Li Boheng
Email Address
csilb@nus.edu.sg
Organizational Units
YONG LOO LIN SCH OF MEDICINE
faculty
MEDICINE
dept
SPECIALTY RESEARCH INST/CTRS
faculty
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Publication MELK mediates the stability of EZH2 through site-specific phosphorylation in extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY, 2019-12-05) Li, Boheng; Yan, Junli; The, Phyu; Fan, Shuangyi; Chung, Tae-Hoon; Mustafa, Nurulhuda; Lin, Baohong; Wang, Lingzhi; Eichhorn, Pieter Johan Adam; Goh, Boon-Cher; Ng, Siok-Bian; Kappei, Dennis; Chng, Wee-Joo; Assoc Prof Siok Bian Ng; CANCER SCIENCE INSTITUTE OF SINGAPORE; PATHOLOGYOncogenic EZH2 is overexpressed and extensively involved in the pathophysiology of different cancers including extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL). However, the mechanisms regarding EZH2 upregulation is poorly understood, and it still remains untargetable in NKTL. In this study, we examine EZH2 protein turnover in NKTL and identify MELK kinase as a regulator of EZH2 ubiquitination and turnover. Using quantitative mass spectrometry analysis, we observed a MELK-mediated increase of EZH2 S220 phosphorylation along with a concomitant loss of EZH2 K222 ubiquitination, suggesting a phosphorylation-dependent regulation of EZH2 ubiquitination. MELK inhibition through both chemical and genetic means led to ubiquitination and destabilization of EZH2 protein. Importantly, we determine that MELK is upregulated in NKTL, and its expression correlates with EZH2 protein expression as determined by tissue microarray derived from NKTL patients. FOXM1, which connected MELK to EZH2 signaling in glioma, was not involved in mediating EZH2 ubiquitination. Furthermore, we identify USP36 as the deubiquitinating enzyme that deubiquitinates EZH2 at K222. These findings uncover an important role of MELK and USP36 in mediating EZH2 stability in NKTL. Moreover, MELK overexpression led to decreased sensitivity to bortezomib treatment in NKTL based on deprivation of EZH2 ubiquitination. Therefore, modulation of EZH2 ubiquitination status by targeting MELK may be a new therapeutic strategy for NKTL patients with poor bortezomib response.Publication EZH2 abnormalities in lymphoid malignancies: Underlying mechanisms and therapeutic implications(BioMed Central Ltd., 2019) Li, B.; Chng, W.-J.; MEDICINE; CANCER SCIENCE INSTITUTE OF SINGAPOREEZH2 is the catalytic subunit of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which along with other PRC2 components mediates gene expression suppression via the methylation of Histone H3 at lysine 27. Recent studies have revealed a dichotomous role of EZH2 in physiology and in the pathogenesis of cancer. While it plays an essential role in the development of the lymphoid system, its deregulation, whether due to genetic or non-genetic causes, promotes B cell-and T cell-related lymphoma or leukemia. These findings triggered a boom in the development of therapeutic EZH2 inhibitors in recent years. Here, we discuss physiologic and pathogenic function of EZH2 in lymphoid context, various internal causes of EZH2 aberrance and how EZH2 modulates lymphomagenesis through epigenetic silencing, post-translational modifications (PTMs), orchestrating with surrounding tumor micro-environment and associating with RNA or viral partners. We also summarize different strategies to directly inhibit PRC2-EZH2 or to intervene EZH2 upstream signaling. © 2019 The Author(s).Publication EZH2 phosphorylation by JAK3 mediates a switch to noncanonical function in natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY, 2016-08-18) Yan, Junli; Li, Boheng; Lin, Baohong; Lee, Pei Tsung; Chung, Tae-Hoon; Tan, Joy; Bi, Chonglei; Lee, Xue Ting; Selvarajan, Viknesvaran; Ng, Siok-Bian; Yang, Henry; Yu, Qiang; Chng, Wee-Joo; Assoc Prof Siok Bian Ng; CANCER SCIENCE INSTITUTE OF SINGAPORE; PATHOLOGYThe best-understood mechanism by which EZH2 exerts its oncogenic function is through polycombrepressive complex 2 (PRC2)-mediatedgene repression, which requires itshistone methyltransferase activity. However, small-molecule inhibitors of EZH2 that selectively target its enzymatic activity turn out to be potent only for lymphoma cells with EZH2-activating mutation. Intriguingly, recent discoveries, including ours, have placed EZH2 into the category of transcriptional coactivators and thus raised the possibility of noncanonical signaling pathways. However, it remains unclear how EZH2 switches to this catalytic independent function. In the current study, using natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) as a disease model, we found that phosphorylation of EZH2 by JAK3 promotes the dissociation of the PRC2 complex leading to decreased global H3K27me3 levels, while it switches EZH2 to a transcriptional activator, conferring higher proliferative capacity of the affected cells. Gene expression data analysis also suggests that the noncanonical function of EZH2 as a transcriptional activator upregulates a set of genes involved in DNA replication, cell cycle, biosynthesis, stemness, and invasiveness. Consistently, JAK3 inhibitor was able to significantly reduce the growth of NKTL cells, in an EZH2 phosphorylation-dependent manner, whereas various compounds recently developed to inhibit EZH2 methyltransferase activity have no such effect. Thus, pharmacological inhibition of JAK3 activity may provide a promising treatment option for NKTL through the novel mechanism of suppressing noncanonical EZH2 activity.