Hematopoietic stem cell fate is established by the Notch-Runx pathway

Identifying the molecular pathways regulating hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) specification, self-renewal, and expansion remains a fundamental goal of both basic and clinical biology. Here, we analyzed the effects of Notch signaling on HSC number during zebrafish development and adulthood, defining a critical pathway for stem cell specification. The Notch signaling mutant mind bomb displays normal embryonic hematopoiesis but fails to specify adult HSCs. Surprisingly, transient Notch activation during embryogenesis via an inducible transgenic system led to a Runx1-dependent expansion of HSCs in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region. In irradiated adults, Notch activity induced runx1 gene expression and increased multilineage hematopoietic precursor cells approximately threefold in the marrow. This increase was followed by the accelerated recovery of all the mature blood cell lineages. These data define the Notch-Runx pathway as critical for the developmental specification of HSC fate and the subsequent homeostasis of HSC number, thus providing a mechanism for amplifying stem cells in vivo.     

HES1 inhibits cycling of hematopoietic progenitor cells via DNA binding

Notch signaling is implicated in stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and other developmental processes, and the Drosophila hairy and enhancer of split (HES) 1 basic helix-loop-helix protein is a major downstream effector in the Notch pathway. We found that HES1 was expressed at high levels in the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-enriched CD34+/[CD38/Lin](- /low) subpopulation but at low levels in more mature progenitor cell populations. When CD34+ cells were cultured for 1 week, the level of HES1 remained high in the CD34+ subset that had remained quiescent during ex vivo culture but was reduced in CD34+ cells that had divided. To investigate the effects of HES1 in human and mouse hematopoietic stem-progenitor cells (HSPCs), we constructed conditional lentiviral vectors (lentivectors) to introduce transgenes encoding either wild-type HES1 or a mutant lacking the DNA-binding domain (BHES1). We found that lentivector-mediated HES1 expression in CD34+ cells inhibited cell cycling in vitro and cell expansion in vivo, associated with upregulation of the cell cycle inhibitor p21(cip1/Waf1) (p21). The HES1 DNA-binding domain was required for these actions. HES1 did not induce programmed cell death or alter differentiation in HSPCs, and while short-term repopulating activity was reduced in HES1-transduced mouse and human cells, long-term reconstituting HSC function was preserved. Our data characterize the complex, cell context-dependent actions of HES1 as a major downstream Notch signaling regulator of HSPC function.     

Analysis of the human fetal liver hematopoietic microenvironment

In the adult, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are resident in the bone marrow (BM) compartment and are in direct association with the BM stromal microenvironment. However, human adult HSCs are largely quiescent and undergo limited self-renewal. This is in contrast to the higher frequency of cycling HSCs undergoing self-renewal during fetal development when hematopoiesis is transiently localized to the fetal liver (FL), suggesting that FL provides a more conducive microenvironment to support HSCs. Here, we provide phenotypic and molecular characterization of primary human FL stromal cells capable of supporting human repopulating progenitors. Qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed several properties unique to FL stromal cells compared to adult BM-derived stroma that included a greater than 10-fold enhanced proliferative capacity of FL stromal vs adult BM, and a 2-fold increase in the number of N-cadherin- and osteopontin-expressing cells. Supportive of extrinsic influences likely to modulate HSC expansion, global gene expression microarray analysis revealed that FL stroma has higher expression of regulators of the Wnt signaling pathway compared to adult BM stroma, which demonstrated an increased expression of the Notch signaling pathway. Our results suggest that human FL stromal cells provide a unique microenvironment to HSCs compared to adult BM stroma by controlling Wnt signaling of HSCs during human fetal hematopoietic development, while Notch signaling is tightly regulated by the HSC microenvironment in the adult. We propose that the human HSC niche is ontogenically controlled during human development to provide appropriate expansion of fetal HSCs and subsequent maintenance of adult HSCs.     

Integration of Notch and Wnt signaling in hematopoietic stem cell maintenance

A fundamental question in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) biology is how self-renewal is controlled. Here we show that the molecular regulation of two critical elements of self-renewal, inhibition of differentiation and induction of proliferation, can be uncoupled, and we identify Notch signaling as a key factor in inhibiting differentiation. Using transgenic Notch reporter mice, we found that Notch signaling was active in HSCs in vivo and downregulated as HSCs differentiated. Inhibition of Notch signaling led to accelerated differentiation of HSCs in vitro and depletion of HSCs in vivo. Finally, intact Notch signaling was required for Wnt-mediated maintenance of undifferentiated HSCs but not for survival or entry into the cell cycle in vitro. These data suggest that Notch signaling has a dominant function in inhibiting differentiation and provide a model for how HSCs may integrate multiple signals to maintain the stem cell state.     

Phenotypic and functional analysis of human fetal liver hematopoietic stem cells in culture

Steady-state hematopoiesis and hematopoietic transplantation rely on the unique potential of stem cells to undergo both self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. Fetal liver (FL) represents a promising alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), but limited by the total cell number obtained in a typical harvest. We reported that human FL nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) repopulating cells (SRCs) could be expanded under simple stroma-free culture conditions. Here, we sought to further characterize FL HSC/SRCs phenotypically and functionally before and following culture. Unexpanded or cultured FL cell suspensions were separated into various subpopulations. These were tested for long-term culture potential and for in vivo repopulating function following transplantation into NOD/SCID mice. We found that upon culture of human FL cells, a tight association between classical stem cell phenotypes, such as CD34(+) /CD38(-) and/or side population, and NOD/SCID repopulating function was lost, as observed with other sources. Although SRC activity before and following culture consistently correlated with the presence of a CD34(+) cell population, we provide evidence that, contrary to umbilical cord blood and adult sources, stem cells present in both CD34(+) and CD34(-) FL populations can sustain long-term hematopoietic cultures. Furthermore, upon additional culture, CD34-depleted cell suspensions, devoid of SRCs, regenerated a population of CD34(+) cells possessing SRC function. Our studies suggest that compared to neonatal and adult sources, the phenotypical characteristics of putative human FL HSCs may be less strictly defined, and reinforce the accumulated evidence that human FL represents a unique, valuable alternative and highly proliferative source of HSCs for clinical applications.     

Microencapsulated feeder cells as a source of soluble factors for expansion of CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells

Expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from cord blood is highly desired for treatment and transplantation of adult patients for hematologic diseases. For efficient proliferation of HSCs, CD34(+) cells from cord blood were co-cultured with microencapsulated murine stromal cells (HESS-5) or immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in their conditioned media (CM). Bioactive substances for HSC proliferation in CM at the onset of culture are likely consumed by HSCs with time, and co-culturing with microencapsulated feeder cells ensures a continuous supply. The cell number of CD34(+) cell progeny efficiently increased under these culture conditions, and progeny were analyzed by flow cytometry, the colony assay and the cobblestone area-forming cell (CAFC) assay. Total nucleated cells and CD34(+) cell number increased 194- and 7.4-fold, respectively, in the presence of microencapsulated HESS-5 in CM. Colony forming cells and CAFCs were well maintained. The effective expansion of total cells and maintenance of primitive progenitor cells suggest that transfusion of the progeny obtained from CD34(+) cell culture with microencapsulated HESS-5 in CM could shorten the time to engraftment by bridging the pancytopenic period and support functional hematopoietic repopulation.     

Soluble Jagged-1 is able to inhibit the function of its multivalent form to induce hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal in a surrogate in vitro assay

Stem cells reside in customized microenvironments (niches) that contribute to their unique ability to divide asymmetrically to give rise to self and to a daughter cell with distinct properties. Notch receptors and their ligands are highly conserved and have been shown to regulate cell-fate decisions in multiple developmental systems through local cell interactions. To assess whether Notch signaling may regulate hematopoiesis to maintain cells in an immature state, we examined the functional role of the recombinant, secreted form of the Notch ligand Jagged-1 during mouse hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) and progenitor cell proliferation and maturation. We found that ligand immobilization on stromal layer or on Sepharose-4B beads is required for the induction of self-renewing divisions of days 28-35 cobblestone area-forming cell. The free, soluble Jagged-1, however, has a dominant-negative effect on self-renewal in the stem-cell compartment. In contrast, free as well as immobilized Jagged-1 promotes growth factor-induced colony formation of committed hematopoietic progenitor cells. Therefore, we propose that differences in Jagged-1 presentation and developmental stage of the Notch receptor-bearing cells influence Notch ligand-binding results toward activation or inhibition of downstream signaling. Moreover, these results suggest potential clinical use of recombinant Notch ligands for expanding human HSC populations in vitro.     

Immunophenotype and functional characteristics of human primitive CD34-negative hematopoietic stem cells: the significance of the intra-bone marrow injection

The biology of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is a current topic of interest which has important implications for clinical HSC transplantation as well as for the basic research of HSC. The most primitive HSCs in mammals, including mice and humans, have long been believed to be CD34 antigen (Ag)-positive (CD34(+)) cells. In fact, bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB), and cord blood (CB) stem cell transplantation studies indicate that a CD34(+) subpopulation in the BM, PB, or CB can provide durable long-term donor-derived lymphohematopoietic reconstitution. Therefore, CD34 Ag was used to identify/purify immature HSCs. However, Osawa et al. reported that murine long-term lymphohematopoietic reconstituting HSCs are lineage marker-negative (Lin(-)) c-kit(+)Sca-1(+)CD34-low/negative (CD34(low/-)), which are called CD34(low/-) KSL cells. Recently, human CB-derived CD34(-) HSCs, a counterpart of murine CD34(low/-) KSL cells, were successfully identified using an intra-bone marrow injection (IBMI) method. This review will update the concept of the immunophenotype and the functional characteristics of human primitive CD34(-) HSCs. In addition, the significance of the application of the IBMI technique in clinical HSC transplantation is also discussed. Recent rapid advances in understanding the biological nature of HSCs may make it possible to fully characterize the most primitive class of human HSCs in the near future.     

Mesenchymal stem cells secreting angiopoietin-like-5 support efficient expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells without compromising their repopulating potential

Clinical and preclinical applications of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are often limited by scarcity of cells. Expanding human HSCs to increase their numbers while maintaining their stem cell properties has therefore become an important area of research. Here, we report a robust HSC coculture system wherein cord blood CD34(+) CD133(+) cells were cocultured with mesenchymal stem cells engineered to express angiopoietin-like-5 in a defined medium. After 11 days of culture, SCID repopulating cells were expanded ~60-fold by limiting dilution assay in NOD-scid Il2rg(-/-) (NSG) mice. The cultured CD34(+) CD133(+) cells had similar engraftment potential to uncultured CD34(+) CD133(+) cells in competitive repopulation assays and were capable of efficient secondary reconstitution. Further, the expanded cells supported a robust multilineage reconstitution of human blood cells in NSG recipient mice, including a more efficient T-cell reconstitution. These results demonstrate that the expanded CD34(+) CD133(+) cells maintain both short-term and long-term HSC activities. To our knowledge, this ~60-fold expansion of SCID repopulating cells is the best expansion of human HSCs reported to date. Further development of this coculture method for expanding human HSCs for clinical and preclinical applications is therefore warranted.     

Quiescent human hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow niches organize the hierarchical structure of hematopoiesis

Hematopoiesis is a dynamic and strictly regulated process orchestrated by self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and the supporting microenvironment. However, the exact mechanisms by which individual human HSCs sustain hematopoietic homeostasis remain to be clarified. To understand how the long-term repopulating cell (LTRC) activity of individual human HSCs and the hematopoietic hierarchy are maintained in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, we traced the repopulating dynamics of individual human HSC clones using viral integration site analysis. Our study presents several lines of evidence regarding the in vivo dynamics of human hematopoiesis. First, human LTRCs existed in a rare population of CD34(+)CD38(-) cells that localized to the stem cell niches and maintained their stem cell activities while being in a quiescent state. Second, clonally distinct LTRCs controlled hematopoietic homeostasis and created a stem cell pool hierarchy by asymmetric self-renewal division that produced lineage-restricted short-term repopulating cells and long-lasting LTRCs. Third, we demonstrated that quiescent LTRC clones expanded remarkably to reconstitute the hematopoiesis of the secondary recipient. Finally, we further demonstrated that human mesenchymal stem cells differentiated into key components of the niche and maintained LTRC activity by closely interacting with quiescent human LTRCs, resulting in more LTRCs. Taken together, this study provides a novel insight into repopulation dynamics, turnover, hierarchical structure, and the cell cycle status of human HSCs in the recipient BM microenvironment.     

Orientation-regulated immobilization of Jagged1 on glass substrates for ex vivo proliferation of a bone marrow cell population containing hematopoietic stem cells

Notch signaling has been recognized as a key pathway to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). In this study, the orientation-regulated immobilization of a Notch ligand was designed to achieve the efficient Notch ligand-receptor recognition for the ex vivo proliferation of a bone marrow cell population containing HSC. Protein A was chemically conjugated onto aminated glass substrates, followed by immobilizing a recombinant chimeric protein of Jagged1 and Fc domain (Jagged1-Fc) through the biospecific binding between protein A and Fc domain. Protein A adsorption was suppressed for the Jagged1-Fc-immobilized substrates, in contrast to the Jagged1-Fc-coated ones, indicating the orientation-regulated immobilization of Jagged1-Fc for the substrates. Mouse lineage negative cells (Lin(-)) were cultured on the Jagged1-Fc-immobilized substrates. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that c-Kit(+), Sca-1(+), Lin(-), and CD34(-) cells of an HSC population was significantly proliferated on the Jagged1-Fc-immobilized substrates 6 days after culture, whereas no proliferation was observed for the Jagged1-Fc-coated substrates in a random manner or Jagged1-Fc-immobilized ones with a Notch signaling inhibitor. It is concluded that the orientation-regulated immobilization of Jagged1-Fc increased the efficiency of Jagged1 to recognize the Notch receptors, resulting in the promoted ex vivo proliferation of the HSC population.     

Sustained long-term engraftment and transgene expression of peripheral blood CD34+ cells transduced with third-generation lentiviral vectors

As mobilized peripheral blood (MPB) represents an attractive cell source for gene therapy, we investigated the ability of third-generation lentiviral vectors (LVs) to transfer the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene into MPB CD34(+) cells in culture conditions allowing expansion of transplantable human hematopoietic stem cells. To date, few studies have reported transduction of MPB cells with vesicular stomatitis virus G pseudotyped LVs. The critical issue remains whether primitive, hematopoietic repopulating cells have, indeed, been transduced. In vitro (5 weeks' culture in FLT3 ligand + thrombopoietin + stem cell factor + interleukin 6) and in vivo (serial transplantation in NOD/SCID mice) experiments show that MPB CD34(+) cells can be effectively long-term transduced by LV and maintain their proliferation, self-renewal, and multilineage differentiation potentials. We show that expansion following transduction improves the engraftment of transduced MPB CD34(+) (4.6-fold expansion of SCID repopulating cells by limiting dilution studies). We propose ex vivo expansion after transduction as an effective tool to improve gene therapy protocols with MPB. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.     

Effects of Delta1 and Jagged1 on early human hematopoiesis: correlation with expression of notch signaling-related genes in CD34+ cells

It has been shown that Notch signaling mediated by ligands of both Jagged and Delta families expands the hematopoietic stem cell compartment while blocking or delaying terminal myeloid differentiation. Here we show that Delta1- and Jagged1-expressing stromal cells have distinct effects on the clonogenic and differentiation capacities of human CD34(+) CD38(+) cells. Jagged1 increases the number of bipotent colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) and unipotent progenitors (CFU-granulocytes and CFU-macrophages), without quantitatively affecting terminal cell differentiation, whereas Delta1 reduces the number of CFU-GM and differentiated monocytic cells. Expression analysis of genes coding for Notch receptors, Notch targets, and Notch signaling modulators in supernatant CD34(+) cells arising upon contact with Jagged1 and Delta1 shows dynamic and differential gene expression profiles over time. At early time points, modest upregulation of Notch1, Notch3, and Hes1 was observed in Jagged1-CD34(+) cells, whereas those in contact with Delta1 strikingly upregulated Notch3 and Hes1. Later, myeloid progenitors with strong clonogenic potential emerging upon contact with Jagged1 upregulated Notch1 and Deltex and downregulated Notch signaling modulators, whereas T/NK progenitors originated by Delta1 strikingly upregulated Notch3 and Deltex and, to a lesser extent, Hes1, Lunatic Fringe, and Numb. Together, the data unravel previously unrecognized expression patterns of Notch signaling-related genes in CD34(+) CD38(+) cells as they develop in Jagged1- or Delta1-stromal cell environments, which appear to reflect sequential maturational stages of CD34(+) cells into distinct cell lineages.