GSBS Student Publications
GSBS Program
Cancer Biology
Publication Date
2010-09-21
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Cancer Biology; Department of Pediatrics
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Cell and Developmental Biology | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
Hematopoietic progenitors undergo differentiation while navigating several cell division cycles, but it is unknown whether these two processes are coupled. We addressed this question by studying erythropoiesis in mouse fetal liver in vivo. We found that the initial upregulation of cell surface CD71 identifies developmentally matched erythroblasts that are tightly synchronized in S-phase. We show that DNA replication within this but not subsequent cycles is required for a differentiation switch comprising rapid and simultaneous committal transitions whose precise timing was previously unknown. These include the onset of erythropoietin dependence, activation of the erythroid master transcriptional regulator GATA-1, and a switch to an active chromatin conformation at the β-globin locus. Specifically, S-phase progression is required for the formation of DNase I hypersensitive sites and for DNA demethylation at this locus. Mechanistically, we show that S-phase progression during this key committal step is dependent on downregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase p57(KIP2) and in turn causes the downregulation of PU.1, an antagonist of GATA-1 function. These findings therefore highlight a novel role for a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor in differentiation, distinct to their known function in cell cycle exit. Furthermore, we show that a novel, mutual inhibition between PU.1 expression and S-phase progression provides a "synchromesh" mechanism that "locks" the erythroid differentiation program to the cell cycle clock, ensuring precise coordination of critical differentiation events.
DOI of Published Version
10.1371/journal.pbio.1000484
Source
Pop R, Shearstone JR, Shen Q, Liu Y, Hallstrom K, et al. (2010) A Key Commitment Step in Erythropoiesis Is Synchronized with the Cell Cycle Clock through Mutual Inhibition between PU.1 and S-Phase Progression. PLoS Biol 8(9): e1000484. Link to article on publisher's website
Journal/Book/Conference Title
PLoS biology
Related Resources
PubMed ID
20877475
Repository Citation
Pop, Ramona; Shearstone, Jeffrey R.; Shen, Qichang; Liu, Ying; Hallstrom, Kelly N.; Koulnis, Miroslav; Gribnau, Joost; and Socolovsky, Merav, "A Key Commitment Step in Erythropoiesis Is Synchronized with the Cell Cycle Clock through Mutual Inhibition between PU.1 and S-Phase Progression" (2010). GSBS Student Publications. 1660.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/gsbs_sp/1660