Wolf‐Karsten Hofmann

Mutations in genes of the splicing machinery have been described recently in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). In the present study, we examined a cohort of 193 MDS patients for mutations in SRSF2, U2AF1 (synonym U2AF35), ZRSR2, and, as described previously, SF3B1, in the context of other molecular markers, including mutations in ASXL1, RUNX1, NRAS, TP53, IDH1, IDH2, NPM1, and DNMT3A. Mutations in SRSF2, U2AF1, ZRSR2, and SF3B1 were found in 24 (12.4%), 14 (7.3%), 6 (3.1%), and 28 (14.5%) patients, respectively, corresponding to a total of 67 of 193 MDS patients (34.7%). SRSF2 mutations were associated with RUNX1 (P < .001) and IDH1 (P = .013) mutations, whereas U2AF1 mutations were associated with ASXL1 (P = .005) and DNMT3A (P = .004) mutations. In univariate analysis, mutated SRSF2 predicted shorter overall survival and more frequent acute myeloid leukemia progression compared with wild-type SRSF2, whereas mutated U2AF1, ZRSR2, and SF3B1 had no impact on patient outcome. In multivariate analysis, SRSF2 remained an independent poor risk marker for overall survival (hazard ratio = 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-4.13; P = .017) and acute myeloid leukemia progression (hazard ratio = 2.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.31-6.12; P = .008). These results show a negative prognostic impact of SRSF2 mutations in MDS. SRSF2 mutations may become useful for clinical risk stratification and treatment decisions in the future.

MicroRNAs are endogenously expressed small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression on the posttranscriptional level. The miR-17-92 cluster (encoding miR-17, -18a, -19a/b, -20a, and miR-92a) is highly expressed in tumor cells and is up-regulated by ischemia. Whereas miR-92a was recently identified as negative regulator of angiogenesis, the specific functions of the other members of the cluster are less clear. Here we demonstrate that overexpression of miR-17, -18a, -19a, and -20a significantly inhibited 3-dimensional spheroid sprouting in vitro, whereas inhibition of miR-17, -18a, and -20a augmented endothelial cell sprout formation. Inhibition of miR-17 and miR-20a in vivo using antagomirs significantly increased the number of perfused vessels in Matrigel plugs, whereas antagomirs that specifically target miR-18a and miR-19a were less effective. However, systemic inhibition of miR-17/20 did not affect tumor angiogenesis. Further mechanistic studies showed that miR-17/20 targets several proangiogenic genes. Specifically, Janus kinase 1 was shown to be a direct target of miR-17. In summary, we show that miR-17/20 exhibit a cell-intrinsic antiangiogenic activity in endothelial cells. Inhibition of miR-17/20 specifically augmented neovascularization of Matrigel plugs but did not affect tumor angiogenesis indicating a context-dependent regulation of angiogenesis by miR-17/20 in vivo.