Poplineau Mathilde, Platet Nadine, Mazuel Adrien, Hérault Léonard, N'Guyen Lia, Koide Shuhei, Nakajima-Takagi Yaeko, Kuribayashi Wakako, Carbuccia Nadine, Haboub Loreen, Vernerey Julien, Oshima Motohiko, Birnbaum Daniel, Iwama Atsushi, Duprez Estelle
Epigenetic Control of Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis, CRCM, Aix Marseille University, CNRS UMR7258, INSERM U1068, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Blood. 2022 Dec 1;140(22):2358-2370. doi: 10.1182/blood.2022015668.
Cancer cell heterogeneity is a major driver of therapy resistance. To characterize resistant cells and their vulnerabilities, we studied the PLZF-RARA variant of acute promyelocytic leukemia, resistant to retinoic acid (RA), using single-cell multiomics. We uncovered transcriptional and chromatin heterogeneity in leukemia cells. We identified a subset of cells resistant to RA with proliferation, DNA replication, and repair signatures that depend on a fine-tuned E2F transcriptional network targeting the epigenetic regulator enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2). Epigenomic and functional analyses validated the driver role of EZH2 in RA resistance. Targeting pan-EZH2 activities (canonical/noncanonical) was necessary to eliminate leukemia relapse-initiating cells, which underlies a dependency of resistant cells on an EZH2 noncanonical activity and the necessity to degrade EZH2 to overcome resistance. Our study provides critical insights into the mechanisms of RA resistance that allow us to eliminate treatment-resistant leukemia cells by targeting EZH2, thus highlighting a potential targeted therapy approach. Beyond RA resistance and acute promyelocytic leukemia context, our study also demonstrates the power of single-cell multiomics to identify, characterize, and clear therapy-resistant cells.
癌细胞异质性是治疗耐药性的主要驱动因素。为了表征耐药细胞及其脆弱性,我们使用单细胞多组学技术研究了对维甲酸(RA)耐药的急性早幼粒细胞白血病的PLZF-RARA变体。我们发现白血病细胞中存在转录和染色质异质性。我们鉴定出了一部分对RA耐药的细胞,其具有增殖、DNA复制和修复特征,这些特征依赖于一个微调的E2F转录网络,该网络靶向表观遗传调节因子zeste同源物2(EZH2)的增强子。表观基因组和功能分析验证了EZH2在RA耐药中的驱动作用。靶向泛EZH2活性(经典/非经典)对于消除白血病复发起始细胞是必要的,这揭示了耐药细胞对EZH2非经典活性的依赖性以及降解EZH2以克服耐药性的必要性。我们的研究为RA耐药机制提供了关键见解,使我们能够通过靶向EZH2消除治疗耐药的白血病细胞,从而突出了一种潜在的靶向治疗方法。除了RA耐药和急性早幼粒细胞白血病背景外,我们的研究还证明了单细胞多组学在识别、表征和清除治疗耐药细胞方面的能力。
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