“RUNX1-IRES-GFP Knock-in” Mice Lack Expression of Runx1a: A Versatile Tool for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Analysis

Abstract 2329

Previously reported “RUNX1-IRES-GFP knock-in mice” (Blood 2004;103:2522) (KI mice) were generated by replacing exon 4 of runx1 gene with cDNA of Runx1b/c from exon 4 to exon 8 followed by IRES-GFP, aiming to evaluate Runx1 expression in specific lineages and developmental stages during adult hematopoiesis. They are phenotypically normal, fertile, and blood indices are normal. GFP intensity correlates with Runx1 expression level, and shows lineage-specific changes during maturation in myeloid, erythroid, and lymphoid cells. However, the behavior in the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) had not been carefully examined. Interestingly, we discovered that this knock-in strategy eliminated Runx1a expression. Since Runx1a expression is relatively higher in HSCs than in differentiated cells, we analyzed HSCs in these mice to evaluate its roles in stable and stress hematopoiesis. We found that LSK fraction in bone marrow (BM) was significantly decreased in KI mice compared to wild type (WT) mice (0.043% vs 0.085%, p = 0.001). Among subpopulations in LSK, short-term HSC and multipotent progenitor fractions were significantly decreased (0.024% vs 0.046%, p = 0.003, 0.0021% vs 0.0026%, p = 0.001, respectively). SLAM marker staining using CD150 and CD48 showed similar results. Competitive repopulation assay showed less functional HSCs in KI mice. However, there was no significant difference in recovery of cell counts after single-dose 5-FU intraperitoneal injection (150 mg/kg body weight) or sublethal irradiation (5 Gy), or survival after weekly 5-FU injection. After G-CSF subcutaneous injection (125 μg/kg body weight, twice daily for 5 days), mobilized WBC or neutrophil in PB showed no difference. However, LSK and long-term HSC in PB were significantly less in KI mice (0.078% vs 0.135%, p = 0.010, 0.043% vs 0.092%, p = 0.029, respectively) while those in BM did not show significant difference (increased to 0.295% and 0.346% in KI and WT mice, respectively). In conclusion, Runx1a plays some non-redundant roles in stable hematopoiesis, while it is dispensable for tested stress hematopoiesis. RUNX1-GFP KI mice are a versatile tool to evaluate roles of Runx1a in normal hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis when combined with other genetic modifications.