Interplay between CoREST, p300 and retinoic acid signaling in Acute myeloid leukemia [RNA-seq]

The histone demethylase KDM1A (LSD1), a component of the CoREST corepressor complex, is highly expressed in hematologic malignancies and regulates hematopoietic differentiation. Despite its essential developmental role, LSD1 inhibition has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance retinoic acid (RA)-responsive gene expression in subsets of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we show that LSD1 physically interacts with RAR/RXR heterodimers at specific genomic loci, restricting chromatin accessibility and transcriptional activation of differentiation programs. Single-agent inhibition of LSD1 or HDACs promotes only partial differentiation. In contrast, Corin, a dual LSD1/CoREST inhibitor, synergizes with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to induce robust myeloid differentiation and apoptosis. Corin treatment increases H3K4me3 and H3K27ac at promoters of ATRA-responsive genes and disrupts CoREST–RAR/RXR complexes, enabling recruitment of the coactivator p300. This epigenetic switch facilitates transcriptional reprogramming essential for terminal differentiation. Our findings identify the functional antagonism between CoREST and p300 as a regulatory axis of RA signaling in AML. Targeting this mechanism with Corin and ATRA re-sensitizes non-APL AML cells to RA-induced differentiation, suggesting a broader therapeutic approach for overcoming resistance in ATRA-refractory leukemias.