STAT5 is crucial to maintain leukemic stem cells in acute myelogenous leukemias induced by MOZ-TIF2.
Abstract MOZ-TIF2 is a leukemogenic fusion oncoprotein that confers self-renewal capability to hematopoietic progenitor cells and induces acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) with long latency in bone marrow transplantation assays. Here, we report that FLT3-ITD transforms hematopoietic cells in cooperation with MOZ-TIF2 in vitro and in vivo. Coexpression of FLT3-ITD confers growth factor independent survival/proliferation, shortens disease latency, and results in an increase in the number of leukemic stem cells (LSC). We show that STAT5, a major effector of aberrant FLT3-ITD signal transduction, is both necessary and sufficient for this cooperative effect. In addition, STAT5 signaling is essent…
Wnt1 Promotes Cementum and Alveolar Bone Growth in a Time-Dependent Manner
The WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a central role in the biology of the periodontium, yet the function of specific extracellular WNT ligands remains poorly understood. By using a Wnt1-inducible transgenic mouse model targeting Col1a1-expressing alveolar osteoblasts, odontoblasts, and cementoblasts, we demonstrate that the WNT ligand WNT1 is a strong promoter of cementum and alveolar bone formation in vivo. We induced Wnt1 expression for 1, 3, or 9 wk in Wnt1Tg mice and analyzed them at the age of 6 wk and 12 wk. Micro–computed tomography (CT) analyses of the mandibles revealed a 1.8-fold increased bone volume after 1 and 3 wk of Wnt1 expression and a 3-fold increased bone volume aft…
Conditional transgenic mouse models: from the basics to genome-wide sets of knockouts and current studies of tissue regeneration
Many mouse models are currently available, providing avenues to elucidate gene function and to recapitulate specific pathological conditions. To a large extent, successful translation of clinical evidence or analytical data into appropriate mouse models is possible through progress in transgenic or gene-targeting technology. Beginning with a review of standard mouse transgenics and conventional gene targeting, this article will move on to discussing the basics of conditional gene expression: the tetracycline (tet)-off and tet-on systems based on the transactivators tet-controlled transactivator (Tta) and reverse tet-on transactivator (rtTA) that allow downregulation or induction of gene exp…
Wheat Consumption Aggravates Colitis in Mice via Amylase Trypsin Inhibitor–mediated Dysbiosis
Background & Aims Wheat has become the world's major staple and its consumption correlates with prevalence of noncommunicable disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases. Amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATIs), a component of wheat, activate the intestine's innate immune response via toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). We investigated the effects of wheat and ATIs on severity of colitis and fecal microbiota in mice. Methods C57BL/6 wild-type and Tlr4–/– mice were fed wheat- or ATI-containing diets or a wheat-free (control) diet and then given dextran sodium sulfate to induce colitis; we also studied Il10–/– mice, which develop spontaneous colitis. Changes in fecal bacteria were assessed by taxa-speci…
Improved models for animal research
Experimental animal models are critical to understand gene function and human disease. Many rodent models are presently available providing avenues to elucidate gene function and/or to recapitulate specific pathological conditions. To a large extent, successful translation of clinical evidence or analytical data into appropriate mouse models is possible through progress in transgenic or gene deletion technology. Despite these significant improvements, major limitations still exist in manipulating the mouse genome. For this reason and to maximize success, the design and planning of mouse models need good knowledge concerning the requirements and limitations of commonly used strategies and em…
In vivo fate mapping with SCL regulatory elements identifies progenitors for primitive and definitive hematopoiesis in mice.
10 páginas, 6 figuras.-- et al.
Enhanced protection of C57 BL/6 vs Balb/c mice to melanoma liver metastasis is mediated by NK cells.
ABSTRACT The B16F10 murine melanoma cell line displays a low expression of MHC class I molecules favoring immune evasion and metastases in immunocompetent C57 BL/6 wild-type mice. Here, we generated metastases to the liver, an organ that is skewed towards immune tolerance, by intrasplenic injection of B16F10 cells in syngeneic C57 BL/6 compared to allogeneic Balb/c mice. Surprisingly, Balb/c mice, which usually display a pronounced M2 macrophage and Th2 T cell polarization, were ∼3 times more susceptible to metastasis than C57 BL/6 mice, despite a much higher M1 and Th1 T cell immune response. The anti-metastatic advantage of C57 BL/6 mice could be attributed to a more potent NK-cell mediat…
Instruction of haematopoietic lineage choices, evolution of transcriptional landscapes and cancer stem cell hierarchies derived from an AML1-ETO mouse model.
The t(8;21) chromosomal translocation activates aberrant expression of the AML1-ETO (AE) fusion protein and is commonly associated with core binding factor acute myeloid leukaemia (CBF AML). Combining a conditional mouse model that closely resembles the slow evolution and the mosaic AE expression pattern of human t(8;21) CBF AML with global transcriptome sequencing, we find that disease progression was characterized by two principal pathogenic mechanisms. Initially, AE expression modified the lineage potential of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), resulting in the selective expansion of the myeloid compartment at the expense of normal erythro- and lymphopoiesis. This lineage skewing was foll…
P0311 : Balb/c and C57/Bl6 mice exhibit differences in their susceptibility and anti-tumor response to B16F10 melanoma liver metastasis
A conditional inducible JAK2V617F transgenic mouse model reveals myeloproliferative disease that is reversible upon switching off transgene expression.
Aberrant activation of the JAK/STAT pathway is thought to be the critical event in the pathogenesis of the chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms, polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis. The most frequent genetic alteration in these pathologies is the activating JAK2V617F mutation, and expression of the mutant gene in mouse models was shown to cause a phenotype resembling the human diseases. Given the body of genetic evidence, it has come as a sobering finding that JAK inhibitor therapy only modestly suppresses the JAK2V617F allele burden, despite showing clear benefits in terms of reducing splenomegaly and constitutional symptoms in patients. To gain a better …
Wnt1 is an Lrp5-independent bone-anabolic Wnt ligand.
Wnt signaling is important for proper embryonic development, shaping cell fate and migration, stem cell renewal, and organ and tissue formation. Here, Luther et al. investigated the role of Wnt1 in osteoporosis. Patients with early-onset osteoporosis and with WNT1 mutations had low bone turnover and high fracture rates, and loss of Wnt1 activity caused fracture and osteoporosis in mice. Inducing Wnt1 in bone-forming cells increased bone mass in aged mice, and this process did not require Lrp5, a co-receptor involved in Wnt signaling. This study identifies Wnt1 as an anabolic (bone building) factor and suggests that it might be a therapeutic target for osteoporosis.WNT1 mutations in humans a…
Nano-Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy: Immunology Encounters Nanotechnology
Cancer immunotherapy utilizes the immune system to fight cancer and has already moved from the laboratory to clinical application. However, and despite excellent therapeutic outcomes in some hematological and solid cancers, the regular clinical use of cancer immunotherapies reveals major limitations. These include the lack of effective immune therapy options for some cancer types, unresponsiveness to treatment by many patients, evolving therapy resistance, the inaccessible and immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment (TME), and the risk of potentially life-threatening immune toxicities. Given the potential of nanotechnology to deliver, enhance, and fine-tune cancer immunothera…
Generation and characterization of tTS-H4: a novel transcriptional repressor that is compatible with the reverse tetracycline-controlled TET-ON system
Background Conditional gene regulatory systems ensuring tight and adjustable expression of therapeutic genes are central for developing future gene therapy strategies. Among various regulatory systems, tetracycline-controlled gene expression has emerged as a safe and reliable option. Moreover, the tightness of tetracycline-regulated gene switches can be substantially improved by complementing transcriptional activators with antagonizing repressors. Methods To develop novel tetracycline-responsive transcriptional repressors, we fused various transcriptional silencing domains to the TetR (B/E) DNA-binding and dimerization domain of the Tn10-encoded tetracycline resistance operon (TetR (B/E)).…
Toxicity of ligand-dependent Cre recombinases and generation of a conditional Cre deleter mouse allowing mosaic recombination in peripheral tissues.
Ligand-activated Cre recombinases are widely used for studying gene function in vitro and in conditional mouse models. To compare ligand-dependent Cre recombinases, different Cre estrogen receptor fusions were introduced into the ROSA26 locus of embryonic stem (ES) cells and assayed for genotoxicity and recombination efficiency. Of the tested recombinases, the CreERT2 variant showed no toxicity and was highly responsive to ligand induction. To constitutively express CreERT2 in mice and also to clarify whether the CreERT2 system displays background activity, we generated a knock-in mouse line harboring the CreERT2 coding region under the control of the ROSA26 locus. Analysis of this ROSA26-…
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation by cAMP vs. dioxin: divergent signaling pathways.
Even before the first vertebrates appeared on our planet, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor ( AHR ) gene was present to carry out one or more critical life functions. The vertebrate AHR then evolved to take on functions of detecting and responding to certain classes of environmental toxicants. These environmental pollutants include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., benzo[ a ]pyrene), polyhalogenated hydrocarbons, dibenzofurans, and the most potent small-molecular-weight toxicant known, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD or dioxin). After binding of these ligands, the activated AHR translocates rapidly from the cytosol to the nucleus, where it forms a heterodimer with aryl hydroc…
4-Epidoxycycline: an alternative to doxycycline to control gene expression in conditional mouse models
Since the pioneering work by Gossen and Bujard in 1992 demonstrating the usefulness of the Escherichia coli derived tet resistance operon for regulating gene expression a large collection of doxycycline-controlled transgenic mice has been established. Gene switching in eukaryotic tissue culture cells or mice requires administration of tetracycline, anhydrotetracycline or doxycycline to efficiently inactivate the transactivator protein tTA (TET-OFF system) or alternatively to activate the reverse transactivator protein rtTA (TET-ON system). However, the antibiotic activity of doxycycline can create an imbalance of the intestinal flora, resulting in diarrhoea and in a smaller number of animal…
Of mice and models: improved animal models for biomedical research.
The ability to engineer the mouse genome has profoundly transformed biomedical research. During the last decade, conventional transgenic and gene knockout technologies have become invaluable experimental tools for modeling genetic disorders, assigning functions to genes, evaluating drugs and toxins, and by and large helping to answer fundamental questions in basic and applied research. In addition, the growing demand for more sophisticated murine models has also become increasingly evident. Good state-of-principle knowledge about the enormous potential of second-generation conditional mouse technology will be beneficial for any researcher interested in using these experimental tools. In thi…
Tetracycline-controlled transgenic targeting from the SCL locus directs conditional expression to erythrocytes, megakaryocytes, granulocytes, and c-kit-expressing lineage-negative hematopoietic cells
The stem cell leukemia gene SCL, also known as TAL-1, encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor expressed in erythroid, myeloid, megakaryocytic, and hematopoietic stem cells. To be able to make use of the unique tissue-restricted and spatio-temporal expression pattern of the SCL gene, we have generated a knock-in mouse line containing the tTA-2S tetracycline transactivator under the control of SCL regulatory elements. Analysis of this mouse using different tetracycline-dependent reporter strains demonstrated that switchable transgene expression was restricted to erythrocytes, megakaryocytes, granulocytes, and, importantly, to the c-kit-expressing and lineage-negative cell fracti…
Endothelial Wnt/β-catenin signaling reduces vascularization, barrier breakdown and tumor growth in a mouse glioma model
Definitive evidence for Club cells as progenitors for mutantKras/Trp53‐deficient lung cancer
Accumulating evidence suggests that both the nature of oncogenic lesions and the cell-of-origin can strongly influence cancer histopathology, tumor aggressiveness and response to therapy. Although oncogenic Kras expression and loss of Trp53 tumor suppressor gene function have been demonstrated to initiate murine lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs) in alveolar type II (AT2) cells, clear evidence that Club cells, representing the second major subset of lung epithelial cells, can also act as cells-of-origin for LUAD is lacking. Equally, the exact anatomic location of Club cells that are susceptible to Kras transformation and the resulting tumor histotype remains to be established. Here, we provide de…
Hematopoietic Stem Cells Reversibly Switch from Dormancy to Self-Renewal during Homeostasis and Repair
Bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are crucial to maintain lifelong production of all blood cells. Although HSCs divide infrequently, it is thought that the entire HSC pool turns over every few weeks, suggesting that HSCs regularly enter and exit cell cycle. Here, we combine flow cytometry with label-retaining assays (BrdU and histone H2B-GFP) to identify a population of dormant mouse HSCs (d-HSCs) within the lin(-)Sca1(+)cKit(+)CD150(+)CD48(-)CD34(-) population. Computational modeling suggests that d-HSCs divide about every 145 days, or five times per lifetime. d-HSCs harbor the vast majority of multilineage long-term self-renewal activity. While they form a silent reservoir of th…
Generation of human hepatocytes by stem cell technology: definition of the hepatocyte
Since 1999, numerous articles have reported the generation of hepatocytes from different types of extrahepatic stem or precursor cells. This opens exciting new possibilities for pharmacology and toxicology, as well as for cell therapy. Hepatocyte marker expression, including albumin, cytokeratin 18, c-met, alpha-fetoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A4 and -2B6, has been observed after transplantation of different types of human stem cells into the liver of laboratory animals or in vitro after incubation with cytokines. These intriguing observations have prompted scientists to classify stem cell-derived cell populations as hepatocytes. However, this conclusion may be premature. It has been shown…
Distinct 5' SCL enhancers direct transcription to developing brain, spinal cord, and endothelium: neural expression is mediated by GATA factor binding sites.
The SCL gene encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor with a pivotal role in the development of endothelium and of all hematopoietic lineages. SCL is also expressed in the central nervous system, although its expression pattern has not been examined in detail and its function in neural development is unknown. In this article we present the first analysis of SCL transcriptional regulation in vivo. We have identified three spatially distinct regulatory modules, each of which was both necessary and sufficient to direct reporter gene expression in vivo to three different regions within the normal SCL expression domain, namely, developing endothelium, midbrain, and hindbrain/spinal …
Characterization of a Fetal Liver Cell Population Endowed with Long-Term Multiorgan Endothelial Reconstitution Potential.
et al.
RNAi knock-down mice: an emerging technology for post-genomic functional genetics
RNA interference (RNAi) has been extensively used for sequence-specific silencing of gene function in mammalian cells. The latest major breakthrough in the application of RNAi technology came from experiments demonstrating RNAi-mediated gene repression in mice and rats. After more than two decades of functional mouse research aimed at developing and continuously improving transgenic and knock-out technology, the advent of RNAi knock-down mice represents a valuable new alternative for studying gene function in vivo. In this review we provide some basic insight as to how RNAi can induce gene silencing to then focus on recent findings concerning the applicability of RNAi for regulating gene fu…
Endothelial Wnt/β-catenin signaling inhibits glioma angiogenesis and normalizes tumor blood vessels by inducing PDGF-B expression
Wnt modulates glioma vascularization by regulating PDGF-B expression.
A subset of flavaglines inhibits KRAS nanoclustering and activation.
The RAS oncogenes are frequently mutated in human cancers and among the three isoforms (KRAS, HRAS and NRAS), KRAS is the most frequently mutated oncogene. Here, we demonstrate that a subset of flavaglines, a class of natural anti-tumour drugs and chemical ligands of prohibitins, inhibit RAS GTP loading and oncogene activation in cells at nanomolar concentrations. Treatment with rocaglamide, the first discovered flavagline, inhibited the nanoclustering of KRAS, but not HRAS and NRAS, at specific phospholipid-enriched plasma membrane domains. We further demonstrate that plasma membrane-associated prohibitins directly interact with KRAS, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidic acid, and these int…