Thrombopoietin (TPO) knockout phenotype induced by cross-reactive antibodies against TPO following injection of mice with recombinant adenovirus encoding human TPO.

Adenovirus vectors have emerged as potent agents for gene transfer. Immune response against the vector and the encoded protein is one of the major factors in the transient expression following in vivo gene transfer. A single injection of an adenovirus encoding human thrombopoietin (TPO) into mice induced transient thrombocytosis, followed by a chronic immune thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenic mice had anti-human TPO Abs of the IgG2a and IgG1 isotypes. Thrombocytopenic mice sera neutralized more efficiently human than murine TPO, and exhibited no detectable anti-murine TPO Abs. Despite their low affinity for murine TPO, anti-TPO Abs induced a TPO knockout-like phenotype, i.e., low number of marrow megakaryocytes and of all kinds of hemopoietic progenitors. Hybridomas derived from a thrombocytopenic mouse revealed cross-reactivity of all of the secreted anti-TPO Ab isotypes. Mice subjected to myelosuppression after virus injection showed that anti-human TPO of IgG1 and IgG2a isotypes disappeared. Thus, sustained human TPO production was responsible for platelet elevation for at least 5 mo. Compelling results showed that elevated IgG2a/IgG2b ratios are always associated with thrombocytopenia, whereas low ratios are associated with tolerance or normal platelet counts. Finally, we hypothesize that in humans some chronic thrombocytopenia associated with a low TPO plasma level are due to anti-TPO Abs.