TRIB2 regulates normal and stress-induced thymocyte proliferation

TRIB2, a serine/threonine pseudokinase identified as an oncogene, is expressed at high levels in the T-cell compartment of hematopoiesis. The proliferation of developing thymocytes is tightly controlled to prevent leukemic transformation of T cells. Here we examine Trib2 loss in murine hematopoiesis under steady state and proliferative stress conditions, including genotoxic and oncogenic stress. Trib2^-/- developing thymocytes show increased proliferation, and Trib2^-/- mice have significantly higher thymic cellularity at steady state. During stress hematopoiesis, Trib2^-/- developing thymocytes undergo accelerated proliferation and demonstrate hypersensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced cell death. Despite the increased cell death post 5-FU-induced proliferative stress, Trib2^-/- mice exhibit accelerated thymopoietic recovery post treatment due to increased cell division kinetics of developing thymocytes. The increased proliferation in Trib2^-/- thymocytes was exacerbated under oncogenic stress. In an experimental murine T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) model, Trib2^-/- mice had reduced latency in vivo, which associated with impaired MAP kinase (MAPK) activation. High and low expression levels of Trib2 correlate with immature and mature subtypes of human T-ALL, respectively, and associate with MAPK. Thus, TRIB2 emerges as a novel regulator of thymocyte cellular proliferation, important for the thymopoietic response to genotoxic and oncogenic stress, and possessing tumor suppressor function.