Project description:We immunoprecipitated chromatin in primary macrophages using antibodies against Ezh2, p53, H3K27ac, H3K27me3 and Sirt1 to identify the potential binding genes.
Project description:Epigenetic gene regulation and metabolism are highly intertwined, yet little is known whether and how altered epigenetics influences cellular metabolism in cancer progression. Here we show that EZH2 and NRasG12D mutations cooperatively induce progression of myeloproliferative neoplasms to fully penetrant, transplantable and lethal myeloid leukemias in mouse. EZH1, an EZH2 homolog, is indispensable for EZH2-deficient leukemia-initiating cells (LICs) and constitutes an epigenetic vulnerability. BCAT1, the first enzyme catalyzing transamination of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), is repressed by EZH2 in normal hematopoiesis and aberrantly activated in EZH2-deficient myeloid neoplasms in mouse and human. Enhanced BCAT1 promotes BCAA production in LICs ex vivo and in vivo, resulting in activated mTOR signaling. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of BCAT1 selectively impairs EZH2-deficient LICs and constitutes a metabolic vulnerability. These findings establish an example how epigenetic alterations modify metabolic adaptation in myeloid transformation and provide a rationale for targeting the epigenetic and metabolic liabilities of cancer-initiating cells.
