Kras is Required for Adult Hematopoiesis

A Damnernsawad, G Kong, Z Wen, Y Liu… - Stem …, 2016 - academic.oup.com
A Damnernsawad, G Kong, Z Wen, Y Liu, A Rajagopalan, X You, J Wang, Y Zhou
Stem cells, 2016academic.oup.com
Previous studies indicate that Kras is dispensable for fetal liver hematopoiesis, but its role in
adult hematopoiesis remains unclear. Here, we generated a Kras conditional knockout
allele to address this question. Deletion of Kras in adult bone marrow (BM) is mediated by
Vav-Cre or inducible Mx1-Cre. We find that loss of Kras leads to greatly reduced
thrombopoietin (TPO) signaling in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and multipotent
progenitors (MPPs), while stem cell factor-evoked ERK1/2 activation is not affected. The …
Abstract
Previous studies indicate that Kras is dispensable for fetal liver hematopoiesis, but its role in adult hematopoiesis remains unclear. Here, we generated a Kras conditional knockout allele to address this question. Deletion of Kras in adult bone marrow (BM) is mediated by Vav-Cre or inducible Mx1-Cre. We find that loss of Kras leads to greatly reduced thrombopoietin (TPO) signaling in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and multipotent progenitors (MPPs), while stem cell factor-evoked ERK1/2 activation is not affected. The compromised TPO signaling is associated with reduced long term- and intermediate-term HSC compartments and a bias toward myeloid differentiation in MPPs. Although granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-evoked ERK1/2 activation is only moderately decreased in Kras-/- myeloid progenitors, it is blunted in neutrophils and neutrophil survival is significantly reduced in vitro. At 9-12 months old, Kras conditional knockout mice develop profound hematopoietic defects, including splenomegaly, an expanded neutrophil compartment, and reduced B cell number. In a serial transplantation assay, the reconstitution potential of Kras-/- BM cells is greatly compromised, which is attributable to defects in the self-renewal of Kras-/- HSCs and defects in differentiated hematopoietic cells. Our results demonstrate that Kras is a major regulator of TPO and GM-CSF signaling in specific populations of hematopoietic cells and its function is required for adult hematopoiesis.
Oxford University Press