1. Academic Validation
  2. Piribedil disrupts the MLL1-WDR5 interaction and sensitizes MLL-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to doxorubicin-induced apoptosis

Piribedil disrupts the MLL1-WDR5 interaction and sensitizes MLL-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to doxorubicin-induced apoptosis

  • Cancer Lett. 2018 Sep 1;431:150-160. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2018.05.034.
Xiong Zhang 1 Xingling Zheng 2 Hong Yang 3 Juan Yan 3 Xuhong Fu 3 Rongrui Wei 3 Xiaowei Xu 3 Zhuqing Zhang 3 Aisong Yu 3 Kaixin Zhou 3 Jian Ding 4 Meiyu Geng 5 Xun Huang 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China.
  • 2 Division of Anti-Tumor Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China; School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China.
  • 3 Division of Anti-Tumor Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China; Division of Anti-Tumor Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: jding@simm.ac.cn.
  • 5 Division of Anti-Tumor Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: mygeng@simm.ac.cn.
  • 6 Division of Anti-Tumor Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: xhuang@simm.ac.cn.
Abstract

Targeting WT MLL for the treatment of MLL-r leukemia, which is highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy, has been shown to be a promising strategy. However, drug treatments targeting WT MLL are lacking. We used an in vitro Histone Methyltransferase assay to screen a library consists of 592 FDA-approved drugs for MLL1 inhibitors by measuring alterations in HTRF signal and found that Piribedil represented a potent activity. Piribedil specifically inhibited the proliferation of MLL-r cells by inducing cell-cycle arrest, Apoptosis and myeloid differentiation with little toxicity to the non-MLL cells. Mechanism study showed Piribedil blocked the MLL1-WDR5 interaction and thus selectively reduced MLL1-dependent H3K4 methylation. Importantly, MLL1 depletion induced gene expression that was similar to that induced by Piribedil and rendered the MLL-r cells resistant to Piribedil-induced toxicity, revealing Piribedil exerted anti-leukemia effects by targeting MLL1. Furthermore, both the Piribedil treatment and MLL1 depletion sensitized the MLL-r cells to doxorubicin-induced Apoptosis. Our study support the hypothesis that Piribedil could serve as a new drug for the treatment of MLL-r AML and provide new insight for further optimization of targeting MLL1 HMT activity.

Keywords

Apoptosis; Cell cycle; H3K4 methylation; MLL leukemia; Piribedil.

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