TY - JOUR
T1 - A Therapeutically Targetable NOTCH1–SIRT1–KAT7 Axis in T-cell Leukemia
AU - Lancho, Olga
AU - Singh, Amartya
AU - da Silva-Diz, Victoria
AU - Aleksandrova, Maya
AU - Khatun, Jesminara
AU - Tottone, Luca
AU - Nunes, Patricia Renck
AU - Luo, Shirley
AU - Zhao, Caifeng
AU - Zheng, Haiyan
AU - Chiles, Eric
AU - Zuo, Zhenyu
AU - Rocha, Pedro P.
AU - Su, Xiaoyang
AU - Khiabanian, Hossein
AU - Herranz, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright: ©2022 American Association for Cancer Research.
PY - 2023/1/1
Y1 - 2023/1/1
N2 - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a NOTCH1-driven disease in need of novel therapies. Here, we identify a NOTCH1–SIRT1–KAT7 link as a therapeutic vulnerability in T-ALL, in which the histone deacetylase SIRT1 is overexpressed downstream of a NOTCH1-bound enhancer. SIRT1 loss impaired leukemia generation, whereas SIRT1 overexpression accelerated leukemia and conferred resistance to NOTCH1 inhibition in a deacetylase-dependent manner. Moreover, pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of SIRT1 resulted in significant antileukemic effects. Global acetyl proteomics upon SIRT1 loss uncovered hyperacetylation of KAT7 and BRD1, subunits of a histone acetyltransferase complex targeting H4K12. Metabolic and gene-expression profiling revealed metabolic changes together with a transcriptional signature resembling KAT7 deletion. Consistently, SIRT1 loss resulted in reduced H4K12ac, and overexpression of a nonacetylatable KAT7-mutant partly rescued SIRT1 loss-induced proliferation defects. Overall, our results uncover therapeutic targets in T-ALL and reveal a circular feedback mechanism balancing deacetylase/acetyltransferase activation with potentially broad relevance in cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: We identify a T-ALL axis whereby NOTCH1 activates SIRT1 through an enhancer region, and SIRT1 deacetylates and activates KAT7. Targeting SIRT1 shows antileukemic effects, partly mediated by KAT7 inactivation. Our results reveal T-ALL therapeutic targets and uncover a rheostat mechanism between deacetylase/acetyltransferase activities with potentially broader cancer relevance.
AB - T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a NOTCH1-driven disease in need of novel therapies. Here, we identify a NOTCH1–SIRT1–KAT7 link as a therapeutic vulnerability in T-ALL, in which the histone deacetylase SIRT1 is overexpressed downstream of a NOTCH1-bound enhancer. SIRT1 loss impaired leukemia generation, whereas SIRT1 overexpression accelerated leukemia and conferred resistance to NOTCH1 inhibition in a deacetylase-dependent manner. Moreover, pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of SIRT1 resulted in significant antileukemic effects. Global acetyl proteomics upon SIRT1 loss uncovered hyperacetylation of KAT7 and BRD1, subunits of a histone acetyltransferase complex targeting H4K12. Metabolic and gene-expression profiling revealed metabolic changes together with a transcriptional signature resembling KAT7 deletion. Consistently, SIRT1 loss resulted in reduced H4K12ac, and overexpression of a nonacetylatable KAT7-mutant partly rescued SIRT1 loss-induced proliferation defects. Overall, our results uncover therapeutic targets in T-ALL and reveal a circular feedback mechanism balancing deacetylase/acetyltransferase activation with potentially broad relevance in cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: We identify a T-ALL axis whereby NOTCH1 activates SIRT1 through an enhancer region, and SIRT1 deacetylates and activates KAT7. Targeting SIRT1 shows antileukemic effects, partly mediated by KAT7 inactivation. Our results reveal T-ALL therapeutic targets and uncover a rheostat mechanism between deacetylase/acetyltransferase activities with potentially broader cancer relevance.
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U2 - 10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-22-0098
DO - 10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-22-0098
M3 - Article
SN - 2643-3230
VL - 4
SP - 13
EP - 33
JO - Blood cancer discovery
JF - Blood cancer discovery
IS - 1
ER -