c-MYC Generates Repair Errors via Increased Transcription of Alternative-NHEJ Factors, LIG3 and PARP1, in Tyrosine Kinase–Activated Leukemias

Nidal Muvarak, Shannon Kelley, Carine Robert, Maria R. Baer, Danilo Perrotti, Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini, Curt Civin, Kara Scheibner, Feyruz V. Rassool

Leukemias expressing the constitutively activated tyrosine kinases (TKs) BCR-ABL1 and FLT3/ITD activate signaling pathways that increase genomic instability through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and error-prone repair. The non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway is a major pathway for DSB repair and is highly aberrant in TK-activated leukemias; an alternative form of NHEJ (ALT-NHEJ) predominates, evidenced by increased expression of DNA ligase IIIalpha (LIG3) and poly (ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP1), increased frequency of large genomic deletions, and repair using DNA sequence microhomologies. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that the TK target c-MYC plays a role in transcriptional activation and subsequent expression of LIG3 and PARP1 and contributes to the increased error-prone repair observed in TK-activated leukemias. c-MYC negatively regulates microRNAs miR-150 and miR-22 which demonstrate an inverse correlation with LIG3 and PARP1 expression in primary and cultured leukemia cells and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) human patient samples. Notably, inhibition of c-MYC and overexpression of miR-150 and -22 decreases ALT-NHEJ activity. Thus, BCR-ABL1 or FLT3/ITD induces c-MYC expression leads to genomic instability via augmented expression of ALTNHEJ repair factors that generate repair errors. In the context of TK-activated leukemias c-MYC contributes to aberrant DNA repair through downstream targets LIG3 and PARP1, which represent viable and attractive therapeutic targets.