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Brief Definitive Report |
Address correspondence to Tetsuya Taga, Department of Cell Fate Modulation, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, 2-2-1, Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan. Phone: 81-96-373-6610; Fax: 81-96-373-6610; email: taga{at}kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
| Abstract |
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Key Words: hematopoiesis differentiation SCF c-Kit AGM
| Introduction |
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Recently, we cloned a family of novel membrane-bound molecules, Spred-1, Spred-2, and Spred-3 (6, 7), which are related to Sprouty family proteins that act as negative regulators during development (8, 9). Spred-1, Spred-2, and Spred-3 inhibit the Ras/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade mediated by fibroblast growth factor receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor, by binding to Ras and consequently inhibiting phosphorylation of Raf. Spred proteins have a negative effect on extracellular signalregulated kinase (Erk)-dependent differentiation in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells and C2C12 myoblastic cells (7). The physiological functions of Spred proteins, however, remain to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated the importance of Spred-2 for hematopoiesis in the midgestation mouse embryo and, in part, in adult bone marrow.
| Materials and Methods |
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AGM Cultures and Semisolid Colony-forming Assay.
AGM cultures and semisolid colony-forming assay were performed as previously described (11).
RT-PCR.
5 µg total RNA isolated from E11.5 AGM was reverse transcribed with Superscript II (GIBCO BRL). PCRs were performed using rTaq (Takara Biotechnology Inc.) with the following settings: 95°C for 3 min, 26 cycles at 95°C for 10 s, 55°C for 10 s, and 72°C for 1 min. The primer sets used were as follows: 5'-TGTGAGCACCGGAAGATTTATACC-3', 5'-CGCGGCGGCTTTGTGCTT-3' (for Spred-2); 5'-AGCACTGATTATATTCCTGG-3', 5'-TGCTTGGCCAGTATTCTGCG-3' (for CD45); 5'-ACCACCCGATACCCACCTAT-3', 5'-GCCATGGCAGTCACCATGCT-3' (for GATA-2); and 5'-ACCACAGTCCATGCCATCAC-3', 5'-TCCACCACCCTGTTGCTGTA-3' (for G3PDH).
Retrovirus Infection of Cells.
We prepared mutant proteins of Spred-2 (see Fig. 2 B):
N, with the NH2-terminal EVH-1 domain (residues 1139) deletion;
C, with the COOH-terminal SPR domain (residues 289410) deletion; and
KBD, with the c-Kitbinding domain (residues 197287) deletion. Production of retroviruses and infection of AGM cultures were performed as previously described (11).
Flow Cytometry.
The nonadherent cells, which were recovered from the AGM culture, were stained with PE-conjugated rat antimouse CD45 (30-F11; Becton Dickinson) for 30 min on ice. After washing, stained cells were analyzed by FACSCaliburTM (Becton Dickinson). The percentage of CD45+ cells in the virus-infected green fluorescent protein (GFP)+ cells was determined.
Cell Sorting and Coculture with OP9 Stroma Cells.
Nonadherent cells derived from the mock-infected AGM culture were stained with PE-conjugated antimouse CD45 (30-F11) and allophycocyanin-conjugated antimouse c-Kit (2B8; Becton Dickinson). GFP+ CD45- c-Kit-, GFP+ CD45low c-Kitlow/+, and GFP+ CD45+ c-Kit- cells were sorted by FACS VantageTM (Becton Dickinson). Each of sorted cells (2 x 103) in each population were seeded on OP9 stromal cells in DMEM supplemented with 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, 100 ng/ml IL-3, 100 ng/ml stem cell factor (SCF), and 4 U/ml erythropoietin (EPO).
Spred-2+/+ and Spred-2-/- E10.5 embryonic trunk lower than the heart was incubated in dispase II (Roche) at 37°C for 20 min. After washing in PBS, cells were treated with cell dissociation buffer (Invitrogen) at 37°C for 20 min. Dissociated cells were stained with antimouse vascular endothelial-cadherin (VE-cad; 11D4.1; Becton Dickinson). 2 x 103 sorted VE-cad+ cells were seeded on OP9 stromal cells in the medium as described above. After 3 d, cobble stone areaforming cells were counted.
Immunoblotting and Coimmunoprecipitation Analyses.
2 x 106 Plat-E cells (12) were transfected with expression constructs using a Trans-IT 293 (Mirus). On the next day, cells were starved for 16 h and then treated with 100 ng/ml SCF for 5 min. Cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with anti-GFP antibody (Medical & Biological Laboratories, Co.). Immunoprecipitates or cell lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with antiphospho-Erk1/2 antibody (E10; Cell Signaling Technology), anti-Erk2 antibody (sc-145; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.), antic-Kit (M-14; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.), and anti-Flag (M2; Sigma-Aldrich) antibody.
Pharmacological Reagents.
AGM cells cultured for 2 d were treated with 0, 1, 3, or 10 µM U0126 (Cell Signaling Technology) or SB203538 (Calbiochem). After 8 d of treatment, the nonadherent cells were counted and analyzed for determination of the percentage of CD45+ cells.
Online Supplemental Material.
Inhibition of SCF-induced Erk phosphorylation and Elk-1 activation by Spred-2 mutants is presented in Fig. S1. Fig. S1 and Supplemental Materials and Methods are available at http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/full/jem.20030830/DC1.
| Results and Discussion |
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Next, we examined the function of each domain in the Spred-2 protein by using deletion mutants.
C could not inhibit the production of CD45+ cells in AGM cultures, whereas
N and
KBD exhibited inhibitory effect though the latter showed weaker effect (Fig. 2, C and D). These results suggest that the SPR domain of Spred-2 plays a critical role in the suppression of hematopoietic cell development in AGM cultures. We then examined the role of each domain of Spred-2 in the SCF/c-Kit signaling pathway. Full-length Spred-2 and
N interacted with c-Kit upon SCF stimulation of AGM cells.
C and
KBD showed no detectable binding to c-Kit (Fig. S1 A, available at http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/full/jem.20030830/DC1). SCF-induced Erk phosphorylation was suppressed by Spred-2,
N, and
KBD, though the suppression by the latter two was incomplete. By contrast,
C and Sprouty-4 show little or almost no inhibition of Erk activation (Fig. 2 E). Similar results were obtained by SCF-induced Elk-1 activation in 293 cells (Fig. S1 B). These results indicated that the COOH-terminal region of Spred-2 is required for the interaction with c-Kit and for efficient suppression of SCF-induced Erk-2 phosphorylation. In a previous study, we found that the COOH-terminal region of Spred-2 or Sprouty alone was sufficient for the suppression of Erk activation induced by VEGF in 293 cells (18). Therefore, VEGF and SCF may have a similar activation mechanism for MAP kinase. It is interesting to note that Spred-2
N does not inhibit Erk activation induced by epidermal growth factor or nerve growth factor (16).
Next, we sought to examine the role of Spred-2 in the development of hematopoietic lineage cells expressing CD45. Nonadherent cells from the AGM culture, which had been infected with mock viruses, were gated for GFP expression and then analyzed for CD45 and c-Kit expression. As shown in Fig. 2 F, middle, the cells could be divided into three populations: CD45- c-Kit-, CD45low c-Kitlow/+, and CD45+ c-Kit-. In Spred-2 virusinfected AGM cells (Fig. 2 F, right), the size of the CD45low c-Kitlow/+ population was dramatically reduced (6.4-fold) and that of the CD45+ c-Kit- population was moderately reduced (2.5-fold). To characterize the nature of the CD45low c-Kitlow/+ population, which was dramatically affected by Spred-2 expression, the above mentioned three populations of cells were cultured on the monolayer of a stromal cell line, OP9. As shown in Fig. 2 G, only the CD45low c-Kitlow/+ population produced nonadherent hematopoietic cells, indicating that the CD45low c-Kitlow/+ population could be in a more immature stage and that the other two populations could not produce hematopoietic cells on OP9. These results suggest that Spred-2 is a negative regulator of hematopoiesis in AGM.
To define the role of endogenous Spred-2 in hematopoiesis, we generated mice having Spred-2 gene mutation by homologous recombination, in which exons encoding the KBD and SPR domains were deleted. Offspring were born within the Mendelian expectation ratio from intercrosses of heterozygotes as well as incrosses of homozygotes. This indicates that Spred-2 is not necessary for fertility and development. Adult Spred-2-/- mice appeared to be healthy and showed no apparent abnormalities in most organs (unpublished data).
To examine the effect of Spred-2 deficiency on AGM hematopoiesis at the midgestation stage, we compared the colony-forming activity in methylcellulose of E11.5 aortic cells from Spred-2-/- with that from wild-type littermates (Fig. 3 A, +/+). The number of granulocyte and macrophage colonies formed from Spred-2-/- aortic cells was significantly higher than that from Spred-2+/+ littermate aortic cells, indicating that Spred-2 has an inhibitory effect on colony-forming potential of hematopoietic progenitors. Next, we examined the effect of Spred-2 deficiency on embryonic hematopoiesis using the AGM culture. As shown in Fig. 3 B, the number of nonadherent cells produced in the culture of AGM from Spred-2-/- was greater than that from Spred-2+/+ littermates, and the ability of the AGM region of Spred-2-/- to generate CD45+ hematopoietic cells in this culture was threefold higher than that of Spred-2+/+ (Fig. 3 C). These results indicate that loss of Spred-2 function leads to an increase in hematopoiesis in the AGM region of midgestation mouse.
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Finally, we examined whether a deficiency of Spred-2 causes hematopoietic abnormality in adult mice. As shown in Fig. 4 A, marked increase in the number of megakaryocytes was observed in the spleen of Spred-2deficient mice, although no qualitative or quantitative abnormalities in peripheral blood hematopoietic cells were observed. Colony-forming assay of adult bone marrow cells in methylcellulose revealed that approximately twofold more hematopoietic cell colonies were produced from bone marrow cells of Spred-2-/- mice (381.9 ± 33.1 colonies/3 x 104 cells) as compared with those from wild-type littermates (250.7 ± 18.9 colonies/3 x 104 cells; Fig. 4 B). These data suggest that Spred-2 is at least in part involved in the regulation of hematopoiesis in vivo.
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In conclusion, here we have shown that Spred-2 plays an inhibitory role in AGM hematopoiesis. Our results suggest that Spred-2 has negative effects on differentiation of vascular endothelial cells into hematopoietic cells (Fig. 3, D and E). To further support our idea, time lapse analysis or single cell fate analysis of VE-cad+ cells may need to be undertaken.
| Acknowledgments |
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Part of this work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for 21st Century COE Research from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology "Cell Fate Regulation Research and Education Unit" (to T. Taga), grants from the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Sports and Culture of Japan (to I. Nobuhisa, A. Yoshimura, and T. Taga), the Japan Health Science Foundation (to A. Yoshimura), the Human Frontier Science Program (to A. Yoshimura and T. Taga), the Japan Research Foundation for Clinical Pharmacology (to A. Yoshimura), Uehara Memorial Foundation (to A. Yoshimura), and the Virtual Research Institute of Aging of Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim (to T. Taga).
Submitted: 20 May 2003
Accepted: 21 January 2004
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