技术资料

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH) activity is one hallmark of human bone marrow (BM),umbilical cord blood (UCB),and peripheral blood (PB) primitive progenitors presenting high reconstitution capacities in vivo. In this study,we have identified ALDH(+) cells within human skeletal muscles,and have analyzed their phenotypical and functional characteristics. Immunohistofluorescence analysis of human muscle tissue sections revealed rare endomysial cells. Flow cytometry analysis using the fluorescent substrate of ALDH,Aldefluor,identified brightly stained (ALDH(br)) cells with low side scatter (SSC(lo)),in enzymatically dissociated muscle biopsies,thereafter abbreviated as SMALD(+) (for skeletal muscle ALDH(+)) cells. Phenotypical analysis discriminated two sub-populations according to CD34 expression: SMALD(+)/CD34(-) and SMALD(+)/CD34(+) cells. These sub-populations did not initially express endothelial (CD31),hematopoietic (CD45),and myogenic (CD56) markers. Upon sorting,however,whereas SMALD(+)/CD34(+) cells developed in vitro as a heterogeneous population of CD56(-) cells able to differentiate in adipoblasts,the SMALD(+)/CD34(-) fraction developed in vitro as a highly enriched population of CD56(+) myoblasts able to form myotubes. Moreover,only the SMALD(+)/CD34(-) population maintained a strong myogenic potential in vivo upon intramuscular transplantation. Our results suggest that ALDH activity is a novel marker for a population of new human skeletal muscle progenitors presenting a potential for cell biology and cell therapy. View Publication

Recent studies support the notion that there is an intricate relationship between hematopoiesis and bone homeostasis in normal steady states. Using mice undergoing chronic inflammatory arthritis,we investigated the relationship between hematopoiesis and bone homeostasis in pathologic conditions. We demonstrate that mice undergoing chronic inflammatory arthritis displayed osteoporosis resulting from a severe defect in osteoblast function. Despite the defective osteoblast function,however,the hematopoietic stem cells from these mice exhibited normal properties in either long-term repopulation or cell cycling. Therefore,the bone-forming capacity of osteoblasts is distinct from their ability to maintain hematopoietic stem cells in chronic inflammatory conditions. View Publication

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is characterized by a reciprocal chromosomal translocation (9;22) that generates the Bcr-Abl fusion gene. The Ras/Raf-1/MEK/ERK pathway is constitutively activated in Bcr-Abl-transformed cells,and Ras activity enhances the oncogenic ability of Bcr-Abl. However,the mechanism by which Bcr-Abl activates the Ras pathway is not completely understood. Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) inhibits activation of MEK by Raf-1 and its downstream signal transduction,resulting in blocking the MAP kinase pathway. In the present study,we found that RKIP was depleted in CML cells. We investigated the interaction between RKIP and Bcr-Abl in CML cell lines and Bcr-Abl(+) progenitor cells from CML patients. The Abl kinase inhibitors and depletion of Bcr-Abl induced the expression of RKIP and reduced the pERK1/2 status,resulting in inhibited proliferation of CML cells. Moreover,RKIP up-regulated cell cycle regulator FoxM1 expression,resulting in G(1) arrest via p27(Kip1) and p21(Cip1) accumulation. In colony-forming unit granulocyte,erythroid,macrophage,megakaryocyte,colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage,and burst-forming unit erythroid,treatment with the Abl kinase inhibitors and depletion of Bcr-Abl induced RKIP and reduced FoxM1 expressions,and inhibited colony formation of Bcr-Abl(+) progenitor cells,whereas depletion of RKIP weakened the inhibition of colony formation activity by the Abl kinase inhibitors in Bcr-Abl(+) progenitor cells. Thus,Bcr-Abl represses the expression of RKIP,continuously activates pERK1/2,and suppresses FoxM1 expression,resulting in proliferation of CML cells. View Publication

In ischemic congestive heart failure (CHF),anemia is associated with poor prognosis. Whether anemia develops in nonischemic CHF is uncertain. The hematopoietic inhibitors TNF-alpha and nitric oxide (NO) are activated in ischemic CHF. We examined whether mice with ischemic or nonischemic CHF develop anemia and whether TNF-alpha and NO are involved. We studied mice (n = 7-9 per group) with CHF either due to myocardial infarction (MI) or to overexpression of the Ca(2+)-binding protein calsequestrin (CSQ) or to induced cardiac disruption of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase 2 gene (SERCA2 KO). Hematopoiesis was analyzed by colony formation of CD34(+) bone marrow cells. Hemoglobin concentration was 14.0 +/- 0.4 g/dl (mean +/- SD) in controls,while it was decreased to 10.1 +/- 0.4,9.7 +/- 0.4,and 9.6 +/- 0.3 g/dl in MI,CSQ,and SERCA2 KO,respectively (P textless 0.05). Colony numbers per 100,000 CD34(+) cells in the three CHF groups were reduced to 33 +/- 3 (MI),34 +/- 3 (CSQ),and 39 +/- 3 (SERCA2 KO) compared with 68 +/- 4 in controls (P textless 0.05). Plasma TNF-alpha nearly doubled in MI,and addition of anti-TNF-alpha antibody normalized colony formation. Inhibition of colony formation was completely abolished with blockade of endothelial NO synthase in CSQ and SERCA2 KO,but not in MI. In conclusion,the mechanism of anemia in CHF depends on the etiology of cardiac disease; whereas TNF-alpha impairs hematopoiesis in CHF following MI,NO inhibits blood cell formation in nonischemic murine CHF. View Publication

The endosteal niche is critical for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). However,it consists of a heterogeneous population in terms of differentiation stage and function. In this study,we characterized endosteal cell populations and examined their ability to maintain HSCs. Bone marrow endosteal cells were subdivided into immature mesenchymal cell-enriched ALCAM(-)Sca-1(+) cells,osteoblast-enriched ALCAM(+)Sca-1(-),and ALCAM(-)Sca-1(-) cells. We found that all 3 fractions maintained long-term reconstitution (LTR) activity of HSCs in an in vitro culture. In particular,ALCAM(+)Sca-1(-) cells significantly enhanced the LTR activity of HSCs by the up-regulation of homing- and cell adhesion-related genes in HSCs. Microarray analysis showed that ALCAM(-)Sca-1(+) fraction highly expressed cytokine-related genes,whereas the ALCAM(+)Sca-1(-) fraction expressed multiple cell adhesion molecules,such as cadherins,at a greater level than the other fractions,indicating that the interaction between HSCs and osteoblasts via cell adhesion molecules enhanced the LTR activity of HSCs. Furthermore,we found an osteoblastic marker(low/-) subpopulation in ALCAM(+)Sca-1(-) fraction that expressed cytokines,such as Angpt1 and Thpo,and stem cell marker genes. Altogether,these data suggest that multiple subsets of osteoblasts and mesenchymal progenitor cells constitute the endosteal niche and regulate HSCs in adult bone marrow. View Publication

The discovery of a major hematopoietic stem cell pool in midgestation mouse embryo has defined the placenta as an important hematopoietic anatomical site. In this study,we examined the flow cytometric pattern of mouse placenta cells on embryonic days (E) 10.5 to E15.5,in view of CD45 and c-Kit expression. We also determined which population of these cells shows differentiation potential toward multiple hematopoietic lineages by performing coculture with OP9 stromal cells and colony-forming assay in methylcellulose. Only CD45(+)c-Kit(+) population showed the ability to form hematopoietic colonies including multiple lineages. To distinguish which fraction of placenta cells have the hematopoietic activity,we used GFP transgenic mice in which the fetal part of the placenta is GFP positive and the maternal part is GFP negative. E11.5 and E13.5 CD45(+)c-Kit(+) placental cells that have ability to form hematopoietic colonies are the fetal GFP positive placental cells. E11.5 and E13.5 CD45(+)c-Kit(+) placental cells that have an ability to form hematopoietic colonies mainly reside in Hoechst dye-effluxing side population area (SP). Taken together,in the placenta of mouse embryo,we conclude that SP cells in the CD45(+)c-Kit(+) fetal placental cells have the ability to form hematopoietic colonies. View Publication

MED1/TRAP220,a subunit of the transcriptional Mediator/TRAP complex,is crucial for various biological events through its interaction with distinct activators,such as nuclear receptors and GATA family activators. In hematopoiesis,MED1 plays a pivotal role in optimal nuclear receptor-mediated myelomonopoiesis and GATA-1-induced erythropoiesis. In this study,we present evidence that MED1 in stromal cells is involved in supporting hematopoietic stem and/or progenitor cells (HSPCs) through osteopontin (OPN) expression. We found that the proliferation of bone marrow (BM) cells cocultured with MED1 knockout (Med1(-/-)) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) was significantly suppressed compared to the control. Furthermore,the number of long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) was attenuated for BM cells cocultured with Med1(-/-) MEFs. The vitamin D receptor (VDR)- and Runx2-mediated expression of OPN,as well as Mediator recruitment to the Opn promoter,was specifically attenuated in the Med1(-/-) MEFs. Addition of OPN to these MEFs restored the growth of cocultured BM cells and the number of LTC-ICs,both of which were attenuated by the addition of the anti-OPN antibody to Med1(+/+) MEFs and to BM stromal cells. Consequently,MED1 in niche appears to play an important role in supporting HSPCs by upregulating VDR- and Runx2-mediated transcription on the Opn promoter. View Publication

Vinculin is a highly conserved actin-binding protein that is localized in integrin-mediated focal adhesion complexes. Although critical roles have been proposed for integrins in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function,little is known about the involvement of intracellular focal adhesion proteins in HSC functions. This study showed that the ability of c-Kit(+)Sca1(+)Lin(-) HSCs to support reconstitution of hematopoiesis after competitive transplantation was severely impaired by lentiviral transduction with short hairpin RNA sequences for vinculin. The potential of these HSCs to differentiate into granulocytic and monocytic lineages,to migrate toward stromal cell-derived factor 1α,and to home to the bone marrow in vivo were not inhibited by the loss of vinculin. However,the capacities to form long term culture-initiating cells and cobblestone-like areas were abolished in vinculin-silenced c-Kit(+)Sca1(+)Lin(-) HSCs. In contrast,adhesion to the extracellular matrix was inhibited by silencing of talin-1,but not of vinculin. Whole body in vivo luminescence analyses to detect transduced HSCs confirmed the role of vinculin in long term HSC reconstitution. Our results suggest that vinculin is an indispensable factor determining HSC repopulation capacity,independent of integrin functions. View Publication

p400/mDomino is an ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling protein that catalyzes the deposition of histone variant H2A.Z into nucleosomes to regulate gene expression. We previously showed that p400/mDomino is essential for embryonic development and primitive hematopoiesis. Here we generated a conditional knock-out mouse for the p400/mDomino gene and investigated the role of p400/mDomino in adult bone marrow hematopoiesis and in the cell-cycle progression of embryonic fibroblasts. The Mx1-Cre- mediated deletion of p400/mDomino resulted in an acute loss of nucleated cells in the bone marrow,including committed myeloid and erythroid cells as well as hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells. A hematopoietic colony assay revealed a drastic reduction in colony-forming activity after the deletion of p400/mDomino. Moreover,the loss of p400/mDomino in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) resulted in strong growth inhibition. Cell-cycle analysis revealed that the mDomino-deficient MEFs exhibited a pleiotropic cell-cycle defect at the S and G(2)/M phases,and polyploid and multi-nucleated cells with micronuclei emerged. DNA microarray analysis revealed that the p400/mDomino deletion from MEFs caused the impaired expression of many cell-cycle-regulatory genes,including G(2)/M-specific genes targeted by the transcription factors FoxM1 and c-Myc. These results indicate that p400/mDomino plays a key role in cellular proliferation by controlling the expression of cell-cycle-regulatory genes. View Publication

The p53 tumor suppressor limits proliferation in response to cellular stress through several mechanisms. Here,we test whether the recently described ability of p53 to limit stem cell self-renewal suppresses tumorigenesis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML),an aggressive cancer in which p53 mutations are associated with drug resistance and adverse outcome. Our approach combined mosaic mouse models,Cre-lox technology,and in vivo RNAi to disable p53 and simultaneously activate endogenous Kras(G12D)-a common AML lesion that promotes proliferation but not self-renewal. We show that p53 inactivation strongly cooperates with oncogenic Kras(G12D) to induce aggressive AML,while both lesions on their own induce T-cell malignancies with long latency. This synergy is based on a pivotal role of p53 in limiting aberrant self-renewal of myeloid progenitor cells,such that loss of p53 counters the deleterious effects of oncogenic Kras on these cells and enables them to self-renew indefinitely. Consequently,myeloid progenitor cells expressing oncogenic Kras and lacking p53 become leukemia-initiating cells,resembling cancer stem cells capable of maintaining AML in vivo. Our results establish an efficient new strategy for interrogating oncogene cooperation,and provide strong evidence that the ability of p53 to limit aberrant self-renewal contributes to its tumor suppressor activity. View Publication

Imatinib mesylate (IM) induces clinical remissions in chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients but IM resistance remains a problem. We recently identified several features of CML CD34(+) stem/progenitor cells expected to confer resistance to BCR-ABL-targeted therapeutics. From a study of 25 initially chronic-phase patients,we now demonstrate that some,but not all,of these parameters correlate with subsequent clinical response to IM therapy. CD34(+) cells from the 14 IM nonresponders demonstrated greater resistance to IM than the 11 IM responders in colony-forming cell assays in vitro (P textless .001) and direct sequencing of cloned transcripts from CD34(+) cells further revealed a higher incidence of BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations in the IM nonresponders (10%-40% vs 0%-20% in IM responders,P textless .003). In contrast,CD34(+) cells from IM nonresponders and IM responders were not distinguished by differences in BCR-ABL or transporter gene expression. Interestingly,one BCR-ABL mutation (V304D),predicted to destabilize the interaction between p210(BCR-ABL) and IM,was detectable in 14 of 20 patients. T315I mutant CD34(+) cells found before IM treatment in 2 of 20 patients examined were preferentially amplified after IM treatment. Thus,2 properties of pretreatment CML stem/progenitor cells correlate with subsequent response to IM therapy. Prospective assessment of these properties may allow improved patient management. View Publication

OBJECTIVES: In this study,we hypothesized that an antihuman-CD34 antibody immobilized on the surface of commercially available sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) could enhance re-endothelialization compared with SES alone. BACKGROUND: Previous experience with antihuman-CD34 antibody surface modified Genous stents (GS) (OrbusNeich Medical,Fort Lauderdale,Florida) has shown enhanced stent endothelialization in vivo. METHODS: In the phase 1 study,stents were deployed in 21 pig coronary arteries for single stenting (9 vessels: 3 GS,3 SES,and 3 bare-metal stents) and overlapping stenting with various combinations (12 vessels: 4 GS+GS,4 SES+SES,and 4 GS+SES) and harvested at 14 days for scanning electron and confocal microscopy. In phase 2,immobilized anti-CD34 antibody coating was applied on commercially available SES (SES-anti-CD34,n = 7) and compared with GS (n = 8) and SES (n = 7) and examined at 3 and 14 days by scanning electron/confocal microscopy analysis. RESULTS: In phase 1,single stent implantation showed greatest endothelialization in GS (99%) and in bare-metal stent (99%) compared with SES (55%,p = 0.048). In overlapping stents,endothelialization at the overlapping zone was significantly greater in GS+GS (95 +/- 6%) and GS+SES (79 +/- 5%) compared with the SES+SES (36 +/- 14%) group (p = 0.007). In phase 2,SES-anti-CD34 resulted in increased endothelialization compared with SES alone at 3 days (SES-anti-CD34 36 +/- 26%; SES 7 +/- 3%; and GS 76 +/- 8%; p = 0.01),and 14 days (SES-anti-CD34 82 +/- 8%; SES 53 +/- 20%; and GS 98 +/- 2%; p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Immobilization of anti-CD34 antibody on SES enhances endothelialization and may potentially be an effective therapeutic alternative to improve currently available drug-eluting stents. View Publication