Niche-mediated depletion of the normal hematopoietic stem cell reservoir by Flt3-ITD-induced myeloproliferation.

Mead AJ, Neo WH, Barkas N, Matsuoka S, Giustacchini A, Facchini R, Thongjuea S, Jamieson L, Booth CAG, Fordham N, Di Genua C, Atkinson D, Chowdhury O, Repapi E, Gray N, Kharazi S, Clark SA, Bouriez T, Woll P, Suda T, Nerlov C, Jacobsen SEW

J. Exp. Med. 214 (7) 2005-2021 [2017-07-03; online 2017-06-21]

Although previous studies suggested that the expression of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) initiates downstream of mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), FLT3 internal tandem duplications (FLT3 ITDs) have recently been suggested to intrinsically suppress HSCs. Herein, single-cell interrogation found Flt3 mRNA expression to be absent in the large majority of phenotypic HSCs, with a strong negative correlation between Flt3 and HSC-associated gene expression. Flt3-ITD knock-in mice showed reduced numbers of phenotypic HSCs, with an even more severe loss of long-term repopulating HSCs, likely reflecting the presence of non-HSCs within the phenotypic HSC compartment. Competitive transplantation experiments established that Flt3-ITD compromises HSCs through an extrinsically mediated mechanism of disrupting HSC-supporting bone marrow stromal cells, with reduced numbers of endothelial and mesenchymal stromal cells showing increased inflammation-associated gene expression. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a cell-extrinsic potent negative regulator of HSCs, was overexpressed in bone marrow niche cells from FLT3-ITD mice, and anti-TNF treatment partially rescued the HSC phenotype. These findings, which establish that Flt3-ITD-driven myeloproliferation results in cell-extrinsic suppression of the normal HSC reservoir, are of relevance for several aspects of acute myeloid leukemia biology.

NGI Stockholm (Genomics Applications) [Service]

NGI Stockholm (Genomics Production) [Service]

National Genomics Infrastructure [Service]

PubMed 28637883

DOI 10.1084/jem.20161418

Crossref 10.1084/jem.20161418

pii: jem.20161418
pmc: PMC5502426