Leukemias bearing fusions of the AF10/MLLT10 gene are associated with poor prognosis, and therapies targeting these fusion proteins are lacking. To understand mechanisms underlying AF10 fusion-mediated leukemogenesis, we generated inducible mouse models of AML driven by the most common AF10 fusion proteins, PICALM/CALM-AF10 and KMT2A/MLL-AF10, and performed comprehensive characterization of the disease using transcriptomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and functional genomic approaches. Our studies provide a detailed map of gene networks and protein interactors associated with key AF10 fusions involved in leukemia. Specifically, we report that AF10 fusions activate a cascade of JAK/STAT-mediated inflammatory signaling through direct recruitment of JAK1 kinase. Inhibition of the JAK/STAT signaling by genetic Jak1 deletion or through pharmacological JAK/STAT inhibition elicited potent anti-oncogenic effects in mouse and human models of AF10 fusion AML. Collectively, our study identifies JAK1 as a tractable therapeutic target in AF10-rearranged leukemias.
Institut(e)Research Unit Apoptosis in Hematopoietic Stem Cells (AHS)
FörderungenLeukemia & Lymphoma Society Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Luke Tatsu Johnson Foundation Children's Cancer Research Fund V Foundation for Cancer Research (TVF) Lady Tata Foundation Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) from the NIH National Cancer Institute NIH National Cancer Institute grant Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grants from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society NIH National Cancer Institute National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute