A Genetic Screen In Zebrafish Identified Dlst As a Potential Therapeutic Target For Human Acute T-Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Despite improvements in treatment for T-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL), only 70-80% of children and 40% of adults achieve long-term remission. To discover novel targets for the development of molecular therapeutics, we conducted a dominant genetic modifier screen to identify genes whose inactivation delays the onset of leukemia. We have generated a Myc-driven zebrafish model of T-ALL that recapitulates its human counterpart genetically and pathologically. Utilizing this zebrafish model of T-ALL, we conducted a genetic screen that identified a gene encoding dihydrolipoamide S-succinyltransferase (DLST), whose heterozygous loss significantly delays the onset of leukemia in zebrafish. DLST is the E2 component of α-ketogluterate dehydrogenase complex (KGDHC), a key enzyme in the TCA cycle that converts α-ketogluterate (α-KG) to Succinyl CoA. Western blot analysis revealed that DLST was upregulated in zebrafish tumor cells, T-ALL cell lines and primary human T-ALL samples. Zebrafish T-ALL cells with heterozygous inactivation of dlst have decreased cell size and slowed cell cycle progression, compared to T-ALL cells without dlst inactivation. To demonstrate that DLST is a relevant target in human T-ALL, we used two structural analogs of α-KG (α-keto-n-valeric acid sodium salt (KV) and α-keto-β-methyl-n-valeric acid (KMV)) to inhibit the KGDHC activity. Inhibition of KGDHC by both KV and KMV decreased cell viability and promoted apoptotic cell death in a panel of human T-ALL cell lines. Genetic inactivation of DLST, via shRNA knockdown, also decreased cell viability in MOLT16 human T-ALL cell line, confirming the therapeutic potential of DLST in human T-ALL treatment. In vivo treatment of our zebrafish T-ALL model with KV promoted tumor regression within seven days of treatment. Taken together our findings indicate that DLST is an important contributor to T-ALL pathologenesis, and suggest that DLST is a potential target for further therapeutic development to treat human T-ALL.