Requirement for LIM kinases in acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive disease for which only few targeted therapies are available. Using high-throughput RNA interference (RNAi) screening in AML cell lines, we identified LIM kinase 1 (LIMK1) as a potential novel target for AML treatment. High LIMK1 expression was significantly correlated with shorter survival of AML patients and coincided with FLT3 mutations, KMT2A rearrangements, and elevated HOX gene expression. RNAi- and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated suppression as well as pharmacologic inhibition of LIMK1 and its close homolog LIMK2 reduced colony formation and decreased proliferation due to slowed cell-cycle progression of KMT2A-rearranged AML cell lines and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) samples. This was accompanied by morphologic changes indicative of myeloid differentiation. Transcriptome analysis showed upregulation of several tumor suppressor genes as well as downregulation of HOXA9 targets and mitosis-associated genes in response to LIMK1 suppression, providing a potential mechanistic basis for the anti-leukemic phenotype. Finally, we observed a reciprocal regulation between LIM kinases (LIMK) and CDK6, a kinase known to be involved in the differentiation block of KMT2A-rearranged AML, and addition of the CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib further enhanced the anti-proliferative effect of LIMK inhibition. Together, these data suggest that LIMK are promising targets for AML therapy.