Palmitoyltransferase ZDHHC21 regulates oxidative phosphorylation to induce differentiation block and stemness in AML

Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematological malignancy. Nearly 50% of patients who receive the most intensive treatment inevitably suffer disease relapse, likely resulting from the persistence of drug‑resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs). AML cells especially LSCs are highly dependent on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for survival, but the mechanism involved in OXPHOS hyperactivity is unclear and a noncytotoxic strategy to inhibit OXPHOS is lacking. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that ZDHHC21 palmitoyltransferase serves as a key regulator of OXPHOS hyperactivity in AML cells. The depletion/inhibition of ZDHHC21 effectively induced myeloid differentiation and weakened stemness potential by inhibiting OXPHOS in AML cells. Interestingly, FLT3-ITD mutated AML cells expressed significantly higher levels of ZDHHC21 and exhibited better sensitivity to ZDHHC21 inhibition. Mechanistically, ZDHHC21 specifically catalyzed the palmitoylation of mitochondrial kinase AK2 and further activated OXPHOS in leukemic blasts. Inhibition of ZDHHC21 arrested the in vivo growth of AML cells and extended the survival of mice inoculated with AML cell lines and PDX-AML blasts. Moreover, targeting ZDHHC21 to suppress OXPHOS markedly eradicated AML blasts and enhanced chemotherapy efficacy in relapsed/refractory leukemia. Together, these findings not only uncover a new biological function of palmitoyltransferase ZDHHC21 in regulating AML oxidative phosphorylation, but also indicate that ZDHHC21 inhibition is a promising therapeutic regimen for patients with AML, especially relapsed/refractory leukemia.