Clonal expansion and myeloid leukemia progression modeled by multiplex gene editing of murine hematopoietic progenitor cells

• Published in: Experimental hematology Vol. 64; pp. 33 - 44.e5
• Main Authors: Shi, Xiangguo, Kitano, Ayumi, Jiang, Yajian, Luu, Victor, Hoegenauer, Kevin A., Nakada, Daisuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.08.2018
• Subjects: Animals; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Clone Cells - pathology; CRISPR-Associated Protein 9; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Disease Models, Animal; Disease Progression; Female; Gene Editing - methods; Genes, Neoplasm; Hematopoietic Stem Cells - pathology; Humans; INDEL Mutation; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - genetics; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - pathology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mutation; Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology; Preleukemia - genetics; Preleukemia - pathology; Ribonucleoproteins - genetics; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
• ISSN: 0301-472X; 1873-2399
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exphem.2018.04.009

•We performed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing of a purified hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) population.•Multiplex gene editing of HSCs causes clonal hematopoiesis and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).•Multiplex gene editing produces clonal leukemia-initiating cells (LICs). Recent advances in next-generation sequencing have identified novel mutations and revealed complex genetic architectures in human hematological malignancies. Moving forward, new methods to quickly generate animal models that recapitulate the complex genetics of human hematological disorders are needed to transform the genetic information to new therapies. Here, we used a ribonucleoprotein-based CRISPR/Cas9 system to model human clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We edited multiple genes recurrently mutated in hematological disorders, including those encoding epigenetic regulators, transcriptional regulators, and signaling components in murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Tracking the clonal dynamics by sequencing the indels induced by CRISPR/Cas9 revealed clonal expansion in some recipient mice that progressed to AML initiated by leukemia-initiating cells. Our results establish that the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated multiplex mutagenesis can be used to engineer a variety of murine models of hematological malignancies with complex genetic architectures seen in human disease. [Display omitted]