NUP98-HOXD13 transgenic mice develop a highly penetrant, severe myelodysplastic syndrome that progresses to acute leukemia

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a group of clonal hematopoietic stem-cell disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis and dysplasia. A wide spectrum of genetic aberrations has been associated with MDS, including chromosomal translocations involving the NUP98 gene. Using a NUP98-HOXD13 fusion gene, we have developed a mouse model that faithfully recapitulates all of the key features of MDS, including peripheral blood cytopenias, bone marrow dysplasia, and apoptosis, and transformation to acute leukemia. The MDS that develops in NUP98-HOXD13 transgenic mice is uniformly fatal. Within 14 months, all of the mice died of either leukemic transformation or severe anemia and leucopenia as a result of progressive MDS. The NUP98-HOXD13 fusion gene inhibits megakaryo cytic differentiation and increases apoptosis in the bone marrow, suggesting a mechanism leading to ineffective hematopoiesis in the presence of a hypercellular bone marrow. These mice provide an accurate preclinical model that can be used for the evaluation of MDS therapy and biology.