The Lysine Methyltransferase SMYD2 Is Required for Definite Hematopoietic Stem Cell Production in the Mouse Embryo.

The five-membered SET and MYND domain-containing lysine methyltransferase (SMYD) family plays pivotal roles in development and differentiation. Initially characterized within the cardiovascular system, one such member, SMYD2, has been implicated in transcriptional and apoptotic regulation of hematopoiesis. Deletion of Smyd2 in adult mouse Hemaopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) using an interferon-inducible mx1-Cre-mediated conditional knockout (CKO) led to HSC reduction via both apoptosis and transcriptional deficiencies. Since HSC are specified from hemogenic endothelial (HE) cells in the dorsal aorta (DA), we sought to determine whether the flaw in HSC originated embryologically from this site. Toward this end, we performed deletion with vav-Cre mice, which is active in all hematopoietic and endothelial tissues from E10.5 embryonic life onward. Unexpectedly, we observed no defects in the embryo, other than apoptotic loss of definite HSC, whereas adult hematopoietic populations downstream were unaffected. These results further establish the importance of SMYD2 in antiapoptotic gene control of gene expression from the embryo to the adult.

1. Introduction

Initially characterized in cardiomyocytes [1], the histone methyl transferase (HMTase) SMYD2 catalyzes monomethylation of histone H4 and dimethylation of histone H3, both associated with transcriptional repression [2], as well as methylating nonhistone proteins p53 and RB1 characterizing SMYD2s role in cell proliferation [3,4,5] and a host of other proteins, further implicating its function in signal transduction pathways, hormone responses, and tumorigenesis [6,7,8,9,10]. Our prior findings demonstrated the importance of SMYD2 for proper lymphocyte development as well as the survival of hematopoietic leukemias [11]; however, little is known about the spatiotemporal expression or function of SMYD2 during embryogenesis. Members of the SMYD family are expressed prior to cellular differentiation during preimplantation development [12]; SMYD2 is expressed at the initial transition from the maternal to zygotic program at the 2–4 cell stage [13]. Recently, Bai et al. [14] observed that SMYD2 expression during embryo development was significantly enhanced during mesendodermal, pre-endoderm, and mesoderm cells, but not in neuroectodermal differentiation of human embryonic stem (ES) cells. SMYD2 activated transcription factors required for mesendodermal commitment via epigenetic promotion of H3 methylation near their corresponding transcriptional start sites [14].

During murine hematopoiesis, pluripotent and multipotent progenitors exhibited the highest expression of SMYD2 [11]. Previously, we showed that loss of SMYD2, mediated by induction of mx1-Cre expression in the bone marrow (BM), results in reduction of Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) and several downstream lineages via both apoptosis and transcriptional defects [11]. These observations primed our interest as to how and where SMYD2 action begins in hematopoiesis. However, because the mx1-Cre model is inactive in the embryo and it is active in a number of off-target adult tissues, including the liver, kidney, and heart, it is inappropriate for investigating these questions [15].

HSC are generated from hemogenic endothelial (HE) progenitors [16,17,18,19], which develop in the embryonic aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM), subsequently relocate to fetal liver (FL), and ultimately develop within the BM [20,21,22]. Exquisite specificity for HEs is displayed by vav-Cre strains, although modest activities have been detected in ovaries and testis [15]. Conflicting results were previously observed following conditional deletions of the same loci with mx-1 or vav-Cre [23,24,25,26]. Investigators of these studies have offered the inherent complexity of the target pathways; functional redundancy, crosstalk among signaling cascades, and/or ligand receptor interactions are included as potential contributors of these conflicts.

One might predict that vav-Cre deletion of SMYD2 in HE progenitors would produce defects not only within adult HSC but also within downstream hematopoietic lineages if embryonic activity of SMYD2 is critical for adult HSC function. This brief report refutes this hypothesis and establishes that apoptotic loss of embryonic definitive HSCs is the sole embryonic or mature hematopoietic defect resulting from SMYD2 loss.

2. Materials and Methods

Smyd2-floxed C57BL/6 mice [1] were crossed with vav-Cre [15,27] C57/BL mice for deletion of Smyd2. Deletion efficiencies of vav-Cre were monitored by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)/flow cytometry analyses of YFP [11] as well as by RT-qPCR in bone marrow and spleen (Figure S1). Vav-Cre/Smyd2 mice were equivalent to vav-Cre/Smyd2 (WT) controls with respect to overall health, gender, and size [28].

Analytical cytometry was performed on a FACS Fortessa, and sorting was performed on a FACS Aria (BD Biosciences) followed by analysis using FlowJo (Tree Star) software (details of antibodies and conditions provided in methods in supplementary materials and in reference [11]). Data were depicted as percentage distribution, i.e., as a display of data that summarizes the percentage of observations for each data point calculated from the raw FACS data of Figure S2.

RT-qPCR and endpoint PCR was performed and normalized as detailed in supplementary materials employing GAPDH as a housekeeping control.

Microbead enrichment of Sca1+c-kit+ HSCs (Hematopoietic Stem Cells) from BM of vav-Cre/Smyd2 CKO and aged-matched controls was performed as previously described [11], and is detailed in supplementary materials.

Western blotting was performed as described [11] on 12.5% SDS-PAGE with commercial antihuman (h) antibodies, as detailed in supplementary materials. Previous studies [11] indicated that, in accord with the RNA depletion, SMYD2 protein in vav-Cre/Smyd2 embryos was reduced at equivalent levels to its RNA. Thus, potential extended protein half-life did not influence our results.

3. Results and Discussion

SMYD2 is expressed in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) but without effect on the downstream AGM-derived Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs). We have shown previously that mx1-Cre/Smyd2 adults suffer defects in the emergence and/or maintenance of HSCs [11]. To evaluate whether these defects initiate within the AGM, the first detectable site of HSC expression (Figure 1A), we performed SMYD2-specific in situ hybridization on transverse sections of vav-Cre/Smyd2 (CKO) and vav-Cre/Smyd2 (WT) E12.5 embryos. As shown in Figure 1B–E, WT sections contained strongly SMYD2-expressing cells within the lumen of the aorta (arrows). A fraction of these cells adheres to the endothelial wall (arrowhead). CKO sections contain significantly fewer SMYD2-positive cells in these regions, consistent with the robust deletion of SMYD2 by vav-Cre (Figure S1), yet no significant differences in cell morphologies or total cell numbers in the AGM were observed.

Figure 1

SMYD2 expression and its vav-Cre-mediated loss occurs within E11.5 aorta-gonad-mesonephroses (AGMs). (A) Cartoon of an embryonic (E) day 11.5-E12.5 mouse embryo showing location of AGM. (B–E) SMYD2-specific in situ hybridization on cryosections from E12.5 vav-Cre/Smyd2 (WT) (B,C) and conditional knockout (CKO) (D,E) and embryos. Sections were processed at the intersection of the aorta with the vitelline artery. The dorsal aorta (Ao) is noted. Arrows denote SMYD2-expressing cells in the lumen (arrow), attached to the Ao endothelium (arrowhead) as well as disseminated in the stomach (arrows). SMYD2 sense-strand mRNA probe showed no signal (not shown). Magnification 40×. Representative data of 4 independent measurements. Scale bars: (A,B) = 50 µm; (C,D) = 100 µm. (F) Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of SMYD2 WT (left) and CKO (right) AGM explants stained intracellularly with anti-SMYD2 antibody. Representative data (n = 3) shown as percentage of SMYD2+ cells. (G) FACS plots of SMYD2 WT (top) and CKO (bottom) AGM explants demonstrate SMYD2 expression in c-Kit+CD34+ hematopoietic populations. Representative data of n = 3 independent experiments. (H) RT-PCR (upper panel) and Q-RTPCR (lower panel) analysis of c-Kit+CD34+ E12.5 WT (f/+) and CKO (f/f) RNA confirm significant vav-Cre knockdown in CKOs. Shown are the averages of 3 independent experiments. ** p ≤ 0.01; *** p ≤ 0.001.

Cells that populate AGMs, defined as hemogenic endothelium, are distinct from HSC and progenitor cells, as well as nonhemogenic endothelial cells [20,21,22]. To resolve where SMYD2 expression arises, AGM tissue from E12.5 CKO and WT embryos was harvested from pregnant females, digested to single cell suspensions, and analyzed with fluorescently conjugated Abs (detailed in supplementary materials). Flow cytometry was employed to determine the number and identify of the SMYD2-expressing cells following intracellular staining with anti-SMYD2 antibody (Ab). As shown in Figure 1F, ~2.9% of total (~11.9%) AGM cells expressed SMYD2, representing ~600 and ~700 SMYD2+ cells/AGM, respectively. Most SMYD2-expressing WT cells were located within the c-Kit+CD34+ HSC fraction (Figure 1G). However, no differences were observed in HSC accumulation.

We next determined the levels of SMYD2 mRNA expression in c-Kit+CD34+ HSC. RNA was extracted from vav-Cre E12.5 SMYD2 genotypes, and the double positive cells were analyzed as shown in Figure 1H by both end-point RT-PCR (upper panel) and qRT-PCR (lower panel). Under both conditions, SMYD2 CKO transcripts were reduced relative to those of WT controls ~4-fold (p ≤ 0.01).

Collectively, the data of Figure 1 indicate that SMYD2 expression and its vav-Cre-mediated deletion initiates within HSC progenitors within the early AGM. While SMYD2 was robustly deleted by vav-Cre, we observed no effect of its loss as assayed at both the cellular and molecular levels.

3.1. SMYD2 Is Required for Expression of AGM-Derived Definitive Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs)

The data of Figure 1 suggest that SMYD2 might exert its effect at a later stage of HSC development. Around E13.5, HSCs accumulate and expand in the fetal liver (FL) as the number of placental-derived HSCs decrease [20,21,22]. Developmentally mature (definitive) HSCs are found in the FL by E14.5–15.5, and these cells home from the FL to the BM postnatally where they exist through adult life and differentiate into all hematopoietic lineages [20,21,22].

To determine whether loss of SMYD2 interferes with definite HSC production, E15.5 FL was isolated and characterized by FACS for the Lin-Sca1+ckit+Flt3- population of HSC. As shown in Figure 2A, we observed significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in HSC numbers. Alternatively, lineages downstream of the definitive BM HSC (initiated within mature HSCs) exhibited no significant perturbations relative to controls (Figures S2 and S3).

Figure 2

SMYD2 is required for expression of fetal liver (FL) definitive Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs). (A) FACS analysis of E15.5 FL Lin-Sca1+ckit+Flt3- HSC reveals significant reductions in vav-Cre/Smyd2 (CKO) relative to vav-Cre/Smyd2 (WT). Data shown are the average of five independent experiments analyzed by Student’s Test (B). FACS sorted cell populations from embryonic (E) day 15.5, and 6-week aged mice were incubated with Annexin V for 15 min at room temperature followed by addition of 7-AAD, and then immediately analyzed by flow cytometry. Shown are the averages of 3–5 independent experiments. * p ≤ 0.05.

These data raised the alternative possibility that the observed HSC decrease at E15.5, restricted only to definitive HSCs, reflects decreased cell survival rather than impaired development. That is, vav-Cre deletion of SMYD2 within E12.5 endothelia does not influence mature hematopoietic differentiation.

3.2. Loss of SMYD2 Leads to Apoptosis of Definitive HSCs

Our previous adult mx1-Cre CKO results [11] indicated that loss of SMYD2 resulted in significant apoptotic loss of BM HSCs. To test this hypothesis in the context of vav-Cre deletion, CKO and WT HSCs were isolated by flow cytometry, incubated with Annexin V + 7-AAD and then reanalyzed by FACS. As shown in Figure 2B, E15.5 CKO HSCs suffered significant (p ≤ 0.05) apoptosis.

3.3. Concluding Remarks

The only defect observed in vav-Cre/Smyd2 (CKO) was limited to apoptotic loss of definite HSCs in the fetal liver (FL). Apparently, homeostasis is achieved after definite HSC development in the FL, allowing BM HSC to generate sufficient progenitors and sufficient mature lineages. While these results add to the growing literature as to the importance of SMYD2 in antiapoptotic gene control, they leave the route and characteristics of lymphocyte progenitor trafficking during embryogenesis incompletely understood. Additionally, there is no evidence of disease or altered methylation by SMYD2 haploinsufficiency; however, the possibility that other, unknown activities of SMYD2 might be responsible for some of the observed effects cannot be excluded. Progress in other areas toward similar complex problems has been made by employing fate mapping and intravital microscopy [29,30]. This would allow detection of not only the site of rapid proliferate but also how progenitors gain access to the bloodstream to migrate towards the embryo. It would also provide insight to determine the restricted time window in which progenitors invade the growing fetus. Additionally, we recognize that lineage tracing of these cell populations through embryogenesis is required to fully elucidate the role of SMYD2 on lymphocyte trafficking and cell survival throughout embryogenesis.

Toward a fuller understanding of the relative contribution of SMYD2 to apoptosis and transcription at specific, mature developmental stages, we plan to examine the kinetics of recovery from partial BM ablation [31].