Palau Anna and Segerberg Filip and Lidschreiber Michael and Lidschreiber Katja and Naughton Aonghus J and Needhamsen Maria and Jung Lisa Anna and Jagodic Maja and Cramer Patrick and Lehmann Sören and Carlsten Mattias and Lennartsson Andreas
Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are found in 20\% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. However, only 30-40\% of the patients respond to IDH inhibitors (IDHi). We aimed to identify a molecular vulnerability to tailor novel therapies for AML patients with IDH mutations. We characterized the transcriptional and epigenetic landscape with the IDH2i AG-221, using an IDH2 mutated AML cell line model and AML patient cohorts, and discovered a perturbed transcriptional regulatory network involving myeloid transcription factors that were partly restored after AG-221 treatment. In addition, hypermethylation of the HLA cluster caused a down-regulation of HLA class I genes, triggering an enhanced natural killer (NK) cell activation and an increased susceptibility to NK cell-mediated responses. Finally, analyses of DNA methylation data from IDHi-treated patients showed that non-responders still harbored hypermethylation in HLA class I genes. In conclusion, this study provides new insights suggesting that IDH mutated AML is particularly sensitive to NK cell-based personalized immunotherapy.