Open access
Increasing H3K9 Methylation Level Reduces the Proliferation of Leukemic Stem Cells
Barbara Walter
P. Zjablovskaja
Sara Montserrat-Vazquez
Eva Mejía-Ramírez
Laia Solé-Castilla
Javier Lozano-Bartolomé
M. Adamcová
M. Alberich-Jorda
Chang Sun
Qin Peng
M. Lübbert
Amanda Amoah
Liam Macphee
Melika Bakharzi
F. Kuchenbauer
A. Rouhi
Jasson Villarreal-Hernandez
Montserrat Arnan-Sangermán
M. C. Florian
Medicine
Abstract
Simple Summary Epigenetic alterations accumulate throughout life in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), leading to an increased risk of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Here, we investigated whether targeting the methylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9 methylation) affects HSPCs upon aging and leukemogenesis and might represent a possible target. Our data support the idea that low levels of H3K9 methylation in leukemic cells are required to maintain proliferative capacities in vitro. Increasing H3K9me2 reduces the leukemogenesis of both young and aged murine and patient-derived leukemic cells. Thus, H3K9me2 might be a potential and selective therapeutic target in AML patients.