A role for caspases in the differentiation of erythroid cells and macrophages
Several cysteine proteases of the caspase family play a central role in many forms of cell death by apoptosis. Other enzymes of the family are involved in cytokine maturation along inflammatory response. In recent years, several caspases involved in cell death were shown to play a role in other cellular processes such as proliferation and differentiation. In the present review, we summarize the current knowledge of the role of caspases in the differentiation of erythroid cells and macrophages. Based on these two examples, we show that the nature of involved enzymes, the pathways leading to their activation in response to specific growth factors, and the specificity of the target proteins th…
Colony-stimulating factor-1-induced oscillations in phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/AKT are required for caspase activation in monocytes undergoing differentiation into macrophages.
Abstract The differentiation of human peripheral blood monocytes into resident macrophages is driven by colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), which upon interaction with CSF-1 receptor (CSF-1R) induces within minutes the phosphorylation of its cytoplasmic tyrosine residues and the activation of multiple signaling complexes. Caspase-8 and -3 are activated at day 2 to 3 and contribute to macrophage differentiation, for example, through cleavage of nucleophosmin. Here, we show that the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase and the downstream serine/threonine kinase AKT connect CSF-1R activation to caspase-8 cleavage. Most importantly, we demonstrate that successive waves of AKT activation with increasi…
Crosstalk between leukemia-associated proteins MOZ and MLL regulates HOX gene expression in human cord blood CD34+ cells
MOZ and MLL, encoding a histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and a histone methyltransferase, respectively, are targets for recurrent chromosomal translocations found in acute myeloblastic or lymphoblastic leukemia. In MOZ (MOnocytic leukemia Zinc-finger protein)/CBP- or mixed lineage leukemia (MLL)-rearranged leukemias, abnormal levels of HOX transcription factors have been found to be critical for leukemogenesis. We show that MOZ and MLL cooperate to regulate these key genes in human cord blood CD34+ cells. These chromatin-modifying enzymes interact, colocalize and functionally cooperate, and both are recruited to multiple HOX promoters. We also found that WDR5, an adaptor protein essential fo…
Fine-tuning nucleophosmin in macrophage differentiation and activation
Abstract M-CSF–driven differentiation of peripheral blood monocytes is one of the sources of tissue macrophages. In humans and mice, the differentiation process involves the activation of caspases that cleave a limited number of proteins. One of these proteins is nucleophosmin (NPM1), a multifunctional and ubiquitous protein. Here, we show that caspases activated in monocytes exposed to M-CSF cleave NPM1 at D213 to generate a 30-kDa N-terminal fragment. The protein is further cleaved into a 20-kDa fragment, which involves cathepsin B. NPM1 fragments contribute to the limited motility, migration, and phagocytosis capabilities of resting macrophages. Their activation with lipopolysaccharides …
Alpha-defensins secreted by dysplastic granulocytes inhibit the differentiation of monocytes in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
Abstract Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic disorder that occurs in elderly patients. One of the main diagnostic criteria is the accumulation of heterogeneous monocytes in the peripheral blood. We further explored this cellular heterogeneity and observed that part of the leukemic clone in the peripheral blood was made of immature dysplastic granulocytes with a CD14−/CD24+ phenotype. The proteome profile of these cells is dramatically distinct from that of CD14+/CD24− monocytes from CMML patients or healthy donors. More specifically, CD14−/CD24+ CMML cells synthesize and secrete large amounts of alpha-defensin 1-3 (HNP1-3). Recombinant HNPs inhibit macrophage co…
The Histone Acetyl-Transferase MOZ Cooperates with the Histone Methyl-Transferase MLL to Regulate HOX Gene Expression in Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Abstract MOZ (MOnocytic leukaemia Zinc finger protein) (also called MYST3 or KAT6A) is a member of the MYST family of HATs which likely acetylate H4K16. The MLL (MixedLineageLeukemia) gene is a frequent target for recurrent chromosomal translocations found in AML and ALL. MLL (KMT2A) is a methyl-transferase targeting H3K4. It was shown that MOZ/CBP leukemia, as observed in MLL-rearranged leukemias, harbors abnormal levels of homeobox (HOX) genes expression. HOX transcription factors have a crucial function in hematopoiesis regulation. In addition, HOXA5, HOXA7, and HOXA9 are often considered to be pivotal HOX genes for MLL transformation, constituting downstream targets of MLL. In our study…
Dual regulation of SPI1/PU.1 transcription factor by heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) during macrophage differentiation of monocytes
International audience; : In addition to their cytoprotective role in stressful conditions, heat shock proteins (HSPs) are involved in specific differentiation pathways, e.g. we have identified a role for HSP90 in macrophage differentiation of human peripheral blood monocytes exposed to Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (M-CSF). Here, we show that deletion of the main transcription factor involved in heat shock gene regulation, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), affects M-CSF-driven differentiation of mouse bone marrow cells. HSF1 transiently accumulates in the nucleus of human monocytes undergoing macrophage differentiation, including M-CSF-treated peripheral blood monocytes and phorbol ester-…