Insights into the structural and functional activities of forgotten Kinases: PCTAIREs CDKs.

In cells, signal transduction heavily relies on the intricate regulation of protein kinases, which provide the fundamental framework for modulating most signaling pathways. Dysregulation of kinase activity has been implicated in numerous pathological conditions, particularly in cancer. The druggable nature of most kinases positions them into a focal point during the process of drug development. However, a significant challenge persists, as the role and biological function of nearly one third of human kinases remains largely unknown.Within this diverse landscape, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) emerge as an intriguing molecular subgroup. In human, this kinase family encompasses 21 members, involved in several key biological processes. Remarkably, 13 of these CDKs belong to the category of understudied kinases, and only 5 having undergone broad investigation to date. This knowledge gap underscores the pressing need to delve into the study of these kinases, starting with a comprehensive review of the less-explored ones.Here, we will focus on the PCTAIRE subfamily of CDKs, which includes CDK16, CDK17, and CDK18, arguably among the most understudied CDKs members. To contextualize PCTAIREs within the spectrum of human pathophysiology, we conducted an exhaustive review of the existing literature and examined available databases. This approach resulted in an articulate depiction of these PCTAIREs, encompassing their expression patterns, 3D configurations, mechanisms of activation, and potential functions in normal tissues and in cancer.We propose that this effort offers the possibility of identifying promising areas of future research that extend from basic research to potential clinical and therapeutic applications.

RNA splicing alteration in the response to platinum chemotherapy in ovarian cancer: A possible biomarker and therapeutic target.

Since its discovery, alternative splicing has been recognized as a powerful way for a cell to amplify the genetic information and for a living organism to adapt, evolve, and survive. We now know that a very high number of genes are regulated by alternative splicing and that alterations of splicing have been observed in different types of human diseases, including cancer. Here, we review the accumulating knowledge that links the regulation of alternative splicing to the response to chemotherapy, focusing our attention on ovarian cancer and platinum-based treatments. Moreover, we discuss how expanding information could be exploited to identify new possible biomarkers of platinum response, to better select patients, and/or to design new therapies able to overcome platinum resistance.

Hmga2 is required for neural crest cell specification in Xenopus laevis.

HMGA proteins are small nuclear proteins that bind DNA by conserved AT-hook motifs, modify chromatin architecture and assist in gene expression. Two HMGAs (HMGA1 and HMGA2), encoded by distinct genes, exist in mammals and are highly expressed during embryogenesis or reactivated in tumour progression. We here addressed the in vivo role of Xenopus hmga2 in the neural crest cells (NCCs). We show that hmga2 is required for normal NCC specification and development. hmga2 knockdown leads to severe disruption of major skeletal derivatives of anterior NCCs. We show that, within the NCC genetic network, hmga2 acts downstream of msx1, and is required for msx1, pax3 and snail2 activities, thus participating at different levels of the network. Because of hmga2 early effects in NCC specification, the subsequent epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migration of NCCs towards the branchial pouches are also compromised. Strictly paralleling results on embryos, interfering with Hmga2 in a breast cancer cell model for EMT leads to molecular effects largely consistent with those observed on NCCs. These data indicate that Hmga2 is recruited in key molecular events that are shared by both NCCs and tumour cells.

Platinum-induced upregulation of ITGA6 promotes chemoresistance and spreading in ovarian cancer.

Platinum (PT)-resistant Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC) grows as a metastatic disease, disseminating in the abdomen and pelvis. Very few options are available for PT-resistant EOC patients, and little is known about how the acquisition of PT-resistance mediates the increased spreading capabilities of EOC. Here, using isogenic PT-resistant cells, genetic and pharmacological approaches, and patient-derived models, we report that Integrin α6 (ITGA6) is overexpressed by PT-resistant cells and is necessary to sustain EOC metastatic ability and adhesion-dependent PT-resistance. Using in vitro approaches, we showed that PT induces a positive loop that, by stimulating ITGA6 transcription and secretion, contributes to the formation of a pre-metastatic niche enabling EOC cells to disseminate. At molecular level, ITGA6 engagement regulates the production and availability of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), over-stimulating the IGF1R pathway and upregulating Snail expression. In vitro data were recapitulated using in vivo models in which the targeting of ITGA6 prevents PT-resistant EOC dissemination and improves PT-activity, supporting ITGA6 as a promising druggable target for EOC patients.

HMGA1 positively regulates the microtubule-destabilizing protein stathmin promoting motility in TNBC cells and decreasing tumour sensitivity to paclitaxel.

High Mobility Group A1 (HMGA1) is an architectural chromatin factor involved in the regulation of gene expression and a master regulator in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). In TNBC, HMGA1 is overexpressed and coordinates a gene network that controls cellular processes involved in tumour development, progression, and metastasis formation. Here, we find that the expression of HMGA1 and of the microtubule-destabilizing protein stathmin correlates in breast cancer (BC) patients. We demonstrate that HMGA1 depletion leads to a downregulation of stathmin expression and activity on microtubules resulting in decreased TNBC cell motility. We show that this pathway is mediated by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27kip1 (p27). Indeed, the silencing of HMGA1 expression in TNBC cells results both in an increased p27 protein stability and p27-stathmin binding. When the expression of both HMGA1 and p27 is silenced, we observe a significant rescue in cell motility. These data, obtained in cellular models, were validated in BC patients. In fact, we find that patients with high levels of both HMGA1 and stathmin and low levels of p27 have a statistically significant lower survival probability in terms of relapse-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) with respect to the patient group with low HMGA1, low stathmin, and high p27 expression levels. Finally, we show in an in vivo xenograft model that depletion of HMGA1 chemo-sensitizes tumour cells to paclitaxel, a drug that is commonly used in TNBC treatments. This study unveils a new interaction among HMGA1, p27, and stathmin that is critical in BC cell migration. Moreover, our data suggest that taxol-based treatments may be more effective in reducing the tumour burden when tumour cells express low levels of HMGA1.

miR-9 modulates and predicts the response to radiotherapy and EGFR inhibition in HNSCC.

Radiotherapy (RT) plus the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody Cetuximab (CTX) is an effective combination therapy for a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. However, predictive markers of efficacy are missing, resulting in many patients treated with disappointing results and unnecessary toxicities. Here, we report that activation of EGFR upregulates miR-9 expression, which sustains the aggressiveness of HNSCC cells and protects from RT-induced cell death. Mechanistically, by targeting KLF5, miR-9 regulates the expression of the transcription factor Sp1 that, in turn, stimulates tumor growth and confers resistance to RT+CTX in vitro and in vivo. Intriguingly, high miR-9 levels have no effect on the sensitivity of HNSCC cells to cisplatin. In primary HNSCC, miR-9 expression correlated with Sp1 mRNA levels and high miR-9 expression predicted poor prognosis in patients treated with RT+CTX. Overall, we have discovered a new signaling axis linking EGFR activation to Sp1 expression that dictates the response to combination treatments in HNSCC. We propose that miR-9 may represent a valuable biomarker to select which HNSCC patients might benefit from RT+CTX therapy.

Splicing factor proline- and glutamine-rich (SFPQ) protein regulates platinum response in ovarian cancer-modulating SRSF2 activity.

In epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), response to platinum (PT)-based chemotherapy dictates subsequent treatments and predicts patients' prognosis. Alternative splicing is often deregulated in human cancers and can be altered by chemotherapy. Whether and how changes in alternative splicing regulation could impact on the response of EOC to PT-based chemotherapy is still not clarified. We identified the splicing factor proline and glutamine rich (SFPQ) as a critical mediator of response to PT in an unbiased functional genomic screening in EOC cells and, using a large cohort of primary and recurrent EOC samples, we observed that it is frequently overexpressed in recurrent PT-treated samples and that its overexpression correlates with PT resistance. At mechanistic level, we show that, under PT treatment, SFPQ, in complex with p54nrb, binds and regulates the activity of the splicing factor SRSF2. SFPQ/p54nrb complex decreases SRSF2 binding to caspase-9 RNA, favoring the expression of its alternative spliced antiapoptotic form. As a consequence, SFPQ/p54nrb protects cells from PT-induced death, eventually contributing to chemoresistance. Overall, our work unveils a previously unreported SFPQ/p54nrb/SRSF2 pathway that in EOC cells plays a central role in regulating alternative splicing and PT-induced apoptosis and that could result in the design of new possible ways of intervention to overcome PT resistance.

Serum- and glucocorticoid- inducible kinase 2, SGK2, is a novel autophagy regulator and modulates platinum drugs response in cancer cells.

For many tumor types chemotherapy still represents the therapy of choice and many standard treatments are based on the use of platinum (PT) drugs. However, de novo or acquired resistance to platinum is frequent and leads to disease progression. In Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC) patients, PT-resistant recurrences are very common and improving the response to treatment still represents an unmet clinical need. To identify new modulators of PT-sensitivity, we performed a loss-of-function screening targeting 680 genes potentially involved in the response of EOC cells to platinum. We found that SGK2 (Serum-and Glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 2) plays a key role in PT-response. We show here that EOC cells relay on the induction of autophagy to escape PT-induced death and that SGK2 inhibition increases PT sensitivity inducing a block in the autophagy cascade due to the impairment of lysosomal acidification. Mechanistically we demonstrate that SGK2 controls autophagy in a kinase-dependent manner by binding and inhibiting the V-ATPase proton pump. Accordingly, SGK2 phosphorylates the subunit V1H (ATP6V1H) of V-ATPase and silencing or chemical inhibition of SGK2, affects the normal autophagic flux and sensitizes EOC cells to platinum. Hence, we identified a new pathway that links autophagy to the survival of cancer cells under platinum treatment in which the druggable kinase SGK2 plays a central role. Our data suggest that blocking autophagy via SGK2 inhibition could represent a novel therapeutic strategy to improve patients' response to platinum.

Identification and Characterization of a New Platinum-Induced TP53 Mutation in MDAH Ovarian Cancer Cells.

Platinum-based chemotherapy is the therapy of choice for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Acquired resistance to platinum (PT) is a frequent event that leads to disease progression and predicts poor prognosis. To understand possible mechanisms underlying acquired PT-resistance, we have recently generated and characterized three PT-resistant isogenic EOC cell lines. Here, we more deeply characterize several PT-resistant clones derived from MDAH-2774 cells. We show that, in these cells, the increased PT resistance was accompanied by the presence of a subpopulation of multinucleated giant cells. This phenotype was likely due to an altered progression through the M phase of the cell cycle and accompanied by the deregulated expression of genes involved in M phase progression known to be target of mutant TP53. Interestingly, we found that PT-resistant MDAH cells acquired in the TP53 gene a novel secondary mutation (i.e., S185G) that accompanied the R273H typical of MDAH cells. The double p53S185G/R273H mutant increases the resistance to PT in a TP53 null EOC cellular model. Overall, we show how the selective pressure of PT is able to induce additional mutation in an already mutant TP53 gene in EOC and how this event could contribute to the acquisition of novel cellular phenotypes.

USP1 links platinum resistance to cancer cell dissemination by regulating Snail stability.

Resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy is a common event in patients with cancer, generally associated with tumor dissemination and metastasis. Whether platinum treatment per se activates molecular pathways linked to tumor spreading is not known. Here, we report that the ubiquitin-specific protease 1 (USP1) mediates ovarian cancer cell resistance to platinum, by regulating the stability of Snail, which, in turn, promotes tumor dissemination. At the molecular level, we observed that upon platinum treatment, USP1 is phosphorylated by ATM and ATR and binds to Snail. Then, USP1 de-ubiquitinates and stabilizes Snail expression, conferring resistance to platinum, increased stem cell-like features, and metastatic ability. Consistently, knockout or pharmacological inhibition of USP1 increased platinum sensitivity and decreased metastatic dissemination in a Snail-dependent manner. Our findings identify Snail as a USP1 target and open the way to a novel strategy to overcome platinum resistance and more successfully treat patients with ovarian cancer.

CDK6 protects epithelial ovarian cancer from platinum-induced death via FOXO3 regulation.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is an infrequent but highly lethal disease, almost invariably treated with platinum-based therapies. Improving the response to platinum represents a great challenge, since it could significantly impact on patient survival. Here, we report that silencing or pharmacological inhibition of CDK6 increases EOC cell sensitivity to platinum. We observed that, upon platinum treatment, CDK6 phosphorylated and stabilized the transcription factor FOXO3, eventually inducing ATR transcription. Blockage of this pathway resulted in EOC cell death, due to altered DNA damage response accompanied by increased apoptosis. These observations were recapitulated in EOC cell lines in vitro, in xenografts in vivo, and in primary tumor cells derived from platinum-treated patients. Consistently, high CDK6 and FOXO3 expression levels in primary EOC predict poor patient survival. Our data suggest that CDK6 represents an actionable target that can be exploited to improve platinum efficacy in EOC patients. As CDK4/6 inhibitors are successfully used in cancer patients, our findings can be immediately transferred to the clinic to improve the outcome of EOC patients.

The Architectural Chromatin Factor High Mobility Group A1 Enhances DNA Ligase IV Activity Influencing DNA Repair.

The HMGA1 architectural transcription factor is an oncogene overexpressed in the vast majority of human cancers. HMGA1 is a highly connected node in the nuclear molecular network and the key aspect of HMGA1 involvement in cancer development is that HMGA1 simultaneously confers cells multiple oncogenic hits, ranging from global chromatin structural and gene expression modifications up to the direct functional alterations of key cellular proteins. Interestingly, HMGA1 also modulates DNA damage repair pathways. In this work, we provide evidences linking HMGA1 with Non-Homologous End Joining DNA repair. We show that HMGA1 is in complex with and is a substrate for DNA-PK. HMGA1 enhances Ligase IV activity and it counteracts the repressive histone H1 activity towards DNA ends ligation. Moreover, breast cancer cells overexpressing HMGA1 show a faster recovery upon induction of DNA double-strand breaks, which is associated with a higher survival. These data suggest that resistance to DNA-damaging agents in cancer cells could be partially attributed to HMGA1 overexpression thus highlighting the relevance of considering HMGA1 expression levels in the selection of valuable and effective pharmacological regimens.

A novel mechanism of post-translational modulation of HMGA functions by the histone chaperone nucleophosmin.

High Mobility Group A are non-histone nuclear proteins that regulate chromatin plasticity and accessibility, playing an important role both in physiology and pathology. Their activity is controlled by transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational mechanisms. In this study we provide evidence for a novel modulatory mechanism for HMGA functions. We show that HMGAs are complexed in vivo with the histone chaperone nucleophosmin (NPM1), that this interaction requires the histone-binding domain of NPM1, and that NPM1 modulates both DNA-binding affinity and specificity of HMGAs. By focusing on two human genes whose expression is directly regulated by HMGA1, the Insulin receptor (INSR) and the Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) genes, we demonstrated that occupancy of their promoters by HMGA1 was NPM1-dependent, reflecting a mechanism in which the activity of these cis-regulatory elements is directly modulated by NPM1 leading to changes in gene expression. HMGAs need short stretches of AT-rich nucleosome-free regions to bind to DNA. Therefore, many putative HMGA binding sites are present within the genome. Our findings indicate that NPM1, by exerting a chaperoning activity towards HMGAs, may act as a master regulator in the control of DNA occupancy by these proteins and hence in HMGA-mediated gene expression.