Untargeted metabolomics of miR-142 WT vs KO CML cells

ABSTRACT: MiR-142 is dynamically expressed and plays a regulatory role in hematopoiesis. Based on the simple observation that miR-142 levels are significantly lower in CD34+CD38- cells from blast crisis (BC) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). CML patients compared with chronic phase (CP) CML patients (p=0.002), we hypothesized that miR-142 deficit plays a role in BC transformation. To test this hypothesis, we generated a miR-142 KO BCR-ABL (i.e., miR-142−/−BCR-ABL) mouse by crossing a miR-142−/− mouse with a miR-142+/+BCR-ABL mouse. While the miR-142+/+BCR-ABL mice developed and died of CP CML, the miR-142−/−BCR-ABL mice developed a BC-like phenotype in the absence of any other acquired gene mutations and died significantly sooner than miR-142+/+BCR-ABL CP controls (p=0.001). Leukemic stem cell (LSC)-enriched Lineage-Sca-1+c-Kit+ cells (LSKs) from diseased miR-142−/−BCR-ABL mice transplanted into congenic recipients, recapitulated the BC features thereby suggesting stable transformation of CP-LSCs into BC-LSCs in the miR-142 KO CML mouse. Single cell (sc) RNA-seq profiling showed that miR-142 deficit changed the cellular landscape of the miR-142−/−BCR-ABL LSKs compared with miR-142+/+BCR-ABL LSKs with expansion of myeloid-primed and loss of lymphoid-primed factions. Bulk RNA-seq analyses along with unbiased metabolomic profiling and functional metabolic assays demonstrated enhanced fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) and oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) in miR-142−/−BCR-ABL LSKs vs miR-142+/+BCR-ABL LSKs. MiR-142 deficit enhanced FAO in miR-142−/−BCR-ABL LSKs by increasing the expression of CPT1A and CPT1B, that controls the cytosol-to-mitochondrial acyl-carnitine transport, a critical step in FAO. MiR-142 deficit also enhanced OxPhos in miR-142−/−BCR-ABL LSKs by increasing mitochondrial fusion and activity. As the homeostasis and activity of LSCs depend on higher levels of these oxidative metabolism processes, we then postulate that miR-142 deficit is a potentially druggable target for BC-LSCs. To this end, we developed a novel CpG-miR-142 mimic oligonucleotide (ODN; i.e., CpG-M-miR-142) that corrected the miR-142 deficit and alone or in combination with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) significantly reduced LSC burden and prolonged survival of miR-142−/−BCR-ABL mice. The results from murine models were validated in BC CD34+CD38- primary blasts and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). In conclusion, an acquired miR-142 deficit sufficed in transforming CP-LSCs into BC-LSCs, via enhancement of bioenergetic oxidative metabolism in absence of any additional gene mutations, and likely represent a novel therapeutic target in BC CML.

ORGANISM(S): Mouse Mus Musculus

TISSUE(S): Cultured Cells

DISEASE(S): Cancer

SUBMITTER: Krystine Mansfield  

PROVIDER: ST002446 | MetabolomicsWorkbench | Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 GMT 2023

REPOSITORIES: MetabolomicsWorkbench