Venetoclax-based therapy can induce responses in approximately 70% of older previously untreated patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, upfront resistance as well as relapse following initial response demonstrates the need for a deeper understanding of resistance mechanisms. In the present study, we report that responses to venetoclax + azacitidine in patients with AML correlate closely with developmental stage, where phenotypically primitive AML is sensitive, but monocytic AML is more resistant. Mechanistically, resistant monocytic AML has a distinct transcriptomic profi le, loses expression of venetoclax target BCL2, and relies on MCL1 to mediate oxidative phosphorylation and survival. This differential sensitivity drives a selective process in patients which favors the outgrowth of monocytic subpopulations at relapse. Based on these fi ndings, we conclude that resistance to venetoclax + azacitidine can arise due to biological properties intrinsic to monocytic differentiation. We propose that optimal AML therapies should be designed so as to independently target AML subclones that may arise at differing stages of pathogenesis. SIGNIFICANCE: Identifying characteristics of patients who respond poorly to venetoclax-based therapy and devising alternative therapeutic strategies for such patients are important topics in AML. We show that venetoclax resistance can arise due to intrinsic molecular/metabolic properties of monocytic AML cells and that such properties can potentially be targeted with alternative strategies.

Pre-mRNA maturation frequently occurs at the same time and place as transcription by RNA polymerase II (pol II). The co-transcriptionality of mRNA processing has permitted the evolution of mechanisms that functionally couple transcription elongation with diverse events that occur on the nascent RNA. This review summarizes current understanding of the relationship between transcriptional elongation through a chromatin template and co-transcriptional splicing including alternative splicing decisions that affect the expression of most human genes.

Summary The torpedo model of transcription termination asserts that the exonuclease Xrn2 attacks the 5′PO4-end exposed by nascent RNA cleavage and chases down the RNA polymerase. We tested this mechanism using a dominant-negative human Xrn2 mutant and found that it delayed termination genome-wide. Xrn2 nuclease inactivation caused strong termination defects downstream of most poly(A) sites and modest delays at some histone and U snRNA genes suggesting that the torpedo mechanism is not limited to poly(A) site-dependent termination. A central untested feature of the torpedo model is that there is kinetic competition between the exonuclease and the pol II elongation complex. Using pol II rate mutants, we found that slow transcription robustly shifts termination upstream, and fast elongation extends the zone of termination further downstream. These results suggest that kinetic competition between elongating pol II and the Xrn2 exonuclease is integral to termination of transcription on most human genes.

Highlights d PNUTS-PP1 phosphatase is a global decelerator of Pol II transcription d PNUTS-PP1 promotes Spt5 dephosphorylation and Pol II braking at poly(A) sites d Termination requires poly(A)-dependent Spt5 dephosphorylation and Pol II braking d Allosteric switch converts Pol II to a ''sitting duck'' terminated by a Xrn2 torpedo

Summary In addition to phosphodiester bond formation, RNA polymerase II has an RNA endonuclease activity, stimulated by TFIIS, which rescues complexes that have arrested and backtracked. How TFIIS affects transcription under normal conditions is poorly understood. We identified backtracking sites in human cells using a dominant-negative TFIIS (TFIISDN) that inhibits RNA cleavage and stabilizes backtracked complexes. Backtracking is most frequent within 2 kb of start sites, consistent with slow elongation early in transcription, and in 3’ flanking regions where termination is enhanced by TFIISDN, suggesting that backtracked pol II is a favorable substrate for termination. Rescue from backtracking by RNA cleavage also promotes escape from 5’ pause sites, prevents premature termination of long transcripts, and enhances activation of stress-inducible genes. TFIISDN slowed elongation rates genome-wide by half suggesting that rescue of backtracked pol II by TFIIS is a major stimulus of elongation under normal conditions.

Paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II) that piles up near most human promoters is the target of mechanisms that control entry into productive elongation. Whether paused Pol II is a stable or dynamic target remains unresolved. We report that most 5' paused Pol II throughout the genome is turned over within 2 min. This process is revealed under hypertonic conditions that prevent Pol II recruitment to promoters. This turnover requires cell viability but is not prevented by inhibiting transcription elongation, suggesting that it is mediated at the level of termination. When initiation was prevented by triptolide during recovery from high salt, a novel preinitiated state of Pol II lacking the pausing factor Spt5 accumulated at transcription start sites. We propose that Pol II occupancy near 5' ends is governed by a cycle of ongoing assembly of preinitiated complexes that transition to pause sites followed by eviction from the DNA template. This model suggests that mechanisms regulating the transition to productive elongation at pause sites operate on a dynamic population of Pol II that is turning over at rates far higher than previously suspected. We suggest that a plausible alternative to elongation control via escape from a stable pause is by escape from premature termination.

Summary Eukaryotic genes are marked by conserved post-translational modifications on the RNA pol II CTD and the chromatin template. How the 5′–3′ profiles of these marks are established is poorly understood. Using pol II mutants in human cells we found that slow transcription repositioned specific co-transcriptionally deposited chromatin modifications; H3K36me3 shifted within genes toward 5′ ends and H3K4me2 extended further upstream of start sites. Slow transcription also evoked a hyperphosphorylation of CTD Ser2 residues at 5′ ends of genes that is conserved in yeast. We propose a “dwell-time in the target zone” model to explain the effects of transcriptional dynamics on establishment of co-transcriptionally deposited protein modifications. Promoter-proximal Ser2 phosphorylation is associated with longer pol II dwell time at start sites and reduced transcriptional polarity due to strongly enhanced divergent antisense transcription at promoters. These results demonstrate that pol II dynamics help govern the decision between sense and divergent antisense transcription.

Assignment of cell types from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data remains a time-consuming and error-prone process. Current packages for identity assignment use limited types of reference data and often have rigid data structure requirements. We developed the clustifyr R package to leverage several external data types, including gene expression profiles to assign likely cell types using data from scRNA-seq, bulk RNA-seq, microarray expression data, or signature gene lists. We benchmark various parameters of a correlation-based approach and implement gene list enrichment methods. clustifyr is a lightweight and effective cell-type assignment tool developed for compatibility with various scRNA-seq analysis workflows. clustifyr is publicly available at https://github.com/rnabioco/clustifyr