BCL6 modulates tonic BCR signaling in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas by repressing the SYK phosphatase, PTPROt.

Tonic B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling is a key survival pathway during normal B-cell ontogenesis and in a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs). We previously demonstrated that BCR-dependent DLBCL cell lines and primary tumors underwent apoptosis after treatment with an ATP-competitive inhibitor of the BCR-associated spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK). These "BCR-type" tumors also have more abundant expression of the transcriptional repressor, BCL6, and increased sensitivity to BCL6 inhibition. Herein, we evaluated potential connections between BCL6-mediated transcriptional repression and SYK-dependent BCR signaling. In transcriptionally profiled normal B-cell subsets (naive, germinal center, and memory B cells) and in primary DLBCLs, there were reciprocal patterns of expression of BCL6 and the SYK tyrosine phosphatase PTPROt. BCL6 repressed PTPROt transcription via a direct interaction with functional BCL6 binding sites in the PTPROt promoter. Enforced expression of BCL6 in normal naive B cells and RNAi-mediated depletion of BCL6 in germinal center B cells directly modulated PTPROt expression. In "BCR-type" DLBCLs, BCL6 depletion increased PTPROt expression and decreased phosphorylation of SYK and the downstream adaptor protein BLNK. Because BCL6 augments BCR signaling and BCL6 and SYK are both promising therapeutic targets in many DLBCLs, combined inhibition of these functionally related pathways warrants further study.