Planarians as models of cadmium-induced neoplasia provide measurable benchmarks for mechanistic studies.

Bioassays of planarian neoplasia highlight the potential of these organisms as useful standards to assess whether environmental toxins such as cadmium promote tumorigenesis. These studies complement other investigations into the exceptional healing and regeneration of planarians - processes that are driven by a population of active stem cells, or neoblasts, which are likely transformed during planarian tumor growth. Our goal was to determine if planarian tumorigenesis assays are amenable to mechanistic studies of cadmium carcinogenesis. To that end we demonstrate, by examining both counts of cell populations by size, and instances of mitosis, that the activity of the stem cell population can be monitored. We also provide evidence that specific biomodulators can affect the potential of planarian neoplastic growth, in that an inhibitor of metalloproteinases effectively blocked the development of the lesions. From these results, we infer that neoblast activity does respond to cadmium-induced tumor growth, and that metalloproteinases are required for the progression of cancer in the planarian.

Homotypic RANK signaling differentially regulates proliferation, motility and cell survival in osteosarcoma and mammary epithelial cells.

RANKL (receptor activator of NF-κB ligand) is a crucial cytokine for regulating diverse biological systems such as innate immunity, bone homeostasis and mammary gland differentiation, operating through activation of its cognate receptor RANK. In these normal physiological processes, RANKL signals through paracrine and/or heterotypic mechanisms where its expression and function is tightly controlled. Numerous pathologies involve RANKL deregulation, such as bone loss, inflammatory diseases and cancer, and aberrant RANK expression has been reported in bone cancer. Here, we investigated the significance of RANK in tumor cells with a particular emphasis on homotypic signaling. We selected RANK-positive mouse osteosarcoma and RANK-negative preosteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells and subjected them to loss- and gain-of-RANK function analyses. By examining a spectrum of tumorigenic properties, we demonstrate that RANK homotypic signaling has a negligible effect on cell proliferation, but promotes cell motility and anchorage-independent growth of osteosarcoma cells and preosteoblasts. By contrast, establishment of RANK signaling in non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial NMuMG cells promotes their proliferation and anchorage-independent growth, but not motility. Furthermore, RANK activation initiates multiple signaling pathways beyond its canonical target, NF-κB. Among these, biochemical inhibition reveals that Erk1/2 is dominant and crucial for the promotion of anchorage-independent survival and invasion of osteoblastic cells, as well as the proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. Thus, RANK signaling functionally contributes to key tumorigenic properties through a cell-autonomous homotypic mechanism. These data also identify the likely inherent differences between epithelial and mesenchymal cell responsiveness to RANK activation.

Notch activation by the metalloproteinase ADAM17 regulates myeloproliferation and atopic barrier immunity by suppressing epithelial cytokine synthesis.

Epithelial cells of mucosal tissues provide a barrier against environmental stress, and keratinocytes are key decision makers for immune cell function in the skin. Currently, epithelial signaling networks that instruct barrier immunity remain uncharacterized. Here we have shown that keratinocyte-specific deletion of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (Adam17) triggers T helper 2 and/or T helper 17 (Th2 and/or Th17) cell-driven atopic dermatitis and myeloproliferative disease. In vivo and in vitro deficiency of ADAM17 dampened Notch signaling, increasing production of the Th2 cell-polarizing cytokine TSLP and myeloid growth factor G-CSF. Ligand-independent Notch activation was identified as a regulator of AP-1 transcriptional activity, with Notch antagonizing c-Fos recruitment to the promoters of Tslp and Csf3 (G-CSF). Further, skin inflammation was rescued and myeloproliferation ameliorated by delivery of active Notch to Adam17(-)(/-) epidermis. Our findings uncover an essential role of ADAM17 in the adult epidermis, demonstrating a gatekeeper function of the ADAM17-Notch-c-Fos triad in barrier immunity.

Prkar1a is an osteosarcoma tumor suppressor that defines a molecular subclass in mice.

Some cancers have been stratified into subclasses based on their unique involvement of specific signaling pathways. The mapping of human cancer genomes is revealing a vast number of somatic alterations; however, the identification of clinically relevant molecular tumor subclasses and their respective driver genes presents challenges. This information is key to developing more targeted and personalized cancer therapies. Here, we generate a new mouse model of genomically unstable osteosarcoma (OSA) that phenocopies the human disease. Integrative oncogenomics pinpointed cAMP-dependent protein kinase type I, alpha regulatory subunit (Prkar1a) gene deletions at 11qE1 as a recurrent genetic trait for a molecularly distinct subclass of mouse OSA featuring RANKL overexpression. Using mouse genetics, we established that Prkar1a is a bone tumor suppressor gene capable of directing subclass development and driving RANKL overexpression during OSA tumorigenesis. Finally, we uncovered evidence for a PRKAR1A-low subset of human OSA with distinct clinical behavior. Thus, tumor subclasses develop in mice and can potentially provide information toward the molecular stratification of human cancers.

SIRT1 acts as a nutrient-sensitive growth suppressor and its loss is associated with increased AMPK and telomerase activity.

SIRT1, the mammalian homolog of SIR2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is an NAD-dependent deacetylase implicated in regulation of lifespan. By designing effective short hairpin RNAs and a silent shRNA-resistant mutant SIRT1 in a genetically defined system, we show that efficient inhibition of SIRT1 in telomerase-immortalized human cells enhanced cell growth under normal and nutrient limiting conditions. Hematopoietic stem cells obtained from SIRT1-deficient mice also showed increased growth capacity and decreased dependency on growth factors. Consistent with this, SIRT1 inhibition was associated with increased telomerase activity in human cells. We also observed a significant increase in AMPK levels up on SIRT1 inhibition under glucose limiting conditions. Although SIRT1 suppression cooperated with hTERT to promote cell growth, either overexpression or suppression of SIRT1 alone had no effect on life span of human diploid fibroblasts. Our findings challenge certain models and connect nutrient sensing enzymes to the immortalization process. Furthermore, they show that in certain cell lineages, SIRT1 can act as a growth suppressor gene.