Robust erythroid differentiation system for rhesus hematopoietic progenitor cells allowing preclinical screening of genetic treatment strategies for the hemoglobinopathies

Background aims. gamma-globin expression can be induced by various gene modification strategies, which could be beneficial for hemoglobin (Hb) disorders. To translate promising ideas into clinics, large animal models have proven valuable to evaluate safety and efficacy of the approaches; however, in vitro erythroid differentiation methods have not been established to determine whether they can be modeled in nonhuman primates. Methods. We optimized erythroid differentiation culture to produce high-level adult Hb from rhesus hematopoietic progenitor cells by using low (LC) or high cytokine concentration (HC) protocols with or without feeder cells. In addition, we established rhesus globin protein analysis using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Results. Robust adult Hb production at protein levels was observed in the LC protocol when feeder cells were used, whereas the HC protocol resulted in higher baseline fetal Hb levels (P < 0.01). We then compared lentiviral transduction of rhesus cells between serum-containing LC media and serum-free StemSpan-based differentiation media, revealing 100-fold more efficient transduction in serum-free differentiation media (P < 0.01). Finally, rhesus CD34(+) cells were transduced with lentiviral vectors encoding artificial zinc finger proteins (ZF-Ldb 1), which can reactivate gamma-globin expression via tethering the transcriptional co-regulator Ldb 1 to gamma-globin promoters, and were differentiated in the optimized erythroid differentiation method. This resulted in marked increases of gamma-globin levels compared with control groups (P < 0.01). Discussion. In conclusion, we developed an efficient rhesus erythroid differentiation protocol from hematopoietic progenitor cells with low fetal and high adult Hb production. Further studies are warranted to optimize gene modification and transplantation of rhesus hematopoietic progenitor cells.