Metabolomic profiling of single enlarged lysosomes.

Lysosomes are critical for cellular metabolism and are heterogeneously involved in various cellular processes. The ability to measure lysosomal metabolic heterogeneity is essential for understanding their physiological roles. We therefore built a single-lysosome mass spectrometry (SLMS) platform integrating lysosomal patch-clamp recording and induced nano-electrospray ionization (nanoESI)/mass spectrometry (MS) that enables concurrent metabolic and electrophysiological profiling of individual enlarged lysosomes. The accuracy and reliability of this technique were validated by supporting previous findings, such as the transportability of lysosomal cationic amino acids transporters such as PQLC2 and the lysosomal trapping of lysosomotropic, hydrophobic weak base drugs such as lidocaine. We derived metabolites from single lysosomes in various cell types and classified lysosomes into five major subpopulations based on their chemical and biological divergence. Senescence and carcinoma altered metabolic profiles of lysosomes in a type-specific manner. Thus, SLMS can open more avenues for investigating heterogeneous lysosomal metabolic changes during physiological and pathological processes.

A mosaic analysis system with Cre or Tomato expression in the mouse.

Somatic mutations are major genetic contributors to cancers and many other age-related diseases. Many disease-causing somatic mutations can initiate clonal growth prior to the appearance of any disease symptoms, yet experimental models that can be used to examine clonal abnormalities are limited. We describe a mosaic analysis system with Cre or Tomato (MASCOT) for tracking mutant cells and demonstrate its utility for modeling clonal hematopoiesis. MASCOT can be induced to constitutively express either Cre-GFP or Tomato for lineage tracing of a mutant and a reference group of cells simultaneously. We conducted mosaic analysis to assess functions of the Id3 and/or Tet2 gene in hematopoietic cell development and clonal hematopoiesis. Using Tomato-positive cells as a reference population, we demonstrated the high sensitivity of this system for detecting cell-intrinsic phenotypes during short-term or long-term tracking of hematopoietic cells. Long-term tracking of Tet2 mutant or Tet2/Id3 double-mutant cells in our MASCOT model revealed a dynamic shift from myeloid expansion to lymphoid expansion and subsequent development of lymphoma. This work demonstrates the utility of the MASCOT method in mosaic analysis of single or combined mutations, making the system suitable for modeling somatic mutations identified in humans.

[Expression of Lysosomal Membrane Proteins LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells and Its Clinical Significance].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the expression of lysosomal membrane proteins LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and clinical indications of AML and to explore the possible role in the genesis and development of AML and clinical significance. METHODS: Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 in AML cell lines (HL-60, NB4) and 57 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (including 44 initially treated patients and 13 relapsed and refractory patients). The relationship of mRNA expression levels with clinical indicators and post-chemotherapy remission was analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), the expression levels of LAMP1 and TPC1 in AML cell lines HL-60 and NB4 significantly increased, while the expression level of TPC2 was not significantly different. The expression levels of LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) of AML patients were higher than those in normal human BMMNC (P<0.05), and the expression levels of LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 in CD34+ primary AML cells(CD34+ primary cells in the patient's bone marrow >90%) were also high. There was no significant difference in the expression of LAMP1, TPC1 and TPC2 between CD34+HSC of patients with AML and relapsed/refractory patients (P>0.05). No correlation was found between age, sex and genotype and expression of membrane proteins (P>0.05). The expression levels of LAMP1 and TPC1 positively correlated with the number of white blood cells in peripheral blood of patients (P<0.01). LAMP1 and TPC2 were found to be associated with remission after a course of chemotherapy in newly diagnosed patients. Initially treated patients with high expression of LAMP1 in the bone marrow not easily relieved after one course of chemotherapy. Patients with high expression of TPC2 in the bone marrow more likely to be relieved after one course of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The mRNA of the three membrane proteins are highly expressed in AML patients, and LAMP1 and TPC1 are risk factors for AML disease progression. High expression of TPC2 is beneficial for chemotherapy of patients with newly diagnosed AML.

Id3 Restricts γδ NKT Cell Expansion by Controlling Egr2 and c-Myc Activity.

γδ NKT cells are neonatal-derived γδ T lymphocytes that are grouped together with invariant NKT cells based on their shared innate-like developmental program characterized by the transcription factor PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger). Previous studies have demonstrated that the population size of γδ NKT cells is tightly controlled by Id3-mediated inhibition of E-protein activity in mice. However, how E proteins promote γδ NKT cell development and expansion remains to be determined. In this study, we report that the transcription factor Egr2, which also activates PLZF expression in invariant NKT cells, is essential for regulating γδ NKT cell expansion. We observed a higher expression of Egr family genes in γδ NKT cells compared with the conventional γδ T cell population. Loss of function of Id3 caused an expansion of γδ NKT cells, which is accompanied by further upregulation of Egr family genes as well as PLZF. Deletion of Egr2 in Id3-deficient γδ NKT cells prevented cell expansion and blocked PLZF upregulation. We further show that this Egr2-mediated γδ NKT cell expansion is dependent on c-Myc. c-Myc knockdown attenuated the proliferation of Id3-deficient γδ NKT cells, whereas c-Myc overexpression enhanced the proliferation of Id3/Egr2-double-deficient γδ NKT cells. Therefore, our data reveal a regulatory circuit involving Egr2-Id3-E2A, which normally restricts the population size of γδ NKT cells by adjusting Egr2 dosage and c-Myc expression.

Differential Requirements of TCR Signaling in Homeostatic Maintenance and Function of Dendritic Epidermal T Cells.

Dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs) are generated exclusively in the fetal thymus and maintained in the skin epithelium throughout postnatal life of the mouse. DETCs have restricted antigenic specificity as a result of their exclusive usage of a canonical TCR. Although the importance of the TCR in DETC development has been well established, the exact role of TCR signaling in DETC homeostasis and function remains incompletely defined. In this study, we investigated TCR signaling in fully matured DETCs by lineage-restricted deletion of the Lat gene, an essential signaling molecule downstream of the TCR. We found that Lat deletion impaired TCR-dependent cytokine gene activation and the ability of DETCs to undergo proliferative expansion. However, linker for activation of T cells-deficient DETCs were able to maintain long-term population homeostasis, although with a reduced proliferation rate. Mice with Lat deletion in DETCs exhibited delayed wound healing accompanied by impaired clonal expansion within the wound area. Our study revealed differential requirements for TCR signaling in homeostatic maintenance of DETCs and in their effector function during wound healing.

Id3 and Id2 act as a dual safety mechanism in regulating the development and population size of innate-like γδ T cells.

The innate-like T cells expressing Vγ1.1 and Vδ6.3 represent a unique T cell lineage sharing features with both the γδ T and the invariant NKT cells. The population size of Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cells is tightly controlled and usually contributes to a very small proportion of thymic output, but the underlying mechanism remains enigmatic. Deletion of Id3, an inhibitor of E protein transcription factors, can induce an expansion of the Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cell population. This phenotype is much stronger on the C57BL/6 background than on the 129/sv background. Using quantitative trait linkage analysis, we identified Id2, a homolog of Id3, to be the major modifier of Id3 in limiting Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cell expansion. The Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) phenotype is attributed to an intrinsic weakness of Id2 transcription from Id2 C57BL/6 allele, leading to an overall reduced dosage of Id proteins. However, complete removal of both Id2 and Id3 genes in developing T cells suppressed the expansion of Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cells because of decreased proliferation and increased cell death. We showed that conditional knockout of Id2 alone is sufficient to promote a moderate expansion of γδ T cells. These regulatory effects of Id2 and Id3 on Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cells are mediated by titration of E protein activity, because removing one or more copies of E protein genes can restore Vγ1.1(+)Vδ6.3(+) T cell expansion in Id2 and Id3 double conditional knockout mice. Our data indicated that Id2 and Id3 collaboratively control survival and expansion of the γδ lineage through modulating a proper threshold of E proteins.

Tracking proliferative history in lymphocyte development with cre-mediated sister chromatid recombination.

Tracking and isolating live cells based on their proliferative history in live animals remains a technical challenge in animal studies. We have designed a genetic marking system for tracking the proliferative frequency and history of lymphocytes during their development and homeostatic maintenance. This system is based on activation of a fluorescent marker after Cre-dependent recombination between sister chromatids at a specially designed tandem loxP site, named Tlox. We have demonstrated the utility of the Tlox system in tracking proliferative windows of B and T lymphocyte development. We have further applied the Tlox system in the analysis of the proliferative behavior and homeostatic maintenance of Vγ1.1 positive γδ T cells. Our data show that Vγ1.1 T cells generated in neonatal but not adult life are able to expand in the thymus. The expanded Vγ1.1 T cells are preferentially maintained in the liver but not in lymphoid organs. It has been shown that numbers of Vγ1.1 T cells were dramatically increased in the lymphoid organs of Id3 deficient mice. By combining BrdU and Tlox assays we show that this phenotype is primarily due to enhanced neonatal expansion and subsequent retention of Vγ1.1 T cells. Thus, the Tlox system provides a new genetic tool to track clonal expansion within a defined cell population or tissue type in live animals.

E proteins are required to activate germline transcription of the TCR Vbeta8.2 gene.

Each TCR Vbeta gene is regulated by an individual Vbeta promoter, which becomes active prior to V(D) J recombination and drives germline transcription. It has been shown that Vbeta gene locus activation and recombination are dependent on the Vbeta promoter. However, transcription factors that regulate Vbeta germline transcription remain largely undefined. A major challenge in studying Vbeta gene germline transcription is the quantitative assessment of relatively low-level transcripts in T-cell progenitors. Here we used the established Vbeta8.2(CD2) knock-in mouse model to assess functions of E-protein transcription factors in Vbeta8.2 germline transcription. We show that E proteins are required for the activation but not the maintenance of the Vbeta8.2 germline transcription during thymocyte development. The activation of Vbeta8.2 germline transcription depends more on the E proteins encoded by the E2A gene than by the HEB gene. We further show that IL-7 receptor (IL-7R)-mediated signals are essential for Vbeta8.2 germline transcription. We provide evidence that IL-7R expression is only partially controlled by E2A, suggesting a role for E2A in driving Vbeta8.2 germline transcription independent of IL-7R activation.

E2A promotes the survival of precursor and mature B lymphocytes.

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor E2A is an essential regulator of B lymphocyte lineage commitment and is required to activate the expression of numerous B lineage-specific genes. Studies involving ectopic expression of Id proteins, which inhibit E2A as well as other basic helix-loop-helix proteins such as HEB, suggest additional roles of E2A at later stages of B cell development. We use E2A-deficient and E2A and HEB double-deficient pre-B cell lines to directly assess the function of E2A and HEB in B cell development after lineage commitment. We show that, in contrast to the established role of E2A in lineage commitment, elimination of E2A and HEB in pre-B cell lines has only a modest negative impact on B lineage gene expression. However, E2A single and E2A and HEB double-deficient but not HEB single-deficient cell lines show dramatically enhanced apoptosis upon growth arrest. To address the possible role of E2A in the regulation of B cell survival in vivo, we crossed IFN-inducible Cre-transgenic mice to E2A conditional mice. Cre-mediated E2A deletion resulted in a block in bone marrow B cell development and a significant reduction in the proportion and total number of splenic B cells in these mice. We show that Cre-mediated deletion of E2A in adoptively transferred mature B cells results in the rapid depletion of the transferred population within 24 h of Cre induction. These results reveal that E2A is not required to maintain B cell fate but is essential in promoting pre-B and B cell survival.

A T cell intrinsic role of Id3 in a mouse model for primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease with clinical hallmarks of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eyes) and xerostomia (dry mouth). The genetic basis of this autoimmune disease is poorly understood. Id3 is an immediate early-response gene in growth regulation and is involved in TCR-mediated T cell selection during T cell development. Here, we show that Id3-deficient mice develop many disease symptoms found in primary Sjogren's syndrome patients including dry eyes and mouth, lymphocyte infiltration in lachrymal and salivary glands, and development of anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies. Adoptive transfer experiment indicated a T cell intrinsic role for Id3 in the development of Sjogren's symptoms. Furthermore, genetic ablation of T cells or neonatal 3 day thymectomy in Id3-deficient mice showed a rescue of disease symptoms, suggesting a thymic origin of autoimmune T cells. Thus, this study establishes a critical connection between Id3-mediated T cell development and autoimmune diseases.

Regulation of E2A gene expression in B-lymphocyte development.

Biochemical and genetic studies have demonstrated that transcription factors encoded by the E2A gene are essential in regulating B lineage specific gene expression and B lineage commitment. However, the mechanism by which E2A regulates B lineage commitment is not known. It has been reported that E2A controls B lineage commitment in a dosage dependent manner. To further investigate this gene dosage effect, we analyzed E2A expression during normal B cell development in mice carrying a functional E2AGFP knockin allele. Mice carrying this fusion allele were examined for E2A gene expression during bone marrow B cell development. A dramatic upregulation of E2A is observed concomitant with the initiation of immunoglobulin heavy chain D-J rearrangement and the induction of Early B cell Factor (EBF) gene expression. We also show that this E2A upregulation does not occur in the absence of the EBF gene. These results indicate that E2A upregulation is a critical step in regulating B-lineage commitment. It further suggests that E2A gene dosage may be determined by a cross regulation between E2A and EBF during B lineage commitment.