NF-E2 Overexpression Delays Erythroid Differentiation and Increases Erythrocyte Production

The transcription factor Nuclear-Factor-Erythroid2 (NF-E2) is overexpressed in the vast majority of patients with polycythemia vera (PV). PV affects precisely those lineages expressing NF-E2: hematopoietic precursors, erythroid, megakaryocytic and granulocytic cells. In murine models, NF-E2 overexpression increases proliferation and promotes cellular viability in the absence of EPO. EPO-independent growth is a hallmark of PV. We therefore hypothesized that NF-E2 overexpression contributes to erythrocytosis, the pathognomonic symptom of PV. Consequently, we investigated the effect of NF-E2 overexpression in healthy CD34+ cells. NF-E2 overexpression lead to a delay in erythroid differentiation, manifested by a belated appearance of GlycophorinA-positive mature erythroid cells. Differentiation delay was similarly observed in primary PV patient erythroid cultures compared to healthy controls. Protracted differentiation lead to a significant increase in the accumulated number of erythroid cells both in PV cultures and in CD34+ cells overexpressing NF-E2. Similarly, NF-E2 overexpression altered erythroid colony formation, leading to an increase in BFU-E formation. These data argue that NF-E2 overexpression delays the early phase of erythroid differentiation, resulting in an expansion of erythroid progenitors, thereby increasing the number of erythrocytes derived from one CD34+ cell. These data propose a role for NF-E2 in mediating the erythrocytosis of PV.