Letter abstract


Nature Cell Biology 7, 172 - 178 (2005)
Published online: 16 January 2005 | doi:10.1038/ncb1214

Negative cell-cycle regulators cooperatively control self-renewal and differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells

Carl R. Walkley1,2,6, Matthew L. Fero4, Wei-Ming Chien4, Louise E. Purton1,5,6 & Grant A. McArthur1,2,3,5

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Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are capable of shifting from a state of relative quiescence under homeostatic conditions to rapid proliferation under conditions of stress. The mechanisms that regulate the relative quiescence of stem cells and its association with self-renewal are unclear, as is the contribution of molecular regulators of the cell cycle to these decisions. Understanding the mechanisms that govern these transitions will provide important insights into cell-cycle regulation of HSCs and possible therapeutic approaches to expand HSCs. We have investigated the role of two negative regulators of the cell cycle, p27Kip1 and MAD1, in controlling this transition. Here we show that
Mad1-/-p27Kip1-/- bone marrow has a 5.7-fold increase in the frequency of stem cells, and surprisingly, an expanded pool of quiescent HSCs. However, Mad1-/-p27Kip1-/- stem cells exhibit an enhanced proliferative response under conditions of stress, such as cytokine stimulation in vitro and regeneration of the haematopoietic system after ablation in vivo. Together these data demonstrate that the MYC-antagonist MAD1 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 cooperate to regulate the self-renewal and differentiation of HSCs in a context-dependent manner.

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  1. Research Division, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria 3002, Australia.
  2. Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3065, Australia.
  3. Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria 3002, Australia.
  4. Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, USA.
  5. These authors contributed equally to this work.
  6. Present addresses: Department of Hematology-Oncology, Children's Hospital and Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA (C.R.M.) and Center for Regenerative Medicine and Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA (L.E.P.).

Correspondence to: Louise E. Purton1,5,6 e-mail: lpurton@partners.org

Correspondence to: Grant A. McArthur1,2,3,5 e-mail: grant.mcarthur@petermac.org



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