1
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Chauhan S, Lian E, Habib I, Liu Q, Anders NM, Bugg MM, Federman NC, Reid JM, Stewart CF, Cates T, Michalek JE, Keller C. Entinostat as a combinatorial therapeutic for rhabdomyosarcoma. Sci Rep 2024; 14:18936. [PMID: 39147820 PMCID: PMC11327338 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66545-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common childhood soft tissue sarcoma. For the alveolar subtype (ARMS), the presence of the PAX3::FOXO1 fusion gene and/or metastases are strong predictors of poor outcome. Metastatic PAX3::FOXO1+ ARMS often responds to chemotherapies initially, only to subsequently relapse and become resistant with most patients failing to survive beyond 8 years post-diagnosis. No curative intent phase II or phase III clinical trial has been available for patients in the past 10 years (ARST0921). Thus, metastatic ARMS represents a significantly unmet clinical need. Chemotherapy resistance in ARMS has previously been attributed to PAX3::FOXO1-mediated cell cycle checkpoint adaptation, which is mediated by an HDAC3-SMARCA4-miR-27a-PAX3::FOXO1 circuit that can be disrupted by HDAC3 inhibition. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of combining the epigenetic regulator entinostat, a Class I Histone Deacetylase (HDAC1-3) inhibitor, with RMS-specific chemotherapies in patient derived xenograft (PDX) models of RMS. We identified single agent, additive or synergistic relationships between relapse-specific chemotherapies and clinically relevant drug exposures of entinostat in three PAX3::FOXO1+ ARMS mouse models. This preclinical data provides further rationale for clinical investigation of entinostat, already known to be well tolerated in a pediatric phase I clinical trial (ADVL1513).
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Affiliation(s)
- Shefali Chauhan
- Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, 9025 NE Von Neumann Drive Ste 110, Hillsboro, OR, 97006, USA
| | - Emily Lian
- Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, 9025 NE Von Neumann Drive Ste 110, Hillsboro, OR, 97006, USA
| | - Iman Habib
- Champions Oncology, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Qianqian Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Nicole M Anders
- Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA
| | - Megan M Bugg
- Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, 9025 NE Von Neumann Drive Ste 110, Hillsboro, OR, 97006, USA
| | - Noah C Federman
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Ángeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joel M Reid
- Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | - Clinton F Stewart
- Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | | | - Joel E Michalek
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Charles Keller
- Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, 9025 NE Von Neumann Drive Ste 110, Hillsboro, OR, 97006, USA.
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2
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Kalita B, Martinez-Cebrian G, McEvoy J, Allensworth M, Knight M, Magli A, Perlingeiro RCR, Dyer MA, Stewart E, Dynlacht BD. PAX fusion proteins deregulate gene networks controlling mitochondrial translation in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.31.606039. [PMID: 39211084 PMCID: PMC11360909 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.31.606039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) patients harboring PAX3-FOXO1 and PAX7-FOXO1 fusion proteins exhibit a greater incidence of tumor relapse, metastasis, and poor survival outcome, thereby underscoring the urgent need to develop effective therapies to treat this subtype of childhood cancer. To uncover mechanisms that contribute to tumor initiation, we developed a novel muscle progenitor model and used epigenomic approaches to unravel genome re-wiring events mediated by PAX3/7 fusion proteins. Importantly, these regulatory mechanisms are conserved across established ARMS cell lines, primary tumors, and orthotopic-patient derived xenografts. Among the key targets of PAX3- and PAX7-fusion proteins, we identified a cohort of oncogenes, FGF receptors, and genes essential for mitochondrial metabolism and protein translation, which we successfully targeted in preclinical trials. Our data suggest an explanation for the relative paucity of recurring mutations in this tumor, provide a compelling list of actionable targets, and suggest promising new strategies to treat this tumor.
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3
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Tian M, Wei JS, Cheuk ATC, Milewski D, Zhang Z, Kim YY, Chou HC, Liu C, Badr S, Pope EG, Rahmy A, Wu JT, Kelly MC, Wen X, Khan J. CAR T-cells targeting FGFR4 and CD276 simultaneously show potent antitumor effect against childhood rhabdomyosarcoma. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6222. [PMID: 39043633 PMCID: PMC11266617 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50251-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 4 (FGFR4), a highly expressed surface tyrosine receptor in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), are already in the clinical phase of development, but tumour heterogeneity and suboptimal activation might hamper their potency. Here we report an optimization strategy of the co-stimulatory and targeting properties of a FGFR4 CAR. We replace the CD8 hinge and transmembrane domain and the 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain with those of CD28. The resulting CARs display enhanced anti-tumor activity in several RMS xenograft models except for an aggressive tumour cell line, RMS559. By searching for a direct target of the RMS core-regulatory transcription factor MYOD1, we identify another surface protein, CD276, as a potential target. Bicistronic CARs (BiCisCAR) targeting both FGFR4 and CD276, containing two distinct co-stimulatory domains, have superior prolonged persistent and invigorated anti-tumor activities compared to the optimized FGFR4-specific CAR and the other BiCisCAR with the same 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain. Our study thus lays down the proof-of-principle for a CAR T-cell therapy targeting both FGFR4 and CD276 in RMS.
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MESH Headings
- Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4/metabolism
- Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4/genetics
- Rhabdomyosarcoma/therapy
- Rhabdomyosarcoma/immunology
- Rhabdomyosarcoma/genetics
- Humans
- Animals
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/immunology
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/metabolism
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
- Mice
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods
- B7 Antigens/metabolism
- B7 Antigens/immunology
- B7 Antigens/genetics
- MyoD Protein/metabolism
- MyoD Protein/genetics
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- Child
- Female
- Mice, SCID
- Mice, Inbred NOD
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Affiliation(s)
- Meijie Tian
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Jun S Wei
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Adam Tai-Chi Cheuk
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - David Milewski
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Zhongmei Zhang
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Yong Yean Kim
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Hsien-Chao Chou
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Can Liu
- Multiscale Systems Biology Section, Laboratory of Immune System Biology, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Sherif Badr
- Experimental Immunology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Eleanor G Pope
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Abdelrahman Rahmy
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Jerry T Wu
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Michael C Kelly
- Single Cell Analysis Facility, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Xinyu Wen
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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4
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Kucinski J, Tallan A, Taslim C, Wang M, Cannon MV, Silvius KM, Stanton BZ, Kendall GC. Rhabdomyosarcoma fusion oncoprotein initially pioneers a neural signature in vivo. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.12.603270. [PMID: 39071299 PMCID: PMC11275748 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.12.603270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive pediatric cancer molecularly characterized by arrested myogenesis. The defining genetic driver, PAX3::FOXO1, functions as a chimeric gain-of-function transcription factor. An incomplete understanding of PAX3::FOXO1's in vivo epigenetic mechanisms has hindered therapeutic development. Here, we establish a PAX3::FOXO1 zebrafish injection model and semi-automated ChIP-seq normalization strategy to evaluate how PAX3::FOXO1 initially interfaces with chromatin in a developmental context. We investigated PAX3::FOXO1's recognition of chromatin and subsequent transcriptional consequences. We find that PAX3::FOXO1 interacts with inaccessible chromatin through partial/homeobox motif recognition consistent with pioneering activity. However, PAX3::FOXO1-genome binding through a composite paired-box/homeobox motif alters chromatin accessibility and redistributes H3K27ac to activate neural transcriptional programs. We uncover neural signatures that are highly representative of clinical rhabdomyosarcoma gene expression programs that are enriched following chemotherapy. Overall, we identify partial/homeobox motif recognition as a new mode for PAX3::FOXO1 pioneer function and identify neural signatures as a potentially critical PAX3::FOXO1 tumor initiation event.
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5
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Stanton BZ, Pomella S. Epigenetic determinants of fusion-driven sarcomas: paradigms and challenges. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1416946. [PMID: 38946804 PMCID: PMC11211607 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1416946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
We describe exciting recent advances in fusion-driven sarcoma etiology, from an epigenetics perspective. By exploring the current state of the field, we identify and describe the central mechanisms that determine sarcomagenesis. Further, we discuss seminal studies in translational genomics, which enabled epigenetic characterization of fusion-driven sarcomas. Important context for epigenetic mechanisms include, but are not limited to, cell cycle and metabolism, core regulatory circuitry, 3-dimensional chromatin architectural dysregulation, integration with ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling, and translational animal modeling. Paradoxically, while the genetic requirements for oncogenic transformation are highly specific for the fusion partners, the epigenetic mechanisms we as a community have uncovered are categorically very broad. This dichotomy prompts the question of whether the investigation of rare disease epigenomics should prioritize studying individual cell populations, thereby examining whether the mechanisms of chromatin dysregulation are specific to a particular tumor. We review recent advances focusing on rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, alveolar soft part sarcoma, clear cell sarcoma, undifferentiated round cell sarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, myxoid/round liposarcoma, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and desmoplastic round cell tumor. The growing number of groundbreaking discoveries in the field, motivated us to anticipate further exciting advances in the area of mechanistic epigenomics and direct targeting of fusion transcription factors in the years ahead.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Z. Stanton
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Silvia Pomella
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
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6
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Lu Z, Xu L, Wang X. BIT: Bayesian Identification of Transcriptional Regulators. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.02.597061. [PMID: 38895220 PMCID: PMC11185535 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.02.597061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
BIT is a novel Bayesian hierarchical model capable of predicting transcriptional regulators (TRs) from the input of user-provided epigenomic regions. TRs are critical molecules in transcriptional regulation. Many diseases and cancers are linked to the dysfunction of TRs. Knowing TRs in certain biological process can help find new biomarkers or therapeutic targets. Thus, BIT formulates a novel Bayesian hierarchical model with the Pólya-gamma data augmentation strategy. Based on collected ChIP-seq datasets, BIT can identify TRs responsible for the genome-wide binding pattern within the user-provided epigenomic regions. BIT has been validated by using a simulation study and three applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyu Lu
- Department of Statistics and Data science, Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Lin Xu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Xinlei Wang
- Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
- Center for Data Science Research and Education, College of Science, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
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7
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Kucinski JP, Calderon D, Kendall GC. Biological and therapeutic insights from animal modeling of fusion-driven pediatric soft tissue sarcomas. Dis Model Mech 2024; 17:dmm050704. [PMID: 38916046 PMCID: PMC11225592 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.050704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Survival for children with cancer has primarily improved over the past decades due to refinements in surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Although these general therapies are sometimes curative, the cancer often recurs, resulting in poor outcomes for patients. Fusion-driven pediatric soft tissue sarcomas are genetically defined by chromosomal translocations that create a chimeric oncogene. This distinctive, almost 'monogenic', genetic feature supports the generation of animal models to study the respective diseases in vivo. This Review focuses on a subset of fusion-driven pediatric soft tissue sarcomas that have transgenic animal tumor models, which includes fusion-positive and infantile rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma, alveolar soft part sarcoma and clear cell sarcoma. Studies using the animal models of these sarcomas have highlighted that pediatric cancers require a specific cellular state or developmental stage to drive tumorigenesis, as the fusion oncogenes cause different outcomes depending on their lineage and timing of expression. Therefore, understanding these context-specific activities could identify targetable activities and mechanisms critical for tumorigenesis. Broadly, these cancers show dependencies on chromatin regulators to support oncogenic gene expression and co-opting of developmental pathways. Comparative analyses across lineages and tumor models will further provide biological and therapeutic insights to improve outcomes for these children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack P. Kucinski
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology PhD Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Delia Calderon
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology PhD Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Genevieve C. Kendall
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology PhD Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
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8
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Banerjee D, Bagchi S, Liu Z, Chou HC, Xu M, Sun M, Aloisi S, Vaksman Z, Diskin SJ, Zimmerman M, Khan J, Gryder B, Thiele CJ. Lineage specific transcription factor waves reprogram neuroblastoma from self-renewal to differentiation. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3432. [PMID: 38653778 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47166-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Temporal regulation of super-enhancer (SE) driven transcription factors (TFs) underlies normal developmental programs. Neuroblastoma (NB) arises from an inability of sympathoadrenal progenitors to exit a self-renewal program and terminally differentiate. To identify SEs driving TF regulators, we use all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to induce NB growth arrest and differentiation. Time-course H3K27ac ChIP-seq and RNA-seq reveal ATRA coordinated SE waves. SEs that decrease with ATRA link to stem cell development (MYCN, GATA3, SOX11). CRISPR-Cas9 and siRNA verify SOX11 dependency, in vitro and in vivo. Silencing the SOX11 SE using dCAS9-KRAB decreases SOX11 mRNA and inhibits cell growth. Other TFs activate in sequential waves at 2, 4 and 8 days of ATRA treatment that regulate neural development (GATA2 and SOX4). Silencing the gained SOX4 SE using dCAS9-KRAB decreases SOX4 expression and attenuates ATRA-induced differentiation genes. Our study identifies oncogenic lineage drivers of NB self-renewal and TFs critical for implementing a differentiation program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deblina Banerjee
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Sukriti Bagchi
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Zhihui Liu
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hsien-Chao Chou
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Man Xu
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ming Sun
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sara Aloisi
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy
| | | | - Sharon J Diskin
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Mark Zimmerman
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Berkley Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
| | - Carol J Thiele
- Cell & Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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9
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Yao Z, Song P, Jiao W. Pathogenic role of super-enhancers as potential therapeutic targets in lung cancer. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1383580. [PMID: 38681203 PMCID: PMC11047458 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1383580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is still one of the deadliest malignancies today, and most patients with advanced lung cancer pass away from disease progression that is uncontrollable by medications. Super-enhancers (SEs) are large clusters of enhancers in the genome's non-coding sequences that actively trigger transcription. Although SEs have just been identified over the past 10 years, their intricate structure and crucial role in determining cell identity and promoting tumorigenesis and progression are increasingly coming to light. Here, we review the structural composition of SEs, the auto-regulatory circuits, the control mechanisms of downstream genes and pathways, and the characterization of subgroups classified according to SEs in lung cancer. Additionally, we discuss the therapeutic targets, several small-molecule inhibitors, and available treatment options for SEs in lung cancer. Combination therapies have demonstrated considerable advantages in preclinical models, and we anticipate that these drugs will soon enter clinical studies and benefit patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyuan Yao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Peng Song
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenjie Jiao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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10
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Yoon I, Kim U, Song Y, Park T, Lee DS. 3C methods in cancer research: recent advances and future prospects. Exp Mol Med 2024; 56:788-798. [PMID: 38658701 PMCID: PMC11059347 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-024-01236-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
In recent years, Hi-C technology has revolutionized cancer research by elucidating the mystery of three-dimensional chromatin organization and its role in gene regulation. This paper explored the impact of Hi-C advancements on cancer research by delving into high-resolution techniques, such as chromatin loops, structural variants, haplotype phasing, and extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA). Distant regulatory elements interact with their target genes through chromatin loops. Structural variants contribute to the development and progression of cancer. Haplotype phasing is crucial for understanding allele-specific genomic rearrangements and somatic clonal evolution in cancer. The role of ecDNA in driving oncogene amplification and drug resistance in cancer cells has also been revealed. These innovations offer a deeper understanding of cancer biology and the potential for personalized therapies. Despite these advancements, challenges, such as the accurate mapping of repetitive sequences and precise identification of structural variants, persist. Integrating Hi-C with multiomics data is key to overcoming these challenges and comprehensively understanding complex cancer genomes. Thus, Hi-C is a powerful tool for guiding precision medicine in cancer research and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Insoo Yoon
- Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea
| | - Uijin Kim
- Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea
| | - Yousuk Song
- Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea
| | - Taesoo Park
- Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong-Sung Lee
- Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea.
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11
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Clayton BLL, Kristell JD, Allan KC, Cohn EF, Karl M, Jerome AD, Garrison E, Maeno-Hikichi Y, Sturno AM, Kerr A, Shick HE, Sepeda JA, Freundt EC, Sas AR, Segal BM, Miller RH, Tesar PJ. A phenotypic screening platform for identifying chemical modulators of astrocyte reactivity. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:656-665. [PMID: 38378993 PMCID: PMC11034956 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01580-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Disease, injury and aging induce pathological reactive astrocyte states that contribute to neurodegeneration. Modulating reactive astrocytes therefore represent an attractive therapeutic strategy. Here we describe the development of an astrocyte phenotypic screening platform for identifying chemical modulators of astrocyte reactivity. Leveraging this platform for chemical screening, we identify histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) inhibitors as effective suppressors of pathological astrocyte reactivity. We demonstrate that HDAC3 inhibition reduces molecular and functional characteristics of reactive astrocytes in vitro. Transcriptional and chromatin mapping studies show that HDAC3 inhibition disarms pathological astrocyte gene expression and function while promoting the expression of genes associated with beneficial astrocytes. Administration of RGFP966, a small molecule HDAC3 inhibitor, blocks reactive astrocyte formation and promotes neuroprotection in vivo in mice. Collectively, these results establish a platform for discovering modulators of reactive astrocyte states, inform the mechanisms that control astrocyte reactivity and demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of modulating astrocyte reactivity for neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin L L Clayton
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
| | - James D Kristell
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Kevin C Allan
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Erin F Cohn
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Molly Karl
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Andrew D Jerome
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Eric Garrison
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Yuka Maeno-Hikichi
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Annalise M Sturno
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Alexis Kerr
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - H Elizabeth Shick
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Jesse A Sepeda
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Eric C Freundt
- Department of Biology, The University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Andrew R Sas
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Benjamin M Segal
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Robert H Miller
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Paul J Tesar
- Institute for Glial Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
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12
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Prutsch N, He S, Berezovskaya A, Durbin AD, Dharia NV, Maher KA, Matthews JD, Hare L, Turner SD, Stegmaier K, Kenner L, Merkel O, Look AT, Abraham BJ, Zimmerman MW. STAT3 couples activated tyrosine kinase signaling to the oncogenic core transcriptional regulatory circuitry of anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Cell Rep Med 2024; 5:101472. [PMID: 38508140 PMCID: PMC10983107 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an aggressive, CD30+ T cell lymphoma of children and adults. ALK fusion transcripts or mutations in the JAK-STAT pathway are observed in most ALCL tumors, but the mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis are not fully understood. Here, we show that dysregulated STAT3 in ALCL cooccupies enhancers with master transcription factors BATF3, IRF4, and IKZF1 to form a core regulatory circuit that establishes and maintains the malignant cell state in ALCL. Critical downstream targets of this network in ALCL cells include the protooncogene MYC, which requires active STAT3 to facilitate high levels of MYC transcription. The core autoregulatory transcriptional circuitry activity is reinforced by MYC binding to the enhancer regions associated with STAT3 and each of the core regulatory transcription factors. Thus, activation of STAT3 provides the crucial link between aberrant tyrosine kinase signaling and the core transcriptional machinery that drives tumorigenesis and creates therapeutic vulnerabilities in ALCL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Prutsch
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Shuning He
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alla Berezovskaya
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Adam D Durbin
- Division of Molecular Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Neekesh V Dharia
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA
| | - Kelsey A Maher
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jamie D Matthews
- Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lucy Hare
- Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Suzanne D Turner
- Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Kimberly Stegmaier
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA
| | - Lukas Kenner
- Department of Pathology, Unit of Experimental and Laboratory Animal Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Olaf Merkel
- Department of Pathology, Unit of Experimental and Laboratory Animal Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - A Thomas Look
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Brian J Abraham
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
| | - Mark W Zimmerman
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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13
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Kim YY, Gryder BE, Sinniah R, Peach ML, Shern JF, Abdelmaksoud A, Pomella S, Woldemichael GM, Stanton BZ, Milewski D, Barchi JJ, Schneekloth JS, Chari R, Kowalczyk JT, Shenoy SR, Evans JR, Song YK, Wang C, Wen X, Chou HC, Gangalapudi V, Esposito D, Jones J, Procter L, O'Neill M, Jenkins LM, Tarasova NI, Wei JS, McMahon JB, O'Keefe BR, Hawley RG, Khan J. KDM3B inhibitors disrupt the oncogenic activity of PAX3-FOXO1 in fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1703. [PMID: 38402212 PMCID: PMC10894237 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45902-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma (FP-RMS) is an aggressive pediatric sarcoma driven primarily by the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion oncogene, for which therapies targeting PAX3-FOXO1 are lacking. Here, we screen 62,643 compounds using an engineered cell line that monitors PAX3-FOXO1 transcriptional activity identifying a hitherto uncharacterized compound, P3FI-63. RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and docking analyses implicate histone lysine demethylases (KDMs) as its targets. Enzymatic assays confirm the inhibition of multiple KDMs with the highest selectivity for KDM3B. Structural similarity search of P3FI-63 identifies P3FI-90 with improved solubility and potency. Biophysical binding of P3FI-90 to KDM3B is demonstrated using NMR and SPR. P3FI-90 suppresses the growth of FP-RMS in vitro and in vivo through downregulating PAX3-FOXO1 activity, and combined knockdown of KDM3B and KDM1A phenocopies P3FI-90 effects. Thus, we report KDM inhibitors P3FI-63 and P3FI-90 with the highest specificity for KDM3B. Their potent suppression of PAX3-FOXO1 activity indicates a possible therapeutic approach for FP-RMS and other transcriptionally addicted cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | | | - Megan L Peach
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR), Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Jack F Shern
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Silvia Pomella
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Girma M Woldemichael
- Leidos Biomed Res Inc, FNLCR, Basic Sci Program, Frederick, MD, USA
- Molecular Targets Program, NCI, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Benjamin Z Stanton
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry & Pharmacology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | | | | | - Raj Chari
- Genome Modification Core, Laboratory Animal Sciences Program, FNLCR, Frederick, MD, USA
| | | | - Shilpa R Shenoy
- Leidos Biomed Res Inc, FNLCR, Basic Sci Program, Frederick, MD, USA
- Molecular Targets Program, NCI, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Jason R Evans
- Natural Products Branch, NCI, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | | | - Chaoyu Wang
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Xinyu Wen
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | - Jane Jones
- Protein Expression Laboratory, FNLCR, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Lauren Procter
- Protein Expression Laboratory, FNLCR, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Maura O'Neill
- Protein Characterization Laboratory, FNLCR, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Jun S Wei
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Barry R O'Keefe
- Molecular Targets Program, NCI, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
- Natural Products Branch, NCI, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Robert G Hawley
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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14
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Kelly RDW, Stengel KR, Chandru A, Johnson LC, Hiebert SW, Cowley SM. Histone deacetylases maintain expression of the pluripotent gene network via recruitment of RNA polymerase II to coding and noncoding loci. Genome Res 2024; 34:34-46. [PMID: 38290976 PMCID: PMC10903948 DOI: 10.1101/gr.278050.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Histone acetylation is a dynamic modification regulated by the opposing actions of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Deacetylation of histone tails results in chromatin tightening, and therefore, HDACs are generally regarded as transcriptional repressors. Counterintuitively, simultaneous deletion of Hdac1 and Hdac2 in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) reduces expression of the pluripotency-associated transcription factors Pou5f1, Sox2, and Nanog (PSN). By shaping global histone acetylation patterns, HDACs indirectly regulate the activity of acetyl-lysine readers, such as the transcriptional activator BRD4. Here, we use inhibitors of HDACs and BRD4 (LBH589 and JQ1, respectively) in combination with precision nuclear run-on and sequencing (PRO-seq) to examine their roles in defining the ESC transcriptome. Both LBH589 and JQ1 cause a marked reduction in the pluripotent gene network. However, although JQ1 treatment induces widespread transcriptional pausing, HDAC inhibition causes a reduction in both paused and elongating polymerase, suggesting an overall reduction in polymerase recruitment. Using enhancer RNA (eRNA) expression to measure enhancer activity, we find that LBH589-sensitive eRNAs are preferentially associated with superenhancers and PSN binding sites. These findings suggest that HDAC activity is required to maintain pluripotency by regulating the PSN enhancer network via the recruitment of RNA polymerase II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard D W Kelly
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Henry Wellcome Building, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 9HN, United Kingdom
| | - Kristy R Stengel
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - Aditya Chandru
- Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1BD, United Kingdom
| | - Lyndsey C Johnson
- Locate Bio Limited, MediCity, Beeston, Nottingham NG90 6BH, United Kingdom
| | - Scott W Hiebert
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA
| | - Shaun M Cowley
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Henry Wellcome Building, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 9HN, United Kingdom;
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15
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Pedersen SS, Ingerslev LR, Olsen M, Prause M, Billestrup N. Butyrate functions as a histone deacetylase inhibitor to protect pancreatic beta cells from IL-1β-induced dysfunction. FEBS J 2024; 291:566-583. [PMID: 37985375 DOI: 10.1111/febs.17005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Butyrate, a gut microbial metabolite, has beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis and has become an attractive drug candidate for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recently, we showed that butyrate protects pancreatic beta cells against cytokine-induced dysfunction. In this study, we explored the underlying mechanisms of butyrate action. Pancreatic mouse islets were exposed to a non-cytotoxic concentration of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) for 10 days to mimic low-grade inflammation in T2D. Similar to the effect of butyrate, an isoform-selective histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) inhibitor normalized IL-1β-reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and insulin content. In contrast, free fatty acid receptor 2 and 3 (FFAR2/3) agonists failed to normalize IL-1β-induced beta cell dysfunction. Furthermore, butyrate inhibited HDAC activity and increased the acetylation of histone H3 and H4 by 3- and 10-fold, respectively. Genome-wide analysis of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) revealed that butyrate mainly increased H3K27ac at promoter regions (74%), while H3K27ac peaks regulated by IL-1β were more equally distributed at promoters (38%), introns (23%) and intergenic regions (23%). Gene ontology analysis showed that butyrate increased IL-1β-reduced H3K27ac levels near several genes related to hormone secretion and reduced IL-1β-increased H3K27ac levels near genes associated with inflammatory responses. Butyrate alone increased H3K27ac near many genes related to MAPK signaling, hormone secretion, and differentiation, and decreased H3K27ac at genes involved in cell replication. Together, these results suggest that butyrate prevents IL-1β-induced pancreatic islet dysfunction by inhibition of HDACs resulting in changes in H3K27ac levels at genes relevant for beta cell function and inflammatory responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Signe Schultz Pedersen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lars Roed Ingerslev
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mathias Olsen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michala Prause
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Nils Billestrup
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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16
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Qian H, Zhu M, Tan X, Zhang Y, Liu X, Yang L. Super-enhancers and the super-enhancer reader BRD4: tumorigenic factors and therapeutic targets. Cell Death Discov 2023; 9:470. [PMID: 38135679 PMCID: PMC10746725 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-023-01775-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional super-enhancers and the BET bromodomain protein BRD4 are emerging as critical drivers of tumorigenesis and therapeutic targets. Characterized by substantial accumulation of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) signals at the loci of cell identity genes and critical oncogenes, super-enhancers are recognized, bound and activated by BRD4, resulting in considerable oncogene over-expression, malignant transformation, cancer cell proliferation, survival, tumor initiation and progression. Small molecule compound BRD4 BD1 and BD2 bromodomain inhibitors block BRD4 binding to super-enhancers, suppress oncogene transcription and expression, reduce cancer cell proliferation and survival, and repress tumor progression in a variety of cancer types. Like other targeted therapy agents, BRD4 inhibitors show moderate anticancer effects on their own, and exert synergistic anticancer effects in vitro and in preclinical models, when combined with other anticancer agents including CDK7 inhibitors, CBP/p300 inhibitors and histone deacetylase inhibitors. More recently, BRD4 BD2 bromodomain selective inhibitors, proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) BRD4 protein degraders, and dual BRD4 and CBP/p300 bromodomain co-inhibitors have been developed and shown better anticancer efficacy and/or safety profile. Importantly, more than a dozen BRD4 inhibitors have entered clinical trials in patients with cancer of various organ origins. In summary, super-enhancers and their reader BRD4 are critical tumorigenic drivers, and BRD4 BD1 and BD2 bromodomain inhibitors, BRD4 BD2 bromodomain selective inhibitors, PROTAC BRD4 protein degraders, and dual BRD4 and CBP/p300 bromodomain co-inhibitors are promising novel anticancer agents for clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haihong Qian
- Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Min Zhu
- Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Xinyu Tan
- Department of Dentistry, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650032, China
| | - Yixing Zhang
- Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Xiangning Liu
- Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Li Yang
- Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China.
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17
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Asante Y, Benischke K, Osman I, Ngo QA, Wurth J, Laubscher D, Kim H, Udhayakumar B, Khan MIH, Chin DH, Porch J, Chakraborty M, Sallari R, Delattre O, Zaidi S, Morice S, Surdez D, Danielli SG, Schäfer BW, Gryder BE, Wachtel M. PAX3-FOXO1 uses its activation domain to recruit CBP/P300 and shape RNA Pol2 cluster distribution. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8361. [PMID: 38102136 PMCID: PMC10724205 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43780-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Activation of oncogenic gene expression from long-range enhancers is initiated by the assembly of DNA-binding transcription factors (TF), leading to recruitment of co-activators such as CBP/p300 to modify the local genomic context and facilitate RNA-Polymerase 2 (Pol2) binding. Yet, most TF-to-coactivator recruitment relationships remain unmapped. Here, studying the oncogenic fusion TF PAX3-FOXO1 (P3F) from alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS), we show that a single cysteine in the activation domain (AD) of P3F is important for a small alpha helical coil that recruits CBP/p300 to chromatin. P3F driven transcription requires both this single cysteine and CBP/p300. Mutants of the cysteine reduce aRMS cell proliferation and induce cellular differentiation. Furthermore, we discover a profound dependence on CBP/p300 for clustering of Pol2 loops that connect P3F to its target genes. In the absence of CBP/p300, Pol2 long range enhancer loops collapse, Pol2 accumulates in CpG islands and fails to exit the gene body. These results reveal a potential novel axis for therapeutic interference with P3F in aRMS and clarify the molecular relationship of P3F and CBP/p300 in sustaining active Pol2 clusters essential for oncogenic transcription.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaw Asante
- Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Katharina Benischke
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Issra Osman
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Quy A Ngo
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jakob Wurth
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Dominik Laubscher
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hyunmin Kim
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | | | - Md Imdadul H Khan
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Diana H Chin
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Jadon Porch
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | | | | | - Olivier Delattre
- INSERM U830, Diversity and Plasticity of Childhood Tumors Lab, PSL Research University, SIREDO Oncology Center, Institut Curie Research Center, Paris, France
| | - Sakina Zaidi
- INSERM U830, Diversity and Plasticity of Childhood Tumors Lab, PSL Research University, SIREDO Oncology Center, Institut Curie Research Center, Paris, France
| | - Sarah Morice
- Balgrist University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Didier Surdez
- Balgrist University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sara G Danielli
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Beat W Schäfer
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
| | - Marco Wachtel
- University Children's Hospital, Children's Research Center and Department of Oncology, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032, Zürich, Switzerland.
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18
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Pomella S, Cassandri M, D'Archivio L, Porrazzo A, Cossetti C, Phelps D, Perrone C, Pezzella M, Cardinale A, Wachtel M, Aloisi S, Milewski D, Colletti M, Sreenivas P, Walters ZS, Barillari G, Di Giannatale A, Milano GM, De Stefanis C, Alaggio R, Rodriguez-Rodriguez S, Carlesso N, Vakoc CR, Velardi E, Schafer BW, Guccione E, Gatz SA, Wasti A, Yohe M, Ignatius M, Quintarelli C, Shipley J, Miele L, Khan J, Houghton PJ, Marampon F, Gryder BE, De Angelis B, Locatelli F, Rota R. MYOD-SKP2 axis boosts tumorigenesis in fusion negative rhabdomyosarcoma by preventing differentiation through p57 Kip2 targeting. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8373. [PMID: 38102140 PMCID: PMC10724275 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44130-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are pediatric mesenchymal-derived malignancies encompassing PAX3/7-FOXO1 Fusion Positive (FP)-RMS, and Fusion Negative (FN)-RMS with frequent RAS pathway mutations. RMS express the master myogenic transcription factor MYOD that, whilst essential for survival, cannot support differentiation. Here we discover SKP2, an oncogenic E3-ubiquitin ligase, as a critical pro-tumorigenic driver in FN-RMS. We show that SKP2 is overexpressed in RMS through the binding of MYOD to an intronic enhancer. SKP2 in FN-RMS promotes cell cycle progression and prevents differentiation by directly targeting p27Kip1 and p57Kip2, respectively. SKP2 depletion unlocks a partly MYOD-dependent myogenic transcriptional program and strongly affects stemness and tumorigenic features and prevents in vivo tumor growth. These effects are mirrored by the investigational NEDDylation inhibitor MLN4924. Results demonstrate a crucial crosstalk between transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms through the MYOD-SKP2 axis that contributes to tumorigenesis in FN-RMS. Finally, NEDDylation inhibition is identified as a potential therapeutic vulnerability in FN-RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pomella
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Cassandri
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
- Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Lucrezia D'Archivio
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Antonella Porrazzo
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
- Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristina Cossetti
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Doris Phelps
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI), UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Clara Perrone
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Michele Pezzella
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Antonella Cardinale
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Marco Wachtel
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sara Aloisi
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - David Milewski
- Oncogenomics Section, Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH,, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Marta Colletti
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Prethish Sreenivas
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI), UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Zoë S Walters
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology, Divisions of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
- School of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Giovanni Barillari
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Angela Di Giannatale
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Maria Milano
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | | | - Rita Alaggio
- Department of Pathology Unit, Department of Laboratories, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Sonia Rodriguez-Rodriguez
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Nadia Carlesso
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | | | - Enrico Velardi
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Beat W Schafer
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ernesto Guccione
- Center for Therapeutics Discovery, Department of Oncological Sciences and Pharmacological Sciences, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Susanne A Gatz
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
| | - Ajla Wasti
- Children and Young People's Unit, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK
| | - Marielle Yohe
- Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Signaling, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Myron Ignatius
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI), UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Concetta Quintarelli
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
- Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Janet Shipley
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology, Divisions of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Lucio Miele
- Department of Genetics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Oncogenomics Section, Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH,, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Peter J Houghton
- Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI), UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Francesco Marampon
- Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Biagio De Angelis
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Franco Locatelli
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
| | - Rossella Rota
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy.
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19
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Romero MA, Pyle AD. 'Enhancing' skeletal muscle and stem cells in three-dimensions: genome regulation of skeletal muscle in development and disease. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2023; 83:102133. [PMID: 37951138 PMCID: PMC10872784 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2023.102133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
The noncoding genome imparts important regulatory control over gene expression. In particular, gene enhancers represent a critical layer of control that integrates developmental and differentiation signals outside the cell into transcriptional outputs inside the cell. Recently, there has been an explosion in genomic techniques to probe enhancer control, function, and regulation. How enhancers are regulated and integrate signals in stem cell development and differentiation is largely an open question. In this review, we focus on the role gene enhancers play in muscle stem cell specification, differentiation, and progression. We pay specific attention toward the identification of muscle-specific enhancers, the binding of transcription factors to these enhancers, and how enhancers communicate to their target genes via three-dimensional looping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Romero
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - April D Pyle
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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20
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Demmerle J, Hao S, Cai D. Transcriptional condensates and phase separation: condensing information across scales and mechanisms. Nucleus 2023; 14:2213551. [PMID: 37218279 PMCID: PMC10208215 DOI: 10.1080/19491034.2023.2213551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcription is the fundamental process of gene expression, which in eukaryotes occurs within the complex physicochemical environment of the nucleus. Decades of research have provided extreme detail in the molecular and functional mechanisms of transcription, but the spatial and genomic organization of transcription remains mysterious. Recent discoveries show that transcriptional components can undergo phase separation and create distinct compartments inside the nucleus, providing new models through which to view the transcription process in eukaryotes. In this review, we focus on transcriptional condensates and their phase separation-like behaviors. We suggest differentiation between physical descriptions of phase separation and the complex and dynamic biomolecular assemblies required for productive gene expression, and we discuss how transcriptional condensates are central to organizing the three-dimensional genome across spatial and temporal scales. Finally, we map approaches for therapeutic manipulation of transcriptional condensates and ask what technical advances are needed to understand transcriptional condensates more completely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Demmerle
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Siyuan Hao
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Danfeng Cai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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21
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Xiao Y, Hale S, Awasthee N, Meng C, Zhang X, Liu Y, Ding H, Huo Z, Lv D, Zhang W, He M, Zheng G, Liao D. HDAC3 and HDAC8 PROTAC dual degrader reveals roles of histone acetylation in gene regulation. Cell Chem Biol 2023; 30:1421-1435.e12. [PMID: 37572669 PMCID: PMC10802846 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/14/2023]
Abstract
HDAC3 and HDAC8 have critical biological functions and represent highly sought-after therapeutic targets. Because histone deacetylases (HDACs) have a very conserved catalytic domain, developing isozyme-selective inhibitors remains challenging. HDAC3/8 also have deacetylase-independent activity, which cannot be blocked by conventional enzymatic inhibitors. Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) can selectively degrade a target enzyme, abolishing both enzymatic and scaffolding function. Here, we report a novel HDAC3/8 dual degrader YX968 that induces highly potent, rapid, and selective degradation of both HDAC3/8 without triggering pan-HDAC inhibitory effects. Unbiased quantitative proteomic experiments confirmed its high selectivity. HDAC3/8 degradation by YX968 does not induce histone hyperacetylation and broad transcriptomic perturbation. Thus, histone hyperacetylation may be a major factor for altering transcription. YX968 promotes apoptosis and kills cancer cells with a high potency in vitro. YX968 thus represents a new probe for dissecting the complex biological functions of HDAC3/8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufeng Xiao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Seth Hale
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Nikee Awasthee
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Chengcheng Meng
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Xuan Zhang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Haocheng Ding
- Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Zhiguang Huo
- Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Dongwen Lv
- Department of Pharmacodynamics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Weizhou Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Mei He
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Guangrong Zheng
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
| | - Daiqing Liao
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
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22
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Searcy MB, Larsen RK, Stevens BT, Zhang Y, Jin H, Drummond CJ, Langdon CG, Gadek KE, Vuong K, Reed KB, Garcia MR, Xu B, Kimbrough DW, Adkins GE, Djekidel N, Porter SN, Schreiner PA, Pruett-Miller SM, Abraham BJ, Rehg JE, Hatley ME. PAX3-FOXO1 dictates myogenic reprogramming and rhabdomyosarcoma identity in endothelial progenitors. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7291. [PMID: 37968277 PMCID: PMC10651858 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43044-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma (FP-RMS) driven by the expression of the PAX3-FOXO1 (P3F) fusion oncoprotein is an aggressive subtype of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma. FP-RMS histologically resembles developing muscle yet occurs throughout the body in areas devoid of skeletal muscle highlighting that FP-RMS is not derived from an exclusively myogenic cell of origin. Here we demonstrate that P3F reprograms mouse and human endothelial progenitors to FP-RMS. We show that P3F expression in aP2-Cre expressing cells reprograms endothelial progenitors to functional myogenic stem cells capable of regenerating injured muscle fibers. Further, we describe a FP-RMS mouse model driven by P3F expression and Cdkn2a loss in endothelial cells. Additionally, we show that P3F expression in TP53-null human iPSCs blocks endothelial-directed differentiation and guides cells to become myogenic cells that form FP-RMS tumors in immunocompromised mice. Together these findings demonstrate that FP-RMS can originate from aberrant development of non-myogenic cells driven by P3F.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline B Searcy
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Randolph K Larsen
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Bradley T Stevens
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Hongjian Jin
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Catherine J Drummond
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Casey G Langdon
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Katherine E Gadek
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Kyna Vuong
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Kristin B Reed
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Matthew R Garcia
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Beisi Xu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Darden W Kimbrough
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, 38112, USA
| | - Grace E Adkins
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Nadhir Djekidel
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Shaina N Porter
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Patrick A Schreiner
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Shondra M Pruett-Miller
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Brian J Abraham
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jerold E Rehg
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Mark E Hatley
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
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23
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Ibarra J, Hershenhouse T, Almassalha L, Walterhouse D, Backman V, MacQuarrie KL. Differentiation-dependent chromosomal organization changes in normal myogenic cells are absent in rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1293891. [PMID: 38020905 PMCID: PMC10662331 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1293891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Myogenesis, the progression of proliferating skeletal myoblasts to terminally differentiated myotubes, regulates thousands of target genes. Uninterrupted linear arrays of such genes are differentially associated with specific chromosomes, suggesting chromosome specific regulatory roles in myogenesis. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a tumor of skeletal muscle, shares common features with normal muscle cells. We hypothesized that RMS and myogenic cells possess differences in chromosomal organization related to myogenic gene arrangement. We compared the organizational characteristics of chromosomes 2 and 18, chosen for their difference in myogenic gene arrangement, in cultured RMS cell lines and normal myoblasts and myotubes. We found chromosome-specific differences in organization during normal myogenesis, with increased area occupied and a shift in peripheral localization specifically for chromosome 2. Most strikingly, we found a differentiation-dependent difference in positioning of chromosome 2 relative to the nuclear axis, with preferential positioning along the major nuclear axis present only in myotubes. RMS cells demonstrated no preference for such axial positioning, but induced differentiation through transfection of the pro-myogenic miRNA miR-206 resulted in an increase of major axial positioning of chromosome 2. Our findings identify both a differentiation-dependent, chromosome-specific change in organization in normal myogenesis, and highlight the role of chromosomal spatial organization in myogenic differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Ibarra
- Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Tyler Hershenhouse
- Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Luay Almassalha
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - David Walterhouse
- Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Vadim Backman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Kyle L. MacQuarrie
- Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
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24
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Tsuchihashi K, Ito M, Arita S, Kusaba H, Kusano W, Matsumura T, Kitazono T, Ueno S, Taguchi R, Yoshihiro T, Doi Y, Arimizu K, Ohmura H, Kajitani T, Nio K, Nakano M, Oshima K, Tamura S, Shirakawa T, Shimokawa H, Uchino K, Hanamura F, Okumura Y, Komoda M, Isobe T, Ariyama H, Esaki T, Hashimoto K, Komune N, Matsuo M, Matsumoto K, Asai K, Yoshitake T, Yamamoto H, Oda Y, Akashi K, Baba E. Survival outcomes including salvage therapy of adult head and neck para-meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma: a multicenter retrospective study from Japan. BMC Cancer 2023; 23:1046. [PMID: 37904096 PMCID: PMC10617040 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-11528-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children, but rare in adults. Para-meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma in head and neck (PM-HNRMS) is less applicable for surgery due to the anatomic reason. PM-HNRMS has a poor prognosis in children. However, its clinical outcomes remain unclear in adults due to the rarity. Further, there is almost no detailed data about salvage therapy. METHODS We retrospectively examined the adult patients with PM-HNRMS treated at institutions belonging to the Kyushu Medical Oncology Group from 2009 to 2022. We evaluated the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients who received a first-line therapy. We also reviewed the clinical outcomes of patients who progressed against a first-line therapy and received salvage therapy. RESULTS Total 11 patients of PM-HNRMS received a first-line therapy. The characteristics were as follows: median age: 38 years (range 25 - 63 years), histology (alveolar/spindle): 10/1, and risk group (intermediate/high): 7/4. As a first-line therapy, VAC and ARST0431-based regimen was performed in 10 and 1 patients, respectively. During a first-line therapy, definitive radiation for all lesions were performed in seven patients. The median PFS was 14.2 months (95%CI: 6.0 - 25.8 months): 17.1 months (95%CI: 6.0 - not reached (NR)) for patients with stage I-III and 8.5 months (95%CI: 5.2 - 25.8 months) for patients with stage IV. The 1-year and 3-year PFS rates were 54.5% and 11.3% for all patients. Median OS in all patients was 40.8 months (95%CI: 12.1 months-NR): 40.8 months (95%CI: 12.1 - NR) for patients with stage I-III and NR for patients with stage IV. The 5-year OS rate was 48.5% for all patients. Among seven patients who received salvage therapy, three are still alive, two of whom remain disease-free for over 4 years after completion of the last therapy. Those two patients received multi-modal therapy including local therapy for all detected lesions. CONCLUSION The cure rate of adult PM-HNRMS is low in spite of a first-line therapy in this study. Salvage therapy might prolong the survival in patients who received the multi-modal therapy including local therapy for all detected lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Tsuchihashi
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Mamoru Ito
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shuji Arita
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Kusaba
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Medical Oncology Organization, Hamanomachi Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Wataru Kusano
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Takashi Matsumura
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Takafumi Kitazono
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shohei Ueno
- Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Ryosuke Taguchi
- Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Tomoyasu Yoshihiro
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Doi
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Kohei Arimizu
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Ohmura
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Tatsuhiro Kajitani
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Kenta Nio
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Medical Oncology Organization, Hamanomachi Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Michitaka Nakano
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Kotoe Oshima
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shingo Tamura
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Clinical Research Institute, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Medical Center, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Shirakawa
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Hozumi Shimokawa
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Japan Community Health care Organization Kyushu Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Keita Uchino
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Fumiyasu Hanamura
- Department of Gastrointestinal and Medical Oncology, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Oita, Japan
| | - Yuta Okumura
- Department of Gastrointestinal and Medical Oncology, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Masato Komoda
- Department of Gastrointestinal and Medical Oncology, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Taichi Isobe
- Department of Oncology and Social Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Fukuoka, Higashi-ku, 812-8582, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Ariyama
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Taito Esaki
- Department of Gastrointestinal and Medical Oncology, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Kazuki Hashimoto
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Noritaka Komune
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Mioko Matsuo
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Keiji Matsumoto
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Kaori Asai
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of radiation therapy, Hamanomachi Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Tadamasa Yoshitake
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Hidetaka Yamamoto
- Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Yoshinao Oda
- Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Koichi Akashi
- Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Eishi Baba
- Department of Oncology and Social Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Fukuoka, Higashi-ku, 812-8582, Japan.
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25
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Tian M, Wei JS, Shivaprasad N, Highfill SL, Gryder BE, Milewski D, Brown GT, Moses L, Song H, Wu JT, Azorsa P, Kumar J, Schneider D, Chou HC, Song YK, Rahmy A, Masih KE, Kim YY, Belyea B, Linardic CM, Dropulic B, Sullivan PM, Sorensen PH, Dimitrov DS, Maris JM, Mackall CL, Orentas RJ, Cheuk AT, Khan J. Preclinical development of a chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy targeting FGFR4 in rhabdomyosarcoma. Cell Rep Med 2023; 4:101212. [PMID: 37774704 PMCID: PMC10591056 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) have dismal cure rates, and effective therapy is urgently needed. The oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) is highly expressed in RMS and lowly expressed in healthy tissues. Here, we describe a second-generation FGFR4-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), based on an anti-human FGFR4-specific murine monoclonal antibody 3A11, as an adoptive T cell treatment for RMS. The 3A11 CAR T cells induced robust cytokine production and cytotoxicity against RMS cell lines in vitro. In contrast, a panel of healthy human primary cells failed to activate 3A11 CAR T cells, confirming the selectivity of 3A11 CAR T cells against tumors with high FGFR4 expression. Finally, we demonstrate that 3A11 CAR T cells are persistent in vivo and can effectively eliminate RMS tumors in two metastatic and two orthotopic models. Therefore, our study credentials CAR T cell therapy targeting FGFR4 to treat patients with RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meijie Tian
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jun S Wei
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Nityashree Shivaprasad
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Steven L Highfill
- Center for Cellular Engineering, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - David Milewski
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - G Tom Brown
- Artificial Intelligence Resource, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Larry Moses
- Center for Cellular Engineering, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Hannah Song
- Center for Cellular Engineering, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jerry T Wu
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Peter Azorsa
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jeetendra Kumar
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Dina Schneider
- Lentigen Corporation, Miltenyi Bioindustry, 1201 Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA
| | - Hsien-Chao Chou
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Young K Song
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Abdelrahman Rahmy
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Katherine E Masih
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK
| | - Yong Yean Kim
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Brian Belyea
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Corinne M Linardic
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Boro Dropulic
- Caring Cross, 708 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA
| | - Peter M Sullivan
- Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1100 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Poul H Sorensen
- Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3, Canada
| | - Dimiter S Dimitrov
- University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
| | - John M Maris
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Crystal L Mackall
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Rimas J Orentas
- Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1100 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Adam T Cheuk
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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26
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Sroka MW, Skopelitis D, Vermunt MW, Preall JB, El Demerdash O, de Almeida LMN, Chang K, Utama R, Gryder B, Caligiuri G, Ren D, Nalbant B, Milazzo JP, Tuveson DA, Dobin A, Hiebert SW, Stengel KR, Mantovani R, Khan J, Kohli RM, Shi J, Blobel GA, Vakoc CR. Myo-differentiation reporter screen reveals NF-Y as an activator of PAX3-FOXO1 in rhabdomyosarcoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2303859120. [PMID: 37639593 PMCID: PMC10483665 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303859120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Recurrent chromosomal rearrangements found in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) produce the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion protein, which is an oncogenic driver and a dependency in this disease. One important function of PAX3-FOXO1 is to arrest myogenic differentiation, which is linked to the ability of RMS cells to gain an unlimited proliferation potential. Here, we developed a phenotypic screening strategy for identifying factors that collaborate with PAX3-FOXO1 to block myo-differentiation in RMS. Unlike most genes evaluated in our screen, we found that loss of any of the three subunits of the Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) complex leads to a myo-differentiation phenotype that resembles the effect of inactivating PAX3-FOXO1. While the transcriptomes of NF-Y- and PAX3-FOXO1-deficient RMS cells bear remarkable similarity to one another, we found that these two transcription factors occupy nonoverlapping sites along the genome: NF-Y preferentially occupies promoters, whereas PAX3-FOXO1 primarily binds to distal enhancers. By integrating multiple functional approaches, we map the PAX3 promoter as the point of intersection between these two regulators. We show that NF-Y occupies CCAAT motifs present upstream of PAX3 to function as a transcriptional activator of PAX3-FOXO1 expression in RMS. These findings reveal a critical upstream role of NF-Y in the oncogenic PAX3-FOXO1 pathway, highlighting how a broadly essential transcription factor can perform tumor-specific roles in governing cellular state.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marit W. Vermunt
- Division of Hematology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | | | | | | | - Kenneth Chang
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | - Raditya Utama
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | - Berkley Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH44106
| | | | - Diqiu Ren
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Benan Nalbant
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | | | | | | | - Scott W. Hiebert
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Kristy R. Stengel
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY10461
| | - Roberto Mantovani
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133Milano, Italy
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD20892
| | - Rahul M. Kohli
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Junwei Shi
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Gerd A. Blobel
- Division of Hematology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
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27
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Wang M, Sreenivas P, Sunkel BD, Wang L, Ignatius M, Stanton B. The 3D chromatin landscape of rhabdomyosarcoma. NAR Cancer 2023; 5:zcad028. [PMID: 37325549 PMCID: PMC10261698 DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcad028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a pediatric soft tissue cancer with a lack of precision therapy options for patients. We hypothesized that with a general paucity of known mutations in RMS, chromatin structural driving mechanisms are essential for tumor proliferation. Thus, we carried out high-depth in situ Hi-C in representative cell lines and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) to define chromatin architecture in each major RMS subtype. We report a comprehensive 3D chromatin structural analysis and characterization of fusion-positive (FP-RMS) and fusion-negative RMS (FN-RMS). We have generated spike-in in situ Hi-C chromatin interaction maps for the most common FP-RMS and FN-RMS cell lines and compared our data with PDX models. In our studies, we uncover common and distinct structural elements in large Mb-scale chromatin compartments, tumor-essential genes within variable topologically associating domains and unique patterns of structural variation. Our high-depth chromatin interactivity maps and comprehensive analyses provide context for gene regulatory events and reveal functional chromatin domains in RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Wang
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Prethish Sreenivas
- Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Benjamin D Sunkel
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Long Wang
- Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Myron Ignatius
- Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Benjamin Z Stanton
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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28
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Selim O, Song C, Kumar A, Phelan R, Singh A, Federman N. A review of the therapeutic potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors in rhabdomyosarcoma. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1244035. [PMID: 37664028 PMCID: PMC10471891 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1244035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
This review aims to summarize the putative role of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and the effects of HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) on RMS by elucidating and highlighting known oncogenic pathways, mechanisms of resistance, and the synergistic potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors. We searched two databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) for the keywords "Rhabdomyosarcoma, histone deacetylase, histone deacetylase inhibitors." We excluded three publications that did not permit access to the full text to review and those that focus exclusively on pleiomorphic RMS in adults. Forty-seven papers met the inclusion criteria. This review highlights that HDACi induce cytotoxicity, cell-cycle arrest, and oxidative stress in RMS cells. Ultimately, HDACi have been shown to increase apoptosis and the cessation of embryonal and alveolar RMS proliferation in vivo and in vitro, both synergistically and on its own. HDACi contain potent therapeutic potential against RMS. This review discusses the significant findings and the biological mechanisms behind the anti-cancer effects of HDACi. Additionally, this review highlights important clinical trials assessing the efficacy of HDACi in sarcomas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar Selim
- Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Clara Song
- Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Amy Kumar
- Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Rebecca Phelan
- Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Arun Singh
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Noah Federman
- Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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29
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Zhang Y, Remillard D, Onubogu U, Karakyriakou B, Asiaban JN, Ramos AR, Bowland K, Bishop TR, Barta PA, Nance S, Durbin AD, Ott CJ, Janiszewska M, Cravatt BF, Erb MA. Collateral lethality between HDAC1 and HDAC2 exploits cancer-specific NuRD complex vulnerabilities. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2023; 30:1160-1171. [PMID: 37488358 PMCID: PMC10529074 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01041-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Transcriptional co-regulators have been widely pursued as targets for disrupting oncogenic gene regulatory programs. However, many proteins in this target class are universally essential for cell survival, which limits their therapeutic window. Here we unveil a genetic interaction between histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) and HDAC2, wherein each paralog is synthetically lethal with hemizygous deletion of the other. This collateral synthetic lethality is caused by recurrent chromosomal deletions that occur in diverse solid and hematological malignancies, including neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma. Using genetic disruption or dTAG-mediated degradation, we show that targeting HDAC2 suppresses the growth of HDAC1-deficient neuroblastoma in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we find that targeted degradation of HDAC2 in these cells prompts the degradation of several members of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex, leading to diminished chromatin accessibility at HDAC2-NuRD-bound sites of the genome and impaired control of enhancer-associated transcription. Furthermore, we reveal that several of the degraded NuRD complex subunits are dependencies in neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma, providing motivation to develop paralog-selective HDAC1 or HDAC2 degraders that could leverage HDAC1/2 synthetic lethality to target NuRD vulnerabilities. Altogether, we identify HDAC1/2 collateral synthetic lethality as a potential therapeutic target and reveal an unexplored mechanism for targeting NuRD-associated cancer dependencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxiang Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - David Remillard
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ugoma Onubogu
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | | | - Joshua N Asiaban
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anissa R Ramos
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kirsten Bowland
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Timothy R Bishop
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Paige A Barta
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Stephanie Nance
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Adam D Durbin
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Christopher J Ott
- Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michalina Janiszewska
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Benjamin F Cravatt
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michael A Erb
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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30
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Zhou RW, Parsons RE. Etiology of super-enhancer reprogramming and activation in cancer. Epigenetics Chromatin 2023; 16:29. [PMID: 37415185 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-023-00502-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Super-enhancers are large, densely concentrated swaths of enhancers that regulate genes critical for cell identity. Tumorigenesis is accompanied by changes in the super-enhancer landscape. These aberrant super-enhancers commonly form to activate proto-oncogenes, or other genes upon which cancer cells depend, that initiate tumorigenesis, promote tumor proliferation, and increase the fitness of cancer cells to survive in the tumor microenvironment. These include well-recognized master regulators of proliferation in the setting of cancer, such as the transcription factor MYC which is under the control of numerous super-enhancers gained in cancer compared to normal tissues. This Review will cover the expanding cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic etiology of these super-enhancer changes in cancer, including somatic mutations, copy number variation, fusion events, extrachromosomal DNA, and 3D chromatin architecture, as well as those activated by inflammation, extra-cellular signaling, and the tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Royce W Zhou
- The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Molecular Medicine Program, University of California San Francisco Internal Medicine Residency, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ramon E Parsons
- The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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31
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Chory EJ, Wang M, Ceribelli M, Michalowska AM, Golas S, Beck E, Klumpp-Thomas C, Chen L, McKnight C, Itkin Z, Wilson KM, Holland D, Divakaran S, Bradner J, Khan J, Gryder BE, Thomas CJ, Stanton BZ. High-throughput approaches to uncover synergistic drug combinations in leukemia. SLAS DISCOVERY : ADVANCING LIFE SCIENCES R & D 2023; 28:193-201. [PMID: 37121274 PMCID: PMC10449086 DOI: 10.1016/j.slasd.2023.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
We report a comprehensive drug synergy study in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this work, we investigate a panel of cell lines spanning both MLL-rearranged and non-rearranged subtypes. The work comprises a resource for the community, with many synergistic drug combinations that could not have been predicted a priori, and open source code for automation and analyses. We base our definitions of drug synergy on the Chou-Talalay method, which is useful for visualizations of synergy experiments in isobolograms, and median-effects plots, among other representations. Our key findings include drug synergies affecting the chromatin state, specifically in the context of regulation of the modification state of histone H3 lysine-27. We report open source high throughput methodology such that multidimensional drug screening can be accomplished with equipment that is accessible to most laboratories. This study will enable preclinical investigation of new drug combinations in a lethal blood cancer, with data analysis and automation workflows freely available to the community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma J Chory
- Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA..
| | - Meng Wang
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Michele Ceribelli
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Aleksandra M Michalowska
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Stefan Golas
- Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Erin Beck
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Carleen Klumpp-Thomas
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Lu Chen
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Crystal McKnight
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Zina Itkin
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Kelli M Wilson
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - David Holland
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA
| | - Sanjay Divakaran
- Cardio-Oncology Program, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James Bradner
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
| | - Craig J Thomas
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville MD 20850, USA.; Lymphoid Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Benjamin Z Stanton
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Columbus, OH, USA.; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry & Pharmacology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA..
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32
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Pomella S, Danielli SG, Alaggio R, Breunis WB, Hamed E, Selfe J, Wachtel M, Walters ZS, Schäfer BW, Rota R, Shipley JM, Hettmer S. Genomic and Epigenetic Changes Drive Aberrant Skeletal Muscle Differentiation in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:2823. [PMID: 37345159 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15102823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children and adolescents, represents an aberrant form of skeletal muscle differentiation. Both skeletal muscle development, as well as regeneration of adult skeletal muscle are governed by members of the myogenic family of regulatory transcription factors (MRFs), which are deployed in a highly controlled, multi-step, bidirectional process. Many aspects of this complex process are deregulated in RMS and contribute to tumorigenesis. Interconnected loops of super-enhancers, called core regulatory circuitries (CRCs), define aberrant muscle differentiation in RMS cells. The transcriptional regulation of MRF expression/activity takes a central role in the CRCs active in skeletal muscle and RMS. In PAX3::FOXO1 fusion-positive (PF+) RMS, CRCs maintain expression of the disease-driving fusion oncogene. Recent single-cell studies have revealed hierarchically organized subsets of cells within the RMS cell pool, which recapitulate developmental myogenesis and appear to drive malignancy. There is a large interest in exploiting the causes of aberrant muscle development in RMS to allow for terminal differentiation as a therapeutic strategy, for example, by interrupting MEK/ERK signaling or by interfering with the epigenetic machinery controlling CRCs. In this review, we provide an overview of the genetic and epigenetic framework of abnormal muscle differentiation in RMS, as it provides insights into fundamental mechanisms of RMS malignancy, its remarkable phenotypic diversity and, ultimately, opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pomella
- Department of Hematology/Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Istituto Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu, Viale San Paolo 15, 00146 Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Sara G Danielli
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Rita Alaggio
- Department of Pathology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Viale San Paolo 15, 00146 Rome, Italy
| | - Willemijn B Breunis
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Ebrahem Hamed
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Joanna Selfe
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology Team, Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SM2 FNG, UK
| | - Marco Wachtel
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Zoe S Walters
- Translational Epigenomics Team, Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Beat W Schäfer
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Rossella Rota
- Department of Hematology/Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Istituto Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu, Viale San Paolo 15, 00146 Rome, Italy
| | - Janet M Shipley
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology Team, Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SM2 FNG, UK
| | - Simone Hettmer
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM), 79104 Freiburg, Germany
- Comprehensive Cancer Centre Freiburg (CCCF), University Medical Center Freiburg, 790106 Freiburg, Germany
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33
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Shah AM, Guo L, Morales MG, Jaichander P, Chen K, Huang H, Cano Hernandez K, Xu L, Bassel-Duby R, Olson EN, Liu N. TWIST2-mediated chromatin remodeling promotes fusion-negative rhabdomyosarcoma. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade8184. [PMID: 37115930 PMCID: PMC10146891 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade8184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a common soft tissue sarcoma in children that resembles developing skeletal muscle. Unlike normal muscle cells, RMS cells fail to differentiate despite expression of the myogenic determination protein MYOD. The TWIST2 transcription factor is frequently overexpressed in fusion-negative RMS (FN-RMS). TWIST2 blocks differentiation by inhibiting MYOD activity in myoblasts, but its role in FN-RMS pathogenesis is incompletely understood. Here, we show that knockdown of TWIST2 enables FN-RMS cells to exit the cell cycle and undergo terminal myogenesis. TWIST2 knockdown also substantially reduces tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model of FN-RMS. Mechanistically, TWIST2 controls H3K27 acetylation at distal enhancers by interacting with the chromatin remodelers SMARCA4 and CHD3 to activate growth-related target genes and repress myogenesis-related target genes. These findings provide insights into the role of TWIST2 in maintaining an undifferentiated and tumorigenic state of FN-RMS and highlight the potential of suppressing TWIST2-regulated pathways to treat FN-RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akansha M. Shah
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Lei Guo
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Maria Gabriela Morales
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Priscilla Jaichander
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Kenian Chen
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Huocong Huang
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Karla Cano Hernandez
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Lin Xu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Rhonda Bassel-Duby
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Eric N. Olson
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Ning Liu
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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34
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Kravchuk EV, Ashniev GA, Gladkova MG, Orlov AV, Vasileva AV, Boldyreva AV, Burenin AG, Skirda AM, Nikitin PI, Orlova NN. Experimental Validation and Prediction of Super-Enhancers: Advances and Challenges. Cells 2023; 12:cells12081191. [PMID: 37190100 DOI: 10.3390/cells12081191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Super-enhancers (SEs) are cis-regulatory elements of the human genome that have been widely discussed since the discovery and origin of the term. Super-enhancers have been shown to be strongly associated with the expression of genes crucial for cell differentiation, cell stability maintenance, and tumorigenesis. Our goal was to systematize research studies dedicated to the investigation of structure and functions of super-enhancers as well as to define further perspectives of the field in various applications, such as drug development and clinical use. We overviewed the fundamental studies which provided experimental data on various pathologies and their associations with particular super-enhancers. The analysis of mainstream approaches for SE search and prediction allowed us to accumulate existing data and propose directions for further algorithmic improvements of SEs' reliability levels and efficiency. Thus, here we provide the description of the most robust algorithms such as ROSE, imPROSE, and DEEPSEN and suggest their further use for various research and development tasks. The most promising research direction, which is based on topic and number of published studies, are cancer-associated super-enhancers and prospective SE-targeted therapy strategies, most of which are discussed in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina V Kravchuk
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, MSU, 1-12, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - German A Ashniev
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, MSU, 1-12, 119991 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskiye Gory, MSU, 1-73, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - Marina G Gladkova
- Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskiye Gory, MSU, 1-73, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexey V Orlov
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anastasiia V Vasileva
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna V Boldyreva
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexandr G Burenin
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Artemiy M Skirda
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Petr I Nikitin
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Natalia N Orlova
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St., 119991 Moscow, Russia
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Di Giorgio E, Benetti R, Kerschbamer E, Xodo L, Brancolini C. Super-enhancer landscape rewiring in cancer: The epigenetic control at distal sites. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2023; 380:97-148. [PMID: 37657861 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2023.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Super-enhancers evolve as elements at the top of the hierarchical control of gene expression. They are important end-gatherers of signaling pathways that control stemness, differentiation or adaptive responses. Many epigenetic regulations focus on these regions, and not surprisingly, during the process of tumorigenesis, various alterations can account for their dysfunction. Super-enhancers are emerging as key drivers of the aberrant gene expression landscape that sustain the aggressiveness of cancer cells. In this review, we will describe and discuss about the structure of super-enhancers, their epigenetic regulation, and the major changes affecting their functionality in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eros Di Giorgio
- Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Roberta Benetti
- Laboratory of Epigenomics, Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Emanuela Kerschbamer
- Laboratory of Epigenomics, Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Luigi Xodo
- Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Claudio Brancolini
- Laboratory of Epigenomics, Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy.
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RDW K, KR S, A C, LC4 J, SW H, SM C. Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) maintain expression of the pluripotent gene network via recruitment of RNA polymerase II to coding and non-coding loci. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.06.535398. [PMID: 37066171 PMCID: PMC10104071 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.06.535398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
Histone acetylation is a dynamic modification regulated by the opposing actions of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Deacetylation of histone tails results in chromatin tightening and therefore HDACs are generally regarded as transcriptional repressors. Counterintuitively, simultaneous deletion of Hdac1 and Hdac2 in embryonic stem cells (ESC) reduced expression of pluripotent transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog (OSN). By shaping global histone acetylation patterns, HDACs indirectly regulate the activity of acetyl-lysine readers, such as the transcriptional activator, BRD4. We used inhibitors of HDACs and BRD4 (LBH589 and JQ1 respectively) in combination with precision nuclear run-on and sequencing (PRO-seq) to examine their roles in defining the ESC transcriptome. Both LBH589 and JQ1 caused a marked reduction in the pluripotent network. However, while JQ1 treatment induced widespread transcriptional pausing, HDAC inhibition caused a reduction in both paused and elongating polymerase, suggesting an overall reduction in polymerase recruitment. Using enhancer RNA (eRNA) expression to measure enhancer activity we found that LBH589-sensitive eRNAs were preferentially associated with super-enhancers and OSN binding sites. These findings suggest that HDAC activity is required to maintain pluripotency by regulating the OSN enhancer network via the recruitment of RNA polymerase II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly RDW
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Henry Wellcome Building, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 9HN, UK
| | - Stengel KR
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue Chanin Building, Bronx, NY 10461
| | - Chandru A
- Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Switchback Road, Bearsden, Glasgow, G61 1BD
| | - Johnson LC4
- Locate Bio Limited, MediCity, Thane Road, Beeston, Nottingham, NG90 6BH
| | - Hiebert SW
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Cowley SM
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Henry Wellcome Building, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 9HN, UK
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Xu M, Sun M, Zhang X, Nguyen R, Lei H, Shern JF, Thiele CJ, Liu Z. HAND2 Assists MYCN Enhancer Invasion to Regulate a Noradrenergic Neuroblastoma Phenotype. Cancer Res 2023; 83:686-699. [PMID: 36598365 PMCID: PMC10240397 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-22-2042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Noradrenergic neuroblastoma is characterized by a core transcriptional regulatory circuitry (CRC) comprised of transcription factors (TF) such as PHOX2B, HAND2, and GATA3, which form a network with MYCN. At normal physiologic levels, MYCN mainly binds to promoters but when aberrantly upregulated as in neuroblastoma, MYCN also binds to enhancers. Here, we investigated how MYCN invades enhancers and whether CRC TFs play a role in this process. HAND2 was found to regulate chromatin accessibility and to assist MYCN binding to enhancers. Moreover, HAND2 cooperated with MYCN to compete with nucleosomes to regulate global gene transcription. The cooperative interaction between MYCN and HAND2 could be targeted with an Aurora A kinase inhibitor plus a histone deacetylase inhibitor, resulting in potent downregulation of both MYCN and the CRC TFs and suppression of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma tumor growth. This study identifies cooperation between MYCN and HAND2 in neuroblastoma and demonstrates that simultaneously targeting MYCN and CRC TFs is an effective way to treat this aggressive pediatric tumor. SIGNIFICANCE HAND2 and MYCN compete with nucleosomes to regulate global gene transcription and to drive a malignant neuroblastoma phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Xu
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ming Sun
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Xiyuan Zhang
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Rosa Nguyen
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Haiyan Lei
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jack F. Shern
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Carol J. Thiele
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Zhihui Liu
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Koeniger A, Polo P, Brichkina A, Finkernagel F, Visekruna A, Nist A, Stiewe T, Daude M, Diederich W, Gress T, Adhikary T, Lauth M. Tumor-suppressive disruption of cancer subtype-associated super enhancer circuits by small molecule treatment. NAR Cancer 2023; 5:zcad007. [PMID: 36755960 PMCID: PMC9900422 DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcad007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional cancer subtypes which correlate with traits such as tumor growth, drug sensitivity or the chances of relapse and metastasis, have been described for several malignancies. The core regulatory circuits (CRCs) defining these subtypes are established by chromatin super enhancers (SEs) driving key transcription factors (TFs) specific for the particular cell state. In neuroblastoma (NB), one of the most frequent solid pediatric cancer entities, two major SE-directed molecular subtypes have been described: A more lineage-committed adrenergic (ADRN) and a mesenchymal (MES) subtype. Here, we found that a small isoxazole molecule (ISX), a frequently used pro-neural drug, reprogrammed SE activity and switched NB cells from an ADRN subtype towards a growth-retarded MES-like state. The MES-like state shared strong transcriptional overlap with ganglioneuroma (GN), a benign and highly differentiated tumor of the neural crest. Mechanistically, ISX suppressed chromatin binding of N-MYC, a CRC-amplifying transcription factor, resulting in loss of key ADRN subtype-enriched components such as N-MYC itself, PHOX2B and ALK, while concomitently, MES subtype markers were induced. Globally, ISX treatment installed a chromatin accessibility landscape typically associated with low risk NB. In summary, we provide evidence that CRCs and cancer subtype reprogramming might be amenable to future therapeutic targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anke Koeniger
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Pierfrancesco Polo
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Anna Brichkina
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Florian Finkernagel
- Philipps University Marburg, Bioinformatics Core Facility, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Alexander Visekruna
- Philipps University Marburg, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Andrea Nist
- Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, Genomics Core Facility, Institute of Molecular Oncology, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Thorsten Stiewe
- Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, Genomics Core Facility, Institute of Molecular Oncology, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Michael Daude
- Philipps University Marburg, Core Facility Medical Chemistry, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Wibke E Diederich
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry and Core Facility Medical Chemistry, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas M Gress
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Till Adhikary
- Philipps University Marburg, Institute for Medical Bioinformatics and Biostatistics and Institute for Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Marburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Lauth
- Philipps University Marburg, Dept. of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Center for Tumor- and Immune Biology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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Lu DY, Ellegast JM, Ross KN, Malone CF, Lin S, Mabe NW, Dharia NV, Meyer A, Conway A, Su AH, Selich-Anderson J, Taslim C, Byrum AK, Seong BKA, Adane B, Gray NS, Rivera MN, Lessnick SL, Stegmaier K. The ETS transcription factor ETV6 constrains the transcriptional activity of EWS-FLI to promote Ewing sarcoma. Nat Cell Biol 2023; 25:285-297. [PMID: 36658220 PMCID: PMC9928584 DOI: 10.1038/s41556-022-01059-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) are frequently mutated in cancer. Paediatric cancers exhibit few mutations genome-wide but frequently harbour sentinel mutations that affect TFs, which provides a context to precisely study the transcriptional circuits that support mutant TF-driven oncogenesis. A broadly relevant mechanism that has garnered intense focus involves the ability of mutant TFs to hijack wild-type lineage-specific TFs in self-reinforcing transcriptional circuits. However, it is not known whether this specific type of circuitry is equally crucial in all mutant TF-driven cancers. Here we describe an alternative yet central transcriptional mechanism that promotes Ewing sarcoma, wherein constraint, rather than reinforcement, of the activity of the fusion TF EWS-FLI supports cancer growth. We discover that ETV6 is a crucial TF dependency that is specific to this disease because it, counter-intuitively, represses the transcriptional output of EWS-FLI. This work discovers a previously undescribed transcriptional mechanism that promotes cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Y Lu
- Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jana M Ellegast
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kenneth N Ross
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Clare F Malone
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Shan Lin
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nathaniel W Mabe
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Neekesh V Dharia
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ashleigh Meyer
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Amy Conway
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Angela H Su
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Julia Selich-Anderson
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Cenny Taslim
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Andrea K Byrum
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Bo Kyung A Seong
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Biniam Adane
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nathanael S Gray
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Miguel N Rivera
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Stephen L Lessnick
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
- Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Kimberly Stegmaier
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA.
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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ETV6 dependency in Ewing sarcoma by antagonism of EWS-FLI1-mediated enhancer activation. Nat Cell Biol 2023; 25:298-308. [PMID: 36658219 PMCID: PMC10101761 DOI: 10.1038/s41556-022-01060-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The EWS-FLI1 fusion oncoprotein deregulates transcription to initiate the paediatric cancer Ewing sarcoma. Here we used a domain-focused CRISPR screen to implicate the transcriptional repressor ETV6 as a unique dependency in this tumour. Using biochemical assays and epigenomics, we show that ETV6 competes with EWS-FLI1 for binding to select DNA elements enriched for short GGAA repeat sequences. Upon inactivating ETV6, EWS-FLI1 overtakes and hyper-activates these cis-elements to promote mesenchymal differentiation, with SOX11 being a key downstream target. We show that squelching of ETV6 with a dominant-interfering peptide phenocopies these effects and suppresses Ewing sarcoma growth in vivo. These findings reveal targeting of ETV6 as a strategy for neutralizing the EWS-FLI1 oncoprotein by reprogramming of genomic occupancy.
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Chin DH, Osman I, Porch J, Kim H, Buck KK, Rodriguez J, Carapia B, Yan D, Moura SB, Sperry J, Nakashima J, Altman K, Altman D, Gryder BE. BET Bromodomain Degradation Disrupts Function but Not 3D Formation of RNA Pol2 Clusters. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16:199. [PMID: 37259348 PMCID: PMC9966215 DOI: 10.3390/ph16020199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma (FP-RMS) is driven by a translocation that creates the chimeric transcription factor PAX3-FOXO1 (P3F), which assembles de novo super enhancers to drive high levels of transcription of other core regulatory transcription factors (CRTFs). P3F recruits co-regulatory factors to super enhancers such as BRD4, which recognizes acetylated lysines via BET bromodomains. In this study, we demonstrate that inhibition or degradation of BRD4 leads to global decreases in transcription, and selective downregulation of CRTFs. We also show that the BRD4 degrader ARV-771 halts transcription while preserving RNA Polymerase II (Pol2) loops between super enhancers and their target genes, and causes the removal of Pol2 only past the transcriptional end site of CRTF genes, suggesting a novel effect of BRD4 on Pol2 looping. We finally test the most potent molecule, inhibitor BMS-986158, in an orthotopic PDX mouse model of FP-RMS with additional high-risk mutations, and find that it is well tolerated in vivo and leads to an average decrease in tumor size. This effort represents a partnership with an FP-RMS patient and family advocates to make preclinical data rapidly accessible to the family, and to generate data to inform future patients who develop this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana H. Chin
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Issra Osman
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Jadon Porch
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Hyunmin Kim
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | | | | | | | - Deborah Yan
- Certis Oncology Solutions, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | | | | | | | - Kasey Altman
- Kasey Altman Research Fund, Rein in Sarcoma, Fridley, MN 55432, USA
| | - Delsee Altman
- Kasey Altman Research Fund, Rein in Sarcoma, Fridley, MN 55432, USA
| | - Berkley E. Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
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42
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Wang J, Zhong F, Li J, Yue H, Li W, Lu X. The epigenetic factor CHD4 contributes to metastasis by regulating the EZH2/β-catenin axis and acts as a therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. J Transl Med 2023; 21:38. [PMID: 36681835 PMCID: PMC9862813 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03854-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The overall survival rate of patients with advanced ovarian cancer (OC) has remained static for several decades. Advanced ovarian cancer is known for its poor prognosis due to extensive metastasis. Epigenetic alterations contribute to tumour progression and therefore are of interest for potential therapeutic strategies. METHODS Following our previous study, we identified that CHD4, a chromatin remodelling factor, plays a strong role in ovarian cancer cell metastasis. We investigated the clinical significance of CHD4 through TCGA and GEO database analyses and explored the effect of CHD4 expression modulation and romidepsin treatment on the biological behaviour of ovarian cancer through CCK-8 and transwell assays. Bioluminescence imaging of tumours in xenografted mice was applied to determine the therapeutic effect of romidepsin. GSEA and western blotting were used to screen the regulatory mechanism of CHD4. RESULTS In ovarian cancer patient specimens, high CHD4 expression was associated with a poor prognosis. Loss of function of CHD4 in ovarian cancer cells induced suppression of migration and invasion. Mechanistically, CHD4 knockdown suppressed the expression of EZH2 and the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin. CHD4 also suppressed the metastasis of ovarian cancer cells and prevented disease progression in a mouse model. To inhibit the functions of CHD4 that are mediated by histone deacetylase, we evaluated the effect of the HDAC1/2 selective inhibitor romidepsin. Our findings indicated that treatment with romidepsin suppressed the progression of metastases in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, our results uncovered an oncogenic function of CHD4 in ovarian cancer and provide a rationale for clinical trials of romidepsin in ovarian cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jieyu Wang
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine-Related Disease, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Fangfang Zhong
- Department of Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Huiran Yue
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Wenzhi Li
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine-Related Disease, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Xin Lu
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China.
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine-Related Disease, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200090, China.
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Ibrahim Z, Wang T, Destaing O, Salvi N, Hoghoughi N, Chabert C, Rusu A, Gao J, Feletto L, Reynoird N, Schalch T, Zhao Y, Blackledge M, Khochbin S, Panne D. Structural insights into p300 regulation and acetylation-dependent genome organisation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7759. [PMID: 36522330 PMCID: PMC9755262 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35375-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Histone modifications are deposited by chromatin modifying enzymes and read out by proteins that recognize the modified state. BRD4-NUT is an oncogenic fusion protein of the acetyl lysine reader BRD4 that binds to the acetylase p300 and enables formation of long-range intra- and interchromosomal interactions. We here examine how acetylation reading and writing enable formation of such interactions. We show that NUT contains an acidic transcriptional activation domain that binds to the TAZ2 domain of p300. We use NMR to investigate the structure of the complex and found that the TAZ2 domain has an autoinhibitory role for p300. NUT-TAZ2 interaction or mutations found in cancer that interfere with autoinhibition by TAZ2 allosterically activate p300. p300 activation results in a self-organizing, acetylation-dependent feed-forward reaction that enables long-range interactions by bromodomain multivalent acetyl-lysine binding. We discuss the implications for chromatin organisation, gene regulation and dysregulation in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziad Ibrahim
- Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, United States
| | - Tao Wang
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Olivier Destaing
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Nicola Salvi
- Institut de Biologie Structurale, CNRS, CEA, UGA, Grenoble, France
| | - Naghmeh Hoghoughi
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Clovis Chabert
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Alexandra Rusu
- Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Jinjun Gao
- Ben May Department of Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Leonardo Feletto
- Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Nicolas Reynoird
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Thomas Schalch
- Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Yingming Zhao
- Ben May Department of Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | | | - Saadi Khochbin
- CNRS UMR 5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Daniel Panne
- Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
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44
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Chromatin structure in cancer. BMC Mol Cell Biol 2022; 23:35. [PMID: 35902807 PMCID: PMC9331575 DOI: 10.1186/s12860-022-00433-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, we have seen the emergence of sequence-based methods to understand chromosome organization. With the confluence of in situ approaches to capture information on looping, topological domains, and larger chromatin compartments, understanding chromatin-driven disease is becoming feasible. Excitingly, recent advances in single molecule imaging with capacity to reconstruct “bulk-cell” features of chromosome conformation have revealed cell-to-cell chromatin structural variation. The fundamental question motivating our analysis of the literature is, can altered chromatin structure drive tumorigenesis? As our community learns more about rare disease, including low mutational frequency cancers, understanding “chromatin-driven” pathology will illuminate the regulatory structures of the genome. We describe recent insights into altered genome architecture in human cancer, highlighting multiple pathways toward disruptions of chromatin structure, including structural variation, noncoding mutations, metabolism, and de novo mutations to architectural regulators themselves. Our analysis of the literature reveals that deregulation of genome structure is characteristic in distinct classes of chromatin-driven tumors. As we begin to integrate the findings from single cell imaging studies and chromatin structural sequencing, we will be able to understand the diversity of cells within a common diagnosis, and begin to define structure–function relationships of the misfolded genome.
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Zhang S, Wang J, Liu Q, McDonald WH, Bomber ML, Layden HM, Ellis J, Borinstein SC, Hiebert SW, Stengel KR. PAX3-FOXO1 coordinates enhancer architecture, eRNA transcription, and RNA polymerase pause release at select gene targets. Mol Cell 2022; 82:4428-4442.e7. [PMID: 36395771 PMCID: PMC9731406 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptional control is a highly dynamic process that changes rapidly in response to various cellular and extracellular cues, making it difficult to define the mechanism of transcription factor function using slow genetic methods. We used a chemical-genetic approach to rapidly degrade a canonical transcriptional activator, PAX3-FOXO1, to define the mechanism by which it regulates gene expression programs. By coupling rapid protein degradation with the analysis of nascent transcription over short time courses and integrating CUT&RUN, ATAC-seq, and eRNA analysis with deep proteomic analysis, we defined PAX3-FOXO1 function at a small network of direct transcriptional targets. PAX3-FOXO1 degradation impaired RNA polymerase pause release and transcription elongation at most regulated gene targets. Moreover, the activity of PAX3-FOXO1 at enhancers controlling this core network was surprisingly selective, affecting single elements in super-enhancers. This combinatorial analysis indicated that PAX3-FOXO1 was continuously required to maintain chromatin accessibility and enhancer architecture at regulated enhancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susu Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Qi Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - W Hayes McDonald
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Monica L Bomber
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Hillary M Layden
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jacob Ellis
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Scott C Borinstein
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37027, USA
| | - Scott W Hiebert
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37027, USA.
| | - Kristy R Stengel
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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46
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Pomella S, Porrazzo A, Cassandri M, Camero S, Codenotti S, Milazzo L, Vulcano F, Barillari G, Cenci G, Marchese C, Fanzani A, Megiorni F, Rota R, Marampon F. Translational Implications for Radiosensitizing Strategies in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:13281. [PMID: 36362070 PMCID: PMC9656983 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232113281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 08/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence that includes FP-RMS, harboring the fusion oncoprotein PAX3/7-FOXO1 and FN-RMS, often mutant in the RAS pathway. Risk stratifications of RMS patients determine different prognostic groups and related therapeutic treatment. Current multimodal therapeutic strategies involve surgery, chemotherapy (CHT) and radiotherapy (RT), but despite the deeper knowledge of response mechanisms underpinning CHT treatment and the technological improvements that characterize RT, local failures and recurrence frequently occur. This review sums up the RMS classification and the management of RMS patients, with special attention to RT treatment and possible radiosensitizing strategies for RMS tumors. Indeed, RMS radioresistance is a clinical problem and further studies aimed at dissecting radioresistant molecular mechanisms are needed to identify specific targets to hit, thus improving RT-induced cytotoxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pomella
- Department of Oncohematology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 00146 Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Porrazzo
- Units of Molecular Genetics of Complex Phenotypes, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 00146 Rome, Italy
- Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Anatomical Pathology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Cassandri
- Department of Oncohematology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 00146 Rome, Italy
- Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Anatomical Pathology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Simona Camero
- Department of Maternal, Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Codenotti
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Division of Biotechnology, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Luisa Milazzo
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Vulcano
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanni Barillari
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanni Cenci
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “C. Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Cinzia Marchese
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Fanzani
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Division of Biotechnology, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Francesca Megiorni
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Rossella Rota
- Department of Oncohematology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 00146 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Marampon
- Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Anatomical Pathology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
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47
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Pulya S, Patel T, Paul M, Adhikari N, Banerjee S, Routholla G, Biswas S, Jha T, Ghosh B. Selective inhibition of histone deacetylase 3 by novel hydrazide based small molecules as therapeutic intervention for the treatment of cancer. Eur J Med Chem 2022; 238:114470. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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48
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Singh S, Abu-Zaid A, Jin H, Fang J, Wu Q, Wang T, Feng H, Quarni W, Shao Y, Maxham L, Abdolvahabi A, Yun MK, Vaithiyalingam S, Tan H, Bowling J, Honnell V, Young B, Guo Y, Bajpai R, Pruett-Miller SM, Grosveld GC, Hatley M, Xu B, Fan Y, Wu G, Chen EY, Chen T, Lewis PW, Rankovic Z, Li Y, Murphy AJ, Easton J, Peng J, Chen X, Wang R, White SW, Davidoff AM, Yang J. Targeting KDM4 for treating PAX3-FOXO1-driven alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabq2096. [PMID: 35857643 PMCID: PMC9548378 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq2096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Chimeric transcription factors drive lineage-specific oncogenesis but are notoriously difficult to target. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive childhood soft tissue sarcoma transformed by the pathognomonic Paired Box 3-Forkhead Box O1 (PAX3-FOXO1) fusion protein, which governs a core regulatory circuitry transcription factor network. Here, we show that the histone lysine demethylase 4B (KDM4B) is a therapeutic vulnerability for PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS. Genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of KDM4B substantially delayed tumor growth. Suppression of KDM4 proteins inhibited the expression of core oncogenic transcription factors and caused epigenetic alterations of PAX3-FOXO1-governed superenhancers. Combining KDM4 inhibition with cytotoxic chemotherapy led to tumor regression in preclinical PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS subcutaneous xenograft models. In summary, we identified a targetable mechanism required for maintenance of the PAX3-FOXO1-related transcription factor network, which may translate to a therapeutic approach for fusion-positive RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivendra Singh
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ahmed Abu-Zaid
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Hongjian Jin
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jie Fang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Qiong Wu
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Tingting Wang
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disease, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Helin Feng
- Department of Orthopedics, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, China
| | - Waise Quarni
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Lily Maxham
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Alireza Abdolvahabi
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Mi-Kyung Yun
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Sivaraja Vaithiyalingam
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Protein Technologies Center, Molecular Interaction Analysis, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Haiyan Tan
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - John Bowling
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Victoria Honnell
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Brandon Young
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yian Guo
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Richa Bajpai
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Shondra M. Pruett-Miller
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Gerard C Grosveld
- Department of Genetics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Mark Hatley
- Department of Oncology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Beisi Xu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yiping Fan
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Gang Wu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Eleanor Y. Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Taosheng Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Peter W. Lewis
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, USA
| | - Zoran Rankovic
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yimei Li
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew J. Murphy
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - John Easton
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Junmin Peng
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ruoning Wang
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disease, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Stephen W. White
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew M. Davidoff
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 930 Madison Ave, Suite 500, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
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49
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Hettmer S, Linardic CM, Kelsey A, Rudzinski ER, Vokuhl C, Selfe J, Ruhen O, Shern JF, Khan J, Kovach AR, Lupo PJ, Gatz SA, Schäfer BW, Volchenboum S, Minard-Colin V, Koscielniak E, Hawkins DS, Bisogno G, Sparber-Sauer M, Venkatramani R, Merks JHM, Shipley J. Molecular testing of rhabdomyosarcoma in clinical trials to improve risk stratification and outcome: A consensus view from European paediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study Group, Children's Oncology Group and Cooperative Weichteilsarkom-Studiengruppe. Eur J Cancer 2022; 172:367-386. [PMID: 35839732 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2022.05.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMSs) are the most common soft tissue sarcomas in children/adolescents less than 18 years of age with an annual incidence of 1-2/million. Inter/intra-tumour heterogeneity raise challenges in clinical, pathological and biological research studies. Risk stratification in European and North American clinical trials previously relied on clinico-pathological features, but now, incorporates PAX3/7-FOXO1-fusion gene status in the place of alveolar histology. International working groups propose a coordinated approach through the INternational Soft Tissue SaRcoma ConsorTium to evaluate the specific genetic abnormalities and generate and integrate molecular and clinical data related to patients with RMS across different trial settings. We review relevant data and present a consensus view on what molecular features should be assessed. In particular, we recommend the assessment of the MYOD1-LR122R mutation for risk escalation, as it has been associated with poor outcomes in spindle/sclerosing RMS and rare RMS with classic embryonal histopathology. The prospective analyses of rare fusion genes beyond PAX3/7-FOXO1 will generate new data linked to outcomes and assessment of TP53 mutations and CDK4 amplification may confirm their prognostic value. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic germline variants in TP53 and other cancer predisposition genes should also be assessed. DNA/RNA profiling of tumours at diagnosis/relapse and serial analyses of plasma samples is recommended where possible to validate potential molecular biomarkers, identify new biomarkers and assess how liquid biopsy analyses can have the greatest benefit. Together with the development of new molecularly-derived therapeutic strategies that we review, a synchronised international approach is expected to enhance progress towards improved treatment assignment, management and outcomes for patients with RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Hettmer
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Corinne M Linardic
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology; Duke University of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Anna Kelsey
- Department of Paediatric Histopathology, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
| | - Erin R Rudzinski
- Section of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Laboratories, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Christian Vokuhl
- Section of Pediatric Pathology, Department of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, Germany
| | - Joanna Selfe
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology Team, Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Olivia Ruhen
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology Team, Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Jack F Shern
- Genetics Branch, Oncogenomics Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Oncogenomics Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Alexander R Kovach
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology; Duke University of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Philip J Lupo
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Susanne A Gatz
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU), University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Beat W Schäfer
- Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Ewa Koscielniak
- Klinikum der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart GKAöR, Olgahospital, Stuttgart Cancer Center, Zentrum für Kinder-, Jugend- und Frauenmedizin, Pädiatrie 5 (Pädiatrische Onkologie, Hämatologie, Immunologie), Stuttgart, Germany; Medizinische Fakultät, University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Douglas S Hawkins
- Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Gianni Bisogno
- Hematology Oncology Division, Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Monika Sparber-Sauer
- Klinikum der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart GKAöR, Olgahospital, Stuttgart Cancer Center, Zentrum für Kinder-, Jugend- und Frauenmedizin, Pädiatrie 5 (Pädiatrische Onkologie, Hämatologie, Immunologie), Stuttgart, Germany; Medizinische Fakultät, University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rajkumar Venkatramani
- Department of Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Janet Shipley
- Sarcoma Molecular Pathology Team, Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
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50
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Quiroga IY, Ahn JH, Wang GG, Phanstiel D. Oncogenic fusion proteins and their role in three-dimensional chromatin structure, phase separation, and cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2022; 74:101901. [PMID: 35427897 PMCID: PMC9156545 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2022.101901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) chromatin structure plays a critical role in development, gene regulation, and cellular identity. Alterations to this structure can have profound effects on cellular phenotypes and have been associated with a variety of diseases including multiple types of cancer. One of several forces that help shape 3D chromatin structure is liquid-liquid phase separation, a form of self-association between biomolecules that can sequester regions of chromatin into subnuclear droplets or even membraneless organelles like nucleoli. This review focuses on a class of oncogenic fusion proteins that appear to exert their oncogenic function via phase-separation-driven alterations to 3D chromatin structure. Here, we review what is known about the mechanisms by which these oncogenic fusion proteins phase separate in the nucleus and their role in shaping the 3D chromatin structure. We discuss the potential for this phenomenon to be a more widespread mechanism of oncogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Y Quiroga
- Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jeong Hyun Ahn
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Gang Greg Wang
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
| | - Douglas Phanstiel
- Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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