Constitutive Activation of Rac GTPases Is Induced by Cooperating Mutations in a Human Model of MLL-AF9 Leukemia.

Abstract 2959

Poster Board II-935

Retroviral transduction of primary human umbilical cord blood CD34+ cells with a gene encoding MLL-AF9 (MA9) efficiently promotes immortalization in vitro and development of leukemia in a xenotransplant model. MA9 cells remain cytokine dependent with a strict requirement for Flt3 signaling. Additionally, the cells are hypersensitive to inhibition of the RAC GTPases. In this current study, we have examined a potential link between these pathways. We found that MA9 cells proliferate in culture media containing Flt3 Ligand (FL) as the sole cytokine, indicating that Flt3 signaling is sufficient for growth and survival. Furthermore, introduction of a mutant Flt3-ITD gene in these cells (MA9-ITD cells) not only promotes cytokine independent growth, but also significantly decreases leukemia latency in xenotransplant experiments. Consistent with the persistent requirement for active Rac signaling, we found that MA9 cells stimulated with FL induce the activated form of Rac (Rac-GTP) while MA9-ITD cells contain constitutively high levels of Rac-GTP, even after serum starvation and in the absence of all cytokines. Interestingly, we found that expression of the activated mutant NRas-G12D in MA9 cells (MA9-NRas cells) also leads to constitutive Rac activation, cytokine independent growth, and decreased leukemia latency upon transplantation into immunodeficient mice. Taken together, these results indicate that RAC activation may be a common integrating pathway by which secondary mutations cooperate in the progression towards leukemia. Consistent with this notion, both MA9-ITD and MA9-NRas cells remain sensitive to Rac inhibition with a small molecule Rac inhibitor or shRNA knockdown of Rac1 or Rac2. These data indicate that Rac signaling remains critical for MA9 survival and proliferation even in the context of additional mutations and highlights the therapeutic potential for targeting Rac.