PML/RARa Represses Transactivation of PSMB10 Via a PU.1-Dependent Manner In Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

Abstract 3866

Immunoproteasome is a special form of proteasome which contains three unique interferonγ (IFNγ) induced catalytic subunits, i.e. PSMB8, PSMB9 and PSMB10. Immunoproteasome plays a pivotal role in generating certain peptide antigens for MHC class I presentation. Dysregulation of the immunoproteasome system may contribute to the pathogenesis of certain types of malignancies, including leukemia. Our previous study has identified the target genes of PML/RARa, the initiating factor of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) on the genome-wide scale, and demonstrated that PML/RARa could selectively target PU.1-regulated genes, which is a critical mechanism for the pathogenesis of APL. PSMB10, encoding an important composition of immunoproteasome, is one of the identified target genes which are regulated by PML/RARa in this manner.

Here we revealed the detailed transcriptional regulation mechanism of PSMB10 in APL. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-PCR assay showed that PML/RARa and PU.1 could bind to the PSMB10 promoter in APL cells, including patient derived NB4 cells and Zn-treated PR9 cells. Re-ChIP assay further demonstrated that PML/RARa and PU.1 co-existed on the same DNA fragment of the PSMB10 promoter, which provided the possibility that PML/RARa and PU.1 could co-regulate the PSMB10 promoter. Using a transient luciferase reporter system, we found that PU.1 transactivated the PSMB10 promoter and PML/RARa repressed the PU.1-dependent transactivation. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) could relief the repression caused by PML/RARa. To further demonstrate that the PU.1 site (-37bp∼-29bp) and related retinoic acid response elements (RAREs) (-555bp∼-549bp, -258bp∼-252bp) were essential for PML/RARa to function as an effective repressor, we prepared a series of mutant constructs, including the PU.1-site mutant, the construct mutated on both RARE half (RAREh) sites and two constructs respectively mutated on one of the two RAREh sites, and then transfected them into myeloid U937 cells. From the results of luciferase reporter assays, we found that both PU.1 site and RAREh sites played important roles in PML/RARa-mediated transcriptional repression, moreover, the second RAREh site (-258bp∼-252bp) contributed more than the first one (-555bp∼-549bp). Through electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), we further determined that PML/RARa could interact with PU.1 through protein-protein interaction, and then bind to the PU.1 site on the PSMB10 promoter. Recent study has shown that ATRA treatment could induce the production of anti-PML/RARa in APL mouse, which implicates that ATRA plays an important role in activating immune system. As the essential elements for immune response, HLA class I antigens (A, B & C) present peptides, which are produced from digested proteins degraded by immunoproteasome, to the surface of antigen-presenting cells. We thus utilized real time RT-PCR to measure the expression of PSMB10 and HLA-A/B/C during ATRA-induced NB4 cells differentiation. We found the levels of PSMB10 and HLA-A/B/C expression were up-regulated in ATRA-treated NB4 cells. These results suggested that the enhanced expression of PSMB10 availed immunoproteasome restoration, which benefited the reactivation of immune system during ATRA treatment therapy. Our results not only demonstrate the detailed transcriptional regulation of PSMB10 in APL but imply the potential function of PSMB10 during ATRA treatment as well.