Oncoepigenomics: making histone lysine methylation count. Eur J Med Chem. 2012;56:179-194. [PMID: 22975593 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2012.08.010]

Sex-Specific Expression of Histone Lysine Demethylases (KDMs) in Thyroid Cancer

BACKGROUND

The incidence of thyroid cancer in women is 3-4-fold higher than in men. To characterize sex-specific molecular alterations in thyroid cancer, we examined the expression of sex-biased genes in normal thyroids and thyroid tumors.

METHODS

Ingenuity pathways analysis was used to define sex-biased gene networks using data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Confirmatory studies were performed through the analysis of histone lysine demethylases (KDMs) expression by real-time PCR and immunostaining.

RESULTS

In normal thyroids, 44 sex-biased genes were comparatively upregulated in male and 28 in female patients. The expressions of 37/72 (51%) sex-biased genes were affected in cancer tissues compared with normal thyroids. Gene network analyses revealed sex-specific patterns in the expressions of KDM5C, KDM5D, and KDM6A. In confirmatory studies, KDM5D mRNA and protein were detected only in males, whereas KDM5C and KDM6A were detected in samples from male and female patients. Nuclear staining with anti-KDMs was found in normal thyroids, but a loss of nuclear expression with a concomitant gain of cytoplasmic staining was observed in cancer tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

Normal thyroids have a sex-specific molecular signature, and the development of thyroid cancer is associated with a differential expression of sex-biased genes. The sex-specific expression of KDMs, coupled with cancer-related alterations in their intracellular localization, may contribute to mechanisms underlying sex differences in thyroid tumorigenesis.

Intermolecular insights into allosteric inhibition of histone lysine-specific demethylase 1

BACKGROUND

Histone lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) has become a potential anticancer target for the novel drug discovery. Recent reports have shown that SP2509 and its derivatives strongly inhibit LSD1 as allosteric inhibitors. However, the binding mechanism of these allosteric inhibitors in the allosteric site of LSD1 is not known yet.

METHODS

The stability and binding mechanism of allosteric inhibitors in the binding site of LSD1 were evaluated by molecular docking, ligand-based pharmacophore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, molecular mechanics generalized born surface area (MM/GBSA) analysis, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculation and Hirshfeld surface analysis.

RESULTS

The conformational geometry and the intermolecular interactions of allosteric inhibitors showed high binding affinity towards allosteric site of LSD1 with the neighboring amino acids (Gly358, Cys360, Leu362, Asp375 and Glu379). Meanwhile, MD simulations and MM/GBSA analysis were performed on selected allosteric inhibitors in complex with LSD1 protein, which confirmed the high stability and binding affinity of these inhibitors in the allosteric site of LSD1.

CONCLUSION

The simulation results revealed the crucial factors accounting for allosteric inhibitors of LSD1, including different protein-ligand interactions, the positions and conformations of key residues, and the ligands flexibilities. Meanwhile, a halogen bond interaction between chlorine atom of ligand and key residues Trp531 and His532 was recurrent in our analysis confirming its importance.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

Overall, our research analyzed in depth the binding modes of allosteric inhibitors with LSD1 and could provide useful information for the design of novel allosteric inhibitors.

Chaetocin induced chromatin condensation: effect on DNA repair signaling and survival

PURPOSE

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the histone lysine-methyltransferase (HKMT) inhibitor chaetocin on chromatin structure and its effect on ionizing radiation (IR) induced DNA damage response.

METHODS

Concentration and time-dependent effects of chaetocin on chromatin clustering and its reversibility were analyzed by immunofluorescent assays in the non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines H460 and H1299Q4 and in human skin fibroblasts. In addition, IR induced damage response (γH2AX, 53BP1, and pATM foci formation) was studied by immunofluorescent assays. The effect on survival was determined by performing single-cell clonogenic assays.

RESULTS

Chaetocin significantly increased the radiation sensitivity of H460 (F test on nonlinear regression, p < .0011) and of H1299 (p = .0201). In addition, treatment with 15 nM chaetocin also decreased the total radiation doses that control 50% of the plaque monolayers (TCD50) from 17.2 ± 0.3 Gy to 7.3 ± 0.4 Gy (p < .0001) in H1299 cells and from 11.6 ± 0.1 Gy to 6.5 ± 0.3 Gy (p < .0001). Phenotypically, chaetocin led to a time and concentration-dependent clustering of the chromatin in H1299 as well as in fibroblasts, but not in H460 cells. This phenotype of chaetocin induced chromatin clustering (CICC) was reversible and depended on the expression of the HKMTs SUV39H1 and G9a. Treatment with siRNA for SUV39h1 and G9a significantly reduced the CICC phenotype. Immunofluorescent assay results showed that the CICC phenotype was enriched for the heterochromatic marker proteins H3K9me3 and HP1α. γH2AX foci formation was not affected, neither in cells with normal nor with CICC phenotype. In contrast, repair signaling with 53BP1 and pATM foci formation was significantly reduced in the CICC phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment with chaetocin increased the radiation sensitivity of cells in vitro and DNA damage response, especially of 53BP1 and ATM-dependent repair by affecting chromatin structure. The obtained results support the potential use of natural HKMT inhibitors such as chaetocin or other bioactive compounds in improving radiosensitivity of cancer cells.

Epigenetic regulation of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is (PCa) the second leading cause of cancer death in males in the United State, with 174,650 new cases and 31,620 deaths estimated in 2019. It has been documented that epigenetic deregulation such as histone modification and DNA methylation contributes to PCa initiation and progression. EZH2 (enhancer of zeste homolog 2), the catalytic subunit of the Polycomb Repressive Complex (PRC2) responsible for H3K27me3 and gene repression, has been identified as a promising target in PCa. In addition, overexpression of other epigenetic regulators such as DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) is also observed in PCa. These epigenetic regulators undergo extensive post-translational modifications, in particular, phosphorylation. AKT, CDKs, PLK1, PKA, ATR and DNA-PK are the established kinases responsible for phosphorylation of various epigenetic regulators.

Optimization of a Fragment-Based Screening Hit toward Potent DOT1L Inhibitors Interacting in an Induced Binding Pocket

Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangement induces leukemic transformation by ectopic recruitment of disruptor of telomeric silencing 1-like protein (DOT1L), a lysine histone methyltransferase, leading to local hypermethylation of H3K79 and misexpression of genes (including HoxA), which drive the leukemic phenotype. A weak fragment-based screening hit identified by SPR was cocrystallized with DOT1L and optimized using structure-based ligand optimization to yield compound 8 (IC50 = 14 nM). This series of inhibitors is structurally not related to cofactor SAM and is not interacting within the SAM binding pocket but induces a pocket adjacent to the SAM binding site.

Post-Transcriptional Regulation of the GASC1 Oncogene with Active Tumor-Targeted siRNA-Nanoparticles

Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) accounts for the most aggressive types of breast cancer, marked by high rates of relapse and poor prognoses and with no effective clinical therapy yet. Therefore, investigation of new targets and treatment strategies is more than necessary. Here, we identified a receptor that can be targeted in BLBC for efficient and specific siRNA mediated gene knockdown of therapeutically relevant genes such as the histone demethylase GASC1, which is involved in multiple signaling pathways leading to tumorigenesis. Breast cancer and healthy breast cell lines were compared regarding transferrin receptor (TfR) expression via flow cytometry and transferrin binding assays. Nanobioconjugates made of low molecular weight polyethylenimine (LMW-PEI) and transferrin (Tf) were synthesized to contain a bioreducible disulfide bond. siRNA complexation was characterized by condensation assays and dynamic light scattering. Cytotoxicity, transfection efficiency, and the targeting specificity of the conjugates were investigated in TfR positive and negative healthy breast and breast cancer cell lines by flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, RT-PCR, and Western blot. Breast cancer cell lines revealed a significantly higher TfR expression than healthy breast cells. The conjugates efficiently condensed siRNA into particles with 45 nm size at low polymer concentrations, showed no apparent toxicity on different breast cancer cell lines, and had significantly greater transfection and gene knockdown activity on mRNA and protein levels than PEI/siRNA leading to targeted and therapeutic growth inhibition post GASC1 knockdown. The synthesized nanobioconjugates improved the efficiency of gene transfer and targeting specificity in transferrin receptor positive cells but not in cells with basal receptor expression. Therefore, these materials in combination with our newly identified siRNA sequences are promising candidates for therapeutic targeting of hard-to-treat BLBC and are currently further investigated regarding in vivo targeting efficacy and biocompatibility.

Phosphorylation of epigenetic "readers, writers and erasers": Implications for developmental reprogramming and the epigenetic basis for health and disease

Epigenetic reprogramming that occurs during critical periods of development can increase the susceptibility to many diseases in adulthood. Programming of the epigenome during development occurs via the activity of a variety of epigenetic modifiers, including "readers, writers and erasers" of histone methyl marks. Posttranslational modification of these programmers can alter their activity, resulting in global or gene-specific changes in histone methylation and gene transcription. This review summarizes what is currently known about phosphorylation of histone methyltransferases ("writers"), demethylases ("erasers") and effector proteins ("readers) that program the epigenome, and the impact of this posttranslational modification on their activity. Understanding how the activity of these epigenetic programmers is perturbed by environmental exposures via changes in phosphorylation is key to understanding mechanisms of developmental reprogramming and the epigenetic basis of health and disease.

Epigenetics and pancreatic cancer: pathophysiology and novel treatment aspects

An improvement in pancreatic cancer treatment represents an urgent medical goal. Late diagnosis and high intrinsic resistance to conventional chemotherapy has led to a dismal overall prognosis that has remained unchanged during the past decades. Increasing knowledge about the molecular pathogenesis of the disease has shown that genetic alterations, such as mutations of K-ras, and especially epigenetic dysregulation of tumor-associated genes, such as silencing of the tumor suppressor p16(ink4a), are hallmarks of pancreatic cancer. Here, we describe genes that are commonly affected by epigenetic dysregulation in pancreatic cancer via DNA methylation, histone acetylation or miRNA (microRNA) expression, and review the implications on pancreatic cancer biology such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, morphological pattern formation, or cancer stem cell regulation during carcinogenesis from PanIN (pancreatic intraepithelial lesions) to invasive cancer and resistance development. Epigenetic drugs, such as DNA methyltransferases or histone deactylase inhibitors, have shown promising preclinical results in pancreatic cancer and are currently in early phases of clinical development. Combinations of epigenetic drugs with established cytotoxic drugs or targeted therapies are promising approaches to improve the poor response and survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients.

Endothelial transcriptome in response to pharmacological methyltransferase inhibition

The enzymatic activities of protein methyltransferases serve to write covalent modifications on histone and non-histone proteins in the control of gene transcription. Here, we describe gene expression changes in human endothelial cells caused by treatment with methyltransferase inhibitors 7,7'-carbonylbis (azanediyl) bis(4-hydroxynaphthalene-2 -sulfonic acid (AMI-1) and disodium-2-(2,4,5,7- tetrabromo-3-oxido-6-oxoxanthen-9-yl) benzoate trihydrate (AMI-5). Deep sequencing of mRNA indicated robust change on transcription following AMI-5 treatment compared with AMI-1. Functional annotation analysis revealed that both compounds suppress the expression of genes associated with translational regulation, suggesting arginine methylation by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) could be associated with regulation of this pathway. Interestingly, AMI-5 but not AMI-1 was found to decrease methylation of H3 histones at lysine 4 and down-regulate gene expression associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) and activator protein-1 (AP-1) signaling pathways. These results imply that inhibition of protein methylation by AMI-1 and AMI-5 can differentially regulate specific pathways with potential to interrupt pathological signaling in the vascular endothelium.

Histone methylation during neural development

Post-translational modification of histone proteins, such as the methylation of lysine and arginine residues, influences the higher order of chromatin and leads to gene activation or silencing. Histone methyltransferases or demethylases actively add or remove various methylation marks in a cell-type-specific and context-dependent way. They are therefore important players in regulating the transcriptional program of a cell. Some control of the various cellular programs is necessary during the differentiation of stem cells along a specific lineage, when differentiation to alternative lineages needs to be suppressed. One example is the development of neurons from neural stem cells during neurogenesis. Neurogenesis is a highly organized process that requires the proper coordination of survival, proliferation, differentiation and migration signals. This holds true for both embryonic and neural stem cells that give rise to the various cell types of the central nervous system. The control of embryonic and neural stem cell self-renewal and differentiation is achieved by both extrinsic and intrinsic signals that regulate gene expression precisely. Recent advances in neuroscience support the importance of epigenetic modifications, such as the methylation and acetylation of histones, as an important intrinsic mechanism for the regulation of central nervous system development. This review summarizes our current knowledge of histone methylation processes during neural development and provides insights into the function of histone methylation enzymes and their role during central nervous system development.

Epigenetic regulation of oogenesis and germ stem cell maintenance by the Drosophila histone methyltransferase Eggless/dSetDB1

The Drosophila melanogaster histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT) Eggless (Egg/dSETDB1) catalyzes methylation of Histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9), a signature of repressive heterochromatin. Our previous studies showed that H3K9 methylation by Egg is required for oogenesis. Here we analyze a set of EMS-induced mutations in the egg gene, identify the molecular lesions of these mutations, and compare the effects on oogenesis of both strong loss-of-function and weak hypomorphic alleles. These studies show that H3K9 methylation by Egg is required for multiple stages of oogenesis. Mosaic expression experiments show that the egg gene is not required intrinsically in the germ cells for their early differentiation, but is required in the germ cells for their survival past stage 5 of oogenesis. egg is also required in germ stem cells for their maintenance, since egg- germ stem cells initially survive but are not maintained as females age. Mosaic analysis also reveals that the early egg chamber budding defects in egg- ovaries are due to an intrinsic requirement for egg in follicle stem cells and their descendents, and that egg plays a non-autonomous role in somatic cells in the germarium to influence the differentiation of early germ cells.

Aberrant DNA methylation in human cancers

DNA methylation, one of the best-characterized epigenetic modifications, plays essential roles in diseases, including human cancers. In recent years, our understanding on DNA methylation with human cancers has made significant progress, which was facilitated by stunning development in the analysis of the human methylome of multiple cancer types. In this review, recent developments in the characterization of aberrant DNA methylation involved in human cancers development were discussed with special emphasis on the mechanisms of aberrant DNA methylation in human cancers. We also summarize the recent treatment strategy for human cancers with de-methylation drugs.

Molecular pathways: protein methyltransferases in cancer

The protein methyltransferases (PMT) constitute a large and important class of enzymes that catalyze site-specific methylation of lysine or arginine residues on histones and other proteins. Site-specific histone methylation is a critical component of chromatin regulation of gene transcription-a pathway that is often genetically altered in human cancers. Oncogenic alterations (e.g., mutations, chromosomal translocations, and others) of PMTs, or of associated proteins, have been found to confer unique dependencies of cancer cells on the activity of specific PMTs. Examples of potent, selective small-molecule inhibitors of specific PMTs are reviewed that have been shown to kill cancers cells bearing such oncogenic alterations, while having minimal effect on proliferation of nonaltered cells. Selective inhibitors of the PMTs, DOT1L and EZH2, have entered phase I clinical studies and additional examples of selective PMT inhibitors are likely to enter the clinic soon. The current state of efforts toward clinical testing of selective PMT inhibitors as personalized cancer therapeutics is reviewed here.