Silencing of ETV6/RUNX1 abrogates PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and impairs reconstitution of leukemia in xenografts

The ETV6/RUNX1 (E/R) gene fusion is generated by the t(12;21) and found in approximately 25% of childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In contrast to the overwhelming evidence that E/R is critical for the initiation of leukemia, its relevance for the maintenance of overt disease is less clear. To investigate this issue, we suppressed the endogenous E/R fusion protein with lentivirally transduced short hairpin RNA in the leukemia cell lines REH and AT-2, and found a distinct reduction of proliferation and cell survival. In line with the observed concurrent inactivation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, pharmacological inhibition diminished the phosphorylation of AKT and ribosomal protein S6, and significantly increased the apoptosis rate in E/R-positive leukemias. Moreover, PI3K/mTOR inhibitors sensitized glucocorticoid-resistant REH cells to prednisolone, an observation of potential relevance for improving treatment of drug-resistant relapses. Of note, knockdown of the E/R fusion gene also severely impaired the repopulation capacity of REH cells in non-obese deficient/severe combined immunodeficient mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the E/R fusion protein activates the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and is indispensible for disease maintenance. Importantly, these results provide a first rationale and justification for targeting the fusion gene and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway therapeutically.