Cell-cell matrix and cell-cell interactions during hematopoietic differentiation.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
W Vainchenker
Publications and source records attributed to W Vainchenker.
c-jun and c-fos are expressed by human megakaryocytes.
Expression of the main nuclear protooncogenes during terminal megakaryocyte (MK) differentiation is poorly understood. Because previous results have suggested that c-fos and c-jun protooncogenes are expressed in human leukemic cell lines induced to undergo megakaryocytic differentiation, we have analyzed the expression of these two protooncogenes in normal MK. Studies were performed, by in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence, on human MK obtained either directly from bone marrow or from culture of MK progenitors. c-fos and c-jun transcripts were detected in most cultured or fresh marrow MK from adult donors. Expression was much higher in cytologically immature than in mature MK whereas no expression was detected in the most mature MK. c-fos and c-jun expression increased dramatically with MK size. In cultured fetal MK, which all remained small in size, c-fos mRNA was present but at a low level. The c-fos-encoded protein (P62fos) was easily detectable in the great majority of MK. We directly demonstrated that the level of P62fos expression was correlated to MK ploidy by flow cytometry using a three-color staining technique. The involvement of serum and growth factors in the induction of P62fos in MK was studied. Whereas a 3-h serum deprivation resulted in the disappearance of P62fos in MK, several growth factors such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin 3 (IL-3), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 7 (IL-7), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), as well as normal or aplastic serum, were able to reinduce its expression within 2 h. In conclusion, our results suggest that c-jun and c-fos may play a role in the transduction of signals by several growth factors during terminal MK differentiation.
DNA-Binding Proteins↗
Infection of megakaryocytes by human immunodeficiency virus in seropositive patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
Twenty-one human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, including 11 acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-free patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), were studied to determine whether the megakaryocytic/platelet lineage was infected by HIV. Because purification of platelets did not reach a level sufficient for unequivocal results by the polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization was thus performed. Purified marrow megakaryocytes (MK) from 10 HIV-infected ITP patients were studied using a 35S HIV riboprobe, antisense of an HIV ENV sequence. HIV transcripts were clearly detected in MK from five of these 10 patients, although heterogeneity among MK was observed. In three of these five cases, small amounts of HIV glycoproteins were detected in MK by means of immunofluorescence. In addition anti-HIV antibodies could be eluted from platelets of all patients. In contrast, HIV transcripts were not detected in MK derived from colony-forming units-MK (CFU-MK) cultured in suspension, suggesting either that MK are infected by HIV during terminal differentiation or that HIV-infected CFU-MK are unable to differentiate in vitro. In conclusion, this study suggests that HIV infection of MK may be implicated in the pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia of HIV-positive patients.
Blood Platelets↗
In vitro effects of hematopoietic growth factors on the proliferation, endoreplication, and maturation of human megakaryocytes.
A liquid culture technique was used to study regulation of human megakaryocytopoiesis in vitro. Low-density cells from adult bone marrow were cultured in the presence of normal plasma, plasma from patients with aplastic marrows (AP), recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) and interleukin-3 (IL-3). Megakaryocytes (MK) were studied at day 10 of culture by a two-color staining technique using a pool of monoclonal antibodies for their identification and propidium iodide to label DNA. Their ploidy distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. In some experiments cytoplasmic maturation was also studied by ultrastructural techniques. Normal plasma provides a low number of MK with a ploidy distribution including 8 N and 16 N MK. AP promoted in a dose-dependent manner proliferation of MK and some batches favored endoreplication. This effect was clearly demonstrated when ploidy distribution was compared between normal plasma and AP on parallel marrow cultures. However, ploidy distribution was shifted toward low values compared with uncultured MK. rhGM-CSF had no significant effect on these two parameters. In contrast, rhIL-3 from 0.1 U/mL to 100 U/mL had a proliferative effect but was unable to induce endoreplication. Furthermore, when associated with AP it totally abrogated the effect of AP on endoreplication because in most experiments more than 90% of MK were 2 N and 4 N. This effect was also observed when rhIL-3 was added after 7 days of culture (when it has little proliferative effects). Studies of the maturation of MK grown with rhIL-3 indicate that the majority were small mature cells synthesizing alpha-granules and demarcation membranes. The effect of AP on MK proliferation and endoreplication was not related to IL-6 because its IL-6 content was identical to that of normal plasma and its neutralization did not modify these parameters. In conclusion, this study indicates that liquid culture technique in association with flow cytometry could be a powerful tool in identifying the humoral regulators of human megakaryocytopoiesis.
Anemia, Aplastic↗
[A case of erythoblastic leukemia with basophilic reaction].
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Basophils↗
Interleukin-6 and its receptor are expressed by human megakaryocytes: in vitro effects on proliferation and endoreplication.
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that plays an important role in the megakaryocytic differentiation. Recently, we have observed that IL-6 is synthesized by several human cell lines with megakaryocytic features. In this study, we have investigated whether a similar phenomenon occurs during normal megakaryocytic differentiation. Human megakaryocytes (MK) were obtained by culturing normal marrow in liquid culture with aplastic plasma (AP). First, an IL-6 secretion in bone marrow culture enriched in MK as well as in purified MK populations was demonstrated by a biologic assay. Second, IL-6 mRNA was detected in a purified population of MK by the polymerase chain reaction and dot blot analysis. IL-6 mRNA and protein were undetectable in platelets. Third, in situ hybridization procedure demonstrated the presence of IL-6 mRNA in individual immature MK. Fourth, IL-6 protein was detected in MK at the unicellular level by an immunoalkaline phosphatase technique using a monoclonal antibody against IL-6. Furthermore, the presence of IL-6 receptor (IL-6-R) on MK was demonstrated by in situ hybridization using an IL-6-R probe and in situ autoradiography after binding with [125I]-labeled recombinant IL-6. The IL-6 endogenously produced in liquid cultures containing normal human plasma or AP was subsequently neutralized. This resulted in a 50% decrease of the MK growth with a minor shift in the ploidy distribution toward lower values. In semisolid cultures the addition of anti-IL-6 antibodies led to a 42% decrease in colony number in cultures stimulated by IL-3 but not in other conditions of culture. These results suggest that normal human megakaryocytopoiesis might be regulated in part by an IL-6 autocrine loop.
Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
Fibrinogen is not synthesized by human megakaryocytes.
The origin of platelet fibrinogen is controversial. It may arise from two sources: (a) exogenously by endocytosis of plasma fibrinogen, or (b) endogenously by synthesis. We explored the second possibility because we previously demonstrated that the first mechanism does occur. Fibrinogen synthesis by human megakaryocytes (MK) was investigated by in situ hybridization and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) applied to mRNA. MK differentiating from marrow CFU-MK were cultured in suspension. In situ hybridization using the 35S alpha and beta fibrinogen chain anti-sense riboprobes was totally negative in MK in comparison with negative controls (lambda phage and alpha and beta fibrinogen chain sense riboprobes). In contrast, synthesis of fibrinogen was detected by this technique in a hepatoma cell line (HepG 2). Furthermore, mRNA for alpha and beta chains of fibrinogen was not detected by the PCR performed on mRNA from cultured MK enriched to 90% purity, by the immunomagnetic bead technique, even after Southern blotting of the amplified products. In addition, fibrinogen mRNA was undetected in marrow MK and in platelets by the same technique, whereas a specific megakaryocyte gene transcript (GPIb alpha) was easily detected. These observations demonstrate that the only mechanism responsible for the presence of fibrinogen in platelets is endocytosis of fibrinogen from plasma.
Base Sequence↗
Autocrine stimulation by erythropoietin and autonomous growth of human erythroid leukemic cells in vitro.
Autonomous colony formation is a frequent event in erythroleukemia. In 13 cases of early erythroid leukemias, we investigated whether erythropoietin (Epo) autocrine stimulation was responsible for the growth factor autonomy. Epo transcripts were detected by Northern blotting in cells from one patient. These cells also expressed an Epo receptor (1,000 receptors per cell) with a 420-pM affinity and Epo was detected in the supernatant of cultured cells. In 8 of the 13 cases, Epo transcripts were revealed by the polymerase chain reaction ranging from 0.5 to 500 copies per cell. In situ hybridization proved that these Epo transcripts were present in the blast cells. No Epo gene abnormalities were detected by Southern blotting. In two cases, leukemic cells were grown in the presence of Epo-neutralizing antibodies or Epo antisense oligomers. In one case, the antibody significantly reduced autonomous growth. In contrast, the antibody had no effect in the second case in which blast cells transcribed the Epo gene at a low level. However, Epo antisense oligomers partially inhibited autonomous growth. This inhibition was reversed by addition of exogenous Epo. Overall, these results suggest that an extracellular or intracellular autocrine Epo stimulation occurs in some cases of erythroid malignancies.
Base Sequence↗
Constitutive IL-2 expression in HTLV-I-infected leukaemic T cell lines.
An IL-2 autocrine growth circuit has been proposed as a major mechanism in HTLV-I-related leukaemogenesis. We have developed a polymerase chain reaction combined with reverse transcription RT-PCR to detect IL-2 transcripts and a sensitive immunostaining method for IL-2 protein. Combination of these two methods with in situ hybridization demonstrated that most cells of the T cell line IARC 301.5, whose proliferation is stimulated by autocrine IL-2, constitutively synthesize IL-2. This pattern was also found in the HTLV-I T cell lines HUT, MT2 and C 8166/45, and in the HTLV-I-negative T cell lines Jurkat and HSB2 but not MOLT4. Four non-lymphoid cell lines and cultured fibroblasts were negative, in agreement with the T cell specificity of IL-2 synthesis. Hence, most T cell lines tested, whether HTLV-I-infected or not, constitutively synthesize IL-2, suggesting a possible common feature of leukaemic T cell lines. The presence of IL-2 transcript and protein in most cells of the reacting cell lines is consistent with an autocrine process possibly involved at some stage in acquiring growth autonomy.
Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
Expression of interleukin 6 and its specific receptor by untreated and PMA-stimulated human erythroid and megakaryocytic cell lines.
Different human hematopoietic cell lines were analyzed for the presence of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and IL-6 receptor (IL-6-R). Both IL-6 mRNA and secreted active IL-6 protein were detectable in untreated cell lines with erythroid or megakaryoblastic features (K562, HEL, KU 812, MEG-01, and Dami), but they were not expressed constitutively in other leukemic cell lines (KG1, HL60, and U937). IL-6-R production, studied by the presence of its mRNA and specific binding sites for iodinated recombinant IL-6, was detected in most cell lines except K562, HEL, and Dami. Therefore, only KU 812 and MEG-01 coexpress both IL-6 and IL-6-R. After phorbol ester myristate acetate (PMA) treatment, all the cell lines studied expressed or overexpressed IL-6. In the erythroid K562 cell line, IL-6-R was not detectable before induction, but was promptly expressed after stimulation with PMA, suggesting that some of the new features of K562 cells induced by PMA may be mediated by IL-6. However, neutralizing antibodies against IL-6 did not block either the growth arrest or the loss of the erythroid phenotype induced by PMA. The presence of IL-6 and IL-6-R in erythroid and megakaryocytic leukemic cell lines suggests that their synthesis may occur during normal hematopoietic differentiation.
Antibodies↗
Developmental changes in human megakaryocyte ploidy.
Megakaryocytes (MK) obtained from the differentiation of MK colony-forming units (CFU-MK) were grown from fetal liver, cord blood, and adult marrow in liquid culture containing aplastic plasma. Ploidy distribution was studied by a double-staining technique and flow cytometry and MK maturation by ultrastructural techniques. Cultured MK from fetuses and neonates were small sized (about 10 microns) in comparison to adult MK. They were mature cells that contained large membrane complexes as previously found in vivo. Only 2N and 4N MK were usually present in 8- to 10-week-old fetus cultures; 8N MK were detected at 20 weeks of gestation and in neonates. Higher ploidy classes were present in culture from adults but with a much lower frequency than in marrow. Therefore, a progressive shift to higher ploidy and an increase in MK size were observed simultaneously during development. Interleukin 3 (IL-3) increased MK proliferation as in adults but abrogated MK ploidization of 20-week-old fetus culture. The present results suggest that the changes occurring during ontogenesis are related to intrinsic MK modifications because no inhibitor of MK ploidization could be detected in fetal cultures.
Aging↗
Association between leukemic erythroid progenitors and bone marrow macrophages.
Previous ultrastructural investigations have shown that the erythroblastic island is composed of erythroblasts at different stages of maturation which are intimately associated with a central macrophage. However, it is still unclear at which stage of erythroid differentiation this interaction occurs, mainly because of the lack of purified populations of normal erythroid progenitors [erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E) and erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E)] and early precursor cells (proerythroblasts) and because of our limited knowledge of their ultrastructural characteristics. In the present work we analyzed the ultrastructure of CFU-E enriched from normal human bone marrow by avidin-biotin immune rosetting and leukemic blasts of erythroid origin from two patients. Normal and leukemic CFU-Es were defined as glycophorin A (GPA)-negative blasts, devoid of rhopheocytosis, containing some ferritin molecules, either free in the cytoplasm or associated with theta-granules (theta-Gr) in the Golgi zone. Peroxidase activity was detected in the endoplasmic reticulum of these blasts. A preproerythroblast stage was identified, which corresponded to an intermediate phenotype with few GPA sites and rhopheocytosis. In contrast to hemoglobin synthesis, which was absolutely dependent on the presence of erythropoietin (Epo) during culture for 24 hours, ferritin molecules accumulated in the absence of Epo. Interestingly, leukemic CFU-E-like blasts were always in contact with bone marrow macrophages and adhesion between these cell types resisted mechanical dissociation. This result suggests that erythroid progenitors may be part of the erythroblastic island. The mechanisms involved in erythroblast-macrophage binding are still unknown, but the expression by macrophages and erythroid progenitors of receptors for fibronectin and thrombospondin (TSP), as well as their respective ligands in the case of macrophages, suggests that these molecules could be involved in the formation of the erythroblastic island.
Bone Marrow Cells↗
Expression of platelet glycoprotein Ib by cultured human megakaryocytes: ultrastructural localization and biosynthesis.
Glycoprotein Ib (GPIb), the receptor for von Willebrand factor, is a two-chain member constituent of the platelet/megakaryocytic lineage. Studies on its expression have been hampered by the difficulties in obtaining purified megakaryocytes in a sufficient number. We report a suspension liquid culture procedure that allowed isolation of more than 1 x 10(6) megakaryocytes with a purity ranging from 3% to 88% from the blood of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, from fetal liver or from normal human bone marrow. GPIb was detected on the plasma membrane of all maturing megakaryocytes and also of promegakaryoblasts devoid of demarcation membranes. GPIb was detected on demarcation membranes of maturing megakaryocytes but was absent from all other organelles, including alpha granules. Biosynthesis of 35S-methionine labeled megakaryocytes showed that GPIb with similar electrophoretic mobility to the platelet molecule was synthesized and that it was also composed of two chains, since its molecular weight shifted in reducing conditions from 170 Kd to 145 Kd. The beta chain remained undetectable after methionine metabolic labeling, but it was immunoprecipitated after 3H-leucine metabolic labeling, confirming that this subunit is devoid of methionine. GPIb was associated with GPIX, as it is in platelets, since anti-GPIb antibodies coprecipitated a 17 Kd polypeptide.
Adult↗
Autocrine regulation of terminal differentiation by interleukin-6 in the pluripotent KU812 cell line.
The human KU812 leukemic cell line is a model for studying cell commitment towards different hematopoietic lineages. Indeed, this cell line is characterized by both a capacity for self-renewal and the ability to differentiate spontaneously along erythroid and basophilic cell lineages. In this study we show that interleukin-6 (IL-6) and its specific receptor (IL-6-R) are spontaneously expressed in the human KU812 cell line. Addition of antibody against IL-6 weakly inhibited its cell proliferation (20 to 30%) suggesting that the endogenous production of IL-6 was partially responsible for the growth of the cell line. In contrast, the spontaneous terminal differentiation of this cell line towards the erythroid and basophilic lineages was inhibited by an antibody against IL-6 and this effect was reversed by addition of recombinant human IL-6 (rIL-6). These results suggest that IL-6 is involved more in differentiation than in the proliferation of KU812 cells. After several passages, KU812 cells lose their capacity to differentiate spontaneously. In these cells, the IL-6-R was no more detectable. We therefore suggest that this loss of spontaneous differentiation is associated with an interruption of the IL-6 autocrine loop.
Cell Differentiation↗
Megakaryocytic and erythrocytic lineages share specific transcription factors.
Erythroid-specific genes contain binding sites for NF-E1 (also called GF-1 and Eryf-1; refs 1-3 respectively), the principal DNA-binding protein of the erythrocytic lineage. NF-E1 expression seems to be restricted to the erythrocytic lineage. A closely related (if not identical) protein is found in both a human megakaryocytic cell line and purified human megakaryocytes; it binds to promoter regions of two megakaryocytic-specific genes. The binding sites and partial proteolysis profile of this protein are indistinguishable from those of the erythroid protein; also, NF-E1 messenger RNA is the same size in both the megakaryocytic and erythroid cell lines. Furthermore, point mutations that abolish binding of NF-E1 result in a 70% decrease in the transcriptional activity of a megakaryocytic-specific promoter. We also find that NF-E2, another trans-acting factor of the erythrocytic lineage, is present in megakaryocytes. Transcriptional effects in both lineages might then be mediated in part by the same specific trans-acting factors. Our data strengthen the idea of a close association between the erythrocytic and the megakaryocytic lineages and could also explain the expression of markers specific to the erythrocytic and megakaryocytic lineages in most erythroblastic and megakaryoblastic permanent cell lines.
Base Sequence↗
Alpha-granule pool of glycoprotein IIb-IIIa in normal and pathologic platelets and megakaryocytes.
Using an immunogold staining technique and electron microscopy, we investigated the localization of the alpha-granule pool of glycoprotein (GP) IIb-IIIa in normal platelets and maturing megakaryocytes (MK), in pathologic platelets from a patient with type I Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT), and from three patients with the gray platelet syndrome (GPS). In normal resting platelets, GPIIb-IIIa was observed on the plasmatic side of the plasma membrane, the open canicular system (OCS) membranes, and along the internal face of the alpha-granule membrane. This location was found with three monospecific polyclonal antibodies: one anti-GPIIb-IIIa antibody, the second specific for GPIIb, and the third specific for GPIIIa. After thrombin stimulation, the alpha-granule labeling disappeared whereas membrane labeling increased. Platelets from GT did not display labeling on plasma membranes, OCS membranes, or alpha-granule membranes. Platelets from the three patients with GPS displayed intense labeling of the plasma membrane and the OCS membrane, as well as the abnormal small alpha-granules and along the inside of large vacuoles (which contain the granule membrane protein [GMP]-140). In cultured immature MK from normal progenitors, both peptide components of GPIIb-IIIa appeared in the Golgi saccules and vesicles, and in the small precursors of alpha-granules, labeling both their membranes and their matrix. It was then observed only on the membrane of the mature MK alpha-granules, although labeling was less consistent than on the platelet granules. The MK plasma membrane and demarcation membrane system also displayed GPIIb-IIIa labeling. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that GPIIb-IIIa is present on the internal face of the alpha-granule membranes of platelets (where it appears early during MK maturation) as well as in the abnormal alpha-granules of gray platelets; it is absent from GT type I platelets.
Antibody Specificity↗
Loss of attachment to fibronectin with terminal human erythroid differentiation.
Human erythroblastic progenitors (colony-forming unit-erythroid [CFU-E] and burst-forming unit-erythroid [BFU-E]) have been shown to attach to fibronectin (Fn), a property that might be involved in the local regulation of erythropoiesis. In this study, we have investigated changes in cell attachment to Fn upon terminal erythroid differentiation. We first purified CFU-E from human marrow by avidin-biotin immune rosetting. This negative selection procedure yielded a cell population containing approximately 80% blasts that, after characterization by colony-assays and electron microscopy, appeared to consist of CFU-E (10% to 15%) and their immediate progeny (85% to 90%), here defined as "preproerythroblasts." In the presence of erythropoietin, purified cells differentiated into reticulocytes in 7 to 10 days. Cell attachment to Fn was inversely correlated to the stage of differentiation of the erythroid cell: more than 50% of the CFU-E population reproducibly adhered to Fn, whereas at most 30% of the preproerythroblasts had the same capacity. Adhesion was further lost at late maturation stages, and a constant finding was the inability of reticulocytes to adhere to Fn. Finally, CFU-E adhesion to Fn was blocked by polyclonal lgG raised against the Fn receptor and by a monoclonal antibody against VLA-5. These results demonstrate that adhesion to Fn is developmentally regulated during normal human erythropoiesis. Restriction of its expression to CFU-E and its first divisions strikingly correlates with the migratory capacity of these cells.
Antibodies↗
Regulation of human megakaryocytopoiesis: analysis of proliferation, ploidy and maturation in liquid cultures.
A liquid culture technique associated with either double staining and flow cytometry or electron microscopy was used to study human megakaryocytopoiesis. During development from the embryo to the adult, a progressive increase in ploidy classes associated with an enhancement of megakaryocyte (meg) size was observed. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor had no effects on adult marrow cultures. In contrast, interleukin (IL) 3 induced a marked proliferation, but was unable to promote polyploidization. Furthermore, it abrogated the effects on endomitosis of aplastic plasma (AP). This negative effect on polyploidization of IL-3 could be partially dissociated from its effects on proliferation by a delayed addition in culture. AP acted on both proliferation and endoreplication, which was not due to the main hematopoietic growth factors, including IL-6. A synthesis of IL-6 was detected by in situ hybridization in cultured cells including megs which also express receptors for IL-6. These results suggest that terminal meg differentiation may be regulated by an autocrine IL-6 loop, and that megakaryocytopoiesis may be independently regulated at early and late stages of differentiation.
Autoradiography↗