Molecular mechanisms underlying FIP1L1-PDGFRA-mediated myeloproliferation

An interstitial deletion on chromosome 4q12 resulting in the formation of the FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion protein is involved in the pathogenesis of imatinib-sensitive chronic eosinophilic leukemia. The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of disease are largely undefined. Human CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells were used to investigate the role of FIP1L1-PDGFRA in modulating lineage development. FIP1L1-PDGFRA induced both proliferation and differentiation of eosinophils, neutrophils, and erythrocytes in the absence of cytokines, which could be inhibited by imatinib. Whereas expression of FIP1L1-PDGFRA in hematopoietic stem cells and common myeloid progenitors induced the formation of multiple myeloid lineages, expression in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors induced only the development of eosinophils, neutrophils, and myeloblasts. Deletion of amino acids 30 to 233 in the FIP1L1 gene [FIP1L1(1-29)-PDGFRA] gave rise to an intermediate phenotype, exhibiting a dramatic reduction in the number of erythrocytes. FIP1L1-PDGFRA and FIP1L1(1-29)-PDGFRA both induced the activation of p38 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in myeloid progenitors, whereas signal transducers and activators of transcription 5 (STAT5) and protein kinase B/c-akt were only activated by FIP1L1-PDGFRA. Dominant-negative STAT5 partially inhibited FIP1L1-PDGFRA-induced colony formation, whereas combined inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and ERK1/2 significantly reversed FIP1L1-PDGFRA-induced colony formation. Taken together, these results suggest that expression of FIP1L1-PDFGRA in human hematopoietic progenitors induce a myeloproliferative phenotype via activation of multiple signaling molecules including phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, ERK1/2, and STAT5.