RESUMO
Whereas oncogenes can potentially be inhibited with small molecules, the loss of tumour suppressors is more common and is problematic because the tumour-suppressor proteins are no longer present to be targeted. Notable examples include SMARCB1-mutant cancers, which are highly lethal malignancies driven by the inactivation of a subunit of SWI/SNF (also known as BAF) chromatin-remodelling complexes. Here, to generate mechanistic insights into the consequences of SMARCB1 mutation and to identify vulnerabilities, we contributed 14 SMARCB1-mutant cell lines to a near genome-wide CRISPR screen as part of the Cancer Dependency Map Project1-3. We report that the little-studied gene DDB1-CUL4-associated factor 5 (DCAF5) is required for the survival of SMARCB1-mutant cancers. We show that DCAF5 has a quality-control function for SWI/SNF complexes and promotes the degradation of incompletely assembled SWI/SNF complexes in the absence of SMARCB1. After depletion of DCAF5, SMARCB1-deficient SWI/SNF complexes reaccumulate, bind to target loci and restore SWI/SNF-mediated gene expression to levels that are sufficient to reverse the cancer state, including in vivo. Consequently, cancer results not from the loss of SMARCB1 function per se, but rather from DCAF5-mediated degradation of SWI/SNF complexes. These data indicate that therapeutic targeting of ubiquitin-mediated quality-control factors may effectively reverse the malignant state of some cancers driven by disruption of tumour suppressor complexes.
Assuntos
Complexos Multiproteicos , Mutação , Neoplasias , Proteína SMARCB1 , Animais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Edição de Genes , Neoplasias/genética , Neoplasias/metabolismo , Proteína SMARCB1/deficiência , Proteína SMARCB1/genética , Proteína SMARCB1/metabolismo , Proteínas Supressoras de Tumor/deficiência , Proteínas Supressoras de Tumor/genética , Proteínas Supressoras de Tumor/metabolismo , Complexos Multiproteicos/química , Complexos Multiproteicos/metabolismo , Proteólise , Ubiquitina/metabolismoRESUMO
For cells to initiate and sustain a differentiated state, it is necessary that a 'memory' of this state is transmitted through mitosis to the daughter cells1-3. Mammalian switch/sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) complexes (also known as Brg1/Brg-associated factors, or BAF) control cell identity by modulating chromatin architecture to regulate gene expression4-7, but whether they participate in cell fate memory is unclear. Here we provide evidence that subunits of SWI/SNF act as mitotic bookmarks to safeguard cell identity during cell division. The SWI/SNF core subunits SMARCE1 and SMARCB1 are displaced from enhancers but are bound to promoters during mitosis, and we show that this binding is required for appropriate reactivation of bound genes after mitotic exit. Ablation of SMARCE1 during a single mitosis in mouse embryonic stem cells is sufficient to disrupt gene expression, impair the occupancy of several established bookmarks at a subset of their targets and cause aberrant neural differentiation. Thus, SWI/SNF subunit SMARCE1 has a mitotic bookmarking role and is essential for heritable epigenetic fidelity during transcriptional reprogramming.
Assuntos
Diferenciação Celular , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona , Epigênese Genética , Mitose , Animais , Camundongos , Diferenciação Celular/genética , Cromatina/genética , Montagem e Desmontagem da Cromatina/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Mitose/genética , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/deficiência , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/genética , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/metabolismo , Subunidades Proteicas/metabolismo , Células-Tronco Embrionárias Murinas/metabolismo , Elementos Facilitadores Genéticos/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Divisão Celular/genética , Epigênese Genética/genéticaRESUMO
Genes encoding subunits of SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complexes are mutated in nearly 25% of cancers. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which SWI/SNF mutations drive cancer, we contributed ten rhabdoid tumor (RT) cell lines mutant for SWI/SNF subunit SMARCB1 to a genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 depletion screen performed across 896 cell lines. We identify PHF6 as specifically essential for RT cell survival and demonstrate that dependency on Phf6 extends to Smarcb1-deficient cancers in vivo. As mutations in either SWI/SNF or PHF6 can cause the neurodevelopmental disorder Coffin-Siris syndrome, our findings of a dependency suggest a previously unrecognized functional link. We demonstrate that PHF6 co-localizes with SWI/SNF complexes at promoters, where it is essential for maintenance of an active chromatin state. We show that in the absence of SMARCB1, PHF6 loss disrupts the recruitment and stability of residual SWI/SNF complex members, collectively resulting in the loss of active chromatin at promoters and stalling of RNA Polymerase II progression. Our work establishes a mechanistic basis for the shared syndromic features of SWI/SNF and PHF6 mutations in CSS and the basis for selective dependency on PHF6 in SMARCB1-mutant cancers.