Cooperation of MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) with K-Ras Mutation Induced Myeloid Sarcoma in a Mouse Bone Marrow Transplantation Model.

Abstract 1964

Poster Board I-987

We analyzed genetic mutations in a large cohort of AML patients and found that two of the five patients with MLL/AF10 and N-/K-RAS mutations had cutaneous tumors (myeloid sarcomas). To study the cooperative role of MLL/AF10 and N-/K-RAS in the formation of myeloid sarcoma, we established two cell lines by retroviral transduction of MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) and K-RAS^G12C into GFP-B6 mouse bone marrow cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the cells with MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) and K-RAS^G12C showed a decreased Mac-1 and CD115 expression when compared with the cells with a single MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) mutation. Microarray and RT-PCR analyses revealed an increased gene expression in Hoxa10 and Meis1, but not Hoxa9. In addition, the phagocytosis related genes, Cybb and Lyz were decreased in the cells harboring MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) and K-RAS^G12C. These results suggested that cooperation of MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) and K-RAS^G12C mutations blocked the cells in a more primitive hematopoietic stage. When the two cell lines were intra-peritoneally injected into B6 mice, the mice developed myeloproliferative disease-like myeloid leukemia as that of the mice transplanted with cells carrying a single MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) fusion gene. The median survival time were 33±4.2 and 31.6±5.1 days, respectively, which were shorter than that of the mice transplanted with cells carrying a single MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) fusion gene (49.8±5.0 days). We found that the majority (84%) of mice transplanted with cells harboring both MLL/AF10(OM-LZ) and K-RAS^G12C mutations formed multiple tumor masses involving gastrointestinal tract, kidney, peritoneum, paraspinal soft tissue, and/or skin. Cytological examination from the imprint smears of tumor masses showed massive infiltrates of leukemia blastic cells. Immunohistochemical stains of the paraffin-fixed histological sections of tumor masses were positive for GFP, confirmed that the tumor cells were generated from the transplanted cell lines. We have established a mouse model which can be used for further study of the myeloid sarcoma formation.