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Pivotal role for glycogen synthase kinase–3 in hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis in mice
Jian Huang, … , Stephen G. Emerson, Peter S. Klein
Jian Huang, … , Stephen G. Emerson, Peter S. Klein
Published November 23, 2009
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2009;119(12):3519-3529. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI40572.
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Research Article Hematology

Pivotal role for glycogen synthase kinase–3 in hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis in mice

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Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) homeostasis depends on the balance between self renewal and lineage commitment, but what regulates this decision is not well understood. Using loss-of-function approaches in mice, we found that glycogen synthase kinase–3 (Gsk3) plays a pivotal role in controlling the decision between self renewal and differentiation of HSCs. Disruption of Gsk3 in BM transiently expanded phenotypic HSCs in a β-catenin–dependent manner, consistent with a role for Wnt signaling in HSC homeostasis. However, in assays of long-term HSC function, disruption of Gsk3 progressively depleted HSCs through activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). This long-term HSC depletion was prevented by mTOR inhibition and exacerbated by β-catenin knockout. Thus, GSK-3 regulated both Wnt and mTOR signaling in mouse HSCs, with these pathways promoting HSC self renewal and lineage commitment, respectively, such that inhibition of Gsk3 in the presence of rapamycin expanded the HSC pool in vivo. These findings identify unexpected functions for GSK-3 in mouse HSC homeostasis, suggest a therapeutic approach to expand HSCs in vivo using currently available medications that target GSK-3 and mTOR, and provide a compelling explanation for the clinically prevalent hematopoietic effects observed in individuals prescribed the GSK-3 inhibitor lithium.

Authors

Jian Huang, Yi Zhang, Alexey Bersenev, W. Timothy O’Brien, Wei Tong, Stephen G. Emerson, Peter S. Klein

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Figure 4

Gsk3 knockdown depletes HSCs in serial BM transplants.

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Gsk3 knockdown depletes HSCs in serial BM transplants.
   
(A) Noncompe...
(A) Noncompetitive serial transplants were performed by transplanting 2 × 105 sorted GFP+ cells from primary recipients of control or Gsk3-rnai transduced BM into lethally irradiated recipients (10 mice per group). Survival of secondary recipients receiving control or Gsk3-rnai BM is shown as a Kaplan-Meier plot. (B) Percent HSC-containing LSK fraction in control and Gsk3-rnai secondary recipients. (C) Absolute number of GFP+ LSK, LSK CD34–Flk2–, and LSK CD34+Flk2– cells in control and Gsk3-rnai secondary recipients. (D) Representative FCM data, presented as the distribution of CD34–Flk2–, CD34+Flk2–, and CD34+Flk2–, which immunophenotypically correspond to LT-HSCs, ST-HSCs, and MPPs in the LSK population, from control and Gsk3-rnai secondary recipients. Percent cells are shown for the indicated gates. (E) Colony formation assay with sorted GFP+ cells from control and Gsk3-rnai secondary recipient BM was performed and scored as in Figure 1 using GFP+ BM from 5 control and 5 Gsk3-rnai mice. (F) The frequencies of common myeloid progenitor (CMP), granulocyte-monocyte progenitor (GMP), and megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor (MEP) cells were measured by detection of CD16/32 and CD34 expression in the lineage–sca-1–c-kit+ gated population. The common lymphoid progenitor (CLP) fraction was measured as CD127+ cells in the lineage–sca-1loc-kitlo gate. (G) Lethally irradiated mice were reconstituted with 4 × 105 sorted GFP+ BM cells from secondary recipients of vector or Gsk3-rnai transduced BM. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve shows the survival of tertiary recipients of BM from control or Gsk3-rnai mice. (H) Absolute number of immunophenotypic HSCs/HPCs, as LSK cells, in control and Gsk3-rnai tertiary recipients. *P < 0.05.

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