Lysophospholipids synergistically promote primitive hematopoietic cell chemotaxis via a mechanism involving Vav 1.

Hematopoiesis is sustained by the proliferation and development of an extremely low number of hematopoietic stem cells resident in the bone marrow. These stem cells can migrate from their bone marrow microenvironment and can be found at low levels in the peripheral blood. The factors that regulate egress or ingress of the stem cells from the marrow include cytokines and chemokines. This process of stem cell trafficking is fundamental to both stem cell biology and stem cell transplantation. We show that primitive hematopoietic cells with cobblestone area-forming cell activity express receptors for and display enhanced motility in response to a new class of stem cell agonists, namely lysophospholipids. These agents synergistically promote chemokine-stimulated cell chemotaxis, a process that is crucial in stem cell homing. The response to lysophospholipids is mediated by Rac, Rho, and Cdc42 G proteins and the hematopoietic-specific guanyl nucleotide exchange factor Vav 1. Inhibitor studies also show a critical role for phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K). Lipid mediators, therefore, regulate the critical process of primitive hematopoietic cell motility via a PI3K- and Vav-dependent mechanism and may govern stem cell movement in vivo. These results are of relevance to understanding stem cell trafficking during bone marrow transplantation.