Interrogating bromodomain inhibitor resistance in KMT2A-rearranged leukemia through combinatorial CRISPR screens.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37036970.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2220134120 and PMC identifier 10120025.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Bromo- and extra-terminal domain inhibitors (BETi) have exhibited therapeutic activities in many cancers. However, the mechanisms controlling BETi response and resistance are not well understood. We conducted genome-wide loss-of-function CRISPR screens using BETi-treated KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) cell lines. We revealed that <i>Speckle-type POZ protein (SPOP)</i> gene (Speckle Type BTB/POZ Protein) deficiency caused significant BETi resistance, which was further validated in cell lines and xenograft models. Proteomics analysis and a kinase-vulnerability CRISPR screen indicated that cells treated with BETi are sensitive to GSK3 perturbation. Pharmaceutical inhibition of GSK3 reversed the BETi-resistance phenotype. Based on this observation, a combination therapy regimen inhibiting both BET and GSK3 was developed to impede KMT2A-r leukemia progression in patient-derived xenografts in vivo. Our results revealed molecular mechanisms underlying BETi resistance and a promising combination treatment regimen of ABBV-744 and CHIR-98014 by utilizing unique ex vivo and in vivo KMT2A-r PDX models.
Medical subject headings
- Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
- Leukemia