Drug targeting of NR4A nuclear receptors for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

NR4As are AML tumor suppressors that are frequently silenced in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Despite their potential as novel targets for therapeutic intervention, mechanisms of NR4A silencing and strategies for their reactivation remain poorly defined. Here we show that NR4A silencing in AML occurs through blockade of transcriptional elongation rather than epigenetic promoter silencing.

Genome Wide Mapping of NR4A Binding Reveals Cooperativity with ETS Factors to Promote Epigenetic Activation of Distal Enhancers in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells.

Members of the NR4A subfamily of orphan nuclear receptors regulate cell fate decisions via both genomic and non-genomic mechanisms in a cell and tissue selective manner. NR4As play a key role in maintenance of hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis and are critical tumor suppressors of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Expression of NR4As is broadly silenced in leukemia initiating cell enriched populations from human patients relative to normal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.