RESUMO
Recurrent chromosomal translocations producing a chimaeric MLL oncogene give rise to a highly aggressive acute leukaemia associated with poor clinical outcome. The preferential involvement of chromatin-associated factors as MLL fusion partners belies a dependency on transcription control. Despite recent progress made in targeting chromatin regulators in cancer, available therapies for this well-characterized disease remain inadequate, prompting the need to identify new targets for therapeutic intervention. Here, using unbiased CRISPR-Cas9 technology to perform a genome-scale loss-of-function screen in an MLL-AF4-positive acute leukaemia cell line, we identify ENL as an unrecognized gene that is specifically required for proliferation in vitro and in vivo. To explain the mechanistic role of ENL in leukaemia pathogenesis and dynamic transcription control, a chemical genetic strategy was developed to achieve targeted protein degradation. Acute loss of ENL suppressed the initiation and elongation of RNA polymerase II at active genes genome-wide, with pronounced effects at genes featuring a disproportionate ENL load. Notably, an intact YEATS chromatin-reader domain was essential for ENL-dependent leukaemic growth. Overall, these findings identify a dependency factor in acute leukaemia and suggest a mechanistic rationale for disrupting the YEATS domain in disease.
Assuntos
Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , Leucemia/genética , Leucemia/metabolismo , Domínios Proteicos , Transcrição Gênica , Fatores de Elongação da Transcrição/química , Fatores de Elongação da Transcrição/metabolismo , Animais , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/química , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Epigênese Genética , Edição de Genes , Genoma/genética , Histona-Lisina N-Metiltransferase/metabolismo , Humanos , Leucemia/patologia , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/genética , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/metabolismo , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/patologia , Camundongos , Proteína de Leucina Linfoide-Mieloide/metabolismo , Leucemia-Linfoma Linfoblástico de Células Precursoras/genética , Leucemia-Linfoma Linfoblástico de Células Precursoras/metabolismo , Leucemia-Linfoma Linfoblástico de Células Precursoras/patologia , Proteólise , RNA Polimerase II/metabolismo , Elongação da Transcrição Genética , Fatores de Transcrição/química , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Fatores de Elongação da Transcrição/genéticaRESUMO
Chemical inhibition of epigenetic regulatory proteins BrdT and Brd4 is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy in contraception, cancer, and heart disease. We report an easily synthesized dihydropyridopyrimidine pan-BET inhibitor scaffold, which was uncovered via a virtual screen followed by testing in a fluorescence anisotropy assay. Dihydropyridopyimidine 3 was subjected to further characterization and is highly selective for the BET family of bromodomains. Structure-activity relationship data and ligand deconstruction highlight the importance of the substitution of the uracil moiety for potency and selectivity. Compound 3 was also cocrystallized with Brd4 for determining the ligand binding pose and rationalizing subsequent structure-activity data. An additional series of dihydropyridopyrimidines was synthesized to exploit the proximity of a channel near the ZA loop of Brd4, leading to compounds with submicromolar affinity and cellular target engagement. Given these findings, novel and easily synthesized inhibitors are being introduced to the growing field of bromodomain inhibitor development.