Distinct Assemblies of Heterodimeric Cytokine Receptors Govern Stemness Programs in Leukemia

Leukemia stem cells (LSC) possess distinct self-renewal and arrested differentiation properties that are responsible for disease emergence, therapy failure, and recurrence in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Despite AML displaying extensive biological and clinical heterogeneity, LSC with high interleukin-3 receptor (IL3R) levels are a constant yet puzzling feature, as this receptor lacks tyrosine kinase activity. Here, we show that the heterodimeric IL3R & alpha;/13c receptor assembles into hexamers and dodecamers through a unique interface in the 3D structure, where high IL3R & alpha;/13c ratios bias hexamer formation. Importantly, receptor stoichiometry is clinically relevant as it varies across the individual cells in the AML hierarchy, in which high IL3R & alpha;/13c ratios in LSCs drive hexamer-mediated stemness programs and poor patient survival, while low ratios mediate differentiation. Our study establishes a new paradigm in which alternative cytokine receptor stoichiometries differentially regulate cell fate, a signaling mechanism that may be generalizable to other transformed cellular hierarchies and of potential therapeutic signifi cance.SIGNIFICANCE: Stemness is a hallmark of many cancers and is largely responsible for disease emergence, progression, and relapse. Our fi nding that clinically signifi cant stemness programs in AML are directly regulated by different stoichiometries of cytokine receptors represents a hitherto unexplained mechanism underlying cell-fate decisions in cancer stem cell hierarchies.