Page 35 - Haematologica July

staining in Setd2Δ/Δ mice BM (Figure 1I). Compared with some scattered punctual and linear reticulin in the control, scattered linear reticulin with loose network and some focal density increases in reticulin could be found in Setd2Δ/Δ BM within four months, which could be classified into mild BM fibrosis (grade 1 or 2).18
Δ/Δ
Setd2 mice showed profound reduction of myeloid,
lymphoid, and megakaryocytic progenitors, but significantly increased erythroid progenitors Δ/Δ
To understand leukopenia and anemia in Setd2 mice, we first examined the BM progenitor populations by flow cytometry. Significant reductions in the absolute number of CLP, Pre-GM, GMP, Pre-MegE, and MkP were found, while the absolute number of Pre CFU-E was dramatically increased (Figure 2A and B). Δ/Δ
It is noteworthy that Setd2 mice showed anemia in PB but significantly increased Pre CFU-Es in BM. To under- stand the remarkable differences between these two phe- notypes, a detailed analysis of erythroid differentiation was performed. There were increased proportions of nucleated erythroblasts accompanied by a decreased pro- portion of enucleated erythrocytes in Setd2Δ/Δ mice (Online Supplementary Figure S3A and B), indicating the defective terminal erythroid differentiation. Meanwhile, a reduction of MkPs in BM, accompanied by an increase in platelet counts in PB, was observed in Setd2Δ/Δ mice. In the analysis of polyploidy using BM CD41+ cells, the Setd2Δ/Δ mice dis- played significantly increased distributions of hyper-poly- ploidy (16N and 32N) cells and reduced distributions of low- to intermediate-ploidy (2N-8N) cells (Online Supplementary Figure S3C and D). In addition, more megakaryocytes were observed in both BM cytospins and spleen histology slides in Setd2Δ/Δ mice compared with control (Online Supplementary Table S2 and Online Supplementary Figure S3E).
To determine HPC functional activity besides pheno- typic changes, we performed colony-forming unit (CFU) assays, which showed that almost all types of colony numbers were decreased except the burst-forming unit- erythroid (BFU-E). Interestingly, the BFU-E could even be detected in the 4th replating, while all other colonies stopped growing after three incidences of replating in the controls (Figure 2C). To further confirm the erythroid- related results, the CFU-E assays were performed in M3334 medium, which contains erythropoietin (EPO) only. After 48 h, Setd2Δ/Δ BM cells showed significantly increased BFU-E/CFU-E colony frequencies and the colonies were larger in size compared with colonies from the controls (Figure 2D). These results indicate that Setd2 is critical in maintaining normal HPC numbers and lineage specification.
Depletion of phenotypic and functional HSCs in Setd2Δ/Δ mice
Next, we examined the bone marrow HSC populations. Significant reductions, in absolute number and frequency, of LSKs, SLAM-HSCs, and MPPs were found in Setd2Δ/Δ mice compared with the controls (Figure 3A and B).
To determine the HSC activity, a series of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) assays were performed. We first evaluated the HSC function in a competitive bone mar- row transplantation assay (CBMT). Lethally irradiated CD45.1+ recipient mice were transplanted using an equal number of BM cells from both CD45.1+ competitors and
CD45.2+ Setd2f/f or Setd2f/f/Mx1-Cre. Sixteen weeks after CBMT, Setd2Δ/Δ cells were outcompeted to less than 1% in PB (Figure 3C). In the BM, Setd2Δ/Δ failed to support long- term reconstitution of the Gr1+CD11b+ population (myeloid), B220+ population (B cells), and CD3+ popula- tion (T cells). Analysis of BM LSKs showed a complete absence of Setd2Δ/Δ LSKs (Figure 3D). Similar results were observed by using Setd2/Vav1-Cre BM cells in CBMT assay (Figure 3E). To exclude the possibility that BM microenvironment defects (such as endothelial cells and stromal BM cells) may contribute to HSC dysfunction, we transplanted BM cells from Setd2f/f or Setd2f/f/Mx1-Cre mice into lethally irradiated CD45.1+ recipient mice. We found similar engraftment four weeks after transplanta- tion, around 90% engraftment in both groups. Then we deleted Setd2 in donor-derived grafts with pIpC injection. We found decreased donor-derived cell chimerism in Setd2Δ/Δ mice (Figure 3F). The PB phenotypes of BMT mice are similar to the primary knockout mice, which also manifested leukopenia, macrocytic anemia, and increased platelet counts (Figure 3G). However, when non-compet- itive transplantation with Setd2f/f/Vav1-Cre BM cells were performed, all the recipients died within 75 days (Figure 3H). When complete PB count was checked at 28 days post BMT, recipient mice showed severe pancytopenia, indicating the failure of BM reconstitution (Online Supplementary Figure S4A). These results indicate that Setd2Δ/Δ HSCs have intrinsic defects in BM reconstitution.
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Setd2 HSCs show reduced self-renewal and
quiescence, but increased proliferation, apoptosis, anddifferentiation. Δ/Δ
To identify the Setd2 HSC functions under chemotherapeutic stress, we next challenged Setd2Δ/Δ and control mice with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In the 8-day recovery group, a single 5-FU treatment resulted in a 10- fold reduction of BM cellularity and a 2-fold reduction of SLAM-HSCs in the control, but a 20-fold reduction of BM cellularity and a 5-fold reduction in Setd2Δ/Δ mice (Figure 4A). In the 5-FU weekly treated group, Setd2Δ/Δ mice could tolerate 2 cycles of 5-FU injections, while all the control mice could tolerate 3 cycles (Figure 4B). These results indicated that Setd2Δ/Δ mice were more sen- sitive to 5-FU. 5-FU kills dividing cells but spares quies- cent cells, such as stem cells, and subsequently forces HSCs to proliferate to reconstitute the BM; thus Setd2Δ/Δ HSCs might have intrinsic defects in maintaining normal quiescence. Δ/Δ
haematologica | 2018; 103(7)
Setd2 regulates hematopoietic stem cells
HSCs had a markedly reduced G0 fraction and increased entries into G1 and S/G2/M phases of the cell cycle (Figure 4C). Setd2Δ/Δ SLAM-HSCs also exhibited increased incorporation of BrdU into the DNA, indicative of more cycling cells (Online Supplementary Figure S4B). These results suggested that Setd2Δ/Δ HSCs could not maintain a normal quiescent state and subsequently enter the cell cycle. Also, apoptotic status was assessed in Setd2Δ/Δ and control mice. There were significantly increased propor- tions of Annexin V+ SLAM-HSC, LSK, and LK cells, which demonstrated that Setd2Δ/Δ HSPCs underwent more cell death (Figure 4D and Online Supplementary Figure S4C). Δ/Δ
To investigate the differentiation potential of Setd2 HSCs, single SLAM-HSCs were sorted and cultured in cytokine-containing medium. With this culture condi-
Next, the cell cycle status was assessed. Setd2
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