Prospective isolation of radiation induced erythroid stress progenitors reveals unique transcriptomic and epigenetic signatures enabling increased erythroid output

• Massive expansion of erythroid progenitor cells is essential for surviving anemic stress. Research towards understanding this critical process, referred to as stress-erythropoiesis, has been hampered due to the lack of specific marker-combinations enabling analysis of the distinct stress-progenitor cells capable of providing radioprotection and enhanced red blood cell production. Here we present a method for the precise identification and in vivo validation of progenitor cells contributing to both steady-state and stress-erythropoiesis, enabling for the first time in-depth molecular characterization of these cells. Differential expression of surface markers CD150, CD9 and Sca1 defines a hierarchy of splenic stress-progenitors during irradiation-induced stress recovery in mice, and provides high-purity isolation of the functional stress erythroid burst-forming-units (stress-BFU-E) with a 100-fold improved enrichment compared to the state-of-the-art. By transplanting purified stress-progenitors expressing the fluorescent protein Kusabira Orange, we determined their kinetics in vivo and demonstrated that CD150+CD9+Sca1 -stress-BFU-E provide a massive but transient radioprotective erythroid wave, followed by multi-lineage reconstitution from CD150+CD9+Sca1+ multi-potent stem/progenitor cells. Whole genome transcriptional analysis revealed that stress-BFU-E express gene signatures more associated with erythropoiesis and proliferation compared to steady-state BFU-E, and are bone morphogenetic protein 4-responsive. Evaluation of chromatin accessibility through ATAC sequencing reveals enhanced and differential accessibility to binding sites of the chromatin-looping transcription factor CTCF in stress-BFU-E compared to steady-state BFU-E. Our findings offer a molecular insight into the unique capacity of stress-BFU-E to rapidly form erythroid cells in response to anemia and constitute an important step towards identifying novel erythropoiesis stimulating agents.

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MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Hematologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Hematology (hsv//eng)

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