Role Of Insulin Like Growth Factor mRNA Binding Protein-3 (IGF2BP3) In Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) Positive B-Cell Lymphomas

Oncogenic transformation of early B-cell progenitors leads to the human disease of B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia or B-ALL, which affects both children and adults. Among the different subtypes of B-ALL, defined by particular cytogenetic anomalies, there are two which are difficult to treat and have a dismal prognosis. These are B-ALL with chromosomal translocation t (9; 22)/BCR-ABL and MLL gene rearrangements, which show distinctive gene expression profiles.

Gene expression is now known to be significantly regulated by post-transcriptional mechanisms. These involve RNA binding proteins and microRNAs. Deregulation of microRNAs as well as RNA binding protein expression is associated with numerous cancers. Here, we hypothesized that RNA binding proteins may be important in regulating gene expression in MLL rearranged leukemias.

To examine this hypothesis, we undertook a microarray study examining the expression of both protein-coding and non-coding genes in B-ALL, including MLL translocations. A total of 44 samples were used for the microarray. Supervised class prediction was carried out using the R library of prediction analysis for microarrays (PAM). One of the most significantly differentially expressed genes was Insulin Like Growth Factor mRNA Binding Protein-3 (IGF2BP3). The expression of IGF2BP3 was highest in the MLL rearranged B-ALL group. IGF2BP3 is an oncofetal protein known to be highly expressed in a number of epithelial malignancies such as glioblastomas. IGF2BP3 has been known to bind to the 5’-UTR and stabilize mRNAs like CD44 the expression of which correlates with epithelial tumors metastasis. IGF2BP3 has been shown to bind to the Insulin like Growth Factor-2 (IGF-2) mRNA and enhance translation in glioblastomas.

We confirmed the expression of IGF2BP3 and CD44 in these 44 tumor samples and 90 other B-cell lymphoma samples by RT-qPCR. This corroborated with our previous data showing that the expression of both these genes is significantly higher in the group with MLL translocations. In the MLL rearranged leukemias, there was a significant correlation between the expression of CD44 and IGF2BP3. Interestingly however, there was no significant difference in the expression of IGF2 mRNA between these different subsets, indicating either that IGF2BP3 might be acting on IGF-2 mRNA at the translational level or that IGF-2 regulation may be cell-type specific.

To evaluate whether IGF2BP3 affects the growth of B-ALL cells, we used NALM6, a B-ALL cell line which expresses IGF2BP3. We generated microRNA-155 formatted siRNAs against human IGF2BP3 and subcloned them into pHAGE6 based lentiviral vectors. Our preliminary data demonstrates that these vectors are capable of knocking down IGF2BP3 in the NALM6 cell line. In addition, cells with knockdown showed a dramatic decrease in their growth rates, as measured by the MTS assay.

The IGF-2 paracrine signaling system is thought to be important in the maintenance of HSCs as well as in lymphocyte development. We separated different precursors of B-cells (Hardy fractions) from murine bone marrow using FACS and measured the mRNA expression of CD44 and IGF2BP3 in these different subsets. The expression of both these genes correlated well with each other and showed a dynamic expression pattern with the highest expression seen in the Hardy Fraction C (late pro-B cells). This indicates that the IGF2BP3/CD44 axis might play a role in regulating normal B-cell development and this may be dysregulated in MLL-translocated B-ALL.

To examine whether IGF2BP3 overexpression causes leukemia, we cloned the murine and human IGF2BP3 coding regions in a murine retroviral expression vector, MIG (MSCV-IGF2BP3-IRES-GFP). Retroviral packaging was done using 293T cell line, virus was collected and used to infect 7Oz/3, a murine pre-B ALL cell line. Western blot and qPCR confirmed overexpression of IGF2BP3. We have infected bone marrow cells from CD 45.2 positive wild type donor mice with the virus and transferred them into irradiated CD 45.1 recipient mice. We have confirmed engraftment in these mice using flowcytometry for CD 45.1/2 and are presently following the mice for the development of leukemia.

In summary, IGF2BP3 is dysregulated in MLL-rearranged leukemia, and its knockdown can cause decreased growth rates in B-ALL cell lines. The current study explores whether IGF2BP3 is oncogenic and the mechanisms of action of IGF2BP3 in B-cell development and neoplasia.