Objective
Clastogenic injury of the erythroid lineage results in anemia, reticulocytopenia, and transient appearance of micronucleated reticulocytes (MN-RET). However, the MN-RET dose-response in murine models is only linear to 2 Gy total body irradiation (TBI) and paradoxically decreases at higher exposures, suggesting complex radiation effects on erythroid intermediates. To better understand this phenomenon, we investigated the kinetics and apoptotic response of the erythron to sublethal radiation injury.
Materials and Methods
We analyzed the response to 1 and 4 Gy TBI of erythroid progenitors and precursors using colony assays and imaging flow cytometry (IFC), respectively. We also investigated cell cycling and apoptotic gene expression of the steady-state erythron.
Results
Following 1 Gy TBI, erythroid progenitors and precursors were partially depleted. In contrast, essentially all bone marrow erythroid progenitors and precursors were lost within two days following 4 Gy irradiation. IFC analysis revealed preferential loss of phenotypic erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E) and proerythroblasts immediately following sublethal irradiation. Furthermore, these populations underwent radiation-induced apoptosis, without changes in steady-state cellular proliferation, at much higher frequencies than later-stage erythroid precursors. Primary erythroid precursor maturation is associated with marked Bcl-xL upregulation and Bax and Bid down-regulation.
Conclusions
MN-RET loss following higher sublethal radiation exposures results from rapid depletion of erythroid progenitors and precursors. This injury reveals that CFU-E and proerythroblasts constitute a particularly proapoptotic compartment within the erythron. We conclude that the functional transition of primary proerythroblasts to later-stage erythroid precursors is characterized by a shift from a pro-apoptotic to an anti-apoptotic phenotype.