The Tetraspanin CD9 Regulates Engraftment and Mobilization of Human CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells and Modulates VLA-4 Activity

Migration, homing and engraftment of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells depend critically on the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis. We previously identified the tetraspanin CD9 as a downstream signal of this axis, and it regulates short-term homing of cord blood (CB) CD34+ cells (Leung et al, Blood, 2011). However, its roles in stem cell engraftment, mobilization and the underlying mechanisms have not been described. Here, we provided evidence that CD9 blockade profoundly reduced long-term bone marrow (BM; 70.9% inhibition; P = .0089) and splenic engraftment (87.8% inhibition; P = .0179) of CB CD34+ cells (n = 6) in the NOD/SCID mouse xenotransplantation model, without biasing specific lineage commitment. Interestingly, significant increase in the CD34+CD9+ subsets were observed in the BM (9.6-fold; P < .0001) and spleens (9.8-fold; P = .0014) of engrafted animals (n = 3-4), indicating that CD9 expression on CD34+ cells is up-regulated during engraftment in the SDF-1-rich hematopoietic niches. Analysis of paired BM and peripheral blood (PB) samples from healthy donors revealed higher CD9 expressions in BM-resident CD34+ cells (46.0% CD9+ cells in BM vs 26.5% in PB; n = 13, P = .0035). Consistently, CD34+ cells in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood (MPB) expressed lower levels of CD9 (32.3% CD9+ cells; n = 25), when compared with those in BM (47.7% CD9+ cells; n = 16, P = .0030). In vitro exposure of MPB CD34+ cells to SDF-1 significantly enhanced CD9 expression (1.5-fold increase; n = 4, P = .0060). Treatment of NOD/SCID chimeric mice with G-CSF decreased the CD34+CD9+ subsets in the BM from 79.2% to 62.4% (n = 8, P = .0179). These data indicate that CD9 expression is down-regulated during egress or mobilization of CD34+ cells. To investigate the possible mechanisms, we performed a VCAM-1 (counter receptor of the VLA-4 integrin) binding assay on BM CD34+ cells. Our results demonstrated that CD34+CD9+ cells preferentially bound to soluble VCAM-1 (17.2%-51.4% VCAM-1-bound cells in CD9+ cells vs 12.8%-25.9% in CD9- cells; n = 10, P ≤ .0003), suggesting that CD9+ cells possess higher VLA-4 activity. Concomitant with decreased CD9 expression, MPB CD34+ cells exhibited lower VCAM-1 binding ability (2.8%-4.0% VCAM-1-bound cells; n = 3), when compared to BM CD34+ cells (15.5%-37.7%; n = 10, P < .0130). In vivo treatment of NOD/SCID chimeric mice with G-CSF reduced VCAM-1 binding of CD34+ cells in the BM by 49.0% (n = 5, P = .0010). Importantly, overexpression of CD9 in CB CD34+ cells promoted VCAM-1 binding by 39.5% (n = 3, P = .0391), thus providing evidence that CD9 regulates VLA-4 activity. Preliminary results also indicated that enforcing CD9 expression in CB CD34+ cells could enhance their homing and engraftment in the NOD/SCID mouse model. Our findings collectively established that CD9 expression and associated integrin VLA-4 activity are dynamically regulated in the BM microenvironment, which may represent important events in governing stem cell engraftment and mobilization. Strategies to modify CD9 expression could be developed to enhance engraftment or mobilization of CD34+ cells.