作者
Florian Grebien,Masoud Vedadi,Matthäus Getlik,Roberto Giambruno,Amit Grover,Roberto Avellino,Anna Skucha,Sarah Vittori,Ekaterina Kuznetsova,D. Smil,Dalia Baršytė-Lovejoy,Fengling Li,Gennadiy Poda,Matthieu Schapira,Hong Wu,Aiping Dong,Guillermo Senisterra,Alexey Stukalov,Kilian Huber,Andreas Schönegger,Richard Marcellus,Martin Bilban,Christoph Bock,Peter J. Brown,Johannes Zuber,Keiryn L. Bennett,Rima Al‐awar,Ruud Delwel,Claus Nerlov,C.H. Arrowsmith,Giulio Superti‐Furga
摘要
The CEBPA gene is mutated in 9% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Selective expression of a short (30-kDa) CCAAT-enhancer binding protein-α (C/EBPα) translational isoform, termed p30, represents the most common type of CEBPA mutation in AML. The molecular mechanisms underlying p30-mediated transformation remain incompletely understood. We show that C/EBPα p30, but not the normal p42 isoform, preferentially interacts with Wdr5, a key component of SET/MLL (SET-domain/mixed-lineage leukemia) histone-methyltransferase complexes. Accordingly, p30-bound genomic regions were enriched for MLL-dependent H3K4me3 marks. The p30-dependent increase in self-renewal and inhibition of myeloid differentiation required Wdr5, as downregulation of the latter inhibited proliferation and restored differentiation in p30-dependent AML models. OICR-9429 is a new small-molecule antagonist of the Wdr5-MLL interaction. This compound selectively inhibited proliferation and induced differentiation in p30-expressing human AML cells. Our data reveal the mechanism of p30-dependent transformation and establish the essential p30 cofactor Wdr5 as a therapeutic target in CEBPA-mutant AML.