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Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on September 5, 2002; DOI 10.1182/blood-2002-05-1553.
HEMATOPOIESIS
From INSERM U362, and Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 1599, Institut Gustave Roussy,
Villejuif, France; and INSERM U309, Institut Albert Bonniot, La
Tronche, France.
It is believed that polyploidy induces an orchestrated increase in
gene expression. To know whether all alleles remain functional during
megakaryocyte polyploidization, we used a well-established fluorescence in situ hybridization technique which allows one to
simultaneously detect pre-mRNAs and assess ploidy level in a single
cell. All alleles of GPIIb, GPIIIa,
VWF, Megakaryocytes are one of the rare mammalian cells
in which polyploidization is a normal process controlled by the
differentiation program.1 Polyploidization is associated
with an increase in cellular size and is an efficient manner in which
to increase platelet production, since this production depends
essentially on the megakaryocyte mass.2 In addition to its
capacity to increase cell size, megakaryocyte polyploidization may
participate in the regulation of genes involved in platelet
function.3,4 To date, there have been very few reports on
the effects of polyploidization on gene expression in megakaryocytes.
In plants and fish, polyploidization is associated with a rapid
silencing of some genes, due to chromosome rearrangements or epigenetic
regulations.5,6 It is presently unknown if such a
mechanism also operates in human megakaryocytes. We sought
to determine by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) if all
alleles of several genes important for megakaryocyte differentiation and platelet function are transcriptionally active in polyploid megakaryocytes.
In vitro growth of megakaryocytes from CD34+
cells
RNA-FISH analysis
Probes.
Different genomic DNA probes were used to detect nuclear RNAs:
plasmid clones for the Sample preparation.
Megakaryocytes were harvested at day 6 or 8 of culture, and
cytocentrifuged onto slides at 500 rpm for 5 minutes (cytospin; Shandon, Pittsburgh, PA).
Hybridization.
The FISH procedure on premessenger RNAs was performed as
previously described by Jolly et al9 without denaturation
of cellular DNA. Briefly, probes were labeled by nick-translation in
the presence of digoxigenin-16-dUTP (Roche Diagnostics, Meylan,
France). Cells were fixed in 4%
formaldehyde/phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and permeabilized by a
treatment with 0.1 M HCl for 10 minutes followed by three 5-minute
incubations in 0.5% saponin/0.5% Triton X-100/PBS. As a second
permeabilization step, cells were incubated in 20% glycerol/PBS and
freeze-thawed 3 times by dipping the slides into liquid nitrogen. Cells
were then dehydrated and incubated overnight with the denatured probe.
After hybridization, the slides were washed and incubated for 30 minutes at 37°C in blocking buffer (3% bovine serum albumin
[BSA]/0.3% Triton X-100/4× standard saline citrate [SSC]). The
hybridized probe was detected using an anti-digoxigenin fluorescein
isothiocyanate (FITC) antibody (Roche Diagnostics). After washing, the
slides were mounted using Vectashield with DAPI (Vector
Laboratories, Burlingame, CA).
Image acquisition and analysis
RNA-FISH allows the detection of nuclear RNA at the site of transcription in individual nuclei and has been developed for allelic analysis of gene expression.10,11 In this work, we have optimized this procedure to study the proportion of functional alleles of several genes in megakaryocytes at different ploidy levels. Nearly pure populations of human megakaryocytes were obtained by growing CD34+ blood precursors in liquid cultures in the presence of thrombopoietin alone. We used confocal microscopy to detect the hybridization spots because it allows the precise enumeration of all the spots in thick cells such as megakaryocytes, especially when the spots are close to each other. After the RNA-FISH step, cell coordinates were recorded and cell images were stored. The same cell preparation was then subjected to a denaturation step and a second hybridization step was carried out to assess the ploidy level of the cells. For RNA-FISH experiments, we used specific genomic probes of different
sizes (between 3 kb for GATA-1 to about 100 kb for FOG-1). Because the size of the probe might be limiting in
DNA-FISH experiments, we first checked if we could get a signal with
the different probes in DNA-FISH experiments. A DNA signal was obtained only with the 2 largest probes (more than 50 kb in length), ie, FOG-1
and Fli-1, as illustrated in Figure 1A.
We decided for further experiments to use a centromeric probe yielding
a strong signal in order to precisely determine the ploidy level.
In order to specifically detect nuclear transcripts, we used the protocol developed by Jolly et al9 (see "Materials and methods"). It allowed us to obtain bright signals with all the different genomic probes that we used. In order to demonstrate that the signals we detected resulted from hybridization with RNA and not with DNA, we carried out 2 control experiments. First, cells were treated with RNAse before hybridization with the different genomic probes. This treatment totally abrogated the signal as illustrated in Figure 1Bi for the GPIIb gene. Second, the cells were treated with actinomycin D, an inhibitor of transcription.12 As illustrated in Figure 1Bii, the FOG-1 and Fli-1 transcripts completely disappeared from their sites of transcription after a 90-minute treatment. Then, we tested the specificity of hybridization in 2 ways. First, we investigated the transcription of the hsp70 gene, an intronless heat shock gene whose expression can be induced by incubation of the cells at 42°C. As previously shown in fibroblasts,13 we found that in unstressed (37°C) cultured megakaryocytes with different ploidy levels, the hsp70 transcripts were not detected (Figure 1C). In contrast, after incubation at 42°C, the hsp70 nuclear transcripts appeared as discrete foci. Moreover, the number of foci was in most cases a power of 2 (2N) (Figure 1C), suggesting that all alleles of the hsp70 gene are transcriptionally active. As a second approach to confirm the specificity of the technique, RNA-FISH was followed by DNA-FISH on the same cells, using the same FOG-1 or Fli-1 probes. RNA-FISH revelation was carried out with an FITC-conjugated antibody and the cells were subsequently treated with RNAse A. After a denaturation step, hybridization was carried out with the same probes revealed with a tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC)-conjugated antibody. Nuclear transcripts accumulate at the sites of transcription and, thus, a colocalization of the RNA and DNA signals must be found if the hybridization is specific. The results are shown in Figure 1A. The spots corresponding to FOG-1 and Fli-1 transcripts are slightly larger than the corresponding DNA signals but the RNA and DNA spots colocalize in all cases. Next, we investigated the expression of the GPIIb and
GPIIIa genes encoding the 2 chains of
Finally, we investigated the allelic expression of the Fli-1 and FOG-1 genes encoding 2 transcription factors playing a crucial role in megakaryocyte differentiation14-16 and that of the receptor for thrombopoietin, c-mpl.17,18 Spots corresponding to Fli-1 transcription sites were counted in 15 cells for each ploidy class (Figure 2A-B). The results obtained confirmed that all alleles of the Fli-1 gene are functional, whatever the ploidy level. Combined RNA-FISH and DNA-FISH revealed that this was also the case for the FOG-1 and c-mpl genes in polyploid megakaryocytes (data not shown). Taken together, our results indicate that at least some genes important
for megakaryocyte differentiation and platelet function as well as some
housekeeping genes are not subjected to an allele-specific regulation
during polyploidization. In addition, preliminary experiments suggest
that expression of GPIIIa, Fli-1, GATA-1, VWF, c-mpl, GAPDH, and
The GATA-1 gene is located on the X chromosome and encodes a
transcription factor which is essential for the expression of several
platelet-specific genes.19,20 As illustrated in Figure 3, several GATA-1 genes per
cell were active, their number corresponding to half of the ploidy
level. Thus, several X chromosomes are active in the same cell in
polyploid megakaryocytes. During embryogenesis, one X chromosome is
inactivated in cells of female mammals. In diploid cells, with the
exception of undifferentiated embryonic female cells where both X
chromosomes are active, the inactive X chromosome produces a nuclear
untranslated RNA called XIST,21-24 that spreads along the
inactive chromosome to coat it.25 Thus, this XIST RNA
identifies the inactive X chromosome. As shown in Figure 3, the XIST
RNA signal colocalized with half of the X chromosomes in megakaryocyte
cells from female individuals. In contrast, XIST RNA was not detected
in male cells, demonstrating that X inactivation takes place normally
in polyploid megakaryocytes from female donors.
Altogether these results indicate that polyploidization in
megakaryocytes leads to a functional amplification of the genome, a
phenomenon which was previously hypothesized but never demonstrated. However, the polyploidization process may also be a mechanism that
regulates gene expression as recently demonstrated in
yeast.26 Hancock et al3 have quantified the
mRNA expression level of GPIIb and
We wish to thank J. B. Lawrence (University of
Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester), O. Delattre (Institut
Curie, INSERM U509, Paris, France), V. Mignotte (INSERM U484, Institut
Cochin, Paris, France), D. Kerbiriou-Nabias (Hôpital de
Bicêtre, INSERM U143, Kremlin-Bicêtre, France), P. F. Bray (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX), J.-P. Rosa
(Hôpital Lariboisière, INSERM U348, Paris, France), and
P. Vyas (John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom) for
providing us with the
Submitted August 6, 2002; accepted August 21, 2002.
Prepublished online as Blood First Edition Paper, September 5, 2002; DOI 10.1182/blood-2002-05-1553.
Supported by La Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, France (équipe labellisée). H.R. was funded by the Institut Gustave Roussy (comité de recherche clinique).
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. section 1734.
Reprints: W. Vainchenker, INSERM U362, Institut Gustave Roussy, 39 rue Camille Desmoulins, Villejuif, 94805, France; e-mail: verpre{at}igr.fr.
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© 2003 by The American Society of Hematology.
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H. Raslova, A. Kauffmann, D. Sekkai, H. Ripoche, F. Larbret, T. Robert, D. T. Le Roux, G. Kroemer, N. Debili, P. Dessen, et al. Interrelation between polyploidization and megakaryocyte differentiation: a gene profiling approach Blood, April 15, 2007; 109(8): 3225 - 3234. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. N. Carter, G. Tolhurst, G. Walmsley, M. Vizuete-Forster, N. Miller, and M. P. Mahaut-Smith Molecular and electrophysiological characterization of transient receptor potential ion channels in the primary murine megakaryocyte J. Physiol., October 1, 2006; 576(1): 151 - 162. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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