Background: Canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling is frequently dysregulated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and has been implicated in leukemogenesis. γ-catenin was previously demonstrated to be associated with the nuclear localization of β-catenin, the central mediator, and to exert oncogenic effects in AML; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the expression characteristics of γ-catenin in AML patients, explore the mechanisms by which γ-catenin regulates β-catenin, and discuss the feasibility of targeting γ-catenin for AML treatment. Methods: The mRNA expression levels of γ-catenin in AML patients were measured by qRT-PCR. Cell proliferation was examined via Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays. The expression levels of related proteins were measured via Western blotting. Specific siRNA was used to modulate the expression level of the γ-catenin gene. Apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were quantified by flow cytometry. The subcellular localization of γ-catenin and β-catenin was examined via immunofluorescence with a confocal laser scanning microscope. Results: Overexpression of γ-catenin was frequently observed in AML and correlated with poor prognosis. Consistent with this finding, suppression of γ-catenin in the AML cell line THP-1 induced growth inhibition, promoted apoptosis and blocked β-catenin nuclear translocation. Interestingly, γ-catenin knockdown sensitized THP-1 cells to cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents such as cytarabine and homoharringtonine and further inhibited β-catenin nuclear localization. Moreover, our data implied the relationship between γ-catenin and GSK3β (whose effect on β-catenin is mediated by its own phosphorylation), which may be the principal mechanism underlying the anti-AML effect of γ-catenin inhibition. Conclusion: Taken together, our results revealed a potential role of γ-catenin in AML pathogenesis-mainly through the inhibition of GSK3β-mediated nuclear localization of β-catenin-and indicate that targeting γ-catenin might offer new AML treatments.
Genetic heterogeneity poses a great challenge to the understanding and management of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Knowledge of the IKZF1 mutation in AML specifically is extremely limited. In a previous work, we described the distribution pattern of IKZF1 mutation in AML, but its clinical impact has remained undefined due to the limited number of cases. Herein, we attempt to answer this question in one relatively large cohort covering 522 newly diagnosed AML patients. A total of 26 IKZF1 mutations were found in 20 AML patients (20/522, 3.83%). This condition has a young median age of onset of morbidity (P = 0.032). The baseline characteristics of IKZF1-mutated and wild-type patients were comparable. IKZF1 mutation showed significant co-occurrences with CEBPA (P < 0.001), SF3B1 (P < 0.001), and CSF3R (P = 0.005) mutations, and it was mutually exclusive with NPM1 mutation (P = 0.033). Although IKZF1-mutated AML was more preferably classified into the intermediate-risk group (P = 0.004), it showed one inferior complete remission rate (P = 0.032). AML with high burden of IKZF1 mutation (variant allele frequency > 0.20) showed relatively short overall survival period (P = 0.012), and it was an independent factor for the increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 6.101; 95% CI 2.278–16.335; P = 0.0003). In subgroup analysis, our results showed that IKZF1 mutation conferred poor therapeutic response and prognosis for SF3B1-mutated AML (P = 0.0017). We believe this work improves our knowledge of IKZF1 mutation.
SETD2 is the only H3K36me3 methyltransferase, and it has been reported to act as a tumour suppressor in a variety of cancers. Our previous study showed that Setd2 deficiency in the haematopoietic system led to the malignant transformation, which provided evidence of its tumour suppressor role in haematopoiesis. 1,2 Consistently, SETD2 mutation has been found to affect 12% of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and 8% of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). 3,4 In ALL, the distribution pattern of SETD2 mutation has been well established. Previous findings have indicated that SETD2 mutation tends to co-occur with KMT2A rearrangements, ETV6::RUNX1 and TCF3::PBX1. [3][4][5] By contrast, the knowledge of SETD2 mutation in AML is still poorly understood. Recently, some sporadic studies have shown that SETD2 mutation is recurrent in KMT2A-rearranged and CBFrearranged AML. 4 Our results showed SETD2 mutation to occur frequently in NPM1-mutated AML. 6 Due to the low incidence of AML with SETD2 mutation and lack of information regarding its clinical features, a comprehensive view of the distribution pattern and prognostic role of SETD2
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