MYB silencing in CD14-myeloblasts

The c-Myb transcription factor is highly expressed in immature hematopoietic cells and down-regulated during differentiation. To define the role of c-Myb during the terminal differentiation of hematopoietic precursors, we studied the effects of its silencing in human primary CD14-myeloblasts, which maintain a granulo-monocyte differentiation bipotentiality. c-Myb-silenced myeloblasts were blocked in the G1 phase of the cell cycle at 24 hours post-nucleofection and subsequently were forced towards macrophage differentiation, as demonstrated by immunophenotypic and morphological analysis. Indeed, c-Myb-silenced CD14- cells differentiate to macrophage even after the treatment with ATRA 10-6 M, demonstrating that the c-Myb knockdown strongly impairs the ability of myeloblasts to differentiate to granulocytes. Gene expression profiling of c-Myb-silenced CD14- cells identified some potential c-Myb targets that can account for these effects. To maximize siRNA transfection efficiency, we utilized the NucleofectorTM technology (Amaxa). CD14- cells were transfected with a mixture of 3 siRNAs targeting c-Myb mRNA, with a non-targeting siRNA as a negative control (NegCTR) and without siRNA (MOCK). c-Myb siRNAs were transfected at days 1 to 3 after the CD14- myeloblasts purification based on the observation that this timing represented a phase of phisiological increase in c-Myb expression in myeloblasts. Western Blot analysis at 24 hours post-nucleofection demonstrated the c-Myb protein knockdown in MYBsiRNA CD14- cells as compared with control samples (MOCK, NegCTR).