Project description:Gene expression by RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by Cyclindependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The RNAPII pausing checkpoint, engaged after transcription initiation, is controlled by CDK9 to regulate transcription in metazoans. We discovered that CDK9-mediated RNAPII pause-release is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex. PP2A dynamically competes for key CDK9 substrates, DSIF and RNAPIICTD, and is recruited to transcription pausing sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. INTS6 depletion confers resistance to CDK9 inhibition in a variety of normal and tumor cell lines. Loss of INTS6 abolishes the Integrator-PP2A association leading to unrestrained CDK9 activity, which amplifies transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill MLLrearranged leukemias and solid tumors and provide therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that finely-tuned gene expression relies on the balance of kinase and phosphatase activity at the pausing checkpoint.
Project description:Gene expression by RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The RNAPII pausing checkpoint, engaged after transcription initiation, is controlled by CDK9 to regulate transcription in metazoans. We discovered that CDK9-mediated RNAPII pause-release is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex. PP2A dynamically competes for key CDK9 substrates, DSIF and RNAPII-CTD, and is recruited to transcription pausing sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. INTS6 depletion confers resistance to CDK9 inhibition in a variety of normal and tumor cell lines. Loss of INTS6 abolishes the Integrator-PP2A association leading to unrestrained CDK9 activity, which amplifies transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill MLL-rearranged leukemias and solid tumors and provide therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that f inely-tuned gene expression relies on the balance of kinase and phosphatase activity at the pausing checkpoint.
Project description:Gene expression by RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The RNAPII pausing checkpoint, engaged after transcription initiation, is controlled by CDK9 to regulate transcription in metazoans. We discovered that CDK9-mediated RNAPII pause-release is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex. PP2A dynamically competes for key CDK9 substrates, DSIF and RNAPII-CTD, and is recruited to transcription pausing sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. INTS6 depletion confers resistance to CDK9 inhibition in a variety of normal and tumor cell lines. Loss of INTS6 abolishes the Integrator-PP2A association leading to unrestrained CDK9 activity, which amplifies transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill MLL-rearranged leukemias and solid tumors and provide therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that f inely-tuned gene expression relies on the balance of kinase and phosphatase activity at the pausing checkpoint.
Project description:Gene expression by RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The RNAPII pausing checkpoint, engaged after transcription initiation, is controlled by CDK9 to regulate transcription in metazoans. We discovered that CDK9-mediated RNAPII pause-release is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex. PP2A dynamically competes for key CDK9 substrates, DSIF and RNAPII-CTD, and is recruited to transcription pausing sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. INTS6 depletion confers resistance to CDK9 inhibition in a variety of normal and tumor cell lines. Loss of INTS6 abolishes the Integrator-PP2A association leading to unrestrained CDK9 activity, which amplifies transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill MLL-rearranged leukemias and solid tumors and provide therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that f inely-tuned gene expression relies on the balance of kinase and phosphatase activity at the pausing checkpoint.
Project description:We report the effects of CDK9 inhibition (AZD4573) on the epigenetic landscape in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). This study utilized chromatin immunoprecipitation with massively parallel DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) to assess genome-wide post-translational histone modifications (H3K27ac and H3K4me3) and DNA occupancy of transcriptional proteins (RNAPII and BRD4) in two DLBCL cell lines, OCI-LY3 and VAL, treated with the CDK9 inhibitor AZD4573 (30 nM). Cells were treated for 0, 3 and 8 hours prior to harvest. After 8-hour exposure, drug was washed out and cells were harvested after 24 hours. We found that CDK9 inhibition led to an increase in RNAPII promoter proximal pausing, and increase in BRD4 enrichment on the promoter, and a decrease in promoter H3K4me3. Treatment induced reprograming of the super-enhancer landscape including loss of super-enhancers next to genes in oncogenic pathways.
Project description:CDK9 is the kinase subunit of P-TEFb that enables RNA polymerase (Pol) II to transit from promoter-proximal pausing to productive elongation. Although considerable interest exists in CDK9 as a therapeutic target, little progress has been made due to the lack of highly selective inhibitors. Here, we describe the development of i-CDK9 as such an inhibitor that potently suppresses CDK9 phosphorylation of substrates and causes genome-wide Pol II pausing. While most genes experience reduced expression, MYC and other primary response genes increase expression upon sustained i-CDK9 treatment. Essential for this increase, the bromodomain protein BRD4 captures P-TEFb from 7SK snRNP to deliver to target genes and also enhances CDK9’s activity and resistance to inhibition. Because the i-CDK9-induced MYC expression and binding to P-TEFb compensate for P-TEFb’s loss of activity, only the simultaneous inhibition of CDK9 and MYC can efficiently induce growth arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells, suggesting the potential of a combinatorial treatment strategy. ChIP-seq of Pol II in HeLa cells before or after i-CDk9 treatment
Project description:Histone H2B mono-ubiquitylation (H2Bub1) and phosphorylation of elongation factor Spt5 by cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (Cdk9) occur during transcription by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), and are mutually dependent in fission yeast. How Cdk9 activity and H2Bub1 cooperate to regulate the expression of individual genes remains unclear. Here we show Cdk9 inhibition or H2Bub1 loss induces intragenic antisense transcription of distinct gene subsets; ablation of both pathways derepresses antisense transcription of over half the genome. H2Bub1 and phospho-Spt5 have similar genome-wide distributions; both are enriched in coding regions, and H2Bub1 levels are directly proportional to those of phospho-Spt5. Cdk9-dependence of antisense suppression correlates with high H2Bub1 occupancy, and with promoter-proximal RNAPII pausing. Combined reduction of Cdk9 activity and loss of H2Bub1 prevent recruitment of the histone deacetylase Clr6-CII to transcribed genes, and lead to decreased histone occupancy and increased histone acetylation within gene coding regions. These results uncover new pathways linking regulators of RNAPII transcription elongation to suppression of aberrant antisense transcription, and demonstrate novel interactions between co-transcriptional histone modification pathways.
Project description:CDK9 is the kinase subunit of P-TEFb that enables RNA polymerase (Pol) II to transit from promoter-proximal pausing to productive elongation. Although considerable interest exists in CDK9 as a therapeutic target, little progress has been made due to the lack of highly selective inhibitors. Here, we describe the development of i-CDK9 as such an inhibitor that potently suppresses CDK9 phosphorylation of substrates and causes genome-wide Pol II pausing. While most genes experience reduced expression, MYC and other primary response genes increase expression upon sustained i-CDK9 treatment. Essential for this increase, the bromodomain protein BRD4 captures P-TEFb from 7SK snRNP to deliver to target genes and also enhances CDK9’s activity and resistance to inhibition. Because the i-CDK9-induced MYC expression and binding to P-TEFb compensate for P-TEFb’s loss of activity, only the simultaneous inhibition of CDK9 and MYC can efficiently induce growth arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells, suggesting the potential of a combinatorial treatment strategy. We used microarrays to examine the global impact on gene expression by imhibiting CDK9 at different time durations. HeLa cell lines treated with CDK9 inhibitor at different time points
Project description:In this study, we discovered that CDK9-mediated, RNAPII-driven transcription is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex that is recruited to transcription sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. PP2A dynamically antagonises phosphorylation of key CDK9 substrates including DSIF and RNAPII-CTD. Loss of INTS6 results in resistance to tumor cell death mediated by CDK9 inhibition, decreased turnover of CDK9 phospho-substrates and amplification of acute cell growth and pro-inflammatory transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill both leukemic and solid tumor cells, providing therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that finely-tuned gene expression relies on the balance of kinase and phosphatase activity throughout the transcription cycle.