HORMAD1 Is a Negative Prognostic Indicator in Lung Adenocarcinoma and Specifies Resistance to Oxidative and Genotoxic Stress.

Cancer testis antigens (CTA) are expressed in testis and placenta and anomalously activated in a variety of tumors. The mechanistic contribution of CTAs to neoplastic phenotypes remains largely unknown. Using a chemigenomics approach, we find that the CTA HORMAD1 correlates with resistance to the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor piericidin A in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Resistance was due to a reductive intracellular environment that attenuated the accumulation of free radicals. In human lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tumors, patients expressing high HORMAD1 exhibited elevated mutational burden and reduced survival. HORMAD1 tumors were enriched for genes essential for homologous recombination (HR), and HORMAD1 promoted RAD51-filament formation, but not DNA resection, during HR. Accordingly, HORMAD1 loss enhanced sensitivity to γ-irradiation and PARP inhibition, and HORMAD1 depletion significantly reduced tumor growth in vivo These results suggest that HORMAD1 expression specifies a novel subtype of LUAD, which has adapted to mitigate DNA damage. In this setting, HORMAD1 could represent a direct target for intervention to enhance sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents or as an immunotherapeutic target in patients.Significance: This study uses a chemigenomics approach to demonstrate that anomalous expression of the CTA HORMAD1 specifies resistance to oxidative stress and promotes HR to support tumor cell survival in NSCLC. Cancer Res; 78(21); 6196-208. ©2018 AACR.

Targeted Mutation of Nuclear Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 Impairs Secondary Immune Response in a Mouse Model.

We recently identified a nuclear variant of the BMP2 growth factor, called nBMP2. In an effort to understand the function of this variant protein, we generated a mouse line in which BMP2 is expressed and functions normally, but nBMP2 is excluded from the nucleus. This novel mutation allows the study of nBMP2 without compromising BMP2 function. To determine whether nBMP2 plays a role in immune function, we performed a series of experiments in which we compared mouse survival, organ weights, immune cells numbers, and bacterial load in wild type and nBmp2NLS(tm) mice following primary and secondary challenges with Staphylococcus aureus. Following primary challenge with S. aureus, wild type and nBmp2NLS(tm) mice showed no differences in survival or bacterial load and generated similar numbers and types of leukocytes, although mutant spleens were smaller than wild type. Secondary bacterial challenge with S. aureus, however, produced differences in survival, with increased mortality seen in nBmp2NLS(tm) mice. This increased mortality corresponded to higher levels of bacteremia in nBmp2NLS(tm) mice and to a reduced enlargement of mutant spleens in response to the secondary infection. Together, these results suggest that the recently described nuclear variant of BMP2 is necessary for efficient secondary immune responses.