A unique role of p53 haploinsufficiency or loss in the development of acute myeloid leukemia with FLT3-ITD mutation

Abstract With an incidence of ~50%, the absence or reduced protein level of p53 is much more common than TP53 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). AML with FLT3 -ITD (internal tandem duplication) mutations has an unfavorable prognosis and is highly associated with wt-p53 dysfunction. While TP53 mutation in the presence of FLT3-ITD does not induce AML in mice, it is not clear whether p53 haploinsufficiency or loss cooperates with FLT3 -ITD in the induction of AML. Here, we generated FLT3 -ITD knock-in; p53 knockout (heterozygous and homozygous) double-transgenic mice and found that both alterations strongly cooperated in the induction of cytogenetically normal AML without increasing the self-renewal potential. At the molecular level, we found the strong upregulation of Htra3 and the downregulation of Lin28a , leading to enhanced proliferation and the inhibition of apoptosis and differentiation. The co-occurrence of Htra3 overexpression and Lin28a knockdown, in the presence of FLT3-ITD, induced AML with similar morphology as leukemic cells from double-transgenic mice. These leukemic cells were highly sensitive to the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib. Carfilzomib strongly enhanced the activity of targeting AXL (upstream of FLT3 ) against murine and human leukemic cells. Our results unravel a unique role of p53 haploinsufficiency or loss in the development of FLT3 -ITD + AML.