Nakajima Hideaki, Ito Miyuki, Morikawa Yoshihiro, Komori Tadasuke, Fukuchi Yumi, Shibata Fumi, Okamoto Shinichiro, Kitamura Toshio
Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Dec 4;390(1):65-70. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2009.09.067. Epub 2009 Sep 22.
Wnt signaling has been implicated in the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Secreted frizzled-related proteins (SFRPs) are a family of soluble proteins containing a region homologous to a receptor for Wnt, Frizzled, and are thought to act as endogenous modulators for Wnt signaling. This study examined the role of SFRPs in HSC regulation. Among the four family members, SFRP-1 and SFRP-2 are specifically induced in the bone marrow in response to myelosuppression, and immunostaining revealed that both proteins were expressed in osteoblasts. Interestingly, SFRP-1 reduced the number of multipotent progenitors in in vitro culture of CD34(-)KSL cells, while SFRP-2 did not. Furthermore, SFRP-1 compromised the long-term repopulating activity of HSCs, whereas SFRP-2 did not affect or even enhanced it in the same setting. These results indicate that although both SFRP-1 and SFRP-2 act as inhibitors for Wnt signaling in vitro, they differentially affect the homeostasis of HSCs.