Functional analysis of the c-myb proto-oncogene.

Targeted mutagenesis studies were initiated to determine the normal biological function of the c-myb proto-oncogene. While heterozygous mice are phenotypically indistinguishable from their wild-type littermates, homozygous mutant fetuses die at approximately 15.5 days of gestation apparently due to anemia, which results from an inability to switch from embryonic yolk sac to fetal liver erythropoiesis. Studies are currently being done to determine the extent of hematopoietic abnormalities in the homozygous mutant fetuses. In vitro assays for hematopoietic colony-forming cells have been used to determine the frequency of both erythroid and myeloid progenitors in the fetal livers of wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous mutant c-myb fetuses. The reduced number of erythroid progenitors was not unexpected considering the mutant fetus's pale color and reduced hematocrit. The dramatically reduced number of colonies derived from myeloid progenitors in the mutant fetuses in comparison to the number detected in phenotypically normal littermates suggests that expression of the c-myb proto-oncogene is critical for the proliferation and/or differentiation of early hematopoietic progenitors and possibly hematopoietic stem cells. Other possible explanations would include a hematopoietic progenitor migration problem from the yolk sac to the fetal liver or a defect in the microenvironment of the liver. Whether the lymphoid lineage is also adversely affected by the lack of c-myb expression remains to be determined. RT-PCR and Northern blot analyses were used in an attempt to identify downstream genes which may be directly or indirectly regulated by the Myb gene product. While the levels of expression of several genes involved in erythropoiesis (GATA-1, NF-E2, SCL, and EpoR) were reduced in the livers of homozygous mutant fetuses in comparison to phenotypically normal littermates and one gene, Kit ligand (KL), was expressed at higher levels in the mutant livers, these results must be viewed with caution. The livers of the mutant fetuses have been shown to be hypocellular in comparison to those of phenotypically normal littermates (35). It is possible that the Myb gene product is directly or indirectly modulating the expression of these genes. Conversely, the alteration in expression may be due to the reduced number or absence of specific hematopoietic lineages in the livers of the mutant fetuses. Differential display has also been used to identify putative novel genes that are involved in hematopoiesis. Preliminary studies suggest that this may be a powerful methodology to compare the expression pattern of genes in the fetal liver of wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous mutant littermates at 14.5 days of gestation. To date nearly 60% of the partial cDNAs subcloned analyzed have been shown to be differentially expressed. More importantly, 75% of the differentially expressed cDNAs that have been sequenced appear to encode novel genes. Whether any of these novel genes are involved in the c-myb transcriptional cascade remains to be determined. Overall, analysis of the c-myb mutant fetuses have provided valuable insight into the biological function of this interesting proto-oncogene. The continued analysis of this resource will undoubtedly provide additional information concerning the role of the c-myb gene in hematopoiesis.