Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase δ blockade increases genomic instability in B cells

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is a B-cell-specific enzyme that targets immunoglobulin genes to initiate class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation(1). In addition, through off-target activity, AID has a much broader effect on genomic instability by initiating oncogenic chromosomal translocations and mutations involved in the development and progression of lymphoma(2). AID expression is tightly regulated in B cells and its overexpression leads to enhanced genomic instability and lymphoma formation3. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta (PI3K delta) pathway regulates AID by suppressing its expression in B cells4. Drugs for leukaemia or lymphoma therapy such as idelalisib, duvelisib and ibrutinib block PI3K delta activity directly or indirectly(5-8), potentially affecting AID expression and, consequently, genomic stability in B cells. Here we show that treatment of primary mouse B cells with idelalisib or duvelisib, and to a lesser extent ibrutinib, enhanced the expression of AID and increased somatic hypermutation and chromosomal translocation frequency to the Igh locus and to several AID off-target sites. Both of these effects were completely abrogated in AID-deficient B cells. PI3K delta inhibitors or ibrutinib increased the formation of AID-dependent tumours in pristane-treated mice. Consistently, PI3K delta inhibitors enhanced AID expression and translocation frequency to IGH and AID off-target sites in human chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and mantle cell lymphoma cell lines, and patients treated with idelalisib, but not ibrutinib, showed increased somatic hypermutation in AID off-targets. In summary, we show that PI3K delta or Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors increase genomic instability in normal and neoplastic B cells by an AID-dependent mechanism. This effect should be carefully considered, as such inhibitors can be administered to patients for years.