Heterozygous and homozygous JAK2(V617F) states modeled by induced pluripotent stem cells from myeloproliferative neoplasm patients

JAK2^V617F is the predominant mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Modeling MPN in a human context might be helpful for the screening of molecules targeting JAK2 and its intracellular signaling. We describe here the derivation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines from 2 polycythemia vera patients carrying a heterozygous and a homozygous mutated JAK2^V617F, respectively. In the patient with homozygous JAK2^V617F, additional ASXL1 mutation and chromosome 20 allowed partial delineation of the clonal architecture and assignation of the cellular origin of the derived iPS cell lines. The marked difference in the response to erythropoietin (EPO) between homozygous and heterozygous cell lines correlated with the constitutive activation level of signaling pathways. Strikingly, heterozygous iPS cells showed thrombopoietin (TPO)-independent formation of megakaryocytic colonies, but not EPO-independent erythroid colony formation. JAK2, PI3K and HSP90 inhibitors were able to block spontaneous and EPO-induced growth of erythroid colonies from GPA⁺CD41⁺ cells derived from iPS cells. Altogether, this study brings the proof of concept that iPS can be used for studying MPN pathogenesis, clonal architecture, and drug efficacy.