3 progressively depletes HSCs through activation of mTOR. This long-term HSC depletion is prevented by mTOR inhibition and exacerbated by μ-catenin knockout. Thus GSK3 regulates both Wnt and mTOR signaling in HSCs, with opposing effects on HSC self-renewal such that inhibition of Gsk3 in the presence of rapamycin expands the HSC pool in vivo. These findings identify unexpected functions for GSK3 in HSC homeostasis, suggest a therapeutic approach to expand HSCs in vivo using currently available medications that target GSK3 and mTOR, and provide a compelling explanation for the clinically prevalent hematopoietic effects of lithium, a widely prescribed GSK3 inhibitor. In the following study, we found that the combination of Gsk3 inhibitor and mTOR inhibitor can expand phenotypic HSCs in vivo and maintain functional HSC in ex vivo culture. This study will provide the basis for a new clinical approach to improve the efficiency of bone marrow transplantation. Disclosures: Klein: Follica: Consultancy.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 385-385
Author(s):  
Sonia Cellot ◽  
Kristin J Hope ◽  
Martin Sauvageau ◽  
Jalila Chagraoui ◽  
Eric Deneault ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 385 Epigenetic modifications influence chromatin accessibility, impacting on cell fate decisions, such as stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, in both normal and leukemic stem cells (LSC). To investigate the putative role of histone demethylases (HDM) in modulating primary hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) fate, an in vivo functional screen was performed, using an RNAi based strategy, involving 25 members of the Jumonji (JmjC) domain protein family. As a first step, expression profile studies of these gene candidates were undertaken. Transcripts of all these enzymes were detected in isolated HSC populations (frequency 1:2) from fetal liver (n=1) and bone marrow (n=2), except for Hairless. As compared to unsorted bone marrow (BM), stem cells harboured higher expression of Jarid1b (relative-fold enrichment (RQ) of 3.9±1.7), Jmjd2d (RQ3.8±1.9), and Jhdm1b (3.1±1.7). Next, 5shRNA were designed against each of the 25 JmjC containing proteins, and cloned into a retroviral LMP vector encoding GFP to permit tracking of transduced cells in vivo. HSC-enriched CD150+CD48−Lin−cells (∼60 LT-HSC) were infected over 5 days by co-culture with retroviral producer cells in an arrayed 96-well format, with one shRNA per well. Directly after infection, the in vivo reconstituting potential of ¼ of each well was evaluated through duplicate competitive repopulation assays involving the co-transplantation of 1.5 × 105 congenic BM competitor cells into irradiated recipients. The remaining cell fraction served to asses gene transfer by GFP epifluorescence measurements, and RNA isolated from sorted GFP+ cells was used to evaluate gene knockdown levels by Q-RT-PCR analysis. Blood reconstitution was evaluated at an early (4wks) and late time point (16–20wks), tracking the contribution of the donor CD45.1+ transduced (GFP+) cells to recipient hematopoiesis over time. As baseline references, sh-RNA to Luciferase (no effect) and the histone acetyl transferase Myst3 (stem cell loss) were used, as well as Hoxb4 over-expression (stem cell expansion). The primary screen, followed by validation experiments, unravelled one positive (Jhdm1f/Phf8) and two negative (Jarid1b, Hif1an) regulators of HSC activity. The strongest impact was seen with Jarid1b knockdown, and the resulting gain in HSC activity. As a confirmation step, cells were kept in culture for one week, to better contrast an increase in HSC activity, compared to control HSC. After 7 days in vitro, 1/8 equivalents of single well cultures were transplanted into 3 mice, and blood reconstitution levels serially assessed. Cells transduced with sh-RNA against Jarid1b contributed more significantly to host hematopoiesis than sh-RNA Luciferase transduced cells (58±16% vs 26±3% GFP), or Hoxb4 over-expressing cells (37±2% GFP), at comparable gene transfer rates, at the 16 week time point and beyond (3 independent experiments). Long-term HSC frequencies were evaluated from these cultures, and found to be 6–10 fold increased in shJari1d1b-cell cultures. In long-term recipients, differentiation potential of these cells was preserved, as evidenced by CD4+CD8+ thymic cells, B220+ splenic cells and CD11b+ bone marrow cells in the GFP positive contingent. Clonality studies on DNA isolated from these sorted populations confirmed oligoclonality of the stem cell expansion, and HSC pluripotency. There were no cases of leukemic transformation in all of the transplant recipients (n>30). As assessed by Q-RT-PCR, levels of HoxA5, HoxA9, HoxA10 and CxCl5 were increased in day7 sh3Jarib1b-cells (vs ctl), while the levels of the tumor suppressors Cav1, Sash1 and Egr1 were decreased. A more detailed assessment of the HoxA cluster revealed predominant expression of 5' cluster genes in expanding shJarib1b-cells, from HoxA5 to HoxA11, with a concomitant increase in the level of H3K4 tri-methylation, as assessed by ChIP-CHIP. In conclusion, HDM of the JmjC family can modulate HSC activity, both positively and negatively. These data suggest that the H3K4 demethylase Jarid1b (KDM5b) restrains stem cell self-renewal, acting as a co-repressor, possibly via epigenetic regulation of the HoxA gene cluster, among other target genes. This observation could be further exploited as an HSC expansion strategy. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 2309-2309
Author(s):  
Jian Huang ◽  
Peter S. Klein

Abstract Abstract 2309 Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain the ability to self-renew and to differentiate into all lineages of the blood. The signaling pathways regulating hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) self-renewal and differentiation are not well understood. We are very interested in understanding the roles of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (Gsk3) and the signaling pathways regulated by Gsk3 in HSCs. In our previous study (Journal of Clinical Investigation, December 2009) using loss of function approaches (inhibitors, RNAi, and knockout) in mice, we found that Gsk3 plays a pivotal role in controlling the decision between self-renewal and differentiation of HSCs. Disruption of Gsk3 in bone marrow transiently expands HSCs in a b-catenin dependent manner, consistent with a role for Wnt signaling. However, in long-term repopulation assays, disruption of Gsk3 progressively depletes HSCs through activation of mTOR. This long-term HSC depletion is prevented by mTOR inhibition and exacerbated by b-catenin knockout. Thus GSK3 regulates both Wnt and mTOR signaling in HSCs, with opposing effects on HSC self-renewal such that inhibition of Gsk3 in the presence of rapamycin expands the HSC pool in vivo. In the current study, we found that suppression of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, an established nutrient sensor, combined with activation of canonical Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, allows the ex vivo maintenance of human and mouse long-term HSCs under cytokine-free conditions. We also show that combining two clinically approved medications that activate Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and inhibit mTOR increases the number of long-term HSCs in vivo. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 125 (17) ◽  
pp. 2678-2688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Bowers ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Yinwei Ho ◽  
Puneet Agarwal ◽  
Ching-Cheng Chen ◽  
...  

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.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 1498-1498
Author(s):  
Heather A Himburg ◽  
Pamela Daher ◽  
Sarah Kristen Meadows ◽  
J. Lauren Russell ◽  
Phuong Doan ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 1498 Poster Board I-521 Significant progress has been made toward delineating the intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways that regulate hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal. However, much less is known regarding the process of HSC regeneration or the extrinsic signals that regulate hematopoietic reconstitution following stress or injury. Elucidation of the microenvironmental signals which promote HSC regeneration in vivo would have important implications for the treatment of patients undergoing radiation therapy, chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. We recently reported that pleiotrophin, a soluble heparin-binding growth factor, induced a 10-fold expansion of murine long-term repopulating HSCs in short term culture (Himburg et al. Blood (ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts), Nov 2008; 112: 78). Based on this observation, we hypothesized that PTN might also be a regenerative growth factor for HSCs. Here we tested the effect of systemic administration of PTN to non-irradiated and irradiated C57Bl6 mice to determine if PTN could promote HSC regeneration in vivo. C57Bl6 mice were irradiated with 700 cGy total body irradiation (TBI) followed by intraperitoneal administration of 2 μg PTN or saline x 7 days, followed by analysis of BM stem and progenitor cell content. Saline-treated mice demonstrated significant reductions in total BM cells, BM c-kit+sca-1+lin- (KSL) cells, colony forming cells (CFCs) and long term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) compared to non-irradiated control mice. In contrast, PTN-treated mice demonstrated a 2.3-fold increase in total BM cells (p=0.03), a 5.6-fold increase in BM KSL stem/progenitor cells (p=0.04), a 2.9-fold increase in BM CFCs (p=0.004) and an 11-fold increase in LTC-ICs (p=0.03) compared to saline-treated mice. Moreover, competitive repopulating transplantation assays demonstrated that BM from PTN-treated, irradiated mice contained 5-fold increased competitive repopulating units (CRUs) compared to saline-treated, irradiated mice (p=0.04). Taken together, these data demonstrate that the administration of PTN induces BM HSC and progenitor cell regeneration in vivo following injury. Comparable increases in total BM cells, BM KSL cells and BM CFCs were also observed in PTN-treated mice compared to saline-treated controls following 300 cGy TBI, demonstrating that PTN is a potent growth factor for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in vivo at less than ablative doses of TBI. In order to determine whether PTN acted directly on BM HSCs to induce their proliferation and expansion in vivo, we exposed mice to BrDU in their drinking water x 7 days and compared the response to saline treatment versus PTN treatment. PTN-treated mice demonstrated a significant increase in BrDU+ BM KSL cells compared to saline-treated controls (p=0.04) and cell cycle analysis confirmed a significant increase in BM KSL cells in S phase in the PTN-treatment group compared to saline-treated controls (p=0.04). These data indicate that PTN serves as a soluble growth factor for BM HSCs and induces their proliferation and expansion in vivo while preserving their repopulating capacity. These results suggest that PTN has therapeutic potential as a novel growth factor to accelerate hematopoietic reconstitution in patients undergoing myelosuppressive radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 614-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiming Xu ◽  
Hartmut Geiger ◽  
Kathleen Szczur ◽  
Deidra Deira ◽  
Yi Zheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engraftment is a multistep process involving HSC homing to bone marrow (BM), self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation to mature blood cells. However, the molecular regulation of HSC engraftment is still poorly defined. Small Rho GTPases are critical regulator of cell migration, proliferation and differentiation in multiple cell types. While their role in HSC functions has begun to be understood, the role of their regulator in vivo has been understudied. P190-B GTPase Activating Protein (GAP), a negative regulator of Rho activity, has been implicated in regulating cell size and adipogenesis-myogenesis cell fate determination during fetal development (Sordella, Dev Cell, 2002; Cell 2003). Here, we investigated the role of p190-B in HSC/P engraftment. Since mice lacking p190-B die before birth, serial competitive repopulation assay was performed using fetal liver (FL) tissues from day E14.5 WT and p190-B−/− embryos. WT and p190-B−/− FL cells exhibited similar levels of engraftment in primary recipients. However, the level of contribution of p190-B−/− cells to peripheral blood and bone marrow was maintained between the primary and secondary recipients and still easily detectable in tertiary recipients, while the level of contribution of FL WT cells dramatically decreased with successive serial transplantion and was barely detectable in tertiary recipients. The contribution to T cell, B cell and myeloid cell reconstitution was similar between the genotypes. A pool of HSC was maintained in serially transplanted p190-B−/− animals, since LinnegScaposKitpos (LSK) cells were still present in the BM of p190-B−/− secondary engrafted mice while this population disappeared in WT controls. Importantly, this enhanced long term engraftment was due to a difference in the functional capacity of p190-B−/− HSC compared to WT HSC since highly enriched p190-B−/− HSC (LSK) demonstrated similar enhanced serial transplantation potential. Because previous studies have suggested that the loss of long term function of HSC during serial transplantation can depend, at least in part, on the upregulation of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p16Ink4a (Ito et al, Nat Med 2006), the expression of p16Ink4a was examined during serial transplantation. While expression of p16Ink4a increased in WT HSC in primary and secondary recipients, p16Ink4a remained low in p190-B−/− HSC, which indicated that p190-B-deficiency represses the upregulation of p16Ink4a in HSC in primary and secondary transplant recipients. This provides a possible mechanism of p190-B-mediated HSC functions. We next examined whether p190-B-deficiency may preserve the repopulating capacity of HSC/P during ex vivo cytokine-induced culture. While freshly isolated LSK cells from WT and p190-B−/− mice exhibited comparable intrinsic clonogenic capacity, the frequency of colony-forming unit after 7 days in culture was 2 fold-higher in p190-B−/− compared with WT cultures, resulting in a net CFU expansion. Furthermore, competitive repopulation assays showed significantly higher repopulating activity in mice that received p190-B−/− cultured cells compared with WT cells equivalent to a 4.4-fold increase in the estimated frequency of repopulating units. Interestingly, p190-deficiency did not alter cell cycling rate or survival both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, p190-B-deficiency maintains key HSC functions either in vivo or in ex vivo culture without altering cycling rate and survival of these cells. These findings define p190-B as a critical regulator of HSC functions regulating self renewal activity while maintaining a balance between proliferation and differentiation.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 1206-1206
Author(s):  
Joshua N. Borgerding ◽  
Priya Gopalan ◽  
Matthew Christopher ◽  
Daniel C. Link ◽  
Laura G. Schuettpelz

Abstract Abstract 1206 There is accumulating evidence that systemic signals, such as inflammatory cytokines, can affect hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), the principal cytokine regulating granulopoiesis, is often induced in response to infection or inflammation. Additionally, G-CSF is the most commonly used agent for HSC mobilization prior to stem cell transplantation. Recently there has been a renewed interest in the use of “G-CSF primed bone marrow” for stem cell transplantation, so understanding the affect of G-CSF on bone marrow HSCs is clinically relevant. Because the G-CSF receptor is expressed on HSCs, and G-CSF creates biologically relevant modifications to the bone marrow microenvironment, we hypothesized that increased signaling through G-CSF may alter the repopulating and/or self-renewal properties of HSCs. Due to G-CSF's role as an HSC mobilizing agent, we predicted that the number of HSCs in the bone marrow would be reduced after 7 days of G-CSF treatment. Surprisingly, we observe that stem cell numbers markedly increase, regardless of which HSC-enriched population is analyzed. C-kit+lineage−sca+CD34− (KLS-34−), KLS CD41lowCD150+CD48− (KLS-SLAM), and KLS-SLAM CD34− increase by 6.97±2.25 fold, 1.79±0.29 fold, and 2.08±0.39 fold, respectively. To assess HSC repopulating activity, we conducted competitive bone marrow transplants. Donor mice were treated with or without G-CSF for 7 days, and bone marrow was transplanted in a 1:1 ratio with marrow from untreated competitors into lethally irradiated congenic recipients. Compared to untreated HSCs, we found that G-CSF treated cells have significantly impaired long-term repopulating and self-renewal activity in transplanted mice. In fact, on a per cell basis, the long-term repopulating activity of KLS-CD34− cells from G-CSF treated mice was reduced approximately 13 fold. The loss of repopulating activity per HSC was confirmed by transplanting purified HSCs. Homing experiments indicate that this loss of function is not caused by an inability to home from the peripheral blood to the bone marrow niche. As HSC quiescence has been positively associated with repopulating activity, we analyzed the cell cycle status over time of KLS-SLAM cells treated with G-CSF. This analysis revealed that after a brief period of enhanced cycling (69.8±5.0% G0 at baseline; down to 55.9±4.1% G0after 24 hours of G-CSF), treated cells become more quiescent (86.8±2.8% G0) than untreated HSCs. A similar increase in HSC quiescence was seen in KLS-34− cells. Thus our data show that G-CSF treatment is associated with HSC cycling alterations and function impairment. Because G-CSF is associated with modifications to the bone marrow microenvironment, and the microenvironment is known to regulate HSCs at steady state, we asked whether the G-CSF induced repopulating defect was due to a cell intrinsic or extrinsic (secondary to alterations in the microenvironment) mechanism. To do this, we repeated the competitive transplantation experiments using chimeric mice with a mixture of wild-type and G-CSF receptor knockout (Csf3r−/−) bone marrow cells. We find that only the repopulating activity of HSCs expressing the G-CSF receptor is affected by G-CSF, suggesting a cell-intrinsic mechanism. To identify targets of G-CSF signaling that may mediate loss of stem cell function, we performed RNA expression profiling of sorted KSL-SLAM cells from mice treated for 36 hours or seven days with or without G-CSF. The profiling data show that G-CSF treatment is associated with activation of inflammatory signaling in HSCs. Studies are in progress to test the hypothesis that activation of specific inflammatory signaling pathways mediates the inhibitory effect of G-CSF on HSC function. In summary, G-CSF signaling in HSCs, although associated with increased HSC quiescence, leads to a marked loss of long-term repopulating activity. These data suggest that long-term engraftment after transplantation of G-CSF-primed bone marrow may be reduced and requires careful follow-up. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1698-1698
Author(s):  
Yang Jo Chung ◽  
Peter D. Aplan

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.


Blood ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
D DiGiusto ◽  
S Chen ◽  
J Combs ◽  
S Webb ◽  
R Namikawa ◽  
...  

Experimentation on human stem cells is hampered by the relative paucity of this population and by the lack of assays identifying multilineage differentiation, particularly along the lymphoid lineages. In our current study, phenotypic analysis of low-density fetal bone marrow cells showed two distinct populations of CD34+ cells: those expressing a high density of CD34 antigen on their surface (CD34hi) and those expressing an intermediate level of CD34 antigen (CD34lo). Multiple tissues were used to characterize the in vitro and in vivo potential of these subsets and showed that only CD34hi cells support long-term B lymphopoiesis and myelopoiesis in vitro and mediate T, B, and myeloid repopulation of human tissues implanted into SCID mice. CD34lo cells repeatedly failed to provide long-term hematopoietic activity in vivo or in vitro. These results indicate that a simple fractionation based on well-defined CD34 antigen levels can be used to reproducibly isolate cells highly enriched for in vivo long-term repopulating activity and for multipotent progenitors, including T- and B-cell precursors. Additionally, given the limited variability in the results and the high correlation between in vitro and in vivo hematopoietic potential, we propose that the CD34hi population contains virtually all of the stem cell activity in fetal bone marrow and therefore is the population of choice for future studies in hematopoietic stem cell development and gene therapy.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 2237-2237
Author(s):  
Ravindra Majeti ◽  
Christopher Y. Park ◽  
Irving L. Weissman

Abstract Mouse hematopoiesis is initiated by long-term hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) that differentiate into a series of multipotent progenitors that exhibit progressively diminished self-renewal ability. In human hematopoiesis, populations enriched for HSC have been identified, as have downstream lineage-committed progenitors, but not multipotent progenitors. Previous reports indicate that human HSC are enriched in Lin-CD34+CD38- cord blood and bone marrow, and express CD90. We demonstrate that the Lin-CD34+CD38- fraction of cord blood and bone marrow can be subdivided into three subpopulations: CD90+CD45RA-, CD90-CD45RA-, and CD90-CD45RA+. While, the function of the CD90- subpopulations is unknown, the CD90+CD45RA- subpopulation presumably contains HSC. We report here in vitro and in vivo functional studies of these three subpopulations from normal human cord blood. In vitro, CD90+CD45RA- cells formed all types of myeloid colonies in methylcellulose and were able to replate with 70% efficiency. CD90-CD45RA- cells also formed all types of myeloid colonies, but replated with only 33% efficiency. CD90-CD45RA+ cells failed to form myeloid colonies in methylcellulose. In liquid culture, CD90+CD45RA- cells gave rise to all three subpopulations; CD90-CD45RA- cells gave rise to both CD90- subpopulations, but not CD90+ cells; CD90-CD45RA+ cells gave rise to themselves only. These data establish an in vitro differentiation hierarchy from CD90+CD45RA- to CD90-CD45RA- to CD90-CD45RA+ cells among Lin-CD34+CD38- cord blood. In vivo, xenotransplantation of CD90+CD45RA- cells into NOD/SCID/IL-2R?-null newborn mice resulted in long-term multilineage engraftment with transplantation of as few as 10 purified cells. Secondary transplants from primary engrafted mice also resulted in long-term multilineage engraftment, indicating the presence of self-renewing HSC. Transplantation of CD90-CD45RA- cells also resulted in long-term multilineage engraftment; however, secondary transplants did not reliably result in long-term engraftment, indicating a reduced capacity for self-renewal. Transplantation of CD90-CD45RA+ cells did not result in any detectable human hematopoietic cells, indicating that the function of these cells is undetermined. Finally, transplantation of limiting numbers of CD90-CD45RA- cells (less than 100) resulted in multilineage human engraftment at 4 weeks, that was no longer detectable by 12 weeks. Thus, the CD90-CD45RA- subpopulation is capable of multilineage differentiation while exhibiting limited self-renewal ability. We believe this study represents the first prospective identification of a population of human multipotent progenitors, Lin-CD34+CD38-CD90-CD45RA- cord blood.


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