Co-reporter:Koji Eto;Ronan Murphy;Steve W. Kerrigan;Alessandra Bertoni;Heidi Stuhlmann;Toru Nakano;Andrew D. Leavitt;Sanford J. Shattil
PNAS 2002 Volume 99 (Issue 20 ) pp:12819-12824
Publication Date(Web):2002-10-01
DOI:10.1073/pnas.202380099
Fibrinogen binding to integrin αIIbβ3 mediates platelet aggregation and requires agonist-induced “inside-out” signals that
increase αIIbβ3 affinity. Agonist regulation of αIIbβ3 also takes place in megakaryocytes, the bone marrow cells from which
platelets are derived. To facilitate mechanistic studies of inside-out signaling, we describe here the generation of megakaryocytes
in quantity from murine embryonic stem (ES) cells. Coculture of ES cells for 8–12 days with OP9 stromal cells in the presence
of thrombopoietin, IL-6, and IL-11 resulted in the development of large, polyploid megakaryocytes that produced proplatelets.
These cells expressed αIIbβ3 and platelet glycoprotein Ibα but were devoid of hematopoietic stem cell, erythrocyte, and leukocyte
markers. Mature megakaryocytes, but not megakaryocyte progenitors, specifically bound fibrinogen by way of αIIbβ3 in response
to platelet agonists. Retrovirus-mediated expression of the reporter gene, green fluorescent protein, in ES cell-derived megakaryocytes
did not affect viability or αIIbβ3 function. On the other hand, retroviral expression of CalDAG-GEFI, a Rap1 exchange factor
identified by megakaryocyte gene profiling as a candidate integrin regulator, enhanced agonist-induced activation of Rap1b
and fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3 (P < 0.01). These results establish that ES cells are a ready source of mature megakaryocytes for integrin studies and other
biological applications, and they implicate CalDAG-GEFI in inside-out signaling to αIIbβ3.