Identification of MLL-Fusion/Myc⊣miR-26a/Mir-29a⊣Tet1 Signaling Circuit in MLL-Rearranged Leukemia

Approximately 10% of human acute leukemias are involved in chromosomal translocations between the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene and over 50 partner genes. MLL-rearranged leukemias occur preferentially in infant and young children and are often associated with poor outcome. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of small noncoding RNAs which repress gene expression and mRNA stability by base pairing with target mRNAs usually at the 3’-untranslated regions (UTRs). The ten-eleven translocation 1 (TET1), the founding member of the TET family of enzymes (TET1/2/3) that convert 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), was first identified in MLL-rearranged leukemia. But its definitive role in leukemia was unclear until our recent report published in PNAS (Huang H. et al. 2013). In contrast to the frequent repression and tumor-suppressor roles of the three TET genes observed in various cancers, we showed that TET1 is a direct target of MLL-fusion proteins and significantly up-regulated in MLL-rearranged leukemia, leading to a global increase of 5hmC level. Furthermore, Tet1 plays an indispensable oncogenic role in MLL-rearranged leukemia, through coordination with MLL-fusion proteins in regulating their critical co-targets including Hoxa/Meis1/Pbx3 genes. However, whether TET1 is also post-transcriptionally regulated by miRNAs in hematopoietic cells remains unknown. In the present report, through genome-wide miRNA expression profiling assays, we found that miR-26a and miR-29a were expressed at a significantly lower level in MLL-rearranged AML than in normal controls. The down-regulation of miR-26a and miR-29a is, at least in part, attributed to the transcriptional repression mediated by MLL-fusion proteins and MYC. Interestingly, both miR-26a and miR-29a target TET1 directly at the post-transcriptional level. More importantly, we showed that miR-26a or miR-29a significantly inhibited MLL-fusion-mediated cell transformation in vitro and leukemogenesis in vivo down regulating expression of Tet1 and its downstream target genes. Thus, our data suggest that the transcriptional repression of miR-26a and miR-29a is required for the aberrant overexpression and potent oncogenic role of TET1 in MLL-rearranged leukemia, and that miR-26a and miR-29a play important tumor-suppressor role in leukemogenesis.

Taken together, our data reveals a previously unappreciated signaling pathway involving the MLL-fusion/Myc⊣miR-26a/miR-29a⊣Tet1 circuit in MLL-rearranged leukemia. Our data not only provides novel insight into our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of MLL-rearranged leukemia, but also may lead to the development of novel, more effective therapeutic strategies to treat this type of dismal disease.