Unexpected redundancy of Gpr56 and Gpr97 during hematopoietic cell development and differentiation

Integrated molecular signals regulate cell fate during embryonic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) generation. The G-protein coupled receptor 56 (Gpr56) is the most highly-upregulated receptor gene in cells that take on hematopoietic fate and it is expressed by adult bone marrow HSCs. Although Gpr56 is required for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HS/PC) generation in zebrafish embryos, its function in mammalian hematopoiesis remains unclear. Here we examine the role of Gpr56 in HS/PC development in Gpr56 conditional knockout (cKO) mouse embryos and Gpr knockout (KO) embryonic stem cell (ESC) hematopoietic differentiation cultures. Our results show a myeloid bias of Gpr56 cKO fetal liver HSCs and an increased definitive myeloid progenitor cell frequency in Gpr56KO ESC differentiation cultures. Surprisingly, we find that mouse Gpr97 rescues Gpr56 morphant zebrafish hematopoietic generation, and that Gpr97 expression is upregulated in mouse Gpr56 deletion models. When both Gpr56 and Gpr97 are deleted in ESCs, no/few HS/PCs are generated upon ESC differentiation. Together, our results reveal novel and redundant functions for these two G-protein coupled receptors in normal mammalian hematopoietic cell development and differentiation.