Search

Abstract: Chromosomal rearrangements involving the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene, also known as KMT2A, are often observed in human leukemias and are generally associated with a poor prognosis. To model these leukemias, we applied clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 gene editing to induce MLL chromosomal rearrangements in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells purified from umbilical cord blood. Electroporation of ribonucleoprotein complexes containing chemically modified synthetic single guide RNAs and purified Cas9 protein induced translocations between chromosomes 9 and 11 [t(9;11)] at an efficiency >1%. Transplantation of gene-edited cells into immune-compromised mice rapidly induced acute leukemias of different lineages and often with multiclonal origins dictated by the duration of in vitro culture prior to transplantation. Breakpoint junction sequences served as biomarkers to monitor clonal selection and progression in culture and in vivo. High-dimensional cell surface and intracellular protein analysis by mass cytometry (CyTOF) revealed that gene-edited leukemias recapitulated disease-specific protein expression observed in human patients and showed that MLL-rearranged (MLLr) mixed phenotype acute leukemias (MPALs) were more similar to acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) than to acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALLs). Therefore, highly efficient generation of MLL chromosomal translocations in primary human blood stem cells using CRISPR/Cas9 reliably models human acute MLLr leukemia and provides an experimental platform for basic and translational studies of leukemia biology and therapeutics.

Abstract: Genome editing provides a potential approach to model de novo leukemogenesis in primary human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) through induction of chromosomal translocations by targeted DNA double-strand breaks. However, very low efficiency of translocations and lack of markers for translocated cells serve as barriers to their characterization and model development. Here, we used transcription activator-like effector nucleases to generate t(9;11) chromosomal translocations encoding MLL-AF9 and reciprocal AF9-MLL fusion products in CD34+ human cord blood cells. Selected cytokine combinations enabled monoclonal outgrowth and immortalization of initially rare translocated cells, which were distinguished by elevated MLL target gene expression, high surface CD9 expression, and increased colony-forming ability. Subsequent transplantation into immune-compromised mice induced myeloid leukemias within 48 weeks, whose pathologic and molecular features extensively overlap with de novo patient MLL-rearranged leukemias. No secondary pathogenic mutations were revealed by targeted exome sequencing and whole genome RNA-sequencing analyses, suggesting the genetic sufficiency of t(9;11) translocation for leukemia development from human HSPCs. Thus, genome editing enables modeling of human acute MLL-rearranged leukemia in vivo, reflecting the genetic simplicity of this disease, and provides an experimental platform for biological and disease-modeling applications.

The balance between self-renewal and differentiation is crucial to ensure the homeostasis of the hematopoietic system, and is a hallmark of hematopoietic stem cells. However, the underlying molecular pathways, including the role of micro-RNA, are not completely understood. To assess the contribution of micro-RNA, we performed micro-RNA profiling of hematopoietic stem cells and their immediate downstream progeny multi-potent progenitors from wild-type control and Pbx1-conditional knockout mice, whose stem cells display a profound self-renewal defect. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis separated stem cells from multi-potent progenitors, suggesting that micro-RNA might regulate the first transition step in the adult hematopoietic development. Notably, Pbx1-deficient and wild-type cells clustered separately, linking micro-RNAs to self-renewal impairment. Differential expression analysis of micro-RNA in the physiological stem cell-to-multi-potent progenitor transition and in Pbx1-deficient stem cells compared to control stem cells revealed miR-127-3p as the most differentially expressed. Furthermore, miR-127-3p was strongly stem cell-specific, being quickly down-regulated upon differentiation and not re-expressed further downstream in the bone marrow hematopoietic hierarchy. Inhibition of miR-127-3p function in Lineage-negative cells, achieved through a lentiviral-sponge vector, led to severe stem cell depletion, as assessed with serial transplantation assays. miR-127-3p-sponged stem cells displayed accelerated differentiation, which was uncoupled from proliferation, accounting for the observed stem cell reduction. miR-127-3p overexpression in Lineage-negative cells did not alter stem cell pool size, but gave rise to lymphopenia, likely due to lack of miR-127-3p physiological downregulation beyond the stem cell stage. Thus, tight regulation of miR-127-3p is crucial to preserve the self-renewing stem cell pool and homeostasis of the hematopoietic system.

Mbtd1 (mbt domain containing 1) encodes a nuclear protein containing a zinc finger domain and four malignant brain tumor (MBT) repeats. We previously generated Mbtd1-deficient mice and found that MBTD1 is highly expressed in fetal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and sustains the number and function of fetal HSCs. However, since Mbtd1-deficient mice die soon after birth possibly due to skeletal abnormalities, its role in adult hematopoiesis remains unclear. To address this issue, we generated Mbtd1 conditional knockout mice and analyzed adult hematopoietic tissues deficient in Mbtd1. We observed that the numbers of HSCs and progenitors increased and Mbtd1-deficient HSCs exhibited hyperactive cell cycle, resulting in a defective response to exogenous stresses. Mechanistically, we found that MBTD1 directly binds to the promoter region of FoxO3a, encoding a forkhead protein essential for HSC quiescence, and interacts with components of TIP60 chromatin remodeling complex and other proteins involved in HSC and other stem cell functions. Restoration of FOXO3a activity in Mbtd1-deficient HSCs in vivo rescued cell cycle and pool size abnormalities. These findings indicate that MBTD1 is a critical regulator for HSC pool size and function, mainly through the maintenance of cell cycle quiescence by FOXO3a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palladium-catalyzed benzannulation with o-bromobenzyl alcohols enabled the facile construction of phenanthrene skeletons via the sequential multiple carbon-carbon bond formations. A variety of multisubstituted phenanthrenes were synthesized by the reaction of (Z)-β-halostyrenes with o-bromobenzyl alcohols as well as by the three-component coupling of alkynes, aryl bromides, and o-bromobenzyl alcohols. The electron-deficient phosphine ligand played an important role to control the sequential oxidative addition of two different organic halides employed, which realized the selective formation of the desired phenanthrenes in good yields. This synthetic protocol was also applicable to the synthesis of the highly fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as tetraphenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palladium-catalyzed carbothiolation of terminal alkynes with azolyl sulfides affords various 2-(azolyl)alkenyl sulfides with perfect regio- and stereoselectivities. The present addition reaction proceeded through a direct cleavage of carbon-sulfur bonds in azolyl sulfides. The resulting adducts that are useful intermediates in organic synthesis are further transformed to multisubstituted olefins containing azolyl moieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

o-Bromobenzyl alcohol has been developed as a novel annulating reagent, bearing both nucleophilic and electrophilic substituents, for the facile synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. A palladium/electron-deficient phosphine catalyst efficiently coupled o-iodobiphenyls or (Z)-β-halostyrenes with o-bromobenzyl alcohols to afford triphenylenes and phenanthrenes, respectively. The present cascade reaction proceeded through deacetonative cross-coupling and sequential intramolecular cyclization. An array of experimental data suggest that the reaction mechanism involves the equilibrium of 1,4-palladium migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palladium-catalyzed and picolinamide-directed C-H thiolation of naphthylamine derivatives with diaryl disulfides has been developed to provide a convenient route to 8-sulfenyl-1-naphthylamines. The reaction proceeds via a 5-membered palladacycle intermediates to afford the peri-thiolated products exclusively, in contrast to the conventional ortho-functionalization. Moreover, the related direct selenation was also achieved with diaryl diselenides, giving the corresponding selenated products with perfect site-selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palladium/copper-cocatalyzed cross-coupling reactions of alkynylsilanes with aryl tosylates or mesylates afforded the corresponding unsymmetrical diarylethynes in moderate to good yields. The optimized reaction conditions to afford higher yields of cross-coupled products were found to be 5mol% of [PdCl2(bpy)], 15 mol% of BrettPhos, and 10 mol% of CuICl in DMF as a solvent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new route to ?,?-unsaturated ketones is disclosed. Aryl pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ketones underwent allylation with allyldimethylaluminum to yield the corresponding alcohols. Heating the alcohols in boiling toluene resulted in removal of pentamethylcyclopentadiene to provide ?,?-unsaturated ketones. The removal would proceed via a retro-carbonyl-ene process. Synthesis of an alkyl allyl ketone is also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncogenic mutations of the MLL histone methyltransferase confer an unusual ability to transform non-self-renewing myeloid progenitors into leukemia stem cells (LSCs) by mechanisms that remain poorly defined. Misregulation of Hox genes is likely to be critical for LSC induction and maintenance but alone it does not recapitulate the phenotype and biology of MLL leukemias, which are clinically heterogeneous presumably reflecting differences in LSC biology and/or frequency. TALE (three-amino-acid loop extension) class homeodomain proteins of the Pbx and Meis families are also misexpressed in this context, and we thus employed knockout, knockdown, and dominant-negative genetic techniques to investigate the requirements and contributions of these factors in MLL oncoprotein-induced acute myeloid leukemia. Our studies show that induction and maintenance of MLL transformation requires Meis1 and is codependent on the redundant contributions of Pbx2 and Pbx3. Meis1 in particular serves a major role in establishing LSC potential, and determines LSC frequency by quantitatively regulating the extent of self-renewal, differentiation arrest, and cycling, as well as the rate of in vivo LSC generation from myeloid progenitors. Thus, TALE proteins are critical downstream effectors within an essential homeoprotein network that serves a rate-limiting regulatory role in MLL leukemogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer; however, its genetic diversity limits investigation into the molecular pathogenesis of disease and development of therapeutic strategies. Here, we engineered mice that conditionally express the E2A-PBX1 fusion oncogene, which results from chromosomal translocation t(1;19) and is present in 5% to 7% of pediatric ALL cases. The incidence of leukemia in these mice varied from 5% to 50%, dependent on the Cre-driving promoter (Cd19, Mb1, or Mx1) used to induce E2A-PBX1 expression. Two distinct but highly similar subtypes of B cell precursor ALLs that differed by their pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) status were induced and displayed maturation arrest at the pro-B/large pre-B II stages of differentiation, similar to human E2A-PBX1 ALL. Somatic activation of E2A-PBX1 in B cell progenitors enhanced self-renewal and led to acquisition of multiple secondary genomic aberrations, including prominent spontaneous loss of Pax5. In preleukemic mice, conditional Pax5 deletion cooperated with E2A-PBX1 to expand progenitor B cell subpopulations, increasing penetrance and shortening leukemia latency. Recurrent secondary activating mutations were detected in key signaling pathways, most notably JAK/STAT, that leukemia cells require for proliferation. These data support conditional E2A-PBX1 mice as a model of human ALL and suggest targeting pre-BCR signaling and JAK kinases as potential therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]