SMAD4 binds HOXA9 in the cytoplasm and protects primitive hematopoietic cells against nuclear activation by HOXA9 and leukemia transformation.
We studied leukemic stem cells (LSCs) in a Smad4(-/-) mouse model of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) induced either by the HOXA9 gene or by the fusion oncogene NUP98-HOXA9. While HOXA9-SMAD4 complexes accumulate in the cytoplasm of normal hematopoietic stem- and progenitor cells (HSPCs) transduced with these oncogenes, there is no cytoplasmic accumulation of HOXA9 in Smad4(-/-) HSPCs and as a con