The polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is a highly conserved histone H3 lysine 27 methyltransferase that regulates the expression of developmental genes. Inactivating mutations of the catalytic component of PRC2, EZH2, are seen in myeloid disorders. We reasoned that the other 2 core PRC2 components, SUZ12 and EED, may also be mutational targets in these diseases, as well as associated factors such as JARID2. SUZ12 mutations were identified in 1 of 2 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative neoplasms with 17q acquired uniparental disomy and in 2 of 2 myelofibrosis cases with focal 17q11 deletions. All 3 were missense mutations affecting the highly conserved VEFS domain. Analysis of a further 146 myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative neoplasm patients revealed an additional VEFS domain mutant, yielding a total mutation frequency of 1.4% (2 of 148). We did not find mutations of JARID2 or EED in association with acquired uniparental disomy for chromosome 6p or 11q, respectively; however, screening unselected cases identified missense mutations in EED (1 of 148; 1%) and JARID2 (3 of 148; 2%). All 3 SUZ12 mutations tested and the EED mutation reduced PRC2 histone methyltransferase activity in vitro, demonstrating that PRC2 function may be compromised in myeloid disorders by mutation of distinct genes. (Blood. 2012;119(5): 1208-1213)
IntroductionSingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays have revealed regions of acquired uniparental disomy (aUPD) as recurrent events in hematologic malignancies. 1 Some of these regions are associated with the acquisition of somatic mutations in specific genes, but the presumptive targets of many stretches of aUPD remain to be identified. [2][3][4][5] We and others recently identified EZH2 as a target for the 7q aUPD in myeloid malignancies, specifically myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), and overlapping MDS/MPN. 5,6 EZH2 mutations in this heterogeneous group of diseases are associated with a poor prognosis and appear to be early events in the disease process, at least in some cases. 5,[7][8][9] EZH2 is a key component of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which regulates the expression pattern of developmental genes in both hemopoietic and nonhemopoietic systems. PRC2 is a histone methyltransferase (HMT) that trimethylates histone H3 lysine 27, resulting in a mark (H3K27me3) that specifies transcriptional repression. PRC2 consists of 3 core subunits, of which SUZ12 and EED are required for complete function and stability of the complex, whereas EZH2 is the catalytic component (reviewed in Bracken and Helin 10 ). Other proteins, such RBBP4/7 and Jarid2, are generally considered to be cofactors that help to recruit and modulate the activity of PRC2. [11][12][13][14] PRC2 is known to play important, and sometimes apparently contradictory, roles in both stem-cell renewal and cancer. EZH2 is overexpressed in several epithelial and hematologic malignancies, and its overexpression is associated with an adverse prognosis in prosta...