Inhibition of TET2-mediated conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine disturbs erythroid and granulomonocytic differentiation of human hematopoietic progenitors.

TET2 converts 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in DNA and is frequently mutated in myeloid malignancies, including myeloproliferative neoplasms. Here we show that the level of 5-hmC is decreased in granulocyte DNA from myeloproliferative neoplasm patients with TET2 mutations compared with granulocyte DNA from healthy patients. Inhibition of TET2 by RNA interference decreases 5-hmC levels in both human leukemia cell lines and cord blood CD34(+) cells. These results confirm the enzymatic function of TET2 in human hematopoietic cells. Knockdown of TET2 in cord blood CD34(+) cells skews progenitor differentiation toward the granulomonocytic lineage at the expense of lymphoid and erythroid lineages. In addition, by monitoring in vitro granulomonocytic development we found a decreased granulocytic differentiation and an increase in monocytic cells. Our results indicate that TET2 disruption affects 5-hmC levels in human myeloid cells and participates in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies through the disturbance of myeloid differentiation.

Mutation in TET2 in myeloid cancers.

BACKGROUND: The myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative disorders are associated with deregulated production of myeloid cells. The mechanisms underlying these disorders are not well defined. METHODS: We conducted a combination of molecular, cytogenetic, comparative-genomic-hybridization, and single-nucleotide-polymorphism analyses to identify a candidate tumor-suppressor gene common to patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative disorders, and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The coding sequence of this gene, TET2, was determined in 320 patients. We analyzed the consequences of deletions or mutations in TET2 with the use of in vitro clonal assays and transplantation of human tumor cells into mice. RESULTS: We initially identified deletions or mutations in TET2 in three patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, in three of five patients with myeloproliferative disorders, in two patients with primary AML, and in one patient with secondary AML. We selected the six patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or AML because they carried acquired rearrangements on chromosome 4q24; we selected the five patients with myeloproliferative disorders because they carried a dominant clone in hematopoietic progenitor cells that was positive for the V617F mutation in the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene. TET2 defects were observed in 15 of 81 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (19%), in 24 of 198 patients with myeloproliferative disorders (12%) (with or without the JAK2 V617F mutation), in 5 of 21 patients with secondary AML (24%), and in 2 of 9 patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (22%). TET2 defects were present in hematopoietic stem cells and preceded the JAK2 V617F mutation in the five samples from patients with myeloproliferative disorders that we analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Somatic mutations in TET2 occur in about 15% of patients with various myeloid cancers.

BET inhibitors impair leukemic stem cell function only in defined oncogenic subgroups of acute myeloid leukaemias.

Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal inhibitors (BETi) such as OTX015 are active in Acute Myeloid Leukaemias (AML). Their activity on Leukemic Stem Cells (LSCs) is less documented. We interrogated the anti-LSC activity of OTX015 in a niche-like long-term culture in 26 primary AML samples and validated our findings in vivo. OTX015 impaired LSCs in AMLs harbouring Core Binding Factor or KMT2A gene fusions, NPM1 or chromatin/spliceosome genes mutations, but not in those with aneuploidy/TP53 mutations. In four patients, we dissected the transcriptomic footprint of Bet inhibition on LSCs versus blasts. Our results can instruct future clinical trials of BETi in AML.

BET inhibitor OTX015 targets BRD2 and BRD4 and decreases c-MYC in acute leukemia cells.

The bromodomain (BRD) and extraterminal (BET) proteins including BRD2, BRD3 and BRD4 have been identified as key targets for leukemia maintenance. A novel oral inhibitor of BRD2/3/4, the thienotriazolodiazepine compound OTX015, suitable for human use, is available. Here we report its biological effects in AML and ALL cell lines and leukemic samples. Exposure to OTX015 lead to cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis at submicromolar concentrations in acute leukemia cell lines and patient-derived leukemic cells, as described with the canonical JQ1 BET inhibitor. Treatment with JQ1 and OTX15 induces similar gene expression profiles in sensitive cell lines, including a c-MYC decrease and an HEXIM1 increase. OTX015 exposure also induced a strong decrease of BRD2, BRD4 and c-MYC and increase of HEXIM1 proteins, while BRD3 expression was unchanged. c-MYC, BRD2, BRD3, BRD4 and HEXIM1 mRNA levels did not correlate however with viability following exposure to OTX015. Sequential combinations of OTX015 with other epigenetic modifying drugs, panobinostat and azacitidine have a synergic effect on growth of the KASUMI cell line. Our results indicate that OTX015 and JQ1 have similar biological effects in leukemic cells, supporting OTX015 evaluation in a Phase Ib trial in relapsed/refractory leukemia patients.

Evidence that the JAK2 G1849T (V617F) mutation occurs in a lymphomyeloid progenitor in polycythemia vera and idiopathic myelofibrosis.

The JAK2 V617F mutation has recently been described as an essential oncogenic event associated with polycythemia vera (PV), idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF), and essential thrombocythemia. This mutation has been detected in all myeloid lineages but has not yet been detected in lymphoid cells. This raises the question whether this molecular event occurs in a true lymphomyeloid progenitor cell. In this work, we studied the presence of the mutation in peripheral blood cells and sorted B, T, and natural killer (NK) cells from PV and IMF. We detected the JAK2 V617F mutation in B and NK cells in approximately half the patients with IMF and a minority of those with PV. Moreover, in a few cases patients with IMF had mutated peripheral T cells. The mutation (homozygous or heterozygous) could be subsequently detected in B/NK/myeloid progenitors from PV and IMF, with a much higher frequency in clones derived from IMF. Using the fetal thymus organ culture (FTOC) assay, the mutation was also detected in all T-cell fractions derived from IMF and PV CD34+ cells. These results demonstrate that myeloproliferative disorders take their origin in a true myeloid/lymphoid progenitor cell but that their phenotype is related to a downstream selective proliferative advantage of the myeloid lineages.

The JAK2 617V>F mutation triggers erythropoietin hypersensitivity and terminal erythroid amplification in primary cells from patients with polycythemia vera.

The JAK2 617V>F mutation is frequent in polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET). Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we found that high levels of JAK2 617V>F in PV correlate with increased granulocytes and high levels of hemoglobin and endogenous erythroid colony formation. We detected normal progenitors and those that were heterozygous or homozygous for the mutation by genotyping ET and PV clonal immature and committed progenitors. In PV patients, we distinguished homozygous profiles with normal, heterozygous, and homozygous progenitors from heterozygous profiles with only heterozygous and normal progenitors. PV patients with a heterozygous profile had more mutated, committed progenitors than did other PV and ET patients, suggesting a selective amplification of mutated cells in the early phases of hematopoiesis. We demonstrated that mutated erythroid progenitors were more sensitive to erythropoietin than normal progenitors, and that most homozygous erythroid progenitors were erythropoietin independent. Moreover, we observed a greater in vitro erythroid amplification and a selective advantage in vivo for mutated cells in late stages of hematopoiesis. These results suggest that, for PV, erythrocytosis can occur through two mechanisms: terminal erythroid amplification triggered by JAK2 617V>F homozygosity, and a 2-step process including the upstream amplification of heterozygous cells that may involve additional molecular events.