The Wilms’ Tumor Suppressor Wt1 Activates Transcription of the Erythropoietin-Receptor in Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells.

The Wilms’ tumor suppressor, Wt1, has been implicated in the stage-specific quiescence and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Since Wt1 deficiency compromises the proliferation and differentiation of erythroid blast-forming units (BFU-E) and colony-forming units (CFU-E), we analyzed the potential role of the transcriptionally active Wt1 isoform, Wt1(-KTS), in regulating the expression of the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR). CD117-positive hematopoietic progenitor cells isolated from the liver of Wt1-deficient murine embryos (Wt1^−/−) at 11.5 dpc exhibited a 10-fold lower proliferative responsiveness to recombinant erythropoietin than CD117-positive cells from wild-type embryos (Wt1^+/+), or embryos with heterozygous Wt1-deletion (Wt1^+/−). Benzidine staining revealed a reduced fraction of hemoglobin-containing cells in Wt1-deficient cells in comparison to Wt1^+/+ cells after 48 hrs of culture of CD117-positive cells in the presence of 6 U rhEpo/ml medium. Consistently, expression of the EpoR was significantly reduced in hematopoietic progenitor cells that lack Wt1 compared to Wt1^+/+ cells. The decrease of EpoR mRNA was not due to a general down-regulation of gene expression in Wt1^−/− CD117-positive cells, since levels of c-kit and c-mpl expression were normal. In the heart of wild-type and Wt1^−/− embryos, which was analyzed as a non-hematopoietic tissue expressing both EpoR und Wt1, no difference in Epo-R expression was found. Transient transfection of Wt1(-KTS) into human hepatoma-derived HepG2 cells increased EpoR transcripts approximately 2-fold. A luciferase reporter plasmid carrying 309 bp of the proximal human EpoR promoter was stimulated 8-fold by co-transfection with Wt1(-KTS). The responsible cis-element in the EpoR promoter was identified by mutation analysis, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. In summary, we identified the EpoR gene to be the first downstream target of Wt1 within the hematopoietic cytokine receptor superfamily. Our data indicate that activation of the EpoR gene by Wt1 is a critical mechanism in normal murine hematopoiesis. However, our data do not support a role for Wt1 in EpoR expression in non-erythoid tissues, such as the heart.