Specific patterns of H3K79 methylation influence genetic interaction of oncogenes in AML

The emerging role of DOT1L in cell proliferation and differentiation: Friend or foe

Cell proliferation and differentiation are the basic physiological activities of cells. Mistakes in these processes may affect cell survival, or cause cell cycle dysregulation, such as tumorigenesis, birth defects and degenerative diseases. In recent years, it has been found that histone methyltransferase DOT1L is the only H3 lysine 79 methyltransferase, which plays an important role in the process of cell fate determination through monomethylation, dimethylation and trimethylation of H3K79. DOT1L has a pro-proliferative effect in leukemia cells; however, loss of heart-specific DOT1L leads to increased proliferation of cardiac tissue. Additionally, DOT1L has carcinogenic or tumor suppressive effects in different neoplasms. At present, some DOT1L inhibitors for the treatment of MLL-driven leukemia have achieved promising results in clinical trials, but completely blocking DOT1L will also bring some side effects. Thus, this uncertainty suggests that DOT1L has a unique function in cell physiology. In this review, we summarize the primary findings of DOT1L in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation. Correlations between DOT1L and cell fate specification might suggest DOT1L as a therapeutic target for diseases.

Integrative phosphoproteomics defines two biologically distinct groups of KMT2A rearranged acute myeloid leukaemia with different drug response phenotypes

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients harbouring certain chromosome abnormalities have particularly adverse prognosis. For these patients, targeted therapies have not yet made a significant clinical impact. To understand the molecular landscape of poor prognosis AML we profiled 74 patients from two different centres (in UK and Finland) at the proteomic, phosphoproteomic and drug response phenotypic levels. These data were complemented with transcriptomics analysis for 39 cases. Data integration highlighted a phosphoproteomics signature that define two biologically distinct groups of KMT2A rearranged leukaemia, which we term MLLGA and MLLGB. MLLGA presented increased DOT1L phosphorylation, HOXA gene expression, CDK1 activity and phosphorylation of proteins involved in RNA metabolism, replication and DNA damage when compared to MLLGB and no KMT2A rearranged samples. MLLGA was particularly sensitive to 15 compounds including genotoxic drugs and inhibitors of mitotic kinases and inosine-5-monosphosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) relative to other cases. Intermediate-risk KMT2A-MLLT3 cases were mainly represented in a third group closer to MLLGA than to MLLGB. The expression of IMPDH2 and multiple nucleolar proteins was higher in MLLGA and correlated with the response to IMPDH inhibition in KMT2A rearranged leukaemia, suggesting a role of the nucleolar activity in sensitivity to treatment. In summary, our multilayer molecular profiling of AML with poor prognosis and KMT2A-MLLT3 karyotypes identified a phosphoproteomics signature that defines two biologically and phenotypically distinct groups of KMT2A rearranged leukaemia. These data provide a rationale for the potential development of specific therapies for AML patients characterised by the MLLGA phosphoproteomics signature identified in this study.

The role of the PZP domain of AF10 in acute leukemia driven by AF10 translocations

Chromosomal translocations of the AF10 (or MLLT10) gene are frequently found in acute leukemias. Here, we show that the PZP domain of AF10 (AF10_PZP), which is consistently impaired or deleted in leukemogenic AF10 translocations, plays a critical role in blocking malignant transformation. Incorporation of functional AF10_PZP into the leukemogenic CALM-AF10 fusion prevents the transforming activity of the fusion in bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in vitro and in vivo and abrogates CALM-AF10-mediated leukemogenesis in vivo. Crystallographic, biochemical and mutagenesis studies reveal that AF10_PZP binds to the nucleosome core particle through multivalent contacts with the histone H3 tail and DNA and associates with chromatin in cells, colocalizing with active methylation marks and discriminating against the repressive H3K27me3 mark. AF10_PZP promotes nuclear localization of CALM-AF10 and is required for association with chromatin. Our data indicate that the disruption of AF10_PZP function in the CALM-AF10 fusion directly leads to transformation, whereas the inclusion of AF10_PZP downregulates Hoxa genes and reverses cellular transformation. Our findings highlight the molecular mechanism by which AF10 targets chromatin and suggest a model for the AF10_PZP-dependent CALM-AF10-mediated leukemogenesis.