Impaired Engraftment of Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells (HSPC) in Immunodefcient Mice Supports an Important Role of Complement System for Optimal Homing.
Authors: Ryan Reca , Wysoczynski Marcin , Ratajczak Janina , Ratajczak Mariusz Z. 
Published: October 2019

Recently we demonstrated that conditioning for transplantation (radio-chemotherapy) activates complement (C) in bone marrow (BM) and that the third complement component (C3) cleavage fragments (C3a and desArgC3a) increase responsiveness of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) to stromal-derived factor (SDF)-1 gradient by enhancing the incorporation of CXCR4 into membrane lipid rafts – what enables its better interaction with small GTPases from the Rho/Rac family (Blood2003, 101, 3784, Blood2005, 105, 40–48). Based on these data we hypothesized that C could affect the homing/engraftment of HSPC. Thus we performed transplant experiments in several strains of immunodeficient animals. First, we noticed that lethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice engrafted worse with wt HSPC as compared to wt animals (~30% decrease in a presence of donor-derived clonogeneic CFU-GM in marrow cavities 24 hrs after transplantation). This impaired engraftment correlated with the lack of C activation in BM after conditioning for transplantation by lethal irradiation. The lack of C activation in NOD/SCID mice after conditioning for transplant could be explained by a lack of IgM antibodies that activate C by classical IgM-dependent pathway. Next, to learn more on the molecular mechanisms of C cascade activation during conditioning for transplantation and the role of the C3a-C3aR axis in engraftment of HSPC we studied engraftment i) of wild type (wt) murine HSPC in immunodeficient mice (C3−/− and C3aR−/−) and ii) murine HSPC derived from C3aR−/− or C3−/− deficient mice in wild type littermates. The engraftment of HSPC was evaluated by i) recovery of peripheral blood cell counts in transplanted animals, ii) number of CFU-S colonies and iii) number of clonogeneic progenitors in marrow cavities 16 day after transplantation. We noticed that both C3−/− and C3aR−/− mice had impaired engraftment with wt HSPC. At the same time HSPC from C3aR−/− mice but not C3−/− animals showed poor engraftment in wt recipients. This suggests that i) C3aR expressed on HSPC interacts with C3a generated during C-activation in BM environment and ii) that this interaction is important for optimal homing of HSPC. To support further this notion, human CD34+ cells were exposed to nontoxic doses of C3aR antagonist SB290157 and transplanted into NOD/SCID mice. Subsequently, 24 hrs after transplantation cells were isolated from the marrow cavities and stimulated to grow human CFU-GM colonies. By employing this assay we noticed reduced engraftment of human CD34+ cells (~30%, p<0.0001) as compared to mice transplanted with control CD34+ cells unexposed to SB290157. These data allow for the following conclusions: i) C is activated in BM during conditioning for transplantation by irradiation ii) C is activated after exposure of a natural neoepitope in damaged marrow which is recognized by natural IgM activating C via the classical pathway, iii) C3 cleavage product C3a binds to C3aR on transplanted HSPC and increases incorporation of CXCR4 into membrane lipid rafts enhancing responsiveness of HSPC to an SDF-1 gradient, and finally iv) a proper interplay between the C system and SDF-1-CXCR axis ensures optimal homing of HSPC.