Yumi Fukuchi

Two types of C/EBPα mutations play distinct but collaborative roles in leukemogenesis: Lessons from clinical data and BMT models

Two types of mutations of a transcription factor CCAAT-enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) are found in leukemic cells of 5%-14% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients: N-terminal mutations expressing dominant negative p30 and C-terminal mutations in the basic leucine zipper domain. Our results showed that a mutation of C/EBPα in one allele was observed in AML after myelodysplastic syndrome, while the 2 alleles are mutated in de novo AML. Unlike an N-terminal frame-shift mutant (C/EBPα-N(m))-transduced cells, a C-terminal mutant (C/EBPα-C(m))-transduced cells alone induced AML with leukopenia in mice 4-12 months after bone marrow transplantation. Coexpression of both mutants induced AML with marked leukocytosis with shorter latencies. Interestingly, C/EBPα-C(m) collaborated with an Flt3-activating mutant Flt3-ITD in inducing AML. Moreover, C/EBPα-C(m) strongly blocked myeloid differentiation of 32Dcl3 cells, suggesting its class II mutation-like role in leukemogenesis. Although C/EBPα-C(m) failed to inhibit transcriptional activity of wild-type C/EBPα, it suppressed the synergistic effect between C/EBPα and PU.1. On the other hand, C/EBPα-N(m) inhibited C/EBPα activation in the absence of PU.1, despite low expression levels of p30 protein generated by C/EBPα-N(m). Thus, 2 types of C/EBPα mutations are implicated in leukemo-genesis, involving different and cooperating molecular mechanisms.

Tet2 disruption leads to enhanced self-renewal and altered differentiation of fetal liver hematopoietic stem cells

Somatic mutation of ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) gene is frequently found in human myeloid malignancies. Recent reports showed that loss of Tet2 led to pleiotropic hematopoietic abnormalities including increased competitive repopulating capacity of bone marrow (BM) HSCs and myeloid transformation. However, precise impact of Tet2 loss on the function of fetal liver (FL) HSCs has not been examined. Here we show that disruption of Tet2 results in the expansion of Lin−Sca-1+c-Kit+ (LSK) cells in FL. Furthermore, Tet2 loss led to enhanced self-renewal and long-term repopulating capacity of FL-HSCs in in vivo serial transplantation assay. Disruption of Tet2 in FL also led to altered differentiation of mature blood cells, expansion of common myeloid progenitors and increased resistance for hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) to differentiation stimuli in vitro. These results demonstrate that Tet2 plays a critical role in homeostasis of HSCs and HPCs not only in the BM, but also in FL.

Impaired hematopoietic differentiation of RUNX1-mutated induced pluripotent stem cells derived from FPD/AML patients

Somatic mutation of RUNX1 is implicated in various hematological malignancies, including myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and previous studies using mouse models disclosed its critical roles in hematopoiesis. However, the role of RUNX1 in human hematopoiesis has never been tested in experimental settings. Familial platelet disorder (FPD)/AML is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by germline mutation of RUNX1, marked by thrombocytopenia and propensity to acute leukemia. To investigate the physiological function of RUNX1 in human hematopoiesis and pathophysiology of FPD/AML, we derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from three distinct FPD/AML pedigrees (FPD-iPSCs) and examined their defects in hematopoietic differentiation. By in vitro differentiation assays, FPD-iPSCs were clearly defective in the emergence of hematopoietic progenitors and differentiation of megakaryocytes, and overexpression of wild-type (WT)-RUNX1 reversed most of these phenotypes. We further demonstrated that overexpression of mutant-RUNX1 in WT-iPSCs did not recapitulate the phenotype of FPD-iPSCs, showing that the mutations were of loss-of-function type. Taken together, this study demonstrated that haploinsufficient RUNX1 allele imposed cell-intrinsic defects on hematopoietic differentiation in human experimental settings and revealed differential impacts of RUNX1 dosage on human and murine megakaryopoiesis. FPD-iPSCs will be a useful tool to investigate mutant RUNX1-mediated molecular processes in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis.

Tet2-mutated myeloid progenitors possess aberrant in vitro self-renewal capacity

To the editor: Ten-Eleven-Translocation 2 ( TET2 ) is one of the most frequently mutated genes in various hematologic malignancies.[1][1],[2][2] Li et al have previously reported that the deletion of Tet2 in mice led to dysregulated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and subsequent development of

Robo4 Plays a Role in Bone Marrow Homing and Mobilization, but Is Not Essential in the Long-Term Repopulating Capacity of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Roundabout (Robo) family proteins are immunoglobulin-type surface receptors critical for cellular migration and pathway finding of neuronal axons. We have previously shown that Robo4 was specifically expressed in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and its high expression correlated with long-term repopulating (LTR) capacity. To reveal the physiological role of Robo4 in hematopoiesis, we examined the effects of Robo4 disruption on the function of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and progenitors. In Robo4-deficient mice, basic hematological parameters including complete blood cell count and differentiation profile were not affected. In contrast to the previous report, HSC/hematopoietic progenitor (HPC) frequencies in the bone marrow (BM) were perfectly normal in Robo4−/− mice. Moreover, Robo4−/− HSCs were equally competitive as wild-type HSCs in transplantation assays and had normal long-term repopulating (LTR) capacity. Of note, the initial engraftment at 4-weeks after transplantation was slightly impaired by Robo4 ablation, suggesting a marginal defect in BM homing of Robo4−/− HSCs. In fact, homing efficiencies of HSCs/HPCs to the BM was significantly impaired in Robo4-deficient mice. On the other hand, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor-induced peripheral mobilization of HSCs was also impaired by Robo4 disruption. Lastly, marrow recovery from myelosuppressive stress was equally efficient in WT- and Robo4-mutant mice. These results clearly indicate that Robo4 plays a role in HSC trafficking such as BM homing and peripheral mobilization, but is not essential in the LTR and self-renewal capacity of HSCs.

Direct reprogramming of terminally differentiated B cells into erythroid lineage

Hematopoietic progenitors have been shown to retain plasticity and switch lineages by appropriate stimuli. However, mature blood cells hardly showed such differentiation plasticity. In this paper, we tried to reprogram mature B cells into erythroid lineage by expressing various hematopoietic transcription factors. Among various factors, GATA‐1, SCL together with CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) α turned out to be a minimal set of factors that efficiently reprogrammed terminally differentiated mature B cells into erythroid lineage, as evidenced by colony forming assays and erythroid‐specific gene expressions. This study sets an avenue to generate autologous erythrocytes from peripheral B cells.

A metal chelator, diphenylthiocarbazone, induces apoptosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells mediated by a caspase-dependent pathway without a modulation of retinoic acid signaling pathways.

A metal chelator, diphenylthiocarbazone (dithizone), has been reported to induce differentiation and apoptosis of the human myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60, however, very little is known about the mechanism of dithizone-induced apoptosis. Here, we report for the first time that dithizone can induce inhibition of cellular growth of retinoic acid (RA)-sensitive NB4 and RA-resistant UF-1 APL cells via induction of apoptosis but not differentiation. Treatment of NB4 cells with dithizone markedly-induced apoptosis, which was associated with the loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potentials (Delta Psi(m)) and activation of caspase-3 and -9. Further investigation of the RA-resistant UF-1 APL cells showed that dithizone-induced apoptosis to a lesser extent. However, neither dithizone alone nor in combination with all-trans RA induced the expression of myeloid differentiation antigen CD11b. Concomitantly, the degradation of PML/RARalpha fusion protein was not observed after treatment with dithizone alone, and the degradation was not enhanced by the combination of dithizone and all-trans RA. We conclude that dithizone, a metal chelator, induced apoptosis without differentiation in APL cells in association with Delta Psi(m) collapse and caspase-3 and -9 activation.

SHD1 is a novel cytokine-inducible, negative feedback regulator of STAT5-dependent transcription

STAT5 is a critical mediator of a variety of cytokine signaling whose transcriptional activity is regulated by associating with various proteins. During a search for STAT5-interacting proteins, we identified SHD1, a mammalian homologue of yeast gene Sac3, as a potential interacter. SHD1 was localized in the nucleus, and induced by cytokines that activate STAT5, such as erythropoietin, interleukin-2 (IL-2), or IL-3. SHD1 interacted specifically with STAT5A and STAT5B, and interestingly, it specifically repressed STAT5-dependent transcription in vitro without affecting the stability or phosphorylation of STAT5 protein. Gene disruption study revealed that T, B, or bone marrow cells from mice lacking SHD1 were hyperresponsive to T-cell-receptor engagement, or stimulation with various STAT5-activating cytokines. These results suggest that SHD1 is a novel cytokine-inducible negative feedback regulator of STAT5.