Project description:Endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM) is a life-long maker for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Although we previously elucidated the functional importance of ESAM on HSCs in stress-induced hematopoiesis in adults, it remained unknown how ESAM affects hematopoietic development during fetal life. To address this issue, we analyzed fetuses of conditional ESAM-knockout mice.
Project description:Endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM) is a life-long maker for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Although we previously elucidated the functional importance of ESAM on HSCs in stress-induced hematopoiesis in adults, it remained unknown how ESAM affects hematopoietic development during fetal life. To address this issue, we analyzed fetuses of conventional ESAM-knockout mice.
Project description:ZFP36L2, zinc finger protein 36, C3H type-like 2 (also known as Brf2, Erf2, Tis11D) is a member of the tristetraprolin (TTP; Zfp36) family of tandem CCCH zinc finger proteins that can bind to AU-rich elements (AREs) in the 3'-untranslated region of mRNAs, leading to their deadenylation and subsequent degradation. We have generated Zfp36l2 knockout mice. Knockout mice were born at the expected Mendelian frequency, but within several weeks of birth they died rather suddenly with pallor and frequent intestinal hemorrhage. These mice exhibited pancytopenia, decreased hematopoietic progenitor cells from fetal liver and yolk sac, and ineffective hematopoietic stem cells. Since ZFP26L2 is likely to function as an ARE-containing mRNA destabilizing protein, we were interested in identifying any abnormally stabilized transcripts in fetal livers from the Zfp36l2 knockout mice whose protein product may directly or indirectly affect hematopoietic stem cell function.
Project description:Meis1 encodes a TALE family homeodomain protein that was first identified as a common retroviral integration site in mouse BHX2 myeloid leukemia. It functions as a DNA binding co-factor of Hox proteins through interacting with Pbx, a member of another TALE family protein. Moreover, Meis1 homozygous knockout mice are embryonic lethal, showing significant defects in vasculogenesis, eye development and hematopoiesis. Severe defects were also observed in adult hematopoiesis by conditional inactivation of Meis1 in vivo. Meis1 is critical to maintain the balance between enter and exit from cell cycles of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), indicating that Meis1 regulates self-renewal and quiescence of HSCs. Total RNA was isolated from KSL cells obtained from poly(I:C)-treated Mx1-Cre Meis1fl/fl and sham-treated Meis1fl/fl mice.
Project description:We have used a conditional mouse model to investigate the role of Zbtb11 specifically in hematopoiesis. When Zbtb11 was deleted in the hematopoietic compartment, embryos died at embryonic day E18.5 with hematopoietic failure. Zbtb11 hematopoietic knockout (Zbtb11hKO) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were overabundantly specified at E14.5 through E17.5 compared to controls. Overspecification was accompanied by loss of stemness, inability to differentiate into committed progenitors and mature lineages in fetal liver, failure to seed fetal bone marrow and total hematopoietic failure. Zbtb11hKO HSCs did not proliferate in vitro and were constrained in cell cycle progression, demonstrating a cell-intrinsic role for Zbtb11 in proliferation and cell cycle regulation in mammalian HSCs. scRNAseq analysis identified Zbtb11-deficient HSCs were underrepresented in an erythroid-primed subpopulation and showed downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathways and dysregulation of genes associated with the hematopoietic niche. We have identified a cell-intrinsic requirement for Zbtb11-mediated gene regulatory networks in sustaining a pool of maturation-capable hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.
Project description:The formation of hematopoietic cells relies on the chromatin remodeling activities of ISWI ATPase SMARCA5 (SNF2H) and its complexes. The Smarca5 null and conditional alleles have been used to study its functions in embryonic and organ development in mice. These mouse model phenotypes vary from embryonic lethality of constitutive knockout to less severe phenotypes observed in tissue-specific Smarca5 deletions, e.g., in the hematopoietic system. Here we show that, in a gene dosage-dependent manner, the hypomorphic allele of SMARCA5 (S5tg) can rescue not only the developmental arrest in hematopoiesis in the hCD2iCre model but also the lethal phenotypes associated with constitutive Smarca5 deletion or Vav1iCre-driven conditional knockout in hematopoietic progenitor cells. Interestingly, the latter model also provided evidence for the role of SMARCA5 expression level in hematopoietic stem cells, as the Vav1iCre S5tg animals accumulate stem and progenitor cells. Furthermore, their hematopoietic stem cells exhibited impaired lymphoid lineage entry and differentiation. This observation contrasts with the myeloid lineage which is developing without significant disturbances. Our findings indicate that animals with low expression of SMARCA5 exhibit normal embryonic development with altered lymphoid entry within the hematopoietic stem cell compartment.