Abstract 5588: Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 2 is involved in the control of inflammatory processes in acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract A direct link between chronic inflammation and development of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) has been highlighted in the past few years, demonstrating an interconnection between marked inflammatory phenotype and aberrant myeloproliferation in AML patients. Treating AML patients exhibiting a higher inflammatory signature with anti-inflammatory molecules resulted in significant increase of overall survival. Protein Arginine Methyltransferases (PRMTs) are epigenetic factors known to regulate gene expression through methylation of histone tails. It has been previously reported that PRMT1, 4, and 5 inhibition exhibit anti-proliferative effects on AML models. In this study, we investigated the role of another PRMT, called PRMT2, in the development of AML through its regulatory roles in inflammatory pathways. We first determined from an AML cohort (The Leucegene project, IRIC, Montréal, QC, Canada) that patients with a low PRMT2 expression display an enrichment of proinflammatory pathways compared to patients with a high PRMT2 expression. Therefore, we hypothesized that PRMT2 could be a key regulator of inflammatory processes in AML. We thus used a PRMT2 knockout mouse model (Prmt2 KO) and a PRMT2 knockout human AML cell line to validate our hypothesis. Although we demonstrated no difference in the bone marrow progenitors or mature cell populations of Prmt2 KO mice compared to control, we observed that Prmt2 KO Bone-Marrow Derived Macrophages (BMDMs) are more sensitive to LPS stimulation and express higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, supporting our previous findings for a role of PRMT2 in the negative regulation of inflammatory processes. PRMT2 depleted human AML cells displayed an increased pro-inflammatory signature due to overactivation of STAT3, which is caused by an enhanced activation of the NFkB signaling pathway, leading to an overproduction of IL6. Together, these findings demonstrate that PRMT2 is a key regulator of the control of inflammation in AML. Recognition of PRMT2 as a biomarker of inflammation in AML would help to adapt treatment possibly through the synergistic use of anti-inflammatory molecules with other cytotoxic drugs. Citation Format: Camille Sauter, Thomas Morin, Fabien Guidez, John Simonet, Cyril Fournier, Céline Row, Denis Masnikov, Baptiste Pernon, Anne Largeot, Aziza Aznague, Yann Herault, Guy Sauvageau, Marc Maynadie, Mary Callanan, Jean-Noël Bastie, Romain Aucagne, Laurent Levadny Delva. Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 2 is involved in the control of inflammatory processes in acute myeloid leukemia [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 5588.