title: The role of apoptosis in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cells: Overexpression of Bcl-2 increases both their number and repopulation potential.
abstract: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) give rise to cells of all hematopoietic lineages, many of which are short lived. HSC face developmental choices: self-renewal (remain an HSC with long-term multilineage repopulating potential) or differentiation (become an HSC with short-term multilineage repopulating potential and, eventually, a mature cell). There is a large overcapacity of differentiating hematopoietic cells and apoptosis plays a role in regulating their numbers. It is not clear whether apoptosis plays a direct role in regulating HSC numbers. To address this, we have employed a transgenic mouse model that overexpresses BCL-2 in all hematopoietic cells, including HSC: H2K-BCL-2. Cells from H2K-BCL-2 mice have been shown to be protected against a wide variety of apoptosis-inducing challenges. This block in apoptosis affects their HSC compartment. H2K-BCL-2-transgenic mice have increased numbers of HSC in bone marrow (2.4x wild type), but fewer of these cells are in the S/G(2)/M phases of the cell cycle (0.6x wild type). Their HSC have an increased plating efficiency in vitro, engraft at least as well as wild-type HSC in vivo, and have an advantage following competitive reconstitution with wild-type HSC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5428, USA. domen@stanford.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Domen
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cheshier
authors.forename: I L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Weissman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2