Depletion of Neoplastic CD11b Positive Cells in Jak2V617F Mutant Mice Reduced Fibrocytes in Bone Marrow and Improved Myelofibrosis

• Published in: Blood 2019-11, Vol.134 (Supplement_1), p.310-310
• Main Authors: Ozono, Yoshinori, Shide, Kotaro, Kameda, Takuro, Kamiunten, Ayako, Tahira, Yuki, Sekine, Masaaki, Akizuki, Keiichi, Nakamura, Kenichi, Iwakiri, Hisayoshi, Hidaka, Tomonori, Kubuki, Yoko, Hasuike, Satoru, Toyoshima, Fumiyo, Sawaguchi, Akira, Nagata, Kenji, Shimoda, Kazuya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2019-130042

Myelofibrosis (MF) associated with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) has been considered to be a reactive phenomenon caused by mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) stimulated by cytokines such as TGFb-1 overproduced by neoplastic megakaryocytes (MKs) and platelets. TGFb-1 stimulates non-neoplastic mesenchymal cells to produce collagen and fibronectin and to induces bone marrow (BM) fibrosis. However, the involvement of neoplastic fibrocyte in MF has recently been reported (Verstovsek et al. JEM 2016), and among blood cells, monocytes in particular are considered to be the main source of neoplastic fibrocytes. In this study, we assesed the role of neoplastic fibrocytes using a mouse model of MPN induced by Jak2V617F (Shide et al. Leukemia 2008). First, the distribution of neoplastic fibrocyte in the BM of Jak2V617F transgenic (TG) mice was examined. We transplanted wild-type (WT) or Jak2V617F TG cells (B6-CD45.2), together with WT BM cells (B6-CD45.1) into irradiated WT recipient mice (B6-CD45.1). Only recipient mice transplanted with a mixture of Jak2V617F cells and WT cells developed BM fibrosis. In immunofluorescent staining of fibrotic BM, cells expressing the fibrocyte marker CD45/Collagen-1(Col-1) were observed much more than cells expressing the fibroblast marker CD90(usually positive for MSCs)/Col-1. As for CD45/Col-1 positive cells, cells expressing CD45.2/Col-1 were much more than cells expressing CD45.1/Col-1, clearly indicating that these cells were derived from Jak2V617F mutant blood cells. On the other hand, in the BM of recipient mice transplanted with control WT cells, few cells expressing CD45/Col-1 or CD90/Col-1 were present. To examine the differentiation ability of Jak2V617F blood cells to fibrocytes directly, peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells (MNC) of Jak2V617F mice or WT mice were cultured in vitro. After 5 days of culture, PB MNCs from Jak2V617F mice differentiated into mature fibrocytes exhibiting a long spindle shape with Col-1 expression. On the other hand, there were very few fibrocytes differentiated from PB MNC from WT mice. Next, we depleted monocytes, the main source of fibrocytes, and observed its effects on BM fibrosis in vivo. Jak2V617F TG mice were mated with CD11b-diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) TG mice (Duffield et al. JCI 2005) to obtain Jak2V617F/CD11b-DTR double TG mice. Mice transplanted with BM cells from Jak2V617F/CD11b-DTR double TG mice (hereinafter called Jak2V617F/CD11b-DTR mice) exhibit leukocytosis, thromb