Mll partial tandem duplication and Flt3 internal tandem duplication in a double knock-in mouse recapitulates features of counterpart human acute myeloid leukemias

NA Zorko, KM Bernot, SP Whitman… - Blood, The Journal …, 2012 - ashpublications.org
NA Zorko, KM Bernot, SP Whitman, RF Siebenaler, EH Ahmed, GG Marcucci, DA Yanes
Blood, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology, 2012ashpublications.org
The MLL-partial tandem duplication (PTD) associates with high-risk cytogenetically normal
acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Concurrent presence of FLT3-internal tandem duplication
(ITD) is observed in 25% of patients with MLL-PTD AML. However, mice expressing either
Mll-PTD or Flt3-ITD do not develop AML, suggesting that 2 mutations are necessary for the
AML phenotype. Thus, we generated a mouse expressing both Mll-PTD and Flt3-ITD. Mll
PTD/WT: Flt3 ITD/WT mice developed acute leukemia with 100% penetrance, at a median of …
Abstract
The MLL-partial tandem duplication (PTD) associates with high-risk cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Concurrent presence of FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) is observed in 25% of patients with MLL-PTD AML. However, mice expressing either Mll-PTD or Flt3-ITD do not develop AML, suggesting that 2 mutations are necessary for the AML phenotype. Thus, we generated a mouse expressing both Mll-PTD and Flt3-ITD. MllPTD/WT:Flt3ITD/WT mice developed acute leukemia with 100% penetrance, at a median of 49 weeks. As in human MLL-PTD and/or the FLT3-ITD AML, mouse blasts exhibited normal cytogenetics, decreased Mll-WT-to-Mll-PTD ratio, loss of the Flt3-WT allele, and increased total Flt3. Highlighting the adverse impact of FLT3-ITD dosage on patient survival, mice with homozygous Flt3-ITD alleles, MllPTD/WT:Flt3ITD/ITD, demonstrated a nearly 30-week reduction in latency to overt AML. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, that Mll-PTD contributes to leukemogenesis as a gain-of-function mutation and describe a novel murine model closely recapitulating human AML.
ashpublications.org