Signal, transduction, and the hematopoietic stem cell

Directional capacity of human mesenchymal stem cells to support hematopoietic stem cell proliferation in vitro

OBJECTIVES

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside in a specialised microenvironment in the bone marrow, which is majorly composed of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and its' derivatives. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory role of MSCs to decipher the cellular and humoral communications on HSCs' proliferation, self-renewal, and differentiation at the transcriptomic level.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Microarray assay was employed to analyse the gene expression profile of HSCs that imparted by MSCs during co-culture.

RESULTS

The proliferation of human umbilical cord blood-derived HSCs (hUC-HSCs) markedly propagated when MSCs were used as the feeder layer, without disturbing the undifferentiated state of HSCs, and reduced the cell death of HSCs. Upon co-culture with MSCs, the global microarray analysis of HSCs disclosed 712 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (561 up-regulated and 151 down-regulated). The dysregulations of various transcripts were enriched for cellular functions such as cell cycle (including CCND1), apoptosis (including TNF), and genes related to signalling pathways governing self-renewal, as well as WNT5A from the Wnt signalling pathway, MAPK, Hedgehog, FGF2 from FGF, Jak-STAT, and PITX2 from the TGF-β signalling pathway. To concur this, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was utilised for corroborating the microarray results from five of the most dysregulated genes.

CONCLUSION

This study elucidates the underlying mechanisms of the mitogenic influences of MSCs on the propagation of HSCs. The exploitation of such mechanisms provides a potential means for achieving larger quantities of HSCs in vitro, thus obviating the need for manipulating their differentiation potential for clinical application.

Extracellular vesicles from human iPSCs enhance reconstitution capacity of cord blood-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells

Cord blood (CB) represents a source of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (CB-HSPCs) for bone marrow (BM) reconstitution, but clinical CB application is limited in adult patients due to the insufficient number of CB-HSCPCs and the lack of effective ex vivo approaches to increase CB-HSPC functionality. Since human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have been indicated as donor cells for bioactive extracellular vesicles (EVs) modulating properties of other cells, we are the first to employ hiPSC-derived EVs (hiPSC-EVs) to enhance the hematopoietic potential of CB-derived CD45^dimLin^-CD34⁺ cell fraction enriched in CB-HSPCs. We demonstrated that hiPSC-EVs improved functional properties of CB-HSPCs critical for their hematopoietic capacity including metabolic, hematopoietic and clonogenic potential as well as survival, chemotactic response to stromal cell-derived factor 1 and adhesion to the model components of hematopoietic niche in vitro. Moreover, hiPSC-EVs enhanced homing and engraftment of CB-HSPCs in vivo. This phenomenon might be related to activation of signaling pathways in CB-HSPCs following hiPSC-EV treatment, as shown on both gene expression and the protein kinases activity levels. In conclusion, hiPSC-EVs might be used as ex vivo modulators of CB-HSPCs capacity to enhance their functional properties and augment future practical applications of CB-derived cells in BM reconstitution.

Dissection of Signaling Events Downstream of the c-Mpl Receptor in Murine Hematopoietic Stem Cells Via Motif-Engineered Chimeric Receptors

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a valuable resource in transplantation medicine. Cytokines are often used to culture HSCs aiming at better clinical outcomes through enhancement of HSC reconstitution capability. Roles for each signal molecule downstream of receptors in HSCs, however, remain puzzling due to complexity of the cytokine-signaling network. Engineered receptors that are non-responsive to endogenous cytokines represent an attractive tool for dissection of signaling events. We here tested a previously developed chimeric receptor (CR) system in primary murine HSCs, target cells that are indispensable for analysis of stem cell activity. Each CR contains tyrosine motifs that enable selective activation of signal molecules located downstream of the c-Mpl receptor upon stimulation by an artificial ligand. Signaling through a control CR with a wild-type c-Mpl cytoplasmic tail sufficed to enhance HSC proliferation and colony formation in cooperation with stem cell factor (SCF). Among a series of CRs, only one compatible with selective Stat5 activation showed similar positive effects. The HSCs maintained ex vivo in these environments retained long-term reconstitution ability following transplantation. This ability was also demonstrated in secondary recipients, indicating effective transmission of stem cell-supportive signals into HSCs via these artificial CRs during culture. Selective activation of Stat5 through CR ex vivo favored preservation of lymphoid potential in long-term reconstituting HSCs, but not of myeloid potential, exemplifying possible dissection of signals downstream of c-Mpl. These CR systems therefore offer a useful tool to scrutinize complex signaling pathways in HSCs.

Exploiting the unique phenotypes of the earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae to evaluate the toxicity of chemical substances

Both the evaluation and the determination of toxicity of chemical substances present in the environment have implications in human health. In this present study, the natural phenomenon named autotomy, a self-defense mechanism employed by several animals against the toxic chemical contaminants, was considered to assess the toxicity of different chemical substances. We investigated the effects of glucose, sodium chloride, kanamycin, mercuric chloride, arsenic trioxide, and lead oxide on the phenotypes of earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae. Depending on the concentration of different chemicals, worms exhibit unique phenotypes. These phenotypes can be used to identify the toxicity as well as the toxic concentration of the chemicals. Upon exposure to toxic chemicals, worms use different mechanical forces at the site of cleavage furrow to detach its segments. During the detachment, there is no apparent blood loss at both the ends of the worm. Our results show that the mercuric chloride is toxic at the concentration above 5 μg when compared to other chemicals. Based on our findings, the toxic effects of a chemical and the toxic concentration of a chemical can be evaluated in both cost and time-efficient manner; in addition, these chemicals can be classified into the following categories: (1) mercuric chloride is extreme-toxic, (2) arsenic trioxide and lead oxide is toxic, (3) kanamycin and sodium chloride is low-toxic, and (4) glucose is non-toxic.