Palmitoyl Acyltransferase DHHC9 Is Required for Efficient Induction of Leukemia By Oncogenic NRAS

Hyperactivation of RAS is common in human cancer, including hematological malignancies. Since RAS proteins are difficult to target, identification of alternative means to block RAS oncogenic signaling is critical for developing therapies against RAS-driven cancer. The biological activity of RAS proteins relies upon post-translational modifications (PTMs) that anchor RAS to cellular membranes. Among RAS PTMs, palmitoylation is required for the high-affinity plasma membrane binding of NRAS, HRAS and KRAS4A. NRAS mutations are common in human hematological malignancies. We have previously shown that palmitoylation is essential for NRAS leukemogenesis, suggesting that targeting RAS palmitoylation may be an effective therapy for RAS related cancers. In previous studies, we blocked NRAS palmitoylation by mutating the palmitoylation site in NRAS. Therapeutic intervention of RAS palmitoylation requires targeting enzymes that mediate the modification reaction. Protein S-palmitoylation is catalyzed by the DHHC family of palmitoyl acyltransferases (PATs). Thus far 24 mammalian PATs have been identified. It has been shown that DHHC9 (a 364-amino acid protein encoded by ZDHHC9) is the ortholog of yeast Ras2 PAT and constitutes a mammalian PAT with specificity for H- and NRAS in vitro. Increased expression of DHHC9 has been found in various cancers. In this study we investigated the role of DHHC9 in normal hematopoiesis and NRAS leukemogenesis in vivo. We found that DHHC9 is not the only PATs for RAS palmitoylation in vivo and the Zdhhc9 knockout mice were born and grew similarly as the wild type mice. The frequency of lineage-specific populations and hematopoietic stem cell phenotypes were also similar in mice with knockout alleles of Zdhhc9 as that of wild type mice. However, loss of DHHC9 prolonged the survival of mice with myeloproliferative disease or T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia evoked by oncogenic NRAS expressed either from the endogenous locus or from retroviral promoter. These results demonstrate that DHHC9 is dispensable for normal hematopoiesis, but plays an important role in the pathogenesis of NRAS-induced leukemias. The findings suggest that palmitoyl acyltransferase DHHC9 may serve as a safe and effective target for developing therapies against NRAS-related cancers.