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Direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes (CMs) represents a promising strategy to regenerate CMs lost after ischemic heart injury. Overexpression of GATA4, HAND2, MEF2C, TBX5, miR-1, and miR-133 (GHMT2m) along with transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) inhibition efficiently promote reprogramming. However, the mechanisms by which TGF-ß blockade promotes cardiac reprogramming remain unknown. Here, we identify interactions between the histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) demethylase JMJD3, the SWI/SNF remodeling complex subunit BRG1, and cardiac transcription factors. Furthermore, canonical TGF-ß signaling regulates the interaction between GATA4 and JMJD3. TGF-ß activation impairs the ability of GATA4 to bind target genes and prevents demethylation of H3K27 at cardiac gene promoters during cardiac reprogramming. Finally, a mutation in GATA4 (V267M) that is associated with congenital heart disease exhibits reduced binding to JMJD3 and impairs cardiomyogenesis. Thus, we have identified an epigenetic mechanism wherein canonical TGF-ß pathway activation impairs cardiac gene programming, in part by interfering with GATA4-JMJD3 interactions.
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Factor de Transcripción GATA4/metabolismo , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Células Madre Pluripotentes Inducidas/citología , Histona Demetilasas con Dominio de Jumonji/metabolismo , Miocitos Cardíacos/citología , Factor de Crecimiento Transformador beta/antagonistas & inhibidores , Animales , Metilación de ADN , Embrión de Mamíferos/citología , Embrión de Mamíferos/metabolismo , Fibroblastos/citología , Fibroblastos/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción GATA4/genética , Histonas/química , Humanos , Células Madre Pluripotentes Inducidas/metabolismo , Histona Demetilasas con Dominio de Jumonji/genética , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Miocitos Cardíacos/metabolismoRESUMEN
Loss of SMARCB1 is the hallmark genetic event that characterizes rhabdoid tumors in children. Rhabdoid tumors of the brain (ATRT) occur in young children and are particularly challenging with poor long-term survival. SMARCB1 is a member of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex that is responsible for determining cellular pluripotency and lineage commitment. The mechanisms by which SMARCB1 deletion results in tumorigenesis remain unclear. Recent studies demonstrate that ATRT consists of 3 genomic subgroups with a subset of poor outcome tumors expressing high BMP and MYC pathway activation. Here we show that MYC occupies distinct promoter loci in ATRT compared to embryonic stem (ES) cells. Furthermore, using human ATRT cell lines, patient-derived cell culture, ex vivo patient-derived tumor, and orthotopic xenograft models, we show that MYC inhibition is a molecular vulnerability in SMARCB1-deleted tumors and that such inhibition effectively suppresses BMP and pluripotency-associated genomic programs, attenuates tumor cell self-renewal, promotes senescence, and inhibits ATRT tumor growth in vivo. Transgenic expression of Omomyc (a bona-fide MYC dominant negative) or chemical inhibition of MYC transcriptomic programs with the BET inhibitor JQ1 phenocopy genetic depletion of MYC, effectively restricting ATRT tumor growth and opening a promising therapeutic avenue for rhabdoid tumors in children.
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Transformación Celular Neoplásica/genética , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/metabolismo , Tumor Rabdoide/genética , Proteína SMARCB1/genética , Teratoma/genética , Animales , Azepinas/farmacología , Proteínas Morfogenéticas Óseas/genética , Proteínas Morfogenéticas Óseas/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Autorrenovación de las Células/efectos de los fármacos , Autorrenovación de las Células/genética , Senescencia Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Senescencia Celular/genética , Cromatina/genética , Cromatina/metabolismo , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de los fármacos , Humanos , Ratones , Ratones Desnudos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/genética , Tumor Rabdoide/patología , Teratoma/patología , Triazoles/farmacología , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
MYC-driven medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly aggressive cancer type with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Through CRISPR-Cas9 screening across MB cell lines, we identified the Mediator-associated kinase CDK8 as the top dependence for MYC-driven MB. Loss of CDK8 markedly reduces MYC expression and impedes MB growth. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that CDK8 depletion suppresses ribosome biogenesis and mRNA translation. CDK8 regulates occupancy of phospho-Polymerase II at specific chromatin loci facilitating an epigenetic alteration that promotes transcriptional regulation of ribosome biogenesis. Additionally, CDK8-mediated phosphorylation of 4EBP1 plays a crucial role in initiating eIF4E-dependent translation. Targeting CDK8 effectively suppresses cancer stem and progenitor cells, characterized by increased ribosome biogenesis activity. We also report the synergistic inhibition of CDK8 and mTOR in vivo and in vitro . Overall, our findings establish a connection between transcription and translation regulation, suggesting a promising therapeutic approach targets multiple points in the protein synthesis network for MYC-driven MB.
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Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the world. While cigarette smoking is the major preventable factor for cancers in general and lung cancer in particular, old age is also a major risk factor. Aging-related chronic, low-level inflammation, termed inflammaging, has been widely documented; however, it remains unclear how inflammaging contributes to increased lung cancer incidence. Aim: To establish connections between aging-associated changes in the lungs and cancer risk. Methods: We analyzed public databases of gene expression for normal and cancerous human lungs and used mouse models to understand which changes were dependent on inflammation, as well as to assess the impact on oncogenesis. Results: Analyses of GTEx and TCGA databases comparing gene expression profiles from normal lungs, lung adenocarcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma of subjects across age groups revealed upregulated pathways such as inflammatory response, TNFA signaling via NFκB, and interferon-gamma response. Similar pathways were identified comparing the gene expression profiles of young and old mouse lungs. Transgenic expression of alpha 1 antitrypsin (AAT) partially reverses increases in markers of aging-associated inflammation and immune deregulation. Using an orthotopic model of lung cancer using cells derived from EML4-ALK fusion-induced adenomas, we demonstrated an increased tumor outgrowth in lungs of old mice while NLRP3 knockout in old mice decreased tumor volumes, suggesting that inflammation contributes to increased lung cancer development in aging organisms. Conclusions: These studies reveal how expression of an anti-inflammatory mediator (AAT) can reduce some but not all aging-associated changes in mRNA and protein expression in the lungs. We further show that aging is associated with increased tumor outgrowth in the lungs, which may relate to an increased inflammatory microenvironment.
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Chromobox 2 (CBX2), an epigenetic reader and component of polycomb repressor complex 1, is highly expressed in >75% of high-grade serous carcinoma. Increased CBX2 expression is associated with poorer survival, whereas CBX2 knockdown leads to improved chemotherapy sensitivity. In a high-grade serous carcinoma immune-competent murine model, knockdown of CBX2 decreased tumor progression. We sought to explore the impact of modulation of CBX2 on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), understanding that the TIME plays a critical role in disease progression and development of therapy resistance. Exploration of existing datasets demonstrated that elevated CBX2 expression significantly correlated with specific immune cell types in the TIME. RNA sequencing and pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes demonstrated immune signature enrichment. Confocal microscopy and co-culture experiments found that modulation of CBX2 leads to increased recruitment and infiltration of macrophages. Flow cytometry of macrophages cultured with CBX2-overexpressing cells showed increased M2-like macrophages and decreased phagocytosis activity. Cbx2 knockdown in the Trp53-null, Brca2-null ID8 syngeneic murine model (ID8 Trp53-/-Brca2-/-) led to decreased tumor progression compared with the control. NanoString immuno-oncology panel analysis suggested that knockdown in Cbx2 shifts immune cell composition, with an increase in macrophages. Multispectral immunohistochemistry (mIHC) further confirmed an increase in macrophage infiltration. Increased CBX2 expression leads to recruitment and polarization of protumor macrophages, and targeting CBX2 may serve to modulate the TIME to enhance the efficacy of immune therapies. SIGNIFICANCE: CBX2 expression correlates with the TIME. CBX2 modulation shifts the macrophage population, potentially leading to an immunosuppressive microenvironment, highlighting CBX2 as a target to improve efficacy of immunotherapy.
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Microambiente Tumoral , Animales , Ratones , Humanos , Femenino , Cistadenocarcinoma Seroso/patología , Cistadenocarcinoma Seroso/metabolismo , Cistadenocarcinoma Seroso/genética , Cistadenocarcinoma Seroso/inmunología , Complejo Represivo Polycomb 1/genética , Complejo Represivo Polycomb 1/metabolismo , Neoplasias Ováricas/patología , Neoplasias Ováricas/metabolismo , Neoplasias Ováricas/genética , Neoplasias Ováricas/inmunología , Línea Celular Tumoral , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Macrófagos/inmunología , Proteína BRCA2/genética , Proteína BRCA2/metabolismo , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/metabolismo , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/genéticaRESUMEN
Dynamic regulation of gene expression is fundamental for cellular adaptation to exogenous stressors. P-TEFb-mediated pause-release of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a conserved regulatory mechanism for synchronous transcriptional induction in response to heat shock, but this pro-survival role has not been examined in the applied context of cancer therapy. Using model systems of pediatric high-grade glioma, we show that rapid genome-wide reorganization of active chromatin facilitates P-TEFb-mediated nascent transcriptional induction within hours of exposure to therapeutic ionizing radiation. Concurrent inhibition of P-TEFb disrupts this chromatin reorganization and blunts transcriptional induction, abrogating key adaptive programs such as DNA damage repair and cell cycle regulation. This combination demonstrates a potent, synergistic therapeutic potential agnostic of glioma subtype, leading to a marked induction of tumor cell apoptosis and prolongation of xenograft survival. These studies reveal a central role for P-TEFb underpinning the early adaptive response to radiotherapy, opening avenues for combinatorial treatment in these lethal malignancies.
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Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Glioma , Factor B de Elongación Transcripcional Positiva , Humanos , Glioma/radioterapia , Glioma/genética , Glioma/metabolismo , Glioma/patología , Animales , Factor B de Elongación Transcripcional Positiva/metabolismo , Factor B de Elongación Transcripcional Positiva/genética , Línea Celular Tumoral , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de la radiación , Ratones , ARN Polimerasa II/metabolismo , ARN Polimerasa II/genética , Transcripción Genética/efectos de la radiación , Apoptosis/efectos de la radiación , Apoptosis/genética , Neoplasias Encefálicas/radioterapia , Neoplasias Encefálicas/genética , Neoplasias Encefálicas/metabolismo , Neoplasias Encefálicas/patología , Reparación del ADN/efectos de la radiación , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
Ewing sarcoma is the second most common bone cancer in children, accounting for 2% of pediatric cancer diagnoses. Patients who present with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis have a dismal prognosis, compared to the >70% 5-year survival of those with localized disease. Here, we utilized single cell RNA-sequencing to characterize the transcriptional landscape of primary Ewing sarcoma tumors and surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME). Copy-number analysis identified subclonal evolution within patients prior to treatment. Primary tumor samples demonstrate a heterogenous transcriptional landscape with several conserved gene expression programs, including those composed of genes related to proliferation and EWS targets. Single cell RNA-sequencing and immunofluorescence of circulating tumor cells at the time of diagnosis identified TSPAN8 as a novel therapeutic target.
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Most children with medulloblastoma (MB) achieve remission, but some face very aggressive metastatic tumors. Their dismal outcome highlights the critical need to advance therapeutic approaches that benefit such high-risk patients. Minnelide, a clinically relevant analog of the natural product triptolide, has oncostatic activity in both preclinical and early clinical settings. Despite its efficacy and tolerable toxicity, this compound has not been evaluated in MB. Utilizing a bioinformatic data set that integrates cellular drug response data with gene expression, we predicted that Group 3 (G3) MB, which has a poor 5-year survival, would be sensitive to triptolide/Minnelide. We subsequently showed that both triptolide and Minnelide attenuate the viability of G3 MB cells ex vivo. Transcriptomic analyses identified MYC signaling, a pathologically relevant driver of G3 MB, as a downstream target of this class of drugs. We validated this MYC dependency in G3 MB cells and showed that triptolide exerts its efficacy by reducing both MYC transcription and MYC protein stability. Importantly, Minnelide acted on MYC to reduce tumor growth and leptomeningeal spread, which resulted in improved survival of G3 MB animal models. Moreover, Minnelide improved the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy, further highlighting its potential for the treatment of MYC-driven G3 MB.
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Diterpenos , Compuestos Epoxi , Meduloblastoma , Fenantrenos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de Xenoinjerto , Fenantrenos/farmacología , Diterpenos/farmacología , Compuestos Epoxi/farmacología , Meduloblastoma/tratamiento farmacológico , Meduloblastoma/genética , Meduloblastoma/patología , Meduloblastoma/metabolismo , Animales , Humanos , Ratones , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Profármacos/farmacología , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/genética , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/patología , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/metabolismo , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de los fármacos , OrganofosfatosRESUMEN
Understanding the nature of DNA replication origins in metazoan is quite challenging. In the absence of a genetic assay like in yeast, methods were devised based on the DNA structure, the visualization or quantification of the first nascent strands that are synthesized at origins, or on the localization of origin binding proteins. The purification and quantification of RNA-primed nascent DNA at origins during initiation of DNA synthesis is the most exhaustive and precise method to map active replication origins at present. We have upgraded this method to the level of reproducibility and enrichment required for genome-wide analyses by microarrays or deep sequencing. We detail here the protocol and the controls required at the different steps.
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Replicación del ADN , ADN/biosíntesis , Origen de Réplica , Animales , Técnicas de Cultivo de Célula , Células Cultivadas , ADN/química , ADN/aislamiento & purificación , División del ADN , Exodesoxirribonucleasas/química , Sitios Genéticos , Genoma , Proteínas de Homeodominio/genética , Humanos , Extracción Líquido-Líquido , Análisis de Secuencia por Matrices de Oligonucleótidos , División del ARN , Reacción en Cadena en Tiempo Real de la Polimerasa , Ribonucleasa Pancreática/químicaRESUMEN
Dynamic regulation of gene expression is fundamental for cellular adaptation to exogenous stressors. PTEFb-mediated pause-release of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a conserved regulatory mechanism for synchronous transcriptional induction in response to heat shock, but this pro-survival role has not been examined in the applied context of cancer therapy. Using model systems of pediatric high-grade glioma, we show that rapid genome-wide reorganization of active chromatin facilitates PTEFb-mediated nascent transcriptional induction within hours of exposure to therapeutic ionizing radiation. Concurrent inhibition of PTEFb disrupts this chromatin reorganization and blunts transcriptional induction, abrogating key adaptive programs such as DNA damage repair and cell cycle regulation. This combination demonstrates a potent, synergistic therapeutic potential agnostic of glioma subtype, leading to a marked induction of tumor cell apoptosis and prolongation of xenograft survival. These studies reveal a central role for PTEFb underpinning the early adaptive response to radiotherapy, opening new avenues for combinatorial treatment in these lethal malignancies.
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Ewing sarcoma (ES), which is characterized by the presence of oncogenic fusion proteins such as EWS/FLI1, is an aggressive pediatric malignancy with a high rate of early dissemination and poor outcome after distant spread. Here we demonstrate that the SIX1 homeoprotein, which enhances metastasis in most tumor types, suppresses ES metastasis by co-regulating EWS/FLI1 target genes. Like EWS/FLI1, SIX1 promotes cell growth/transformation, yet dramatically inhibits migration and invasion, as well as metastasis in vivo. We show that EWS/FLI1 promotes SIX1 protein expression, and that the two proteins share genome-wide binding profiles and transcriptional regulatory targets, including many metastasis-associated genes such as integrins, which they co-regulate. We further show that SIX1 downregulation of integrins is critical to its ability to inhibit invasion, a key characteristic of metastatic cells. These data demonstrate an unexpected anti-metastatic function for SIX1, through coordinate gene regulation with the key oncoprotein in ES, EWS/FLI1.
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Sarcoma de Ewing , Humanos , Niño , Sarcoma de Ewing/patología , Redes Reguladoras de Genes , Línea Celular Tumoral , Proteína Proto-Oncogénica c-fli-1/genética , Proteína Proto-Oncogénica c-fli-1/metabolismo , Proteína EWS de Unión a ARN/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica , Proteínas de Fusión Oncogénica/genética , Proteínas de Fusión Oncogénica/metabolismo , Integrinas/metabolismo , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Proteínas de Homeodominio/genética , Proteínas de Homeodominio/metabolismoRESUMEN
Vascular smooth muscle-derived Sca1+ adventitial progenitor (AdvSca1-SM) cells are tissue-resident, multipotent stem cells that contribute to progression of vascular remodeling and fibrosis. Upon acute vascular injury, AdvSca1-SM cells differentiate into myofibroblasts and are embedded in perivascular collagen and the extracellular matrix. While the phenotypic properties of AdvSca1-SM-derived myofibroblasts have been defined, the underlying epigenetic regulators driving the AdvSca1-SM-to-myofibroblast transition are unclear. We show that the chromatin remodeler Smarca4/Brg1 facilitates AdvSca1-SM myofibroblast differentiation. Brg1 mRNA and protein were upregulated in AdvSca1-SM cells after acute vascular injury, and pharmacological inhibition of Brg1 by the small molecule PFI-3 attenuated perivascular fibrosis and adventitial expansion. TGF-ß1 stimulation of AdvSca1-SM cells in vitro reduced expression of stemness genes while inducing expression of myofibroblast genes that was associated with enhanced contractility; PFI blocked TGF-ß1-induced phenotypic transition. Similarly, genetic knockdown of Brg1 in vivo reduced adventitial remodeling and fibrosis and reversed AdvSca1-SM-to-myofibroblast transition in vitro. Mechanistically, TGF-ß1 promoted redistribution of Brg1 from distal intergenic sites of stemness genes and recruitment to promoter regions of myofibroblast-related genes, which was blocked by PFI-3. These data provide insight into epigenetic regulation of resident vascular progenitor cell differentiation and support that manipulating the AdvSca1-SM phenotype will provide antifibrotic clinical benefits.
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Miofibroblastos , Lesiones del Sistema Vascular , Humanos , Miofibroblastos/metabolismo , Factor de Crecimiento Transformador beta1/metabolismo , Cromatina/metabolismo , Lesiones del Sistema Vascular/metabolismo , Lesiones del Sistema Vascular/patología , Epigénesis Genética , Diferenciación Celular , Músculo Liso Vascular , Fibrosis , ADN Helicasas/genética , ADN Helicasas/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismoRESUMEN
Chimeric antigen receptor T cells are an effective therapy for B-lineage malignancies. However, many patients relapse and this therapeutic has yet to show strong efficacy in other hematologic or solid tumors. One opportunity for improvement lies in the ability to generate T cells with desirable functional characteristics. Here, we dissect the biology of CD8+ CAR T cells (CAR8) by controlling whether the T cell has encountered cognate TCR antigen prior to CAR generation. We find that prior antigen experience influences multiple aspects of in vitro and in vivo CAR8 functionality, resulting in superior effector function and leukemia clearance in the setting of limiting target antigen density compared to antigen-inexperienced T cells. However, this comes at the expense of inferior proliferative capacity, susceptibility to phenotypic exhaustion and dysfunction, and inability to clear wildtype leukemia in the setting of limiting CAR+ cell dose. Epigenomic and transcriptomic comparisons of these cell populations identified overexpression of the Runx2 transcription factor as a novel strategy to enhance CAR8 function, with a differential impact depending on prior cell state. Collectively, our data demonstrate that prior antigen experience determines functional attributes of a CAR T cell, as well as amenability to functional enhancement by transcription factor modulation.
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BACKGROUND: Medulloblastoma is the most common pediatric brain malignancy. Patients with the Group 3 subtype of medulloblastoma (MB) often exhibit MYC amplification and/or overexpression and have the poorest prognosis. While Group 3 MB is known to be highly dependent on MYC, direct targeting of MYC remains elusive. METHODS: Patient gene expression data were used to identify highly expressed EYA2 in Group 3 MB samples, assess the correlation between EYA2 and MYC, and examine patient survival. Genetic and pharmacological studies were performed on EYA2 in Group 3 derived MB cell models to assess MYC regulation and viability in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: EYA2 is more highly expressed in Group 3 MB than other MB subgroups and is essential for Group 3 MB growth in vitro and in vivo. EYA2 regulates MYC expression and protein stability in Group 3 MB, resulting in global alterations of MYC transcription. Inhibition of EYA2 tyrosine phosphatase activity, using a novel small molecule inhibitor (NCGC00249987, or 9987), significantly decreases Group 3 MB MYC expression in both flank and intracranial growth in vivo. Human MB RNA-seq data show that EYA2 and MYC are significantly positively correlated, high EYA2 expression is significantly associated with a MYC transcriptional signature, and patients with high EYA2 and MYC expression have worse prognoses than those that do not express both genes at high levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that EYA2 is a critical regulator of MYC in Group 3 MB and suggest a novel therapeutic avenue to target this highly lethal disease.
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Neoplasias Cerebelosas , Meduloblastoma , Humanos , Niño , Meduloblastoma/tratamiento farmacológico , Meduloblastoma/genética , Meduloblastoma/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Proteínas Tirosina Fosfatasas/genética , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/genética , Neoplasias Cerebelosas/metabolismo , Tirosina , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Péptidos y Proteínas de Señalización IntracelularRESUMEN
Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is a highly aggressive pediatric brain tumor. Despite radiation, aggressive chemotherapy and autologous stem cell rescue, children usually have a poor survival time. In the present study, the role of TP53/MDM2 interaction in ATRT was investigated. A functional genomic screen identified the TP53/MDM2 axis as a therapeutic target in the central nervous system (CNS) ATRT. Gene expression analysis revealed that all ATRT subgroups expressed high levels of MDM2, which is a negative regulator of TP53. Using cell viability, colony formation and methylcellulose assays it was found that genetic MDM2 inhibition with short hairpin RNA or chemical MDM2 inhibition with small molecule inhibitors, Nutlin3 and idasanutlin (RG7388) decreased the growth of ATRT cell lines. Furthermore, idasanutlin significantly decreased the growth of intracranial orthotopic ATRT brain tumors, as evaluated using T2 MRI, and prolonged survival time relative to control animals. MRI of intracranial tumors showed that diffusion coefficient, an effective marker for successful treatment, significantly increased with idasanutlin treatment showing tumor necrosis/apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed an increased number of caspase3positive cells in the idasanutlin treatment group, confirming the induction of apoptosis in vivo. Using flow cytometry and western blot analysis we show that inhibition of MDM2 enhanced radiation sensitivity in vitro by potentiating DNA damage via the induction of the TP53/Bax/Puma proapoptotic axis. Furthermore, DNA damage was associated with increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species accumulation. The present study demonstrated that MDM2 expression level was increased in ATRT patient samples and MDM2 inhibition suppressed ATRT cell growth in vitro, and leads to apoptosis in vivo. MDM2 inhibition potentiates DNA damage and sensitizes ATRT cells to radiation. These findings highlight the TP53/MDM2 axis as a rational therapeutic target in CNS ATRT.
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Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-mdm2/efectos de los fármacos , Tolerancia a Radiación/efectos de los fármacos , Tumor Rabdoide/radioterapia , Proteína p53 Supresora de Tumor/efectos de los fármacos , Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Apoptosis/efectos de los fármacos , Apoptosis/genética , Línea Celular Tumoral/efectos de los fármacos , Línea Celular Tumoral/metabolismo , Proliferación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Colorado , Humanos , Tolerancia a Radiación/genética , Teratoma/radioterapiaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) were approved for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), the response rate remains relatively low. Mechanisms underlying ICI unresponsiveness versus sensitivity are not fully understood. METHOD: To better delineate differential responses to ICI treatment, we employed mouse SCC models, termed KPPA tumors that were caused by deleting p53 and hyperactivating PIK3CA, two most frequently mutated genes in human HNSCCs. We transplanted two KPPA tumor lines (TAb2 versus TCh3) into C57BL/6 recipients and examined the immune tumor microenvironment using flow cytometry. Furthermore, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing to identify the difference in tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). RESULTS: We found that different KPPA tumors exhibited heterogeneous immune profiles pre-existing treatment that dictated their sensitivity or unresponsiveness to anti-PD-L1. Unresponsive TAb2 tumors were highly enriched with functional tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), especially M2-TAMs. In contrast, sensitive TCh3 tumors contained more CD8 TILs with better effector functions. TAb2 tumor cells drastically expanded F4/80+ TAMs from bone marrow precursors, requiring CSF1 and VEGF. Consistently, a higher combined expression of VEGF-C and CSF1 predicts worse survival in PIK3CAAmp/TP53Mutated HNSCC patients. Unresponsive TAb2 tumors upregulated distinct signaling pathways that correlate with aggressive tumor phenotypes. While anti-PD-L1 did not affect the TME of TAb2 tumors, it significantly increased the number of CD8 TILs in TCh3 tumors. CONCLUSIONS: We uncovered tumor-intrinsic differences that may underlie the differential responses to ICI by establishing and employing two SCC tumor lines, TAb2 vs. TCh3, both of which harbor TP53 deletion and PIK3CA hyperactivation. Our study indicates the limitation of stratifying cancers according to their genetic alterations and suggests that evaluating HNSCC tumor-intrinsic cues along with immune profiles in the TME may help better predict ICI responses. Our experimental models may provide a platform for pinpointing tumor-intrinsic differences underlying an immunosuppressive TME in HNSCCs and for testing combined immunotherapies targeting either tumor-specific or TAM-specific players to improve ICI efficacy.
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Carcinoma de Células Escamosas , Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello , Animales , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas/genética , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas/patología , Humanos , Inhibidores de Puntos de Control Inmunológico/farmacología , Inhibidores de Puntos de Control Inmunológico/uso terapéutico , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Oncogenes , Microambiente TumoralRESUMEN
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a pediatric muscle sarcoma characterized by expression of the myogenic lineage transcription factors (TFs) MYOD1 and MYOG. Despite high expression of these TFs, RMS cells fail to terminally differentiate, suggesting the presence of factors that alter their functions. Here, we demonstrate that the developmental TF SIX1 is highly expressed in RMS and critical for maintaining a muscle progenitor-like state. SIX1 loss induces differentiation of RMS cells into myotube-like cells and impedes tumor growth in vivo. We show that SIX1 maintains the RMS undifferentiated state by controlling enhancer activity and MYOD1 occupancy at loci more permissive to tumor growth over muscle differentiation. Finally, we demonstrate that a gene signature derived from SIX1 loss correlates with differentiation status and predicts RMS progression in human disease. Our findings demonstrate a master regulatory role of SIX1 in repression of RMS differentiation via genome-wide alterations in MYOD1 and MYOG-mediated transcription.
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Proteínas de Homeodominio/metabolismo , Desarrollo de Músculos/genética , Rabdomiosarcoma/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Proteínas de Pez Cebra/metabolismo , Animales , Diferenciación Celular/genética , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/genética , Ratones , Desarrollo de Músculos/fisiología , Proteína MioD/metabolismo , Miogenina/metabolismo , Proteínas de Fusión Oncogénica/metabolismo , Rabdomiosarcoma/metabolismo , Rabdomiosarcoma Embrionario , Pez CebraRESUMEN
In early Xenopus development, transcription is repressed and DNA replication initiates at non-specific sites. Here, we show that a site-specific DNA replication origin can be induced in this context by the assembly of a transcription domain. Deletion of the promoter element abolishes site-specific initiation, and its relocalization to an ectopic site induces a new origin of replication. This process does not require active transcription, and specification of the origin occurs mainly through a decrease in non-specific initiation at sites distant from the promoter. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that site-specific acetylation of histones favours the selection of the active DNA replication origin. We propose that the specification of active DNA replication origins occurs by secondary epigenetic events and that the programming of chromatin for transcription during development contributes to this selection in higher eukaryotes.
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Replicación del ADN , Origen de Réplica , Acetilación , Animales , Cromatina/metabolismo , Femenino , Histonas/metabolismo , Mutación , Óvulo , Pruebas de Precipitina , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa , Transcripción Genética , XenopusRESUMEN
Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is highly expressed in group 3 medulloblastoma (MB), and it has been preclinically validated as a cancer therapeutic target in medulloblastoma. Here, we demonstrate that PLK1 inhibition with PCM-075 or BI6727 significantly reduces the growth of MB cells and causes a decrease of c-MYC mRNA and protein levels. We show that MYC activates PLK1 transcription, while the inhibition of PLK1 suppresses MB tumor development and causes a decrease in c-MYC protein level by suppressing FBXW7 auto poly-ubiquitination. FBXW7 physically interacts with PLK1 and c-MYC, facilitating their protein degradation by promoting ubiquitination. These results demonstrate a PLK1-FBXW7-MYC regulatory loop in MYC-driven medulloblastoma. Moreover, FBXW7 is significantly downregulated in group 3 patient samples. The overexpression of FBXW7 induced apoptosis and suppressed proliferation in vitro and in vivo, while constitutive phosphorylation mutation attenuated its tumor suppressor function. Altogether, these findings demonstrated that PLK1 inhibition stabilizes FBXW7 in MYC-driven MB, thus revealing an important function of FBXW7 in suppressing medulloblastoma progression.
RESUMEN
The early events that drive myeloid oncogenesis are not well understood. Most studies focus on the cell-intrinsic genetic changes and how they impact cell fate decisions. We consider how chronic exposure to the proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), impacts Cebpa-knockout hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in competitive settings. Surprisingly, we found that Cebpa loss did not confer a hematopoietic cell-intrinsic competitive advantage; rather chronic IL-1ß exposure engendered potent selection for Cebpa loss. Chronic IL-1ß augments myeloid lineage output by activating differentiation and repressing stem cell gene expression programs in a Cebpa-dependent manner. As a result, Cebpa-knockout HSPCs are resistant to the prodifferentiative effects of chronic IL-1ß, and competitively expand. We further show that ectopic CEBPA expression reduces the fitness of established human acute myeloid leukemias, coinciding with increased differentiation. These findings have important implications for the earliest events that drive hematologic disorders, suggesting that chronic inflammation could be an important driver of leukemogenesis and a potential target for intervention.