Proteogenomic profiling of acute myeloid leukaemia reveals novel insights into leukaemogenesis. (#109)
The
Mixed Lineage Leukaemia (MLL) gene located on chromosome 11q23 is a frequent
site of translocation that results in a number of oncogenic fusion proteins.
MLL-translocations are present in a variety of paediatric and adult leukaemias
and are associated with poor survival outcome. Despite intense research efforts
the mechanisms underlying the leukaemogenic activity of MLL-translocations are
poorly understood. Our aim was to identify proteins involved in leukaemogenesis
that are regulated by MLL fusion protein expression through quantitative proteome
analysis using a murine leukaemia model. Our model of acute myeloid leukaemia
(AML) involves the generation of leukaemic cells in vivo and is controlled by the regulated expression of a common
MLL-translocation gene, MLL-AF9. Leukaemic cells were collected from mice
before analysis of global protein expression using a SILAC quantitative
proteomics workflow to generate a profile of proteins that are expressed in the
presence or absence of MLL-AF9 expression. We extended this analysis by also
profiling changes to the transcriptome using RNA-sequencing during MLL-AF9
regulation. These data underwent bioinformatic analysis to quantify and compare
changes in protein and RNA expression before further comparison to human AML
patient expression array and survival data to identify proteins and pathways of
diagnostic and therapeutic interest. Our analysis has confirmed several known
targets in AML and also highlighted novel pathways and targets that are regulated
when MLL-AF9 is expressed. These pathways include epigenetic regulators, cell
signaling and cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix interactions. The results
from this study not only identify mechanisms by which MLL-AF9 regulates leukaemogenesis,
but also demonstrate the potential identification of clinical biomarkers and
novel drug targets.