Hox and Cdx transcription factors regulate embryonic positional identities. Cdx mutant mice display posterior body truncations of the axial skeleton, neuraxis, and caudal urorectal structures. We show that trunk Hox genes stimulate axial extension, as they can largely rescue these Cdx mutant phenotypes. Conversely, posterior (paralog group 13) Hox genes can prematurely arrest posterior axial growth when precociously expressed. Our data suggest that the transition from trunk to tail Hox gene expression successively regulates the construction and termination of axial structures in the mouse embryo. Thus, Hox genes seem to differentially orchestrate posterior expansion of embryonic tissues during axial morphogenesis as an integral part of their function in specifying head-to-tail identity. In addition, we present evidence that Cdx and Hox transcription factors exert these effects by controlling Wnt signaling. Concomitant regulation of Cyp26a1 expression, restraining retinoic acid signaling away from the posterior growth zone, may likewise play a role in timing the trunk-tail transition.

SUMMARYMouse Cdx genes are involved in axial patterning and partial Cdx mutants exhibit posterior embryonic defects. We found that mouse embryos in which all three Cdx genes are inactivated fail to generate any axial tissue beyond the cephalic and occipital primordia. Anterior axial tissues are laid down and well patterned in Cdx null embryos, and a 3Ј Hox gene is initially transcribed and expressed in the hindbrain normally. Axial elongation stops abruptly at the post-occipital level in the absence of Cdx, as the posterior growth zone loses its progenitor activity. Exogenous Fgf8 rescues the posterior truncation of Cdx mutants, and the spectrum of defects of Cdx null embryos matches that resulting from loss of posterior Fgfr1 signaling. Our data argue for a main function of Cdx in enforcing trunk emergence beyond the Cdx-independent cephalo-occipital region, and for a downstream role of Fgfr1 signaling in this function. Cdx requirement for the post-head section of the axis is ancestral as it takes place in arthropods as well.

RAS pathway mutations have been linked to relapse and chemotherapy resistance in pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). However, comprehensive data on the frequency and prognostic value of subclonal mutations in well-defined subgroups using highly sensitive and quantitative methods are lacking. Targeted deep sequencing of 13 RAS pathway genes was performed in 461 pediatric BCP-ALL cases at initial diagnosis and in 19 diagnosis-relapse pairs. Mutations were present in 44.2% of patients, with 24.1% carrying a clonal mutation. Mutation frequencies were highest in high hyperdiploid, infant t(4;11)-rearranged, BCR-ABL1-like and B-other cases (50–70%), whereas mutations were less frequent in ETV6-RUNX1-rearranged, and rare in TCF3-PBX1- and BCR-ABL1-rearranged cases (27–4%). RAS pathway-mutated cells were more resistant to prednisolone and vincristine ex vivo. Clonal, but not subclonal, mutations were linked to unfavorable outcome in standard- and high-risk-treated patients. At relapse, most RAS pathway mutations were clonal (9 of 10). RAS mutant cells were sensitive to the MEK inhibitor trametinib ex vivo, and trametinib sensitized resistant cells to prednisolone. We conclude that RAS pathway mutations are frequent, and that clonal, but not subclonal, mutations are associated with unfavorable risk parameters in newly diagnosed pediatric BCP-ALL. These mutations may designate patients eligible for MEK inhibitor treatment.

Background Despite significant improvements in the outcome of children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), therapeutic strategies for high risk and relapsed patients are limited and cause severe side effects. Reliable risk assessment and new therapeutic targets with high specificity are therefore warranted. The RAS pathway is the most frequently mutated pathway in cancer, and the RAF-MEK-ERK kinase axis is crucial for mediating the oncogenic effects of RAS. We and others have previously shown that in pediatric BCP-ALL, RAS pathway mutations can be retrospectively linked to relapse and chemotherapy resistance. However, data on the frequency of (sub-)clonal mutations at diagnosis and hence information about the prognostic relevance at initial diagnosis is lacking. Aim Guide therapy adaptation in pediatric BCP-ALL by evaluating the prognostic relevance of RAS pathway mutations and investigating the sensitivity to MEK inhibition. Methods We performed targeted next-generation sequencing of mutational hotspots in 13 RAS pathway genes to determine the frequency and clonality of RAS pathway mutations in a large, clinically and biologically characterized cohort of BCP-ALL patients. Initial diagnosis samples of 461 patients and 19 matched diagnosis-relapse sets were included. Mutations were considered clonal at ≥25% variant allele frequency, and high coverage allowed detection of subclones with down to 1% variant allele frequency. Clinical outcome was evaluated in 244 patients treated according to a contemporary, minimal residual disease (MRD)-based protocol (DCOG ALL10). The evolution of RAS pathway mutations was studied in 19 matched sets from diagnosis and relapse. Ex vivo sensitivity of RAS pathway mutated cells towards chemotherapeutic agents and trametinib was evaluated in an MTT-based cytotoxicity assay. Results Variants in RAS pathway genes were observed in 44% of initial diagnosis pediatric BCP-ALL cases, mostly affecting NRAS, KRAS, PTPN11, and FLT3. Clonal and subclonal mutations were found in 24% and 20% of patients, respectively. The mutation frequency was highest in high hyperdiploid, infant t(4;11)-positive, BCR-ABL1-like, and B-other cases (50-70%), whereas mutations were rare in ETV6-RUNX1-positive (27%), TCF3-PBX1-positive (8%) and BCR-ABL1-positive cases (4%). In matched diagnosis-relapse sets, clonal mutations at diagnosis were preserved at relapse, whereas the kinetics of subclones was variable. Interestingly, most RAS pathway mutations at relapse were clonal and exclusive. Cells carrying RAS pathway mutations, especially KRAS G13 mutations, were more often ex vivo resistant to prednisolone and vincristine. No association was found with ex vivo response to daunorubicine, L-asparaginase, 6-mercaptopurine, and 6-thioguanine. Mutant primary leukemic cells were ex vivo sensitive to the MEK-inhibitor trametinib. In addition, trametinib could enhance the cytotoxic effect of prednisolone ex vivo. In DCOG-ALL10 and COALL-97/-03 patients with clonal but not subclonal mutations, MRD levels tended to be more often high compared to wildtype cases (31% vs. 19%, p=0.057), while other risk factors (age, gender, white blood cell count, CNS, prednisone response) where not different. Event-free survival was lower in the standard risk and high risk arms of the DCOG ALL10 protocol (69% vs. 96%, p=0.027 and 56% vs. 100%, p=0.015, respectively). Conclusions Collectively, analysis of 461 diagnostic BCP-ALL patient samples identified RAS pathway mutations in 44% of patients, and one out of four carried a clonal mutation. MRD was the only risk factor associated with clonal RAS pathway mutations. MRD is essential to treatment stratification in many contemporary protocols, such as the DCOG ALL10 protocol, where only patients with negative MRD after induction courses are treated with a reduced regimen (standard risk arm). Given their unfavorable event-free survival, therapy should be adapted for mutated patients in future protocols. Since treatment intensification is not feasible for high risk or relapsed cases, addition of MEK inhibitors may be of benefit especially because they enhance the cytotoxicity of prednisolone. RAS pathway mutation status may therefore serve as biomarker to select patients for MEK-inhibitor treatment in new treatment protocols for children with BCP-ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

There was an error in the ePress version of Development 138, 3451-3462 published on 13 July 2011.The first names of one of the authors were listed incorrectly. The final print and online versions are correct, and the correct author list appears above.The authors apologise to readers for this mistake.

JAK2 abnormalities may serve as target for precision medicines in pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). In the current study we performed a screening for JAK2 mutations and translocations, analyzed the clinical outcome and studied the efficacy of two JAK inhibitors in primary BCP-ALL cells. Importantly, we identify a number of limitations of JAK inhibitor therapy.JAK2 mutations mainly occurred in the poor prognostic subtypes BCR-ABL1-like and non- BCR-ABL1-like B-other (negative for sentinel cytogenetic lesions). JAK2 translocations were restricted to BCR-ABL1-like cases. Momelotinib and ruxolitinib were cytotoxic in both JAK2 translocated and JAK2 mutated cells, although efficacy in JAK2 mutated cells highly depended on cytokine receptor activation by TSLP. However, our data also suggest that the effect of JAK inhibition may be compromised by mutations in alternative survival pathways and microenvironment-induced resistance. Furthermore, inhibitors induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007, which resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling upon release of the inhibitors. This preclinical evidence implies that further optimization and evaluation of JAK inhibitor treatment is necessary prior to its clinical integration in pediatric BCP-ALL.

There was an error in the ePress version of Development 138, 3451-3462 published on 13 July 2011.The first names of one of the authors were listed incorrectly. The final print and online versions are correct, and the correct author list appears above.The authors apologise to readers for this mistake.

Background In high risk pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) patients, gain of function mutations and translocations affecting JAK2 have been described. These mutations and translocations result in aberrant kinase signaling and may therefore serve as an ideal target for precision medicines. Aim Evaluate the frequency and prognosis of JAK2 lesions among different subtypes of childhood BCP-ALL, and study the efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib. Methods This study comprised 77 BCR-ABL1-like cases and 76 B-other cases which were screened for JAK2 translocations using RT-PCR. Furthermore a representative pediatric cohort of 461 newly diagnosed BCP-ALL cases was screened for JAK2 mutations using targeted next-generation sequencing. Clinical analyses were performed in 341 BCP-ALL patients. Patient-derived-xenograft (PDX) cells were isolated from NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NSG) mice, which were injected with primary leukemic cells. Purity of PDX cells was enriched to over 90% and presence or absence of JAK2 lesions was validated. PDX and primary leukemic cells were exposed to a dilution series of momelotinib or ruxolitinib for four days. Where indicated, cells were pre-incubated with 25 ng/ml TSLP for 1 hour. In mono-culture assays, cytotoxicity was quantified using MTT and in co-culture assays flow cytometry was used. Leukemic cells were discriminated from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) using CD19 and viability was assessed by Annexin V and Propidium Iodide. Western blotting was used to study protein expression levels. Results JAK2 translocations were detected in 6.5% of BCR-ABL1-like cases (3 PAX5-JAK2 cases, 1 TERF2-JAK2 case and 1 BCR-JAK2 case), but not in B-other cases. JAK2 mutations were identified in 3.5% of all BCP-ALL cases, which included JAK2 mutations in BCR-ABL1-like (7.6%), B-other (11.9%), and high hyperdiploid cases (1.6%), but not in MLL rearranged, BCR-ABL1-positive, ETV6-RUNX1-positive or TCF3-PBX1-positive cases. Cumulative incidence of relapse in patients harboring JAK2 lesions was as poor as in JAK2 wildtype BCR-ABL1-like and B-other patients. Efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib was examined in JAK2 lesion positive (primary and PDX) leukemic cells. Inhibitors were cytotoxic in both translocated and mutated cells, although efficacy in JAK2 mutated cells highly depended on CRLF2 activation by TSLP. CRLF2 activation resulted in downstream STAT5 activation and sensitization towards ruxolitinib compared to unstimulated cells (p < 0.05). Cells harboring JAK2 translocations signaled independently of CRLF2. Although momelotinib and ruxolitinib exposure blocked downstream STAT1/5 phosphorylation, both inhibitors also induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007. Consequently, release of the inhibitors resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling, observed by upregulation of downstream STAT1/5 signaling. Furthermore, we observed microenvironment-induced resistance. Culturing leukemic cells in the presence of primary bone marrow MSCs induced resistance to ruxolitinib, compared to leukemic cells in single cultures (p < 0.05). A similar trend was observed for momelotinib. In addition, patients harboring JAK2 mutations displayed a heterogeneous leukemic cell population. Mouse xenograft models revealed different outgrowth patterns of leukemic cells, in which the JAK2 mutated clone persisted, decreased or even disappeared, resulting in outgrowth of JAK2 wildtype leukemic cells. Moreover, JAK2 mutations were not mutually exclusive for other pathway mutations (e.g. KRAS). Conclusion JAK2 translocations and mutations were detected in poor prognostic BCP-ALL cases. In ex vivo assays, the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib were cytotoxic in JAK2 aberrant cells. Despite these promising findings, we identified certain limitations of these inhibitors. Inhibitors induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007, which resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling upon their release. Furthermore, our data suggest that the effect of JAK inhibition may be compromised by mutations in alternative survival pathways and by microenvironment-induced resistance. Taken together, our data yield important directives for the clinical use of JAK inhibitors in pediatric BCP-ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.