Haematologica (Nov 2019)

XPO1 regulates erythroid differentiation and is a new target for the treatment of β-thalassemia

  • Flavia Guillem,
  • Michaël Dussiot,
  • Elia Colin,
  • Thunwarat Suriyun,
  • Jean Benoit Arlet,
  • Nicolas Goudin,
  • Guillaume Marcion,
  • Renaud Seigneuric,
  • Sebastien Causse,
  • Patrick Gonin,
  • Marc Gastou,
  • Marc Deloger,
  • Julien Rossignol,
  • Mathilde Lamarque,
  • Zakia Belaid Choucair,
  • Emilie Fleur Gautier,
  • Sarah Ducamp,
  • Julie Vandekerckhove,
  • Ivan C. Moura,
  • Thiago Trovati Maciel,
  • Carmen Garrido,
  • Xiuli An,
  • Patrick Mayeux,
  • Narla Mohandas,
  • Geneviève Courtois,
  • Olivier Hermine

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2018.210054
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 105, no. 9

Abstract

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β-thalassemia major (β-TM) is an inherited hemoglobinopathy caused by a quantitative defect in the synthesis of β-globin chains of hemoglobin, leading to the accumulation of free a-globin chains that aggregate and cause ineffective erythropoiesis. We have previously demonstrated that terminal erythroid maturation requires a transient activation of caspase-3 and that the chaperone Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) accumulates in the nucleus to protect GATA-1 transcription factor from caspase-3 cleavage. This nuclear accumulation of HSP70 is inhibited in human β-TM erythroblasts due to HSP70 sequestration in the cytoplasm by free a-globin chains, resulting in maturation arrest and apoptosis. Likewise, terminal maturation can be restored by transduction of a nuclear-targeted HSP70 mutant. Here we demonstrate that in normal erythroid progenitors, HSP70 localization is regulated by the exportin-1 (XPO1), and that treatment of β-thalassemic erythroblasts with an XPO1 inhibitor increased the amount of nuclear HSP70, rescued GATA-1 expression and improved terminal differentiation, thus representing a new therapeutic option to ameliorate ineffective erythropoiesis of β-TM.