1. Academic Validation
  2. Structural basis of DUX4/IGH-driven transactivation

Structural basis of DUX4/IGH-driven transactivation

  • Leukemia. 2018 Jun;32(6):1466-1476. doi: 10.1038/s41375-018-0093-1.
Xue Dong 1 2 Weina Zhang 1 2 Haiyan Wu 1 2 Jinyan Huang 1 2 Ming Zhang 1 2 Pengran Wang 1 2 Hao Zhang 1 2 Zhu Chen 1 2 Sai-Juan Chen 3 4 Guoyu Meng 5 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Shanghai Institute of Hematology, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 197 Ruijin Er Road, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 800 Dong Chuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Shanghai Institute of Hematology, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 197 Ruijin Er Road, Shanghai, 200025, China. sjchen@stn.sh.cn.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 800 Dong Chuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China. sjchen@stn.sh.cn.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Shanghai Institute of Hematology, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 197 Ruijin Er Road, Shanghai, 200025, China. guoyumeng@shsmu.edu.cn.
  • 6 Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 800 Dong Chuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China. guoyumeng@shsmu.edu.cn.
Abstract

Oncogenic fusions are major drivers in leukemogenesis and may serve as potent targets for treatment. DUX4/IGHs have been shown to trigger the abnormal expression of ERGalt through binding to DUX4-Responsive-Element (DRE), which leads to B-cell differentiation arrest and a full-fledged B-ALL. Here, we determined the crystal structures of Apo- and DNADRE-bound DUX4HD2 and revealed a clamp-like transactivation mechanism via the double homeobox domain. Biophysical characterization showed that mutations in the interacting interfaces significantly impaired the DNA binding affinity of DUX4 homeobox. These mutations, when introduced into DUX4/IGH, abrogated its transactivation activity in Reh cells. More importantly, the structure-based mutants significantly impaired the inhibitory effects of DUX4/IGH upon B-cell differentiation in mouse progenitor cells. All these results help to define a key DUX4/IGH-DRE recognition/step in B-ALL.

Figures