ARID1A Is Critical for Maintaining Normal Hematopoiesis in Mice

ARID1A is a key component of ATP-dependent SWI/SNF complex involved in chromatin remodeling. Chromatin remodeling mediated by SWI/SNF complex is crucial for gene expression and affects a broad range of biological processes including hematopoietic development. ARID1A is frequently mutated across several solid tumors as well as hematopoietic malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and acute promyelocytic leukemia. Nevertheless, function of ARID1A in adult hematopoiesis and implications of its deficiency in development and progression of hematopoietic diseases has not been explored. In this study, we used a murine model of ARID1A deficiency to establish its essential function in maintaining normal hematopoietic development.

Germline loss of Arid1a is embryonic lethal; therefore, we generated mice with deletion of Arid1a specifically in the hematopoietic compartment using Vav-iCre and Mx1-Cre transgenic mice. Arid1a^fl/fl;Vav-iCre⁺ mice occurred at a lower than expected frequency, suggesting some perinatal mortality. For the Mx1-Cre model, Arid1a exon 9 was excised by administrating poly(I:C) to adult mice and hematopoiesis was evaluated using flow cytometry. An increase in both percentage and absolute number of long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LTHSCs) defined as Lin^-Sca1⁺Kit⁺CD34^-FLT3^- or Lin^-Sca1⁺Kit⁺CD48^-CD150+ occurred in the bone marrow using both models of Arid1a deficiency. RNA-sequencing of sorted LTHSCs from Arid1a KO bone marrow revealed dysregulated expression of several genes involved in cell cycle, G2/M checkpoint and related pathways. In vivo BrdU incorporation assays showed a substantially lower proportion of quiescent hematopoietic stem cells in Arid1a deficient bone marrow. To assess the reconstitution ability of ARID1A deficient HSCs, sorted KO or WT LTHSCs were transplanted into irradiated congenic recipient mice in competitive repopulation assays. Proportion of donor-derived cells in recipients transplanted with KO cells was strikingly lower compared to wild-type cells, suggesting poor reconstitution ability of Arid1a KO LTHSCs.

Also, differentiation of both myeloid and lymphoid lineages was impaired in Arid1a KO mice compared to WT controls. To investigate the mechanism of perturbed differentiation of the myeloid and erythroid lineages, RNA-Seq was performed on sorted CMPs, GMPs and MEPs from WT and Arid1a KO BM. Our analysis showed significant decrease in expression of several transcription factors (Runx1, Gata2, Cebpa), which play a crucial role in lineage differentiation.

To determine how Arid1a deficiency alters chromatin accessibility in myeloid precursors, Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-Seq) was performed on sorted Lin^-Kit⁺ BM cells from both Arid1a KO and WT mice. A global reduction in open chromatin in Arid1a KO cells was noted compared to WT cells. A substantial overlap occurred between down regulated genes (RNA-seq) and reduced chromatin accessibility in Arid1a KO myeloid progenitors. Motifs for PU.1, RUNX1, GATA and CEBPA were significantly enriched in loci with reduced ATAC-seq signals in Arid1a KO cells. Our findings demonstrate an indispensable function of Arid1a in hematopoietic development and underline the importance of precise chromatin dynamics maintained by ARID1A-containing SWI/SNF complex in hematopoiesis.