Identification of Evolutionarily Conserved VSX2 Enhancers in Retinal Development.

Super-enhancers (SEs) are expansive regions of genomic DNA that regulate the expression of genes involved in cell identity and cell fate. Recently, we found that distinct modules within a murine SE regulate gene expression of master regulatory transcription factor Vsx2 in a developmental stage- and cell-type specific manner. Vsx2 is expressed in retinal progenitor cells as well as differentiated bipolar neurons and Müller glia. Mutations in VSX2 in humans and mice lead to microphthalmia due to a defect in retinal progenitor cell proliferation. Deletion of a single module within the Vsx2 SE leads to microphthalmia. Deletion of a separate module within the SE leads to a complete loss of bipolar neurons, yet the remainder of the retina develops normally. Furthermore, the Vsx2 SE is evolutionarily conserved in vertebrates, suggesting that these modules are important for retinal development across species. In the present study, we examine the ability of these modules to drive retinal development between species. By inserting the human build of one Vsx2 SE module into a mouse with microphthalmia, eye size was rescued. To understand the implications of these SE modules in a model of human development, we generated human retinal organoids. Deleting one module results in small organoids, recapitulating the small-eyed phenotype of mice with microphthalmia, while deletion of the other module leads to a complete loss of ON cone bipolar neurons. This prototypical SE serves as a model for uncoupling developmental stage- and cell-type specific effects of neurogenic transcription factors with complex expression patterns. Moreover, by elucidating the gene regulatory mechanisms, we can begin to examine how dysregulation of these mechanisms contributes to phenotypic diversity and disease.

Targeting KDM4 for treating PAX3-FOXO1-driven alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

Chimeric transcription factors drive lineage-specific oncogenesis but are notoriously difficult to target. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive childhood soft tissue sarcoma transformed by the pathognomonic Paired Box 3-Forkhead Box O1 (PAX3-FOXO1) fusion protein, which governs a core regulatory circuitry transcription factor network. Here, we show that the histone lysine demethylase 4B (KDM4B) is a therapeutic vulnerability for PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS. Genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of KDM4B substantially delayed tumor growth. Suppression of KDM4 proteins inhibited the expression of core oncogenic transcription factors and caused epigenetic alterations of PAX3-FOXO1-governed superenhancers. Combining KDM4 inhibition with cytotoxic chemotherapy led to tumor regression in preclinical PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS subcutaneous xenograft models. In summary, we identified a targetable mechanism required for maintenance of the PAX3-FOXO1-related transcription factor network, which may translate to a therapeutic approach for fusion-positive RMS.

Identification of a modular super-enhancer in murine retinal development.

Super-enhancers are expansive regions of genomic DNA comprised of multiple putative enhancers that contribute to the dynamic gene expression patterns during development. This is particularly important in neurogenesis because many essential transcription factors have complex developmental stage- and cell-type specific expression patterns across the central nervous system. In the developing retina, Vsx2 is expressed in retinal progenitor cells and is maintained in differentiated bipolar neurons and Müller glia. A single super-enhancer controls this complex and dynamic pattern of expression. Here we show that deletion of one region disrupts retinal progenitor cell proliferation but does not affect cell fate specification. The deletion of another region has no effect on retinal progenitor cell proliferation but instead leads to a complete loss of bipolar neurons. This prototypical super-enhancer may serve as a model for dissecting the complex gene expression patterns for neurogenic transcription factors during development. Moreover, it provides a unique opportunity to alter expression of individual transcription factors in particular cell types at specific stages of development. This provides a deeper understanding of function that cannot be achieved with traditional knockout mouse approaches.

Nucleome Dynamics during Retinal Development.

More than 8,000 genes are turned on or off as progenitor cells produce the 7 classes of retinal cell types during development. Thousands of enhancers are also active in the developing retinae, many having features of cell- and developmental stage-specific activity. We studied dynamic changes in the 3D chromatin landscape important for precisely orchestrated changes in gene expression during retinal development by ultra-deep in situ Hi-C analysis on murine retinae. We identified developmental-stage-specific changes in chromatin compartments and enhancer-promoter interactions. We developed a machine learning-based algorithm to map euchromatin and heterochromatin domains genome-wide and overlaid it with chromatin compartments identified by Hi-C. Single-cell ATAC-seq and RNA-seq were integrated with our Hi-C and previous ChIP-seq data to identify cell- and developmental-stage-specific super-enhancers (SEs). We identified a bipolar neuron-specific core regulatory circuit SE upstream of Vsx2, whose deletion in mice led to the loss of bipolar neurons.

Identification of Therapeutic Targets in Rhabdomyosarcoma through Integrated Genomic, Epigenomic, and Proteomic Analyses.

Personalized cancer therapy targeting somatic mutations in patient tumors is increasingly being incorporated into practice. Other therapeutic vulnerabilities resulting from changes in gene expression due to tumor specific epigenetic perturbations are progressively being recognized. These genomic and epigenomic changes are ultimately manifest in the tumor proteome and phosphoproteome. We integrated transcriptomic, epigenomic, and proteomic/phosphoproteomic data to elucidate the cellular origins and therapeutic vulnerabilities of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). We discovered that alveolar RMS occurs further along the developmental program than embryonal RMS. We also identified deregulation of the RAS/MEK/ERK/CDK4/6, G2/M, and unfolded protein response pathways through our integrated analysis. Comprehensive preclinical testing revealed that targeting the WEE1 kinase in the G2/M pathway is the most effective approach in vivo for high-risk RMS.

Orthotopic patient-derived xenografts of paediatric solid tumours.

Paediatric solid tumours arise from endodermal, ectodermal, or mesodermal lineages. Although the overall survival of children with solid tumours is 75%, that of children with recurrent disease is below 30%. To capture the complexity and diversity of paediatric solid tumours and establish new models of recurrent disease, here we develop a protocol to produce orthotopic patient-derived xenografts at diagnosis, recurrence, and autopsy. Tumour specimens were received from 168 patients, and 67 orthotopic patient-derived xenografts were established for 12 types of cancer. The origins of the patient-derived xenograft tumours were reflected in their gene-expression profiles and epigenomes. Genomic profiling of the tumours, including detailed clonal analysis, was performed to determine whether the clonal population in the xenograft recapitulated the patient's tumour. We identified several drug vulnerabilities and showed that the combination of a WEE1 inhibitor (AZD1775), irinotecan, and vincristine can lead to complete response in multiple rhabdomyosarcoma orthotopic patient-derived xenografts tumours in vivo.