Dominique Bluteau

From hematopoietic stem cells to platelets

Summary.  Megakaryocytopoiesis is the process that leads to the production of platelets. This process involves the commitment of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells toward megakaryocyte (MK) progenitors, the proliferation and differentiation of MK progenitors, the polyploidization of MK precursors and the maturation of MK. Mature MK produce platelets by cytoplasmic fragmentation occurring through a dynamic and regulated process, called proplatelet formation, and consisting of long pseudopodial elongations that break in the blood flow. Recent insights have demonstrated that the MK and erythroid lineages are tightly associated at both the cellular and molecular levels, especially in the transcription factors that regulate their differentiation programs. Megakaryocytopoiesis is regulated by two types of transcription factors, those regulating the differentiation process, such as GATA‐1, and those regulating proplatelet formation, such as NF‐E2. The humoral factor thrombopoietin (TPO) is the primary regulator of MK differentiation and platelet production through the stimulation of its receptor MPL. Numerous acquired or congenital pathologies of the MK lineage are now explained by molecular abnormalities in the activity of the transcription factors involved in megakaryocytopoiesis, in the Tpo or c‐mpl genes, as well as in signaling molecules associated with MPL. The recent development of MPL agonists may provide efficient agents for the treatment of some thrombocytopenias.

RUNX1-induced silencing of non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIB contributes to megakaryocyte polyploidization

Megakaryocytes are unique mammalian cells that undergo polyploidization (endomitosis) during differentiation, leading to an increase in cell size and protein production that precedes platelet production. Recent evidence demonstrates that endomitosis is a consequence of a late failure in cytokinesis associated with a contractile ring defect. Here we show that the non-muscle myosin IIB heavy chain (MYH10) is expressed in immature megakaryocytes and specifically localizes in the contractile ring. MYH10 downmodulation by short hairpin RNA increases polyploidization by inhibiting the return of 4N cells to 2N, but other regulators, such as of the G1/S transition, might regulate further polyploidization of the 4N cells. Conversely, re-expression of MYH10 in the megakaryocytes prevents polyploidization and the transition of 2N to 4N cells. During polyploidization, MYH10 expression is repressed by the major megakaryocyte transcription factor RUNX1. Thus, RUNX1-mediated silencing of MYH10 is required for the switch from mitosis to endomitosis, linking polyploidization with megakaryocyte differentiation.

Regulation of megakaryocyte maturation and platelet formation

Summary.  Each day in every human, approximately 1 × 1011 platelets are produced by the cytoplasmic fragmentation of megakaryocytes (MK), their marrow precursor cells. Platelets are the predominating factor in the process of hemostasis and thrombosis. Recent studies have shown that platelets also play a hitherto unsuspected role in several other processes such as inflammation, innate immunity, neoangiogenesis and tumor metastasis. The late phases of MK differentiation identified by polyploidization, maturation and organized fragmentation of the cytoplasm leading to the release of platelets in the blood stream represent a unique model of differentiation. The molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating platelet biogenesis are better understood and may explain several platelet disorders. This review focuses on MK polyploidization, and platelet formation, and discusses their alteration in some platelet disorders.

Level of RUNX1 activity is critical for leukemic predisposition but not for thrombocytopenia.

To explore how RUNX1 mutations predispose to leukemia, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from 2 pedigrees with germline RUNX1 mutations. The first, carrying a missense R174Q mutation, which acts as a dominant-negative mutant, is associated with thrombocytopenia and leukemia, and the second, carrying a monoallelic gene deletion inducing a haploinsufficiency, presents only as thrombocytopenia. Hematopoietic differentiation of these iPSC clones demonstrated profound defects in erythropoiesis and megakaryopoiesis and deregulated expression of RUNX1 targets. iPSC clones from patients with the R174Q mutation specifically generated an increased amount of granulomonocytes, a phenotype reproduced by an 80% RUNX1 knockdown in the H9 human embryonic stem cell line, and a genomic instability. This phenotype, found only with a lower dosage of RUNX1, may account for development of leukemia in patients. Altogether, RUNX1 dosage could explain the differential phenotype according to RUNX1 mutations, with a haploinsufficiency leading to thrombocytopenia alone in a majority of cases whereas a more complete gene deletion predisposes to leukemia.

Biallelic inactivation of REV7 is associated with Fanconi anemia

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a recessive genetic disease characterized by congenital abnormalities, chromosome instability, progressive bone marrow failure (BMF), and a strong predisposition to cancer. Twenty FA genes have been identified, and the FANC proteins they encode cooperate in a common pathway that regulates DNA crosslink repair and replication fork stability. We identified a child with severe BMF who harbored biallelic inactivating mutations of the translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) gene REV7 (also known as MAD2L2), which encodes the mutant REV7 protein REV7-V85E. Patient-derived cells demonstrated an extended FA phenotype, which included increased chromosome breaks and G2/M accumulation upon exposure to DNA crosslinking agents, γH2AX and 53BP1 foci accumulation, and enhanced p53/p21 activation relative to cells derived from healthy patients. Expression of WT REV7 restored normal cellular and functional phenotypes in the patients cells, and CRISPR/Cas9 inactivation of REV7 in a non-FA human cell line produced an FA phenotype. Finally, silencing Rev7 in primary hematopoietic cells impaired progenitor function, suggesting that the DNA repair defect underlies the development of BMF in FA. Taken together, our genetic and functional analyses identified REV7 as a previously undescribed FA gene, which we term FANCV.

MAL/SRF complex is involved in platelet formation and megakaryocyte migration by regulating MYL9 (MLC2) and MMP9.

Megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 (MAL) is a transcriptional coactivator of serum response factor (SRF). In acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, the MAL gene is translocated and fused with the gene encoding one twenty-two (OTT). Herein, we show that MAL expression increases during the late differentiation steps of neonate and adult human megakaryopoiesis and localized into the nucleus after Rho GTPase activation by adhesion on collagen I or convulxin. MAL knockdown in megakaryocyte progenitors reduced the percentage of cells forming filopodia, lamellipodia, and stress fibers after adhesion on the same substrates, and reduced proplatelet formation. MAL repression led to dysmorphic megakaryocytes with disorganized demarcation membranes and alpha granules heterogeneously scattered in the cytoplasm. Gene expression profiling revealed a marked decrease in metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and MYL9 expression after MAL inhibition. Luciferase assays in HEK293T cells and chromatin immunoprecipitation in primary megakaryocytes showed that the MAL/SRF complex directly regulates MYL9 and MMP9 in vitro. Megakaryocyte migration in response to stromal cell-derived factor 1, through Matrigel was considerably decreased after MAL knockdown, implicating MMP9 in migration. Finally, the use of a shRNA to decrease MYL9 expression showed that MYL9 was involved in proplatelet formation. MAL/SRF complex is thus involved in platelet formation and megakaryocyte migration by regulating MYL9 and MMP9.

P19INK4D links endomitotic arrest and megakaryocyte maturation and is regulated by AML-1

The molecular mechanisms that regulate megakaryocyte (MK) ploidization are poorly understood. Using MK differentiation from primary human CD34(+) cells, we observed that p19(INK4D) expression was increased both at the mRNA and protein levels during ploidization. p19(INK4D) knockdown led to a moderate increase (31.7% +/- 5%) in the mean ploidy of MKs suggesting a role of p19(INK4D) in the endomitotic arrest. This increase in ploidy was associated with a decrease in the more mature MK population (CD41(high)CD42(high)) at day 9 of culture, which was related to a delay in differentiation. Inversely, p19(INK4D) 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 p19(INK4D) 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 p19(INK4D) promoter. Moreover, AML-1 inhibition led to the p19(INK4D) 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.

Down-regulation of the RUNX1-target gene NR4A3 contributes to hematopoiesis deregulation in familial platelet disorder/acute myelogenous leukemia

RUNX1 encodes a DNA-binding α subunit of the core-binding factor, a heterodimeric transcription factor. RUNX1 is a master regulatory gene in hematopoiesis and its disruption is one of the most common aberrations in acute leukemia. Inactivating or dominant-negative mutations in the RUNX1 gene have been also identified in pedigrees of familial platelet disorders with a variable propensity to develop acute myeloid leukemia (FPD/AML). We performed analysis of hematopoiesis from 2 FPD/AML pedigrees with 2 distinct RUNX1 germline mutations, that is, the R139X in a pedigree without AML and the R174Q mutation in a pedigree with AML. Both mutations induced a marked increase in the clonogenic potential of immature CD34(+)CD38(-) progenitors, with some self-renewal capacities observed only for R174Q mutation. This increased proliferation correlated with reduction in the expression of NR4A3, a gene previously implicated in leukemia development. We demonstrated that NR4A3 was a direct target of RUNX1 and that restoration of NR4A3 expression partially reduced the clonogenic potential of patient progenitors. We propose that the down-regulation of NR4A3 in RUNX1-mutated hematopoietic progenitors leads to an increase in the pool of cells susceptible to be hit by secondary leukemic genetic events.

Smad and NFAT Pathways Cooperate To Induce CD103 Expression in Human CD8 T Lymphocytes

The interaction of integrin αE(CD103)β7, often expressed on tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes, with its cognate ligand, the epithelial cell marker E-cadherin on tumor cells, plays a major role in antitumor CTL responses. CD103 is induced on CD8 T cells upon TCR engagement and exposure to TGF-β1, abundant within the tumor microenvironment. However, the transcriptional mechanisms underlying the cooperative role of these two signaling pathways in inducing CD103 expression in CD8 T lymphocytes remain unknown. Using a human CTL system model based on a CD8+/CD103− T cell clone specific of a lung tumor–associated Ag, we demonstrated that the transcription factors Smad2/3 and NFAT-1 are two critical regulators of this process. We also identified promoter and enhancer elements of the human ITGAE gene, encoding CD103, involved in its induction by these transcriptional regulators. Overall, our results explain how TGF-β1 can participate in CD103 expression on locally TCR-engaged Ag-specific CD8 T cells, thus contributing to antitumor CTL responses and cancer cell destruction.

OTT-MAL Is a Deregulated Activator of Serum Response Factor-Dependent Gene Expression

ABSTRACT The OTT-MAL/RBM15-MKL1 fusion protein is the result of the recurrent translocation t(1;22) in acute megakaryocytic leukemia in infants. How it contributes to the malignancy is unknown. The 3′ fusion partner, MAL/MKL1/MRTF-A, is a transcriptional coactivator of serum response factor (SRF). MAL plays a key role in regulated gene expression depending on Rho family GTPases and G-actin. Here we demonstrate that OTT-MAL is a constitutive activator of SRF and target gene expression. This requires the SRF-binding motif and the MAL-derived transactivation domain. OTT-MAL localizes to the nucleus and is not regulated by upstream signaling. OTT-MAL deregulation reflects its independence from control by G-actin, which fails to interact with OTT-MAL in coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Regulation cannot be restored by reintroduction of the entire MAL N terminus into the fusion protein. OTT-MAL also caused a delayed induction of the MAL-independent, ternary complex factor-dependent target genes c-fos and egr-1 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase/Erk pathway. With testing in heterologous tissue culture systems, however, we observed considerable antiproliferative effects of OTT-MAL. Our data suggest that the deregulated activation of MAL-dependent and -independent promoters results in tissue-specific functions of OTT-MAL.