Abstract 2481: Time-resolved transcriptome analysis of murine TH-MYCN driven neuroblastoma identifies MEIS2 as early initiating factor and novel core gene regulatory circuitry constituent
Authors: Durinck Kaat , Zimmerman Mark , Weichert-Leahey Nina , Dewyn Jolien , Van Loocke Wouter , Nunes Carolina , Beckers Anneleen , Decaesteker Bieke , Volders Pieter-Jan , Van Neste Christophe , Cheung Belamy , Carter Daniel , Look Thomas A. , Marshall Glenn , De Preter Katleen , Durbin Adam , Speleman Franki 
Published: July 2021

Introduction: Neuroblastoma (NB) is a pediatric malignancy arising from peripheral neuronal sympathoblasts and exhibiting remarkable clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Patients older than 18 months have a poor prognosis with tumors presenting with highly recurrent segmental copy number alterations and MYCN amplification in half of these high-risk cases. The mechanism by which MYCN contributes to the development of neuroblastoma is unresolved and direct targeting of this key oncogene is not currently possible.

Experimental Procedures: Our discovery efforts focused on identifying cooperating interactors and vulnerabilities in the MYCN regulatory network. MYCN-driven NBs can be modeled in mice with morphologic and genomic features that recapitulate human MYCN amplified NBs. Thus, this model serves as a valid tool for cross-species genomic analysis. Using this model, we performed a time-resolved analysis of the dynamic transcriptional changes of protein coding genes during murine TH-MYCN driven neuroblastoma development, focusing on timepoints representing tumor initiation and early tumor growth. We triangulated expression changes of key genes with publicly available exome-wide CRISPR-cas9 knockout analyses on a panel of human neuroblastoma cell lines and patient survival data. This unique data resource uncovered the relevance of MEIS2 as putative early cooperating initiating factor for neuroblastoma. Analysis of the genome-wide binding profile of MEIS2 in MYCN-amplified NB cell lines showed a striking overlap with enhancer-driven gene expression in regions of open chromatin, providing evidence that MEIS2 is a novel member of the adrenergic neuroblastoma core-regulatory circuitry. CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletion of MEIS2 in animal models suppresses establishment of neuroblastoma tumors, indicating its putative requirement for tumor initiation. MEIS2, as a member of the CRC binds to several master regulators of gene expression, including the FOXM1 locus.

Summary and conclusion: In conclusion, we present an in-depth characterization of the dynamic transcriptome profiles of TH-MYCN driven murine premalignant and established tumors and integrate with both primary human neuroblastoma tumor expression data, epigenetic and functional genomics data to identify and validate candidate cooperating dependencies suitable for targeting as a precision medicine approach in neuroblastoma.

Citation Format: Kaat Durinck, Mark Zimmerman, Nina Weichert-Leahey, Jolien Dewyn, Wouter Van Loocke, Carolina Nunes, Anneleen Beckers, Bieke Decaesteker, Pieter-Jan Volders, Christophe Van Neste, Belamy Cheung, Daniel Carter, Thomas A. Look, Glenn Marshall, Katleen De Preter, Adam Durbin, Franki Speleman. Time-resolved transcriptome analysis of murine TH-MYCN driven neuroblastoma identifies MEIS2 as early initiating factor and novel core gene regulatory circuitry constituent [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 2481.