Fbxw11 impairs the repopulation capacity of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells

BACKGROUND: The ubiquitin–proteasome system plays important roles in maintaining the self-renewal and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells through highly ordered degradation of cellular proteins. Fbxw11, an E3 ligase, participates in many important biological processes by targeting a broad range of proteins. However, its roles in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) have not been established. METHODS: In this study, the effects of Fbxw11 on HSPCs were studied in vitro and in vivo by an overexpression strategy. Real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of Fbxw11 in hematopoietic subpopulations. Colony-forming assays were performed to evaluate the in vitro function of Fbxw11 on HSPCs. Hoechst 33342 and Ki67 staining was performed to determine the cell-cycle distribution of HSPCs. Competitive transplantation experiments were used to evaluate the effect of Fbxw11 on the reconstitution potential of HSPCs. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was employed to reveal the transcriptomic alterations in HSPCs. RESULTS: The expression of Fbxw11 was higher in Lin(−)c-Kit(+)Sca-1(+) (LSK) cells and myeloid progenitors than in lymphoid progenitors. Fbxw11 played negative roles in colony-forming and quiescence maintenance of HSPCs in vitro. Furthermore, serial competitive transplantation experiments revealed that Fbxw11 impaired the repopulation capacity of HSPCs. The proportion of granulocytes (Gr-1(+)CD11b(+)) in the differentiated mature cells was significantly higher than that in the control group, T cells and B cells were lower. Moreover, scRNA-seq revealed seven cell clusters in HSPCs. In addition, Fbxw11 downregulated the expression of Cebpa, Myc and Arid5b, which are significant regulators of HSPC activity, in most cell clusters. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that Fbxw11 plays a negative role in the maintenance of HSPCs in vitro and repopulation capacity in vivo. Our data also provide valuable transcriptome references for HSPCs in homeostasis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-022-02926-9.