Impaired growth and elevated Fas receptor expression in PIGA+ stem cells in primary paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

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Abstract
The genetic defect underlying paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) has been shown to reside in PIGA, a gene that encodes an element required for the first step in glycophosphatidylinositol anchor assembly. Why PIGA-mutated cells are able to expand in PNH marrow, however, is as yet unclear. To address this question, we compared the growth of affected CD59–CD34+ and unaffected CD59+CD34+ cells from patients with that of normal CD59+CD34+ cells in liquid culture. One hundred FACS-sorted cells were added per well into microtiter plates, and after 11 days at 37°C the progeny were counted and were analyzed for their differentiation pattern. We found that CD59–CD34+ cells from PNH patients proliferated to levels approaching those of normal cells, but that CD59+CD34+ cells from the patients gave rise to 20- to 140-fold fewer cells. Prior to sorting, the patients’ CD59– and CD59+CD34+ cells were equivalent with respect to early differentiation markers, and following culture, the CD45 differentiation patterns were identical to those of control CD34+ cells. Further analyses of the unsorted CD59+CD34+ population, however, showed elevated levels of Fas receptor. Addition of agonist anti-Fas mAb to cultures reduced the CD59+CD34+ cell yield by up to 78% but had a minimal effect on the CD59–CD34+ cells, whereas antagonist anti-Fas mAb enhanced the yield by up to 250%. These results suggest that expansion of PIGA-mutated cells in PNH marrow is due to a growth defect in nonmutated cells, and that greater susceptibility to apoptosis is one factor involved in the growth impairment.