KRAS and NKX2-1 Mutations in Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Lung
JOURNAL OF THORACIC ONCOLOGY
Authors: Hwang, David H.; Sholl, Lynette M.; Rojas-Rudilla, Vanesa; Hall, Dimity L.; Shivdasani, Priyanka; Garcia, Elizabeth R.; MacConaill, Laura E.; Vivero, Marina; Hornick, Jason L.; Kuo, Frank C.; Lindeman, Neal I.; Dong, Fei
Abstract
Introduction: Mucinous differentiation is observed in a subset of lung adenocarcinomas with unique clinical and pathological features, but the biology of these neoplasms is poorly understood. Methods: We apply targeted next-generation sequencing to characterize the mutational profiles of 21 invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas, mixed mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinomas, and adenocarcinomas with mucinous features of the lung and validate key findings on 954 additional lung adenocarcinomas from our institution and 514 lung adenocarcinomas from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Results: Sequencing identifies pathogenic mutations in the oncogenes Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS), phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2), and anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) and recurrent mutations in tumor protein p53 (TP53), serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11), NK2 homeobox 1 (NKX2-1), and SET domain containing 2 (SETD2). In the combined discovery and validation cohorts, we identify nine neoplasms with distinct molecular and pathological features. All are invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas or mixed mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinomas with mutations of KRAS and frameshift or nonsense mutations of NKX2-1. Immunohistochemical analysis shows that these neoplasms are associated with altered differentiation states, including loss of expression of the pulmonary marker thyroid transcription factor 1 (also called Nkx2.1) and expression of gastrointestinal markers. Conclusions: These findings describe recurrent NKX2-1 mutations in invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas of the lung and support NKX2-1 as a lineage-specific tumor suppressor gene in lung carcinogenesis. (C) 2016 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
SETD2-mediated crosstalk between H3K36me3 and H3K79me2 in MLL-rearranged leukemia
LEUKEMIA
Authors: Bu, J.; Chen, A.; Yan, X.; He, F.; Dong, Y.; Zhou, Y.; He, J.; Zhan, D.; Lin, P.; Hayashi, Y.; Sun, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Xiao, Z.; Grimes, H. L.; Wang, Q. F.; Huang, G.
Abstract
Previously, we identified SETD2 loss-of-function mutations in 22% of MLL-rearranged (MLLr) acute leukemia patients, implicating a mechanism for cooperativity between SETD2 mutations and MLL fusions. However, the detailed mechanism of how SETD2-H3K36me3 downregulation accelerates MLLr leukemia remains unclear. Here, we show that in MLLr leukemia, both H3K79me2 and H3K36me3 are aberrantly elevated and co-enriched in a group of genes. SETD2 inactivation leads to a global reduction of H3K36me3 and a further elevation of H3K79me2, but does not change the expression of known MLL fusion target genes. Instead, this pattern of histone changes is associated with transcriptional deregulation of a novel set of genes; downregulating tumor suppressors (for example, ASXL1) and upregulating oncogenes (for example, ERG). Taken together, our findings reveal a global crosstalk between the oncogenic DOT1L-H3K79me2 axis and the tumor suppressive SETD2-H3K36me3 axis in gene regulation, provide molecular insights into how SETD2 mutations accelerate MLLr leukemogenesis through differential regulation of additional tumor suppressors and oncogenes.