Blocking tumor-intrinsic MNK1 kinase restricts metabolic adaptation and diminishes liver metastasis.

Dysregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase interacting kinases 1/2 (MNK1/2)-eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) signaling axis promotes breast cancer progression. MNK1 is known to influence cancer stem cells (CSCs); self-renewing populations that support metastasis, recurrence, and chemotherapeutic resistance, making them a clinically relevant target. The precise function of MNK1 in regulating CSCs, however, remains unexplored. Here, we generated MNK1 knockout cancer cell lines, resulting in diminished CSC properties in vitro and slowed tumor growth in vivo. Using a multiomics approach, we functionally demonstrated that loss of MNK1 restricts tumor cell metabolic adaptation by reducing glycolysis and increasing dependence on oxidative phosphorylation. Furthermore, MNK1-null breast and pancreatic tumor cells demonstrated suppressed metastasis to the liver, but not the lung. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data from breast cancer patients validated the positive correlation between MNK1 and glycolytic enzyme protein expression. This study defines metabolic perturbations as a previously unknown consequence of targeting MNK1/2, which may be therapeutically exploited.

Targeting the IGF-Axis in Cultured Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Cells Inhibits Cell Cycle Progression and Survival.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGG) accounts for approximately 8-12% of primary brain tumors in children. Prognosis is poor, with a median survival of 9-15 months. Insulin-like growth factor 1-receptor (IGF-1R) gene amplifications have been identified in high-grade gliomas and may contribute to its highly aggressive phenotype, but the effect of IGF inhibitors on pHGG is yet to be determined. In the present study, we analyzed the response of patient-derived pediatric high-grade glioma cells to a novel IGF-1R inhibitor, the IGF-Trap. Using immunohistochemistry, we found that IGF-1R was localized to both the nucleus and cell membrane in different pHGG patient-derived xenograft (PDX) lines under basal conditions. In response to ligand binding, nuclear levels of the receptor increased, and this was associated with the transcriptional upregulation of both the receptor and cyclin D1, suggesting that IGF-1R could regulate its own expression and cell cycle progression in these cells. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) increased the proliferation of the pHGG cells DIPG13 and SGJ2, and this could be blocked by the addition of the IGF-Trap. The IGF-Trap reduced the colony formation of these cells in an optimal growth medium and impeded the ability of IGF-1 to rescue DIPG13 cells from starvation-induced apoptosis. Collectively, these results implicate the IGF-1 axis in the regulation of cell cycle progression, cellular proliferation, and cell survival in pHGG, and identify the IGF-axis as a target and the IGF-Trap as a potential inhibitor of this axis in pHGG.

Identification of a Resistance Mechanism to IGF-IR Targeting in Human Triple Negative MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with unfavorable prognosis and high relapse rates following chemotherapy. There is an urgent need to develop effective targeted therapy for this BC subtype. The type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) was identified as a potential target for BC management. We previously reported on the production of the IGF-Trap, a soluble IGF-1R fusion protein that reduces the bioavailability of circulating IGF-1 and IGF-2 to the cognate receptor, impeding signaling. In nude mice xenotransplanted with the human TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells, we found variable responses to this inhibitor. We used this model to investigate potential resistance mechanisms to IGF-targeted therapy. We show here that prolonged exposure of MDA-MB-231 cells to the IGF-Trap in vitro selected a resistant subpopulation that proliferated unhindered in the presence of the IGF-Trap. We identified in these cells increased fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) activation levels that sensitized them to the FGFR1-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor PD166866. Treatment with this inhibitor caused cell cycle arrest in both the parental and resistant cells, markedly increasing cell death in the latter. When combined with the IGF-Trap, an increase in cell cycle arrest was observed in the resistant cells. Moreover, FGFR1 silencing increased the sensitivity of these cells to IGF-Trap treatment in vivo. Our data identify increased FGFR1 signaling as a resistance mechanism to targeted inhibition of the IGF-IR and suggest that dual IGF-1R/FGFR1 blockade may be required to overcome TNBC cell resistance to IGF-axis inhibitors.

Reprogramming of Nucleotide Metabolism Mediates Synergy between Epigenetic Therapy and MAP Kinase Inhibition.

Small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT) is a rare but often lethal cancer that is diagnosed at a median age of 24 years. Optimal management of patients is not well defined, and current treatment remains challenging, necessitating the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches. The identification of SMARCA4-inactivating mutations invariably characterizing this type of cancer provided insights facilitating diagnostic and therapeutic measures against this disease. We show here that the BET inhibitor OTX015 acts in synergy with the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib to repress the proliferation of SCCOHT in vivo Notably, this synergy is also observed in some SMARCA4-expressing ovarian adenocarcinoma models intrinsically resistant to BETi. Mass spectrometry, coupled with knockdown of newly found targets such as thymidylate synthase, revealed that the repression of a panel of proteins involved in nucleotide synthesis underlies this synergy both in vitro and in vivo, resulting in reduced pools of nucleotide metabolites and subsequent cell-cycle arrest. Overall, our data indicate that dual treatment with BETi and MEKi represents a rational combination therapy against SCCOHT and potentially additional ovarian cancer subtypes.

Translational control of breast cancer plasticity.

Plasticity of neoplasia, whereby cancer cells attain stem-cell-like properties, is required for disease progression and represents a major therapeutic challenge. We report that in breast cancer cells NANOG, SNAIL and NODAL transcripts manifest multiple isoforms characterized by different 5' Untranslated Regions (5'UTRs), whereby translation of a subset of these isoforms is stimulated under hypoxia. The accumulation of the corresponding proteins induces plasticity and "fate-switching" toward stem cell-like phenotypes. Mechanistically, we observe that mTOR inhibitors and chemotherapeutics induce translational activation of a subset of NANOG, SNAIL and NODAL mRNA isoforms akin to hypoxia, engendering stem-cell-like phenotypes. These effects are overcome with drugs that antagonize translational reprogramming caused by eIF2α phosphorylation (e.g. ISRIB), suggesting that the Integrated Stress Response drives breast cancer plasticity. Collectively, our findings reveal a mechanism of induction of plasticity of breast cancer cells and provide a molecular basis for therapeutic strategies aimed at overcoming drug resistance and abrogating metastasis.

Translational offsetting as a mode of estrogen receptor α-dependent regulation of gene expression.

Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) activity is associated with increased cancer cell proliferation. Studies aiming to understand the impact of ERα on cancer-associated phenotypes have largely been limited to its transcriptional activity. Herein, we demonstrate that ERα coordinates its transcriptional output with selective modulation of mRNA translation. Importantly, translational perturbations caused by depletion of ERα largely manifest as "translational offsetting" of the transcriptome, whereby amounts of translated mRNAs and corresponding protein levels are maintained constant despite changes in mRNA abundance. Transcripts whose levels, but not polysome association, are reduced following ERα depletion lack features which limit translation efficiency including structured 5'UTRs and miRNA target sites. In contrast, mRNAs induced upon ERα depletion whose polysome association remains unaltered are enriched in codons requiring U34-modified tRNAs for efficient decoding. Consistently, ERα regulates levels of U34-modifying enzymes and thereby controls levels of U34-modified tRNAs. These findings unravel a hitherto unprecedented mechanism of ERα-dependent orchestration of transcriptional and translational programs that may be a pervasive mechanism of proteome maintenance in hormone-dependent cancers.

An ErbB2/c-Src axis links bioenergetics with PRC2 translation to drive epigenetic reprogramming and mammary tumorigenesis.

Dysregulation of histone modifications promotes carcinogenesis by altering transcription. Breast cancers frequently overexpress the histone methyltransferase EZH2, the catalytic subunit of Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2). However, the role of EZH2 in this setting is unclear due to the context-dependent functions of PRC2 and the heterogeneity of breast cancer. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying PRC2 overexpression in cancer are obscure. Here, using multiple models of breast cancer driven by the oncogene ErbB2, we show that the tyrosine kinase c-Src links energy sufficiency with PRC2 overexpression via control of mRNA translation. By stimulating mitochondrial ATP production, c-Src suppresses energy stress, permitting sustained activation of the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), which increases the translation of mRNAs encoding the PRC2 subunits Ezh2 and Suz12. We show that Ezh2 overexpression and activity are pivotal in ErbB2-mediated mammary tumourigenesis. These results reveal the hitherto unknown c-Src/mTORC1/PRC2 axis, which is essential for ErbB2-driven carcinogenesis.

Translational and HIF-1α-Dependent Metabolic Reprogramming Underpin Metabolic Plasticity and Responses to Kinase Inhibitors and Biguanides.

There is increasing interest in therapeutically exploiting metabolic differences between normal and cancer cells. We show that kinase inhibitors (KIs) and biguanides synergistically and selectively target a variety of cancer cells. Synthesis of non-essential amino acids (NEAAs) aspartate, asparagine, and serine, as well as glutamine metabolism, are major determinants of the efficacy of KI/biguanide combinations. The mTORC1/4E-BP axis regulates aspartate, asparagine, and serine synthesis by modulating mRNA translation, while ablation of 4E-BP1/2 substantially decreases sensitivity of breast cancer and melanoma cells to KI/biguanide combinations. Efficacy of the KI/biguanide combinations is also determined by HIF-1α-dependent perturbations in glutamine metabolism, which were observed in VHL-deficient renal cancer cells. This suggests that cancer cells display metabolic plasticity by engaging non-redundant adaptive mechanisms, which allows them to survive therapeutic insults that target cancer metabolism.

Dysregulation of mRNA translation and energy metabolism in cancer.

Dysregulated mRNA translation and aberrant energy metabolism are frequent in cancer. Considering that mRNA translation is an energy demanding process, cancer cells must produce sufficient ATP to meet energy demand of hyperactive translational machinery. In recent years, the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) emerged as a central regulatory node which coordinates energy consumption by the translation apparatus and ATP production in mitochondria. Aberrant mTOR signaling underpins the vast majority of cancers whereby increased mTOR activity is thought to be a major determinant of both malignant translatomes and metabolomes. Nonetheless, the role of mTOR and other related signaling nodes (e.g. AMPK) in orchestrating protein synthesis and cancer energetics is only recently being unraveled. In this review, we discuss recent findings that provide insights into the molecular underpinnings of coordination of translational and metabolic programs of cancer cells, and potential strategies to translate these findings into clinical treatments.

The ability of an arginine to tryptophan substitution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNA nucleotidyltransferase to alleviate a temperature-sensitive phenotype suggests a role for motif C in active site organization.

We report that the temperature-sensitive (ts) phenotype in Saccharomyces cerevisiae associated with a variant tRNA nucleotidyltransferase containing an amino acid substitution at position 189 results from a reduced ability to incorporate AMP and CMP into tRNAs. We show that this defect can be compensated for by a second-site suppressor converting residue arginine 64 to tryptophan. The R64W substitution does not alter the structure or thermal stability of the enzyme dramatically but restores catalytic activity in vitro and suppresses the ts phenotype in vivo. R64 is found in motif A known to be involved in catalysis and nucleotide triphosphate binding while E189 lies within motif C previously thought only to connect the head and neck domains of the protein. Although mutagenesis experiments indicate that residues R64 and E189 do not interact directly, our data suggest a critical role for residue E189 in enzyme structure and function. Both R64 and E189 may contribute to the organization of the catalytic domain of the enzyme. These results, along with overexpression and deletion analyses, show that the ts phenotype of cca1-E189F does not arise from thermal instability of the variant tRNA nucleotidyltransferase but instead from the inability of a partially active enzyme to support growth only at higher temperatures.

The folding capacity of the mature domain of the dual-targeted plant tRNA nucleotidyltransferase influences organelle selection.

tRNA-NTs (tRNA nucleotidyltransferases) are required for the maturation or repair of tRNAs by ensuring that they have an intact cytidine-cytidine-adenosine sequence at their 3'-termini. Therefore this enzymatic activity is found in all cellular compartments, namely the nucleus, cytoplasm, plastids and mitochondria, in which tRNA synthesis or translation occurs. A single gene codes for tRNA-NT in plants, suggesting a complex targeting mechanism. Consistent with this, distinct signals have been proposed for plastidic, mitochondrial and nuclear targeting. Our previous research has shown that in addition to N-terminal targeting information, the mature domain of the protein itself modifies targeting to mitochondria and plastids. This suggests the existence of an as yet unknown determinate for the distribution of dual-targeted proteins between these two organelles. In the present study, we explore the enzymatic and physicochemical properties of tRNA-NT variants to correlate the properties of the enzyme with the intracellular distribution of the protein. We show that alteration of tRNA-NT stability influences its intracellular distribution due to variations in organelle import capacities. Hence the fate of the protein is determined not only by the transit peptide sequence, but also by the physicochemical properties of the mature protein.