GABP Transcription Factor Is Required for Development of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Via Its Control of PRKD2
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GABP transcription factor is required for development of chronic myelogenous leukemia via its control of PRKD2 Zhong-Fa Yanga,b, Haojian Zhanga,c, Leyuan Mad, Cong Penga,e,f, Yaoyu Chena,g, Junling Wanga, Michael R. Greend, Shaoguang Lia, and Alan G. Rosmarina,1 aDivision of Hematology–Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655; bSchool of Basic Medical Sciences, TaiShan Medical University, TaiAn 271016, China; cDivision of Genomic Stability and DNA Repair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215; dHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Programs in Gene Function and Expression and Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655; eDivision of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115; fDepartment of Pediatric Oncology, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115; and gOncology, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; Cambridge, MA 02139 Edited by Dennis A. Carson, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved December 21, 2012 (received for review August 3, 2012) Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the source of all blood lineages, of GABPα binds to aminoterminal ankyrin-like repeats of GABPβ, and HSCs must balance quiescence, self-renewal, and differentiation whereas the transcription activation domain is encoded in the to meet lifelong needs for blood cell development. Transformation GABPβ carboxyl terminus. GABP controls expression of genes of HSCs by the breakpoint cluster region-ABL tyrosine kinase (BCR- that are required for innate and acquired immunity, including ABL) oncogene causes chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The CD18; Elastase, Neutrophil Expressed (ELANE); and α4 integrin E-twenty six (ets) transcription factor GA binding protein (GABP) is in myeloid cells (4), and interleukin-7 receptor (IL7R) and Pax5 in a tetrameric transcription factor complex that contains GABPα and lymphocytes (5, 6). GABP also controls expression of genes that GABPβ proteins. Deletion in bone marrow of Gabpa, the gene that are required for cell cycle control, and for ribosomal and mito- encodes the DNA-binding component, caused cell cycle arrest in HSCs chondrial biogenesis (4). GABPA and profound loss of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Loss of Gabpα is a unique gene in the human and mouse genomes, β prevented development of CML, although mice continued to gener- and its product is the only protein that can recruit GABP to Gabpa MEDICAL SCIENCES ate BCR-ABL–expressing Gabpα-null cells for months that were seri- DNA. Deletion of mouse inactivates the Gabp complex, ally transplantable and contributed to all lineages in secondary and was shown to cause embryonic lethality (5, 7, 8). Conditional Gabpa fi recipients. A bioinformatic screen identified the serine-threonine ki- deletion of in mouse embryonic broblasts caused pro- α nase protein kinase D2 (PRKD2) as a potential effector of GABP in found G1S cell cycle arrest (8). Loss of Gabp in bone marrow HSCs. Prkd2 expression was markedly reduced in Gabpα-null HSCs caused myelodysplasia and profound loss of bone marrow pro- genitor cells, but reports differ regarding the specific effects of and progenitor cells. Reduced expression of PRKD2 or pharmacologic Gabpa inhibition decreased cell cycling, and PRKD2 rescued growth of Gabpα- deletion on HSCs (9, 10). – We show that disruption of Gabpa markedly reduced HSC cell null BCR-ABL expressing cells. Thus, GABP is required for HSC cell cycle α entry and CML development through its control of PRKD2. This offers cycle activity, and that Gabp loss prevented development of CML in BCR-ABL–expressing bone marrow. Rather than developing a potential therapeutic target in leukemia. + leukemia, Gabpα-null BCR-ABL HSCs continued to generate + mature granulocytes for many months. Gabpα-null BCR-ABL LSC | cell cycle control | signal transduction | imatinib HSCs were transplantable into secondary recipients and contributed to all hematopoietic lineages. A bioinformatic screen implicated the ematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the source of all blood diacylglycerol- and protein kinase C (PKC)-activated serine-thre- Hlineages in bone marrow and peripheral blood. HSCs must onine kinase protein kinase D2 (PRKD2) as a potential effector of balance quiescence, growth, and differentiation to meet lifelong GABP in CML. Knockdown or pharmacologic inhibition of demands for blood cell development. HSCs give rise to lineage- PRKD2 mimicked the effect of Gabpa disruption on the growth of committed progenitor cells, yet retain the ability to renew the Gabpα-null HSCs and, conversely, ectopic expression of PRKD2 HSC pool. Transcription factors affect HSC proliferation, sur- overcame the growth defect of BCR-ABL–expressing Gabpα-null vival, and differentiation, and are implicated in leukemic trans- HSCs. Thus, Gabpα loss and expression of BCR-ABL achieve formation of HSCs (1). Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative a standoff of sorts, i.e., the proliferative thrust of BCR-ABL par- fi tially overcomes the cell cycle arrest of Gabpα loss, whereas Gabpa neoplasm (MPN) characterized by in ltration of bone marrow, – peripheral blood, and viscera by myeloid cells. In CML, reciprocal disruption prevents BCR-ABL associated CML. This report translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22 generates the breakpoint describes a cell cycle control mechanism that prevents de- cluster region-ABL tyrosine kinase (BCR-ABL) oncogene. CML velopment of leukemia despite continued production of oncogene- arises in a leukemic stem cell (LSC), which drives the expansion expressing stem cells, and reports PRKD2 as a mediator of BCR- of granulocytes and their precursors that is the hallmark of this ABL transformation in CML. These findings identify a therapeutic MPN. BCR-ABL is a constitutively active tyrosine kinase that target in CML and strategies to prevent development of leukemia activates downstream signal transduction pathways, and inhibition in oncogene-expressing hematopoietic cells. of BCR-ABL by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as ima- tinib, induces hematologic, cytogenetic, and molecular remission in most patients with CML (2). A mouse model of CML reca- Author contributions: Z.-F.Y., H.Z., L.M., C.P., Y.C., M.R.G., S.L., and A.G.R. designed re- pitulates aspects of human CML, and mice die within weeks of search; Z.-F.Y., H.Z., L.M., C.P., Y.C., and J.W. performed research; Z.-F.Y., H.Z., L.M., C.P., transplantation with BCR-ABL–expressing bone marrow (3). Y.C., M.R.G., and S.L. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Z.-F.Y., H.Z., L.M., M.R.G., GA binding protein (GABP) is a tetrameric transcription factor S.L., and A.G.R. analyzed data; and Z.-F.Y. and A.G.R. wrote the paper. that contains two molecules of GABPα and two molecules of The authors declare no conflict of interest. various GABPβ proteins. GABP is unique among more than two This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. dozen mammalian E-twenty six (ets) transcription factors because 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. it is the only obligate multimer, i.e., it is active only when the tet- This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. ramer is formed. The carboxyl-terminal ets DNA binding domain 1073/pnas.1212904110/-/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1212904110 PNAS Early Edition | 1of6 Downloaded by guest on September 27, 2021 Results exhibited a profound loss of progenitor cells and a relative in- Gabpa Gabpa Deletion in Bone Marrow Causes Cell Cycle Arrest in HSCs. We crease in the percentage of HSCs. Disruption of caused fi P < created mice in which loxP recombination sites flank exons that a signi cant reduction in cell cycle activity in HSCs ( 0.01; Fig. fl/fl D fi encode the DNA-binding ets domain (Gabpa or floxed mice) S2 ). Thus, we con rmed the profound loss of bone marrow (8). The Mx1Cre transgene was bred into these mice, and injection progenitor cells, but preservation of primarily quiescent HSCs in with polyinosine-cytosine (pIC) deletes Gabpa in bone marrow Gabpα-null bone marrow. fl fl (Gabpa KO or simply KO mice) (9). As controls, Gabpa / lit- termates that lacked the Mx1Cre transgene were injected with Gabp Is Essential for Development of CML. In CML, transformation pIC. Half of the Gabpa KO mice died within 2 wk after the first of hematopoietic cells by BCR-ABL increases cellular prolifer- pIC injection (Fig. 1A). White blood cells, platelets, and hemo- ation and causes massive expansion of the granulocyte pool. globin in peripheral blood declined dramatically in KO mice be- Transplantation of mice with bone marrow cells that express BCR- tween days 5 and 14 (Fig. 1B), and microscopic examination ABL recapitulates many aspects of CML (3). We previously de- revealed bone marrow hemorrhage with only rare nucleated cells fined LSCs as BCR-ABL–expressing HSCs (11). Because loss of (Fig. 1C). However, peripheral blood counts in surviving KO mice Gabpα reduced HSC cell cycle activity, we sought to determine the recovered (Fig. 1B), and these mice lived for months without effect of Gabpa deletion on development of BCR-ABL–trans- apparent hematologic defects or other abnormalities. Only formed bone marrow. To delete Gabpa in BCR-ABL–expressing Gabpα-replete cells could form in vitro colonies when bone cells, we used a tricistronic retrovirus that expresses BCR-ABL, marrow was sampled 3 wk after pIC injection (Fig. S1). Thus, Cre recombinase, and green fluorescent protein (GFP) (12) to fl/fl rapid overgrowth of bone marrow by the initially small population infect WT or Gabpa bone marrow before transplantation (Fig. of cells that failed to delete Gabpa indicates that Gabpα-replete 2A). Expression of GFP permits identification of cells that both bone marrow cells have a growth advantage over Gabpα-null cells. express BCR-ABL and have undergone Cre-mediated deletion of Bone marrow HSCs are characterized by the absence of lineage floxed Gabpa.