Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of both the MAPK pathway and BET bromodomain prevented leukemia initiation and inhibited disease progression in Asxl1Δ/Δ Nf1Δ/Δ mice.
BET proteins enhance the oncogenic functions of major cancer drivers by elevating the expression of these drivers, such as c-Myc in leukemia, or by promoting the transcriptional activities of oncogenic factors, such as AR and ERG in prostate cancer.
The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein BRD4 is a validated drug target in leukemia, yet its regulatory function in this disease is not well understood.
Inhibition of BET bromodomain-promoter interactions and subsequent reduction of MYC transcript and protein levels resulted in G(1) arrest and extensive apoptosis in a variety of leukemia and lymphoma cell lines.