ALBERT

Description: Cancer is caused by accumulated genomic and epigenetic abnormalities during the development of an individual, particularly during the neonatal period, when developmental plasticity is actively occurring. Myeloid-specific deletion of pten in embryos or after 3 weeks of age causes acute monocytic or myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) following a transient myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) in adult mice, which can mimic the human diseases to varying degrees. However, it is not clear how the timing of genomic and epigenetic abnormalities contributes to the disease phenotype in a mouse that is of an age comparable to human children. We hypothesized that during the development/aging process, the timing of when the genomic abnormality or “hit” occurs, such as loss of Pten or Nf1, is a critical determinant of the disease phenotype. We tested this by investigating the effect of somatic deletion of Pten at an age of 8 days, one of the most vulnerable stages for malignancy development in mice with or without a germline mutant Nf1. Through crossbreeding, we generated mice with Ptenfl/flNf1Fcr/+Mx1-Cre+ on a C57BL6/129 genetic background, and conditionally deleted Pten in a myeloid-specific manner by intraperitoneal injection of Poly(I:C). Mice with a pten deletion and mutant Nf1 (ptenkoNf1mut, hereafter referred as double mutant) showed signs of sickness at the end of the 2nd week of life, and all died by age 3-5 weeks (equivalent to 1-3 years old in humans). The natural survival in double mutant mice (n=10) was significantly shorter than those with wild type pten and Nf1 (ptenwt; Nf1wt, hereafter referred as WT, n=6, median 0.9 vs 〉14 months, p

Description: Key Points Early postnatal loss of Pten protein in mice with Nf1 haploinsufficiency causes a fatal juvenile myeloproliferative neoplasm. Akt and MAPK activities are elevated in juvenile mice with Nf1 haploinsufficiency and Pten protein loss.

Description: Key Points Total body irradiation causes long-term bone marrow suppression by selectively inducing HSC senescence. The induction of HSC senescence is independent of telomere shortening and p16Ink4a and Arf.

Description: Bone marrow injury is a major adverse side effect of radiation and chemotherapy. Attempts to limit such damage are warranted, but their success requires a better understanding of how radiation and anticancer drugs harm the bone marrow. Here, we report one pivotal role of the BH3-only protein Puma in the radiosensitivity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). Puma deficiency in mice confers resistance to high-dose radiation in a hematopoietic cell–autonomous manner. Unexpectedly, loss of one Puma allele is sufficient to confer mice radioresistance. Interestingly, null mutation in Puma protects both primitive and differentiated hematopoietic cells from damage caused by low-dose radiation but selectively protects HSCs and HPCs against high-dose radiation, thereby accelerating hematopoietic regeneration. Consistent with these findings, Puma is required for radiation-induced apoptosis in HSCs and HPCs, and Puma is selectively induced by irradiation in primitive hematopoietic cells, and this induction is impaired in Puma-heterozygous cells. Together, our data indicate that selective targeting of p53 downstream apoptotic targets may represent a novel strategy to protecting HSCs and HPCs in patients undergoing intensive cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Description: Abstract 4825 Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are longevity cells that are responsible for sustaining hematopoietic homeostasis and regeneration after injury for the entire lifespan of an organism. Maintenance of genomic stability is crucial for the preservation of HSCs, which depends on their efficient repair of DNA damage, particularly DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Because of the paucity of HSCs and lack of sensitive assays, directly measuring the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs has been difficult. Therefore, we developed a sensitive and quantitative in vitro non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) assay using the Bgl II-digested linear pDsRed2ER plasmids and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique. This assay can sensitively detect DSB repair via NHEJ in less than 0.25 μg nuclear proteins or nuclear extracts from about 1000 human BM CD34+ hematopoietic cells. Using this assay, we confirmed that human bone marrow HSCs (CD34+CD38− cells) are less proficient in the repair of DSBs by NHEJ than HPCs (CD34+CD38+ cells). In contrast, mouse quiescent HSCs (Pyronin-Ylow LSK+ cells) repaired the damage more efficiently than cycling HPCs (LSK− cells). The difference in the abilities of human and mouse HSCs and HPCs to repair DSBs through NHEJ is likely attributed to their differential expression of key NHEJ DNA damage repair genes such as ATM and ligase 4. These findings suggest that the qPCR-based plasmid NHEJ assay can be used to sensitively measure the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs. This assay can also be applied to other rare tissue stem cells as well. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Macrophages (MΦ) are professional phagocytes in the innate immune system. They are not only involved in regulation of various immune functions and inflammation, but also exhibit plasticity in modulation of tissue regeneration and repair after being polarized into M1 and M2 MΦ by different inflammatory cytokines. In addition, several recent studies show that MΦ are a new constituent of the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) niche and play a role in regulation of HSCs maintenance and mobilization in bone marrow (BM). However, it is not known whether MΦ can regulate HSCs self-renewal and whether the effects of MΦ on HSCs can be influenced by differential MΦ polarization. This was investigated using an ex vivo HSCs expansion model consisting of mouse bone marrow LSK (Lin-sca-1+c-Kit+) cells cultured with or without MΦ in a mouse HSCs expansion medium (StemSpanTM serum-free medium supplemented with 20ng/ml of stem cell factor [SCF] and thrombopoietin [TPO]). We found that LSK cells were expanded about 20-, 15-, and 30-fold after 6 days of co-culture with MΦ harvested from mouse BM, spleen, and peritoneal cavity, respectively, whereas there was no significant expansion after culture without MΦ or with BM Gr-1high or Gr-1low monocytes. In addition, we found that M1-MΦ polarized by INFγ were more effective than IL4-polarized M2-MΦ in promoting LSK cells expansion ex vivo (45-fold vs. 15-fold). However, the promotion of LSK cells expansion by M1-MΦ resulted in about 88% reduction in HSCs as judged by 5-week cobblestone area forming cell (CAFC) assay. In contrast, M2-MΦ significantly promoted HSCs expansion. A greater expansion of HSCs was achieved after LSK cells were co-cultured with M2-MΦ for 9 days than for 6 days (20-fold vs. 6-fold). These findings suggest that M1-MΦ are more effective than M2-MΦ in promoting LSK cells or hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) expansion, at the expense of HSCs self-renewal, whereas M2-MΦ can promote HPCs expansion as well as HSCs self-renewal. This suggestion is supported by results of serial transplantation and competitive repopulation unit (CRU) assays. CRU assay showed that LT-HSCs (e.g. 4-month CRU) were increased about 13 folds relative to the starting numbers of CRU in the input after LSK cells were co-cultured with M2-MΦ for 9 days, but were barely detectable after the cells were cultured without MΦ or with M1-MΦ. The inhibitory effect of M1-MΦ on HSCs self-renewal and expansion was attenuated by inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity with an inhibitor or knockout iNOS. Inhibition of arginase and/or cyclooxygenase activities with an inhibitor attenuated the promotion of HSCs self-renewal and expansion by M2-MΦ. More importantly, we found that human CD34+ cells, 8-week CAFC, and SCID mice repopulating cells (SRCs) were increased 42±14, 8±2.1, and 4 folds over the input values, respectively, after human cord blood CD34+ cells were co-cultured with M2-MΦ generated from human cord blood CD34- cells for 7 days in a human HSCs expansion medium (StemSpanTM serum-free medium supplemented with 50 ng/ml of SCF, TPO, and FLT-3 ligand). These findings demonstrate that M1-MΦ and M2-MΦ have opposite effects on HSCs self-renewal, which may be important for regulation of hematopoiesis under various pathological conditions in which MΦ are differentially polarized to M1 or M2 by diverse inflammatory cytokines. In addition, M2-MΦ may be used to promote human cord blood HSCs ex vivo expansion to make human cord blood transplantation available to more patients. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are responsible for the production of various lineages of blood cells throughout life. To ensure the longevity of HSCs and prevent their premature exhaustion, a small population of HSCs termed long-term HSCs (LT-HSCs) is maintained in quiescence under homeostatic conditions. Whether LT-HSCs can exit quiescence rapidly in response to hematopoietic stress to replenish blood cells is not known, and thus was investigated in the present study in an acute but transient platelet depletion mouse model induced by intravenous injection of anti-GPIbα antibody. The results from our study show that in response to platelet depletion LT-HSCs can exit quiescence promptly and then proliferate rapidly to participate in stress thrombopoiesis probably via an alternative differentiation pathway. The mechanism by which platelet depletion causes LT-HSC activation is not due to a direct effect of the antibody on LT-HSCs or activation of platelets, but is attributed to a transient reduction of thrombopoietin (TPO) resulting from the acute depletion of platelets. However, the activated LT-HSCs return to quiescence when blood platelet counts are almost back to normal levels without compromising their function. These findings suggest that there is a very efficient and sensitive feedback regulatory circuitry between quiescent LT-HSCs and platelets, which allows LT-HSCs to directly and promptly respond to hematopoietic stress resulting from an acute loss of platelets. In this response, TPO may function as a switch that can rapidly turn on LT-HSCs to participate in stress thrombopoiesis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Abstract 1345 Many patients receiving chemotherapy and/or ionizing radiation (IR) develop residual (or long-term) bone marrow (BM) injury that can not only limit the success of cancer treatment but also adversely affect their quality of life. Although residual BM injury has been largely attributed to the induction of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) senescence, neither the molecular mechanisms by which chemotherapy and/or IR induce HSC senescence have been clearly defined, nor has an effective treatment been developed to ameliorate the injury. The Ink4a-Arf locus encodes two important tumor suppressors, p16Ink4a (p16) and Arf. Both of them have been implicated in mediating the induction of cellular senscence in a variety of cells including HSCs. Therefore, we examined the role of p16 and/or Arf in IR-induced HSC senescence and long-term BM suppression using a total body irradiation (TBI) mouse model. The results from our studies show that exposure of wild-type (WT) mice to a sublethal dose (6 Gy) of TBI induces HSC senescence and long-term BM suppression. The induction of HSC senescence is not associated with a reduction in telemore length in HSCs and their progeny, but is associated with significant increases in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the expression of p16 and Arf mRNA, and the activity of senescence-associated β-galacotosidase (SA-β-gal) in HSCs. However, genetical deletion of Ink4a and/or Arf has no effect on TBI-induced HSC senescence, as HSCs from the Ink4a and/or Arf knockout mice after exposure to TBI exhibit similar changes as those seen in the cells from irradiated WT mice in comparison with the cells from un-irradiated mice with correspondent genotypes. In addition, TBI-induced long-term BM suppression is also not attenuated by the deletion of the Ink4a and/or Arf genes. These findings suggest that IR induces HSC senescence and long-term BM suppression in a p16Ink4a/Arf-independent manner. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.