SUMMARY Cyclin D-dependent kinases (CDK4 and CDK6) are positive regulators of cell cycle entry, and they are overactive in the majority of human cancers. However, it is currently not completely understood by which cellular mechanisms CDK4/6 promote tumorigenesis, largely due to the limited number of identified substrates. Here we performed a systematic screen for substrates of cyclin D1-CDK4 and cyclin D3-CDK6. We identified the Forkhead Box M1 (FOXM1) transcription factor as a common critical phosphorylation target. CDK4/6 stabilize and activate FOXM1, thereby maintain expression of G1/S phase genes, suppress the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and protect cancer cells from senescence. Melanoma cells, unlike melanocytes, are highly reliant on CDK4/6-mediated senescence suppression, which makes them particularly susceptible to CDK4/6 inhibition.

Dot1 is an evolutionarily conserved histone methyltransferase specific for lysine 79 of histone H3 (H3K79). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Dot1-mediated H3K79 methylation is associated with telomere silencing, meiotic checkpoint control, and DNA damage response. The biological function of H3K79 methylation in mammals, however, remains poorly understood. Using gene targeting, we generated mice deficient for Dot1L, the murine Dot1 homologue. Dot1L-deficient embryos show multiple developmental abnormalities, including growth impairment, angiogenesis defects in the yolk sac, and cardiac dilation, and die between 9.5 and 10.5 days post coitum. To gain insights into the cellular function of Dot1L, we derived embryonic stem (ES) cells from Dot1L mutant blastocysts. Dot1L-deficient ES cells show global loss of H3K79 methylation as well as reduced levels of heterochromatic marks (H3K9 di-methylation and H4K20 tri-methylation) at centromeres and telomeres. These changes are accompanied by aneuploidy, telomere elongation, and proliferation defects. Taken together, these results indicate that Dot1L and H3K79 methylation play important roles in heterochromatin formation and in embryonic development.

Defects in epigenetic regulation play a fundamental role in the development of cancer, and epigenetic regulators have recently emerged as promising therapeutic candidates. We therefore set out to systematically interrogate epigenetic cancer dependencies by screening an epigenome-focused deep-coverage design shRNA (DECODER) library across 58 cancer cell lines. This screen identified BRM/SMARCA2, a DNA-dependent ATPase of the mammalian SWI/ SNF (mSWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complex, as being essential for the growth of tumor cells that harbor loss of function mutations in BRG1/SMARCA4. Depletion of BRM in BRG1-deficient cancer cells leads to a cell cycle arrest, induction of senescence, and increased levels of global H3K9me3. We further demonstrate the selective dependency of BRG1-mutant tumors on BRM in vivo. Genetic alterations of the mSWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes are the most frequent among chromatin regulators in cancers, with BRG1/SMARCA4 mutations occurring in ∼10-15% of lung adenocarcinomas. Our findings position BRM as an attractive therapeutic target for BRG1 mutated cancers. Because BRG1 and BRM function as mutually exclusive catalytic subunits of the mSWI/SNF complex, we propose that such synthetic lethality may be explained by paralog insufficiency, in which loss of one family member unveils critical dependence on paralogous subunits. This concept of "cancerselective paralog dependency" may provide a more general strategy for targeting other tumor suppressor lesions/complexes with paralogous subunits.

Previous gas-phase methods for infrared photodissociation spectroscopy (IRPD) require sample volatility. Our method instead uses electrospray ionization to introduce even large nonvolatile molecules into a Fourier transform mass spectrometer, where extended (>15 s) ion storage makes possible high sensitivity spectral measurements with an OPO laser over a range of 3050-3800 cm(-1). The spectra of 22 gaseous proton-bound amino acid complexes are generally correlated with the H-stretching frequencies established for O-H and N-H functional groups in solution. For theoretical structure predictions of the Gly2H+ and N-acylated Asp2H+ dimers, IRPD spectra clearly differentiate between the predicted lowest energy conformers. In contrast to solution, in the gas phase the glycine zwitterion is approximately 20 kcal/mol less stable than the neutral; however, glycine is clearly zwitterionic in the gaseous GlyLysH+ dimer. The level of theory is inadequate for the larger Lys2H+ dimer, as all low energy predicted structures have free carboxyl O-H groups, in contrast to the IR spectrum. IRPD appears to be a promising new technique for providing unique information on a broad range of biomolecular and other gaseous ions, especially on noncovalent bonding involving O-H and N-H groups.