Early T-cell development is precisely controlled by E proteins, that indistinguishably include HEB/TCF12 and E2A/TCF3 transcription factors, together with NOTCH1 and pre-T cell receptor (TCR) ...signalling. Importantly, perturbations of early T-cell regulatory networks are implicated in leukemogenesis. NOTCH1 gain of function mutations invariably lead to T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), whereas inhibition of E proteins accelerates leukemogenesis. Thus, NOTCH1, pre-TCR, E2A and HEB functions are intertwined, but how these pathways contribute individually or synergistically to leukemogenesis remain to be documented. To directly address these questions, we leveraged
-deficient mice in which pre-TCR signaling and progression through β-selection is abrogated to dissect and decouple the roles of pre-TCR, NOTCH1, E2A and HEB in SCL/TAL1-induced T-ALL,
the use of
gain of function transgenic (
) and
or
heterozygote mice. As a result, we now provide evidence that both HEB and E2A restrain cell proliferation at the β-selection checkpoint while the clonal expansion of SCL-LMO1-induced pre-leukemic stem cells in T-ALL is uniquely dependent on
gene dosage. At the molecular level, HEB protein levels are decreased
proteasomal degradation at the leukemic stage, pointing to a reversible loss of function mechanism. Moreover, in
-induced T-ALL, loss of one
allele is sufficient to bypass pre-TCR signaling which is required for
gain of function mutations and for progression to T-ALL. In contrast,
monoallelic deletion does not accelerate
-induced T-ALL, indicating that
and
operate in the same pathway. Finally, we identify a tumor suppressor gene set downstream of HEB, exhibiting significantly lower expression levels in pediatric T-ALL compared to B-ALL and brain cancer samples, the three most frequent pediatric cancers. In summary, our results indicate a tumor suppressor function of HEB/TCF12 in T-ALL to mitigate cell proliferation controlled by NOTCH1 in pre-leukemic stem cells and prevent NOTCH1-driven progression to T-ALL.
Elucidation of activation mechanisms governing protein fusions is essential for therapeutic development. MLL undergoes rearrangement with numerous partners, including a recurrent translocation fusing ...the epigenetic regulator to a cytoplasmic RAS effector, AF6/afadin. We show here that AF6 employs a non-canonical, evolutionarily conserved α-helix to bind RAS, unique to AF6 and the classical RASSF effectors. Further, all patients with MLL-AF6 translocations express fusion proteins missing only this helix from AF6, resulting in exposure of hydrophobic residues that induce dimerization. We provide evidence that oligomerization is the dominant mechanism driving oncogenesis from rare MLL translocation partners and employ our mechanistic understanding of MLL-AF6 to examine how dimers induce leukemia. Proteomic data resolve association of dimerized MLL with gene expression modulators, and inhibiting dimerization disrupts formation of these complexes while completely abrogating leukemogenesis in mice. Oncogenic gene translocations are thus selected under pressure from protein structure/function, underscoring the complex nature of chromosomal rearrangements.
Oncogenic transcription factors are commonly activated in acute leukemias and subvert normal gene expression networks to reprogram hematopoietic progenitors into preleukemic stem cells, as ...exemplified by LIM-only 2 (LMO2) in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Whether or not these oncoproteins interfere with other DNA-dependent processes is largely unexplored. Here, we show that LMO2 is recruited to DNA replication origins by interaction with three essential replication enzymes: DNA polymerase delta (POLD1), DNA primase (PRIM1), and minichromosome 6 (MCM6). Furthermore, tethering LMO2 to synthetic DNA sequences is sufficient to transform these sequences into origins of replication. We next addressed the importance of LMO2 in erythroid and thymocyte development, two lineages in which cell cycle and differentiation are tightly coordinated. Lowering LMO2 levels in erythroid progenitors delays G1-S progression and arrests erythropoietin-dependent cell growth while favoring terminal differentiation. Conversely, ectopic expression in thymocytes induces DNA replication and drives these cells into cell cycle, causing differentiation blockade. Our results define a novel role for LMO2 in directly promoting DNA synthesis and G1-S progression.
Cardiac glycosides are approved for the treatment of heart failure as Na
/K
pump inhibitors. Their repurposing in oncology is currently investigated in preclinical and clinical studies. However, the ...identification of a specific cancer type defined by a molecular signature to design targeted clinical trials with cardiac glycosides remains to be characterized. Here, we demonstrate that cardiac glycoside proscillaridin A specifically targets MYC overexpressing leukemia cells and leukemia stem cells by causing MYC degradation, epigenetic reprogramming and leukemia differentiation through loss of lysine acetylation.
Proscillaridin A anticancer activity was investigated against a panel of human leukemia and solid tumor cell lines with different MYC expression levels, overexpression in vitro systems and leukemia stem cells. RNA-sequencing and differentiation studies were used to characterize transcriptional and phenotypic changes. Drug-induced epigenetic changes were studied by chromatin post-translational modification analysis, expression of chromatin regulators, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and mass-spectrometry.
At a clinically relevant dose, proscillaridin A rapidly altered MYC protein half-life causing MYC degradation and growth inhibition. Transcriptomic profile of leukemic cells after treatment showed a downregulation of genes involved in MYC pathways, cell replication and an upregulation of hematopoietic differentiation genes. Functional studies confirmed cell cycle inhibition and the onset of leukemia differentiation even after drug removal. Proscillaridin A induced a significant loss of lysine acetylation in histone H3 (at lysine 9, 14, 18 and 27) and in non-histone proteins such as MYC itself, MYC target proteins, and a series of histone acetylation regulators. Global loss of acetylation correlated with the rapid downregulation of histone acetyltransferases. Importantly, proscillaridin A demonstrated anticancer activity against lymphoid and myeloid stem cell populations characterized by MYC overexpression.
Overall, these results strongly support the repurposing of proscillaridin A in MYC overexpressing leukemia.
The majority of long-term reconstituting hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) in the adult is in G0, whereas a large proportion of progenitors are more cycling. We show here that the SCL/TAL1 ...transcription factor is highly expressed in LT-HSCs compared with short-term reconstituting HSCs and progenitors and that SCL negatively regulates the G0-G1 transit of LT-HSCs. Furthermore, when SCL protein levels are decreased by gene targeting or by RNA interference, the reconstitution potential of HSCs is impaired in several transplantation assays. First, the mean stem cell activity of HSCs transplanted at approximately 1 competitive repopulating unit was 2-fold decreased when Scl gene dosage was decreased. Second, Scl+/− HSCs were at a marked competitive disadvantage with Scl+/+ cells when transplanted at 4 competitive repopulating units equivalent. Third, reconstitution of the stem cell pool by adult HSCs expressing Scl-directed shRNAs was decreased compared with controls. At the molecular level, we found that SCL occupies the Cdkn1a and Id1 loci in primary hematopoietic cells and that the expression levels of these 2 regulators of HSC cell cycle and long-term functions are sensitive to Scl gene dosage. Together, our observations suggest that SCL impedes G0-G1 transition in HSCs and regulates their long-term competence.
In acute promyelocytic leukemia, granulocytic differentiation is arrested at the promyelocyte stage. The variant t(11;17) translocation produces two fusion proteins, promyelocytic leukemia zinc ...finger-retinoic acid receptor α (PLZF-RARα) and RARα-PLZF, both of which participate in leukemia development. Here we provide evidence that the activity of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), a master regulator of granulocytic differentiation, is severely impaired in leukemic promyelocytes with the t(11;17) translocation compared with those associated with the t(15;17) translocation. We show that RARα-PLZF inhibits myeloid cell differentiation through interactions with C/EBPα tethered to DNA, using ChIP and DNA capture assays. Furthermore, RARα-PLZF recruits HDAC1 and causes histone H3 deacetylation at C/EBPα target loci, thereby decreasing the expression of C/EBPα target genes. In line with these results, HDAC inhibitors restore in part C/EBPα target gene expression. These findings provide molecular evidence for a mechanism through which RARα-PLZF acts as a modifier oncogene that subverts differentiation in the granulocytic lineage by associating with C/EBPα and inhibiting its activity.
Abstract 4749
Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is the first successful cellular therapy and remains the only treatment providing long-term cure in acute myeloblastic leukemia. At the ...apex of the hematopoietic system, quiescent HSCs are spared by chemotherapeutic treatments that target proliferating cells and therefore can regenerate the entire blood system of a patient after drug exposure. Nevertheless, the consequence of repeated chemotherapy regimen on HSC function remains to be clarified. We previously showed that Scl/Tal1 gene dosage regulates HSC quiescence and functions when transplanted at limiting dilutions (Lacombe et al., 2010). In the present study, we investigate how massive expansion in vivo influences stem cell functions. To address this question, we optimized a protocol based on 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), an antimetabolite that has been used to treat colon, rectum, and head and neck cancers. In addition, we used Scl+/− mice to address the role of Scl in controlling HSCs expansion post-5-FU. We show that within 7 days following 5-FU treatment, HSCs exit quiescence and enter the cell cycle. To deplete cycling HSCs, we injected a second dose of 5-FU and showed that the stem cell pool was disseminated. Nonetheless, the remaining HSCs proliferated extensively to re-establish the HSC pool, which was twice larger than that of untreated mice. At this point, most HSCs have exited the cell cycle and were back to quiescence. Despite a near normal stem cell pool size and a quiescent status, HSCs from these 5-FU treated mice could not compete against untreated cells to regenerate the host in transplantation assays. Furthermore, we show that this extensive proliferation in vivo severely impaired the clonal expansion of individual HSC as measured by the mean activity of stem cell (MAS). Our results demonstrate that HSCs lose their competitive potential after two 5-FU treatments, suggesting that HSCs have an intrinsic expansion limit beyond which their regenerative potential is impaired. In addition, Scl is haplodeficient for cell cycle entry and cell division but Scl gene dosage does not affect this expansion limit. Therefore, our data dissociate the control of HSC expansion under extensive proliferative stress from cell cycle control during steady state. We surmise that chemotherapy regimen based on repeated administration of 5-FU or other antimetabolites are likely to severely impair long-term stem cell functions.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Gene expression programs are established by networks of interacting transcription factors. The basic helix-loop-helix factor SCL and the LIM-only protein LMO2 are components of transcription factor ...complexes that are essential for hematopoiesis. Here we show that LMO2 and SCL are predominant interaction partners in hematopoietic cells and that this interaction occurs through a conserved interface residing in the loop and helix 2 of SCL. This interaction nucleates the assembly of SCL complexes on DNA and is required for target gene induction and for the stimulation of erythroid and megakaryocytic differentiation. We also demonstrate that SCL determines LMO2 protein levels in hematopoietic cells and reveal that interaction with SCL prevents LMO2 degradation by the proteasome. We propose that the SCL-LMO2 interaction couples protein stabilization with higher order protein complex assembly, thus providing a powerful means of modulating the stoichiometry and spatiotemporal activity of SCL complexes. This interaction likely provides a rate-limiting step in the transcriptional control of hematopoiesis and leukemia, and similar mechanisms may operate to control the assembly of diverse protein modules.
Abstract 2520
Poster Board II-497
The life-long production of blood cells depends on the regenerative capacity of a rare bone marrow population, the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). In the adult, the ...majority of HSCs are quiescent while a large proportion of progenitors are more cycling. The state of quiescence in HSCs is reversible and these cells can be triggered into cycle by chemotoxic injuries, exposure to cytokines in vitro, as well as transplantation in vivo. SCL/TAL1 is a bHLH transcription factor that has a critical role in generating HSCs during development. However, the role of SCL in adult HSCs is still a matter of debate. In the present study, we took several approaches to address this question. Scl expression was monitored by quantitative PCR analysis in a population that contains adult long-term reconstituting HSCs (LT-HSCs) at a frequency of 20–50%: Kit+Sca+Lin-CD150+CD48-. RT-PCR results were confirmed by β-galactosidase staining of these cells in Scl-LacZ mice. We show that Scl is highly expressed in LT-HSC and that its expression correlates with quiescence, i.e. Scl levels decrease when LT-HSCs exit the G0 state. In order to assess stem cell function, we performed several transplantation assays with adult bone marrow cells in which SCL protein levels were decreased at least two-fold by gene targeting or by RNA interference. 1) The mean stem cell activity of HSCs transplanted at ∼1 CRU was two-fold decreased in Scl heterozygous (Scl+/−) mice. 2) In competitive transplantation, the contribution of Scl+/− cells to primitive populations as well mature cells in the bone marrow was significantly decreased 8 months after transplantation. 3) In secondary transplantation assays, Scl+/− HSCs were severely impaired in their ability to reconstitute secondary recipient in stem cells and progenitor populations and in almost all mature lineages. 4) Reconstitution of the stem cell pool by adult HSCs expressing Scl-directed shRNAs was significantly decreased compared to controls. We therefore conclude that SCL levels regulate HSC long term competence. Since Scl levels decrease when LT-HSCs exit the G0 state, we addressed the question whether the cell cycle state of LT-HSCs is sensitive to Scl gene dosage. We stained bone marrow cell populations with Hoechst and Pyronin Y. At steady state, percentage LT-HSCs in G1 fraction appears to be significantly increased in mice lacking one allele of Scl. Furthermore, a three-fold increase in G1 fraction was also observed when cells were infected with Scl-directed shRNA, suggesting that a decrease in Scl levels facilitates G0-G1 transition. At the molecular level, we show by chromatin immunoprecipitation that SCL occupies the Cdkn1a and Id1 loci. Furthermore, in purified Kit+Sca+Lin-CD150+CD48- cells, the expression levels of these two regulators of HSC cell cycle and long-term functions are sensitive to Scl gene dosage. Together, our observations suggest that SCL impedes G0-G1 transition in HSCs and regulates their long-term competence.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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