Enhancer heterogeneity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia drives differential gene expression in patients.

Smith AL., Denny N., Chahrour C., Sharp K., Arachi M., Dopico-Fernandez AM., Elliott N., Harman JR., Jackson T., Geng H., Smith O., Bond J., Roberts I., Stam RW., Crump NT., Davies JOJ., Roy A., Milne TA.

Genetic alterations alone cannot account for the diverse phenotypes of cancer cells. Even cancers with the same driver mutation show significant transcriptional heterogeneity and varied responses to therapy. However, the mechanisms underpinning this heterogeneity remain underexplored. Here, we find that novel enhancer usage is a common feature in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In particular, KMT2A::AFF1 ALL, an aggressive leukemia with a poor prognosis and a low mutational burden, exhibits substantial transcriptional heterogeneity between individuals. Using single-cell multiome analysis and extensive chromatin profiling, we reveal that much transcriptional heterogeneity in KMT2A::AFF1 ALL is driven by novel enhancer usage. By generating high-resolution Micro Capture-C data in primary patient samples, we identify patient-specific enhancer activity at key oncogenes such as MEIS1 and RUNX2, driving high levels of expression of both oncogenes in a patient-specific manner. Overall, our data show that enhancer heterogeneity is highly prevalent in KMT2A::AFF1 ALL and may be a mechanism that drives transcriptional heterogeneity in cancer more generally.

DOI

10.1182/blood.2024028019

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2025-10-23T00:00:00+00:00

Volume

146

Pages

2073 - 2087

Total pages

14

Keywords

Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Genetic Heterogeneity, Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma, Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion, Myeloid Ecotropic Viral Integration Site 1 Protein, Core Binding Factor Alpha 1 Subunit, DNA-Binding Proteins, Transcriptional Elongation Factors, Whole Genome Sequencing, Gene Expression Profiling, Humans, Male, Female, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Child, Preschool, Child, Adolescent

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