Compromised transcription-mRNA export factor THOC2 causes R-loop accumulation, DNA damage and adverse neurodevelopment.

We implicated the X-chromosome THOC2 gene, which encodes the largest subunit of the highly-conserved TREX (Transcription-Export) complex, in a clinically complex neurodevelopmental disorder with intellectual disability as the core phenotype. To study the molecular pathology of this essential eukaryotic gene, we generated a mouse model based on a hypomorphic Thoc2 exon 37-38 deletion variant of a patient with ID, speech delay, hypotonia, and microcephaly. The Thoc2 exon 37-38 deletion male (Thoc2Δ/Y) mice recapitulate the core phenotypes of THOC2 syndrome including smaller size and weight, and significant deficits in spatial learning, working memory and sensorimotor functions. The Thoc2Δ/Y mouse brain development is significantly impacted by compromised THOC2/TREX function resulting in R-loop accumulation, DNA damage and consequent cell death. Overall, we suggest that perturbed R-loop homeostasis, in stem cells and/or differentiated cells in mice and the patient, and DNA damage-associated functional alterations are at the root of THOC2 syndrome.

Myeloperoxidase creates a permissive microenvironmental niche for the progression of multiple myeloma.

Expression of myeloperoxidase (MPO), a key inflammatory enzyme restricted to myeloid cells, is negatively associated with the development of solid tumours. Activated myeloid cell populations are increased in multiple myeloma (MM); however, the functional consequences of myeloid-derived MPO within the myeloma microenvironment are unknown. Here, the role of MPO in MM pathogenesis was investigated, and the capacity for pharmacological inhibition of MPO to impede MM progression was evaluated. In the 5TGM1-KaLwRij mouse model of myeloma, the early stages of tumour development were associated with an increase in CD11b+ myeloid cell populations and an increase in Mpo expression within the bone marrow (BM). Interestingly, MM tumour cell homing was increased towards sites of elevated myeloid cell numbers and MPO activity within the BM. Mechanistically, MPO induced the expression of key MM growth factors, resulting in tumour cell proliferation and suppressed cytotoxic T-cell activity. Notably, tumour growth studies in mice treated with a small-molecule irreversible inhibitor of MPO (4-ABAH) demonstrated a significant reduction in overall MM tumour burden. Taken together, our data demonstrate that MPO contributes to MM tumour growth, and that MPO-specific inhibitors may provide a new therapeutic strategy to limit MM disease progression.

Calorie restriction has no effect on bone marrow tumour burden in a Vk*MYC transplant model of multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable haematological malignancy, caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of plasma cells within the bone marrow (BM). Obesity is a known risk factor for MM, however, few studies have investigated the potential of dietary intervention to prevent MM progression. Calorie restriction (CR) is associated with many health benefits including reduced cancer incidence and progression. To investigate if CR could reduce MM progression, dietary regimes [30% CR, normal chow diet (NCD), or high fat diet (HFD)] were initiated in C57BL/6J mice. Diet-induced changes were assessed, followed by inoculation of mice with Vk*MYC MM cells (Vk14451-GFP) at 16 weeks of age. Tumour progression was monitored by serum paraprotein, and at endpoint, BM and splenic tumour burden was analysed by flow cytometry. 30% CR promoted weight loss, improved glucose tolerance, increased BM adiposity and elevated serum adiponectin compared to NCD-fed mice. Despite these metabolic changes, CR had no significant effect on serum paraprotein levels. Furthermore, endpoint analysis found that dietary changes were insufficient to affect BM tumour burden, however, HFD resulted in an average two-fold increase in splenic tumour burden. Overall, these findings suggest diet-induced BM changes may not be key drivers of MM progression in the Vk14451-GFP transplant model of myeloma.

Fragmentation of tissue-resident macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single-cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues.

Mouse hematopoietic tissues contain abundant tissue-resident macrophages that support immunity, hematopoiesis, and bone homeostasis. A systematic strategy to characterize macrophage subsets in mouse bone marrow (BM), spleen, and lymph node unexpectedly reveals that macrophage surface marker staining emanates from membrane-bound subcellular remnants associated with unrelated cells. Intact macrophages are not present within these cell preparations. The macrophage remnant binding profile reflects interactions between macrophages and other cell types in vivo. Depletion of CD169+ macrophages in vivo eliminates F4/80+ remnant attachment. Remnant-restricted macrophage-specific membrane markers, cytoplasmic fluorescent reporters, and mRNA are all detected in non-macrophage cells including isolated stem and progenitor cells. Analysis of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data, including publicly available datasets, indicates that macrophage fragmentation is a general phenomenon that confounds bulk and single-cell analysis of disaggregated hematopoietic tissues. Hematopoietic tissue macrophage fragmentation undermines the accuracy of macrophage ex vivo molecular profiling and creates opportunity for misattribution of macrophage-expressed genes to non-macrophage cells.

CKLF and IL1B transcript levels at diagnosis are predictive of relapse in children with pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Disease relapse is the greatest cause of treatment failure in paediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). Current risk stratifications fail to capture all patients at risk of relapse. Herein, we used a machine-learning approach to identify B-ALL blast-secreted factors that are associated with poor survival outcomes. Using this approach, we identified a two-gene expression signature (CKLF and IL1B) that allowed identification of high-risk patients at diagnosis. This two-gene expression signature enhances the predictive value of current at diagnosis or end-of-induction risk stratification suggesting the model can be applied continuously to help guide implementation of risk-adapted therapies.

Macrophages in multiple myeloma: key roles and therapeutic strategies.

Macrophages are a vital component of the tumour microenvironment and crucial mediators of tumour progression. In the last decade, significant strides have been made in understanding the crucial functional roles played by macrophages in the development of the plasma cell (PC) malignancy, multiple myeloma (MM). Whilst the interaction between MM PC and stromal cells within the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment has been extensively studied, we are only just starting to appreciate the multifaceted roles played by macrophages in disease progression. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that macrophage infiltration is associated with poor overall survival in MM. Indeed, macrophages influence numerous pathways critical for the initiation and progression of MM, including homing of malignant cells to BM, tumour cell growth and survival, drug resistance, angiogenesis and immune suppression. As such, therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting macrophages within the BM niche have promise in the clinical setting. This review will discuss the functions elicited by macrophages throughout different stages of MM and provide a comprehensive evaluation of potential macrophage-targeted therapies.

Characterization of the role of Samsn1 loss in multiple myeloma development.

The protein SAMSN1 was recently identified as a putative tumor suppressor in multiple myeloma, with re-expression of Samsn1 in the 5TGM1/KaLwRij murine model of myeloma leading to a near complete abrogation of intramedullary tumor growth. Here, we sought to clarify the mechanism underlying this finding. Intratibial administration of 5TGM1 myeloma cells into KaLwRij mice revealed that Samsn1 had no effect on primary tumor growth, but that its expression significantly inhibited the metastasis of these primary tumors. Notably, neither in vitro nor in vivo migration was affected by Samsn1 expression. Both knocking-out SAMSN1 in the RPMI-8226 and JJN3 human myeloma cell lines, and retrovirally expressing SAMSN1 in the LP-1 and OPM2 human myeloma cell lines had no effect on either cell proliferation or migration in vitro. Altering SAMSN1 expression in these human myeloma cells did not affect the capacity of the cells to establish either primary or metastatic intramedullary tumors when administered intratibially into immune deficient NSG mice. Unexpectedly, the tumor suppressive and anti-metastatic activity of Samsn1 in 5TGM1 cells were not evidenced following cell administration either intratibially or intravenously to NSG mice. Crucially, the growth of Samsn1-expressing 5TGM1 cells was limited in C57BL/6/Samsn1-/- mice but not in C57BL/6 Samsn1+/+ mice. We conclude that the reported potent in vivo tumor suppressor activity of Samsn1 can be attributed, in large part, to graft-rejection from Samsn1-/- recipient mice. This has broad implications for the design and interpretation of experiments that utilize cancer cells and knockout mice that are mismatched for expression of specific proteins.

LCRF-0006, a small molecule mimetic of the N-cadherin antagonist peptide ADH-1, synergistically increases multiple myeloma response to bortezomib.

N-cadherin is a homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecule that plays a critical role in maintaining vascular stability and modulating endothelial barrier permeability. Pre-clinical studies have shown that the N-cadherin antagonist peptide, ADH-1, increases the permeability of tumor-associated vasculature thereby increasing anti-cancer drug delivery to tumors and enhancing tumor response. Small molecule library screens have identified a novel compound, LCRF-0006, that is a mimetic of the classical cadherin His-Ala-Val sequence-containing region of ADH-1. Here, we evaluated the vascular permeability-enhancing and anti-cancer properties of LCRF-0006 using in vitro vascular disruption and cell apoptosis assays, and a well-established pre-clinical model (C57BL/KaLwRij/5TGM1) of the hematological cancer multiple myeloma (MM). We found that LCRF-0006 disrupted endothelial cell junctions in a rapid, transient and reversible manner, and increased vascular permeability in vitro and at sites of MM tumor in vivo. Notably, LCRF-0006 synergistically increased the in vivo anti-MM tumor response to low-dose bortezomib, a frontline anti-MM agent, leading to regression of disease in 100% of mice. Moreover, LCRF-0006 and bortezomib synergistically induced 5TGM1 MM tumor cell apoptosis in vitro. Our findings demonstrate the potential clinical utility of LCRF-0006 to significantly increase bortezomib effectiveness and enhance the depth of tumor response in patients with MM.

Twist-1 is upregulated by NSD2 and contributes to tumour dissemination and an epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like gene expression signature in t(4;14)-positive multiple myeloma.

Approximately 15% of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) harbour the t(4;14) chromosomal translocation, leading to the overexpression of the histone methyltransferase NSD2. Patients with this translocation display increased tumour dissemination, accelerated disease progression and rapid relapse. Using publicly available gene expression profile data from NSD2high (n = 135) and NSD2low (n = 878) MM patients, we identified 39 epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated genes which are overexpressed in NSD2high MM plasma cells. In addition, our analyses identified Twist-1 as a key transcription factor upregulated in NSD2high MM patients and t(4;14)-positive cell lines. Overexpression and knockdown studies confirmed that Twist-1 is involved in driving the expression of EMT-associated genes in the human MM cell line KMS11 and promoted the migration of myeloma cell lines in vitro. Notably, Twist-1 overexpression in the mouse MM cell line 5TGM1 significantly increased tumour dissemination in an intratibial tumour model. These findings demonstrate that Twist-1, downstream of NSD2, contributes to the induction of an EMT-like signature in t(4;14)-positive MM and enhances the dissemination of MM plasma cells in vivo, which may, in part, explain the aggressive disease features associated with t(4;14)-positive MM.

GLIPR1 expression is reduced in multiple myeloma but is not a tumour suppressor in mice.

Multiple myeloma, a plasma cell malignancy, is a genetically heterogeneous disease and the genetic factors that contribute to its development and progression remain to be fully elucidated. The tumour suppressor gene GLIPR1 has previously been shown to be deleted in approximately 10% of myeloma patients, to inhibit the development of plasma cell tumours in ageing mice and to have reduced expression levels in the plasma cells of patients with light-chain amyloidosis, a myeloma-related malignancy. Therefore, we hypothesised that GLIPR1 may have tumour suppressor activity in multiple myeloma. In this study, we demonstrate that plasma cell expression of GLIPR1 is reduced in the majority of myeloma patients and Glipr1 expression is lost in the 5TGM1 murine myeloma cell line. However, overexpression of GLIPR1 in a human myeloma cell line did not affect cell proliferation in vitro. Similarly, re-expression of Glipr1 in 5TGM1 cells did not significantly reduce their in vitro proliferation or in vivo growth in C57BL/KaLwRij mice. In addition, using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, we generated C57BL/Glipr1-/- mice and showed that loss of Glipr1 in vivo did not affect normal haematopoiesis or the development of monoclonal plasma cell expansions in these mice up to one year of age. Taken together, our results suggest that GLIPR1 is unlikely to be a potent tumour suppressor in multiple myeloma. However, it remains possible that the down-regulation of GLIPR1 may cooperate with other genetic lesions to promote the development of myeloma.

Clodronate-Liposome Mediated Macrophage Depletion Abrogates Multiple Myeloma Tumor Establishment In Vivo.

Multiple myeloma is a fatal plasma cell malignancy that is reliant on the bone marrow microenvironment. The bone marrow is comprised of numerous cells of mesenchymal and hemopoietic origin. Of these, macrophages have been implicated to play a role in myeloma disease progression, angiogenesis, and drug resistance; however, the role of macrophages in myeloma disease establishment remains unknown. In this study, the antimyeloma efficacy of clodronate-liposome treatment, which globally and transiently depletes macrophages, was evaluated in the well-established C57BL/KaLwRijHsd murine model of myeloma. Our studies show, for the first time, that clodronate-liposome pretreatment abrogates myeloma tumor development in vivo. Clodronate-liposome administration resulted in depletion of CD169+ bone marrow-resident macrophages. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that clodronate-liposome pretreatment impaired myeloma plasma cell homing and retention within the bone marrow 24 hours postmyeloma plasma cell inoculation. This was attributed in part to decreased levels of macrophage-derived insulin-like growth factor 1. Moreover, a single dose of clodronate-liposome led to a significant reduction in myeloma tumor burden in KaLwRij mice with established disease. Collectively, these findings support a role for CD169-expressing bone marrow-resident macrophages in myeloma disease establishment and progression and demonstrate the potential of targeting macrophages as a therapy for myeloma patients.

DNA Barcoding Reveals Habitual Clonal Dominance of Myeloma Plasma Cells in the Bone Marrow Microenvironment.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy resulting from the uncontrolled proliferation of antibody-producing plasma cells in the bone marrow. At diagnosis, independent plasma cell tumors are found throughout the skeleton. The recirculation of mutant plasma cells from the initial lesion and their recolonization of distant marrow sites are thought to occur by a process similar to solid tumor metastasis. However, the efficiency of this bone marrow homing process and the proportion of disseminated cells that actively divide and contribute to new tumor growth in MM are both unknown. We used the C57BL/KaLwRij mouse model of myeloma, lentiviral-mediated DNA barcoding of 5TGM1 myeloma cells, and next-generation sequencing to investigate the relative efficiency of plasma cell migration to, and growth within, the bone marrow. This approach revealed three major findings: firstly, establishment of metastasis within the bone marrow was extremely inefficient, with approximately 0.01% of circulating myeloma cells becoming resident long term in the bone marrow of each long bone; secondly, the individual cells of each metastasis exhibited marked differences in their proliferative fates, with the majority of final tumor burden within a bone being attributable to the progeny of between 1 and 8 cells; and, thirdly, the proliferative fate of individual clonal plasma cells differed at each bone marrow site in which the cells "landed." These findings suggest that individual myeloma plasma cells are subjected to vastly different selection pressures within the bone marrow microenvironment, highlighting the importance of niche-driven factors, which determine the disease course and outcome.

PTTG1 expression is associated with hyperproliferative disease and poor prognosis in multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable haematological malignancy characterised by the clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells within the bone marrow. We have previously identified pituitary tumour transforming gene 1 (Pttg1) as a gene that is significantly upregulated in the haematopoietic compartment of the myeloma-susceptible C57BL/KaLwRij mouse strain, when compared with the myeloma-resistant C57BL/6 mouse. Over-expression of PTTG1 has previously been associated with malignant progression and an enhanced proliferative capacity in solid tumours. METHODS: In this study, we investigated PTTG1 gene and protein expression in MM plasma cells from newly diagnosed MM patients. Gene expression profiling was used to identify gene signatures associated with high PTTG1 expression in MM patients. Additionally, we investigated the effect of short hairpin ribonucleic acid (shRNA)-mediated PTTG1 knockdown on the proliferation of the murine myeloma plasma cell line 5TGM1 in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: PTTG1 was found to be over-expressed in 36-70 % of MM patients, relative to normal controls, with high PTTG1 expression being associated with poor patient outcomes (hazard ratio 2.49; 95 % CI 1.28 to 4.86; p = 0.0075; log-rank test). In addition, patients with high PTTG1 expression exhibited increased expression of cell proliferation-associated genes including CCNB1, CCNB2, CDK1, AURKA, BIRC5 and DEPDC1. Knockdown of Pttg1 in 5TGM1 cells decreased cellular proliferation, without affecting cell cycle distribution or viability, and decreased expression of Ccnb1, Birc5 and Depdc1 in vitro. Notably, Pttg1 knockdown significantly reduced MM tumour development in vivo, with an 83.2 % reduction in tumour burden at 4 weeks (p < 0.0001, two-way ANOVA). CONCLUSIONS: This study supports a role for increased PTTG1 expression in augmenting tumour development in a subset of MM patients.

SAMSN1 is a tumor suppressor gene in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM), a hematological malignancy characterized by the clonal growth of malignant plasma cells (PCs) in the bone marrow, is preceded by the benign asymptomatic condition, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Several genetic abnormalities have been identified as critical for the development of MM; however, a number of these abnormalities are also found in patients with MGUS, indicating that there are other, as yet unidentified, factors that contribute to the onset of MM disease. In this study, we identify a Samsn1 gene deletion in the 5TGM1/C57BL/KaLwRij murine model of myeloma. In addition, SAMSN1 expression is reduced in the malignant CD138+ PCs of patients with MM and this reduced expression correlates to total PC burden. We identify promoter methylation as a potential mechanism through which SAMSN1 expression is modulated in human myeloma cell lines. Notably, re-expression of Samsn1 in the 5TGM1 murine PC line resulted in complete inhibition of MM disease development in vivo and decreased proliferation in stromal cell-PC co-cultures in vitro. This is the first study to identify deletion of a key gene in the C57BL/KaLwRij mice that also displays reduced gene expression in patients with MM and is therefore likely to play an integral role in MM disease development.

Myeloma plasma cells alter the bone marrow microenvironment by stimulating the proliferation of mesenchymal stromal cells.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable hematologic cancer characterized by the clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells within the bone marrow. Numerous studies suggest that the myeloma plasma cells occupy and alter the stromal tissue of the bone marrow as a means of enhancing their survival and growth. However, the nature and magnitude of the changes to the stromal cell tissue remain to be determined. In this study, we used mesenchymal stromal cell and osteoblast-related cell surface marker expression (STRO-1 and alkaline phosphatase, respectively) and flow cytometry to enumerate mesenchymal stromal cell and osteoblast numbers in bone marrow recovered from myeloma patients at the time of diagnosis. Using this approach, we identified an increase in the number of STRO-1 positive colony forming mesenchymal stromal cells and a concomitant decrease in alkaline phophatase osteoblasts. Notably, this increase in mesenchymal stromal cell numbers correlated closely with plasma cell burden at the time of diagnosis. In addition, in comparison with the osteoblast population, the STRO-1+ mesenchymal stromal cell population was found to express higher levels of plasma cell- and osteoclast-activating factors, including RANKL and IL-6, providing a mechanism by which an increase in mesenchymal stromal cells may promote and aid the progression of myeloma. Importantly, these findings were faithfully replicated in the C57BL/KaLwRij murine model of myeloma, suggesting that this model may present a unique and clinically relevant system in which to identify and therapeutically modulate the bone microenvironment and, in turn, alter the progression of myeloma disease.

TAp63 regulates oncogenic miR-155 to mediate migration and tumour growth.

miR-155 is an oncogenic microRNA which is upregulated in many solid cancers. The targets of miR-155 are well established , with over 100 confirmed mRNA targets. However, the regulation of miR-155 and the basis of its upregulation in cancer is not well understood. We have previously shown that miR-155 is regulated by p63, and here we investigate the role of the major p63 isoforms TAp63 and ΔNp63 in this regulation. When the TAp63 isoform was knocked down, or exogenously overexpressed, miR-155 levels were elevated in response to TAp63 knockdown or reduced in response to TAp63 overexpression. The ΔNp63 isoform is shown to directly bind to the p63 response element on the miR-155 host gene, and this binding is enriched when TAp63 is knocked down. This could indicate that TAp63 prevents ΔNp63 from binding to the miR-155 host gene. The knockdown of TAp63, and the subsequent elevation of miR-155, enhances migration and tumour growth similar to that seen when directly overexpressing miR-155. The migratory phenotype is abrogated when miR-155 is inhibited, indicating that miR-155 is responsible for the phenotypic effect of TAp63 knockdown.

Wild-type and mutant p53 mediate cisplatin resistance through interaction and inhibition of active caspase-9.

The p53 gene has been implicated in many cancers due to its frequent mutations as well as mutations in other genes whose proteins directly affect p53's functions. In addition, high expression of p53 [wild-type (WT) or mutant] has been found in the cytoplasm of many tumor cells, and studies have associated these observations with more aggressive tumors and poor prognosis. Cytoplasmic mis-localization of p53 subsequently reduced its transcriptional activity and this loss-of-function (LOF) was used to explain the lack of response to chemotherapeutic agents. However, this hypothesis seemed inadequate in explaining the apparent selection for tumor cells with high levels of p53 protein, a phenomenon that suggests a gain-of-function (GOF) of these mis-localized p53 proteins. In this study, we explored whether the direct involvement of p53 in the apoptotic response is via regulation of the caspase pathway in the cytoplasm. We demonstrate that p53, when present at high levels in the cytoplasm, has an inhibitory effect on caspase-9. Concurrently, knockdown of endogenous p53 caused an increase in the activity of caspase-9. p53 was found to interact with the p35 fragment of caspase-9, and this interaction inhibits the caspase-9 activity. In a p53-null background, the high-level expression of both exogenous WT and mutant p53 increased the resistance of these cells to cisplatin, and the data showed a correlation between high p53 expression and caspase-9 inhibition. These results suggest the inhibition of caspase-9 as a potential mechanism in evading apoptosis in tumors with high-level p53 expression that is cytoplasmically localized.

Mutant p53 uses p63 as a molecular chaperone to alter gene expression and induce a pro-invasive secretome.

Mutations in the TP53 gene commonly result in the expression of a full-length protein that drives cancer cell invasion and metastasis. Herein, we have deciphered the global landscape of transcriptional regulation by mutant p53 through the application of a panel of isogenic H1299 derivatives with inducible expression of several common cancer-associated p53 mutants. We found that the ability of mutant p53 to alter the transcriptional profile of cancer cells is remarkably conserved across different p53 mutants. The mutant p53 transcriptional landscape was nested within a small subset of wild-type p53 responsive genes, suggesting that the oncogenic properties of mutant p53 are conferred by retaining its ability to regulate a defined set of p53 target genes. These mutant p53 target genes were shown to converge upon a p63 signalling axis. Both mutant p53 and wild-type p63 were co-recruited to the promoters of these target genes, thus providing a molecular basis for their selective regulation by mutant p53. We demonstrate that mutant p53 manipulates the gene expression pattern of cancer cells to facilitate invasion through the release of a pro-invasive secretome into the tumor microenvironment. Collectively, this study provides mechanistic insight into the complex nature of transcriptional regulation by mutant p53 and implicates a role for tumor-derived p53 mutations in the manipulation of the cancer cell secretome.