1
|
Nevedomskaya E, Haendler B. From Omics to Multi-Omics Approaches for In-Depth Analysis of the Molecular Mechanisms of Prostate Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23116281. [PMID: 35682963 PMCID: PMC9181488 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23116281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer arises following alterations at different cellular levels, including genetic and epigenetic modifications, transcription and translation dysregulation, as well as metabolic variations. High-throughput omics technologies that allow one to identify and quantify processes involved in these changes are now available and have been instrumental in generating a wealth of steadily increasing data from patient tumors, liquid biopsies, and from tumor models. Extensive investigation and integration of these data have led to new biological insights into the origin and development of multiple cancer types and helped to unravel the molecular networks underlying this complex pathology. The comprehensive and quantitative analysis of a molecule class in a biological sample is named omics and large-scale omics studies addressing different prostate cancer stages have been performed in recent years. Prostate tumors represent the second leading cancer type and a prevalent cause of cancer death in men worldwide. It is a very heterogenous disease so that evaluating inter- and intra-tumor differences will be essential for a precise insight into disease development and plasticity, but also for the development of personalized therapies. There is ample evidence for the key role of the androgen receptor, a steroid hormone-activated transcription factor, in driving early and late stages of the disease, and this led to the development and approval of drugs addressing diverse targets along this pathway. Early genomic and transcriptomic studies have allowed one to determine the genes involved in prostate cancer and regulated by androgen signaling or other tumor-relevant signaling pathways. More recently, they have been supplemented by epigenomic, cistromic, proteomic and metabolomic analyses, thus, increasing our knowledge on the intricate mechanisms involved, the various levels of regulation and their interplay. The comprehensive investigation of these omics approaches and their integration into multi-omics analyses have led to a much deeper understanding of the molecular pathways involved in prostate cancer progression, and in response and resistance to therapies. This brings the hope that novel vulnerabilities will be identified, that existing therapies will be more beneficial by targeting the patient population likely to respond best, and that bespoke treatments with increased efficacy will be available soon.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Bernard Haendler
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-30-2215-41198; Fax: +49-30-468-18069
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Baumgart SJ, Nevedomskaya E, Lesche R, Newman R, Mumberg D, Haendler B. Darolutamide antagonizes androgen signaling by blocking enhancer and super-enhancer activation. Mol Oncol 2020; 14:2022-2039. [PMID: 32333502 PMCID: PMC7463324 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.12693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most frequent tumor types in the male Western population. Early-stage PCa and late-stage PCa are dependent on androgen signaling, and inhibitors of the androgen receptor (AR) axis represent the standard therapy. Here, we studied in detail the global impact of darolutamide, a newly approved AR antagonist, on the transcriptome and AR-bound cistrome in two PCa cell models. Darolutamide strongly depleted the AR from gene regulatory regions and abolished AR-driven transcriptional signaling. Enhancer activation was blocked at the chromatin level as evaluated by H3K27 acetylation (H3K27ac), H3K4 monomethylation (H3K4me1), and FOXA1, MED1, and BRD4 binding. We identified genomic regions with high affinities for the AR in androgen-stimulated, but also in androgen-depleted conditions. A similar AR affinity pattern was observed in healthy and PCa tissue samples. High FOXA1, BRD4, H3K27ac, and H3K4me1 levels were found to mark regions showing AR binding in the hormone-depleted setting. Conversely, low FOXA1, BRD4, and H3K27ac levels were observed at regulatory sites that responded strongly to androgen stimulation, and AR interactions at these sites were blocked by darolutamide. Beside marked loss of AR occupancy, FOXA1 recruitment to chromatin was also clearly reduced after darolutamide treatment. We furthermore identified numerous androgen-regulated super-enhancers (SEs) that were associated with hallmark androgen and cell proliferation-associated gene sets. Importantly, these SEs are also active in PCa tissues and sensitive to darolutamide treatment in our models. Our findings demonstrate that darolutamide is a potent AR antagonist blocking genome-wide AR enhancer and SE activation, and downstream transcription. We also show the existence of a dynamic AR cistrome that depends on the androgen levels and on high AR affinity regions present in PCa cell lines and also in tissue samples.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ralf Lesche
- Research and Development, PharmaceuticalsBayer AGBerlinGermany
| | - Richard Newman
- Research and Development, PharmaceuticalsBayer AGBerlinGermany
| | - Dominik Mumberg
- Research and Development, PharmaceuticalsBayer AGBerlinGermany
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Conteduca V, Gurioli G, Brighi N, Lolli C, Schepisi G, Casadei C, Burgio SL, Gargiulo S, Ravaglia G, Rossi L, Altavilla A, Farolfi A, Menna C, Colangione SP, Pulvirenti M, Romeo A, De Giorgi U. Plasma Androgen Receptor in Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:E1719. [PMID: 31689899 PMCID: PMC6896184 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11111719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The therapeutic landscape of prostate cancer has expanded rapidly over the past 10 years, and there is now an even greater need to understand the biological mechanisms of resistance and to develop noninvasive biomarkers to guide treatment. The androgen receptor (AR) is known to be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of prostate cancer. Recently, highly sensitive next-generation sequencing and PCR-based methods for analyzing androgen receptor gene (AR) copy numbers (CN) and mutations in plasma were established in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with different drugs. The study of cfDNA holds great promise for improving treatment in CRPC, especially in the advanced stage of the disease. Recent findings showed the significant association of plasma AR aberrations with clinical outcome in CRPC patients treated with AR-directed therapies, whereas no association was observed in patients treated with taxanes. This suggests the potential for using plasma AR as a biomarker for selecting treatment, i.e., hormone therapy or chemotherapy, and the possibility of modulating taxane dose. In recent years, plasma AR status has also been investigated in association with novel agents, such as 177Lu-PSMA radioligand therapy and PARP inhibitors. This review will focus on AR testing in plasma that may have clinical utility for treatment selection in advanced prostate cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincenza Conteduca
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Gurioli
- Biosciences Laboratory, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Nicole Brighi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Cristian Lolli
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Giuseppe Schepisi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Chiara Casadei
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Salvatore Luca Burgio
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Stefania Gargiulo
- Biosciences Laboratory, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Ravaglia
- Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Lorena Rossi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Amelia Altavilla
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Alberto Farolfi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Cecilia Menna
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Sarah Pia Colangione
- Radiotherapy Unit, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Mario Pulvirenti
- Department of Urology, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, 47121 Forli, Italy.
| | - Antonino Romeo
- Radiotherapy Unit, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| | - Ugo De Giorgi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, 47014 Meldola, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Sugawara T, Baumgart SJ, Nevedomskaya E, Reichert K, Steuber H, Lejeune P, Mumberg D, Haendler B. Darolutamide is a potent androgen receptor antagonist with strong efficacy in prostate cancer models. Int J Cancer 2019; 145:1382-1394. [PMID: 30828788 PMCID: PMC6766977 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.32242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Darolutamide is a novel androgen receptor (AR) antagonist with a distinct chemical structure compared to other AR antagonists and currently in clinical Phase 3 trials for prostate cancer. Using cell‐based transactivation assays, we demonstrate that darolutamide, its diastereomers and its main metabolite keto‐darolutamide are strong, competitive antagonists for AR wild type, and also for several mutants identified in prostate cancer patients for which other AR antagonists show reduced antagonism or even agonism. Darolutamide, its two diastereomers and main metabolite are also strong antagonists in assays measuring AR N/C interaction and homodimerization. Molecular modeling suggests that the flexibility of darolutamide allows accommodation in the W742C/L mutated AR ligand‐binding pocket while for enzalutamide the loss of the important hydrophobic interaction with W742 leads to reduced AR interaction. This correlates with an antagonistic pattern profile of coregulator recruitment for darolutamide. In vitro efficacy studies performed with androgen‐dependent prostate cancer cell lines show that darolutamide strongly reduces cell viability and potently inhibits spheroid formation. Also, a marked down‐regulation of androgen target genes paralleled by decreased AR binding to gene regulatory regions is seen. In vivo studies reveal that oral dosing of darolutamide markedly reduces growth of the LAPC‐4 cell line‐derived xenograft and of the KuCaP‐1 patient‐derived xenograft. Altogether, these results substantiate a unique antagonistic profile of darolutamide and support further development as a prostate cancer drug. What's new? Comparison of genomic landscapes from primary prostate cancer and metastatic tumor shows that resistance mechanisms are centered on androgen signaling and increased synthesis. Here, the novel androgen receptor (AR) antagonist darolutamide shows strong in vitro and in vivo efficacy in different prostate cancer models. Darolutamide retains its antagonistic properties at elevated androgen levels and for several AR mutants identified in therapy‐resistant patients. A unique binding profile inside the AR ligand‐binding domain linked to the flexibility of darolutamide is proposed. Altogether, these results substantiate a unique antagonistic profile of darolutamide and support further development as a prostate cancer drug.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuo Sugawara
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Simon J Baumgart
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ekaterina Nevedomskaya
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kristin Reichert
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Holger Steuber
- Structural Biology, Lead Discovery Berlin, Small Molecule Innovation, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pascale Lejeune
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dominik Mumberg
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bernard Haendler
- Oncology II, Preclinical Research, Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Namekawa T, Ikeda K, Horie-Inoue K, Inoue S. Application of Prostate Cancer Models for Preclinical Study: Advantages and Limitations of Cell Lines, Patient-Derived Xenografts, and Three-Dimensional Culture of Patient-Derived Cells. Cells 2019; 8:cells8010074. [PMID: 30669516 PMCID: PMC6357050 DOI: 10.3390/cells8010074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2018] [Revised: 01/17/2019] [Accepted: 01/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Various preclinical models have been developed to clarify the pathophysiology of prostate cancer (PCa). Traditional PCa cell lines from clinical metastatic lesions, as exemplified by DU-145, PC-3, and LNCaP cells, are useful tools to define mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis and drug resistance. Cell line-based experiments, however, have limitations for preclinical studies because those cells are basically adapted to 2-dimensional monolayer culture conditions, in which the majority of primary PCa cells cannot survive. Recent tissue engineering enables generation of PCa patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) from both primary and metastatic lesions. Compared with fresh PCa tissue transplantation in athymic mice, co-injection of PCa tissues with extracellular matrix in highly immunodeficient mice has remarkably improved the success rate of PDX generation. PDX models have advantages to appropriately recapitulate the molecular diversity, cellular heterogeneity, and histology of original patient tumors. In contrast to PDX models, patient-derived organoid and spheroid PCa models in 3-dimensional culture are more feasible tools for in vitro studies for retaining the characteristics of patient tumors. In this article, we review PCa preclinical model cell lines and their sublines, PDXs, and patient-derived organoid and spheroid models. These PCa models will be applied to the development of new strategies for cancer precision medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Namekawa
- Division of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Hidaka, Saitama 350-1241, Japan.
- Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Chiba 260-8677, Japan.
| | - Kazuhiro Ikeda
- Division of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Hidaka, Saitama 350-1241, Japan.
| | - Kuniko Horie-Inoue
- Division of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Hidaka, Saitama 350-1241, Japan.
| | - Satoshi Inoue
- Division of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Hidaka, Saitama 350-1241, Japan.
- Department of Functional Biogerontology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Li D, Zhou W, Pang J, Tang Q, Zhong B, Shen C, Xiao L, Hou T. A magic drug target: Androgen receptor. Med Res Rev 2018; 39:1485-1514. [PMID: 30569509 DOI: 10.1002/med.21558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2018] [Revised: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Androgen receptor (AR) is closely associated with a group of hormone-related diseases including the cancers of prostate, breast, ovary, pancreas, etc and anabolic deficiencies such as muscle atrophy and osteoporosis. Depending on the specific type and stage of the diseases, AR ligands including not only antagonists but also agonists and modulators are considered as potential therapeutics, which makes AR an extremely interesting drug target. Here, we at first review the current understandings on the structural characteristics of AR, and then address why and how AR is investigated as a drug target for the relevant diseases and summarize the representative antagonists and agonists targeting five prospective small molecule binding sites at AR, including ligand-binding pocket, activation function-2 site, binding function-3 site, DNA-binding domain, and N-terminal domain, providing recent insights from a target and drug development view. Further comprehensive studies on AR and AR ligands would bring fruitful information and push the therapy of AR relevant diseases forward.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dan Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Wenfang Zhou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.,State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jinping Pang
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Qin Tang
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Bingling Zhong
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Chao Shen
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Li Xiao
- School of Life Science, Huzhou University, Huzhou, China
| | - Tingjun Hou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.,State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Pelekanou V, Castanas E. Androgen Control in Prostate Cancer. J Cell Biochem 2016; 117:2224-34. [DOI: 10.1002/jcb.25572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2016] [Accepted: 04/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Vasiliki Pelekanou
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine; Yale University; New Haven Connecticut
| | - Elias Castanas
- Laboratory of Experimental Endocrinology, School of Medicine; University of Crete; Heraklion Greece
| |
Collapse
|