Repression of Primitive Erythroid Program Is Critical for the Initiation of Multi-Lineage Hematopoiesis in Mouse Development

Formation of the hematopoietic cells occurs in multiple steps. The first hematopoietic cells observed during ontogeny are primitive erythrocytes, which are produced in the early yolk sac within a limited temporal window. Multi-lineage hematopoiesis, which supplies almost the entire repertoire of blood cell lineages, lags behind primitive erythropoiesis in the tissue. However, molecular mechanisms regulating sequential generation of primitive erythrocytes and multipotent hematopoietic progenitors in the yolk sac are largely unknown. In this study, the transcription factors involved in the development of hematopoietic cells were examined in purified progenitor cell populations from pluripotent stem cell cultures and from the yolk sac of developing embryos. We found that the earliest committed hematopoietic progenitors highly expressed Gata1, Scl/tal1, and Klf1 genes. Expression of these transcription factors, which is known to form a core erythroid transcriptional network, explained the prompt generation of primitive erythrocytes from these earliest progenitors. Importantly, the multipotent hematopoietic cells, which lack the differentiation potential into primitive erythroid cells, down-regulated these genes during a transition from the earliest committed progenitors. In addition, we showed that Pu.1 is involved in the multipotent cell differentiation through the suppression of erythroid transcription program. We propose that these molecular mechanisms governed by transcription factors form sequential waves of primitive erythropoiesis and multi-lineage hematopoiesis in the early yolk sac of developing embryos. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 323-330, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Common developmental pathway for primitive erythrocytes and multipotent hematopoietic progenitors in early mouse development

Development of the hematopoietic system proceeds in a multistep manner. Primitive erythrocytes are the first hematopoietic cells to be observed that were produced transiently in developing embryos. Multilineage lymphohematopoiesis occurs after the primitive erythropoiesis. However, the lineage relationship of cells that comprise embryonic hematopoietic system is not well characterized. To clarify this process, careful analyses of the embryonic cells that differentiate into these cell lineages are necessary. We identified the common precursors of primitive erythrocytes and multipotent hematopoietic cells in mouse embryonic stem cell cultures and mouse embryos. A subset defined as CD45⁻CD41⁺AA4.1⁻ cells showed bipotential capability to produce primitive erythrocytes and lymphomyeloid cells at the single-cell level. The cell population was present in vivo before hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) appeared. Our results show that primitive erythrocytes and lymphomyeloid cells are not completely separate cell lineages, and these precursors comprise the embryonic hematopoietic system before HSC emergence.

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Primitive erythrocytes and lymphomyeloid progenitors have bipotent precursors

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The precursors form primitive erythroid and lymphomyeloid cells in distinct waves

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The common precursors are noted in the yolk sac and embryo proper

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Primitive erythrocytes and lymphocytes can be derived from a single precursor cell