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Somatic mutations that increase the fitness of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) drive their expansion in clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and predispose individuals to blood cancers. Population variation in the growth rate and potential of mutant clones suggests that genetic factors may confer resilience against CH. Here, we identified a noncoding regulatory variant, rs17834140-T, that protects against CH and myeloid malignancies by selectively down-regulating the RNA-binding protein MSI2 in HSCs. By modeling variant effects and mapping MSI2 binding targets, we uncovered an RNA network that maintains human HSCs and influences CH risk. Variant rs17834140-T was associated with slower CH expansion, and stem cell MSI2 levels modified ASXL1 -mutant HSC clonal dominance. These findings leverage natural resilience to illuminate posttranscriptional regulation in human HSCs, suggesting that inhibition of MSI2 or its targets could be rational strategies for blood cancer prevention.
Agarwal et al. (Thu,) studied this question.