Divergent Mechanisms of Oncogenic B Cell Receptor Signaling in Lymphoma

B cell receptor (BCR) signaling has emerged as a therapeutic target in B cell lymphomas, but the precise deployment of inhibitors to target oncogenic BCR signaling requires detailed knowledge of the signaling cascades that the BCR triggers in individual tumors. Here, we have used CRISPR-Cas9 screens to investigate whether the ABC and GCB molecular subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) utilize distinct BCR signaling modes to sustain their proliferation and survival. Constitutive germinal center (GC) BCR signaling in GCB DLBCLs requires the BCR, CD19 and SYK engaging PI(3) kinase for survival. In ABC DLBCLs with oncogenic mutations in the BCR and MYD88, a novel BCR-TLR9-MYD88 signaling supercomplex is assembled on endolysosomal membranes that engages NF-kB. Our data explain why this subset of ABC DLBCL tumors respond frequently to ibrutinib, an inhibitor of BCR-dependent NF- kB activation, while GCB DLBCLs are insensitive, and thus provide a roadmap for the rational development of BCR pathway inhibitors in molecular subtypes of DLBCL. Knockdown of TLR9 (C4) was tested in ABC DLBCL cell lines (HBL1 n=2 and TMD8 n=2) for 1 and 2 days. Knockdown of TLR9 (D7) was tested in ABC DLBCL cell lines (HBL1 n=2 and TMD8 n=2) for 1 and 2 days.