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Development of targeted cancer therapy requires a thorough understanding of mechanisms of tumorigenesis as well as mechanisms of action of therapeutics. This is challenging because by the time patients are diagnosed with cancer,early events of tumorigenesis have already taken place. Similarly,development of cancer immunotherapies is hampered by a lack of appropriate small animal models with autologous human tumor and immune system. In this article,we report the development of a mouse model of human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with autologous immune system for studying early events of human leukemogenesis and testing the efficacy of immunotherapeutics. To develop such a model,human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) are transduced with lentiviruses expressing a mutated form of nucleophosmin (NPM1),referred to as NPM1c. Following engraftment into immunodeficient mice,transduced HSPCs give rise to human myeloid leukemia,whereas untransduced HSPCs give rise to human immune cells in the same mice. The de novo AML,with CD123+ leukemic stem or initiating cells (LSC),resembles NPM1c+ AML from patients. Transcriptional analysis of LSC and leukemic cells confirms similarity of the de novo leukemia generated in mice with patient leukemia and suggests Myc as a co-operating factor in NPM1c-driven leukemogenesis. We show that a bispecific conjugate that binds both CD3 and CD123 eliminates CD123+ LSCs in a T cell-dependent manner both in vivo and in vitro. These results demonstrate the utility of the NPM1c+ AML model with an autologous immune system for studying early events of human leukemogenesis and for evaluating efficacy and mechanism of immunotherapeutics. View Publication

Myeloid leukemia in Down syndrome (ML-DS) clonally evolves from transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM),a preleukemic condition in DS newborns. To define mechanisms of leukemic transformation,we combined exome and targeted resequencing of 111 TAM and 141 ML-DS samples with functional analyses. TAM requires trisomy 21 and truncating mutations in GATA1; additional TAM variants are usually not pathogenic. By contrast,in ML-DS,clonal and subclonal variants are functionally required. We identified a recurrent and oncogenic hotspot gain-of-function mutation in myeloid cytokine receptor CSF2RB. By a multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 screen in an in vivo murine TAM model,we tested loss-of-function of 22 recurrently mutated ML-DS genes. Loss of 18 different genes produced leukemias that phenotypically,genetically,and transcriptionally mirrored ML-DS. View Publication

TET enzymes are dioxygenases that promote DNA demethylation by oxidizing the methyl group of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). Here,we report a close correspondence between 5hmC-marked regions,chromatin accessibility and enhancer activity in B cells,and a strong enrichment for consensus binding motifs for basic region-leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors at TET-responsive genomic regions. Functionally,Tet2 and Tet3 regulate class switch recombination (CSR) in murine B cells by enhancing expression of Aicda,which encodes the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) enzyme essential for CSR. TET enzymes deposit 5hmC,facilitate DNA demethylation,and maintain chromatin accessibility at two TET-responsive enhancer elements,TetE1 and TetE2,located within a superenhancer in the Aicda locus. Our data identify the bZIP transcription factor,ATF-like (BATF) as a key transcription factor involved in TET-dependent Aicda expression. 5hmC is not deposited at TetE1 in activated Batf-deficient B cells,indicating that BATF facilitates TET recruitment to this Aicda enhancer. Our study emphasizes the importance of TET enzymes for bolstering AID expression and highlights 5hmC as an epigenetic mark that captures enhancer dynamics during cell activation. View Publication

Extracellular cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) exaggerates inflammation and tissue injury in sepsis. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are released by activated neutrophils during sepsis. NETs contribute to pathogen clearance,but excessive NET formation (NETosis) causes inflammation and tissue damage. Peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is associated with NETosis by increasing histone citrullination and chromatin decondensation. We hypothesized that CIRP induces NETosis in the lungs during sepsis via upregulating PAD4 expression. Sepsis was induced in C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and CIRP-/- mice by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). After 20 h of CLP induction,NETs in the lungs of WT and CIRP-/- mice were quantified by flow cytometry by staining the single cell suspensions with MPO and CitH3 Abs. PAD4 expression in the lungs of WT and CIRP-/- mice after sepsis was assessed by Western blotting. In vitro effects of recombinant mouse (rm) CIRP for NETosis and PAD4 expression in the bone marrow-derived neutrophils (BMDN) were assessed by flow cytometry and Western blotting,respectively. After 20 h of CLP,NETosis in the lungs was significantly decreased in CIRP-/- mice compared to WT mice,which also correlated with the decreased PAD4 expression. Intratracheal administration of rmCIRP into WT mice significantly increased NETosis and PAD4 expression in the lungs compared to vehicle-injected mice. In vitro culture of BMDN with rmCIRP significantly increased NETosis and PAD4 expression compared to PBS-treated control. Fluorescence microscopy revealed typical web-like structures consistent with NETs in rmCIRP-treated BMDN. Thus,CIRP serves as a novel inducer of NETosis via PAD4 during sepsis. View Publication

The subset of regulatory T (Treg) cells,with its specific transcription Foxp3,is a unique cell type for the maintenance of immune homeostasis by controlling effector T (Teff) cell responses. Although it is common that a defect in Treg cells with Treg/Teff disorder causes autoimmune diseases; however,the precise mechanisms are not thoroughly revealed. Here,we report that miR-34a could attenuate human and murine Foxp3 gene expression via targeting their 3' untranslated regions (3' UTR). The human miR-34a,increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4+ T cells from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients,displayed a positive correlation with some serum markers of inflammation including rheumatoid factor (RF),anti-streptolysin antibody (ASO),erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as Th17 signature gene RORgammat,but inversely correlated with the mRNA expression levels of FOXP3. In addition,murine miR-34a levels were downregulated in TGF-beta-induced Treg cells but upregulated in Th17 cells induced in vitro compared to activated CD4+ T cells. It has also been demonstrated that elevated miR-34a disrupting Treg/Th17 balance in vivo contributed to the progress of pathogenesis of collagen induced arthritis (CIA) mice. Furthermore,IL-6 and TNF-alpha were responsible for the upregulation of miR-34a and downregulation of Foxp3,which was reverted by the addition of NF-kappaB/p65 inhibitor BAY11-7082,thus indicating that NF-kappaB/p65 inhibited Foxp3 expression in an miR-34a-dependent manner. Finally,IL-6 or TNF-alpha-activated p65 could bind to the miR-34a promotor and enhance its activity,resulting in upregulation of its transcription. Taken together,we show that NF-kappaB activated by inflammatory cytokines,such as IL-6 and TNF-alpha,ameliorates Foxp3 levels via regulating miR-34a expression,which provides a new mechanistic and therapeutic insight into the ongoing of autoimmune diseases. View Publication

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) causes chronic inflammation of joints. The cytokines TNFalpha and IFNgamma are central players in RA,however their source has not been fully elucidated. Natural Killer (NK) cells are best known for their role in elimination of viral-infected and transformed cells,and they secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines. NK cells are present in the synovial fluids (SFs) of RA patients and are considered to be important in bone destruction. However,the phenotype and function of NK cells in the SFs of patients with erosive deformative RA (DRA) versus non-deformative RA (NDRA) is poorly characterized. Here we characterize the NK cell populations present in the blood and SFs of DRA and NDRA patients. We demonstrate that a distinct population of activated synovial fluid NK (sfNK) cells constitutes a large proportion of immune cells found in the SFs of DRA patients. We discovered that although sfNK cells in both DRA and NDRA patients have similar phenotypes,they function differently. The DRA sfNK secrete more TNFalpha and IFNgamma upon exposure to IL-2 and IL-15. Consequently,we suggest that sfNK cells may be a marker for more severely destructive RA disease. View Publication