Deciphering the Cis- and Trans-regulatory Roles of KLF6 in Primitive Hematopoiesis

Abstract 4730

Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are a conserved family of Cys₂His₂ zinc finger proteins which are important components of eukaryotic cellular transcriptional machinery that controls many biological processes including erythroid differentiation and development. As a transcriptional activator and a tumor suppressor, KLF6 was also involved in hematopoiesis. Klf6^−/− mice is embryonic lethal by embryonic day 12.5 and associated with markedly reduced hematopoiesis as well as poorly organized yolk sac vascularization. Moreover, the expression of erythroid differentiation markers including Klf1, Gata1 and Scl are delayed and hematopoietic differentiation is impaired in klf6^−/− ES cells. However, the detailed mechanism that KLF6 regulates hematopoiesis is not fully understood.

To characterize the role of KLF6 in hematopoiesis, we firstly detected the dynamic expression pattern of KLF6 during erythroid differentiation by mRNA-seq in undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESC), three primary erythroid cells at different developmental stages including ES-derived erythroid cells (ESER), fetal- and adult-type erythroid cells (FLER, PBER). The transcriptome analysis showed that KLF6 expressed at significantly higher level in ESER cells compared with that in other cells. Meanwhile, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) studies in human K562 cells demonstrated the enrichment of KLF6 on the promoter region of embryonic epsilon-globin gene. These results probably indicate that KLF6 play an important role in primitive hematopoiesis. To clarify whether the erythroid-specific enhancers in the genomic region of KLF6 participate in the regulation of primitive hematopoiesis, we extensively screened the erythroid-specific DNaseI hypersensitive sites (DHSs) in the KLF6 locus, from 70 kb upstream of the transcription start site to 20 kb downstream of the poly(A) site, from DNase-seq data in four erythroid cells including ESER, FLER, PBER, K562 and seven non-erythroid cells. The enhancer activity of these erythroid-specific DHSs was comprehensively characterized by dual-luciferase reporter assay in K562 cells as well as non-erythroid HeLa and HEK293 cells. Three erythroid-specific enhancers located 18–24 kb upstream of human KLF6 were finally characterized, which not only helps to understand the higher expression of KLF6 in ESER, but also hints that KLF6 could participate in primitive hematopoiesis through erythroid-specific enhancers.

In conclusion, we depicted the dynamic expression pattern of KLF6 during erythroid differentiation, characterized three erythroid-specific enhancers in KLF6 gene locus, and disclosed the potential role of KLF6 in primitive hematopoiesis. Next, the overexpression and depletion of KLF6 in K562 cells will be executed to further explore whether the abnormal KLF6 will affect the expression and functions of globin genes as well as erythroid-specific transcription factors. Chromosome conformation capture (3C) analysis will be performed to evaluate the interactions between the erythroid-specific enhancers and the cis-regulatory elements of hematopoiesis related genes. Moreover, we will establish morpholino-based klf6 knockdown zebrafish model and study the target genes, interacting networks and pathways in which KLF6 involved. Collectively, these results will address the detailed cis- and trans- regulatory functions and molecular mechanism of KLF6 in regulating hematopoiesis.