Impact of U2AF1 mutations on circular RNA expression in myelodysplastic neoplasms

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Mutations in U2AF1 are relatively common in myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS) and are associated with an inferior prognosis, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this are not fully elucidated. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been implicated in cancer, but it is unknown how mutations in splicing factors may impact on circRNA biogenesis. Here, we used RNA-sequencing to investigate the effects of U2AF1 mutations on circRNA expression in K562 cells with a doxycycline-inducible U2AF1S34 mutation, in a mouse model with a doxycycline-inducible U2AF1S34 mutation, and in FACS-sorted CD34+ bone marrow cells from MDS patients with either U2AF1S34 or U2AF1Q157 mutations. In all contexts, we found an increase in global circRNA levels in the U2AF1-mutated setting, which was independent of expression changes in the cognate linear host genes. In patients, the U2AF1S34 and U2AF1Q157 mutations were both associated with an overall increased expression of circRNAs. circRNAs generated by a non-Alu-mediated mechanism generally showed the largest increase in expression levels. Several well-described cancer-associated circRNAs, including circZNF609 and circCSNK1G3, were upregulated in MDS patients with U2AF1 mutations compared to U2AF1-wildtype MDS controls. In conclusion, high circRNA expression is observed in association with U2AF1 mutations in three biological systems, presenting an interesting possibility for biomarker and therapeutic investigation.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftLeukemia
Vol/bind37
Sider (fra-til)1113-1125
ISSN0887-6924
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The study was supported by a grant to LSK from the Lundbeck Foundation (R307-2018-3433), a center grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, DanStem; grant NNF17CC0027852) and the Greater Copenhagen Health Science Partners (Clinical Academic Group in Translational Hematology). The project is part of the Danish Research Center for Precision Medicine in Blood Cancers funded by Danish Cancer Society grant R223-A13071. EW received additional funding from Rigshospitalets Forskningsfond and the University of Copenhagen. M.J. Walter received the Siteman Investment Program (5124) from Washington University, a Developmental Research Program (DRP-1901) of the SPORE in Leukemia (NIH/NCI, P50CA171963), Edward P. Evans Foundation, and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (7024-21). Bioinformatics were carried out with the assistance of Omiics (Aarhus, Denmark).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

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