RESUMEN
Lineage plasticity is a form of therapy-induced drug resistance. In prostate cancer, androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibitors potentially lead to the accretion of tumor relapse with loss of AR signaling and a shift from a luminal state to an alternate program. However, the molecular and signaling mechanisms orchestrating the development of lineage plasticity under the pressure of AR-targeted therapies are not fully understood. Here, a survey of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) identifies ROR2 as the top upregulated RTK following AR pathway inhibition, which feeds into lineage plasticity by promoting stem-cell-like and neuronal networks. Mechanistically, ROR2 activates the ERK/CREB signaling pathway to modulate the expression of the lineage commitment transcription factor ASCL1. Collectively, our findings nominate ROR2 as a potential therapeutic target to reverse the ENZ-induced plastic phenotype and potentially re-sensitize tumors to AR pathway inhibitors.
Asunto(s)
Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia , Neoplasias de la Próstata , Humanos , Masculino , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias de la Próstata/genética , Transducción de Señal , Factores de Transcripción , Antagonistas de Receptores Androgénicos/uso terapéutico , Receptores Androgénicos/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Receptores Huérfanos Similares al Receptor Tirosina Quinasa/genéticaRESUMEN
Despite the development of effective targeted therapies and a significant understanding of carcinogenesis and cancer progression, treatment resistance is a major obstacle in achieving durable long-term control in many types of cancers. Emerging evidence supports that nongenetic mechanisms could play an underappreciated role in therapy resistance. These mechanisms include phenotypic plasticity, which is recognized as a hallmark of cancer and translates to epigenetic and transcriptional control of gene expression. Alterations in the expression and activity of the epigenetic modifier enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) support prostate cancer lineage plasticity and progression. EZH2 expression and activity is elevated in castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors and in treatment-resistant prostate cancer. Moreover, 17 known residues of EZH2 are phosphorylated on by multiple kinases that modulate its activity, localization, stability, and polycomb repressive complex (PRC2) assembly. In this review, we explore the contribution of EZH2 phosphorylation in regulating canonical PRC2 in a methylation-dependent manner as an epigenetic repressor and in a noncanonical manner independent of PRC2 as a transcription activator. Apart from the contribution of EZH2 phosphorylation at serine 21, threonine 350, and threonine 311 in prostate cancer progression and treatment resistance, we discuss how other EZH2 phosphorylated residues with unknown functions could contribute to prostate cancer based on their upstream regulators and potential therapeutic utility.
Asunto(s)
Proteína Potenciadora del Homólogo Zeste 2 , Neoplasias de la Próstata , Masculino , Humanos , Proteína Potenciadora del Homólogo Zeste 2/genética , Complejo Represivo Polycomb 2/genética , Neoplasias de la Próstata/metabolismo , Metilación , Carcinogénesis/genética , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión GénicaRESUMEN
Treatment with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) in prostate cancer leads to the emergence of resistant tumors characterized by lineage plasticity and differentiation toward neuroendocrine lineage. Here, we find that ARPIs induce a rapid epigenetic alteration mediated by large-scale chromatin remodeling to support activation of stem/neuronal transcriptional programs. We identify the proneuronal transcription factor ASCL1 motif to be enriched in hyper-accessible regions. ASCL1 acts as a driver of the lineage plastic, neuronal transcriptional program to support treatment resistance and neuroendocrine phenotype. Targeting ASCL1 switches the neuroendocrine lineage back to the luminal epithelial state. This effect is modulated by disruption of the polycomb repressive complex-2 through UHRF1/AMPK axis and change the chromatin architecture in favor of luminal phenotype. Our study provides insights into the epigenetic alterations induced by ARPIs, governed by ASCL1, provides a proof of principle of targeting ASCL1 to reverse neuroendocrine phenotype, support luminal conversion and re-addiction to ARPIs.
Asunto(s)
Cromatina , Neoplasias de la Próstata , Antagonistas de Receptores Androgénicos , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Proteínas Potenciadoras de Unión a CCAAT/genética , Cromatina/genética , Cromatina/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Neuronas/metabolismo , Neoplasias de la Próstata/patología , Células Madre/metabolismo , Ubiquitina-Proteína Ligasas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Cancers adapt to increasingly potent targeted therapies by reprogramming their phenotype. Here we investigated such a phenomenon in prostate cancer, in which tumours can escape epithelial lineage confinement and transition to a high-plasticity state as an adaptive response to potent androgen receptor (AR) antagonism. We found that AR activity can be maintained as tumours adopt alternative lineage identities, with changes in chromatin architecture guiding AR transcriptional rerouting. The epigenetic regulator enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) co-occupies the reprogrammed AR cistrome to transcriptionally modulate stem cell and neuronal gene networks-granting privileges associated with both fates. This function of EZH2 was associated with T350 phosphorylation and establishment of a non-canonical polycomb subcomplex. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the plasticity of the lineage-infidelity state governed by AR reprogramming that enabled us to redirect cell fate by modulating EZH2 and AR, highlighting the clinical potential of reversing resistance phenotypes.
Asunto(s)
Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/genética , Redes Reguladoras de Genes/genética , Neoplasias de la Próstata/patología , Receptores Androgénicos/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Proteína Potenciadora del Homólogo Zeste 2/genética , Proteína Potenciadora del Homólogo Zeste 2/metabolismo , Redes Reguladoras de Genes/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Neoplasias de la Próstata/genética , Neoplasias de la Próstata/metabolismo , Receptores Androgénicos/genética , Transducción de Señal/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Most prostate cancer patients will progress to a castration-resistant state (CRPC) after androgen ablation therapy and despite the development of new potent anti-androgens, like enzalutamide (ENZ), which prolong survival in CRPC, ENZ-resistance (ENZR) rapidly occurs. Re-activation of the androgen receptor (AR) is a major mechanism of resistance. Interrogating our in vivo derived ENZR model, we discovered that transcription factor STAT3 not only displayed increased nuclear localization but also bound to and facilitated AR activity. We observed increased STAT3 S727 phosphorylation in ENZR cells, which has been previously reported to facilitate AR binding. Strikingly, ENZR cells were more sensitive to inhibition with STAT3 DNA-binding inhibitor galiellalactone (GPA500) compared to CRPC cells. Treatment with GPA500 suppressed AR activity and significantly reduced expression of Cyclin D1, thus reducing cell cycle progression into S phase and hindering cell proliferation. In vivo, GPA500 reduced tumor volume and serum PSA in ENZR xenografts. Lastly, the combination of ENZ and GPA500 was additive in the inhibition of AR activity and proliferation in LNCaP and CRPC cells, providing rationale for combination therapy. Overall, these results suggest that STAT3 inhibition is a rational therapeutic approach for ENZR prostate cancer, and could be valuable in CRPC in combination with ENZ.