Hematopoietic stem cells progressively deficient of glycogen synthase kinase initiate a pre-neoplastic state required for evolution to acute leukemia
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ABSTRACT: The cellular origin and molecular progression towards aggressive cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain elusive. Clinically, Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and related myeloproliferative neoplasias (MPN) disorders1-5 are believed to present as a precursor stage to lethal AML development. Despite the identification of cytogenetic abnormalities and increased activation of signaling in human MDS/MPN, specific pathways that either sustain or initiate disease progression and evolve into self-sustaining leukemic-initiating cells (L-ICs)13 have not been elucidated. Here we demonstrate that tissue specific loss of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3 betaβ) initiates the emergence of stable Pre-leukemic-ICs (PLIC) in vivo. In contrast to deletion or transgenic perturbation of pathways associated with AML eg. β-catenin/Wnt, serial transplantation of PL-IC produced abnormal hematological disease that phenotypically and molecularly resembles human MDS/MPN. PL-ICs were exclusively generated from GSK3 betaβ deficient hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), indicating that disease initiation events collaborate with existing HSC self-renewal machinery. In the absence of GSK3 betaβ, subsequent deletion of GSK3 betaα caused rapid induction of L-ICs that give rise to lethal AML. As these processes were solely driven by dose-dependent deficiencies in GSK3 beta levels, our results suggest that perturbation of this pathway can sufficiently drive and recapitulate a step-wise progression of disease from HSCs to MDS/MPN and subsequent AML. Our study provides a molecular and cellular foundation to understand AML evolution from pre-leukemic precursors. We suggest that defining the molecular states of pre-neoplastic disease will allow patient stratification at early stages of MDS/MPN onset and aid in the development of therapeutic targeting of causal pathways responsible for the earliest stages of leukemic initiation events.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE53352 | GEO | 2016/01/11
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA231775
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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