H3k27m histone mutant gliomas are sensitive to methionine loss and mat2a inhibition through a novel feedback mechanism between amd1 and mettl16

Abstract Diffuse Midline gliomas (DMGs) are grade IV tumors by the World Health Organization. They are inoperable and resistant to chemo/radiotherapies resulting in a median survival of 8-11 months and a 5-year survival of <2%. DMG is an epigenetic disease characterized by mutations on histone H3.3 K27M resulting in global transcriptional reprogramming. This disease lacks appropriate models to predict disease biology and response to treatment. Therefore, we developed a novel syngeneic H3K27M mouse model using clinically relevant co-alterations in Olig2+ neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Using an unbiased systems biology approach, we identified a reliance of H3K27M but not isogenic controls to the amino acid methionine, and the enzymes methionine adenosyltransferase 2A (MAT2A), and adenosylmethionine decarboxylase 1 (AMD1). MAT2A is a master regulator of methionine metabolism that converts methionine into the universal methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) which is later converted into decarboxylated SAM (dcSAM) by AMD1 for polyamine metabolism. We postulated that targeting methionine regulator MAT2A through genetic/pharmacological abrogation would selectively alter DMG viability by disrupting the methylome. We discovered a novel mechanism demonstrating H3K27M cells are sensitive to MAT2A loss independent of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) deletions but rather through AMD1 overexpression. The current paradigm shows that MAT2A protein expression is inversely correlated with cellular SAM concentrations as sensed by splicing complex and m6A reader methyltransferase-like protein 16 (METTL16). To investigate the molecular mechanism by which H3K27M represses MAT2A, we postulated that dcSAM, the resultant metabolite of AMD1, promote(s) high turnover of METTL16–MAT2A transcript interactions like SAM, thereby diminishing MAT2A transcript and protein expression. We found that exogenous dcSAM promoted MAT2A intron retention and lower mature transcript levels. Our findings demonstrate that H3K27M leads to increased AMD1 protein expression resulting in diminished MAT2A expression. Combinatorial treatments inhibiting MAT2A and AMD1 may presents exploitable therapeutic vulnerabilities in these gliomas.