Clonal Analysis Unveils Self-Renewing Lineage-Restricted Progenitors Generated Directly from Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Cell Online Edition: 2013/8/30 (Japan time), doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.08.007.

Ryo Yamamoto, Yohei Morita, Jun Ooehara, Sanae Hamanaka, Masafumi Onodera, Karl Lenhard Rudolph, Hideo Ema, Hiromitsu Nakauchi

Division of Stem Cell Therapy, Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regeneration Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan Leibniz Institute for Age Research, Fritz Lipmann Institute, Jena 07745, Germany Japan Science Technology Agency, ERATO, Nakauchi Stem Cell and Organ Regeneration Project, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan Department of Human Genetics, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan

Consensus holds that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) give rise to multipotent progenitors (MPPs) of reduced self-renewal potential and that MPPs eventually produce lineage-committed progenitor cells in a stepwise manner. Using a single-cell transplantation system and marker mice, we unexpectedly found myeloid-restricted progenitors with long-term repopulating activity (MyRPs), which are lineage-committed to megakaryocytes, megakaryocyte-erythroid cells, or common myeloid cells (MkRPs, MERPs, or CMRPs, respectively) in the phenotypically defined HSC compartment together with HSCs. Paired daughter cell assays combined with transplantation revealed that HSCs can give rise to HSCs via symmetric division or directly differentiate into MyRPs via asymmetric division (yielding HSC-MkRP or HSC-CMRP pairs). These myeloid bypass pathways could be essential for fast responses to ablation stress. Our results show that loss of self-renewal and stepwise progression through specific differentiation stages are not essential for lineage commitment of HSCs and suggest a revised model of hematopoietic differentiation.

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