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Histone demethylase Lsd1 represses hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell signatures during blood cell maturation

Here, we describe that lysine-specific demethylase 1 (Lsd1/KDM1a), which demethylates histone H3 on Lys4 or Lys9 (H3K4/K9), is an indispensible epigenetic governor of hematopoietic differentiation. Integrative genomic analysis, combining global occupancy of Lsd1, genome-wide analysis of its substrates H3K4 monomethylation and dimethylation, and gene expression profiling, reveals that Lsd1 represses hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) gene expression programs during hematopoietic differentiation. We found that Lsd1 acts at transcription start sites, as well as enhancer regions. Loss of Lsd1 was associated with increased H3K4me1 and H3K4me2 methylation on HSPC genes and gene derepression. Failure to fully silence HSPC genes compromised differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells as well as mature blood cell lineages. Collectively, our data indicate that Lsd1-mediated concurrent repression of enhancer and promoter activity of stem and progenitor cell genes is a pivotal epigenetic mechanism required for proper hematopoietic maturation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00633.001

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Expansion Precedes the Generation of Committed Myeloid Leukemia-Initiating Cells in C/EBPα Mutant AML

We here use knockin mutagenesis in the mouse to model the spectrum of acquired CEBPA mutations in human acute myeloid leukemia. We find that C-terminal C/EBPalpha mutations increase the proliferation of long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) in a cell-intrinsic manner and override normal HSC homeostasis, leading to expansion of premalignant HSCs. However, such mutations impair myeloid programming of HSCs and block myeloid lineage commitment when homozygous. In contrast, N-terminal C/EBPalpha mutations are silent with regards to HSC expansion, but allow the formation of committed myeloid progenitors, the templates for leukemia-initiating cells. The combination of N- and C-terminal C/EBPalpha mutations incorporates both features, accelerating disease development and explaining the clinical prevalence of this configuration of CEBPA mutations.

Lymphomyeloid Contribution of an Immune-Restricted Progenitor Emerging Prior to Definitive Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

In jawed vertebrates, development of an adaptive immune-system is essential for protection of the born organism against otherwise life-threatening pathogens. Myeloid cells of the innate immune system are formed early in development, whereas lymphopoiesis has been suggested to initiate much later, following emergence of definitive hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Herein, we demonstrate that the embryonic lymphoid commitment process initiates earlier than previously appreciated, prior to emergence of definitive HSCs, through establishment of a previously unrecognized entirely immune-restricted and lymphoid-primed progenitor. Notably, this immune-restricted progenitor appears to first emerge in the yolk sac and contributes physiologically to the establishment of lymphoid and some myeloid components of the immune-system, establishing the lymphomyeloid lineage restriction process as an early and physiologically important lineage-commitment step in mammalian hematopoiesis.

The earliest thymic T cell progenitors sustain B cell and myeloid lineage potential

The stepwise commitment from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow to T lymphocyte–restricted progenitors in the thymus represents a paradigm for understanding the requirement for distinct extrinsic cues during different stages of lineage restriction from multipotent to lineage-restricted progenitors. However, the commitment stage at which progenitors migrate from the bone marrow to the thymus remains unclear. Here we provide functional and molecular evidence at the single-cell level that the earliest progenitors in the neonatal thymus had combined granulocyte-monocyte, T lymphocyte and B lymphocyte lineage potential but not megakaryocyte-erythroid lineage potential. These potentials were identical to those of candidate thymus-seeding progenitors in the bone marrow, which were closely related at the molecular level. Our findings establish the distinct lineage-restriction stage at which the T cell lineage–commitment process transits from the bone marrow to the remote thymus.

FOG-1 and GATA-1 act sequentially to specify definitive megakaryocytic and erythroid progenitors

The transcription factors that control lineage specification of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been well described for the myeloid and lymphoid lineages, whereas transcriptional control of erythroid (E) and megakaryocytic (Mk) fate is less understood. We here use conditional removal of the GATA‐1 and FOG‐1 transcription factors to identify FOG‐1 as required for the formation of all committed Mk‐ and E‐lineage progenitors, whereas GATA‐1 was observed to be specifically required for E‐lineage commitment. FOG‐1‐deficient HSCs and preMegEs, the latter normally bipotent for the Mk and E lineages, underwent myeloid transcriptional reprogramming, and formed myeloid, but not erythroid and megakaryocytic cells in vitro. These results identify FOG‐1 and GATA‐1 as required for formation of bipotent Mk/E progenitors and their E‐lineage commitment, respectively, and show that FOG‐1 mediates transcriptional Mk/E programming of HSCs as well as their subsequent Mk/E‐lineage commitment. Finally, C/EBPs and FOG‐1 exhibited transcriptional cross‐regulation in early myelo‐erythroid progenitors making their functional antagonism a potential mechanism for separation of the myeloid and Mk/E lineages.

FLT3 expression initiates in fully multipotent mouse hematopoietic progenitor cells

Lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors with down-regulated megakaryocyte-erythroid (MkE) potential are restricted to cells with high levels of cell-surface FLT3 expression, whereas HSCs and MkE progenitors lack detectable cell-surface FLT3. These findings are compatible with FLT3 cell-surface expression not being detectable in the fully multipotent stem/progenitor cell compartment in mice. If so, this process could be distinct from human hematopoiesis, in which FLT3 already is expressed in multipotent stem/progenitor cells. The expression pattern of Flt3 (mRNA) and FLT3 (protein) in multipotent progenitors is of considerable relevance for mouse models in which prognostically important Flt3 mutations are expressed under control of the endogenous mouse Flt3 promoter. Herein, we demonstrate that mouse Flt3 expression initiates in fully multipotent progenitors because in addition to lymphoid and granulocyte-monocyte progenitors, FLT3(-) Mk- and E-restricted downstream progenitors are also highly labeled when Flt3-Cre fate mapping is applied.

Delineation of the earliest lineage commitment steps of haematopoietic stem cells: new developments, controversies and major challenges

Purpose of reviewThis review addresses recently reported evidence for alternative cellular pathways for haematopoietic stem cell lineage commitment. Recent findingsUsing various approaches, several laboratories suggested the existence of adult as well as foetal multipotent progenitor cells with combined B cell, T cell and granulocyte/macrophage potential, but little or no megakaryocyte/erythroid potential. Compared with haematopoietic stem cells, these multipotent progenitor cells exhibited downregulated transcriptional expression of genes of the megakaryocyte/erythroid lineages and upregulated expression of lymphoid lineage genes. The existence of these lineage-restricted multipotent progenitor cells suggests that the first lineage commitment step of haematopoietic stem cells does not result in strict separation into myelopoiesis and lymphopoiesis, and that there might be alternative pathways for commitment toward different lineage fates. These findings have been questioned by other studies, however. To resolve this controversy and establish the complete road map for haematopoietic lineage commitment, improved tools and more stringent standards for how to identify and characterize lineage fate options of distinct stem and progenitor cells are needed. SummaryCurrent and future progress in establishing the complete cellular roadmap for haematopoietic lineage commitment will permit identification and characterization of key regulators of lineage fate decisions in haematopoietic stem cells.

Downregulation of Mpl marks the transition to lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors with gradual loss of granulocyte-monocyte potential.

Evidence for a novel route of adult hematopoietic stem-cell lineage commitment through Lin-Sca-1+Kit+Flt3hi (LSKFlt3hi) lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors (LMPPs) with granulocyte/monocyte (GM) and lymphoid but little or no megakaryocyte/erythroid (MkE) potential was recently challenged, as LSKFlt3hi cells were reported to possess MkE potential. Herein, residual (1%-2%) MkE potential segregated almost entirely with LSKFlt3hi cells expressing the thrombopoietin receptor (Mpl), whereas LSKFlt3hiMpl- LMPPs lacked significant MkE potential in vitro and in vivo, but sustained combined GM and lymphoid potentials, and coexpressed GM and lymphoid but not MkE transcriptional lineage programs. Gradually increased transcriptional lymphoid priming in single LMPPs from Rag1GFP mice was shown to occur in the presence of maintained GM lineage priming, but gradually reduced GM lineage potential. These functional and molecular findings reinforce the existence of GM/lymphoid-restricted progenitors with dramatically down-regulated probability for committing toward MkE fates, and support that lineage restriction occurs through gradual rather than abrupt changes in specific lineage potentials.

FLT3-ITDs Instruct a Myeloid Differentiation and Transformation Bias in Lymphomyeloid Multipotent Progenitors.

Summary Whether signals mediated via growth factor receptors (GFRs) might influence lineage fate in multipotent progenitors (MPPs) is unclear. We explored this issue in a mouse knockin model of gain-of-function Flt3-ITD mutation because FLT3-ITDs are paradoxically restricted to acute myeloid leukemia even though Flt3 primarily promotes lymphoid development during normal hematopoiesis. When expressed in MPPs, Flt3-ITD collaborated with Runx1 mutation to induce high-penetrance aggressive leukemias that were exclusively of the myeloid phenotype. Flt3-ITDs preferentially expanded MPPs with reduced lymphoid and increased myeloid transcriptional priming while compromising early B and T lymphopoiesis. Flt3-ITD-induced myeloid lineage bias involved upregulation of the transcription factor Pu.1, which is a direct target gene of Stat3, an aberrantly activated target of Flt3-ITDs, further establishing how lineage bias can be inflicted on MPPs through aberrant GFR signaling. Collectively, these findings provide new insights into how oncogenic mutations might subvert the normal process of lineage commitment and dictate the phenotype of resulting malignancies.

Impact of gene dosage, loss of wild-type allele, and FLT3 ligand on Flt3-ITD-induced myeloproliferation

Acquisition of homozygous activating growth factor receptor mutations might accelerate cancer progression through a simple gene-dosage effect. Internal tandem duplications (ITDs) of FLT3 occur in approximately 25% cases of acute myeloid leukemia and induce ligand-independent constitutive signaling. Homozygous FLT3-ITDs confer an adverse prognosis and are frequently detected at relapse. Using a mouse knockin model of Flt3-internal tandem duplication (Flt3-ITD)-induced myeloproliferation, we herein demonstrate that the enhanced myeloid phenotype and expansion of granulocyte-monocyte and primitive Lin(-)Sca1(+)c-Kit(+) progenitors in Flt3-ITD homozygous mice can in part be mediated through the loss of the second wild-type allele. Further, whereas autocrine FLT3 ligand production has been implicated in FLT3-ITD myeloid malignancies and resistance to FLT3 inhibitors, we demonstrate here that the mouse Flt3(ITD/ITD) myeloid phenotype is FLT3 ligand-independent.