Figure 6.
ERG is a critical mediator of EVI1-driven leukemogenesis. (A) Density maps of ATAC-seq peaks in murine RUNX1/EVI1 leukemia cells without (shRen.713) or with shRNA-mediated knockdown of EVI1 (shEVI1.2658); shown are RUNX1/EVI1 target genes that were found downregulated both upon shRNA-mediated RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown in vitro and upon Dox-mediated RUNX1/EVI1 withdrawal in vivo. (B) Density maps of ERG binding in reanalyzed ChIP-seq data from Hoxb8-expressing hematopoietic progenitor cells61 and murine MLL/AF9-driven leukemia cells62; shown are the same genes as in panel A. (C) Transcription factor motif enrichment analysis within sequences of ATAC-seq peaks identified in panel A. Gray dots depict transcription factor motifs. The x-axis depicts the percentage of sequences with transcription factor motif. The y-axis depicts the (−log10)-transformed P value significance compared with random background sequences. (D) Illustration of the top 5 enriched transcription factor motifs. (E) Knockdown-rescue studies of EVI1. Competitive proliferation assay of murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells expressing indicated shRNAs in the presence of Dox (0.5 μg/mL) that were cotransduced with either empty vector control (left) or ERG complementary DNA (right) (mean ± SD; n = 3). (F) Quantification of the progenitor marker c-Kit using flow cytometry in murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells 5 days post Dox-mediated shRNA induction (mean ± SD; n = 3). (G) Representative cytospin images of murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells expressing indicated shRNAs and expression constructs. (H) Gene expression analysis 5 days upon RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown vs nontargeting control in the presence or absence of ectopic ERG expression. Gray dots illustrate genes with significantly changed expression (adjusted P < .1) upon RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown. Orange dots highlight rescued genes (opposing log2 FC or adjusted P > .1) (n = 3). (I) Pearson correlation of EVI1 and ERG normalized expression values in human patients with AML with EVI1 rearrangements. (J) Proposed model of EVI1-driven leukemogenesis. Aberrant EVI1 expression, due to chromosomal rearrangements, drives aberrant ERG overexpression that blocks cellular differentiation and affects cell cycle regulation. RPKM, reads per kilobase million.

ERG is a critical mediator of EVI1-driven leukemogenesis. (A) Density maps of ATAC-seq peaks in murine RUNX1/EVI1 leukemia cells without (shRen.713) or with shRNA-mediated knockdown of EVI1 (shEVI1.2658); shown are RUNX1/EVI1 target genes that were found downregulated both upon shRNA-mediated RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown in vitro and upon Dox-mediated RUNX1/EVI1 withdrawal in vivo. (B) Density maps of ERG binding in reanalyzed ChIP-seq data from Hoxb8-expressing hematopoietic progenitor cells61 and murine MLL/AF9-driven leukemia cells62; shown are the same genes as in panel A. (C) Transcription factor motif enrichment analysis within sequences of ATAC-seq peaks identified in panel A. Gray dots depict transcription factor motifs. The x-axis depicts the percentage of sequences with transcription factor motif. The y-axis depicts the (−log10)-transformed P value significance compared with random background sequences. (D) Illustration of the top 5 enriched transcription factor motifs. (E) Knockdown-rescue studies of EVI1. Competitive proliferation assay of murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells expressing indicated shRNAs in the presence of Dox (0.5 μg/mL) that were cotransduced with either empty vector control (left) or ERG complementary DNA (right) (mean ± SD; n = 3). (F) Quantification of the progenitor marker c-Kit using flow cytometry in murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells 5 days post Dox-mediated shRNA induction (mean ± SD; n = 3). (G) Representative cytospin images of murine RUNX1/EVI1-driven leukemia cells expressing indicated shRNAs and expression constructs. (H) Gene expression analysis 5 days upon RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown vs nontargeting control in the presence or absence of ectopic ERG expression. Gray dots illustrate genes with significantly changed expression (adjusted P < .1) upon RUNX1/EVI1 knockdown. Orange dots highlight rescued genes (opposing log2 FC or adjusted P > .1) (n = 3). (I) Pearson correlation of EVI1 and ERG normalized expression values in human patients with AML with EVI1 rearrangements. (J) Proposed model of EVI1-driven leukemogenesis. Aberrant EVI1 expression, due to chromosomal rearrangements, drives aberrant ERG overexpression that blocks cellular differentiation and affects cell cycle regulation. RPKM, reads per kilobase million.

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