Rewiring cancer drivers to activate apoptosis.

Genes that drive the proliferation, survival, invasion and metastasis of malignant cells have been identified for many human cancers1-4. Independent studies have identified cell death pathways that eliminate cells for the good of the organism5,6. The coexistence of cell death pathways with driver mutations suggests that the cancer driver could be rewired to activate cell death using chemical inducers of proximity (CIPs). Here we describe a new class of molecules called transcriptional/epigenetic CIPs (TCIPs) that recruit the endogenous cancer driver, or a downstream transcription factor, to the promoters of cell death genes, thereby activating their expression. We focused on diffuse large B cell lymphoma, in which the transcription factor B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is deregulated7. BCL6 binds to the promoters of cell death genes and epigenetically suppresses their expression8. We produced TCIPs by covalently linking small molecules that bind BCL6 to those that bind to transcriptional activators that contribute to the oncogenic program, such as BRD4. The most potent molecule, TCIP1, increases binding of BRD4 by 50% over genomic BCL6-binding sites to produce transcriptional elongation at pro-apoptotic target genes within 15 min, while reducing binding of BRD4 over enhancers by only 10%, reflecting a gain-of-function mechanism. TCIP1 kills diffuse large B cell lymphoma cell lines, including chemotherapy-resistant, TP53-mutant lines, at EC50 of 1-10 nM in 72 h and exhibits cell-specific and tissue-specific effects, capturing the combinatorial specificity inherent to transcription. The TCIP concept also has therapeutic applications in regulating the expression of genes for regenerative medicine and developmental disorders.

Increased ACTL6A occupancy within mSWI/SNF chromatin remodelers drives human squamous cell carcinoma.

Mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodelers play dosage-sensitive roles in many human malignancies and neurologic disorders. The gene encoding the BAF subunit actin-like 6a (ACTL6A) is amplified early in the development of many squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), but its oncogenic role remains unclear. Here we demonstrate that ACTL6A overexpression leads to its stoichiometric assembly into BAF complexes and drives their interaction and engagement with specific regulatory regions in the genome. In normal epithelial cells, ACTL6A was substoichiometric to other BAF subunits. However, increased ACTL6A levels by ectopic expression or in SCC cells led to near saturation of ACTL6A within BAF complexes. Increased ACTL6A occupancy enhanced polycomb opposition genome-wide to activate SCC genes and facilitated the co-dependent loading of BAF and TEAD-YAP complexes on chromatin. Both mechanisms appeared to be critical and function as a molecular AND gate for SCC initiation and maintenance, thereby explaining the specificity of the role of ACTL6A amplification in SCCs.

A CRISPR/Cas9-Engineered ARID1A-Deficient Human Gastric Cancer Organoid Model Reveals Essential and Nonessential Modes of Oncogenic Transformation.

Mutations in ARID1A rank among the most common molecular aberrations in human cancer. However, oncogenic consequences of ARID1A mutation in human cells remain poorly defined due to lack of forward genetic models. Here, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ARID1A knockout (KO) in primary TP53-/- human gastric organoids induced morphologic dysplasia, tumorigenicity, and mucinous differentiation. Genetic WNT/ß-catenin activation rescued mucinous differentiation, but not hyperproliferation, suggesting alternative pathways of ARID1A KO-mediated transformation. ARID1A mutation induced transcriptional regulatory modules characteristic of microsatellite instability and Epstein-Barr virus-associated subtype human gastric cancer, including FOXM1-associated mitotic genes and BIRC5/survivin. Convergently, high-throughput compound screening indicated selective vulnerability of ARID1A-deficient organoids to inhibition of BIRC5/survivin, functionally implicating this pathway as an essential mediator of ARID1A KO-dependent early-stage gastric tumorigenesis. Overall, we define distinct pathways downstream of oncogenic ARID1A mutation, with nonessential WNT-inhibited mucinous differentiation in parallel with essential transcriptional FOXM1/BIRC5-stimulated proliferation, illustrating the general utility of organoid-based forward genetic cancer analysis in human cells. SIGNIFICANCE: We establish the first human forward genetic modeling of a commonly mutated tumor suppressor gene, ARID1A. Our study integrates diverse modalities including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, organoid culture, systems biology, and small-molecule screening to derive novel insights into early transformation mechanisms of ARID1A-deficient gastric cancers.See related commentary by Zafra and Dow, p. 1327.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1307.

Chemical Inhibitors of a Selective SWI/SNF Function Synergize with ATR Inhibition in Cancer Cell Killing.

SWI/SNF (BAF) complexes are a diverse family of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers produced by combinatorial assembly that are mutated in and thought to contribute to 20% of human cancers and a large number of neurologic diseases. The gene-activating functions of BAF complexes are essential for viability of many cell types, limiting the development of small molecule inhibitors. To circumvent the potential toxicity of SWI/SNF inhibition, we identified small molecules that inhibit the specific repressive function of these complexes but are relatively nontoxic and importantly synergize with ATR inhibitors in killing cancer cells. Our studies suggest an avenue for therapeutic enhancement of ATR/ATM inhibition and provide evidence for chemical synthetic lethality of BAF complexes as a therapeutic strategy in cancer.

Dominant-negative SMARCA4 mutants alter the accessibility landscape of tissue-unrestricted enhancers.

Mutation of SMARCA4 (BRG1), the ATPase of BAF (mSWI/SNF) and PBAF complexes, contributes to a range of malignancies and neurologic disorders. Unfortunately, the effects of SMARCA4 missense mutations have remained uncertain. Here we show that SMARCA4 cancer missense mutations target conserved ATPase surfaces and disrupt the mechanochemical cycle of remodeling. We find that heterozygous expression of mutants alters the open chromatin landscape at thousands of sites across the genome. Loss of DNA accessibility does not directly overlap with Polycomb accumulation, but is enriched in 'A compartments' at active enhancers, which lose H3K27ac but not H3K4me1. Affected positions include hundreds of sites identified as superenhancers in many tissues. Dominant-negative mutation induces pro-oncogenic expression changes, including increased expression of Myc and its target genes. Together, our data suggest that disruption of enhancer accessibility represents a key source of altered function in disorders with SMARCA4 mutations in a wide variety of tissues.

TOP2 synergizes with BAF chromatin remodeling for both resolution and formation of facultative heterochromatin.

The resolution and formation of facultative heterochromatin are essential for development, reprogramming, and oncogenesis. The mechanisms underlying these changes are poorly understood owing to the difficulty of studying heterochromatin dynamics and structure in vivo. We devised an in vivo approach to investigate these mechanisms and found that topoisomerase II (TOP2), but not TOP1, synergizes with BAF (mSWI/SNF) ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes genome-wide to resolve facultative heterochromatin to accessible chromatin independent of transcription. This indicates that changes in DNA topology that take place through (de-)catenation rather than the release of torsional stress through swiveling are necessary for heterochromatin resolution. TOP2 and BAF cooperate to recruit pluripotency factors, which explains some of the instructive roles of BAF complexes. Unexpectedly, we found that TOP2 also plays a role in the re-formation of facultative heterochromatin; this finding suggests that facultative heterochromatin and accessible chromatin exist at different states of catenation or other topologies, which might be critical to their structures.

NFIB is a governor of epithelial-melanocyte stem cell behaviour in a shared niche.

Adult stem cells reside in specialized niches where they receive environmental cues to maintain tissue homeostasis. In mammals, the stem cell niche within hair follicles is home to epithelial hair follicle stem cells and melanocyte stem cells, which sustain cyclical bouts of hair regeneration and pigmentation. To generate pigmented hairs, synchrony is achieved such that upon initiation of a new hair cycle, stem cells of each type activate lineage commitment. Dissecting the inter-stem-cell crosstalk governing this intricate coordination has been difficult, because mutations affecting one lineage often affect the other. Here we identify transcription factor NFIB as an unanticipated coordinator of stem cell behaviour. Hair follicle stem-cell-specific conditional targeting of Nfib in mice uncouples stem cell synchrony. Remarkably, this happens not by perturbing hair cycle and follicle architecture, but rather by promoting melanocyte stem cell proliferation and differentiation. The early production of melanin is restricted to melanocyte stem cells at the niche base. Melanocyte stem cells more distant from the dermal papilla are unscathed, thereby preventing hair greying typical of melanocyte stem cell differentiation mutants. Furthermore, we pinpoint KIT-ligand as a dermal papilla signal promoting melanocyte stem cell differentiation. Additionally, through chromatin-immunoprecipitation with high-throughput-sequencing and transcriptional profiling, we identify endothelin 2 (Edn2) as an NFIB target aberrantly activated in NFIB-deficient hair follicle stem cells. Ectopically induced Edn2 recapitulates NFIB-deficient phenotypes in wild-type mice. Conversely, endothelin receptor antagonists and/or KIT blocking antibodies prevent precocious melanocyte stem cell differentiation in the NFIB-deficient niche. Our findings reveal how melanocyte and hair follicle stem cell behaviours maintain reliance upon cooperative factors within the niche, and how this can be uncoupled in injury, stress and disease states.