MDS-associated SF3B1 Mutations Enhance Pro-Inflammatory Gene Expression in Patient Blast Cells

Two factors known to contribute to the development of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and other blood cancers are (1) somatically acquired mutations in components of the spliceosome and (2) increased inflammation. Spliceosome genes, including SF3B1 , are mutated at high frequency in MDS and other blood cancers; these mutations are thought to be neomorphic or gain-of-function mutations that drive disease pathogenesis. Likewise, increased inflammation is thought to contribute to MDS pathogenesis; inflammatory cytokines are strongly elevated in these patients, with higher levels correlating with worsened patient outcome. In the current study, we used RNAseq to analyze pre-mRNA splicing and gene expression changes present in blast cells isolated from MDS patients with or without SF3B1 mutations. We determined that SF3B1 mutations lead to enhanced pro-inflammatory gene expression in these cells. Thus, these studies suggest that SF3B1 mutations could contribute to MDS pathogenesis by enhancing the pro-inflammatory milieu in these patients. SF3B1 mutations enhance pro-inflammatory gene expression in blast cells, possibly contributing to an overall inflammatory milieu in MDS patients.