Activation of a nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis optimizes BET-targeting therapy and suppresses leukemia stem cells in preclinical models
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PROVIDER: PRJNA1003913 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:Developing strategies to enhance the response to bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) inhibitors and effectively eradicate cancer stem cells would represent a major cancer treatment advance against leukemia. Through a functional CRISPR screen, we identified the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, as a critical regulator of MYC expression and BET inhibitor sensitivity in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Constitutive or pharmacological activation of AHR repressed MYC and synergized with BET inhibitors to inhibit MYC transcription and suppress leukemia growth across diverse AML models. Mechanistically, AHR directly up-regulated a noncanonical target, ELMSAN1, a component of the MiDAC histone deacetylase complex, which promotes histone deacetylation at MYC regulatory elements. ELMSAN1 depletion led to up-regulation of MYC and impaired AHR signaling–induced BET inhibitor sensitization. In vivo, AHR agonists enhanced BET inhibitor efficacy in patient-derived xenografts and murine leukemia models, enabling the use of lower BET inhibitor doses while preserving therapeutic benefit and reducing toxicity. This combination suppressed leukemia stem cell (LSC) gene signatures and reduced LSC frequency, with minimal impact on normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in both human cord blood xenografts and immunocompetent mouse models. Together, these findings uncover a MYC-repressive, nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis that enhances BET-targeting therapies and selectively impairs LSCs, providing a compelling rationale for clinical translation in AML and potentially other MYC-driven cancers.
2025-09-01 | GSE240496 | GEO
Project description:Developing strategies to enhance the response to bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) inhibitors and effectively eradicate cancer stem cells would represent a major cancer treatment advance against leukemia. Through a functional CRISPR screen, we identified the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, as a critical regulator of MYC expression and BET inhibitor sensitivity in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Constitutive or pharmacological activation of AHR repressed MYC and synergized with BET inhibitors to inhibit MYC transcription and suppress leukemia growth across diverse AML models. Mechanistically, AHR directly up-regulated a noncanonical target, ELMSAN1, a component of the MiDAC histone deacetylase complex, which promotes histone deacetylation at MYC regulatory elements. ELMSAN1 depletion led to up-regulation of MYC and impaired AHR signaling–induced BET inhibitor sensitization. In vivo, AHR agonists enhanced BET inhibitor efficacy in patient-derived xenografts and murine leukemia models, enabling the use of lower BET inhibitor doses while preserving therapeutic benefit and reducing toxicity. This combination suppressed leukemia stem cell (LSC) gene signatures and reduced LSC frequency, with minimal impact on normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in both human cord blood xenografts and immunocompetent mouse models. Together, these findings uncover a MYC-repressive, nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis that enhances BET-targeting therapies and selectively impairs LSCs, providing a compelling rationale for clinical translation in AML and potentially other MYC-driven cancers.
2025-09-01 | GSE241936 | GEO
Project description:Developing strategies to enhance the response to bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) inhibitors and effectively eradicate cancer stem cells would represent a major cancer treatment advance against leukemia. Through a functional CRISPR screen, we identified the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, as a critical regulator of MYC expression and BET inhibitor sensitivity in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Constitutive or pharmacological activation of AHR repressed MYC and synergized with BET inhibitors to inhibit MYC transcription and suppress leukemia growth across diverse AML models. Mechanistically, AHR directly up-regulated a noncanonical target, ELMSAN1, a component of the MiDAC histone deacetylase complex, which promotes histone deacetylation at MYC regulatory elements. ELMSAN1 depletion led to up-regulation of MYC and impaired AHR signaling–induced BET inhibitor sensitization. In vivo, AHR agonists enhanced BET inhibitor efficacy in patient-derived xenografts and murine leukemia models, enabling the use of lower BET inhibitor doses while preserving therapeutic benefit and reducing toxicity. This combination suppressed leukemia stem cell (LSC) gene signatures and reduced LSC frequency, with minimal impact on normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in both human cord blood xenografts and immunocompetent mouse models. Together, these findings uncover a MYC-repressive, nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis that enhances BET-targeting therapies and selectively impairs LSCs, providing a compelling rationale for clinical translation in AML and potentially other MYC-driven cancers.
2025-09-01 | GSE240495 | GEO
Project description:Activation of a nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis optimizes BET-targeting therapy and suppresses leukemia stem cells in preclinical models [RNA-Seq2]
| PRJNA1010781 | ENA
Project description:Activation of a nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis optimizes BET-targeting therapy and suppresses leukemia stem cells in preclinical models [CUT&RUN]
| PRJNA1003911 | ENA
Project description:Activation of a nongenetic AHR-ELMSAN1 axis optimizes BET-targeting therapy and suppresses leukemia stem cells in preclinical models [RNA-Seq]
| PRJNA1003917 | ENA
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
2025-09-01 | GSE240497 | GEO
Project description:Background ELMSAN1 is a newly identified scaffolding protein of the mitotic deacetylase complex (MiDAC), playing a pivotal role in early embryonic development. Studies on Elmsan1 knockout mice showed that its absence results in embryo lethality and heart malformation. However, the precise function of ELMSAN1 in heart development and formation has remained elusive. To gain insights into its potential role in cardiac lineage, we employed human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to model early cardiogenesis and investigated the function of ELMSAN1. Methods and Results We generated ELMSAN1-deficient hiPSCs through both knockdown and knockout, revealing that ELMSAN1 appears to be unnecessary for hiPSC maintenance. During the process of cardiac differentiation, ELMSAN1 depletion led to a delay in pluripotency deactivation, decreased expression of cardiac-specific markers, and reduced differentiation efficiency. The impaired expression of genes associated with contractile sarcomere structure, calcium handling, and ion channels were also noted in ELMSAN1-deficient cardiomyocytes derived from hiPSCs (hiPSC-CMs). Additionally, through a series of structural and functional assessments, we found that these cells are immature, exhibiting incomplete sarcomere Z-line structure and length, decreased calcium amplitude, increased time to peak value, faster beat rate with a shorter beat period, decreased field potential duration, and prolonged propagation delay. Of note, we found that the cardiac specific role of ELMSAN1 is likely associated with histone H3K27 acetylation level. The transcriptome analysis provided additional insights, indicating maturation reduction with energy metabolism switch and restored cell proliferation in ELMSAN1 knockout cardiomyocytes. Conclusions In this study, we address the significance of the direct involvement of ELMSAN1 in the differentiation and maturation of hiPSC-CMs. We first report the impact of ELMSAN1 on multiple aspects of hiPSC-CM generation, including cardiac differentiation, sarcomere formation, calcium handling, electrophysiological maturation and proliferation.
2024-07-25 | GSE262838 | GEO
Project description:Histone deacetylase (HDAC) complexes regulate pathological gene programs during heart disease progression. The recently identified mitotic deacetylase complex (MiDAC), which includes DNTTIP1, ELMSAN1, and HDAC1/2, remains the least characterized among these complexes. ELMSAN1 has been implicated in left ventricular remodeling, and its global deletion in mice leads to heart malformation. To investigate its role in mouse heart, we generated cardiomyocyte-specific Elmsan1 knockout (ELM cKO) using αMHC driven Cre recombinase. We analyzed both male and female animals across three experimental groups: αMHC-Cre (Cre control), ELM fl/fl (floxed control) and ELM cKO. In male ELM cKO mice, ejection fraction (EF) was significantly reduced by 12 weeks (45.64±3.12%), compared to αMHC-Cre (55.91±1.29%) and ELM fl/fl (59.16±3.70%) controls. By 24 weeks, EF declined further to 20.79%±4.52, representing a reduction of 46.4% (p<0.01) and 62.1% (p<0.0001) compared to αMHC-Cre and ELM fl/fl mice respectively. The heart failure phenotype in ELM cKO mice was supported by cardiomyocyte hypertrophy morphology, ventricular dilation, and shortened lifespan. Female ELM cKO mice exhibited similar defects with delayed onset. To investigate early molecular changes, we performed RNA sequencing on pre-symptomatic hearts from 8-week-old mice. A total of 1055 genes were differentially expressed in ELM ckO hearts, with 460 upregulated and 595 downregulated. Gene enrichment analysis revealed suppression of tricarboxylic acid cycle and key cardiac genes. These transcriptional changes were accompanied by decreased mitochondrial respiratory chain complex proteins, ultrastructural mitochondrial abnormalities, and impaired calcium handling. Our study demonstrates that Elmsan1 is pivotal for maintaining the heart function and hemostasis with advanced age.
2025-07-30 | GSE301440 | GEO