title: Regulation of the serum concentration of thrombopoietin in thrombocytopenic NF-E2 knockout mice.
abstract: The mechanisms that regulate circulating levels of thrombopoietin (Tpo) are incompletely understood. According to one favored model, the rate of Tpo synthesis is constant, whereas the serum concentration of free Tpo is modulated through binding to c-Mpl receptor expressed on blood platelets. Additionally, a role for c-Mpl expressed on megakaryocytes is suggested, particularly by the observation that serum Tpo levels are not elevated in human immune thrombocytopenic purpura. Whereas direct binding of Tpo to platelets has been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, the role of megakaryocytes in modulating serum Tpo levels has not been addressed experimentally. The profoundly thrombocytopenic mice lacking transcription factor p45 NF-E2 do not show the predicted increase in serum Tpo concentration. To evaluate the fate of the ligand in these animals, we injected 125I-Tpo intravenously into mutant and control mice. In contrast to normal littermates, NF-E2 knockout mice show negligible association of radioactivity with blood cellular components, consistent with an absence of platelets. There is no corresponding increase in plasma-associated radioactivity to suggest persistence in the circulation. However, a greater fraction of the radioligand is bound to hematopoietic tissues. In the bone marrow this is detected virtually exclusively in association with megakaryocytes, whereas in the spleen it is associated with megakaryocytes and small, abnormal, platelet-like particles or megakaryocyte fragments that are found within or in close contact with macrophages. These findings implicate the combination of megakaryocytes and the latter particles as a sink for circulating Tpo in NF-E2 knockout mice, and provide an explanation for the lack of elevated serum Tpo levels in this unique animal model of thrombocytopenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shivdasani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fielder
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Orkin
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: de Sauvage
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D050981:Erythroid-Specific DNA-Binding Factors; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D050983:NF-E2 Transcription Factor; D050984:NF-E2 Transcription Factor, p45 Subunit; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000097:blood; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine; D053628:Receptors, Thrombopoietin; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D013926:Thrombopoietin / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050981:Erythroid-Specific DNA-Binding Factors; D050983:NF-E2 Transcription Factor; D050984:NF-E2 Transcription Factor, p45 Subunit; C494692:NFE2 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C494693:Nfe2 protein, mouse; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine; D053628:Receptors, Thrombopoietin; D014157:Transcription Factors; C082218:MPL protein, human; D013926:Thrombopoietin