Myeloproliferative Disease in Mice with Reduced Presenilin Gene Dosage: Effect of γ-Secretase Blockage

Mammalian presenilins (PS) consist of two highly homologous proteins, PS1 and PS2. Because of their indispensable activity in the γ-secretase cleavage of amyloid precursor protein to generate Aβ peptides, inhibition of PS γ-secretase activity is considered a potential therapy for Aβ blockage and Alzheimer's disease intervention. However, a variety of other substrates are also subject to PS-dependent processing, and it is thus imperative to understand the consequences of PS inactivation in vivo. Here we report a pivotal role of PS in hematopoiesis. Mice heterozygous for PS1 and homozygous for PS2 (PS1^+/-PS2^-/-) developed splenomegaly with severe granulocyte infiltration. This was preceded by an overrepresentation of granulocytic cells in the bone marrow and a greatly increased multipotent granulocyte-monocyte progenitor in the spleen. In contrast, hematopoietic stem cells and T- and B-lymphocytes were not affected. Importantly, treatment of wild-type splenocytes with a γ-secretase inhibitor directly promoted the granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming unit (GM-CFU). These results establish a critical role of PS in myelopoiesis. Our finding that this activity can be directly modulated by its γ-secretase activity has important safety implications concerning these inhibitors.