MMSET I acts as an oncoprotein and regulates GLO1 expression in t(4;14) multiple myeloma cells

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by recurrent chromosomal translocations. The translocation t(4;14)(p16;q32) is one of the most common translocation in MMs, affecting 15% of patients, and is associated with very poor prognosis. The histone methyltransferase (HMTase) MMSET is universally overexpressed in t(4;14) MM as a result of the t(4;14) translocation. MMSET is capable of producing 3 major isoforms, the full length MMSET II, short isoforms REIIBP and MMSET I. MMSET II has been suggested to play an important tumorigenic role in t(4;14) MM, but little is yet known about whether and how the MMSET short isoforms contribute to MM tumorigenesis. The aim of this study is to characterize MMSET I roles and determine its downstream targets in t(4;14) MM. In t(4;14) MM cells MMSET I knockdown with shRNAs induced cell apoptosis, reduced colony formation and inhibited tumorigenicity in vivo. We also found MMSET I knockdown decreased GLO1 expression, and ectopic MMSET I increased GLO1 expression, suggesting that MMSET I is an upstream regulator of GLO1. Further analysis indicated that MMSET I bound to GLO1 promoter region and depended on its C-terminus to regulate GLO1 expression. Our preliminary data suggested that MMSET I is an oncoprotein and could regulate GLO1 expression in t(4;14) multiple myeloma cells. KMS11 cells were treated with shRNAs for 72 h. Total RNA was extracted by using the Qiagen RNeasy Mini kit (Germany). Gene expression was performed using the GeneChip™ Human Gene 2.0 ST Array (Affymetrix) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Data analysis was performed using GeneSpring software from Agilent Technologies.