Summary The histone 3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methyltransferase Dot1l has been implicated in the development of leukemias bearing translocations of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene. We identified the MLL-fusion targets in an MLL-AF9 leukemia model, and conducted epigenetic profiling for H3K79me2, H3K4me3, H3K27me3 and H3K36me3 in hematopoietic progenitor and leukemia stem cells (LSC). We found abnormal profiles only for H3K79me2 on MLL-AF9 fusion target loci in LSC. Inactivation of Dot1l lead to down-regulation of direct MLL-AF9 targets and an MLL-translocation associated gene expression signature, while global gene expression remained largely unaffected. Suppression of MLL-translocation associated gene expression corresponded with dependence of MLL-AF9 leukemia on Dot1l in vivo. These data point to DOT1L as a potential therapeutic target in MLL-rearranged leukemia.

Summary We created a mouse model where conditional expression of an Mll-AF4 fusion oncogene induces B-precursor acute lymphoblastic (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemias (AML). Gene expression profile analysis of the ALL cells demonstrated significant overlap with human MLL-rearranged ALL. ChIP-chip analysis demonstrated histone H3 Lysine 79 (H3K79) methylation profiles that correlated with Mll-AF4 associated gene expression profiles in murine ALLs, and in human MLL-rearranged leukemias. Human MLL-rearranged ALLs could be distinguished from other ALLs by their H3K79 profiles and suppression of the H3K79 methyltransferase DOT1L inhibited expression of critical MLL-AF4 target genes. We have thus demonstrated that ectopic H3K79 methylation is a distinguishing feature of murine and human MLL-AF4 ALLs and is important for maintenance of MLL-AF4 driven gene expression. Significance The t(4;11) encodes an MLL-AF4 fusion protein, and predicts a particularly poor prognosis when found in acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL). Recent studies suggest certain MLL-fusion proteins enhance gene expression by recruitment of the histone H3 lysine79 (H3K79) methyltransferase DOT1L. We demonstrate that H3K79 methylation is enhanced at many loci in leukemia cells from a murine model of Mll-AF4 and in human MLL-AF4 leukemia cells and this elevation is correlated with enhanced gene expression. Furthermore, suppression of H3K79 methylation leads to inhibition of gene expression in MLL-AF4 cells. These data demonstrate that inhibition of DOT1L may be a therapeutic approach in this disease, and that this mouse model should be useful for assessment of therapeutic approaches for MLL-rearranged ALL.