RESUMO
Rhabdomyosarcoma, one of the most common childhood sarcomas, is comprised of two main subtypes, embryonal and alveolar (ARMS). ARMS, the more aggressive subtype, is primarily characterized by the t(2;13)(p35;p14) chromosomal translocation, which fuses two transcription factors, PAX3 and FOXO1 to generate the oncogenic fusion protein PAX3-FOXO1. Patients with PAX3-FOXO1-postitive tumors have a poor prognosis, in part due to the enhanced local invasive capacity of these cells, which leads to the increased metastatic potential for this tumor. Despite this knowledge, little is known about the role that the oncogenic fusion protein has in this increased invasive potential. In this report we use large-scale comparative transcriptomic analyses in physiologically relevant primary myoblasts to demonstrate that the presence of PAX3-FOXO1 is sufficient to alter the expression of 70 mRNA and 27 miRNA in a manner predicted to promote cellular invasion. In contrast the expression of PAX3 alters 60 mRNA and 23 miRNA in a manner predicted to inhibit invasion. We demonstrate that these alterations in mRNA and miRNA translate into changes in the invasive potential of primary myoblasts with PAX3-FOXO1 increasing invasion nearly 2-fold while PAX3 decreases invasion nearly 4-fold. Taken together, these results allow us to build off of previous reports and develop a more expansive molecular model by which the presence of PAX3-FOXO1 alters global gene regulatory networks to enhance the local invasiveness of cells. Further, the global nature of our observed changes highlights the fact that instead of focusing on a single-gene target, we must develop multi-faceted treatment regimens targeting multiple genes of a single oncogenic phenotype or multiple genes that target different oncogenic phenotypes for tumor progression.
RESUMO
Patients with translocation-positive alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), an aggressive childhood tumor primarily characterized by the PAX3-FOXO1 oncogenic fusion protein, have a poor prognosis because of lack of therapies that specifically target ARMS tumors. This fact highlights the need for novel pharmaceutical interventions. Posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation are becoming attractive biological targets for the development of such interventions. Along these lines, we demonstrated that PAX3-FOXO1 is phosphorylated at three specific sites and that its pattern of phosphorylation is altered relative to wild-type Pax3 throughout early myogenesis and in ARMS tumor cells. However, little work has been performed examining the effect of directly inhibiting phosphorylation at these sites on ARMS development. To address this gap in knowledge, we used small molecule inhibitors or mutational analysis to specifically inhibit phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1 to investigate how altering phosphorylation of the oncogenic fusion protein affects ARMS phenotypes. We found that inhibiting the phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1 at Ser201 significantly reduced migration, invasion and proliferation in two independent ARMS tumor cell lines. Further, we found that inhibition of phosphorylation at Ser205 also decreased proliferation and anchorage-independent growth. Consistent with these in vitro results, we demonstrate for the first time that PAX3-FOXO1 is phosphorylated at Ser201 and Ser205 in a primary tumor sample and in tumor cells actively invading the surrounding normal tissue. This report is the first to demonstrate that the direct inhibition of PAX3-FOXO1 phosphorylation reduces ARMS tumor phenotypes in vitro and that these phosphorylation events are present in primary human ARMS tumors and invading tumor cells. These results identify phosphorylation of PAX3-FOXO1, especially at Ser201, as a novel biological target that can be explored as a promising avenue for ARMS therapies.
RESUMO
The Pax3-FKHR fusion protein is present in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and results from the t(2;13) (q35;q14) chromosomal translocation. Its oncogenic activity is dependent on a combination of protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions mediated by the Pax3 homeodomain recognition helix. In this report we demonstrate that human Daxx (hDaxx) interacts with Pax3 in vivo and with DNA-bound Pax3 in vitro. This interaction is mediated primarily through the homeodomain recognition helix with the additional involvement of the octapeptide domain and its N-terminal flanking amino acids. Through this interaction hDaxx represses the transcriptional activity of Pax3 by approximately 80%. The Pax3-FKHR fusion is unresponsive to this repressive effect despite an observed endogenous interaction with hDaxx in a rhabdomyosarcoma tumor cell line. Therefore, these data support the model that fusion of FKHR to Pax3 not only adds a strong transactivation domain, but also deregulates transcriptional control of Pax3 by overriding the natural repressive effect of hDaxx.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Transporte/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intracelular , Proteínas Nucleares , Proteínas de Fusão Oncogênica/metabolismo , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Proteínas de Transporte/química , Proteínas de Transporte/genética , Proteínas de Transporte/isolamento & purificação , Linhagem Celular , Clonagem Molecular , Proteínas Correpressoras , DNA/genética , DNA/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/química , Proteína Forkhead Box O1 , Fatores de Transcrição Forkhead , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Chaperonas Moleculares , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Peso Molecular , Proteínas de Fusão Oncogênica/química , Fator de Transcrição PAX3 , Fatores de Transcrição Box Pareados , Fosforilação , Testes de Precipitina , Ligação Proteica , Proteínas Repressoras/química , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Proteínas Repressoras/isolamento & purificação , Rabdomiossarcoma/genética , Deleção de Sequência , Transfecção , Translocação Genética/genética , Leveduras/genéticaRESUMO
The chimeric transcription factor Pax3-FKHR, produced by the t(2;13)(q35;q14) chromosomal translocation in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, consists of the two Pax3 DNA binding domains (paired box and homeodomain) fused to the C-terminal forkhead (FKHR) sequences that contain a potent transcriptional activation domain. To determine which of these domains are required for cellular transformation, Pax3, Pax3-FKHR, and selected mutants were retrovirally expressed in NIH 3T3 cells and evaluated for their capacity to promote anchorage-independent cell growth. Mutational analysis revealed that both the third alpha-helix of the homeodomain and a small region of the FKHR transactivation domain are absolutely required for efficient transformation by the Pax3-FKHR fusion protein. Surprisingly, point mutations in the paired domain that abrogate sequence-specific DNA binding retained transformation potential equivalent to that of the wild-type protein. This finding suggests that DNA binding mediated through the Pax3 paired box is not required for transformation. Our results demonstrate that the integrity of the Pax3 homeodomain recognition helix and the FKHR transactivation domain is necessary for efficient cellular transformation by the Pax3-FKHR fusion protein.