Abstract Abstract 965 Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) is driven by the fusion oncogene, BCR-ABL, which transforms normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to leukemic stem cells (LSCs). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as imatinib mesylate, control the massive expansion of leukemic cells in most patients with CML, but cannot eradicate CML LSCs. Several genetic pathways have been shown to be critical for the growth and survival of CML LSCs, including signaling molecules, tumor suppressors, and metabolic regulators. However, the role of transcription factors in functional regulation of LSCs in CML has not been widely studied. GA Binding Protein (GABP) is an ets transcription factor that is required for entry of fibroblasts into the cell cycle, and expression of Gabpa (the DNA-binding component of the complex), alone, was sufficient to induce quiescent, serum-starved cells to enter the cell cycle. Thus, Gabp is both necessary and sufficient for cell cycle entry. Conditional deletion of Gabpa in mouse bone marrow decreased hematopoietic progenitor cells more than 100-fold, but hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were relatively preserved. Gabpα null HSCs exhibited significant cell cycle arrest. We sought to determine if the cell cycle arrest caused by Gabpa loss could impair development of CML cells in a mouse model. We used retroviral infection of bone marrow from 5-FU-treated mice (to enrich for stem and progenitor cells) to generate a rapidly fatal CML-like syndrome in mice. Bone marrow from mice with loxP-flanked (floxed) Gabpa and wild type control mice was infected with a retrovirus that co-expresses BCR-ABL, Cre recombinase, and green fluorescent protein (GFP). As expected, transplantation into recipient mice of control mouse bone marrow infected with BCR-ABL-Cre-GFP retrovirus caused a rapidly fatal myeloproliferative neoplasm, with a median survival of approximately three weeks; mice died with massive infiltration of GFP+ myeloid cells in peripheral blood cell, spleen, bone marrow, and other organs. In floxed Gabpa bone marrow, the retrovirus deleted floxed Gabpa in cells that express the BCR-ABL fusion oncogene, and these cells were identifiable based on GFP expression. Transplantation of floxed Gabpa bone marrow infected with BCR-ABL-Cre-GFP retrovirus failed to induce CML during six months of observation. Importantly, GFP+ peripheral blood granulocytes were observed for at least 6 months after transplantation; these CD11b+, Gr1+ cells continued to express BCR-ABL and were shown to be Gabpa null. These results indicate that the lack of Gabpa severely impaired the function of LSCs. In addition, secondary transplantation of bone marrow from these mice again demonstrated the presence of BCR-ABL-expressing peripheral blood myeloid cells. We conclude that Gabp transcription factor is required for the transformation of HSCs to LSCs by BCR-ABL. Furthermore, the persistence of BCR-ABL-expressing myeloid cells without the development of leukemia provides a unique model that permits analysis of the biological properties of BCR-ABL in vivo. The continued generation of BCR-ABL-expressing cells without CML development is unprecedented, and represents a unique model of leukemia tumor suppression. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract Abstract 1284 GABP is an ets transcription factor that regulates genes which are required for normal hematopoietic development. In myeloid cells, GABP is an essential component of a retinoic acid-inducible enhanceosome that mediates granulocytic gene expression and, in lymphoid cells, GABP regulates expression of IL7-R and the essential transcription factor, Pax5. GABP is a tetrameric complex that includes GABPa, which binds DNA via its ets domain, and GABPb, which contains the transcription activation domain. Genetic disruption of mouse Gabpa caused early embryonic lethality. We created mice in which loxP recombination sites flank exons that encode the Gabpa ets domain, and bred them to mice that bear the Mx1Cre recombinase; injection with pIC induced Cre expression and efficiently deleted Gabpa in hematopoietic cells. One half of the Gabpa knock-out (KO) mice died within two weeks of pIC injection in association with widespread visceral hemorrhage. Gabpa KO mice exhibited a rapid loss of mature granulocytes, and residual myeloid cells exhibited myelodysplasia due, in part, to regulation by Gabp of the transcriptional repressor, Gfi-1. We used bone marrow transplantation to demonstrate that the defect in Gabpa null myeloid cells is cell intrinsic. Although hematopoietic progenitor cells in Gabpa KO bone marrow were decreased more than 100-fold compared to pIC treated control mice, there was not a statistically significant difference in the numbers of Lin−c-kit+Sca-1− hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) between KO and control mice. Genetic disruption of Gfi-1 disruption in HSCs caused increased cell cycle activity – an effect that is diametrically opposite of the effect of Gabpa KO; this suggests that the effect of Gabpa on HSCs is not due to its control of Gfi-1. In contrast, Gabpa KO HSCs exhibited a marked decrease in cell cycle activity, but did not demonstrate increased apoptosis. The defects in S phase entry of Gabpa null HSCs are reminiscent of the cell cycle defects in Gabpa null fibroblasts, in which expression of Skp2 E3 ubiquitin ligase, which controls degradation of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs) p21 and p27, was markedly reduced following Gabpa disruption. We showed that Gabpa KO cells express reduced levels of Skp2. We propose that GABP controls self-renewal and proliferation of mouse bone marrow stem and progenitor cells, in part, through its regulation of Skp2. Thus, Gabpa is a key regulator of myeloid differentiation through its control of Gfi-1, but it is required for cell cycle activity of HSCs, by a distinct effect that may be due to its control of Skp2 and CDKIs. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

GABP is an ets transcription factor that regulates genes that are required for myeloid differentiation. The tetrameric GABP complex includes GABPα, which binds DNA via its ets domain, and GABPβ, which contains the transcription activation domain. To examine the role of GABP in myeloid differentiation, we generated mice in which Gabpa can be conditionally deleted in hematopoietic tissues. Gabpa knockout mice rapidly lost myeloid cells, and residual myeloid cells were dysplastic and immunophenotypically abnormal. Bone marrow transplantation demonstrated that Gabpα null cells could not contribute to the myeloid compartment because of cell intrinsic defects. Disruption of Gabpa was associated with a marked reduction in myeloid progenitor cells, and Gabpα null myeloid cells express reduced levels of the transcriptional repressor, Gfi-1. Gabp bound and activated the Gfi1 promoter, and transduction of Gabpa knockout bone marrow with Gfi1 partially rescued defects in myeloid colony formation and myeloid differentiation. We conclude that Gabp is required for myeloid differentiation due, in part, to its regulation of the tran-scriptional repressor Gfi-1.