RESUMO
Activity of endogenous promoters can be altered by including additional responsive elements (REs). These elements can be responsive to features of the tumor environment or alternatively to signaling pathways specifically activated in cancer cells. These REs incorporated into tumor-specific promoters can improve cancer targeting, the replicative capacity, and lytic activity of conditionally replicative adenovirus. Here we outline an approach to incorporate hypoxia and inflammation REs into a specific fragment of the SPARC promoter and the steps to clone a nucleosome positioning sequence (NPS ) identified in the osteocalcin promoter that contains a Wnt RE upstream of a heterologous synthetic promoter.
Assuntos
Adenoviridae/genética , Neoplasias/genética , Vírus Oncolíticos/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , Microambiente Tumoral , Animais , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Clonagem Molecular/métodos , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Células HEK293 , Humanos , Hipóxia/genética , Inflamação/genética , Neoplasias/metabolismo , Osteocalcina/genética , Plasmídeos/genética , Ratos , Via de Sinalização WntRESUMO
Mutations in components of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway drive colorectal cancer (CRC) by deregulating expression of downstream target genes including the c-MYC proto-oncogene (MYC). The critical regulatory DNA enhancer elements that control oncogenic MYC expression in CRC have yet to be fully elucidated. In previous reports, we correlated T-cell factor (TCF) and ß-catenin binding to the MYC 3' Wnt responsive DNA element (MYC 3' WRE) with MYC expression in HCT116 cells. Here we used CRISPR/Cas9 to determine whether this element is a critical driver of MYC. We isolated a clonal population of cells that contained a deletion of a single TCF binding element (TBE) within the MYC 3' WRE. This deletion reduced TCF/ß-catenin binding to this regulatory element and decreased MYC expression. Using RNA-Seq analysis, we found altered expression of genes that regulate metabolic processes, many of which are known MYC target genes. We found that 3' WRE-Mut cells displayed a reduced proliferative capacity, diminished clonogenic growth, and a decreased potential to form tumors in vivo. These findings indicate that the MYC 3' WRE is a critical driver of oncogenic MYC expression and suggest that this element may serve as a therapeutic target for CRC.