Loss of Nupr1 promotes engraftment by tuning the quiescence threshold of hematopoietic stem cell repository via regulating p53-checkpoint pathway

Haematologica. 2022 Jan 1;107(1):154-166. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2019.239186.

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are dominantly quiescent under homeostasis, which is a key mechanism of maintaining the HSC pool for life-long hematopoiesis. Dormant HSCs poise to be immediately activated on urgent conditions and can return to quiescence after regaining homeostasis. To date, the molecular networks of regulating the threshold of HSC dormancy, if exist, remain largely unknown. Here, we unveiled that deletion of Nupr1, a gene preferentially expressed in HSCs, activated the quiescence HSCs under homeostatic status, which conferred engraftment competitive advantage on HSCs without compromising their stemness and multi-lineage differentiation abilities in serial transplantation settings. Following an expansion protocol, the Nupr1-/- HSCs proliferate more robustly than their wild type counterparts in vitro. Nupr1 inhibits the expression of p53 and the rescue of which offsets the engraftment advantage. Our data unveil the de novo role of Nupr1 as an HSC quiescence-regulator, which provides insights into accelerating the engraftment efficacy of HSC transplantation by targeting the HSC quiescence-controlling network.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics*
  • Hematopoiesis / genetics
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells*
  • Homeostasis
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics*
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53* / genetics

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Nupr1 protein, mouse
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

Grants and funding

Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31900814, 81925002, 81922002), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA16010601), Key Research & Development Program of Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory (2018GZR110104006), CAS Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (QYZDB-SSW-SM057), and Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2017B030314056).