The Drosophila Myb oncoprotein, the E2F2 transcriptional repressor, and the RBF and Mip130/LIN-9 tumor suppressor proteins reside in a conserved Myb-MuvB (MMB)/dREAM complex. We now show that Myb is required in vivo for the expression of Polo kinase and components of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Surprisingly, the highly conserved DNA-binding domain was not essential for assembly of Myb into MMB/dREAM, for transcriptional regulation in vivo, or for rescue of Myb-null mutants to adult viability. E2F2, RBF, and Mip130/LIN-9 acted in opposition to Myb by repressing the expression of Polo and SAC genes in vivo. Remarkably, the absence of both Myb and Mip130, or of both Myb and E2F2, caused variegated expression in which high or low levels of Polo were stably inherited through successive cell divisions in imaginal wing discs. Restoration of Myb resulted in a uniformly high level of Polo expression similar to that seen in wild-type tissue, whereas restoration of Mip130 or E2F2 extinguished Polo expression. Our results demonstrate epigenetic regulation of gene expression by Myb, Mip130/LIN-9, and E2F2-RBF in vivo, and also provide an explanation for the ability of Mip130-null mutants to rescue the lethality of Myb-null mutants in vivo.[Keywords: Epigenetic; Myb; retinoblastoma; E2F; oncogene; tumor suppressor] Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org. Received October 16, 2007; revised version accepted December 19, 2007. A central question in developmental biology is the mechanism by which genetically identical cells stably maintain different phenotypic states during successive rounds of mitotic division. Conversely, the disruption of such epigenetic regulation is widely believed to play a key role in cancer (Lund and van Lohuizen 2004). A powerful model for understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic control was provided by Muller's eversporting displacements in Drosophila, which display variegated expression of eye pigment due to the spread of constitutive heterochromatin into adjacent regions of the genome (Muller 1930;Schulze and Wallrath 2007). Parallel systems of epigenetic regulation by Trithorax and Polycomb group proteins were discovered via genetic studies of the Drosophila body plan (Lewis 1978;Schuettengruber et al. 2007).The retinoblastoma (RB) family of tumor suppressor proteins regulates gene expression by binding to E2F-DP heterodimers, which themselves bind directly to DNA (Classon and Harlow 2002). RB family proteins have been proposed to inhibit gene expression by direct interaction with components of the classical position effect variegation (PEV) system and/or the Polycomb system (Nielsen et al. 2001;Vandel et al. 2001;Gonzalo et al. 2005;Kotake et al. 2007). However, evidence for epigenetic regulation of gene expression by RB family proteins in vivo has thus far been lacking.RB is encoded by the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (RB1), loss of which causes both inherited and sporadic retinoblastoma in humans (Classon and Harlow 2002). Two RB-related proteins, p107 ...

The kinase LKB1 is a critical tumor suppressor in sporadic and familial human cancers, yet the mechanisms by which it suppresses tumor growth remain poorly understood. To investigate the tumor-suppressive capacity of four canonical families of LKB1 substrates in vivo , we used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated combinatorial genome editing in a mouse model of oncogenic KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinoma. We demonstrate that members of the SIK family are critical for constraining tumor development. Histologic and gene-expression similarities between LKB1-and SIK-defi cient tumors suggest that SIKs and LKB1 operate within the same axis. Furthermore, a gene-expression signature refl ecting SIK defi ciency is enriched in LKB1 -mutant human lung adenocarcinomas and is regulated by LKB1 in human cancer cell lines. Together, these fi ndings reveal a key LKB1-SIK tumor-suppressive axis and underscore the need to redirect efforts to elucidate the mechanisms through which LKB1 mediates tumor suppression. SIGNIFICANCE:Uncovering the effectors of frequently altered tumor suppressor genes is critical for understanding the fundamental driving forces of cancer growth. Our identifi cation of the SIK family of kinases as effectors of LKB1-mediated tumor suppression will refocus future mechanistic studies and may lead to new avenues for genotype-specifi c therapeutic interventions.

In lung adenocarcinoma, oncogenic EGFR mutations co-occur with many tumor suppressor gene alterations; however, the extent to which these contribute to tumor growth and response to therapy in vivo remains largely unknown. By quantifying the effects of inactivating 10 putative tumor suppressor genes in a mouse model of EGFR-driven Trp53-deficient lung adenocarcinoma, we found that Apc, Rb1, or Rbm10 inactivation strongly promoted tumor growth. Unexpectedly, inactivation of Lkb1 or Setd2—the strongest drivers of growth in a KRAS-driven model—reduced EGFR-driven tumor growth. These results are consistent with mutational frequencies in human EGFR- and KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinomas. Furthermore, KEAP1 inactivation reduced the sensitivity of EGFR-driven tumors to the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib, and mutations in genes in the KEAP1 pathway were associated with decreased time on tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in patients. Our study highlights how the impact of genetic alterations differs across oncogenic contexts and that the fitness landscape shifts upon treatment. Significance: By modeling complex genotypes in vivo, this study reveals key tumor suppressors that constrain the growth of EGFR-mutant tumors. Furthermore, we uncovered that KEAP1 inactivation reduces the sensitivity of these tumors to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Thus, our approach identifies genotypes of biological and therapeutic importance in this disease. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1601

Cancer genotyping has identified a large number of putative tumor suppressor genes. Carcinogenesis is a multistep process, but the importance and specific roles of many of these genes during tumor initiation, growth, and progression remain unknown. Here we use a multiplexed mouse model of oncogenic KRAS–driven lung cancer to quantify the impact of 48 known and putative tumor suppressor genes on diverse aspects of carcinogenesis at an unprecedented scale and resolution. We uncover many previously understudied functional tumor suppressors that constrain cancer in vivo. Inactivation of some genes substantially increased growth, whereas the inactivation of others increases tumor initiation and/or the emergence of exceptionally large tumors. These functional in vivo analyses revealed an unexpectedly complex landscape of tumor suppression that has implications for understanding cancer evolution, interpreting clinical cancer genome sequencing data, and directing approaches to limit tumor initiation and progression. Significance: Our high-throughput and high-resolution analysis of tumor suppression uncovered novel genetic determinants of oncogenic KRAS–driven lung cancer initiation, overall growth, and exceptional growth. This taxonomy is consistent with changing constraints during the life history of cancer and highlights the value of quantitative in vivo genetic analyses in autochthonous cancer models. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1601

Members of the Myb oncoprotein and E2F-Rb tumor suppressor protein families are present within the same highly conserved multiprotein transcriptional repressor complex, named either as Myb and synthetic multivuval class B (Myb-MuvB) or as Drosophila Rb E2F and Myb-interacting proteins (dREAM). We now report that the animal-specific C terminus of Drosophila Myb but not the more highly conserved N-terminal DNA-binding domain is necessary and sufficient for (i) adult viability, (ii) proper localization to chromosomes in vivo, (iii) regulation of gene expression in vivo, and (iv) interaction with the highly conserved core of the MuvB/dREAM transcriptional repressor complex. In addition, we have identified a conserved peptide motif that is required for this interaction. Our results imply that an ancient function of Myb in regulating G2/M genes in both plants and animals appears to have been transferred from the DNA-binding domain to the animal-specific C-terminal domain. Increased expression of B-MYB/MYBL2, the human ortholog of Drosophila Myb, correlates with poor prognosis in human patients with breast cancer. Therefore, our results imply that the specific interaction of the C terminus of Myb with the MuvB/dREAM core complex may provide an attractive target for the development of cancer therapeutics.oncogene | transcription | repression | evolution T he Myb oncogene family was discovered because of the retroviral transduction of the chicken cellular myb protooncogene that generated the avian myeloblastosis virus (1, 2). Both the cellular Myb and viral Myb proteins are present within the nucleus of the cell, bind to specific DNA sequences, and can regulate gene expression (3-9). The Myb DNA-binding domain is present in members of all major classes of eukaryotic organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, cellular slime molds, and protists (10, 11). Simpler plants have only one or a few Myb transcription factors, whereas all flowering plant species have hundreds of related Myb transcription factors that arose via massive gene duplication and divergence (12). The picture in animals is simpler. All vertebrates have three closely related Myb transcription factors, whereas most invertebrates have only one Myb transcription factor. In addition to the presence of an aminoterminal Myb DNA-binding domain, most of these Myb transcription factors of animals share a conserved C-terminal domain that appears to be animal-specific. We have recently reported that, rather surprisingly, this C-terminal Myb domain is sufficient to rescue the lethality of a Myb null mutation in Drosophila when expressed via a heterologous promoter (13). We have now used a combination of genetic, cell biological, and biochemical approaches to explore the function of this animal-specific C-terminal Myb domain. We find that this domain is both necessary and sufficient for interaction with the synthetic multivulval class B (MuvB) core, a highly conserved transcriptional repressor complex that also interacts with the E2F-Rb tumor suppressor proteins (14-16...