Activation of the canonical Wnt pathway leads to loss of hematopoietic stem cell repopulation and multilineage differentiation block

P Kirstetter, K Anderson, BT Porse, SEW Jacobsen… - Nature …, 2006 - nature.com
P Kirstetter, K Anderson, BT Porse, SEW Jacobsen, C Nerlov
Nature immunology, 2006nature.com
Wnt signaling increases hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and is activated in both
myeloid and lymphoid malignancies, indicating involvement in both normal and malignant
hematopoiesis. We report here activated canonical Wnt signaling in the hematopoietic
system through conditional expression of a stable form of β-catenin. This enforced
expression led to hematopoietic failure associated with loss of myeloid lineage commitment
at the granulocyte-macrophage progenitor stage; blocked erythrocyte differentiation; …
Abstract
Wnt signaling increases hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and is activated in both myeloid and lymphoid malignancies, indicating involvement in both normal and malignant hematopoiesis. We report here activated canonical Wnt signaling in the hematopoietic system through conditional expression of a stable form of β-catenin. This enforced expression led to hematopoietic failure associated with loss of myeloid lineage commitment at the granulocyte-macrophage progenitor stage; blocked erythrocyte differentiation; disruption of lymphoid development; and loss of repopulating stem cell activity. Loss of hematopoietic stem cell function was associated with decreased expression of Cdkn1a (encoding the cell cycle inhibitor p21cdk), Sfpi1, Hoxb4 and Bmi1 (encoding the transcription factors PU.1, HoxB4 and Bmi-1, respectively) and altered integrin expression in LinSca-1+c-Kit+ cells, whereas PU.1 was upregulated in erythroid progenitors. Constitutive activation of canonical Wnt signaling therefore causes multilineage differentiation block and compromised hematopoietic stem cell maintenance.
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