MLL-fusion-driven leukemia requires SETD2 to safeguard genomic integrity
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: MLL-fusions represent a large group of leukemia drivers, whose diversity originates from the vast molecular heterogeneity of C-terminal fusion partners of MLL. While studies of selected MLL-fusions have revealed critical molecular pathways, unifying mechanisms across all MLL-fusions remain poorly understood. We present the first comprehensive survey of protein-protein interactions of seven distantly related MLL-fusion proteins. Functional investigation of 128 conserved MLL-fusion-interactors identified a specific role for the lysine methyltransferase SETD2 in MLL-leukemia. SETD2 loss caused growth arrest and differentiation of AML cells, and led to increased DNA damage. In addition to its role in H3K36 tri-methylation, SETD2 was required to maintain high H3K79 di-methylation and MLL-AF9 binding to critical target genes, such as Hoxa9. SETD2 loss synergized with pharmacologic inhibition of the H3K79 methyltransferase DOT1L to induce DNA damage, growth arrest, differentiation and apoptosis. These results uncover a dependency for SETD2 during MLL-leukemogenesis, revealing a novel actionable vulnerability in this disease.
Project description:MLL-fusions are potent oncogenes that initiate aggressive forms of acute leukemia. As aberrant transcriptional regulators, MLL-fusion proteins alter gene expression in hematopoietic cells through interactions with the histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methyltransferase DOT1L. Notably, interference with MLL-fusion cofactors like DOT1L is an emerging therapeutic strategy in this disease. Here we identify the histone H2B E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF20 as an additional requirement for MLL-fusion-mediated leukemogenesis. Suppressing the expression of Rnf20 in diverse models of MLL-rearranged leukemia leads to inhibition of cell proliferation; under tissue culture conditions as well as in vivo. Rnf20 knockdown leads to reduced expression of MLL-fusion target genes, including Hoxa9 and Meis1; effects that resemble Dot1l-inhibition. Using ChIP-seq, we found that H2B ubiquitination (H2Bub) is enriched in the body of MLL-fusion target genes, correlating with sites of H3K79 methylation and transcription elongation. Furthermore, we found that Rnf20 is required to maintain local levels of H3K79 di-methylation by Dot1l at Hoxa9 and Meis1. These findings support a model whereby co-transcriptional recruitment of Rnf20 at MLL-fusion target genes leads to amplification of Dot1l-mediated H3K79 methylation, thereby rendering leukemia cells dependent on Rnf20 to maintain their oncogenic transcriptional program. Examination of gene expression profiles upon RNF20 RNAi in MLL-AF9 acute myeloid leukemia cells
Project description:MLL-fusions are potent oncogenes that initiate aggressive forms of acute leukemia. As aberrant transcriptional regulators, MLL-fusion proteins alter gene expression in hematopoietic cells through interactions with the histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methyltransferase DOT1L. Notably, interference with MLL-fusion cofactors like DOT1L is an emerging therapeutic strategy in this disease. Here we identify the histone H2B E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF20 as an additional requirement for MLL-fusion-mediated leukemogenesis. Suppressing the expression of Rnf20 in diverse models of MLL-rearranged leukemia leads to inhibition of cell proliferation; under tissue culture conditions as well as in vivo. Rnf20 knockdown leads to reduced expression of MLL-fusion target genes, including Hoxa9 and Meis1; effects that resemble Dot1l-inhibition. Using ChIP-seq, we found that H2B ubiquitination (H2Bub) is enriched in the body of MLL-fusion target genes, correlating with sites of H3K79 methylation and transcription elongation. Furthermore, we found that Rnf20 is required to maintain local levels of H3K79 di-methylation by Dot1l at Hoxa9 and Meis1. These findings support a model whereby co-transcriptional recruitment of Rnf20 at MLL-fusion target genes leads to amplification of Dot1l-mediated H3K79 methylation, thereby rendering leukemia cells dependent on Rnf20 to maintain their oncogenic transcriptional program.
Project description:MLL-fusions may induce leukemogenic gene expression programs by recruiting the histone H3K79 methyltransferase to MLL-target promoters. We evaluated gene expression changes after cre-mediated loss of Dot1l in leukemia cells obtained from mice injected with MLL-9 transformed lineage negative bone marrow cells.
Project description:MLL-fusions may induce leukemogenic gene expression programs by recruiting the histone H3K79 methyltransferase to MLL-target promoters. We evaluated gene expression changes after cre-mediated loss of Dot1l in leukemia cells obtained from mice injected with MLL-9 transformed lineage negative bone marrow cells. MLL-AF9 murine leukemia cells carrying two conditional Dot1l alleles were retrovirally transduced with Cre or empty control vector, and gene expression changes were monitored on day 3, 5, and 7 after transduction.
Project description:MLL encodes a histone methyltransferase that is critical in maintaining gene expression during embryonic development and hematopoiesis. 11q23 translocations encode chimeric MLL fusions that act as potent drivers of acute leukemia. However, it remains unclear what portion of the leukemic genome is under the direct control of the MLL fusion protein. By comparing patient-derived leukemic cell lines, we find that MLL fusion-bound genes are a small subset of that recognized by wild-type MLL. In an inducible MLL-ENL cellular model, binding of the MLL fusion protein and changes in H3K79 methylation are limited to a specific portion of the genome, whereas wild-type MLL distributes to a much larger set of gene loci. Surprisingly, among 223 MLL fusion-bound genes, only 12 demonstrate a significant increase in mRNA expression upon induction of the fusion protein. In addition to Hoxa9 and Meis1, this includes Eya1 and Six1 which comprise a heterodimeric transcription factor important in several developmental pathways. We show that Eya1 has the capacity to immortalize hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro and collaborates with Six1 in hematopoietic transformation assays. Altogether, our data suggest that MLL fusions contribute to the development of acute leukemia through direct activation of a small set of target genes. We explored an inducible MLL-ENL cellular model, which was obtained from Dr. Robert Slany (University Erlangen, Germany). We wished to examine the differential expressed genes that are bound by MLL wild type (No 4-OHT) and fusion (4-OHT) proteins, combinding the ChIP-chip data to explore the potential MLL fusion-regulated genes.
Project description:The histone 3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methyltransferase Dot1l has been implicated in the development of leukemias bearing translocations that involve the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene. We identified the MLL-fusion targets in a murine MLL-AF9 leukemia model, and conducted epigenetic profiling for H3K79me2, H3K4me3, H3K27me3 and H3K36me3. Histone methylation patterns are highly abnormal on MLL-AF9 fusion target loci, defining a distinct epigenetic lesion involving H3K79. Conditional inactivation of Dot1l leads to specific down-regulation of direct MLL-AF9 targets and an MLL-translocation associated gene expression signature, while global transcription levels remain largely unaffected. This correlated with a greater sensitivity of leukemic blasts towards loss of Dot1l compared to normal hematopoietic cells. Development of in vivo leukemia was absolutely dependent on Dot1l. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by Solexa sequencing for H3K4me3, H3K27me3, H3K36me3, H3K79me2 and biotinylated MLL-AF9 in HSC, GMP and LSC.
Project description:MLL encodes a histone methyltransferase that is critical in maintaining gene expression during embryonic development and hematopoiesis. 11q23 translocations encode chimeric MLL fusions that act as potent drivers of acute leukemia. However, it remains unclear what portion of the leukemic genome is under the direct control of the MLL fusion protein. By comparing patient-derived leukemic cell lines, we find that MLL fusion-bound genes are a small subset of that recognized by wild-type MLL. In an inducible MLL-ENL cellular model, binding of the MLL fusion protein and changes in H3K79 methylation are limited to a specific portion of the genome, whereas wild-type MLL distributes to a much larger set of gene loci. Surprisingly, among 223 MLL fusion-bound genes, only 12 demonstrate a significant increase in mRNA expression upon induction of the fusion protein. In addition to Hoxa9 and Meis1, this includes Eya1 and Six1 which comprise a heterodimeric transcription factor important in several developmental pathways. We show that Eya1 has the capacity to immortalize hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro and collaborates with Six1 in hematopoietic transformation assays. Altogether, our data suggest that MLL fusions contribute to the development of acute leukemia through direct activation of a small set of target genes.
Project description:MLL-fusions represent a large group of leukemia drivers, whose diversity originates from the vast molecular heterogeneity of C-terminal fusion partners of MLL protein. While studies of selected MLL-fusions have revealed critical molecular pathways, unifying mechanisms across all MLL-fusions remain poorly understood. We present the first comprehensive survey of protein-protein interactions of seven distantly related MLL-fusion proteins: MLL-AF1p, MLL-AF4, MLL-AF9, MLL-CBP, MLL-EEN, MLL-ENL and MLL-GAS7.
Project description:The histone 3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methyltransferase Dot1l has been implicated in the development of leukemias bearing translocations that involve the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene. We identified the MLL-fusion targets in a murine MLL-AF9 leukemia model, and conducted epigenetic profiling for H3K79me2, H3K4me3, H3K27me3 and H3K36me3. Histone methylation patterns are highly abnormal on MLL-AF9 fusion target loci, defining a distinct epigenetic lesion involving H3K79. Conditional inactivation of Dot1l leads to specific down-regulation of direct MLL-AF9 targets and an MLL-translocation associated gene expression signature, while global transcription levels remain largely unaffected. This correlated with a greater sensitivity of leukemic blasts towards loss of Dot1l compared to normal hematopoietic cells. Development of in vivo leukemia was absolutely dependent on Dot1l.
Project description:Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangements trigger aberrant epigenetic modification and gene expression in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, which generates one of the most aggressive subtypes of leukemia with an apex self-renewal. It remains a challenge to directly inhibit rearranged MLL itself because of its multiple fusion partners and the poorly annotated downstream genes of MLL fusion proteins; therefore, novel therapeutic targets are urgently needed. We discovered that a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) LAMP5-AS1 can promote higher degrees of H3K79 methylation, followed by upregulated expression of the self-renewal genes in the HOXA cluster, which are responsible for leukemia stemness in context of MLL rearrangements. Mechanistically, LAMP5-AS1 facilitated the methyltransferase activity of DOT1L by directly binding its Lys-rich region of catalytic domain, thus promoting the global patterns of H3K79 dimethylation and trimethylation in cells. These observations supported that LAMP5-AS1 upregulated H3K79me2/me3 and the transcription of DOT1L ectopic target genes. This is the first study that a lncRNA regulates the self-renewal program and differentiation block in MLL leukemia cells by facilitating the methyltransferase activity of DOT1L and global H3K79 methylation, showing its potential as a therapeutic target for MLL leukemia.