Lin28b-Let-7-PRC1 Axis Guides Developmental Maturation of the Hematopoietic System

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are a well-studied group of chromatin modifiers belonging to one of two distinct multi-protein complexes: Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) and PRC2. With definitive hematopoiesis, PRCs contribute to many aspects of fetal and adult blood formation. However, it is largely unknown how many of the age-specific effects of PRCs in hematopoiesis are regulated. Here, we show that the definitive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) compartment is remodeled from the fetus to the neonate and into young adulthood coordinated with changes in mature blood cell output. This process is in part dependent on the PRC1 component Cbx2, which is regulated by the heterochronic Lin28b/let-7 axis.

First, we quantified various population of definitive hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and multipotent progenitors (MPPs) using midgestation fetal liver (FL, embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5)), newborn bone marrow (BM, postnatal day 0-1), or young adult (postnatal age 6 to 8 weeks) BM. The lymphoid biased multipotent progenitor 4 (MPP4, ~0.9-fold) declined as the mice matured and aged. We also found erythroid-biased MPP2 diminished (~0.7-fold) while myeloid-biased MPP3 increased (~1.7-fold) with maturation. Using isolated long-term (LT) HSCs from these three stages, we found that E14.5 FL (~8.0-fold) and neonatal LT-HSC (~4.0-fold) showed more rapid B-cell reconstitution compared to young adult LT-HSCs upon transplantation. We found that many of these effects were regulated by Lin28b/let-7.

Next, we aimed to determine the downstream mediators of Lin28/let-7's effect on HSPCs maturation. By interrogating gene regulatory subnetworks differentially active across mouse HSPC maturation and mining these subnetworks for predicted let-7 target transcripts, we found Cbx2 enriched in E14.5 FL (P=0.003) and adult HSPCs ectopically expressing LIN28B relative to wild-type adult HSPCs. In cell-based assays, we confirmed that let-7 microRNAs directly regulated CBX2 protein levels. Thus, the Lin28b/let-7 axis governs CBX2 protein levels, leading us to hypothesize that this axis exerts its wide-ranging effects on hematopoietic maturation by regulating PRC1 by controlling Cbx2 levels.

As CBX2's developmental stage-specific functions have not been investigated, we generated Cbx2^-/-embryos and investigated definitive FL hematopoiesis. We observed skewing of myeloerythorid progenitors to an adult-like myeloid-predominant distribution in Cbx2^-/- embryos (P=0.0002), and B-cells in Cbx2^-/- neonatal spleens were diminished (P=0.04). We further examined this effect using transplanted Cbx2^-/- MPP4 from E14.5 FL which resulted in a decreased donor derived B-lymphoid output compared to wild-type littermates (~0.7-fold).

To understand the functional role of Cbx2/PRC1 in juvenile hematopoiesis, we next investigated the role of Cbx2 in maintaining histone H2A monoubiquitinylation (H2AK119Ub) - the histone modification placed by PRC1 - in FL HSPCs. In Cbx2^-/- FL HSPCs, the global distribution of H2AK119Ub localization did not change, but several specific H2AK119Ub peaks were altered. We observed differential H2AK119Ub abundance associated with a candidate enhancer within the Erg gene, suggestive of control of Erg expression by Lin28b/let-7/Cbx2. We confirmed that this enhancer activated transcription from a minimal promoter (~8-fold). Erg expression was increased in perinatal spleens of Cbx2^-/- mice compared to Cbx2^+/+ littermates (~4-fold). Moreover, we found that Cbx2 could repress ERG expression as well as other master HSPC transcription factors.

Overall, our findings show that the Lin28b/let-7-axis controls developmental stage-specific hematopoietic output through PRC1-mediated chromatin remodeling. These findings demonstrate a key mechanism by which HSPCs alter their properties during developmental maturation with relevance to age-skewed blood disorders.