Antibiotic treatment ameliorates Ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) loss-of-function associated hematological malignancies

TET2 is among the most frequently mutated genes in hematological malignancies, as well as in healthy individuals with clonal hematopoiesis. Inflammatory stress is known to promote the expansion of Tet2-deficient hematopoietic stem cells, as well as the initiation of pre-leukemic conditions. Infection is one of the most frequent complications in hematological malignancies and antibiotics are commonly used to suppress infection-induced inflammation, but their application in TET2 mutation-associated cancers remained underexplored. In this study, we discovered that Tet2 depletion led to aberrant expansion of myeloid cells, which was correlated with elevated serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines at the pre-malignant stage. Antibiotics treatment suppressed the growth of Tet2-deficient myeloid and lymphoid tumor cells in vivo. Transcriptomic profiling further revealed significant changes in the expression of genes involved in the TNF-α signaling and other immunomodulatory pathways in antibiotics-treated tumor cells. Pharmacological inhibition of TNF-α signaling partially attenuated Tet2-deficient tumor cell growth in vivo. Therefore, our findings establish the feasibility of targeting pro-inflammatory pathways to curtail TET2 inactivation-associated hematological malignancies.