Integrated Metabolic and Epigenomic Reprograming by H3K27M Mutations in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas

• Published in: Cancer cell Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 334 - 349.e9
• Main Authors: Chung, Chan, Sweha, Stefan R., Pratt, Drew, Tamrazi, Benita, Panwalkar, Pooja, Banda, Adam, Bayliss, Jill, Hawes, Debra, Yang, Fusheng, Lee, Ho-Joon, Shan, Mengrou, Cieslik, Marcin, Qin, Tingting, Werner, Christian K., Wahl, Daniel R., Lyssiotis, Costas A., Bian, Zhiguo, Shotwell, J. Brad, Yadav, Viveka Nand, Koschmann, Carl, Chinnaiyan, Arul M., Blüml, Stefan, Judkins, Alexander R., Venneti, Sriram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 14-09-2020
• Subjects: Animals; Brain Stem Neoplasms - genetics; Brain Stem Neoplasms - metabolism; Cell Line, Tumor; D-2HG; Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma - genetics; Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma - metabolism; DIPG; epigenetics; Epigenomics - methods; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; glutaminolysis; Glycolysis; H3K27me3; histone methylation; histone mutation; Histones - genetics; Histones - metabolism; Humans; IDH mutation; Lysine - genetics; Lysine - metabolism; metabolism; Methylation; Mice, Inbred NOD; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Nude; Mice, SCID; Mutation; Transplantation, Heterologous; α-KG; histone methylation; α-KG; glycolysis; histone mutation; IDH mutation; metabolism; D-2HG; DIPG; epigenetics; H3K27me3; glutaminolysis
• ISSN: 1535-6108; 1878-3686; 1878-3686
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2020.07.008

H3K27M diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are fatal and lack treatments. They mainly harbor H3.3K27M mutations resulting in H3K27me3 reduction. Integrated analysis in H3.3K27M cells, tumors, and in vivo imaging in patients showed enhanced glycolysis, glutaminolysis, and tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism with high alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) production. Glucose and/or glutamine-derived α-KG maintained low H3K27me3 in H3.3K27M cells, and inhibition of key enzymes in glycolysis or glutaminolysis increased H3K27me3, altered chromatin accessibility, and prolonged survival in animal models. Previous studies have shown that mutant isocitrate-dehydrogenase (mIDH)1/2 glioma cells convert α-KG to D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) to increase H3K27me3. Here, we show that H3K27M and IDH1 mutations are mutually exclusive and experimentally synthetic lethal. Overall, we demonstrate that H3.3K27M and mIDH1 hijack a conserved and critical metabolic pathway in opposing ways to maintain their preferred epigenetic state. Consequently, interruption of this metabolic/epigenetic pathway showed potent efficacy in preclinical models, suggesting key therapeutic targets for much needed treatments.
[Display omitted]
•H3.3K27M mutations enhance glucose, glutamine, and TCA cycle metabolism•TCA cycle intermediate α-KG enables maintenance of H3K27 hypomethylation•Targeting enzymes related to α-KG synthesis including WT-IDH1 and/or GDH is therapeutic•H3.3K27M and mutant-IDH1 in gliomas are mutually exclusive and are synthetic lethal
Chung et al. show that H3.3K27M mutation in DIPGs enhances glycolysis and TCA cycle metabolism to produce α-KG that is required to maintain a preferred epigenetic state of low H3K27me3. Inhibiting enzymes related to α-KG production increases H3K27me3 and results in anti-tumor activity in mouse models of DIPG.