The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) confers transcriptional repression through histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). Here, we examined how PRC2 is modulated by histone modifications associated with transcriptionally active chromatin. We provide the molecular basis of histone H3 N terminus recognition by the PRC2 Nurf55-Su(z)12 submodule. Binding of H3 is lost if lysine 4 in H3 is trimethylated. We find that H3K4me3 inhibits PRC2 activity in an allosteric fashion assisted by the Su(z)12 C terminus. In addition to H3K4me3, PRC2 is inhibited by H3K36me2/3 (i.e., both H3K36me2 and H3K36me3). Direct PRC2 inhibition by H3K4me3 and H3K36me2/3 active marks is conserved in humans, mouse, and fly, rendering transcriptionally active chromatin refractory to PRC2 H3K27 trimethylation. While inhibition is present in plant PRC2, it can be modulated through exchange of the Su(z)12 subunit. Inhibition by active chromatin marks, coupled to stimulation by transcriptionally repressive H3K27me3, enables PRC2 to autonomously template repressive H3K27me3 without overwriting active chromatin domains.

Ezh2 (Enhancer of zeste homolog 2) protein is the enzymatic component of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which represses gene expression by methylating lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27) and regulates cell proliferation and differentiation during embryonic development. Recently, hot-spot mutations of Ezh2 were identified in diffused large B-cell lymphomas and follicular lymphomas. To investigate if tumor growth is dependent on the enzymatic activity of Ezh2, we developed a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor, EI1, which inhibits the enzymatic activity of Ezh2 through direct binding to the enzyme and competing with the methyl group donor S-Adenosyl methionine. EI1-treated cells exhibit genome-wide loss of H3K27 methylation and activation of PRC2 target genes. Furthermore, inhibition of Ezh2 by EI1 in diffused large B-cell lymphomas cells carrying the Y641 mutations results in decreased proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. These results provide strong validation of Ezh2 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) consists of three core subunits, EZH2, EED and SUZ12, and plays pivotal roles in transcriptional regulation. The catalytic subunit EZH2 methylates histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27), and its activity is further enhanced by the binding of EED to trimethylated H3K27 (H3K27me3). Small-molecule inhibitors that compete with the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) have been reported. Here we report the discovery of EED226, a potent and selective PRC2 inhibitor that directly binds to the H3K27me3 binding pocket of EED. EED226 induces a conformational change upon binding EED, leading to loss of PRC2 activity. EED226 shows similar activity to SAM-competitive inhibitors in blocking H3K27 methylation of PRC2 target genes and inducing regression of human lymphoma xenograft tumors. Interestingly, EED226 also effectively inhibits PRC2 containing a mutant EZH2 protein resistant to SAM-competitive inhibitors. Together, we show that EED226 inhibits PRC2 activity via an allosteric mechanism and offers an opportunity for treatment of PRC2-dependent cancers.

Assessing the functional significance of novel putative oncogenes remains a significant challenge given the limitations of current loss-of-function tools. Here, we describe a method that employs TALEN or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in of inducible degron tags (Degron-KI) that provides a versatile approach for the functional characterization of novel cancer genes and addresses many of the shortcomings of current tools. The Degron-KI system allows for highly specific, inducible, and allele-targeted inhibition of endogenous protein function, and the ability to titrate protein depletion with this system is able to better mimic pharmacologic inhibition compared with RNAi or genetic knockout approaches.The Degron-KI system was able to faithfully recapitulate the effects of pharmacologic EZH2 and PI3Ka inhibitors in cancer cell lines. The application of this system to the study of a poorly understood putative oncogene, SF3B1, provided the first causal link between SF3B1 hotspot mutations and splicing alterations. Surprisingly, we found that SF3B1-mutant cells are not dependent upon the mutated allele for in vitro growth, but instead depend upon the function of the remaining wild-type alleles. Collectively, these results demonstrate the broad utility of the Degron-KI system for the functional characterization of cancer genes.

Histone lysine methyltransferase NSD2 (WHSC1/MMSET) is overexpressed frequently in multiple myeloma due to the t(4;14) translocation associated with 15% to 20% of cases of this disease. NSD2 has been found to be involved in myelomagenesis, suggesting it may offer a novel therapeutic target. Here we show that NSD2 methyltransferase activity is crucial for clonogenicity, adherence, and proliferation of multiple myeloma cells on bone marrow stroma in vitro and that NSD2 is required for tumorigenesis of t(4;14)þ but not t(4;14)À multiple myeloma cells in vivo. The PHD domains in NSD2 were important for its cellular activity and biological function through recruiting NSD2 to its oncogenic target genes and driving their transcriptional activation. By strengthening its disease linkage and deepening insights into its mechanism of action, this study provides a strategy to therapeutically target NSD2 in multiple myeloma patients with a t(4;14) translocation. Cancer Res; 73(20); 6277-88. Ó2013 AACR.

The multidomain-containing cellular protein BS69 interacts with adenovirus E1A and several other viral and cellular factors, and acts as a transcription repressor. Here, we show that BS69 is involved in the p53-p21Cip1-mediated senescence pathway. Knockdown of BS69 by RNA interference in human primary fibroblasts results in elevated levels of p21Cip1 and the appearance of several senescent markers, including enhanced senescence-associated b-galactosidase activity and formation of senescence-associated heterochromatin foci. Importantly, knockdown of either p53 or p21Cip1, but not p16 INK4a or Rb, allows cells to bypass premature senescence that is induced by BS69 knockdown. Furthermore, we show that BS69 forms complexes with both p53 and p400, and that BS69 associates with the p21Cip1 promoter through p53. Together, our data indicate that BS69 is involved in cellular senescence mainly through the p53-p21Cip1 pathway. Keywords: BS69; p53; p400; p21Cip1; senescence EMBO reports (2007) 8, 952-958.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) consists of three core subunits, EZH2, EED and SUZ12 and plays pivotal roles in transcriptional regulation through its histone H3K27 methyltransferase activity. Dysregulation of PRC2 is observed in multiple human cancers, for example, the catalytic subunit EZH2 is overexpressed in a wide range of human cancers and gain-of-function mutations of EZH2 within its catalytic site have been reported in human B-cell lymphoma, parathyroid carcinoma and melanoma. Small molecule inhibitors that compete with the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) have been reported and showed anti-lymphoma efficacy in pre-clinical studies. EED within the PRC2 complex allosterically activate the enzymatic activity by binding to tri-methylated H3K27 (H3K27me3). Here we report the discovery of EED226, a potent and selective PRC2 inhibitor directly binding to the H3K27me3 binding pocket of EED. EED226 induces conformational change upon binding EED leading to loss of PRC2 activity. EED226 shows similar activity as SAM-competitive inhibitors in blocking H3K27 methylation of PRC2 target genes and inducing regression of human lymphoma xenograft tumors. Interestingly, EED226 also effectively inhibits PRC2 containing mutant EZH2 protein resistant to SAM-competitive inhibitors. Together, we show EED226 inhibits PRC2 activity via an allosteric mechanism and offers opportunity for treatment of PRC2-dependent cancers. Citation Format: Wei Qi, Kehao Zhao, Justin Gu, Ying Huang, Youzhen Wang, Hailong Zhang, Man Zhang, Jeff Zhang, Zhengtian Yu, Ling Li, Lin Teng, Shannon Chuai, Chao Zhang, Mengxi Zhao, HoMan Chan, Zijun Chen, Douglas Fang, Fei Qi, Leying Feng, Lijian Feng, Yuan Gao, Hui Ge, Xinjian Ge, Andreas Lingel, Guobin Li, Ying Lin, Yueqin Liu, Fangjun Luo, Minlong Shi, Long Wang, Zhaofu Wang, Yanyan Yu, Jue Zeng, Chenhui Zeng, Lijun Zhang, Qiong Zhang, Shaolian Zhou, Counde Oyang, Peter Atadja, En Li. An allosteric PRC2 inhibitor targeting the H3K27me3 binding pocket of EED [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-288. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-288

<div>Abstract<p>Assessing the functional significance of novel putative oncogenes remains a significant challenge given the limitations of current loss-of-function tools. Here, we describe a method that employs TALEN or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in of inducible degron tags (Degron-KI) that provides a versatile approach for the functional characterization of novel cancer genes and addresses many of the shortcomings of current tools. The Degron-KI system allows for highly specific, inducible, and allele-targeted inhibition of endogenous protein function, and the ability to titrate protein depletion with this system is able to better mimic pharmacologic inhibition compared with RNAi or genetic knockout approaches. The Degron-KI system was able to faithfully recapitulate the effects of pharmacologic EZH2 and PI3Kα inhibitors in cancer cell lines. The application of this system to the study of a poorly understood putative oncogene, <i>SF3B1</i>, provided the first causal link between <i>SF3B1</i> hotspot mutations and splicing alterations. Surprisingly, we found that <i>SF3B1</i>-mutant cells are not dependent upon the mutated allele for <i>in vitro</i> growth, but instead depend upon the function of the remaining wild-type alleles. Collectively, these results demonstrate the broad utility of the Degron-KI system for the functional characterization of cancer genes. <i>Cancer Res; 75(10); 1949–58. ©2015 AACR</i>.</p></div>