Project description:Cullin-5 (Cul5) coordinates assembly of cullin-RING-E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase (CRL) complexes that include Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS)-box-containing proteins. The SOCS-box proteins function to recruit specific substrates to the complex for ubiquitination and degradation. In hematopoiesis, SOCS-box proteins are best known for regulating the actions of cytokines that utilize the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. However, the roles of most SOCS-box proteins have not been studied in physiological contexts and any actions for Cul5/SOCS complexes in signaling by several hematopoietic cytokines, including thrombopoietin (TPO) and interleukin-3 (IL-3), remain unknown. To define additional potential roles for Cul5/SOCS complexes, we generated mice lacking Cul5 in hematopoiesis; the absence of Cul5 is predicted to impair the SOCS-box-dependent actions of all proteins that contain this motif. Here, we show that Cul5-deficient mice develop excess megakaryopoiesis and thrombocytosis revealing a novel mechanism of negative regulation of megakaryocyte-committed stem cells, a distinct population within the hematopoietic stem cell pool that have been shown to rapidly, perhaps directly, generate megakaryocytes, and which are produced in excess in the absence of Cul5. Cul5-deficient megakaryopoiesis is distinctive in being at least in part independent of TPO/Mpl and involves signaling via the beta-common and/or beta-IL-3 receptors, with evidence of deregulated responses to IL-3. This process is independent of the interferon-alpha/beta receptor (IFNARI), previously implicated in inflammation-induced activation of megakaryocyte-committed stem cells, which may suggest distinct regulation of these cells at steady state and under stress.
Project description:During megakaryopoiesis and consecutive platelet production, megakaryocytes undergo robust cellular morphological changes which are associated with the reprogramming of signaling pathways. Moreover, it can be assumed that lipid membrane composition and signaling are strongly modified. However, the knowledge of lipid alteration during megakaryopoiesis and which pathways are involved is still lacking. Here, we use a lipid-centric multiomics approach to create a quantitative map of the megakaryocyte lipidome during maturation and proplatelet formation. Our data reveal that megakaryocyte differentiation is driven by an increased fatty acyl import and de novo lipid synthesis, resulting in the modulation towards an anionic membrane phenotype. This phenotype and the upregulation of diacylglycerols highly correlate with the activation of lipid-dependent kinases such as PKC and BTK. Using inhibitors of fatty acid import and phospholipid synthesis proved to block membrane remodeling and kinase activation and directly reduced proplatelet formation. Altogether, this study provides a framework for understanding how membrane lipid remodeling during megakaryocyte differentiation impacts kinase signaling and proplatelet formation while providing a knowledge base to exploit megakaryopoiesis.
Project description:The fetal to adult switch in mouse hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) behavior is characterized by entry into quiescence and alterations in lineage output. Here we identify the ability of HSCs to undergo emergency megakaryopoiesis following acute inflammatory insult as an outcome of this developmental switch. Single cell accessibility mapping of fetal and adult HSCs resolves a heterogeneous chromatin landscape consistent with a two-step megakaryocyte lineage priming process. Importantly, we demonstrate that the accumulation of megakaryocyte primed HSCs is under the control of the developmentally restricted Lin28b RNA binding protein. Persistent Lin28b protein expression in postnatal HSCs delays the formation of a primed HSC pool and limits emergency megakaryopoiesis. Taken together, we identify Lin28b as a negative regulator of a megakaryocyte primed HSC state that is enforced at the chromatin level during unperturbed organismal development. These findings highlight the ontogenically timed onset of inflammatory responsiveness, with important implications for the delicate balance between host protection and tissue damage during neonatal life.
Project description:Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is ubiquitously expressed in blood cells, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), monocytes, and platelets. Here we report a novel finding that TXNIP plays a crucial role in megakaryopoiesis and platelet biogenesis via interacting with GATA1, a transcription factor for megakaryocyte-erythroid differentiation. Txnip-/- mice displayed immature megakaryocytes in the bone marrow with thrombocytopenia, which had gotten worse as the mice aged. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the transcriptional activity of GATA1 was significantly enhanced in the Txnip-/- megakaryocyte precursors (MkPs) than wild type (WT) cells. During megakaryopoiesis in ex vivo, Txnip-/- MkPs remained small in cell size with less mitochondrial mass, and more glycolysis for ATP production, as opposed to the normal megakaryocyte maturation. The effects of TXNIP in megakaryocytes were recapitulated in human cord blood CD34+ HSC-derived differentiation. Taken together, this study demonstrates the importance of spatiotemporal expression of TXNIP in platelet biogenesis. We propose for the first time that TXNIP might play a critical role in determining a lineage between megakaryocytes and erythroid cells from a common megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor via regulation of transcriptional activity of GATA1.
Project description:AbstractCullin-5 (Cul5) coordinates the assembly of cullin-RING-E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes that include the suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-box-containing proteins. The SOCS-box proteins function to recruit specific substrates to the complex for ubiquitination and degradation. In hematopoiesis, SOCS-box proteins are best known for regulating the actions of cytokines that utilize the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. However, the roles of most SOCS-box proteins have not been studied in physiological contexts and any actions for Cul5/SOCS complexes in signaling by several hematopoietic cytokines, including thrombopoietin (TPO) and interleukin-3 (IL-3), remain unknown. To define additional potential roles for Cul5/SOCS complexes, we generated mice lacking Cul5 in hematopoiesis; the absence of Cul5 is predicted to impair the SOCS-box-dependent actions of all proteins that contain this motif. Here, we show that Cul5-deficient mice develop excess megakaryopoiesis and thrombocytosis revealing a novel mechanism of negative regulation of megakaryocyte-committed stem cells, a distinct population within the hematopoietic stem cell pool that have been shown to rapidly, perhaps directly, generate megakaryocytes, and which are produced in excess in the absence of Cul5. Cul5-deficient megakaryopoiesis is distinctive in being largely independent of TPO/myeloproliferative leukemia protein and involves signaling via the β-common and/or β-IL-3 receptors, with evidence of deregulated responses to IL-3. This process is independent of the interferon-α/β receptor, previously implicated in inflammation-induced activation of stem-like megakaryocyte progenitor cells.
Project description:Frameshift mutations in CALR (calreticulin) are associated with essential thrombocythaemia (ET), but the stages at and mechanisms by which mutant CALR drives transformation remain incompletely defined. Here, we use single-cell approaches to examine the haematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) landscape in a mouse model of mutant CALR-driven ET. We identify a trajectory linking HSCs with megakaryocytes, and prospectively identify a novel intermediate population that is overrepresented in the disease state. We also show that mutant CALR drives transformation primarily from the earliest stem cell compartment, with some contribution from megakaryocyte progenitors. Finally, relative to wild-type HSCs, mutant CALR HSCs showed increases in JAK-STAT signalling, the unfolded protein response, cell cycle, and a previously undescribed upregulation of cholesterol biosynthesis. Overall, we have identified a novel megakaryocyte-biased cell population that is increased in a mouse model of ET and described transcriptomic changes linking CALR mutations to increased HSC proliferation and megakaryopoiesis.
Project description:The fetal to adult switch in mouse hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) behavior is characterized by entry into quiescence and alterations in lineage output. Here we identify the ability of HSCs to undergo emergency megakaryopoiesis following acute inflammatory insult as an outcome of this developmental switch. Single cell accessibility mapping of fetal and adult HSCs resolves a heterogeneous chromatin landscape consistent with a two-step megakaryocyte lineage priming process. Importantly, we demonstrate that the accumulation of megakaryocyte primed HSCs is under the control of the developmentally restricted Lin28b RNA binding protein. Persistent Lin28b protein expression in postnatal HSCs delays the formation of a primed HSC pool and limits emergency megakaryopoiesis. Taken together, we identify Lin28b as a negative regulator of a megakaryocyte primed HSC state that is enforced at the chromatin level during unperturbed organismal development. These findings highlight the ontogenically timed onset of inflammatory responsiveness, with important implications for the delicate balance between host protection and tissue damage during neonatal life.
Project description:The transcription factor Growth Factor Independence 1B (GFI1B) recruits Lysine Specific Demethylase 1A (LSD1/KDM1A) to stimulate gene programs relevant for megakaryocyte and platelet biology. Inherited pathogenic GFI1B variants result in thrombocytopenia and bleeding propensities with varying intensity. Whether these affect similar gene programs is unknow. Here we studied transcriptomic effects of four patient-derived GFI1B variants (GFI1BT174N,H181Y,R184P,Q287*) in MEG01 megakaryoblasts. Compared to normal GFI1B, each variant affected different gene programs with GFI1BQ287* uniquely failing to repress myeloid traits. In line with this, single cell RNA-sequencing of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived megakaryocytes revealed a 4.5-fold decrease in the megakaryocyte/myeloid cell ratio in GFI1BQ287* versus normal conditions. Inhibiting the GFI1B-LSD1 interaction with small molecule GSK-LSD1 resulted in activation of myeloid genes in normal iPSC-derived megakaryocytes similar as observed for GFI1BQ287* iPSC-derived megakaryocytes. Thus, GFI1B and LSD1 facilitate gene programs relevant for megakaryopoiesis while simultaneously repressing programs that induce myeloid differentiation.
Project description:MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate cellular development by interfering with mRNA stability and translation. We defined the kinetics of global microRNA expression during the differentiation of murine hematopoietic progenitors into megakaryocytes. Of 435 miRNAs analyzed, 13 were upregulated and 81 were downregulated. Many of these changes are consistent with miRNA profiling studies of human megakaryocytes and platelets, although new patterns also emerged. Among 7 conserved miRNAs that were upregulated most strongly in megakaryocytes, 6 were also induced in the related erythroid lineage. MiR-146a was strongly upregulated during mouse and human megakaryopoiesis, but not erythropoiesis. However, overexpression of miR-146a in mouse bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor populations produced no detectable alterations in megakaryocyte development or platelet production in vivo or in colony assays. Our findings extend the repertoire of differentially regulated miRNAs during murine megakaryopoiesis and provide a useful new dataset for hematopoiesis research. In addition, we show that enforced hematopoietic expression of miR-146a has minimal effects on megakaryopoiesis. These results are compatible with prior studies indicating that miR-146a inhibits megakaryocyte production indirectly by suppressing cytokine production from innate immune cells, but cast doubt on a different study, which suggests that this miRNA inhibits megakaryopoiesis cell-autonomously.
Project description:We newly identified prospectively-isolatable unipotent megakaryocyte progenitor population (MegP) as the major source of megakaryocytes, which emerges directly from early stage of hematopoiesis bypassing megakaryocyte-erythroid lineage bifurcation and contributes to physiological and pathological human megakaryopoiesis. To explore gene expression signature of hematopoietic stem/progenitor populrations miroarry-based whole transcriptome analysis was performed. As a result, gene expression signature of MegP clearly reflected its differentiation potential.