Fancd2 is a component of the Fanconi anemia (FA) DNA repair pathway, which is frequently found defective in human cancers. The full repertoire of Fancd2 functions in normal development and tumorigenesis remains to be determined. Here we developed a Flag- and hemagglutinin-tagged Fancd2 knock-in mouse strain that allowed a high throughput mass spectrometry approach to search for Fancd2-binding proteins in different mouse organs. In addition to DNA repair partners, we observed that many Fancd2-interacting proteins are mitochondrion-specific. Fancd2 localizes in the mitochondrion and associates with the nucleoid complex components Atad3 and Tufm. The Atad3-Tufm complex is disrupted in Fancd2−/− mice and those deficient for the FA core component Fanca. Fancd2 mitochondrial localization requires Atad3. Collectively, these findings provide evidence for Fancd2 as a crucial regulator of mitochondrion biosynthesis, and of a molecular link between FA and mitochondrial homeostasis.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome with extremely high risk of leukemic transformation. Here we investigate the relationship between DNA damage response (DDR) and leukemogenesis using the Fanca knockout mouse model. We found that chronic exposure of the Fanca hematopoietic stem cells to DNA crosslinking agent mitomycin C in vivo leads to diminished DDR, and the emergence/expansion of pre-leukemia stem cells (pre-LSCs). Surprisingly, although genetic correction of Fanca deficiency in the pre-LSCs restores DDR and reduces genomic instability, but fails to prevent pre-LSC expansion or delay leukemia development in irradiated recipients. Furthermore, we identified transcription program underlying dysregulated DDR and cell migration, myeloid proliferation, and immune response in the Fanca pre-LSCs. Forced expression of the downregulated DNA repair genes, Rad51c or Trp53i13, in the Fanca pre-LSCs partially rescues DDR but has no effect on leukemia, whereas shRNA knockdown of the upregulated immune receptor genes Trem1 or Pilrb improves leukemia-related survival, but not DDR or genomic instability. Furthermore, Trem1 cooperates with diminished DDR in vivo to promote Fanca pre-LSC expansion and leukemia development. Our study implicates diminishing DDR as a root cause of FA leukemogenesis, which subsequently collaborates with other signaling pathways for leukemogenic transformation.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an inherited bone marrow (BM) failure syndrome, presumably resulting from defects in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Normal HSCs depend more on glycolysis than on oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for energy production. Here we show that FA HSCs are more sensitive to the respiration inhibitor NaN3 treatment than to glycolytic inhibitor 2-DG, indicating more dependence on OXPHOS. FA HSCs undergo glycolysis-to-OXPHOS switch in response to oxidative stress through a p53-dependent mechanism. Metabolic stresses induce upregulation of p53 metabolic targets in FA HSCs. Inactivation of p53 in FA HSCs prevents glycolysis-to-OXPHOS switch. Furthermore, p53-deficient FA HSCs are more sensitive to 2-DG-mediated metabolic stress. Finally, oxidative stress-induced glycolysis-to-OXPHOS switch is mediated by SCO2. These findings demonstrate p53-mediated OXPHOS function as a compensatory alteration in FA HSCs to ensure a functional but mildly impaired energy metabolism and suggest a cautious approach to manipulating p53 signaling in FA.

SummaryHematopoietic stem cell (HSC) defects can cause repopulating impairment leading to hematologic diseases. To target HSC deficiency in a disease setting, we exploited the repopulating defect of Fanconi anemia (FA) HSCs to conduct an in vivo short hairpin RNA (shRNA) screen. We exposed Fancd2−/− HSCs to a lentiviral shRNA library targeting 947 genes. We found enrichment of shRNAs targeting genes involved in the PPARγ pathway that has not been linked to HSC homeostasis. PPARγ inhibition by shRNA or chemical compounds significantly improves the repopulating ability of Fancd2−/− HSCs. Conversely, activation of PPARγ in wild-type HSCs impaired hematopoietic repopulation. In mouse HSCs and patient-derived lymphoblasts, PPARγ activation is manifested in upregulating the p53 target p21. PPARγ and co-activators are upregulated in total bone marrow and stem/progenitor cells from FA patients. Collectively, this work illustrates the utility of RNAi technology coupled with HSC transplantation for the discovery of novel genes and pathways involved in stress hematopoiesis.

Aims: A component of the base excision repair pathway, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) functions in multiple cellular processes, including DNA repair and programmed cell death. We previously showed that Salidroside, a phenylpropanoid glycoside isolated from medicinal plants, prevented the loss of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in native mice and rescued HSCs repopulating in transplanted recipients under oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism by which PARP1 activation by Salidroside maintains HSCs under oxidative stress. Results: We found that although there were no spontaneous defects in hematopoiesis in Parp1 -/ -mice, oxidative stress compromised the repopulating capacity of Parp1 -/ -HSCs in transplanted recipient mice. A biochemical study using truncated proteins lacking the defined functional domains of PARP1 showed that the tryptophan-glycine-arginine-rich (WGR) domain of PARP1 was critical for Salidroside binding and subsequent PARP1 activation under oxidative stress. Functionally, complementation of Parp1 -/ -HSCs with full-length PARP1 WT , but not the PARP1 R591K mutant in WGR domain restored Salidroside-stimulated PARP1 activation in vitro. Mechanistically, activated PARP1 by Salidroside enhanced the repopulating capacity of the stressed HSCs by accelerating oxidative DNA damage repair. Innovations and Conclusion: Our findings reveal the action of mechanism for Salidroside in PARP1 stimulation and a novel role of PARP1 activation in maintaining HSC function under oxidative stress.