Project description:PurposePatients with mixed lineage leukemia (MLL)-rearranged B-lymphoblastic leukemias (B-ALL) have an unfavorable prognosis and require intensified treatment. Multiple MLL fusion partners have been identified, complicating the diagnostic evaluation of MLL rearrangements. We analyzed molecular markers of MLL rearrangement for use in rapid diagnostic assays and found the immunomodulatory protein, Galectin-1 (Gal-1), to be selectively expressed in MLL-rearranged B-ALL.Experimental designTranscriptional profiling of ALL subtypes revealed selective overexpression of Gal-1 in MLL-rearranged ALLs. For this reason, we analyzed Gal-1 protein expression in MLL-germline and MLL-rearranged adult and infant pediatric B-ALLs and cell lines by immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, and intracellular flow cytometry of viable tumor cell suspensions. Because deregulated gene expression in MLL-rearranged leukemias may be related to the altered histone methyltransferase activity of the MLL fusion protein complex, we also analyzed histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) dimethylation in the LGALS1 promoter region using chromatin immunoprecipitation.ResultsGal-1 transcripts were significantly more abundant in MLL-rearranged B-ALLs. All 32 primary MLL-rearranged B-ALLs exhibited abundant Gal-1 immunostaining, regardless of the translocation partner, whereas only 2 of 81 germline-MLL B-ALLs expressed Gal-1. In addition, Gal-1 was selectively detected in newly diagnosed MLL-rearranged B-ALLs by intracellular flow cytometry. The LGALS1 promoter H3K79 was significantly hypermethylated in MLL-rearranged B-ALLs compared with MLL-germline B-ALLs and normal pre-B cells.ConclusionIn B-ALL, Gal-1 is a highly sensitive and specific biomarker of MLL rearrangement that is likely induced by a MLL-dependent epigenetic modification.
Project description:Activating NOTCH1 mutations are found in 50% to 60% of human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) samples. In mouse models, these mutations generally fail to induce leukemia. This observation suggests that NOTCH1 activation must collaborate with other genetic events. Mutagenesis screens previously implicated ZMIZ1 as a possible NOTCH1 collaborator in leukemia. ZMIZ1 is a transcriptional coactivator of the protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS)-like family. Its role in oncogenesis is unknown. Here, we show that activated NOTCH1 and ZMIZ1 collaborate to induce T-ALL in mice. ZMIZ1 and activated NOTCH1 are coexpressed in a subset of human T-ALL patients and cell lines. ZMIZ1 inhibition slowed growth and sensitized leukemic cells to corticosteroids and NOTCH inhibitors. Gene expression profiling identified C-MYC, but not other NOTCH-regulated genes, as an essential downstream target of ZMIZ1. ZMIZ1 functionally interacts with NOTCH1 to promote C-MYC transcription and activity. The mechanism does not involve the NOTCH pathway and appears to be indirect and mediated independently of canonical PIAS functions through a novel N-terminal domain. Our study shows the importance of identifying genetic collaborations between parallel leukemic pathways that may be therapeutically targeted. They also raise new inquiries into potential NOTCH-ZMIZ1 collaboration in a variety of C-MYC-driven cancers.
Project description:FAT atypical cadherin 1 (FAT1), a transmembrane protein, is frequently mutated in various cancer types and has been described as context-dependent tumor suppressor or oncogene. The FAT1 gene is mutated in 12-16% of T-cell acute leukemia (T-ALL) and aberrantly expressed in about 54% of T-ALL cases contrasted with absent expression in normal T-cells. Here, we characterized FAT1 expression and profiled the methylation status from T-ALL patients. In our T-ALL cohort, 53% of patient samples were FAT1 positive (FAT1pos) compared to only 16% FAT1 positivity in early T-ALL patient samples. Aberrant expression of FAT1 was strongly associated with FAT1 promotor hypomethylation, yet a subset, mainly consisting of TLX1-driven T-ALL patient samples showed methylation-independent high FAT1 expression. Genes correlating with FAT1 expression revealed enrichment in WNT signaling genes representing the most enriched single pathway. FAT1 knockdown or knockout led to impaired proliferation and downregulation of WNT pathway target genes (CCND1, MYC, LEF1), while FAT1 overexpressing conveyed a proliferative advantage. To conclude, we characterized a subtype pattern of FAT1 gene expression in adult T-ALL patients correlating with promotor methylation status. FAT1 dependent proliferation and WNT signaling discloses an impact on deeper understanding of T-ALL leukemogenesis as a fundament for prospective therapeutic strategies.
Project description:T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a highly aggressive leukemia that is primarily caused by aberrant activation of the NOTCH1 signaling pathway. Recent studies have revealed that posttranslational modifications, such as ubiquitination, regulate NOTCH1 stability, activity, and localization. However, the specific deubiquitinase that affects NOTCH1 protein stability remains unestablished. Here, we report that ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) can stabilize NOTCH1. USP7 deubiquitinated NOTCH1 in vivo and in vitro, whereas knockdown of USP7 increased the ubiquitination of NOTCH1. USP7 interacted with NOTCH1 protein in T-ALL cells, and the MATH and UBL domains of USP7 were responsible for this interaction. Depletion of USP7 significantly suppressed the proliferation of T-ALL cells in vitro and in vivo, accompanied by downregulation of the NOTCH1 protein level. Similarly, pharmacologic inhibition of USP7 led to apoptosis of T-ALL cells. More importantly, we found that USP7 was significantly upregulated in human T-ALL cell lines and patient samples, and a USP7 inhibitor exhibited cell cytotoxicity toward primary T-ALL cells, indicating the clinical relevance of these findings. Overall, our results demonstrate that USP7 is a novel deubiquitinase that stabilizes NOTCH1. Therefore, USP7 may be a promising therapeutic target in the currently incurable T-ALL.
Project description:Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a subset of ALL that demonstrated a high treatment failure rate. One of the hallmarks of Ph-like ALL is PDGFRB gene fusion, with fusion partner proteins often harboring dimerization domains and enhancing the kinase activity of PDGFRB. We determined a novel oncogenic PDGFRB fusion gene, NRIP1::PDGFRB, from a pediatric patient with ALL, encoding a protein with the carboxy-terminal kinase domain of PDGFRB, without the partner peptide. We confirmed the oncogenic potential of NRIP1::PDGFRB in vitro and the efficacy of all ABL1-specific inhibitor generations, including imatinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, and ponatinib, in suppressing this potential. PDGFRB activation mechanism may include juxtamembrane domain truncation in the predicted peptide. In conclusion, we determined a novel fusion gene pattern in Ph-like ALL.
Project description:PurposeT-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive disease, affecting children and adults. Chemotherapy treatments show high response rates but have debilitating effects and carry risk of relapse. Previous work implicated NOTCH1 and other oncogenes. However, direct inhibition of these pathways affects healthy tissues and cancer alike. Our goal in this work has been to identify enzymes active in T-ALL whose activity could be targeted for therapeutic purposes.Experimental designTo identify and characterize new NOTCH1 druggable partners in T-ALL, we coupled studies of the NOTCH1 interactome to expression analysis and a series of functional analyses in cell lines, patient samples, and xenograft models.ResultsWe demonstrate that ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) interacts with NOTCH1 and controls leukemia growth by stabilizing the levels of NOTCH1 and JMJD3 histone demethylase. USP7 is highly expressed in T-ALL and is transcriptionally regulated by NOTCH1. In turn, USP7 controls NOTCH1 levels through deubiquitination. USP7 binds oncogenic targets and controls gene expression through stabilization of NOTCH1 and JMJD3 and ultimately H3K27me3 changes. We also show that USP7 and NOTCH1 bind T-ALL superenhancers, and inhibition of USP7 leads to a decrease of the transcriptional levels of NOTCH1 targets and significantly blocks T-ALL cell growth in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionsThese results provide a new model for USP7 deubiquitinase activity through recruitment to oncogenic chromatin loci and regulation of both oncogenic transcription factors and chromatin marks to promote leukemia. Our studies also show that targeting USP7 inhibition could be a therapeutic strategy in aggressive leukemia.
Project description:To study the impact of oncogenic K-Ras on T-cell leukemia/lymphoma development and progression, we made use of a conditional K-Ras(G12D) murine knockin model, in which oncogenic K-Ras is expressed from its endogenous promoter. Transplantation of whole bone marrow cells that express oncogenic K-Ras into wild-type recipient mice resulted in a highly penetrant, aggressive T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. The lymphoblasts were composed of a CD4/CD8 double-positive population that aberrantly expressed CD44. Thymi of primary donor mice showed reduced cellularity, and immunophenotypic analysis demonstrated a block in differentiation at the double-negative 1 stage. With progression of disease, approximately 50% of mice acquired Notch1 mutations within the PEST domain. Of note, primary lymphoblasts were hypersensitive to gamma-secretase inhibitor treatment, which is known to impair Notch signaling. This inhibition was Notch-specific as assessed by down-regulation of Notch1 target genes and intracellular cleaved Notch. We also observed that the oncogenic K-Ras-induced T-cell disease was responsive to rapamycin and inhibitors of the RAS/MAPK pathway. These data indicate that patients with T-cell leukemia with K-Ras mutations may benefit from therapies that target the NOTCH pathway alone or in combination with inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/MTOR and RAS/MAPK pathways.
Project description:BLNK (BASH/SLP-65) encodes an adaptor protein that plays an important role in B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling. Loss-of-function mutations in this gene are observed in human pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and a subset of Blnk knock-out (KO) mice develop pre-B-ALL. To understand the molecular mechanism of the Blnk mutation-associated pre-B-ALL development, retroviral tagging was applied to KO mice using the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV). The Blnk mutation that significantly accelerated the onset of MoMLV-induced leukemia and increased the incidence of pre-B-ALL Cebpb was identified as a frequent site of retroviral integration, suggesting that its upregulation cooperates with Blnk mutations. Transgenic expression of the liver-enriched activator protein (LAP) isoform of Cebpb reduced the number of mature B-lymphocytes in the bone marrow and inhibited differentiation at the pre-BI stage. Furthermore, LAP expression significantly accelerated leukemogenesis in Blnk KO mice and alone acted as a B-cell oncogene. Furthermore, an inverse relationship between BLNK and C/EBPβ expression was also noted in human pre-B-ALL cases, and the high level of CEBPB expression was associated with short survival periods in patients with BLNK-downregulated pre-B-ALL. These results indicate the association between the C/EBPβ transcriptional network and BCR signaling in pre-B-ALL development and leukemogenesis. This study gives insight into ALL progression and suggests that the BCR/C/EBPβ pathway can be a therapeutic target.