, , and are the most frequently mutated splicing factor genes in the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We have performed a comprehensive and systematic analysis to determine the effect of these commonly mutated splicing factors on pre-mRNA splicing in the bone marrow stem/progenitor cells and in the erythroid and myeloid precursors in splicing factor mutant MDS. Using RNA-seq, we determined the aberrantly spliced genes and dysregulated pathways in CD34 cells of 84 patients with MDS. Splicing factor mutations result in different alterations in splicing and largely affect different genes, but these converge in common dysregulated pathways and cellular processes, focused on RNA splicing, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial dysfunction, suggesting common mechanisms of action in MDS. Many of these dysregulated pathways and cellular processes can be linked to the known disease pathophysiology associated with splicing factor mutations in MDS, whereas several others have not been previously associated with MDS, such as sirtuin signaling. We identified aberrantly spliced events associated with clinical variables, and isoforms that independently predict survival in MDS and implicate dysregulation of focal adhesion and extracellular exosomes as drivers of poor survival. Aberrantly spliced genes and dysregulated pathways were identified in the MDS-affected lineages in splicing factor mutant MDS. Functional studies demonstrated that knockdown of the mitosis regulators and aberrantly spliced target genes of and mutations, respectively, led to impaired erythroid cell growth and differentiation. This study illuminates the effect of the common spliceosome mutations on the MDS phenotype and provides novel insights into disease pathophysiology.

Cancer is a genetic disease, but two patients rarely have identical genotypes. Similarly, patients differ in their clinicopathological parameters, but how genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity are interconnected is not well understood. Here we build statistical models to disentangle the effect of 12 recurrently mutated genes and 4 cytogenetic alterations on gene expression, diagnostic clinical variables and outcome in 124 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Overall, one or more genetic lesions correlate with expression levels of ~20% of all genes, explaining 20–65% of observed expression variability. Differential expression patterns vary between mutations and reflect the underlying biology, such as aberrant polycomb repression for ASXL1 and EZH2 mutations or perturbed gene dosage for copy-number changes. In predicting survival, genomic, transcriptomic and diagnostic clinical variables all have utility, with the largest contribution from the transcriptome. Similar observations are made on the TCGA acute myeloid leukaemia cohort, confirming the general trends reported here.

The splicing factor SF3B1 is the most commonly mutated gene in the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), particularly in patients with refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS). We investigated the functional effects of SF3B1 disruption in myeloid cell lines: SF3B1 knockdown resulted in growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest and impaired erythroid differentiation and deregulation of many genes and pathways, including cell cycle regulation and RNA processing. MDS is a disorder of the hematopoietic stem cell and we thus studied the transcriptome of CD34+ cells from MDS patients with SF3B1 mutations using RNA sequencing. Genes significantly differentially expressed at the transcript and/or exon level in SF3B1 mutant compared with wild-type cases include genes that are involved in MDS pathogenesis (ASXL1 and CBL), iron homeostasis and mitochondrial metabolism (ALAS2, ABCB7 and SLC25A37) and RNA splicing/processing (PRPF8 and HNRNPD). Many genes regulated by a DNA damage-induced BRCA1–BCLAF1–SF3B1 protein complex showed differential expression/splicing in SF3B1 mutant cases. This is the first study to determine the target genes of SF3B1 mutation in MDS CD34+ cells. Our data indicate that SF3B1 has a critical role in MDS by affecting the expression and splicing of genes involved in specific cellular processes/pathways, many of which are relevant to the known RARS pathophysiology, suggesting a causal link.

A fully functional central and peripheral circadian clock is not essential for reproduction and development to term, but has critical roles peri-natally and post-partum.