Absence of a red blood cell phenotype in mice with hematopoietic deficiency of SEC23B

Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II (CDAII) is an autosomal recessive disease of ineffective erythropoiesis characterized by increased bi/multinucleated erythroid precursors in the bone marrow. CDAII results from mutations in SEC23B. The SEC23 protein is a core component of coat protein complex II-coated vesicles, which transport secretory proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus. Though the genetic defect underlying CDAII has been identified, the pathophysiology of this disease remains unknown. We previously reported that SEC23B-deficient mice die perinatally, exhibiting massive pancreatic degeneration, with this early mortality limiting evaluation of the adult hematopoietic compartment. We now report that mice with SEC23B deficiency restricted to the hematopoietic compartment survive normally and do not exhibit anemia or other CDAII characteristics. We also demonstrate that SEC23B-deficient hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) do not exhibit a disadvantage at reconstituting hematopoiesis when compared directly to wild-type HSC in a competitive repopulation assay. Secondary bone marrow transplants demonstrated continued equivalence of SEC23B-deficient and WT HSC in their hematopoietic reconstitution potential. The surprising discordance in phenotypes between SEC23B-deficient mice and humans may reflect an evolutionary shift in SEC23 paralog function and/or expression, or a change in a specific COPII cargo critical for erythropoiesis.