Impaired B cell terminal differentiation in B cell-specific knockout mice of cell death-defying factor anamorsin.

Anamorsin (AM) is an anti-apoptotic molecule cloned by us as a molecule that confers resistance against apoptosis induced by growth factor deprivation. AM-deficient mice are embryonic lethal, which impedes detailed analyses of the roles of AM in various types of adult cells. To overcome the embryonic lethality, we generated AM conditional knockout (AMflox/flox) mice and cell type-specific genetic modification became possible using the Cre-loxP system. CD19-Cre/AMflox/flox mice with AM deleted specifically in CD19+ B cells exhibited less B220+ B cells in their spleen, peripheral blood, and lymph node compared with control CD19-Cre mice. Using flow cytometry to categorize bone marrow and spleen cells into B cell subsets, we observed significantly less follicular type I cells, which are the most mature follicular B cells, compared with control CD19-Cre mice. These data suggest that AM has an important role in the generation of mature B cells.

Identification of MS4A3 as a reliable marker for early myeloid differentiation in human hematopoiesis.

Information of myeloid lineage-related antigen on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) is important to clarify the mechanisms regulating hematopoiesis, as well as for the diagnosis and treatment of myeloid malignancies. We previously reported that special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 (SATB1), a global chromatin organizer, promotes lymphoid differentiation from HSPCs. To search a novel cell surface molecule discriminating early myeloid and lymphoid differentiation, we performed microarray analyses comparing SATB1-overexpressed HSPCs with mock-transduced HSPCs. The results drew our attention to membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 3 (Ms4a3) as the most downregulated molecule in HSPCs with forced overexpression of SATB1. Ms4a3 expression was undetectable in hematopoietic stem cells, but showed a concomitant increase with progressive myeloid differentiation, whereas not only lymphoid but also megakaryocytic-erythrocytic progenitors were entirely devoid of Ms4a3 expression. Further analysis revealed that a subset of CD34+CD38+CD33+ progenitor population in human adult bone marrow expressed MS4A3, and those MS4A3+ progenitors only produced granulocyte/macrophage colonies, losing erythroid colony- and mixed colony-forming capacity. These results suggest that cell surface expression of MS4A3 is useful to distinguish granulocyte/macrophage lineage-committed progenitors from other lineage-related ones in early human hematopoiesis. In conclusion, MS4A3 is useful to monitor early stage of myeloid differentiation in human hematopoiesis.

Anamorsin, a novel caspase-3 substrate in neurodegeneration.

Activated caspases play a central role in the execution of apoptosis by cleaving endogenous substrates. Here, we developed a high throughput screening method to identify novel substrates for caspase-3 in a neuronal cell line. Critical steps in our strategy consist of two-dimensional electrophoresis-based protein separation and in vitro caspase-3 incubation of immobilized proteins to sort out direct substrates. Among 46 putative substrates identified in MN9D neuronal cells, we further evaluated whether caspase-3-mediated cleavage of anamorsin, a recently recognized cell death-defying factor in hematopoiesis, is a general feature of apoptosis. In vitro and cell-based cleavage assays indicated that anamorsin was specifically cleaved by caspase-3 but not by other caspases, generating 25- and 10-kDa fragments. Thus, in apoptosis of neuronal and non-neuronal cells induced by various stimuli including staurosporine, etoposide, or 6-hydroxydopamine, the cleavage of anamorsin was found to be blocked in the presence of caspase inhibitor. Among four tetrapeptide consensus DXXD motifs existing in anamorsin, we mapped a specific cleavage site for caspase-3 at DSVD(209)↓L. Intriguingly, the 25-kDa cleaved fragment of anamorsin was also detected in post-mortem brains of Alzheimer and Parkinson disease patients. Although the RNA interference-mediated knockdown of anamorsin rendered neuronal cells more vulnerable to staurosporine treatment, reintroduction of full-length anamorsin into an anamorsin knock-out stromal cell line made cells resistant to staurosporine-induced caspase activation, indicating the antiapoptotic function of anamorsin. Taken together, our approach seems to be effective to identify novel substrates for caspases and has the potential to provide meaningful insights into newly identified substrates involved in neurodegenerative processes.

ESAM is a novel human hematopoietic stem cell marker associated with a subset of human leukemias.

Reliable markers are essential to increase our understanding of the biological features of human hematopoietic stem cells and to facilitate the application of hematopoietic stem cells in the field of transplantation and regenerative medicine. We previously identified endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM) as a novel functional marker of hematopoietic stem cells in mice. Here, we found that ESAM can also be used to purify human hematopoietic stem cells from all the currently available sources (adult bone marrow, mobilized peripheral blood, and cord blood). Multipotent colony-forming units and long-term hematopoietic-reconstituting cells in immunodeficient mice were found exclusively in the ESAM(High) fraction of CD34(+)CD38(-) cells. The CD34(+)CD38(-) fraction of cord blood and collagenase-treated bone marrow contained cells exhibiting extremely high expression of ESAM; these cells are likely to be related to the endothelial lineage. Leukemia cell lines of erythroid and megakaryocyte origin, but not those of myeloid or lymphoid descent, were ESAM positive. However, high ESAM expression was observed in some primary acute myeloid leukemia cells. Furthermore, KG-1a myeloid leukemia cells switched from ESAM negative to ESAM positive with repeated leukemia reconstitution in vivo. Thus, ESAM is a useful marker for studying both human hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia cells.

The anti-apoptotic gene Anamorsin is essential for both autonomous and extrinsic regulation of murine fetal liver hematopoiesis.

Anamorsin (AM) is an antiapoptotic molecule that confers factor-independent survival on hematopoietic cells. AM-deficient (AM(-/-)) mice are embryonic lethal because of a defect in definitive hematopoiesis; however, the significance of AM in embryonic hematopoiesis remains unknown. This study characterized the hematopoietic defects in AM(-/-) fetal livers. The AM(-/-) fetal liver displayed significantly reduced numbers of c-Kit(+)Sca-1(+)Lin(-) (KSL) cells. An in vitro colony-forming unit assay showed that fetal liver cells isolated from AM(-/-) embryos gave rise to fewer colonies in all cell types. The reconstitution activity in AM(-/-) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) was markedly reduced in all lineages. Furthermore, the limiting dilution assay revealed that the number of fetal liver HSCs was reduced because of AM deficiency. Retrovirus-mediated AM expression rescued the defective hematopoietic colony-forming activities of AM(-/-) KSL cells. We also investigated the effects of AM deficiency on fetal liver stromal cells, which support hematopoiesis. Interestingly, primary stromal cell cultures from wild type fetal liver supported the growth of AM(-/-) KSL cells, but stromal cultures from AM(-/-) fetal liver provided little support of wild type KSL cell growth. These results demonstrated that AM was essential for both autonomous and extrinsic regulation of fetal liver hematopoiesis. This study provided new insight into the molecular regulation of hematopoiesis.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for Hodgkin-like adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

A 56-year-old woman with Hodgkin-like adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma was treated with allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation on 17 April 2009. She manifested a moderate fever on day 41. CT scanning and other examinations detected slightly swollen lymph nodes, and pathological findings of right axillary lymph nodes revealed an Epstein-Barr virus-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. She was successfully treated with rituximab.