Non-classical monocyte subsets may derive from classical monocyte differentiation and the proportion of each subset is tightly controlled. Deregulation of this repartition is observed in diverse ...human diseases, including chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in which non-classical monocyte numbers are significantly decreased relative to healthy controls. Here, we identify a down-regulation of hsa-miR-150 through methylation of a lineage-specific promoter in CMML monocytes. Mir150 knock-out mice demonstrate a cell-autonomous defect in non-classical monocytes. Our pulldown experiments point to Ten-Eleven-Translocation-3 (TET3) mRNA as a hsa-miR-150 target in classical human monocytes. We show that Tet3 knockout mice generate an increased number of non-classical monocytes. Our results identify the miR-150/TET3 axis as being involved in the generation of non-classical monocytes.
Megakaryopoiesis is a 2-step differentiation process, regulated by thrombopoietin (TPO), on binding to its cognate receptor myeloproliferative leukemia (MPL). This receptor associates with ...intracytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, essentially janus kinase 2 (JAK2), which regulates MPL stability and cell-surface expression, and mediates TPO-induced signal transduction. We demonstrate that JAK2 and MPL mediate TPO-induced proliferation arrest and megakaryocytic differentiation of the human megakaryoblastic leukemia cell line UT7-MPL. A decrease in JAK2 or MPL protein expression, and JAK2 chemical inhibition, suppress this antiproliferative action of TPO. The expression of JAK2 and MPL, which progressively increases along normal human megakaryopoiesis, is decreased in platelets of patients diagnosed with JAK2- or MPL-mutated essential thrombocytemia and primary myelofibrosis, 2 myeloproliferative neoplasms in which megakaryocytes (MKs) proliferate excessively. Finally, low doses of JAK2 chemical inhibitors are shown to induce a paradoxical increase in MK production, both in vitro and in vivo. We propose that JAK2 and MPL expression levels regulate megakaryocytic proliferation vs differentiation in both normal and pathological conditions, and that JAK2 chemical inhibitors could promote a paradoxical thrombocytosis when used at suboptimal doses.
•We propose that megakaryopoiesis is regulated by the expression levels of the TPO receptor MPL and the associated tyrosine kinase JAK2.•This model could explain why suboptimal doses of JAK2 inhibitors can induce a paradoxical increase in platelet production.
Circulating monocytes are recruited in damaged tissues to generate macrophages that modulate disease progression. Colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) promotes the generation of monocyte-derived ...macrophages, which involves caspase activation. Here, we demonstrate that activated caspase-3 and caspase-7 are located to the vicinity of the mitochondria in CSF1-treated human monocytes. Active caspase-7 cleaves p47
at aspartate 34, which promotes the formation of the NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) oxidase complex NOX2 and the production of cytosolic superoxide anions. Monocyte response to CSF-1 is altered in patients with a chronic granulomatous disease, which are constitutively defective in NOX2. Both caspase-7 down-regulation and radical oxygen species scavenging decrease the migration of CSF-1-induced macrophages. Inhibition or deletion of caspases prevents the development of lung fibrosis in mice exposed to bleomycin. Altogether, a non-conventional pathway that involves caspases and activates NOX2 is involved in CSF1-driven monocyte differentiation and could be therapeutically targeted to modulate macrophage polarization in damaged tissues.
Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27/HSPB1) is a stress-inducible chaperone that facilitates cancer development by its proliferative and anti-apoptotic functions. The OGX-427 antisense oligonucleotide ...against HSP27 has been reported to be beneficial against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Here we show that OGX-427 is effective in two murine models of thrombopoietin- and JAKV617F-induced myelofibrosis. OGX-427 limits disease progression and is associated with a reduction in spleen weight, in megakaryocyte expansion and, for the JAKV617F model, in fibrosis. HSP27 regulates the proliferation of JAK2V617F-positive cells and interacts directly with JAK2/STAT5. We also show that its expression is increased in both CD34
circulating progenitors and in the serum of patients with JAK2-dependent myeloproliferative neoplasms with fibrosis. Our data suggest that HSP27 plays a key role in the pathophysiology of myelofibrosis and represents a new potential therapeutic target for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Ligand binding to the thrombopoietin receptor (TpoR) is thought to impose a dimeric receptor conformation(s) leading to hematopoietic stem cell renewal, megakaryocyte differentiation, and platelet ...formation. Unlike other cytokine receptors, such as the erythropoietin receptor, TpoR contains an amphipathic KWQFP motif at the junction between the transmembrane (TM) and cytoplasmic domains. We show here that a mutant TpoR (Δ5TpoR), where this sequence was deleted, is constitutively active. In the absence of ligand, Δ5TpoR activates Jak2, Tyk2, STAT5, and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, but does not appear to induce STAT3 phosphorylation. Δ5TpoR induces hematopoietic myeloid differentiation in the absence of Tpo. In the presence of Tpo, the Δ5TpoR mutant appears to enhance erythroid differentiation when compared with the Tpo-activated wild-type TpoR. Strikingly, individual substitution of K507 or W508 to alanine also induces constitutive TpoR activation, indicating that the K and W residues within the amphipathic KWQFP motif are crucial for maintaining the unliganded receptor inactive. These residues may be targets for activating mutations in humans. Such a motif may exist in other receptors to prevent ligand-independent activation and to allow signaling via multiple flexible interfaces.
We have reconciled steady-state and stress hematopoiesis in a single mathematical model based on murine in vivo experiments and with a focus on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. A ...phenylhydrazine stress was first applied to mice. A reduced cell number in each progenitor compartment was evidenced during the next 7 days through a drastic level of differentiation without proliferation, followed by a huge proliferative response in all compartments including long-term hematopoietic stem cells, before a return to normal levels. Data analysis led to the addition to the 6-compartment model, of time-dependent regulation that depended indirectly on the compartment sizes. The resulting model was finely calibrated using a stochastic optimization algorithm and could reproduce biological data in silico when applied to different stress conditions (bleeding, chemotherapy, HSC depletion). In conclusion, our multi-step and time-dependent model of immature hematopoiesis provides new avenues to a better understanding of both normal and pathological hematopoiesis.
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•We describe a new 6-compartment time-dependent regulated model of hematopoiesis•Biological data under steady state and stress and cell dynamics were used•Modeling is able to recapitulate effects from chemotherapy, bleeding, or HSC depletion
Cell biology; Stem cells research; In silico biology
The biologic hallmark of polycythemia vera (PV) is the formation of endogenous erythroid colonies (EECs) with an erythropoietin-independent differentiation. Recently, it has been shown that an ...activating mutation of JAK2 (V617F) was at the origin of PV. In this work, we studied whether the STAT5/Bcl-xL pathway could be responsible for EEC formation. A constitutively active form of STAT5 was transduced into human erythroid progenitors and induced an erythropoietin-independent terminal differentiation and EEC formation. Furthermore, Bcl-xL overexpression in erythroid progenitors was also able to induce erythroid colonies despite the absence of erythropoietin. Conversely, siRNA-mediated STAT5 and Bcl-xL knock-down in human erythroid progenitors inhibited colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) formation in the presence of Epo. Altogether, these results demonstrate that a sustained level of the sole Bcl-xL is capable of giving rise to Epo-independent erythroid colony formation and suggest that, in PV patients, JAK2V617F may induce EEC via the STAT5/Bcl-xL pathway.
Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with major in vitro effects on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and lymphocyte development. Little is known about hematopoiesis from ...mice with constitutive TGF-β1 inactivation largely because of important embryonic lethality and development of a lethal inflammatory disorder in TGF-β1−/− pups, making these studies difficult. Here, we show that no sign of the inflammatory disorder was detectable in 8- to 10-day-old TGF-β1−/− neonates as judged by both the number of T-activated and T-regulator cells in secondary lymphoid organs and the level of inflammatory cytokines in sera. After T-cell depletion, the inflammatory disease was not transplantable in recipient mice. Bone marrow cells from 8- to 10-day-old TGF-β1−/− neonates showed strikingly impaired short- and long-term reconstitutive activity associated with a parallel decreased in vivo homing capacity of lineage negative (Lin−) cells. In addition an in vitro–reduced survival of immature progenitors (Lin− Kit+ Sca+) was observed. Similar defects were found in liver cells from TGF-β1−/− embryos on day 14 after vaginal plug. These data indicate that TGF-β1 is a critical regulator for in vivo homeostasis of the HSCs, especially for their homing potential.
Summary
Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is characterised by a progression from a chronic towards an acute phase. We previously reported that signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 ...(STAT3), a major oncogenic signalling protein, is the target of p210–BCR–ABL in a murine embryonic stem (ES) cell model and in primary CD34+ CML cells. This activation was associated with inhibition of differentiation in ES cells. The present study found that BCR–ABL greatly phosphorylated STAT3 Ser727 residue and, to a lesser extent, Tyr705 residue in BCR–ABL‐expressing cell lines (UT7‐p210, MO7E‐p210, and K562) and in primary CD34+ CML cells. Using BCR–ABL mutants, it was shown that BCR–ABL tyrosine kinase activity and its Tyr177 residue were necessary for STAT3 Ser727 phosphorylation. Constitutive STAT3 Tyr705 phosphorylation was associated with constitutive phosphorylation of Janus kinase (JAK)1 and JAK2, and was inhibited by the JAK inhibitor AG490, suggesting the involvement of JAK proteins in this process. Specific MEK mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) kinase inhibitors PD98056 and UO126, as well as the use of a dominant‐negative form of MEK1 abrogated STAT3 Ser727 phosphorylation, suggesting involvement of MAP‐Kinase/Erk pathway. Inhibition of BCR–ABL with imatinib mesylate led to a dose‐dependent downregulation of total STAT3 protein and mRNA, suggesting that BCR–ABL is involved in the transcriptional regulation of STAT3. Targeting JAK, MEK and STAT3 pathways could therefore be of therapeutic value, especially in advanced stage CML.
The molecular mechanisms that regulate megakaryocyte (MK) ploidization are poorly understood. Using MK differentiation from primary human CD34+ cells, we observed that p19INK4D expression was ...increased both at the mRNA and protein levels during ploidization. p19INK4D knockdown led to a moderate increase (31.7% ± 5%) in the mean ploidy of MKs suggesting a role of p19INK4D in the endomitotic arrest. This increase in ploidy was associated with a decrease in the more mature MK population (CD41highCD42high) at day 9 of culture, which was related to a delay in differentiation. Inversely, p19INK4D overexpression in CD34+ cells resulted in a decrease in mean ploidy level associated with an increase in CD41 and CD42 expression in each ploidy class. Confirming these in vitro results, bone marrow MKs from p19INK4D KO mice exhibited an increase in mean ploidy level from 18.7N (± 0.58N) to 52.7N (± 12.3N). Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays performed in human MKs revealed that AML-1 binds in vivo the p19INK4D promoter. Moreover, AML-1 inhibition led to the p19INK4D down-regulation in human MKs. These results may explain the molecular link at the transcriptional level between the arrest of endomitosis and the acceleration of MK differentiation.
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