Abstract
Menin scaffolds the oncogenic histone-lysine-N-methyltransferase (KMT2A)-fusion protein (FP) complex in KMT2A-r and wild-type KMT2A complex in NPM1-m acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Menin inhibitors (MIs) are effective in KMT2A-r AML and NPM1-m AML. However, not all patients respond to MIs as monotherapy. In this preclinical study, we demonstrate that the MI ziftomenib, in combination with the XPO1 inhibitor selinexor, synergistically inhibited the growth of multiple KMT2A-r and NPM1-m AML cell lines (CI<1). The combination suppressed colony formation in primary CD34+ KMT2A-r progenitor cells without affecting normal stem cells. Robust apoptosis and decreased G2/M populations were also evident. The combination downregulated HOXA9 and MEIS1 while upregulating monocytic differentiation marker CD11b in both the AML molecular signatures. RNA sequencing and proteomic analysis in KMT2A-r revealed suppression of multiple bona fide menin-KMT2A target genes. Our mechanistic studies also identified a novel role of XPO1 in stabilizing menin's binding to chromatin and its interactions with KMT2A and KMT2A/MLLT3. XPO1 inhibitor-mediated disruption of these interactions, particularly in combination with ziftomenib, synergistically impairs oncogenic transcriptional programs. In vivo, combination therapy improved survival in both MV4;11 and OCI-AML3 cell line and primary patient-derived KMT2A-r and NPM1-m AML xenograft models in NSG mice, effective even at reduced drug doses. These preclinical findings demonstrate that simultaneous inhibition of the menin-KMT2A interaction and XPO1 can be a more effective translational strategy for treating KMT2A-r and NPM1-m AML than MI monotherapy to deepen responses and delay/prevent relapses.