Development of phenotypic screening assays for γ-globin induction using primary human bone marrow day 7 erythroid progenitor cells.
Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a genetic disorder of the β-globin gene. SCA results in chronic ischemia with pain and tissue injury. The extent of SCA symptoms can be ameliorated by treatment with drugs, which result in increasing the levels of γ-globin in patient red blood cells. Hydroxyurea (HU) is a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for SCA, but it has dose-limiting toxicity, and patients exhibit highly variable treatment responses. To identify compounds that may lead to the development of better and safer medicines, we have established a method using primary human bone marrow day 7 erythroid progenitor cells (EPCs) to screen for compounds that induce γ-globin production. First, human marrow CD34(+) cells were cultured and expanded for 7 days and characterized for the expression of erythroid differentiation markers (CD71, CD36, and CD235a). Second, fresh or cryopreserved EPCs were treated with compounds for 3 days in 384-well plates followed by γ-globin quantification by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which was validated using HU and decitabine. From the 7408 compounds screened, we identified at least one new compound with confirmed γ-globin-inducing activity. Hits are undergoing analysis in secondary assays. In this article, we describe the method of generating fit-for-purpose EPCs; the development, optimization, and validation of the ELISA and secondary assays for γ-globin detection; and screening results.
['Li|Hu|H|', 'Xie|Wensheng|W|', 'Gore|Elizabeth R|ER|', 'Montoute|Monica N|MN|', 'Bee|Weilin Tiger|WT|', 'Zappacosta|Francesca|F|', 'Zeng|Xin|X|', 'Wu|Zining|Z|', 'Kallal|Lorena|L|', 'Ames|Robert S|RS|', 'Pope|Andrew J|AJ|', 'Benowitz|Andrew|A|', 'Erickson-Miller|Connie L|CL|']
D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell D001374:Azacitidine D001854:Bone Marrow Cells D020148:Butyric Acid D002470:Cell Survival D015254:DNA Modification Methylases D000077209:Decitabine D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic D015672:Erythroid Precursor Cells D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors D006801:Humans D061251:Primary Cell Culture D015533:Transcriptional Activation D055545:gamma-Globins
phenotypic screen γ-globin sickle cell anemia hydroxyurea (HU) ELISA decitabine fetal hemoglobin (HbF)