PML-RARalpha initiates leukemia by conferring properties of self-renewal to committed promyelocytic progenitors

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is characterized by hyperproliferation of promyelocytes, progenitors that are committed to terminal differentiation into granulocytes, making it an ideal disease in which to study the transforming potential of less primitive cell types. We utilized a murine model of APL in which the PML-RARalpha oncogene is expressed from the endogenous cathepsin G promoter to test the hypothesis that leukemia stem cell (LSC) activity resides within the differentiated promyelocyte compartment. We prospectively purified promyelocytes from transgenic mice at various stages of disease and observed that PML-RARalpha-expressing promyelocytes from young preleukemic mice had acquired properties of self-renewal both in vitro and in vivo. Progression to acute leukemia was associated with an expansion of the promyelocyte compartment at the expense of other stem, progenitor and terminally differentiated populations. Leukemic promyelocytes exhibited properties of self-renewal, and were capable of engendering leukemia in secondary recipient mice. These data indicate that PML-RARalpha alone can confer properties of self-renewal to committed hematopoietic progenitors before the onset of disease. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that cancer stem cells may arise from committed progenitors that lack stem cell properties, provided that the initiating mutation in cancer progression activates programs that confer properties of self-renewal.