Today, CIRM-funded scientists from the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center reported in Nature Medicine that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) – blood stem cells that generate the cell in your blood and immune system – get a helping hand after injury from cells in the bone marrow called bone progenitor cells. By secreting a protein called dickkopf-1 (Dkk1), bone progenitor cells improve the recovery and survival of blood stem cells in a culture dish and in mice whose immune systems are suppressed by irradiation.
These findings build upon a related study published by the same UCLA team last month showing that deleting a single gene in HSCs boosts blood stem cell regeneration. We covered this initial story previously on the Stem Cellar, and you can refer to it for background on the importance of stimulating the regenerative capacity of HSCs in patients that need bone marrow transplants or have undergone radiation therapy for cancer.
Dkk1 boost blood stem cell regeneration
Senior author on the study, UCLA Professor Dr. John Chute, wanted to understand how the different cell types in the bone marrow environment, or niche, interact with HSCs to enhance their ability to recover from injury and regenerate the immune system. As mentioned earlier, he and his team found that bone progenitor cells secrete Dkk1 protein in response to injury caused by exposing mice to full body irradiation. Dkk1 promoted blood stem cell regeneration in the mice and increased their survival rates.
I inquired with Dr. Chute about this seemingly beneficial relationship between HSCs and cells in the bone marrow niche.
Dr. John Chute, UCLA
“The precise functions of bone cells, stromal cells and endothelial cells in regulating blood stem cell fate are not completely understood,” said Dr. Chute. “Our prior studies demonstrated that endothelial cells are necessary for blood stem cell regeneration after irradiation. The current study suggests that bone progenitor cells are also necessary for normal blood stem cell regeneration after irradiation, and that this activity is mediated by secretion of Dkk1 by the bone progenitor cells.”
He further commented in a UCLA press release:
“The cellular niche is like the soil that surrounds the stem cell ‘seed’ and helps it grow and proliferate. Our hypothesis was that the bone progenitor cell in the niche may promote hematopoietic stem cell regeneration after injury.”
Not only did Dkk1 improve HSC regeneration in irradiated mice, it also boosted the regeneration of HSCs that were irradiated in a culture dish. On the other hand, when Dkk1 was deleted from HSCs in irradiated mice, the HSCs did not recover and regenerate. Diving in deeper, the team found that Dkk1 promotes blood stem cell regeneration by direct action on the stem cells and by indirectly increasing the secretion of the stem cell growth factor EGF by bone marrow blood vessels. Taken together, the team concluded that Dkk1 is necessary for blood stem cell recovery following injury/irradiation.
After radiation, blood cells (purple) regenerated in bone marrow when mice were given DKK1 (left), but not in those that received saline solution (right). (UCLA/Nature Medicine)
Future applications for blood stem cell regeneration
When I asked Dr. Chute how his current study on Dkk1 and HSCs relates to his previous study on boosting HSC regeneration by deleting a gene called Grb10, he explained:
“In this paper we discovered the role of a niche cell-derived protein, Dkk1, and how it promotes blood stem cell regeneration after myelosuppression in mice. In the Cell Reports paper, we described our discovery of an adaptor protein, Grb10, which is expressed by blood stem cells and the inhibition of which also promotes blood stem cell regeneration after myelosuppression. So, these are two novel molecular mechanisms that regulate blood stem cell regeneration that could be therapeutically targeted.”
Both studies offer new strategies for promoting blood stem cell regeneration in patients who need to replenish their blood and immune systems following radiation treatments or bone marrow transplants.
Dr. Chute concluded:
“We are very interested in translating our observations into the clinic for the purpose of accelerating hematologic recovery in patients receiving chemotherapy or undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.”
Related Links:
The Stem Cellar 
dickkopf-1??? Really?? Did the team who named this protein not know that “kopf” in German means “head”??