ABSTRACT
Growth factor independence 1 (GFI1) is a transcriptional repressor protein that plays an essential role in the differentiation of myeloid and lymphoid progenitors. We and other groups have shown that GFI1 has a dose-dependent role in the initiation, progression, and prognosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients by inducing epigenetic changes. We now demonstrate a novel role for dose-dependent GFI1 expression in regulating metabolism in haematopoietic progenitor and leukaemic cells. Using in-vitro and ex-vivo murine models of MLL::AF9-induced human AML and extra-cellular flux assays, we now demonstrate that a lower GFI1 expression enhances oxidative phosphorylation rate via upregulation of the FOXO1- MYC axis. Our findings underscore the significance of therapeutic exploitation in GFI1-low-expressing leukaemia cells by targeting oxidative phosphorylation and glutamine metabolism.
Subject(s)
Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute , Transcription Factors , Humans , Mice , Animals , Transcription Factors/genetics , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/genetics , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/metabolism , Cell Differentiation , Prognosis , Epigenesis, Genetic , Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein/genetics , Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/metabolism , DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
NMR has a long history in drug discovery and hit-to-lead optimization. Compared to many other methods NMR has the advantage of combining structural and functional parameters to characterize protein inhibitor interactions. NMR methods used in this context can be split into two categories; protein based experiments using isotopically labelled protein samples and a broad range of ligand based methods. Recently, there has been a strong emphasis on so-called ligand-based methods which offer a broad range of options to determine binding epitopes. Ligand-based methods are attractive because they are broadly applicable, impose few constraints on the composition of the target protein and don't require isotopic labeling of the protein or ligands. Such experiments include diffusion experiments, saturation transfer difference (STD-NMR), NOE pumping, waterLOGSY, SALMON, transferred-NOE and INPHARMA. Ligand-based NMR methods have been employed in screening and in lead optimization. One key advantage arises from their capability to pick up specific interactions for compounds of relatively low affinity and their ability to provide limited structural information without any need of crystallization or isotopic labeling.
