Project description:We hypothesized that miRNA regulation may be invloved in hydroxyurea-mediated fetal hemoglobin induction. Microarray analysis was utilized as an initial screening tool to determine differential miRNA expression in CD71+ erythroid cells comparing cells from control individuals without sickle cell anemia to patients with sickle cell anemia prior to treatment with hydroxyurea and patients receiving the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of hydroxurea.
Project description:We hypothesized that miRNA regulation may be invloved in hydroxyurea-mediated fetal hemoglobin induction. Microarray analysis was utilized as an initial screening tool to determine differential miRNA expression in CD71+ erythroid cells comparing cells from control individuals without sickle cell anemia to patients with sickle cell anemia prior to treatment with hydroxyurea and patients receiving the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of hydroxurea. CD71+ cells were isolated from whole blood of control individuals (n=2), pediatric patients without hydroxyurea treatment (n=3) and pediatric patients at hydroxyurea MTD (n=3). All 8 samples were analyzed for miRNA expression.
Project description:<p> <ol> <li>Implement an efficient, highly reproducible and 'scalable' system for the production of large numbers of sickle cell anemia-specific iPS cells (iPSC).</li> <li>Derive and characterize a novel, in vitro system for the production of an unlimited supply of erythroid lineage cells from the directed differentiation of 'clinical grade' transgene-free iPS cells; use this system to recapitulate erythroid-lineage ontogeny in vitro with the sequential development of primitive and definitive erythropoiesis, accompanied by the appropriate expression of stage-specific globin genes.</li> <li>Identify developmental gene expression profile differences between erythroid precursors that produce primarily HbF and those that produce primarily HbA or HbS.</li> <li>Determine the effects of the three known HbF major quantitative trait loci (QTL) on globin gene expression in disease-specific iPS cells during in vitro erythropoiesis.</li> <li>Search for novel HbF genetic modifiers associated with markedly elevated HbF levels found in sickle cell anemia patients naturally, or in response to hydroxyurea treatment, by examining gene expression profiles and mRNA sequence of their iPSC-derived erythroid cells.</li> <li>Develop and use a CRISPR-based gene editing platform to study the effect of novel HbF genetic modifiers, explore globin switching, and correct the HbS mutation in sickle iPSC lines.</li> </ol> </p>
Project description:<p>Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a severe debilitating hematological disorder associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality. There are approximately 200,000 babies born with sickle cell disease each year, with the disease predominately affecting individuals in Africa. The overall global burden of the disease is tremendous, with more than 100,000 patients currently in the US and further millions worldwide. The governing bodies of the World Health Organization have recently adopted a resolution to strengthen the response to sickle disease in all affected countries and there is a definite need for high quality sickle cell disease research that has the potential to improve the treatment and prognosis of patients with this devastating disease. The clinical manifestations of SCD arise from a complex pathophysiology that includes hemolysis, acute vaso-occlusion, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and chronic organ damage. While the individual clinical course of this disease is highly variable, many of the associated complications demonstrate some degree of heritability. Intensive research into identifying genetic modifiers that can affect the pathophysiology of SCD has been limited to date and there is an urgent need to improve of our knowledge the molecular mechanisms underlying the clinical complications of SCD. The Sickle cell CIP project is investigating complication of stroke and pharmacogenomics of hydroxyurea response in patients with sickle cell anemia. The major benefit of hydroxyurea comes from its ability to induce fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and higher HbF levels are associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in SCA patients. We will perform whole exome and whole genome sequencing of SCA patients in order to identify genome variants associated with incidences of stroke and HbF response to hydroxyurea.</p>
Project description:Primitive erythropoiesis in the mouse yolk sac is followed by definitive erythropoiesis resulting in adult erythrocytes. In comparison to definitive erythropoiesis little is known about the genes that control the embryonic erythroid program. The purpose of this study was to generate a profile of mouse embryonic yolk sac erythroid cells and identify novel regulatory genes differentially expressed in erythroid compared to non-erythroid (epithelial cells). The identification of these genes will contribute to a greater understanding of how the primitive erythroid program is controlled. This work will have clinical implications for treating sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. Activating genes in adult erythroid cells that increase embryonic or fetal globin gene expression may be a therapeutic approach to treat individuals with these disorders. Keywords: Comparison between mouse embryonic day 9.5 yolk sac microdissected primitive erythroid precursors and epithelial cells
Project description:<p>Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by the presence of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) within circulating erythrocytes resulting in hemolytic anemia, vascular occlusion, and end organ damage due to alterations in the shape and deformability of the cell membrane. The disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, and is most commonly caused by a single nucleotide substitution in the hemoglobin subunit beta (HBB) gene located on chromosome 11. Participants in this study include children with SCD treated with hydroxyurea to pharmacologically increase fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels and reduce disease severity. Therefore, the primary phenotype of interest in this study is the change in HbF levels in response to hydroxyurea treatment. Genetic factors have been shown to influence inter-individual variation in drug response, and identification of novel genes and variants associated with clinical outcomes in SCD will be achieved through collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine, Augusta University, Columbia University Medical Center, Emory University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The NHLBI TOPMed Program is designed to generate scientific resources to enhance understanding of fundamental biological processes that underlie heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders (HLBS). It is part of a broader Precision Medicine Initiative, which aims to provide disease treatments that are tailored to an individual's unique genes and environment.</p>
Project description:Primitive erythropoiesis in the mouse yolk sac is followed by definitive erythropoiesis resulting in adult erythrocytes. In comparison to definitive erythropoiesis little is known about the genes that control the embryonic erythroid program. The purpose of this study was to generate a profile of mouse embryonic yolk sac erythroid cells and identify novel regulatory genes differentially expressed in erythroid compared to non-erythroid (epithelial cells). The identification of these genes will contribute to a greater understanding of how the primitive erythroid program is controlled. This work will have clinical implications for treating sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. Activating genes in adult erythroid cells that increase embryonic or fetal globin gene expression may be a therapeutic approach to treat individuals with these disorders. Experiment Overall Design: Embryonic day 9.5 (E9.5) yolk sacs were dissected from the embryos of timed-pregnant FVB/N mice. These tissues were frozen in OCT media and 8-micron frozen sections were obtained. Laser capture microdissection (LCM) was used to isolate primitive erythroid precursors and epithelial cells from these E9.5 yolk sac frozen sections using 2 to 4 yolk sacs from 2 different litters per biological replicate. Paired erythroid and epithelial samples were collected from the same microscope slides. Total RNA was isolated from 4 different pairs of erythroid and epithelial samples and hybridized to Affymetrix 430 A 2.0 microarrays.
Project description:Reactivation of gamma-globin is considered a promising approach for the treatment of beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell disease. Therapeutic induction of gamma-globin expression is fraught with lack of suitable therapeutic targets. In order to identify new potential targets we analysed the changes in the proteome of human primary erythroid progenitor cells by treatment with decitabine, a known, yet not clinically safe, gamma-globin inducer. Significant differentially expressed proteins were identified which were involved in various biological pathways and functional categories.
Project description:The non-hematopoietic cell fraction of the bone marrow (BM) is classically identified as CD45– Ter119– CD31– (herein referred to as triple-negative cells or TNCs). Although TNCs are believed to contain heterogeneous stromal cell populations, they remain poorly defined. Here we show, unexpectedly, that the vast majority of TNCs (~85%) have a hematopoietic rather than mesenchymal origin. Single cell RNA-sequencing reveals erythroid and lymphoid progenitor signatures among CD51– TNCs. When cultured with BM-derived stromal cells, Ly6D+ CD44+ CD51–TNCs give rise to B-lymphoid cells, whereas Ly6D–CD44+ CD51–TNCs generate erythroid cells. In addition, CD44+ CD51– TNCs contribute to repopulate B-lymphoid and erythroid cells after transplantation in mice. The CD44+ CD51– TNC population also expands during phenylhydrazine-induced acute hemolysis or in a model of sickle cell anemia. These findings thus uncover physiologically relevant, yet unappreciated, classes of stromal-associated CD45– hematopoietic progenitors.
Project description:Adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) react to various stress conditions by rapidly proliferating and preferentially differentiating towards desired cell types. However, it is unclear whether and how HSCs respond to severe anemic conditions. Here we demonstrate that HSCs rapidly proliferate and enhance their erythroid potential upon induction of acute anemia. Under severe anemic conditions, the concentration of erythropoietin (EPO) does not increase in the bone marrow. Instead, lipoprotein profiles largely changed, and the concentration of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) increased. In HSCs, transcription levels of lipid metabolism-related genes such as very low-density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr) were significantly up-regulated. Stimulation of HSCs with recombinant ApoE enhanced the erythroid potential, while HSCs of ApoE knockout mice did not respond to the hemolysis induction. We also found that VLDLRhighHSCs have higher erythroid differentiation potential, particularly after acute anemia induction. VLDLRhighHSCs were epigenetically distinct from VLDLRlowHSCs, as their chromatin accessibility was lower and more chromatin regions were closed upon acute anemia induction. Finally, we identified that the chromatin regions closed upon the acute anemia induction were mainly binding sites of a transcription factor Erg. Treatment of HSC with Erg inhibitor enhanced erythroid differentiation potential, as seen in the ApoE treatment. Our findings indicate that lipoprotein metabolism, particularly ApoE, plays a crucial role in HSC regulation under severe anemia conditions in a non-canonical fashion, unlike a conventional factor such as EPO.