ELK1 is a novel prognostic and therapeutic target for AML which controls the maturation of neutrophils

It is encouraging to identify new target genes that can promote the differentiation and maturation of undifferentiated leukemia cells for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this study, we discovered that ELK1 is highly expressed in AML, and its expression negatively correlates with the survival of AML patients. Subsequently, we utilized Elk1 and KrasG12D conditional expression mouse models to investigate how upregulating Elk1 contributes to the progression of myeloid leukemia induced by the KrasG12D mutation through various mechanisms. To further understand the role of Elk1 in regulating hematopoiesis, we conducted both single-cell RNA sequencing and bulk-cell RNA sequencing. Overall design: To dissect the mechanism of Elk1 regulating hematopoiesis, CD3/CD19/NK1.1/Ter119- CD11b+ and CD3/CD19/NK1.1/Ter119-C-kit+ cells derived from Mx1-Elk1 and littermate control mice are sorted and mixed together at the ratio 1:2 for single cell RNA sequencing. The populations of Lin-Kit+Sca1+( LSK), common myeloid progenitors (CMP), granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMP), megakarocyte-erythrocyte progenitors ( MEP), Immature neutrophils and mature neutrophils derived from Mx1-Elk1 and littermate control mice are sorted for bulk-cell RNA sequencing.