Expression data from Adriamycin-treated Emu-myc; Suv39h1-/- B-cell lymphoma

Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS), a terminal cell cycle block countering (pre)neoplastic lesions, is characterised on the molecular level by trimethylated histone H3 lysine 9 (h3K9me3), a transcriptionally repressive chromatin mark linked to silencing of S-phase-promoting genes. Whether H3K9-governed chromatin remodelling influences anticancer treatment-induced senescence (TIS) and whether functional control of this mark impacts on treatment outcome is not known. We used global gene expression profiling by microarrays to gain insight into the molecular responses of Emu-myc; Suv39h1-/- B-cell lymphoma cells to senescence-inducing anticancer agent Adriamycin (ADR). Primary lymphoma cells isolated from lymph nodes of Emu-Myc; Suv39h1-/- mice were used. In this model, the c-Myc oncogene is constitutively expressed in the cells of the B-cell lineage, leading to spontaneous development of aggressive B-cell lymphomas. Adriamycin (ADR), a cytostatic drug used as a standard part of several lymphoma treatment regimens, is known to massively induce TIS in Suv39h1-proficient lymphomas, protected from apoptosis by Bcl-2 over expression (Myc;Bcl2). In order to discern the impact of Suv39h1 to TIS induction under these conditions, we analysed here transcriptional profiles of matched pairs of Emu-myc;Suv39h1-/-;Bcl2 lymphomas, untreated or treated for 5 days with ADR.