Formation of functional blood and its conduit vascular system is requisite for successful embryogenesis. The ETS transcription factor ETV2 has emerged as a critical regulator of hematopoietic and vascular development. In particular, ETV2 is required at the earliest stage in the formation of hematopoietic and endothelial cell lineages with its deficiency leading to a complete block in blood and vessel formation. At the molecular level, ETV2 positively activates genes essential for hematopoietic and endothelial cell lineage specification. At the cellular level, ETV2 is crucial for restricting FLK1+ mesoderm to the FLK1+ hemangiogenic mesoderm, which generates hematopoietic and endothelial cell lineages. Importantly, ETV2 function is evolutionary conserved, as mouse or human ETV2 can induce hematopoietic and vascular program in zebrafish. Moreover, hematopoietic and endothelial cells can be more efficiently generated from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells by enforced Etv2 expression. Human somatic cells can also be reprogrammed to endothelial cells by the inclusion of Etv2. These findings suggest a unique and essential function played by this factor in vertebrates and relevance in humans with the strong potential for translational applications. However, we currently have very limited knowledge on the upstream regulators of Etv2 expression. Whether ETV2 requires cofactor(s) in controlling its target gene expression is also not known. Our preliminary data suggests that ETV2 specifies hemangiogenic fate in a threshold-dependent manner and that coordinated function of forkhead transcription factor Foxh1 and Flk1 is required for achieving Etv2 threshold expression. Our preliminary data also suggests that chromatin remodeling of the target genes may be required for ETV2 function, as we identified the core regulatory subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, BAF155 (aka SRG3 or SMARCC1) to form a complex with ETV2. Importantly, conditional deletion of Baf155 using Flk1-Cre resulted in embryonic lethality with hematopoietic defects, further supporting the notion that chromatin remodeling is integral to ETV2 transcriptional function. From these fundamental findings, we will investigate whether the hemangiogenic fate specification is achieved through Etv2 threshold expression and the requirements of Foxh1 and Flk1 in achieving the Etv2 threshold expression. We will also investigate whether ETV2 requires SWI/SNF chromatin remodelers in activating hematopoietic and endothelial cell lineage program. Successful completion of the work will establish the role for Foxh1, Flk1, Etv2 and the chromatin remodelers in the hemangiogenic fate specification and will lead to deeper mechanistic understanding of how hematopoietic and vascular development is regulated. The outcome will also be instrumental for generating hematopoietic and endothelial cells from pluripotent stem cells or somatic cell reprogramming and function of such cells in a wide range of applications in regenerative medicine.

Public Health Relevance

This grant proposal is to understand how blood and blood vessels are established in the developing mouse embryo. By focusing on the ETS transcription factor ETV2 (aka ER71), which is required at the earliest stage of the blood and blood vessel formation, we will characterize upstream transcription factors, signaling pathways and chromatin remodeling mechanisms that regulate ETV2 expression and function. The outcome of this study is highly relevant to basic research and regenerative medicine.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL055337-22
Application #
9619341
Study Section
Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section (MCH)
Program Officer
Bai, C Brian
Project Start
1996-08-01
Project End
2020-12-31
Budget Start
2019-01-01
Budget End
2019-12-31
Support Year
22
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Washington University
Department
Pathology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
068552207
City
Saint Louis
State
MO
Country
United States
Zip Code
63130
Oladipupo, Sunday S; Kabir, Ashraf Ul; Smith, Craig et al. (2018) Impaired tumor growth and angiogenesis in mice heterozygous for Vegfr2 (Flk1). Sci Rep 8:14724
Kabir, Ashraf Ul; Lee, Tae-Jin; Pan, Hua et al. (2018) Requisite endothelial reactivation and effective siRNA nanoparticle targeting of Etv2/Er71 in tumor angiogenesis. JCI Insight 3:
Davis, Jennifer A; Koenig, Andrew L; Lubert, Allison et al. (2018) ETS transcription factor Etsrp / Etv2 is required for lymphangiogenesis and directly regulates vegfr3 / flt4 expression. Dev Biol 440:40-52
Lee, Tae-Jin; Shim, Min Suk; Yu, Taekyung et al. (2018) Bioreducible Polymer Micelles Based on Acid-Degradable Poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(amino ketal) Enhance the Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1? Gene Transfection Efficacy and Therapeutic Angiogenesis of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells. Int J Mol Sci 19:
Zhao, Haiyong; Choi, Kyunghee (2017) A CRISPR screen identifies genes controlling Etv2 threshold expression in murine hemangiogenic fate commitment. Nat Commun 8:541
Xu, Can-Xin; Lee, Tae-Jin; Sakurai, Nagisa et al. (2017) ETV2/ER71 regulates hematopoietic regeneration by promoting hematopoietic stem cell proliferation. J Exp Med 214:1643-1653
Park, Changwon; Lee, Tae-Jin; Bhang, Suk Ho et al. (2016) Injury-Mediated Vascular Regeneration Requires Endothelial ER71/ETV2. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 36:86-96
Lohmann, Felix; Dangeti, Mohan; Soni, Shefali et al. (2015) The DEK Oncoprotein Is a Critical Component of the EKLF/KLF1 Enhancer in Erythroid Cells. Mol Cell Biol 35:3726-38
Liu, Fang; Li, Daofeng; Yu, Yik Yeung Lawrence et al. (2015) Induction of hematopoietic and endothelial cell program orchestrated by ETS transcription factor ER71/ETV2. EMBO Rep 16:654-69
Oladipupo, Sunday S; Smith, Craig; Santeford, Andrea et al. (2014) Endothelial cell FGF signaling is required for injury response but not for vascular homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:13379-84

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