Loss of AID exacerbates the malignant progression of CLL

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) has been implicated as both a positive and a negative factor in the progression of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but the role that it plays in the development and progression of this disease is still unclear. We generated an AID knockout CLL mouse model, AID(−/−)/Eμ-TCL1, and found that these mice die significantly earlier than their AID-proficient counterparts. AID-deficient CLL cells exhibit a higher ER stress response compared to Eμ-TCL1 controls, particularly through activation of the IRE1/XBP1s pathway. The increased production of secretory IgM in AID-deficient CLL cells contributes to their elevated expression levels of XBP1s, while secretory IgM-deficient CLL cells express less XBP1s. This increase in XBP1s in turn leads AID-deficient CLL cells to exhibit higher levels of B cell receptor signaling, supporting leukemic growth and survival. Further, AID(−/−)/Eμ-TCL1 CLL cells downregulate the tumor suppressive SMAD1/S1PR2 pathway and have altered homing to non-lymphoid organs. Notably, CLL cells from patients with IgHV-unmutated disease express higher levels of XBP1s mRNA compared to those from patients with IgHV-mutated CLL. Our studies thus reveal novel mechanisms by which the loss of AID leads to worsened CLL and may explain why unmutated CLL is more aggressive than mutated CLL.