Distinct Roles of Integrins α6 and α4 in Fetal Liver Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Homing

During development and after transplantation, intravenously injected hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) selectively transmigrate through the sinusoidal walls into the bone marrow (BM) niches to engraft and reconstitute hematopoiesis. The rate of reconstitution following transplantation varies depending on the source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) (To, et al 1992). However, the molecular pathways that control the homing of HSCs, in particular, of fetal HSCs are still not well understood. In the present study we studied the contribution of α6 and α4 integrins in homing of fetal liver HSPCs into adult BM by using function-blocking antibodies and an integrin α6 knockout mouse model. We found an ubiquitous expression of both integrin α6 and α4 receptors on fetal liver Lin−Sca-1+c-kit+ (LSK) HSPCs. Genetic ablation of integrin α6 resulted in reduced homing of fetal liver progenitors (HPCs) to BM of lethally irradiated adult recipients. In agreement with this, the integrin α6 antibody inhibited homing of fetal liver HPCs into BM and spleen. The role of integrin a6 in homing and engraftment of fetal liver HSCs was studied by a competitive repopulation assay by using integrin α6−/− or α6+/+ fetal liver cells. Absence of α6 integrin in fetal liver cells did not cause any engraftment defect or mobilization hypersensitivity as compared to wild-type cells. In agreement with this, anti-integrin α6 antibody did not either inhibit BM homing of short-term or long-term HSCs. In contrast, homing of fetal liver HSCs and HPCs to BM was virtually abrogated after treatment with integrin α4 antibody. Our results show that the α6 integrin receptors are functional during homing of fetal liver HPCs, but not multilineage repopulating HSC in vivo. Furthermore, we show the critical role of integrin α4 receptor for homing of both fetal liver HPCs and multilineage repopulating HSCs to BM, indicating distinct developmentally regulated functions for integrin α6 and α4 receptors during fetal hematopoiesis