Aberrant oxidative metabolism selects for TET2 -deficient hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells

The mechanism(s) driving selective expansion of mutant hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) in clonal hematopoiesis (CH) are incompletely understood. Here, we address the role of metabolism in selection for HSPC with loss of function mutations in TET2 . Loss of Tet2 in murine HSPC triggers overexpression of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation genes and increased oxidative metabolism via an enlarged mitochondrial network. However, Tet2 -deficient HSPC maintain a normal redox state. Strikingly, compound loss of the rate-limiting pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) triggers increased reactive oxygen species and impairs the fitness of Tet2 -deficient HSPC. We find that aberrant oxidative metabolism is also a feature of HSPC in human CH and clonal cytopenia of unknown significance (CCUS). Overall, our data point to aberrant metabolism as a critical and conserved driver of selection in TET2 -deficient CH and identify the PPP as a crucial compensatory pathway needed to maintain their selective advantage.

This study identifies oxidative metabolism as a critical driver of selection for TET2 -deficient HSPC in clonal hematopoiesis (CH). It also demonstrates that cellular redox state is a vulnerability that impairs their fitness. These insights establish targetable metabolic pathway(s) that could be exploited in the setting of TET2 mutant CH.