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The olfactory epithelium undergoes neuronal regeneration from basal stem cells and is susceptible to olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB), a rare tumor of unclear origins. Employing alterations in Rb1/Trp53/Myc (RPM), we establish a genetically engineered mouse model of high-grade metastatic ONB exhibiting a NEUROD1+ immature neuronal phenotype. We demonstrate that globose basal cells (GBCs) are a permissive cell of origin for ONB and that ONBs exhibit cell fate heterogeneity that mimics normal GBC developmental trajectories. ASCL1 loss in RPM ONB leads to emergence of non-neuronal histopathologies, including a POU2F3+ microvillar-like state. Similar to small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), mouse and human ONBs exhibit mutually exclusive NEUROD1 and POU2F3-like states, an immune-cold tumor microenvironment, intratumoral cell fate heterogeneity comprising neuronal and non-neuronal lineages, and cell fate plasticity-evidenced by barcode-based lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics. Collectively, our findings highlight conserved similarities between ONB and neuroendocrine tumors with significant implications for ONB classification and treatment.
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Linaje de la Célula , Estesioneuroblastoma Olfatorio , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Animales , Ratones , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/metabolismo , Humanos , Estesioneuroblastoma Olfatorio/genética , Estesioneuroblastoma Olfatorio/patología , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Microambiente Tumoral , Neoplasias Nasales/genética , Neoplasias Nasales/patología , Mucosa Olfatoria/patología , Mucosa Olfatoria/metabolismo , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/genética , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/metabolismoRESUMEN
Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer mortality, exhibits diverse histological subtypes and genetic complexities. Numerous preclinical mouse models have been developed to study lung cancer, but data from these models are disparate, siloed, and difficult to compare in a centralized fashion. Here we established the Lung Cancer Mouse Model Database (LCMMDB), an extensive repository of 1,354 samples from 77 transcriptomic datasets covering 974 samples from genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), 368 samples from carcinogen-induced models, and 12 samples from a spontaneous model. Meticulous curation and collaboration with data depositors have produced a robust and comprehensive database, enhancing the fidelity of the genetic landscape it depicts. The LCMMDB aligns 859 tumors from GEMMs with human lung cancer mutations, enabling comparative analysis and revealing a pressing need to broaden the diversity of genetic aberrations modeled in GEMMs. Accompanying this resource, we developed a web application that offers researchers intuitive tools for in-depth gene expression analysis. With standardized reprocessing of gene expression data, the LCMMDB serves as a powerful platform for cross-study comparison and lays the groundwork for future research, aiming to bridge the gap between mouse models and human lung cancer for improved translational relevance.
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Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains the most fatal form of lung cancer, with patients in dire need of new and effective therapeutic approaches. Modeling SCLC in an immunocompetent host is essential for understanding SCLC pathogenesis and ultimately discovering and testing new experimental therapeutic strategies. Human SCLC is characterized by near universal genetic loss of the RB1 and TP53 tumor suppressor genes. Twenty years ago, the first genetically-engineered mouse model (GEMM) of SCLC was generated using conditional deletion of both Rb1 and Trp53 in the lungs of adult mice. Since then, several other GEMMs of SCLC have been developed coupling genomic alterations found in human SCLC with Rb1 and Trp53 deletion. Here we summarize how GEMMs of SCLC have contributed significantly to our understanding of the disease in the past two decades. We also review recent advances in modeling SCLC in mice that allow investigators to bypass limitations of the previous generation of GEMMs while studying new genes of interest in SCLC. In particular, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated somatic gene editing can accelerate how new genes of interest are functionally interrogated in SCLC tumorigenesis. Notably, the development of allograft models and precancerous precursor models from SCLC GEMMs provides complementary approaches to GEMMs to study tumor cell-immune microenvironment interactions and test new therapeutic strategies to enhance response to immunotherapy. Ultimately, the new generation of SCLC models can accelerate research and help develop new therapeutic strategies for SCLC.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Humanos , Animales , Ratones , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Pulmón/patología , Edición Génica , Transformación Celular Neoplásica , Microambiente Tumoral/genéticaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Pleomorphic liposarcoma is a rare and aggressive subset of soft-tissue sarcomas with a high mortality burden. Local treatment largely consists of radiation therapy and wide surgical resection, but options for systemic therapy in the setting of metastatic disease are limited and largely ineffective, prompting exploration of novel therapeutic strategies and experimental models. As with other cancers, sarcoma cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models have been developed and used to characterize these tumors and identify therapeutic targets, but these models have inherent limitations. The establishment of genetically engineered mouse models represents a more realistic framework for reproducing clinically relevant conditions for studying pleomorphic liposarcoma. METHODS: Trp53fl/fl/Rb1fl/fl/Ptenfl/fl (RPP) mice were used to reliably generate an immunocompetent model of mouse pleomorphic liposarcoma through Cre-mediated conditional silencing of the Trp53, Rb1, and Pten tumor suppressor genes. Evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was assessed with immunostaining for CD4, CD8, and PD-L1, and flow cytometry with analysis of CD45, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, F4/80, CD11b, and NKp46 sub-populations. RESULTS: Mice reliably produced noticeable soft-tissue tumors in approximately 6 weeks with rapid tumor growth between 100 and 150 days of life, after which mice reached euthanasia criteria. Histologic features were consistent with pleomorphic liposarcoma, including widespread pleomorphic lipoblasts. Immunoprofiling and assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was consistent with other soft-tissue sarcomas. CONCLUSION: Genetically engineered RPP mice reliably produced soft-tissue tumors consistent with pleomorphic liposarcoma, which immunological findings similar to other soft-tissue sarcomas. This model may demonstrate utility in testing treatments for this rare disease, including immunomodulatory therapies.
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Liposarcoma , Sarcoma , Neoplasias de los Tejidos Blandos , Humanos , Animales , Ratones , Inmunofenotipificación , Liposarcoma/genética , Liposarcoma/patología , Sarcoma/genética , Neoplasias de los Tejidos Blandos/genética , Neoplasias de los Tejidos Blandos/patología , Neoplasias de los Tejidos Blandos/terapiaRESUMEN
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a neuroendocrine tumor type with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. SCLC comprises multiple molecular subtypes that are defined by the expression of the lineage-related transcription factors ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F3, and more controversially, YAP1. SCLC exhibits remarkable plasticity with the capacity to transition between molecular states; because these states are associated with unique therapeutic susceptibilities, SCLC has been likened to a moving therapeutic target. While MYC's role in driving the ASCL1-to-NEUROD1 (A-to-N) transition is established, additional mechanisms governing SCLC plasticity remain largely obscure. A recent study by Duplaquet and colleagues, published in Nature Cell Biology, employs an innovative genetically engineered mouse model of SCLC harboring loss of KDM6A-a histone lysine demethylase mutated in approximately 2% of SCLC cases. KDM6A loss in SCLC alters chromatin accessibility and increases the potential for A-to-N plasticity in vivo. Through characterization of the epigenetic landscape, Duplaquet and colleagues identified histone methylation as a key regulator of SCLC plasticity. These findings provide not only a new model system for studying SCLC plasticity, but also identify new epigenetic mechanisms involved, which will ultimately be critical for designing more effective therapies.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Animales , Ratones , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Línea Celular Tumoral , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Histona Demetilasas/metabolismo , Epigénesis Genética , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión GénicaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Vasculogenic mimicry (VM), the process of tumor cell transdifferentiation to endow endothelial-like characteristics supporting de novo vessel formation, is associated with poor prognosis in several tumor types, including SCLC. In genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) of SCLC, NOTCH, and MYC co-operate to drive a neuroendocrine (NE) to non-NE phenotypic switch, and co-operation between NE and non-NE cells is required for metastasis. Here, we define the phenotype of VM-competent cells and molecular mechanisms underpinning SCLC VM using circulating tumor cell-derived explant (CDX) models and GEMMs. METHODS: We analyzed perfusion within VM vessels and their association with NE and non-NE phenotypes using multiplex immunohistochemistry in CDX, GEMMs, and patient biopsies. We evaluated their three-dimensional structure and defined collagen-integrin interactions. RESULTS: We found that VM vessels are present in 23/25 CDX models, 2 GEMMs, and in 20 patient biopsies of SCLC. Perfused VM vessels support tumor growth and only NOTCH-active non-NE cells are VM-competent in vivo and ex vivo, expressing pseudohypoxia, blood vessel development, and extracellular matrix organization signatures. On Matrigel, VM-primed non-NE cells remodel extracellular matrix into hollow tubules in an integrin ß1-dependent process. CONCLUSIONS: We identified VM as an exemplar of functional heterogeneity and plasticity in SCLC and these findings take considerable steps toward understanding the molecular events that enable VM. These results support therapeutic co-targeting of both NE and non-NE cells to curtail SCLC progression and to improve the outcomes of patients with SCLC in the future.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Animales , Ratones , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Neovascularización Patológica/genética , Transdiferenciación Celular , Línea Celular TumoralRESUMEN
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a recalcitrant malignancy that urgently needs new therapies. Four master transcription factors (ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F3, and YAP1) have been identified in SCLC, and each defines the transcriptome landscape of one molecular subtype. However, these master transcription factors have not been found directly druggable. We hypothesized that blocking their transcriptional coactivator(s) could provide an alternative approach to target these master transcription factors. Here, we identify that BET proteins physically interact with NEUROD1 and function as transcriptional coactivators. Using CRISPR knockout and ChIP-seq, we demonstrate that NEUROD1 plays a critical role in defining the landscapes of BET proteins in the SCLC genome. Blocking BET proteins by inhibitors led to broad suppression of the NEUROD1-target genes, especially those associated with superenhancers, resulting in the inhibition of SCLC growth in vitro and in vivo. LSAMP, a membrane protein in the IgLON family, was identified as one of the NEUROD1-target genes mediating BET inhibitor sensitivity in SCLC. Altogether, our study reveals that BET proteins are essential in regulating NEUROD1 transactivation and are promising targets in SCLC-N subtype tumors. IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest that targeting transcriptional coactivators could be a novel approach to blocking the master transcription factors in SCLC for therapeutic purposes.
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Antineoplásicos , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Activación Transcripcional , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/tratamiento farmacológico , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Línea Celular Tumoral , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismoRESUMEN
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumors comprise heterogeneous mixtures of cell states, categorized into neuroendocrine (NE) and non-neuroendocrine (non-NE) transcriptional subtypes. NE to non-NE state transitions, fueled by plasticity, likely underlie adaptability to treatment and dismal survival rates. Here, we apply an archetypal analysis to model plasticity by recasting SCLC phenotypic heterogeneity through multi-task evolutionary theory. Cell line and tumor transcriptomics data fit well in a five-dimensional convex polytope whose vertices optimize tasks reminiscent of pulmonary NE cells, the SCLC normal counterparts. These tasks, supported by knowledge and experimental data, include proliferation, slithering, metabolism, secretion, and injury repair, reflecting cancer hallmarks. SCLC subtypes, either at the population or single-cell level, can be positioned in archetypal space by bulk or single-cell transcriptomics, respectively, and characterized as task specialists or multi-task generalists by the distance from archetype vertex signatures. In the archetype space, modeling single-cell plasticity as a Markovian process along an underlying state manifold indicates that task trade-offs, in response to microenvironmental perturbations or treatment, may drive cell plasticity. Stifling phenotypic transitions and plasticity may provide new targets for much-needed translational advances in SCLC. A record of this paper's Transparent Peer Review process is included in the supplemental information.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Plasticidad de la Célula , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/metabolismo , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patologíaRESUMEN
Genomic studies support the classification of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) into subtypes based on the expression of lineage-defining transcription factors ASCL1 and NEUROD1, which together are expressed in â¼86% of SCLC. ASCL1 and NEUROD1 activate SCLC oncogene expression, drive distinct transcriptional programs, and maintain the in vitro growth and oncogenic properties of ASCL1 or NEUROD1-expressing SCLC. ASCL1 is also required for tumor formation in SCLC mouse models. A strategy to inhibit the activity of these oncogenic drivers may therefore provide both a targeted therapy for the predominant SCLC subtypes and a tool to investigate the underlying lineage plasticity of established SCLC tumors. However, there are no known agents that inhibit ASCL1 or NEUROD1 function. In this study, we identify a novel strategy to pharmacologically target ASCL1 and NEUROD1 activity in SCLC by exploiting the nuclear localization required for the function of these transcription factors. Karyopherin ß1 (KPNB1) was identified as a nuclear import receptor for both ASCL1 and NEUROD1 in SCLC, and inhibition of KPNB1 led to impaired ASCL1 and NEUROD1 nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity. Pharmacologic targeting of KPNB1 preferentially disrupted the growth of ASCL1+ and NEUROD1+ SCLC cells in vitro and suppressed ASCL1+ tumor growth in vivo, an effect mediated by a combination of impaired ASCL1 downstream target expression, cell-cycle activity, and proteostasis. These findings broaden the support for targeting nuclear transport as an anticancer therapeutic strategy and have implications for targeting lineage-transcription factors in tumors beyond SCLC. SIGNIFICANCE: The identification of KPNB1 as a nuclear import receptor for lineage-defining transcription factors in SCLC reveals a viable therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Transporte Activo de Núcleo Celular , Animales , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Carcinogénesis/genética , Línea Celular Tumoral , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Carioferinas/metabolismo , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Ratones , Oncogenes , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/tratamiento farmacológico , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismoRESUMEN
Studies have shown that Nrf2E79Q/+ is one of the most common mutations found in human tumors. To elucidate how this genetic change contributes to lung cancer, we compared lung tumor development in a genetically-engineered mouse model (GEMM) with dual Trp53/p16 loss, the most common mutations found in human lung tumors, in the presence or absence of Nrf2E79Q/+. Trp53/p16-deficient mice developed combined-small cell lung cancer (C-SCLC), a mixture of pure-SCLC (P-SCLC) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Mice possessing the LSL-Nrf2E79Q mutation showed no difference in the incidence or latency of C-SCLC compared with Nrf2+/+ mice. However, these tumors did not express NRF2 despite Cre-induced recombination of the LSL-Nrf2E79Q allele. Trp53/p16-deficient mice also developed P-SCLC, where activation of the NRF2E79Q mutation associated with a higher incidence of this tumor type. All C-SCLCs and P-SCLCs were positive for NE-markers, NKX1-2 (a lung cancer marker) and negative for P63 (a squamous cell marker), while only P-SCLC expressed NRF2 by immunohistochemistry. Analysis of a consensus NRF2 pathway signature in human NE+-lung tumors showed variable activation of NRF2 signaling. Our study characterizes the first GEMM that develops C-SCLC, a poorly-studied human cancer and implicates a role for NRF2 activation in SCLC development.
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Carcinoma Neuroendocrino , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Animales , Carcinoma Neuroendocrino/patología , Inhibidor p16 de la Quinasa Dependiente de Ciclina/metabolismo , Proteínas de Homeodominio/metabolismo , Humanos , Incidencia , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Ratones , Factor 2 Relacionado con NF-E2/genética , Factor 2 Relacionado con NF-E2/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/genéticaRESUMEN
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a rapidly growing, highly metastatic, and relatively immune-cold lung cancer subtype. Historically viewed in the laboratory and clinic as a single disease, new discoveries suggest that SCLC comprises multiple molecular subsets. Expression of MYC family members and lineage-related transcription factors ASCL1, NEUROD1, and POU2F3 (and, in some studies, YAP1) define unique molecular states that have been associated with distinct responses to a variety of therapies. However, SCLC tumors exhibit a high degree of intratumoral heterogeneity, with recent studies suggesting the existence of tumor cell plasticity and phenotypic switching between subtype states. While SCLC plasticity is correlated with, and likely drives, therapeutic resistance, the mechanisms underlying this plasticity are still largely unknown. Subtype states are also associated with immune-related gene expression, which likely impacts response to immune checkpoint blockade and may reveal novel targets for alternative immunotherapeutic approaches. In this review, we synthesize recent discoveries on the mechanisms of SCLC plasticity and how these processes may impinge on antitumor immunity.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Línea Celular Tumoral , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/terapia , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismoRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: The transcription factor MYC is overexpressed in 30% of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumors and is known to modulate the balance between two major pathways of metabolism: glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. This duality of MYC underscores the importance of further investigation into its role in SCLC metabolism and could lead to insights into metabolic targeting approaches. METHODS: We investigated differences in metabolic pathways in transcriptional and metabolomics datasets based on cMYC expression in patient and cell line samples. Metabolic pathway utilization was evaluated by flow cytometry and Seahorse extracellular flux methodology. Glycolysis inhibition was evaluated in vitro and in vivo using PFK158, a small molecular inhibitor of PFKFB3. RESULTS: MYC-overexpressing SCLC patient samples and cell lines exhibited increased glycolysis gene expression directly mediated by MYC. Further, MYC-overexpressing cell lines displayed enhanced glycolysis consistent with the Warburg effect, while cell lines with low MYC expression appeared more reliant on oxidative metabolism. Inhibition of glycolysis with PFK158 preferentially attenuated glucose uptake, ATP production, and lactate in MYC-overexpressing cell lines. Treatment with PFK158 in xenografts delayed tumor growth and decreased glycolysis gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights an in-depth characterization of SCLC metabolic programming and presents glycolysis as a targetable mechanism downstream of MYC that could offer therapeutic benefit in a subset of SCLC patients.
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Tumor heterogeneity was traditionally considered in the genetic terms, but it has now been broadened into many more facets. These facets represent a challenge in our understanding of cancer etiology but also provide opportunity for us to understand prognosis and therapy response.
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Heterogeneidad Genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Neoplasias/genética , Neoplasias/patología , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Neoplasias Pulmonares/terapia , Mutación , Neoplasias/diagnóstico por imagen , Análisis de la Célula Individual , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/terapiaRESUMEN
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has limited therapeutic options and an exceptionally poor prognosis. Understanding the oncogenic drivers of SCLC may help define novel therapeutic targets. Recurrent genomic rearrangements have been identified in SCLC, most notably an in-frame gene fusion between RLF and MYCL found in up to 7% of the predominant ASCL1-expressing subtype. To explore the role of this fusion in oncogenesis and tumor progression, we used CRISPR/Cas9 somatic editing to generate a Rlf-Mycl-driven mouse model of SCLC. RLF-MYCL fusion accelerated transformation and proliferation of murine SCLC and increased metastatic dissemination and the diversity of metastatic sites. Tumors from the RLF-MYCL genetically engineered mouse model displayed gene expression similarities with human RLF-MYCL SCLC. Together, our studies support RLF-MYCL as the first demonstrated fusion oncogenic driver in SCLC and provide a new preclinical mouse model for the study of this subtype of SCLC. SIGNIFICANCE: The biological and therapeutic implications of gene fusions in SCLC, an aggressive metastatic lung cancer, are unknown. Our study investigates the functional significance of the in-frame RLF-MYCL gene fusion by developing a Rlf-Mycl-driven genetically engineered mouse model and defining the impact on tumor growth and metastasis. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2945.
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Neoplasias Pulmonares , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas , Animales , Carcinogénesis/genética , Línea Celular Tumoral , Fusión Génica , Genes myc , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Ratones , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patología , Proteínas de Unión a TelómerosRESUMEN
ASCL1 is a neuroendocrine lineage-specific oncogenic driver of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), highly expressed in a significant fraction of tumors. However, â¼25% of human SCLC are ASCL1-low and associated with low neuroendocrine fate and high MYC expression. Using genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), we show that alterations in Rb1/Trp53/Myc in the mouse lung induce an ASCL1+ state of SCLC in multiple cells of origin. Genetic depletion of ASCL1 in MYC-driven SCLC dramatically inhibits tumor initiation and progression to the NEUROD1+ subtype of SCLC. Surprisingly, ASCL1 loss promotes a SOX9+ mesenchymal/neural crest stem-like state and the emergence of osteosarcoma and chondroid tumors, whose propensity is impacted by cell of origin. ASCL1 is critical for expression of key lineage-related transcription factors NKX2-1, FOXA2, and INSM1 and represses genes involved in the Hippo/Wnt/Notch developmental pathways in vivo. Importantly, ASCL1 represses a SOX9/RUNX1/RUNX2 program in vivo and SOX9 expression in human SCLC cells, suggesting a conserved function for ASCL1. Together, in a MYC-driven SCLC model, ASCL1 promotes neuroendocrine fate and represses the emergence of a SOX9+ nonendodermal stem-like fate that resembles neural crest.
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Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción SOX9/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Animales , Animales Modificados Genéticamente , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/genética , Humanos , Ratones , Cresta Neural/citología , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/fisiopatología , Células Madre/citologíaRESUMEN
MYC stimulates both metabolism and protein synthesis, but how cells coordinate these complementary programs is unknown. Previous work reported that, in a subset of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, MYC activates guanosine triphosphate (GTP) synthesis and results in sensitivity to inhibitors of the GTP synthesis enzyme inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH). Here, we demonstrated that primary MYChi human SCLC tumors also contained abundant guanosine nucleotides. We also found that elevated MYC in SCLCs with acquired chemoresistance rendered these otherwise recalcitrant tumors dependent on IMPDH. Unexpectedly, our data indicated that IMPDH linked the metabolic and protein synthesis outputs of oncogenic MYC. Coexpression analysis placed IMPDH within the MYC-driven ribosome program, and GTP depletion prevented RNA polymerase I (Pol I) from localizing to ribosomal DNA. Furthermore, the GTPases GPN1 and GPN3 were upregulated by MYC and directed Pol I to ribosomal DNA. Constitutively GTP-bound GPN1/3 mutants mitigated the effect of GTP depletion on Pol I, protecting chemoresistant SCLC cells from IMPDH inhibition. GTP therefore functioned as a metabolic gate tethering MYC-dependent ribosome biogenesis to nucleotide sufficiency through GPN1 and GPN3. IMPDH dependence is a targetable vulnerability in chemoresistant MYChi SCLC.
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Guanosina Trifosfato/metabolismo , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/metabolismo , Ribosomas/metabolismo , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/metabolismo , Animales , Línea Celular Tumoral , GTP Fosfohidrolasas/genética , GTP Fosfohidrolasas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Unión al GTP/genética , Proteínas de Unión al GTP/metabolismo , Guanosina Trifosfato/genética , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Ratones , Mutación , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/genética , ARN Polimerasa I/genética , ARN Polimerasa I/metabolismo , Ribosomas/genética , Ribosomas/patología , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células Pequeñas/patologíaRESUMEN
Cellular responses to stimuli can evolve over time, resulting in distinct early and late phases in response to a single signal. DNA damage induces a complex response that is largely orchestrated by the transcription factor p53, whose dynamics influence whether a damaged cell will arrest and repair the damage or will initiate cell death. How p53 responses and cellular outcomes evolve in the presence of continuous DNA damage remains unknown. Here, we have found that a subset of cells switches from oscillating to sustained p53 dynamics several days after undergoing damage. The switch results from cell cycle progression in the presence of damaged DNA, which activates the caspase-2-PIDDosome, a complex that stabilizes p53 by inactivating its negative regulator MDM2. This work defines a molecular pathway that is activated if the canonical checkpoints fail to halt mitosis in the presence of damaged DNA.
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Puntos de Control del Ciclo Celular , Roturas del ADN de Doble Cadena , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/metabolismo , Células A549 , Caspasa 2/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Señalización del Receptor del Dominio de Muerte/metabolismo , Humanos , Células MCF-7 , Mitosis , Modelos Biológicos , Proteolisis , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-mdm2/metabolismo , Rayos UltravioletaRESUMEN
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a neuroendocrine tumor treated clinically as a single disease with poor outcomes. Distinct SCLC molecular subtypes have been defined based on expression of ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F3, or YAP1. Here, we use mouse and human models with a time-series single-cell transcriptome analysis to reveal that MYC drives dynamic evolution of SCLC subtypes. In neuroendocrine cells, MYC activates Notch to dedifferentiate tumor cells, promoting a temporal shift in SCLC from ASCL1+ to NEUROD1+ to YAP1+ states. MYC alternatively promotes POU2F3+ tumors from a distinct cell type. Human SCLC exhibits intratumoral subtype heterogeneity, suggesting that this dynamic evolution occurs in patient tumors. These findings suggest that genetics, cell of origin, and tumor cell plasticity determine SCLC subtype.