Project description:Imetelstat is a covalently lipidated 13-mer thiophosphoramidate oligonucleotide that competitively inhibits telomerase activity. Here, we show that imetelstat effectively diminishes AML burden and prolongs survival in a comprehensive, randomized Phase II-like preclinical trial in AML patient-derived xenografts (PDX).
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal hematopoietic malignancy, characterized by expansion of immature leukemic blasts in the bone marrow. In AML, specific tyrosine kinases have been implicated in leukemogenesis, and are associated with poor treatment outcome. However, targeted therapy using kinase inhibitors (KIs) has had limited success, and may be improved by proper patient selection. We performed phosphotyrosine (pY) based, label-free phosphoproteomics to identify hyperphosphorylated, active kinases in two FLT3+ AML Pt samples.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal hematopoietic malignancy, characterized by expansion of immature leukemic blasts in the bone marrow. In AML, specific tyrosine kinases have been implicated in leukemogenesis, and are associated with poor treatment outcome. However, targeted therapy using kinase inhibitors (KIs) has had limited success, and may be improved by proper patient selection. We performed phosphotyrosine (pY) based, label-free phosphoproteomics to identify hyperphosphorylated, active kinases in two FLT3+ AML Pt samples and this data is deposited in PXD015639 . Here are the corresponding lysate samples
Project description:Experiments using xenografts show that some solid tumours and leukemias are organized as cellular hierarchies sustained by cancer stem cells (CSC). Despite promise, the relevance of the CSC model to human disease remains uncertain. Here we show that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) follows a CSC model based on sorting multiple populations from each of 16 primary human AML samples and identifying which contain leukemia stem cells (LSC) using a sensitive xenograft assay. Analysis of gene expression from all functionally validated populations yielded an LSC-specific signature. Similarly, a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene signature was established. Bioinformatic analysis identified a core transcriptional program shared by LSC and HSC, revealing the molecular machinery underlying stemness properties. Both stem cell programs were highly significant independent predictors of patient survival and also found in existing prognostic signatures. Thus, determinants of stemness influence clinical outcome of AML establishing that LSC are clinically relevant and not mere artifacts of xenotransplantation. Analysis of gene expression in FACS sorted AML fractions that were functionally determined to be enriched for LSC or not (25 and 29 respectively).
Project description:Next generation DNA sequencing of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient samples has revealed novel recurrent mutations while at the same time highlighting the genetic heterogeneity of the disease. These observations suggest that an extraordinarily large number of combinations of mutations can contribute to leukemogenesis. In order to address the question of the contribution of patient genetic background to AML we have developed a model system to generate multiple human leukemias in a single donorâs genetic background. Stepwise RNA-seq data from this model shows that in the context of AML driven by the MLL-AF9 (MA9) oncogene, the genetic background of the donor does not have a detectable effect. Comparison of these model leukemias from multiple single donors to AML patient samples containing MA9 translocations revealed conserved gene expression patterns not previously highlighted in this genetic sub-type. We further demonstrate that the expression of one of these genes, RET, is essential both in vivo and in vitro growth of MA9 AMLs . study of methylome during the development of MLL-AF9 AML
Project description:Randomized Phase II-like preclinical trials in patient-derived xenografts (PDX) provide an attractive option to define the efficacy of drugs that act via cell-intrinsic mechanisms, and to identify biomarkers of response and resistance across genetically diverse subtypes of leukemia. Here, we generated a unique, comprehensive and representative AML PDX resource that reflects the genetic abnormalities that are found in large clinical trials.
Project description:The reprogramming of human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells into induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines could provide new faithful genetic models of AML, but is currently hindered by low success rates and uncertainty about whether iPSC-derived cells resemble their primary counterparts. Here we developed a reprogramming method tailored to cancer cells, with which we generated iPSCs from 15 patients representing all major genetic groups of AML. These AML-iPSCs retain genetic fidelity and produce transplantable hematopoietic cells with hallmark phenotypic leukemic features. Critically, single-cell transcriptomics reveal that, upon xenotransplantation, iPSC-derived leukemias faithfully mimic the primary patient-matched xenografts. Transplantation of iPSC-derived leukemias capturing a clone and subclone from the same patient allowed us to isolate the contribution of a FLT3-ITD mutation to the AML phenotype. The results and resources reported here can transform basic and preclinical cancer research of AML and other human cancers.
Project description:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal hematopoietic malignancy, characterized by expansion of immature leukemic blasts in the bone marrow. In AML, specific tyrosine kinases have been implicated in leukemogenesis, and are associated with poor treatment outcome. However, targeted therapy using kinase inhibitors (KIs) has had limited success, and may be improved by proper patient selection. We performed phosphotyrosine (pY) based, label-free phosphoproteomics to identify hyperphosphorylated, active kinases in AML cell lines as targets and predictive biomarkers to select KIs for treatment. We identified 3605 class I phosphorylation sites in 16 AML cell lines (EOL-1, KG-1a, MM6, KG-1, ME-1, NB-4, Kasumi-3, MV4-11, THP-1, HEL, HL-60, Kasumi-1, Kasumi-6, ML-2, OCI-AML3, MOLM-13) that exhibited large variation in the number and level of phosphopeptides per cell line (241-2764). Ranking analyses successfully pinpointed the hyperactive kinases PDGFRA, FGFR1, KIT, and FLT3 in eight cell lines with a corresponding kinase mutation. Additionally, we identified unexpected drivers in two more cell lines (PDGFRA in Kasumi-3 and FLT3 in MM6) which proved sensitive to specific kinase inhibitors. Six cell lines without a clear receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) driver showed evidence of MAPK1/3 activation, consistent with the presence of activating RAS mutations. Our data show the potential of pY phosphoproteomics to identify key drivers in AML cells, and the predictive value of the phosphoproteome profiles in TKi selection for targeted treatment.