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Ker-050, a Novel Inhibitor of Tgfβ Superfamily Signaling, Induces Red Blood Cell Production By Promoting Multiple Stages of Erythroid Differentiation
▪ Diseases such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myelofibrosis (MF) are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis resulting in one or multiple cytopenias. Disease-causing defects occur across multiple cell lineages and stages of hematopoiesis, making development of an effective treatment for a...
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| Published in: | Blood 2020-11, Vol.136 (Supplement 1), p.34-34 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Citations: | Items that cite this one |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | ▪
Diseases such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myelofibrosis (MF) are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis resulting in one or multiple cytopenias. Disease-causing defects occur across multiple cell lineages and stages of hematopoiesis, making development of an effective treatment for all patients challenging. Current treatment options to address anemia in these diseases target discreet stages in erythropoiesis, whereas defects leading to ineffective hematopoiesis can occur throughout the pathway. Therefore, a treatment that more globally modulates hematopoiesis has the potential to treat broad patient groups.
The TGFβ superfamily plays a key role in regulating hematopoiesis; as signaling via SMAD2/3 activation results in cell quiescence, inhibiting precursors from progressing through later stages of hematopoiesis. KER-050, a modified ActRIIA ligand trap, promotes hematopoiesis through inhibition of ligands that signal though SMAD2/3, including activins and GDFs. In a Phase 1 clinical study, administration of KER-050 to healthy volunteers led to robust, rapid and sustained increases in red blood cells (RBCs), hemoglobin (HGB) and platelets, supporting an effect on the multiple stages of hematopoiesis.
Here, we characterize the time course of KER-050-mediated effects on RBC production and changes in erythroid precursor cell populations in mice to characterize the mechanism of action of KER-050 on erythropoiesis. Mice treated with a single dose of a research form of KER-050 (RKER-050, 10mg/kg) had increased RBCs, HGB and hematocrit (HCT) (+8%, +9%, +7%, respectively) 12 hours after administration compared to vehicle-treated mice (VEH), and this effect was further increased on Day 7. There was also a reduction in the number of enucleated erythroid cells in the bone marrow and a parallel increase in the percent of immature reticulocytes (RET) in peripheral blood, suggesting an increased outflux of RET into circulation. This observation is consistent with RKER-050 promoting the maturation of late stage erythroid precursors leading to increases in RBCs, HGB and HCT as early as 12 hours post treatment and remaining 14 days post a single dose.
In studies evaluating the effect of RKER-050 on bone marrow erythroid progenitors, a 2-fold increase in late orthochromatic erythroblasts/RETs (EryC) at Days 2 and 7 post-dose was observed. These data are consistent with RKER-050 promoting maturation and release of late-stage erythroid precursors into circulatio |
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| ISSN: | 0006-4971 1528-0020 |
| DOI: | 10.1182/blood-2020-140364 |