Growth Factor Independent 1b (Gfi1b) Is Highly Expressed in Human CML and Accelerates p210^BCR-ABL Induced Leukemia in Mice.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is one of the most frequent leukemic diseases and invariably associated with a reciprocal t(9;22) translocation which creates a juxtaposition of the BCR and ABL genes to form the p230-, p190- or p210^BCR-ABL constitutively active tyrosine kinases. This constitutive tyrosine kinase activity is the cause of CML and other leukemic diseases. CML is very efficiently treated with small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but CML is a stem cell initiated disease and surprisingly the leukemic stem cells cannot be eradicated by tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, resulting in a high risk of the development of therapy resistance. To design more successful therapies, it is primordial to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease. Here we show that growth factor independent 1b (Gfi1b), also translocated in CML, is strongly induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with chronic- or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as well as in patients suffering from myeloprolifarative syndrome (MPS) or B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Gfi1b is a transcriptional repressor essential for erythroid- and megacaryocytic cells, but also expressed in hematopoietic stem cells, early myeloid precursors and mature myeloid cells in peripheral blood. Interestingly, the expression of Gfi1b is further induced by long term treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors like Glivec, although the patients are phenotypically in remission. Additionally we describe a new splice variant of Gfi1b which is overrepresented in CML, AML and B-ALL, but not in MPS. Using a mouse model system we demonstrate, that Gfi1b strongly accelerates p210^BCR-ABL induced leukemogenesis. We further show that Gfi1b inhibits the activity of PU.1, a key molecule in hematopoiesis and repressor of leukemogenesis. Our findings bear considerable significance with regard to the role of Gfi1b as an oncogene in human leukemia and to its possible value as a new target for leukemia therapy.