The menin-MLL1 interaction is a molecular dependency in NUP98-rearranged AML. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Translocations involving the NUP98 gene produce NUP98-fusion proteins and are associated with a poor prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MLL1 is a molecular dependency in NUP98-fusion leukemia, and therefore we investigated the efficacy of therapeutic blockade of the menin-MLL1 interaction in NUP98-fusion leukemia models. Using mouse leukemia cell lines driven by NUP98-HOXA9 and NUP98-JARID1A fusion oncoproteins, we demonstrate that NUP98-fusion-driven leukemia is sensitive to the menin-MLL1 inhibitor VTP50469, with an IC50 similar to what we have previously reported for MLL-rearranged and NPM1c leukemia cells. Menin-MLL1 inhibition upregulates markers of differentiation such as CD11b and downregulates expression of proleukemogenic transcription factors such as Meis1 in NUP98-fusion-transformed leukemia cells. We demonstrate that MLL1 and the NUP98 fusion protein itself are evicted from chromatin at a critical set of genes that are essential for the maintenance of the malignant phenotype. In addition to these in vitro studies, we established patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of NUP98-fusion-driven AML to test the in vivo efficacy of menin-MLL1 inhibition. Treatment with VTP50469 significantly prolongs survival of mice engrafted with NUP98-NSD1 and NUP98-JARID1A leukemias. Gene expression analysis revealed that menin-MLL1 inhibition simultaneously suppresses a proleukemogenic gene expression program, including downregulation of the HOXa cluster, and upregulates tissue-specific markers of differentiation. These preclinical results suggest that menin-MLL1 inhibition may represent a rational, targeted therapy for patients with NUP98-rearranged leukemias.

publication date

  • February 10, 2022

Research

keywords

  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute
  • Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein
  • Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC8832476

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85120886175

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1182/blood.2021012806

PubMed ID

  • 34582559

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 139

issue

  • 6