Divergent effects of supraphysiologic Notch signals on leukemia stem cells and hematopoietic stem cells

Blood. 2013 Feb 7;121(6):905-17. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-03-416503. Epub 2012 Oct 31.

Abstract

The leukemia stem cell (LSC) hypothesis proposes that a subset of cells in the bulk leukemia population propagates the leukemia.We tested the LSC hypothesis in a mouse model of Notch-induced T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) in which the tumor cells were largely CD4+ CD8+ T cells. LSC activity was enriched but rare in the CD8+ CD4 HSA(hi) immature single-positive T-cell subset. Although our murine T-ALL model relies on transduction of HSCs, we were unable to isolate Notch-activated HSCs to test for LSC activity. Further analysis showed that Notch activation in HSCs caused an initial expansion of hematopoietic and T-cell progenitors and loss of stem cell quiescence, which was followed by progressive loss of long-term HSCs and T-cell production over several weeks. Similar results were obtained in a conditional transgenic model in which Notch activation is induced in HSCs by Cre recombinase. We conclude that although supraphysiologic Notch signaling in HSCs promotes LSC activity in T-cell progenitors, it extinguishes self-renewal of LT-HSCs. These results provide further evidence for therapeutically targeting T-cell progenitors in T-ALL while also underscoring the need to tightly regulate Notch signaling to expand normal HSC populations for clinical applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • 3T3 Cells
  • Animals
  • Bone Marrow Cells / drug effects
  • Bone Marrow Cells / metabolism
  • Bone Marrow Cells / pathology
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Fluorouracil / pharmacology
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / methods
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mutation
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / pathology
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / metabolism
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / physiopathology
  • Receptors, Notch / genetics
  • Receptors, Notch / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Notch / physiology
  • Signal Transduction*
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • T-Lymphocytes / pathology

Substances

  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Receptors, Notch
  • RAG-1 protein
  • Fluorouracil