Bone marrow monocyte/macrophage patterns could be specific for patients with myelofibrosis (MF) and other hematologic entities, according to a study recently published in Annals of Hematology.
“Transcriptome sequencing of monocytes/macrophages in PV, ET, and PMF also showed relatively specific transcriptional profiles of monocytes/macrophages in these 3 types of MPN, which suggests that monocyte/macrophage-mediated immune remodeling of different subtypes of MPN may also plays a role in MPN,” the authors wrote.
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This observational study included a total of 42 patients with primary MF, as well as subjects with other diseases associated with the JAK2-V617F mutation, such as essential thrombocytosis (ET) and polycythemia vera (PV) with 131 and 85 patients of each group, respectively.
The first important finding was that patients with either 1 of the neoplasms had a greater proportion of CD163+ or CD14+CD16+ monocytes/macrophages in their bone marrow aspirates.
The percentage of CD163+ monocytes/macrophages showcased a negative correlation with both HGB and PLT in patients with MF. On the other hand, participants with ET and PV did have a positive association between CD163+ monocytes/macrophages and PLT or HGB, respectively.
Moreover, clinical phenotypes of MF had higher CD14+CD16+ monocytes/macrophages. Further analysis reported that transcriptional expressions of monocytes/macrophages demonstrate a characteristic pattern in MF.
The researchers identified that monocytes/macrophages in the bone marrow play a key role in inflammation, subsequently promoting myelofibrosis. These findings suggest that monocytes/macrophages and their transcriptional variations could mediate the emergence and progression of hematologic neoplasms such as MF.
“In this study, we found that the expression of SLAMF7 in monocytes/macrophages increase significantly in the BM of PMF patients with the JAK2V617F mutation and confirmed that SLAMF7 could be a new therapeutic target for PMF,” the authors highlighted.
These results should promote further investigation of these immunological bases of MF. For example, monocytes/macrophages single-cell sequencing could yield more information on MF’s pathophysiological and therapeutic aspects.
Reference
Fan W, Cao W, Shi J, et al. Contributions of bone marrow monocytes/macrophages in myeloproliferative neoplasms with JAK2V617F mutation. Ann Hematol. Published online May 26, 2023. doi:10.1007/s00277-023-05284-5
