Project description:Differences in the amount of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) that persists into adulthood affect the severity of sickle cell disease and the beta-thalassemia syndromes. Genetic association studies have identified sequence variants in the gene BCL11A that influence HbF levels. Here we examine BCL11A as a potential regulator of HbF expression. The high HbF BCL11A genotype is associated with reduced BCL11A expression. Moreover, abundant expression of full-length forms of BCL11A is developmentally restricted to adult erythroid cells. Down-regulation of BCL11A expression in primary adult erythroid cells leads to robust HbF expression. Consistent with a direct role of BCL11A in globin gene regulation, we find that BCL11A occupies several discrete sites in the beta-globin gene cluster. BCL11A emerges as a therapeutic target for reactivation of HbF in beta-hemoglobin disorders. BCL11A siRNA label: B, NT siRNA label: N Experiment Overall Design: Microarray expression analysis from CD34-derived erythroid progenitors treated with either non-targeting (NT) control siRNAs or BCL11A targeting siRNAs. Six samples from the NT control and six samples from the BCL11A siRNA treatment are included. Cells were harvested on day 7 of erythroid differentiation after introduction of siRNAs on day 0 of the differentiation protocol. Experiment Overall Design: 6 BCL11A siRNA datasets, 6 control (NT) datasets
Project description:Ashley R, Yan H, Wang N, Hale J, Dulmovits BM, Papoin J, Olive ME, Udeshi ND, Carr SA, Vlachosa A, Lipton JM, Da Costa L, Hillyer C, Kinet S, Taylor N, Mohandas N, Narla A, Blanc L. 2019. Despite the effective clinical use of steroids for the treatment of Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA), the mechanistic bases via which glucocorticoids regulate human erythropoiesis remain poorly understood. Here, we report that the sensitivity of erythroid differentiation to dexamethasone (Dex) is dependent on the developmental origin of human CD34+ progenitor cells, specifically increasing the expansion of CD34+ progenitors from peripheral blood (PB) but not cord blood (CB). Dexamethasone treatment of erythroid-differentiated PB, but not CB, CD34+ progenitors resulted in the expansion of a novel CD34+CD36+CD71hiCD105med immature colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) population. Furthermore, proteomics analyses revealed the induction of distinct proteins in dexamethasone-treated PB and CB erythroid progenitors. Dexamethasone treatment of PB progenitors resulted in the specific upregulation of p57Kip2, a Cip/Kip cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, and we identified this induction as critical; shRNA-mediated downregulation of p57Kip2, but not the related p27Kip1, significantly attenuated the impact of dexamethasone on erythroid differentiation and inhibited the expansion of the immature CFU-E subset. Notably, in the context of DBA, we found that steroid resistance was associated with a dysregulated p57Kip2 expression. Altogether, these data identify a novel glucocorticoid-responsive human erythroid progenitor and provide new insights into glucocorticoid-based therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with DBA.
Project description:Bcl11a is a transcription factor known to regulate lymphoid and erythroid development. Recent bioinformatic analysis of global gene expression patterns has suggested a role for Bcl11a in the development of dendritic cell (DC) lineages. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the development of DC and other lineages in Bcl11a(-/-) mice. We show that Bcl11a is required for expression of IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) and Flt3 in early hematopoietic progenitor cells. The loss of IL-7R(+) common lymphoid progenitors accounts for previously described lymphoid defects in Bcl11a(-/-) mice. In addition, we found severely decreased numbers of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in Bcl11a(-/-) fetal livers and in the bone marrow of Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver chimeras. Moreover, Bcl11a(-/-) cells show severely impaired in vitro development of Flt3L-derived pDCs and classical DCs (cDCs). In contrast, we found normal in vitro development of DCs from Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver cells treated with GM-CSF. These results suggest that the persistent cDC development observed in Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver chimeras reflects derivation from a Bcl11a- and Flt3-independent pathway in vivo. We compared global gene expression by microarray for donor-derived wild-type and Bcl11a(-/-) populations isolated from chimeric bone marrow to identify Bcl11a target genes that explain its role in hematopoietic progenitors. GMP and MPP populations were sorted from fetal liver chimeras and pooled by donor genotype. RNA was isolated using an RNAqueous-Micro Kit (Ambion) and submitted for amplification, labeling and hybridization. Expression values were analyzed after RMA quantile normalization using ArrayStar software (DNASTAR).
Project description:Bcl11a is a transcription factor known to regulate lymphoid and erythroid development. Recent bioinformatic analysis of global gene expression patterns has suggested a role for Bcl11a in the development of dendritic cell (DC) lineages. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the development of DC and other lineages in Bcl11a(-/-) mice. We show that Bcl11a is required for expression of IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) and Flt3 in early hematopoietic progenitor cells. The loss of IL-7R(+) common lymphoid progenitors accounts for previously described lymphoid defects in Bcl11a(-/-) mice. In addition, we found severely decreased numbers of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in Bcl11a(-/-) fetal livers and in the bone marrow of Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver chimeras. Moreover, Bcl11a(-/-) cells show severely impaired in vitro development of Flt3L-derived pDCs and classical DCs (cDCs). In contrast, we found normal in vitro development of DCs from Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver cells treated with GM-CSF. These results suggest that the persistent cDC development observed in Bcl11a(-/-) fetal liver chimeras reflects derivation from a Bcl11a- and Flt3-independent pathway in vivo. We compared global gene expression by microarray for donor-derived wild-type and Bcl11a(-/-) populations isolated from chimeric bone marrow to identify Bcl11a target genes that explain its role in hematopoietic progenitors.
Project description:Determine the effects of HDAC1/2-selective chemical inhibtion on the gene expression profiles of erythroid progenitors derived from human CD34+ bone marrow cells.
Project description:Establish the DNA binding profiles of HDAC1, HDAC2 and Gata2 in erythroid progenitors derived from human CD34+ bone marrow cells. Determine the effects of HDAC1/2 inhibition on the DNA binding profiles of Gata2.
Project description:Analysis of mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells from a healthy volunteer under erythroid differentiation conditions with and without stimulation to the BMP or Wnt signaling pathways. For erythroid differentiation, expanded CD34+ cells were placed in Stemspan SFEM medium supplemented with 2% pen/strep, 20ng/ml SCF, 1U/ml Epo, 5ng/ml IL3, 2uM dexamethasone, and 1uM beta-estradiol. Arrays were performed 2 hours after addition of cytokines. For signaling pathway stimulation, cells were exposed to 0.5uM BIO (a GSK3 inhibitor) for Wnt pathway activation, 25ng/ml rhBMP4 for BMP pathway activation, or vehicle control for 2 hours. Three biological replicates were performed per treatment group. We used microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression changes after Wnt or BMP pathway stimulation in human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors under erythroid differentiation conditions. To investigate the changes to gene expression in human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors following stimulation of the Wnt or BMP pathways during the early stages of erythroid differentiation. Three biological replicates were performed per treatment group.
Project description:Burst-forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) and colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) cells are erythroid progenitors traditionally defined by colony assays. We developed a flow cytometry-based strategy for isolating human BFU-E and CFU-E cells based on the changes in expression of cell surface markers during in vitro erythroid cell culture. BFU-E and CFU-E are characterized by CD45+GPA-IL-3R-CD34+CD36-CD71low and CD45+GPA-IL-3R-CD34-CD36+CD71high phenotypes, respectively. Colony assays validated phenotypic assignment giving rise to BFU-E and CFU-E colonies, both at a purity ~90%. The BFU-E colony forming ability of CD45+GPA-IL-3R-CD34+CD36-CD71low cells required SCF and erythropoietin, while the CFU-E colony forming ability of CD45+GPA-IL-3R-CD34-CD36+CD71high cells required only erythropoietin. Bioinformatic analysis of the RNA-seq data revealed unique transcriptomes in each differentiation stage. The sorting strategy was validated in uncultured primary cells isolated from bone marrow and peripheral blood, indicating that marker expression is not an artifact of in vitro cell culture, but represents an in vivo characteristic of erythroid progenitor populations. The ability to isolate highly pure human BFU-E and CFU-E progenitors will enable detailed cellular and molecular characterization of these distinct progenitor populations and define their contribution to disordered erythropoiesis in inherited and acquired hematological disease. Our data provide important resource for future studies. Transcription profiles of Human erythroid progenitors at distinct developmental stages were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using IlluminaHiSeq 2000. The complete dataset comprises 4 sample types: CD34, BFU, CFU, and Pro (reanalysis of GSM1304777-GSM1304779).