1
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Calbert ML, Chandramouly G, Adams CM, Saez-Ayala M, Kent T, Tyagi M, Ayyadevara VSSA, Wang Y, Krais JJ, Gordon J, Atkins J, Toma MM, Betzi S, Boghossian AS, Rees MG, Ronan MM, Roth JA, Goldman AR, Gorman N, Mitra R, Childers WE, Graña X, Skorski T, Johnson N, Hurtz C, Morelli X, Eischen CM, Pomerantz RT. 4'-Ethynyl-2'-Deoxycytidine (EdC) Preferentially Targets Lymphoma and Leukemia Subtypes by Inducing Replicative Stress. Mol Cancer Ther 2023:731652. [PMID: 38064712 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-23-0487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Anticancer nucleosides are effective against solid tumors and hematological malignancies, but typically are prone to nucleoside metabolism resistance mechanisms. Using a nucleoside-specific multiplexed high-throughput screening approach, we discovered 4'-ethynyl-2'-deoxycytidine (EdC) as a third-generation anticancer nucleoside prodrug with preferential activity against diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). EdC requires deoxycytidine kinase (DCK) phosphorylation for its activity and induced replication fork arrest and accumulation of cells in S-phase, indicating it acts as a chain terminator. A 2.1Å co-crystal structure of DCK bound to EdC and UDP reveals how the rigid 4'-alkyne of EdC fits within the active site of DCK. Remarkably, EdC was resistant to cytidine deamination and SAMHD1 metabolism mechanisms and exhibited higher potency against ALL compared to FDA approved nelarabine. Finally, EdC was highly effective against DLBCL tumors and B-ALL in vivo. These data characterize EdC as a pre-clinical nucleoside prodrug candidate for DLBCL and ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Clare M Adams
- Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Yifan Wang
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States
| | - John J Krais
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - John Gordon
- Temple University School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, United States
| | - Jessica Atkins
- Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | | | - Stéphane Betzi
- Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille, Marseille, France
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Nicole Gorman
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | | | - Wayne E Childers
- Temple University School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Xavier Graña
- Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Tomasz Skorski
- Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Neil Johnson
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States
| | | | - Xavier Morelli
- Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille, Marseille, France
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2
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Sit YT, Takasaki K, An HH, Xiao Y, Hurtz C, Gearhart PA, Zhang Z, Gadue P, French DL, Chou ST. Synergistic roles of DYRK1A and GATA1 in trisomy 21 megakaryopoiesis. JCI Insight 2023; 8:e172851. [PMID: 37906251 PMCID: PMC10895998 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.172851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Patients with Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21 (T21), are at increased risk of transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) and acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (ML-DS). Both TAM and ML-DS require prenatal somatic mutations in GATA1, resulting in the truncated isoform GATA1s. The mechanism by which individual chromosome 21 (HSA21) genes synergize with GATA1s for leukemic transformation is challenging to study, in part due to limited human cell models with wild-type GATA1 (wtGATA1) or GATA1s. HSA21-encoded DYRK1A is overexpressed in ML-DS and may be a therapeutic target. To determine how DYRK1A influences hematopoiesis in concert with GATA1s, we used gene editing to disrupt all 3 alleles of DYRK1A in isogenic T21 induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with and without the GATA1s mutation. Unexpectedly, hematopoietic differentiation revealed that DYRK1A loss combined with GATA1s leads to increased megakaryocyte proliferation and decreased maturation. This proliferative phenotype was associated with upregulation of D-type cyclins and hyperphosphorylation of Rb to allow E2F release and derepression of its downstream targets. Notably, DYRK1A loss had no effect in T21 iPSCs or megakaryocytes with wtGATA1. These surprising results suggest that DYRK1A and GATA1 may synergistically restrain megakaryocyte proliferation in T21 and that DYRK1A inhibition may not be a therapeutic option for GATA1s-associated leukemias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Ting Sit
- Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kaoru Takasaki
- Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Hyun Hyung An
- Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Yan Xiao
- Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Fels Cancer Institute for Personalized Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Peter A Gearhart
- Deparment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and
| | - Paul Gadue
- Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Deborah L French
- Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Stella T Chou
- Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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3
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Kumar A, Taghi Khani A, Duault C, Aramburo S, Sanchez Ortiz A, Lee SJ, Chan A, McDonald T, Huang M, Lacayo NJ, Sakamoto KM, Yu J, Hurtz C, Carroll M, Tasian SK, Ghoda L, Marcucci G, Gu Z, Rosen ST, Armenian S, Izraeli S, Chen CW, Caligiuri MA, Forman SJ, Maecker HT, Swaminathan S. Intrinsic suppression of type I interferon production underlies the therapeutic efficacy of IL-15-producing natural killer cells in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Immunother Cancer 2023; 11:jitc-2022-006649. [PMID: 37217248 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2022-006649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Type I interferons (IFN-Is), secreted by hematopoietic cells, drive immune surveillance of solid tumors. However, the mechanisms of suppression of IFN-I-driven immune responses in hematopoietic malignancies including B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) are unknown. METHODS Using high-dimensional cytometry, we delineate the defects in IFN-I production and IFN-I-driven immune responses in high-grade primary human and mouse B-ALLs. We develop natural killer (NK) cells as therapies to counter the intrinsic suppression of IFN-I production in B-ALL. RESULTS We find that high expression of IFN-I signaling genes predicts favorable clinical outcome in patients with B-ALL, underscoring the importance of the IFN-I pathway in this malignancy. We show that human and mouse B-ALL microenvironments harbor an intrinsic defect in paracrine (plasmacytoid dendritic cell) and/or autocrine (B-cell) IFN-I production and IFN-I-driven immune responses. Reduced IFN-I production is sufficient for suppressing the immune system and promoting leukemia development in mice prone to MYC-driven B-ALL. Among anti-leukemia immune subsets, suppression of IFN-I production most markedly lowers the transcription of IL-15 and reduces NK-cell number and effector maturation in B-ALL microenvironments. Adoptive transfer of healthy NK cells significantly prolongs survival of overt ALL-bearing transgenic mice. Administration of IFN-Is to B-ALL-prone mice reduces leukemia progression and increases the frequencies of total NK and NK-cell effectors in circulation. Ex vivo treatment of malignant and non-malignant immune cells in primary mouse B-ALL microenvironments with IFN-Is fully restores proximal IFN-I signaling and partially restores IL-15 production. In B-ALL patients, the suppression of IL-15 is the most severe in difficult-to-treat subtypes with MYC overexpression. MYC overexpression promotes sensitivity of B-ALL to NK cell-mediated killing. To counter the suppressed IFN-I-induced IL-15 production in MYChigh human B-ALL, we CRISPRa-engineered a novel human NK-cell line that secretes IL-15. CRISPRa IL-15-secreting human NK cells kill high-grade human B-ALL in vitro and block leukemia progression in vivo more effectively than NK cells that do not produce IL-15. CONCLUSION We find that restoration of the intrinsically suppressed IFN-I production in B-ALL underlies the therapeutic efficacy of IL-15-producing NK cells and that such NK cells represent an attractive therapeutic solution for the problem of drugging MYC in high-grade B-ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anil Kumar
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Adeleh Taghi Khani
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Caroline Duault
- The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC), Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Soraya Aramburo
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Ashly Sanchez Ortiz
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Sung June Lee
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Anthony Chan
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Tinisha McDonald
- The Hematopoietic Tissue Biorepository/Research Pathology Shared Resources, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Min Huang
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Norman J Lacayo
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Kathleen M Sakamoto
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Jianhua Yu
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Cancer and Cellular Biology, Fels Cancer Institute for Personalized Medicine Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Martin Carroll
- Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Sarah K Tasian
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Oncology, The Children's Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Lucy Ghoda
- Hematological Malignancies Translational Science, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Guido Marcucci
- The Hematopoietic Tissue Biorepository/Research Pathology Shared Resources, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA
- Hematological Malignancies Translational Science, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Zhaohui Gu
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Steven T Rosen
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Saro Armenian
- Department of Pediatrics, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Shai Izraeli
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
- Hematology-Oncology Department, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Chun-Wei Chen
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
| | - Michael A Caligiuri
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Stephen J Forman
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Holden T Maecker
- The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC), Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Srividya Swaminathan
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Monrovia, California, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA
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4
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Alzobi M, Hurtz C, Mehta H, Thomas S, Corey SJ. B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia in an adolescent with Dravet syndrome. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2023:e30340. [PMID: 37073671 DOI: 10.1002/pbc.30340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Alzobi
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Stem Cell Transplantation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Jordan University of Science and Technology, College of Medicine, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Fels Cancer Institute for Personalized Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Hrishikesh Mehta
- Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Stefanie Thomas
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Stem Cell Transplantation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Seth J Corey
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Stem Cell Transplantation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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5
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Duault C, Kumar A, Taghi Khani A, Lee SJ, Yang L, Huang M, Hurtz C, Manning B, Ghoda L, McDonald T, Lacayo NJ, Sakamoto KM, Carroll M, Tasian SK, Marcucci G, Yu J, Caligiuri MA, Maecker HT, Swaminathan S. Activated natural killer cells predict poor clinical prognosis in high-risk B- and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood 2021; 138:1465-1480. [PMID: 34077953 PMCID: PMC8532198 DOI: 10.1182/blood.2020009871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
B- and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B/T-ALL) may be refractory or recur after therapy by suppressing host anticancer immune surveillance mediated specifically by natural killer (NK) cells. We delineated the phenotypic and functional defects in NK cells from high-risk patients with B/T-ALL using mass cytometry, flow cytometry, and in silico cytometry, with the goal of further elucidating the role of NK cells in sustaining acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regression. We found that, compared with their normal counterparts, NK cells from patients with B/T-ALL are less cytotoxic but exhibit an activated signature that is characterized by high CD56, high CD69, production of activated NK cell-origin cytokines, and calcium (Ca2+) signaling. We demonstrated that defective maturation of NK cells into cytotoxic effectors prevents NK cells from ALL from lysing NK cell-sensitive targets as efficiently as do normal NK cells. Additionally, we showed that NK cells in ALL are exhausted, which is likely caused by their chronic activation. We found that increased frequencies of activated cytokine-producing NK cells are associated with increased disease severity and independently predict poor clinical outcome in patients with ALL. Our studies highlight the benefits of developing NK cell profiling as a diagnostic tool to predict clinical outcome in patients with ALL and underscore the clinical potential of allogeneic NK cell infusions to prevent ALL recurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Duault
- The Human Immune Monitoring Center, Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Anil Kumar
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
| | - Adeleh Taghi Khani
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
| | - Sung June Lee
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
| | - Lu Yang
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
| | - Min Huang
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Bryan Manning
- Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Lucy Ghoda
- Department of Hematological Malignancies and Translational Science, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
| | - Tinisha McDonald
- Department of Hematological Malignancies and Translational Science, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
| | - Norman J Lacayo
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Kathleen M Sakamoto
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Martin Carroll
- Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Sarah K Tasian
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; and
| | - Guido Marcucci
- Department of Hematological Malignancies and Translational Science, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
| | - Jianhua Yu
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
| | - Michael A Caligiuri
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
| | - Holden T Maecker
- The Human Immune Monitoring Center, Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Srividya Swaminathan
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Monrovia, CA
- Department of Hematological Malignancies and Translational Science, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
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6
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Hurtz C, Wertheim GB, Loftus JP, Blumenthal D, Lehman A, Li Y, Bagashev A, Manning B, Cummins KD, Burkhardt JK, Perl AE, Carroll M, Tasian SK. Oncogene-independent BCR-like signaling adaptation confers drug resistance in Ph-like ALL. J Clin Invest 2020; 130:3637-3653. [PMID: 32191635 PMCID: PMC7324172 DOI: 10.1172/jci134424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Children and adults with Philadelphia chromosome-like B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph-like B-ALL) experience high relapse rates despite best-available conventional chemotherapy. Ph-like ALL is driven by genetic alterations that activate constitutive cytokine receptor and kinase signaling, and early-phase trials are investigating the potential of the addition of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to chemotherapy to improve clinical outcomes. However, preclinical studies have shown that JAK or PI3K pathway inhibition is insufficient to eradicate the most common cytokine receptor-like factor 2-rearranged (CRLF2-rearranged) Ph-like ALL subset. We thus sought to define additional essential signaling pathways required in Ph-like leukemogenesis for improved therapeutic targeting. Herein, we describe an adaptive signaling plasticity of CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like ALL following selective TKI pressure, which occurs in the absence of genetic mutations. Interestingly, we observed that Ph-like ALL cells have activated SRC, ERK, and PI3K signaling consistent with activated B cell receptor (BCR) signaling, although they do not express cell surface μ-heavy chain (μHC). Combinatorial targeting of JAK/STAT, PI3K, and "BCR-like" signaling with multiple TKIs and/or dexamethasone prevented this signaling plasticity and induced complete cell death, demonstrating a more optimal and clinically pragmatic therapeutic strategy for CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Hurtz
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
| | - Gerald B. Wertheim
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Division of Hematopathology
| | - Joseph P. Loftus
- Division of Oncology, and
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Daniel Blumenthal
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Division of Hematopathology
| | - Anne Lehman
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
| | - Yong Li
- Division of Oncology, and
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Asen Bagashev
- Division of Oncology, and
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Bryan Manning
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
| | - Katherine D. Cummins
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
- Center for Cellular Immunotherapies
| | - Janis K. Burkhardt
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Division of Hematopathology
| | - Alexander E. Perl
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
| | - Martin Carroll
- Division of Hematology and Oncology and
- Abramson Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, and
| | - Sarah K. Tasian
- Division of Oncology, and
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, and
- Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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7
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Hurtz C, Chan LN, Geng H, Ballabio E, Xiao G, Deb G, Khoury H, Chen CW, Armstrong SA, Chen J, Ernst P, Melnick A, Milne T, Müschen M. Rationale for targeting BCL6 in MLL-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Genes Dev 2019; 33:1265-1279. [PMID: 31395741 PMCID: PMC6719625 DOI: 10.1101/gad.327593.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Chromosomal rearrangements of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene occur in ∼10% of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and define a group of patients with dismal outcomes. Immunohistochemical staining of bone marrow biopsies from most of these patients revealed aberrant expression of BCL6, a transcription factor that promotes oncogenic B-cell transformation and drug resistance in B-ALL. Our genetic and ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation [ChIP] combined with high-throughput sequencing) analyses showed that MLL-AF4 and MLL-ENL fusions directly bound to the BCL6 promoter and up-regulated BCL6 expression. While oncogenic MLL fusions strongly induced aberrant BCL6 expression in B-ALL cells, germline MLL was required to up-regulate Bcl6 in response to physiological stimuli during normal B-cell development. Inducible expression of Bcl6 increased MLL mRNA levels, which was reversed by genetic deletion and pharmacological inhibition of Bcl6, suggesting a positive feedback loop between MLL and BCL6. Highlighting the central role of BCL6 in MLL-rearranged B-ALL, conditional deletion and pharmacological inhibition of BCL6 compromised leukemogenesis in transplant recipient mice and restored sensitivity to vincristine chemotherapy in MLL-rearranged B-ALL patient samples. Oncogenic MLL fusions strongly induced transcriptional activation of the proapoptotic BH3-only molecule BIM, while BCL6 was required to curb MLL-induced expression of BIM. Notably, peptide (RI-BPI) and small molecule (FX1) BCL6 inhibitors derepressed BIM and synergized with the BH3-mimetic ABT-199 in eradicating MLL-rearranged B-ALL cells. These findings uncover MLL-dependent transcriptional activation of BCL6 as a previously unrecognized requirement of malignant transformation by oncogenic MLL fusions and identified BCL6 as a novel target for the treatment of MLL-rearranged B-ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Hurtz
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Lai N Chan
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Huimin Geng
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Erica Ballabio
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, United Kingdom
| | - Gang Xiao
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Gauri Deb
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA
| | - Haytham Khoury
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA
| | - Chun-Wei Chen
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA
| | - Scott A Armstrong
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Jianjun Chen
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA
| | - Patricia Ernst
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado 80045, USA
| | - Ari Melnick
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10065, USA.,Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10065, USA
| | - Thomas Milne
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, United Kingdom
| | - Markus Müschen
- Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Monrovia, California 91016, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
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8
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Chan LN, Shojaee S, Hurtz C, Caeser R, Xiao G, Geng H, Kornblau S, Muschen M. Abstract 5469: RAS and STAT5 pathway lesions are mutually exclusive in B-cell malignancies through mechanisms of biochemical cross-inhibition. Cancer Res 2018. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2018-5469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Activation of STAT5- and RAS-signaling are segregated to early and later stages of normal B cell development, respectively. Studying B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; n=578), we found that STAT5 (e.g. BCR-ABL1, JAK2, cytokine receptors) and RAS (NRAS, KRAS, PTPN11, NF1) lesions were mutually exclusive, with only 9 cases (1.6%) carrying lesions in both pathways. Reverse phase protein array measurements revealed that phosphorylation of MEK and ERK1/2 were inversely correlated with STAT5-phosphorylation (MDACC, 1983-2007; P<0.001). These findings prompted us to study mechanisms of cross-inhibition between RAS and STAT5 pathways. Inducible NRASG12D activated ERK at the expense of STAT5 phosphorylation. This was due to stabilization and increased activation of the STAT5-phosphatase PTPN6 (SHP1). Inducible ablation of Ptpn6 elevated phospho-STAT5 levels, while genetic inactivation of Stat5 strongly increased ERK activity. Constitutively active STAT5 suppressed phosphorylation of ERK. Interestingly, STAT5 negatively regulated BCL6, which marks the transition from cytokine receptor-dependent pro-B cells (Stat5+) to pre-BCR dependent stages of development (ERK+). While oncogenic RAS suppressed STAT5, we also found that induction of RAS induced BCL6 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels. Increases in BCL6 expression in response to NRASG12D were abrogated upon treatment with a MEK kinase inhibitor or activation of STAT5. Studying a matched patient-derived pre-B ALL sample at diagnosis and at relapse (acquired KRASG12V mutation) revealed activation of ERK in association with increased BCL6 and decreased STAT5 levels in the KRASG12V relapsed ALL sample. With engagement of BCL6 and the STAT5-inhibitory phosphatase PTPN6 downstream of RAS and ERK signaling, these findings suggest that occupancy of either RAS or STAT5-pathway represents a commitment step that renders cells non-permissive to the respective alternative pathway. To test this hypothesis, we induced B cell transformation with either RAS or STAT5-pathway oncogenes and then subsequently transduced with either empty vectors (EV) or vectors carrying the alternative oncogene. While EVs were easily transduced, RAS- and STAT5-transformed B cells did not tolerate the alternative oncogene. Reflecting early (STAT5) and later (RAS) stages of B cell development, oncogenic activation of these pathways occurs in a mutually exclusive way, owing to biochemical cross-inhibition between STAT5 and RAS.
Citation Format: Lai N. Chan, Seyedmehdi Shojaee, Christian Hurtz, Rebecca Caeser, Gang Xiao, Huimin Geng, Steven Kornblau, Markus Muschen. RAS and STAT5 pathway lesions are mutually exclusive in B-cell malignancies through mechanisms of biochemical cross-inhibition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5469.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lai N. Chan
- 1Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, CA
| | | | | | | | - Gang Xiao
- 1Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, CA
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9
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Deng R, Hurtz C, Song Q, Yue C, Xiao G, Yu H, Wu X, Muschen M, Forman S, Martin PJ, Zeng D. Extrafollicular CD4 + T-B interactions are sufficient for inducing autoimmune-like chronic graft-versus-host disease. Nat Commun 2017; 8:978. [PMID: 29042531 PMCID: PMC5645449 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00880-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is an autoimmune-like syndrome mediated by pathogenic CD4+ T and B cells, but the function of extrafollicular and germinal center CD4+ T and B interactions in cGVHD pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Here we show that extrafollicular CD4+ T and B interactions are sufficient for inducing cGVHD, while germinal center formation is dispensable. The pathogenesis of cGVHD is associated with the expansion of extrafollicular CD44hiCD62loPSGL-1loCD4+ (PSGL-1loCD4+) T cells. These cells express high levels of ICOS, and the blockade of ICOS/ICOSL interaction prevents their expansion and ameliorates cGVHD. Expansion of PSGL-1loCD4+ T cells is also prevented by BCL6 or Stat3 deficiency in donor CD4+ T cells, with the induction of cGVHD ameliorated by BCL6 deficiency and completely suppressed by Stat3 deficiency in donor CD4+ T cells. These results support that Stat3- and BCL6-dependent extrafollicular CD4+ T and B interactions play critical functions in the pathogenesis of cGVHD.Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is mediated by specific CD4 and B cells, but the relative contribution of extrafollicular and germinal centre (GC) T-B interaction is unclear. Here the authors show that the extrafollicular expansion of a specific CD4 T subset is sufficient for inducing cGVHD while GC is dispensable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruishu Deng
- Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.,Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.,Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical, Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, 92307, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.,Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Qingxiao Song
- Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.,Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.,Department of Hematology, Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350000, China
| | - Chanyu Yue
- Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutic and Tumor Immunology, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Gang Xiao
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Hua Yu
- Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutic and Tumor Immunology, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Xiwei Wu
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Markus Muschen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Stephen Forman
- Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Paul J Martin
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Defu Zeng
- Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA. .,Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
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10
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Graham NA, Minasyan A, Lomova A, Cass A, Balanis NG, Friedman M, Chan S, Zhao S, Delgado A, Go J, Beck L, Hurtz C, Ng C, Qiao R, Ten Hoeve J, Palaskas N, Wu H, Müschen M, Multani AS, Port E, Larson SM, Schultz N, Braas D, Christofk HR, Mellinghoff IK, Graeber TG. Recurrent patterns of DNA copy number alterations in tumors reflect metabolic selection pressures. Mol Syst Biol 2017; 13:914. [PMID: 28202506 PMCID: PMC5327725 DOI: 10.15252/msb.20167159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Revised: 01/12/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Copy number alteration (CNA) profiling of human tumors has revealed recurrent patterns of DNA amplifications and deletions across diverse cancer types. These patterns are suggestive of conserved selection pressures during tumor evolution but cannot be fully explained by known oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Using a pan-cancer analysis of CNA data from patient tumors and experimental systems, here we show that principal component analysis-defined CNA signatures are predictive of glycolytic phenotypes, including 18F-fluorodeoxy-glucose (FDG) avidity of patient tumors, and increased proliferation. The primary CNA signature is enriched for p53 mutations and is associated with glycolysis through coordinate amplification of glycolytic genes and other cancer-linked metabolic enzymes. A pan-cancer and cross-species comparison of CNAs highlighted 26 consistently altered DNA regions, containing 11 enzymes in the glycolysis pathway in addition to known cancer-driving genes. Furthermore, exogenous expression of hexokinase and enolase enzymes in an experimental immortalization system altered the subsequent copy number status of the corresponding endogenous loci, supporting the hypothesis that these metabolic genes act as drivers within the conserved CNA amplification regions. Taken together, these results demonstrate that metabolic stress acts as a selective pressure underlying the recurrent CNAs observed in human tumors, and further cast genomic instability as an enabling event in tumorigenesis and metabolic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A Graham
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aspram Minasyan
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Anastasia Lomova
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ashley Cass
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nikolas G Balanis
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael Friedman
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shawna Chan
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sophie Zhao
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Adrian Delgado
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - James Go
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lillie Beck
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Carina Ng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Rong Qiao
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Johanna Ten Hoeve
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nicolaos Palaskas
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hong Wu
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- School of Life Sciences & Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Markus Müschen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Asha S Multani
- Department of Genetics, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Elisa Port
- Department of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Steven M Larson
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nikolaus Schultz
- Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Daniel Braas
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Metabolomics Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Heather R Christofk
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Metabolomics Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ingo K Mellinghoff
- Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Thomas G Graeber
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Metabolomics Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- California NanoSystems Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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11
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Köhrer S, Havranek O, Seyfried F, Hurtz C, Coffey GP, Kim E, Hacken ET, Jäger U, Vanura K, O’Brien S, Thomas DA, Kantarjian H, Ghosh D, Wang Z, Zhang M, Ma W, Jumaa H, Debatin KM, Müschen M, Meyer LH, Davis RE, Burger JA. Pre-BCR signaling in precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia regulates PI3K/AKT, FOXO1 and MYC, and can be targeted by SYK inhibition. Leukemia 2016; 30:1246-54. [PMID: 26847027 PMCID: PMC5459356 DOI: 10.1038/leu.2016.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2015] [Revised: 11/20/2015] [Accepted: 12/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Precursor-B-cell receptor (pre-BCR) signaling and spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) recently were introduced as therapeutic targets for patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), but the importance of this pathway in B-ALL subsets and mechanism of downstream signaling have not fully been elucidated. Here, we provide new detailed insight into the mechanism of pre-BCR signaling in B-ALL. We compared the effects of pharmacological and genetic disruption of pre-BCR signaling in vitro and in mouse models for B-ALL, demonstrating exquisite dependency of pre-BCR(+) B-ALL, but not other B-ALL subsets, on this signaling pathway. We demonstrate that SYK, PI3K/AKT, FOXO1 and MYC are important downstream mediators of pre-BCR signaling in B-ALL. Furthermore, we define a characteristic immune phenotype and gene expression signature of pre-BCR(+) ALL to distinguish them from other B-ALL subsets. These data provide comprehensive new insight into pre-BCR signaling in B-ALL and corroborate pre-BCR signaling and SYK as promising new therapeutic targets in pre-BCR(+) B-ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Köhrer
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Ondrej Havranek
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Felix Seyfried
- Ulm University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ulm, Germany
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | | | - Ekaterina Kim
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Elisa ten Hacken
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Ulrich Jäger
- Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Katrina Vanura
- Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Susan O’Brien
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Deborah A. Thomas
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Hagop Kantarjian
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Dipanjan Ghosh
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Zhiqiang Wang
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Min Zhang
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Wencai Ma
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Hassan Jumaa
- Ulm University, Department of Immunology, Ulm, Germany
| | - Klaus-Michael Debatin
- Ulm University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ulm, Germany
| | - Markus Müschen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Lüder H. Meyer
- Ulm University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ulm, Germany
| | - R. Eric Davis
- Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
| | - Jan A. Burger
- Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
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12
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Chan LN, Braas D, Hurtz C, Shojaee S, Geng H, Cazzaniga V, Ng C, Masouleh BK, Qiu YH, Zhang N, Coombes KR, Ernst T, Cazzaniga G, Hochhaus A, Kornblau S, Graeber T. Abstract 1124: Transcriptional control of B cell identity restricts metabolic fitness in human leukemia. Cancer Res 2015. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2015-1124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Oncogenic lesions in multi-potent progenitor cells often give rise to either B-cell or myeloid lineage leukemia. While transformed by the same oncogenes (e.g. BCR-ABL1, RAS), B-lineage and myeloid leukemias are distinct diseases. Given that oncogenic tyrosine kinase signaling (e.g. BCR-ABL1) imposes significant metabolic requirements on energy supply, biogenesis and metabolic fitness, we studied whether the divergent characteristics of myeloid and B-lineage leukemias have a metabolic basis.
Metabolic analyses revealed that B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) cells proliferate at maximum capacity of their glycolytic machinery. In contrast to myeloid leukemia (CML), B-lineage ALL cells lack metabolic adaptive fitness in response to metabolic fluctuations. C/EBPα-mediated reprogramming of B-lineage cells into the myeloid lineage induced glycolytic gene expression (Insr, Slc2a1, G6pdx, G6pd2, and Hk3). Frequent genetic lesions of transcription factors that determine B cell identity (IKZF1, PAX5, EBF1) partially mitigate B cell-instrinsic metabolic liability. Reconstitution of PAX5 expression in patient-derived B-lineage ALL cells reduced metabolic fitness by impacting glucose metabolism. Using genetic and metabolic experiments, we identified the metabolic liability observed in B-lineage ALL is in part dependent on the serine/threonine kinase LKB1.
In agreement with previous studies, Cre-mediated deletion of Lkb1 induced proliferation in myeloid leukemia. Surprisingly, Lkb1 deletion led to apoptosis and decreased leukemogenic capacity in B-lineage leukemia. Consistent with the above observations, Arf, p53 and p27 levels were reduced in Lkb1-deficient myeloid leukemia cells, while Lkb1 deletion in B-lineage ALL cells up-regulated Arf, p53 and p27 levels. Enhanced glucose consumption and lactate production were observed in Lkb1-deficient myeloid leukemia cells. In contrast, loss of Lkb1 led to defective glycolytic and mitochondrial activity in B-lineage ALL. Lkb1 deletion in B-lineage ALL caused global accumulation of metabolites, suggesting that LKB1 is required for maintaining metabolic homeostasis. Moreover, loss of Lkb1 decreased protein levels of mitochondrial, anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family proteins, BCL-xL and MCL1, in B-lineage ALL. Reverse Phase Protein Array analyses revealed that LKB1 levels positively correlated with BCL-xL and MCL1 in patient-derived Ph+ ALL samples (n = 51) as well as other subtypes of B-lineage ALL (n = 183; MDACC, 1983-2007). Importantly, C/EBPα-mediated reprogramming of B-lineage ALL cells to the myeloid linage relieved dependency on LKB1.
Taken together, we showed that transcriptional control of B cell identity causes unique metabolic liability. B-lineage ALL cells exhibit unique reliance on LKB1 for metabolic homeostasis and survival. Our findings revealed LKB1 as a potential therapeutic target in B-lineage ALL.
Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.
Citation Format: Lai N. Chan, Daniel Braas, Christian Hurtz, Seyedmehdi Shojaee, Huimin Geng, Valeria Cazzaniga, Carina Ng, Behzad Kharabi Masouleh, Yi Hua Qiu, Nianxiang Zhang, Kevin R. Coombes, Thomas Ernst, Giovanni Cazzaniga, Andreas Hochhaus, Steven Kornblau, Thomas Graeber. Transcriptional control of B cell identity restricts metabolic fitness in human leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1124. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1124
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13
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Shojaee S, Caeser R, Buchner M, Park E, Swaminathan S, Hurtz C, Geng H, Chan LN, Klemm L, Hofmann WK, Qiu YH, Zhang N, Coombes KR, Paietta E, Molkentin J, Koeffler HP, Willman CL, Hunger SP, Melnick A, Kornblau SM, Müschen M. Erk Negative Feedback Control Enables Pre-B Cell Transformation and Represents a Therapeutic Target in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancer Cell 2015; 28:114-28. [PMID: 26073130 PMCID: PMC4565502 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2015.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2014] [Revised: 02/05/2015] [Accepted: 05/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Studying mechanisms of malignant transformation of human pre-B cells, we found that acute activation of oncogenes induced immediate cell death in the vast majority of cells. Few surviving pre-B cell clones had acquired permissiveness to oncogenic signaling by strong activation of negative feedback regulation of Erk signaling. Studying negative feedback regulation of Erk in genetic experiments at three different levels, we found that Spry2, Dusp6, and Etv5 were essential for oncogenic transformation in mouse models for pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Interestingly, a small molecule inhibitor of DUSP6 selectively induced cell death in patient-derived pre-B ALL cells and overcame conventional mechanisms of drug-resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyedmehdi Shojaee
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Rebecca Caeser
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Maike Buchner
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Eugene Park
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Srividya Swaminathan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Huimin Geng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Lai N Chan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Lars Klemm
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Wolf-Karsten Hofmann
- III. Medizinische Klinik, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg 68167, Germany
| | - Yi Hua Qiu
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nianxiang Zhang
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Kevin R Coombes
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | | | - Jeffery Molkentin
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45247, USA
| | - H Phillip Koeffler
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
| | - Cheryl L Willman
- Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA
| | - Stephen P Hunger
- Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Ari Melnick
- Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Steven M Kornblau
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Markus Müschen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
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Geng H, Hurtz C, Lenz KB, Chen Z, Baumjohann D, Thompson S, Goloviznina NA, Chen WY, Huan J, LaTocha D, Ballabio E, Xiao G, Lee JW, Deucher A, Qi Z, Park E, Huang C, Nahar R, Kweon SM, Shojaee S, Chan LN, Yu J, Kornblau SM, Bijl JJ, Ye BH, Ansel KM, Paietta E, Melnick A, Hunger SP, Kurre P, Tyner JW, Loh ML, Roeder RG, Druker BJ, Burger JA, Milne TA, Chang BH, Müschen M. Self-enforcing feedback activation between BCL6 and pre-B cell receptor signaling defines a distinct subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Cell 2015; 27:409-25. [PMID: 25759025 PMCID: PMC4618684 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2015.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2014] [Revised: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Studying 830 pre-B ALL cases from four clinical trials, we found that human ALL can be divided into two fundamentally distinct subtypes based on pre-BCR function. While absent in the majority of ALL cases, tonic pre-BCR signaling was found in 112 cases (13.5%). In these cases, tonic pre-BCR signaling induced activation of BCL6, which in turn increased pre-BCR signaling output at the transcriptional level. Interestingly, inhibition of pre-BCR-related tyrosine kinases reduced constitutive BCL6 expression and selectively killed patient-derived pre-BCR(+) ALL cells. These findings identify a genetically and phenotypically distinct subset of human ALL that critically depends on tonic pre-BCR signaling. In vivo treatment studies suggested that pre-BCR tyrosine kinase inhibitors are useful for the treatment of patients with pre-BCR(+) ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Geng
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Christian Hurtz
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Kyle B Lenz
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Zhengshan Chen
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Dirk Baumjohann
- Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Sarah Thompson
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Natalya A Goloviznina
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Wei-Yi Chen
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
| | - Jianya Huan
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Dorian LaTocha
- Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Erica Ballabio
- MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Gang Xiao
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Jae-Woong Lee
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Anne Deucher
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Zhongxia Qi
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Eugene Park
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Chuanxin Huang
- Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Rahul Nahar
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Soo-Mi Kweon
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Seyedmehdi Shojaee
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Lai N Chan
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Jingwei Yu
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Steven M Kornblau
- Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Janetta J Bijl
- Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montreal, QC H1T 2M4, Canada
| | - B Hilda Ye
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - K Mark Ansel
- Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Elisabeth Paietta
- Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Ari Melnick
- Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Stephen P Hunger
- Division of Pediatric Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Peter Kurre
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jeffrey W Tyner
- Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Mignon L Loh
- Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Robert G Roeder
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Brian J Druker
- Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jan A Burger
- Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Thomas A Milne
- MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Bill H Chang
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Markus Müschen
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
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Chan LN, Shojaee S, Hurtz C, Geng H, Ng C, Kharabi B, Müschen M. Abstract 2447: Lineage-specific metabolic reprogramming in BCR-ABL1-driven leukemia. Cancer Res 2014. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2014-2447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background & Hypothesis: The serine-threonine liver kinase B1 (LKB1) activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and negatively regulates aerobic glycoloysis (Warburg effect). LKB1 and AMPK have long been established as tumor suppressors, leading to clinical trials that test the efficacy of AMPK activators as cancer therapeutics. Paradoxically, we found that high expression levels of LKB1 and subunits of AMPK at diagnosis correlate with poor clinical outcome in patients with high risk B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n = 207). These findings seem to contradict the historical notion of LKB1-AMPK as a tumor suppressor pathway, suggesting that the functions of LKB1-AMPK pathway may depend on cellular and genetic contexts.
Results: Here, we focus on the role of LKB1 in BCR-ABL1-driven leukemia - chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and B cell lineage Ph+ ALL. To do so, genetic mouse models for 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT)-inducible deletion of Lkb1 in BCR-ABL1-transformed hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (CML-like) and B cell progenitors (Ph+ ALL) were developed. In agreement with previous findings in solid tumors, Cre-mediated Lkb1 deletion in CML-like cells resulted in enhanced proliferation. Unexpectedly, deletion of Lkb1 in Ph+ ALL cells led to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Moreover, Lkb1deletion delayed the onset of Ph+ ALL development as well as prolonged overall survival of transplant recipient mice in vivo. Consistent with the above observations, Arf, p53 and p27 levels were reduced in Lkb1-deficient CML cells, while Lkb1 deletion in Ph+ ALL cells up-regulated Arf, p53 and p27 levels. Decreases in glucose consumption and lactate production were also observed in Lkb1-deificient Ph+ ALL cells; however, increases in the levels of glucose consumed and lactate produced were detected in CML cells following Lkb1 deletion.
Importantly, inhibition of AMPK using Compound C (an ATP-competitive inhibitor) resulted in apoptosis in patient-derived Ph+ ALL cells, while Compound C had no significant effects on the viability of a panel of lymphoma and multiple myeloma cell lines tested. Furthermore, patient-derived Ph+ ALL cells were resistant to treatment with various AMPK activators (metformin, phenformin and AICAR). Finally, Compound C showed synergistic responses in combination with Imatinib and different PI3K/AKT inhibitors (BKM120, AZD5363 and GSK690693) in Ph+ ALL. In vivo, Compound C in combination with BKM120, a PI3K inhibitor, exerted significantly more potent inhibitory effect on leukemia progression than each agent alone, prolonging the overall survival of recipient mice.
Conclusions: Taken together, our findings demonstrate that LKB1 plays divergent roles in myeloid lineage CML and B cell lineage Ph+ ALL. While AMPK activators were shown to be effective against CML cells in previous studies, inhibiting the LKB1-AMPK pathway may provide a better therapeutic avenue for treatment of Ph+ ALL.
Citation Format: Lai N. Chan, Seyedmehdi Shojaee, Christian Hurtz, Huimin Geng, Carina Ng, Behzad Kharabi, Markus Müschen. Lineage-specific metabolic reprogramming in BCR-ABL1-driven leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2447. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2447
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Kharabi Masouleh B, Geng H, Hurtz C, Chan LN, Logan AC, Chang MS, Huang C, Swaminathan S, Sun H, Paietta E, Melnick AM, Koeffler P, Müschen M. Mechanistic rationale for targeting the unfolded protein response in pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:E2219-28. [PMID: 24821775 PMCID: PMC4040579 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1400958111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, a stress-induced signaling cascade emanating from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), regulates the expression and activity of molecules including BiP (HSPA5), IRE1 (ERN1), Blimp-1 (PRDM1), and X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1). These molecules are required for terminal differentiation of B cells into plasma cells and expressed at high levels in plasma cell-derived multiple myeloma. Although these molecules have no known role at early stages of B-cell development, here we show that their expression transiently peaks at the pre-B-cell receptor checkpoint. Inducible, Cre-mediated deletion of Hspa5, Prdm1, and Xbp1 consistently induces cellular stress and cell death in normal pre-B cells and in pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) driven by BCR-ABL1- and NRAS(G12D) oncogenes. Mechanistically, expression and activity of the UPR downstream effector XBP1 is regulated positively by STAT5 and negatively by the B-cell-specific transcriptional repressors BACH2 and BCL6. In two clinical trials for children and adults with ALL, high XBP1 mRNA levels at the time of diagnosis predicted poor outcome. A small molecule inhibitor of ERN1-mediated XBP1 activation induced selective cell death of patient-derived pre-B ALL cells in vitro and significantly prolonged survival of transplant recipient mice in vivo. Collectively, these studies reveal that pre-B ALL cells are uniquely vulnerable to ER stress and identify the UPR pathway and its downstream effector XBP1 as novel therapeutic targets to overcome drug resistance in pre-B ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behzad Kharabi Masouleh
- Department of Laboratory Medicine andDepartment of Oncology, Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University Medical School, 52070 Aachen, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Aaron C Logan
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Mi Sook Chang
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027
| | - Chuanxin Huang
- Departments of Medicine andPharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Haibo Sun
- Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048; and
| | - Elisabeth Paietta
- Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10466
| | - Ari M Melnick
- Departments of Medicine andPharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065
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Parameswaran R, Lim M, Arutyunyan A, Abdel-Azim H, Hurtz C, Lau K, Müschen M, Yu RK, von Itzstein M, Heisterkamp N, Groffen J. O-acetylated N-acetylneuraminic acid as a novel target for therapy in human pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 210:805-19. [PMID: 23478187 PMCID: PMC3620349 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20121482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Removal of 9-O-acetyl residues from the cell surface N-acetylneuraminic acid makes ALL cells drug sensitive. The development of resistance to chemotherapy is a major cause of relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Though several mechanisms associated with drug resistance have been studied in detail, the role of carbohydrate modification remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the contribution of 9-O-acetylated N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) to survival and drug resistance development in ALL cells. A strong induction of 9-O-acetylated Neu5Ac including 9-O-acetyl GD3 was detected in ALL cells that developed resistance against vincristine or nilotinib, drugs with distinct cytotoxic mechanisms. Removal of 9-O-acetyl residues from Neu5Ac on the cell surface by an O-acetylesterase made ALL cells more vulnerable to such drugs. Moreover, removal of intracellular and cell surface–resident 9-O-acetyl Neu5Ac by lentiviral transduction of the esterase was lethal to ALL cells in vitro even in the presence of stromal protection. Interestingly, expression of the esterase in normal fibroblasts or endothelial cells had no effect on their survival. Transplanted mice induced for expression of the O-acetylesterase in the ALL cells exhibited a reduction of leukemia to minimal cell numbers and significantly increased survival. This demonstrates that Neu5Ac 9-O-acetylation is essential for survival of these cells and suggests that Neu5Ac de-O-acetylation could be used as therapy to eradicate drug-resistant ALL cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reshmi Parameswaran
- Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Hematology/Oncology, The Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
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18
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Geng H, Brennan S, Milne TA, Chen WY, Li Y, Hurtz C, Kweon SM, Zickl L, Shojaee S, Neuberg D, Huang C, Biswas D, Xin Y, Racevskis J, Ketterling RP, Luger SM, Lazarus H, Tallman MS, Rowe JM, Litzow MR, Guzman ML, Allis CD, Roeder RG, Müschen M, Paietta E, Elemento O, Melnick AM. Integrative epigenomic analysis identifies biomarkers and therapeutic targets in adult B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Discov 2012; 2:1004-23. [PMID: 23107779 DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-12-0208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Genetic lesions such as BCR-ABL1, E2A-PBX1, and MLL rearrangements (MLLr) are associated with unfavorable outcomes in adult B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Leukemia oncoproteins may directly or indirectly disrupt cytosine methylation patterning to mediate the malignant phenotype. We postulated that DNA methylation signatures in these aggressive B-ALLs would point toward disease mechanisms and useful biomarkers and therapeutic targets. We therefore conducted DNA methylation and gene expression profiling on a cohort of 215 adult patients with B-ALL enrolled in a single phase III clinical trial (ECOG E2993) and normal control B cells. In BCR-ABL1-positive B-ALLs, aberrant cytosine methylation patterning centered around a cytokine network defined by hypomethylation and overexpression of IL2RA(CD25). The E2993 trial clinical data showed that CD25 expression was strongly associated with a poor outcome in patients with ALL regardless of BCR-ABL1 status, suggesting CD25 as a novel prognostic biomarker for risk stratification in B-ALLs. In E2A-PBX1-positive B-ALLs, aberrant DNA methylation patterning was strongly associated with direct fusion protein binding as shown by the E2A-PBX1 chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing (ChIP-seq), suggesting that E2A-PBX1 fusion protein directly remodels the epigenome to impose an aggressive B-ALL phenotype. MLLr B-ALL featured prominent cytosine hypomethylation, which was linked with MLL fusion protein binding, H3K79 dimethylation, and transcriptional upregulation, affecting a set of known and newly identified MLL fusion direct targets with oncogenic activity such as FLT3 and BCL6. Notably, BCL6 blockade or loss of function suppressed proliferation and survival of MLLr leukemia cells, suggesting BCL6-targeted therapy as a new therapeutic strategy for MLLr B-ALLs. SIGNIFICANCE We conducted the first integrative epigenomic study in adult B-ALLs, as a correlative study to the ECOG E2993 phase III clinical trial. This study links for the first time the direct actions of oncogenic fusion proteins with disruption of epigenetic regulation mediated by cytosine methylation. We identify a novel clinically actionable biomarker in B-ALLs: IL2RA (CD25), which is linked with BCR-ABL1 and an inflammatory signaling network associated with chemotherapy resistance. We show that BCL6 is a novel MLL fusion protein target that is required to maintain the proliferation and survival of primary human adult MLLr cells and provide the basis for a clinical trial with BCL6 inhibitors for patients with MLLr.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Geng
- Department of Medicine/Hematology-Oncology Division, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA
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Hurtz C, Hatzi K, Cerchietti L, Braig M, Park E, Kim YM, Herzog S, Ramezani-Rad P, Jumaa H, Müller MC, Hofmann WK, Hochhaus A, Ye BH, Agarwal A, Druker BJ, Shah NP, Melnick AM, Müschen M. BCL6-mediated repression of p53 is critical for leukemia stem cell survival in chronic myeloid leukemia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 208:2163-74. [PMID: 21911423 PMCID: PMC3201200 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20110304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is induced by the oncogenic BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase and can be effectively treated for many years with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, unless CML patients receive life-long TKI treatment, leukemia will eventually recur; this is attributed to the failure of TKI treatment to eradicate leukemia-initiating cells (LICs). Recent work demonstrated that FoxO factors are critical for maintenance of CML-initiating cells; however, the mechanism of FoxO-dependent leukemia initiation remained elusive. Here, we identified the BCL6 protooncogene as a critical effector downstream of FoxO in self-renewal signaling of CML-initiating cells. BCL6 represses Arf and p53 in CML cells and is required for colony formation and initiation of leukemia. Importantly, peptide inhibition of BCL6 in human CML cells compromises colony formation and leukemia initiation in transplant recipients and selectively eradicates CD34+ CD38− LICs in patient-derived CML samples. These findings suggest that pharmacological inhibition of BCL6 may represent a novel strategy to eradicate LICs in CML. Clinical validation of this concept could limit the duration of TKI treatment in CML patients, which is currently life-long, and substantially decrease the risk of blast crisis transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Hurtz
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California-San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
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Duy C, Hurtz C, Koeffler PH, Melnick AM, Müschen M. Abstract LB-235: BCL6 enables Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells to survive BCR-ABL1 kinase inhibition. Cancer Res 2011. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2011-lb-235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) are widely used to treat patients with leukemia driven by BCR-ABL1 and other oncogenic tyrosine kinases. Recent efforts focused on the development of more potent TKI that also inhibit mutant tyrosine kinases. However, even effective TKI typically fail to eradicate leukemia-initiating cells, which often cause recurrence of leukemia after initially successful treatment. Here we report on the discovery of a novel mechanism of drug-resistance, which is based on protective feedback signaling of leukemia cells in response to TKI-treatment. We identified BCL6 as a central component of this drug-resistance pathway and demonstrate that targeted inhibition of BCL6 leads to eradication of drug-resistant and leukemia-initiating subclones.
BCL6 is a known proto-oncogene that is often translocated in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In response to TKI-treatment, BCR-ABL1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells upregulate BCL6 protein levels by ∼90-fold, i.e. to similar levels as in DLBCL. Upregulation of BCL6 in response to TKI-treatment represents a novel defense mechanism, which enables leukemia cells to survive TKI-treatment: Previous work suggested that TKI-mediated cell death is largely p53-independent. Here we demonstrate that BCL6 upregulation upon TKI-treatment leads to transcriptional inactivation of the p53 pathway. BCL6-deficient leukemia cells fail to inactivate p53 and are particularly sensitive to TKI-treatment. BCL6-/-leukemia cells are poised to undergo cellular senescence and fail to initiate leukemia in serial transplant recipients. A combination of TKI-treatment and a novel BCL6 peptide inhibitor markedly increased survival of NOD/SCID mice xenografted with patient-derived BCR-ABL1 ALL cells. We propose that dual targeting of oncogenic tyrosine kinases and BCL6-dependent feedback represents a novel strategy to eradicate drug-resistant and leukemia-initiating subclones in tyrosine kinase-driven leukemia.
Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-235. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-LB-235
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Duy C, Yu JJ, Nahar R, Swaminathan S, Kweon SM, Polo JM, Valls E, Klemm L, Shojaee S, Cerchietti L, Schuh W, Jäck HM, Hurtz C, Ramezani-Rad P, Herzog S, Jumaa H, Koeffler HP, de Alborán IM, Melnick AM, Ye BH, Müschen M. BCL6 is critical for the development of a diverse primary B cell repertoire. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010; 207:1209-21. [PMID: 20498019 PMCID: PMC2882829 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20091299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BCL6 protects germinal center (GC) B cells against DNA damage-induced apoptosis during somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination. Although expression of BCL6 was not found in early IL-7-dependent B cell precursors, we report that IL-7Ralpha-Stat5 signaling negatively regulates BCL6. Upon productive VH-DJH gene rearrangement and expression of a mu heavy chain, however, activation of pre-B cell receptor signaling strongly induces BCL6 expression, whereas IL-7Ralpha-Stat5 signaling is attenuated. At the transition from IL-7-dependent to -independent stages of B cell development, BCL6 is activated, reaches expression levels resembling those in GC B cells, and protects pre-B cells from DNA damage-induced apoptosis during immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain gene recombination. In the absence of BCL6, DNA breaks during Ig light chain gene rearrangement lead to excessive up-regulation of Arf and p53. As a consequence, the pool of new bone marrow immature B cells is markedly reduced in size and clonal diversity. We conclude that negative regulation of Arf by BCL6 is required for pre-B cell self-renewal and the formation of a diverse polyclonal B cell repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cihangir Duy
- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Leukemia and Lymphoma Program, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA
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