Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by a block in myeloid differentiation the stage of which is dependent on the nature of the transforming oncogene and the developmental stage of the oncogenic hit. This is also true for the t(8;21) translocation which gives rise to the RUNX1/ETO fusion protein and initiates the most common form of human AML. To understand the molecular principles governing this differential action, we used the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells expressing an inducible RUNX1/ETO protein into blood cells as a traceable model combined with genome-wide analyses of transcription factor binding and gene expression. We found that RUNX1/ETO interferes with both the activating and repressive function of its normal counterpart, RUNX1, at early and late stages of blood cell development. However, the response of the transcriptional network to RUNX1/ETO expression is stage-specific, highlighting the molecular mechanisms determining specific target cell expansion after an oncogenic hit. Microarray data have been used to study RUNX1/ETO role in hematopoietic system
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by a block in myeloid differentiation the stage of which is dependent on the nature of the transforming oncogene and the developmental stage of the oncogenic hit. This is also true for the t(8;21) translocation which gives rise to the RUNX1/ETO fusion protein and initiates the most common form of human AML. To understand the molecular principles governing this differential action, we used the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells expressing an inducible RUNX1/ETO protein into blood cells as a traceable model combined with genome-wide analyses of transcription factor binding and gene expression. We found that RUNX1/ETO interferes with both the activating and repressive function of its normal counterpart, RUNX1, at early and late stages of blood cell development. However, the response of the transcriptional network to RUNX1/ETO expression is stage-specific, highlighting the molecular mechanisms determining specific target cell expansion after an oncogenic hit. High throughput sequencing data have been used to study RUNX1/ETO role in hematopoietic system
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by a block in myeloid differentiation the stage of which is dependent on the nature of the transforming oncogene and the developmental stage of the oncogenic hit. This is also true for the t(8;21) translocation which gives rise to the RUNX1/ETO fusion protein and initiates the most common form of human AML. To understand the molecular principles governing this differential action, we used the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells expressing an inducible RUNX1/ETO protein into blood cells as a traceable model combined with genome-wide analyses of transcription factor binding and gene expression. We found that RUNX1/ETO interferes with both the activating and repressive function of its normal counterpart, RUNX1, at early and late stages of blood cell development. However, the response of the transcriptional network to RUNX1/ETO expression is stage-specific, highlighting the molecular mechanisms determining specific target cell expansion after an oncogenic hit.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by a block in myeloid differentiation the stage of which is dependent on the nature of the transforming oncogene and the developmental stage of the oncogenic hit. This is also true for the t(8;21) translocation which gives rise to the RUNX1/ETO fusion protein and initiates the most common form of human AML. To understand the molecular principles governing this differential action, we used the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells expressing an inducible RUNX1/ETO protein into blood cells as a traceable model combined with genome-wide analyses of transcription factor binding and gene expression. We found that RUNX1/ETO interferes with both the activating and repressive function of its normal counterpart, RUNX1, at early and late stages of blood cell development. However, the response of the transcriptional network to RUNX1/ETO expression is stage-specific, highlighting the molecular mechanisms determining specific target cell expansion after an oncogenic hit.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia development occurs in a step-wise fashion whereby an original driver mutation is followed by additional mutations. The first type of mutations tends to be in genes encoding members of the epigenetic/transcription regulatory machinery (i.e. RUNX1, DNMT3, TET2), while the secondary mutations often involve genes encoding members of signalling pathways that cause uncontrolled growth of such cells such as the growth factor receptors c-KIT of FLT3. Patients usually present with both types of mutations, but it is currently unclear how both mutational events shape the epigenome in developing AML cells. To this end we generated an in vitro model of t(8;21) AML by expressing its driver oncoprotein RUNX1-ETO with or without a mutated (N822K) KIT protein. The expression of N822K–c-KIT strongly increases the self-renewal capacity of RUNX1-ETO expressing cells. Global analysis of gene expression changes and alterations in the epigenome show that N822K–c-KIT expression profoundly influences the open chromatin landscape and transcription factor binding. However, our experiments also show that double mutant cells still differ from their patient derived counterparts, highlighting the importance of studying patient cells to obtain a true picture of how gene regulatory networks have been reprogrammed during tumourigenesis.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia development occurs in a step-wise fashion whereby an original driver mutation is followed by additional mutations. The first type of mutations tends to be in genes encoding members of the epigenetic/transcription regulatory machinery (i.e. RUNX1, DNMT3, TET2), while the secondary mutations often involve genes encoding members of signalling pathways that cause uncontrolled growth of such cells such as the growth factor receptors c-KIT of FLT3. Patients usually present with both types of mutations, but it is currently unclear how both mutational events shape the epigenome in developing AML cells. To this end we generated an in vitro model of t(8;21) AML by expressing its driver oncoprotein RUNX1-ETO with or without a mutated (N822K) KIT protein. The expression of N822K–c-KIT strongly increases the self-renewal capacity of RUNX1-ETO expressing cells. Global analysis of gene expression changes and alterations in the epigenome show that N822K–c-KIT expression profoundly influences the open chromatin landscape and transcription factor binding. However, our experiments also show that double mutant cells still differ from their patient derived counterparts, highlighting the importance of studying patient cells to obtain a true picture of how gene regulatory networks have been reprogrammed during tumourigenesis.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia development occurs in a step-wise fashion whereby an original driver mutation is followed by additional mutations. The first type of mutations tends to be in genes encoding members of the epigenetic/transcription regulatory machinery (i.e. RUNX1, DNMT3, TET2), while the secondary mutations often involve genes encoding members of signalling pathways that cause uncontrolled growth of such cells such as the growth factor receptors c-KIT of FLT3. Patients usually present with both types of mutations, but it is currently unclear how both mutational events shape the epigenome in developing AML cells. To this end we generated an in vitro model of t(8;21) AML by expressing its driver oncoprotein RUNX1-ETO with or without a mutated (N822K) KIT protein. The expression of N822K–c-KIT strongly increases the self-renewal capacity of RUNX1-ETO expressing cells. Global analysis of gene expression changes and alterations in the epigenome show that N822K–c-KIT expression profoundly influences the open chromatin landscape and transcription factor binding. However, our experiments also show that double mutant cells still differ from their patient derived counterparts, highlighting the importance of studying patient cells to obtain a true picture of how gene regulatory networks have been reprogrammed during tumourigenesis.
Project description:Oncogenic transcription factors such as the leukaemic fusion protein RUNX1/ETO constitute cancer-specific but highly challenging therapeutic targets, whose functions depend on pharmacologically tractable downstream pathways. Here we interrogated the transcriptional network of RUNX1/ETO in an in vitro/in vivo RNAi screen and identified Cyclin D2 (CCND2) as a crucial transmitter of RUNX1/ETO-driven leukemic propagation. RUNX1/ETO drives CCND2 expression by binding to a regulatory element upstream of the CCND2 promoter. Both knockdown of CCND2 and treatment with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib inhibited leukemic expansion patient-derived AML cells and impaired engraftment of immunodeficient murine hosts. Our data demonstrate that RUNX1/ETO drives leukaemia by directly promoting cell cycle progression and establish inhibition of G1 CCND-CDK complexes as a promising therapeutic strategy for RUNX1/ETO-driven AML.
Project description:Oncogenic transcription factors such as the leukaemic fusion protein RUNX1/ETO constitute cancer-specific but highly challenging therapeutic targets, whose functions depend on pharmacologically tractable downstream pathways. Here we interrogated the transcriptional network of RUNX1/ETO in an in vitro/in vivo RNAi screen and identified Cyclin D2 (CCND2) as a crucial transmitter of RUNX1/ETO-driven leukemic propagation. RUNX1/ETO drives CCND2 expression by binding to a regulatory element upstream of the CCND2 promoter. Both knockdown of CCND2 and treatment with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib inhibited leukemic expansion patient-derived AML cells and impaired engraftment of immunodeficient murine hosts. Our data demonstrate that RUNX1/ETO drives leukaemia by directly promoting cell cycle progression and establish inhibition of G1 CCND-CDK complexes as a promising therapeutic strategy for RUNX1/ETO-driven AML.