Heparan Sulfates and Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans in Hematopoiesis.

From signaling mediators in stem cells, to markers of differentiation and lineage commitment, to facilitators for the entry of viruses like HIV-1, cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) glycans with their distinct modification patterns play important roles in hematopoietic biology. In this review, we provide an overview of the importance of HS and the proteoglycans (HSPGs) to which they are attached, within the major cellular subtypes of the hematopoietic system. We summarize the roles of HSPGs, HS, and HS modifications within each main hematopoietic cell lineage of both myeloid and lymphoid arms. Lastly, we discuss the biological advances of the detection of HS modifications, and their potential to further discriminate cell types within hematopoietic tissue.

A glycan-based approach to cell characterization and isolation: Hematopoiesis as a paradigm.

Cell surfaces display a wide array of molecules that confer identity. While flow cytometry and cluster of differentiation (CD) markers have revolutionized cell characterization and purification, functionally heterogeneous cellular subtypes remain unresolvable by the CD marker system alone. Using hematopoietic lineages as a paradigm, we leverage the extraordinary molecular diversity of heparan sulfate (HS) glycans to establish cellular "glycotypes" by utilizing a panel of anti-HS single-chain variable fragment antibodies (scFvs). Prospective sorting with anti-HS scFvs identifies functionally distinct glycotypes within heterogeneous pools of mouse and human hematopoietic progenitor cells and enables further stratification of immunophenotypically pure megakaryocyte-erythrocyte progenitors. This stratification correlates with expression of a heptad of HS-related genes that is reflective of the HS epitope recognized by specific anti-HS scFvs. While we show that HS glycotyping provides an orthogonal set of tools for resolution of hematopoietic lineages, we anticipate broad utility of this approach in defining and isolating novel, viable cell types across diverse tissues and species.

Aurora Kinase A Inhibition: A Mega-Hit for Myelofibrosis Therapy?

The positive but limited efficacy of JAK inhibitors has sparked the need for alternative therapeutic targets in the treatment of myelofibrosis. The discovery of novel targets, like Aurora Kinase A, may provide new avenues of single-agent and combinatorial therapy for myelofibrosis and restoration of normal bone marrow function.See related article by Gangat et al., p. 4898.

A myeloid tumor suppressor role for NOL3.

Despite the identification of several oncogenic driver mutations leading to constitutive JAK-STAT activation, the cellular and molecular biology of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) remains incompletely understood. Recent discoveries have identified underlying disease-modifying molecular aberrations contributing to disease initiation and progression. Here, we report that deletion of Nol3 (Nucleolar protein 3) in mice leads to an MPN resembling primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Nol3-/- MPN mice harbor an expanded Thy1+LSK stem cell population exhibiting increased cell cycling and a myelomonocytic differentiation bias. Molecularly, this phenotype is mediated by Nol3-/--induced JAK-STAT activation and downstream activation of cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) and MycNol3-/- MPN Thy1+LSK cells share significant molecular similarities with primary CD34+ cells from PMF patients. NOL3 levels are decreased in CD34+ cells from PMF patients, and the NOL3 locus is deleted in a subset of patients with myeloid malignancies. Our results reveal a novel genetic PMF-like mouse model and identify a tumor suppressor role for NOL3 in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies.

Regulation of the CCN genes by vitamin D: A possible adjuvant therapy in the treatment of cancer and fibrosis.

The CCN family is composed of six cysteine-rich, modular, and conserved proteins whose functions span a variety of tissues and include cell proliferation, adhesion, angiogenesis, and wound healing. Roles for the CCN proteins throughout the entire body including the skin, kidney, brain, blood vessels, hematopoietic compartment and others, are continuously being elucidated. Likewise, an understanding of the regulation of this important gene family is constantly becoming clearer, through identification of transcription factors that directly activate, repress, or respond to upstream cell signaling pathways, as well as other forms of gene expression control. Vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or calcitriol), a vitamin essential for numerous biological processes, acts as a potent gene expression modulator. The regulation of the CCN gene family members by calcitriol has been described in many contexts. Here, we provide a concise and thorough overview of what is known about calcitriol and its regulation of the CCN genes, and argue that its regulation is of physiological importance in a wide breadth of tissues in which CCN genes function. In addition, we highlight the effects of vitamin D on CCN gene expression in the setting of two common pathologic conditions, fibrosis and cancer, and propose that the therapeutic effects of vitamin D3 described in these disease states may in part be attributable to CCN gene modulation. As vitamin D is perfectly safe in a wide range of doses and already showing promise as an adjuvant therapeutic agent, a deeper understanding of its control of CCN gene expression may have profound implications in clinical management of disease.

Myeloid Zinc Finger 1 (MZF-1) Regulates Expression of the CCN2/CTGF and CCN3/NOV Genes in the Hematopoietic Compartment.

Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CCN2/CTGF) and Nephroblastoma Overexpressed (CCN3/NOV) execute key functions within the hematopoietic compartment. Both are abundant in the bone marrow stroma, which is a niche for hematopoiesis and supports marrow function. Roles for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol) and all-trans retinoic acid in the bone marrow have also been elucidated. Interestingly, some of the annotated roles of these vitamins overlap with established functions of CCN2 and CCN3. Yet, no factor has been identified that unifies these observations. In this study, we report the regulation of the CTGF and NOV genes by Myeloid Zinc Finger-1 (MZF-1), a hematopoietic transcription factor. We show the interaction of MZF-1 with the CTGF and NOV promoters in several cell types. Up-regulation of MZF-1 via calcitriol and vitamin A induces expression of CTGF and NOV, implicating a role for these vitamins in the functions of these two genes. Lastly, knockdown of MZF1 reduces levels of CTGF and NOV. Collectively, our results argue that MZF-1 regulates the CTGF and NOV genes in the hematopoietic compartment, and may be involved in their respective functions in the stroma.

The glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (GAPDH) is regulated by myeloid zinc finger 1 (MZF-1) and is induced by calcitriol.

Recently, new tissue-specific functions for glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) have been discovered, aside from its archetypal function in glycolysis. This casts doubt on the legitimacy of using GAPDH as a normalization control for gene expression analysis. We report the binding of the myeloid zinc finger-1 (MZF-1) transcription factor to the human GAPDH promoter. Furthermore, we show that up-regulation of MZF-1 by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol) induces GAPDH in HS-5 stromal fibroblasts, while knockdown of MZF1 by shRNA leads to a concomitant reduction in GAPDH expression. This argues that MZF-1 regulates GAPDH, indicating a role for GAPDH in calcitriol-mediated signaling.