Plasma EDA Fibronectin in Primary Myelofibrosis Correlates with Bone Marrow Fibrosis and Predicts Splenomegaly

Introduction: Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a Philadelphia chromosome negative myeloproliferative neoplasm with adverse prognosis characterized by bone marrow (BM) fibrosis and extramedullary hematopoiesis. Fibronectin (FN) is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that plays vital roles during tissue repair and regeneration. It exists in different forms. Plasma FN is synthesized by hepatocytes and secreted into the blood plasma, where circulates at a concentration of 300-600 μg/ml in a soluble, compact form. Differently, cellular FN is synthesized by several cell types, such as fibroblasts, endothelial cells, chondrocytes and myocytes. The alternative splicing of EDA and EDB and more complex splicing of the V domain, during transcription of FN1 gene, allows different isoforms of FN to be expressed in a tissue-dependent and temporally regulated manner. Very low levels (1.3-3 μg/ml) of FN containing EDA and/or EDB are present in plasma. Although its function is not well understood, EDA containing FN (EDA-FN) is known to agonize Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4), resulting in NF-κβ-dependent cytokine release; to induce myofibroblast differentiation during wound healing; and to increase agonist-induced platelet aggregation and thrombus formation in vivo. We previously showed that EDA-FN levels are increased in plasma and BM biopsies of PMF patients. Mechanistically, BM EDA-FN sustains megakaryocyte proliferation through TLR4 binding and confer a pro-inflammatory phenotype to cell niches promoting fibrosis progression in Romiplostim-treated mice. In this work we measured the plasma levels of EDA-FN in 104 well characterized patients with PMF to determine whether elevated levels of EDA-FN predict the occurrence of disease-related events.

Methods: Plasma circulating EDA FN was measured with an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay developed at the University of Pavia, by our group. We obtained plasma EDA-FN concentration values and health care data of persons with PMF from the data-base of the Centre for the Study of Myelofibrosis at the IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo Foundation in Pavia. We sequentially excluded persons treated with disease-modifying drugs at any time before or on the date of base-cohort entry, and those who had been splenectomized or had received a stem cell transplant. We also excluded persons with acute inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, other neoplasms, and severe liver or renal dysfunction. For this study we selected everyone giving written informed consent and the study was approved by the local Ethic Committee. Immunofluorescence was performed on spleen sections from PMF patients who underwent splenectomy either because of anemia or symptomatic splenomegaly, or both; and healthy controls that were splenectomized following traumatic lesion of the spleen. Data were analyzed using STATISTICA software.

Results: A homozygous JAK2V617F genotype was the major determinant of elevated plasma EDA-FN. Elevated EDA-FN levels were associated with anemia, increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, BM fibrosis and splanchnic vein thrombosis at diagnosis. We interpreted these associations as reflecting the role EDA-FN plays in tissue remodeling, inflammation and vascular injury. Interestingly, EDA-FN levels resulted also associated with spleen size, and elevated levels of EDA-FN at diagnosis predicted large splenomegaly (more than 10 cm from the left costal margin) outcome. The evidence that plasma EDA-FN levels were not associated with the CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells mobilization, drove us to hypothesize that EDA-FN could reflect spleen endothelial cell activation and/or neoangiogenesis. Immunofluorescence analysis of spleen specimens from PMF patients and healthy controls revealed that high levels of EDA-FN were present in pathological spleens in strong association with endothelial neoangiogenesis.

Conclusions: Quantification of EDA-FN level in PMF strongly correlates with BM fibrosis and may be the first marker of an altered spleen microvasculature that contributes to splenomegaly. Understanding the role of this FN isoform in PMF would be useful for testing new mechanisms of disease progression and new hypotheses about the treatment of splenomegaly in PMF.