2
|
Masroni MSB, Lee KW, Lee VKM, Ng SB, Law CT, Poon KS, Lee BTK, Liu Z, Tan YP, Chng WL, Tucker S, Ngo LSM, Yip GWC, Nga ME, Hue SSS, Putti TC, Bay BH, Lin Q, Zhou L, Hartman M, Loh TP, Lakshmanan M, Lee SY, Tergaonkar V, Chua H, Lee AVH, Yeo EYM, Li MH, Chang CF, Kee Z, Tan KML, Tan SY, Koay ESC, Archetti M, Leong SM. Dynamic altruistic cooperation within breast tumors. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:206. [PMID: 38093346 PMCID: PMC10720132 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01896-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social behaviors such as altruism, where one self-sacrifices for collective benefits, critically influence an organism's survival and responses to the environment. Such behaviors are widely exemplified in nature but have been underexplored in cancer cells which are conventionally seen as selfish competitive players. This multidisciplinary study explores altruism and its mechanism in breast cancer cells and its contribution to chemoresistance. METHODS MicroRNA profiling was performed on circulating tumor cells collected from the blood of treated breast cancer patients. Cancer cell lines ectopically expressing candidate miRNA were used in co-culture experiments and treated with docetaxel. Ecological parameters like relative survival and relative fitness were assessed using flow cytometry. Functional studies and characterization performed in vitro and in vivo include proliferation, iTRAQ-mass spectrometry, RNA sequencing, inhibition by small molecules and antibodies, siRNA knockdown, CRISPR/dCas9 inhibition and fluorescence imaging of promoter reporter-expressing cells. Mathematical modeling based on evolutionary game theory was performed to simulate spatial organization of cancer cells. RESULTS Opposing cancer processes underlie altruism: an oncogenic process involving secretion of IGFBP2 and CCL28 by the altruists to induce survival benefits in neighboring cells under taxane exposure, and a self-sacrificial tumor suppressive process impeding proliferation of altruists via cell cycle arrest. Both processes are regulated concurrently in the altruists by miR-125b, via differential NF-κB signaling specifically through IKKβ. Altruistic cells persist in the tumor despite their self-sacrifice, as they can regenerate epigenetically from non-altruists via a KLF2/PCAF-mediated mechanism. The altruists maintain a sparse spatial organization by inhibiting surrounding cells from adopting the altruistic fate via a lateral inhibition mechanism involving a GAB1-PI3K-AKT-miR-125b signaling circuit. CONCLUSIONS Our data reveal molecular mechanisms underlying manifestation, persistence and spatial spread of cancer cell altruism. A minor population behave altruistically at a cost to itself producing a collective benefit for the tumor, suggesting tumors to be dynamic social systems governed by the same rules of cooperation in social organisms. Understanding cancer cell altruism may lead to more holistic models of tumor evolution and drug response, as well as therapeutic paradigms that account for social interactions. Cancer cells constitute tractable experimental models for fields beyond oncology, like evolutionary ecology and game theory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sufyan Bin Masroni
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Kee Wah Lee
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD10, 4 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117594, Singapore
| | - Victor Kwan Min Lee
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
| | - Siok Bian Ng
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
| | - Chao Teng Law
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Kok Siong Poon
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Bernett Teck-Kwong Lee
- Centre for Biomedical Informatics, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Experimental Medicine Building, NTU Main Campus, 59 Nanyang Drive, Level 4, Singapore, 636921, Singapore
| | - Zhehao Liu
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD10, 4 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117594, Singapore
| | - Yuen Peng Tan
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Wee Ling Chng
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Steven Tucker
- Tucker Medical Pte Ltd, Novena Specialist Centre, 8 Sinaran Drive #04-03, Singapore, 307470, Singapore
| | - Lynette Su-Mien Ngo
- Raffles Cancer Centre, Raffles Hospital, 585 North Bridge Road, Singapore, 188770, Singapore
- Current address: Curie Oncology Pte Ltd, Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre, 38 Irrawaddy Road, Level 8, #08-29/30, Singapore, 329563, Singapore
| | - George Wai Cheong Yip
- Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD10, 4 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117594, Singapore
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
| | - Min En Nga
- Department of Pathology, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Susan Swee Shan Hue
- Department of Pathology, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Proteos, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore
| | - Thomas Choudary Putti
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Boon Huat Bay
- Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD10, 4 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117594, Singapore
| | - Qingsong Lin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore
| | - Lihan Zhou
- MiRXES Pte Ltd, JTC MedTech Hub, 2 Tukang Innovation Grove #08-01, Singapore, 618305, Singapore
| | - Mikael Hartman
- Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road, NUHS Tower Block, Level 8, Singapore, 119228, Singapore
| | - Tze Ping Loh
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119074, Singapore
| | - Manikandan Lakshmanan
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Proteos, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore
| | - Sook Yee Lee
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Proteos, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore
| | - Vinay Tergaonkar
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Proteos, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore
| | - Huiwen Chua
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Adeline Voon Hui Lee
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Eric Yew Meng Yeo
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Mo-Huang Li
- CellSievo Pte Ltd, Block 289A, Bukit Batok Street 25, #15-218, Singapore, 650289, Singapore
| | - Chan Fong Chang
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117594, Singapore
| | - Zizheng Kee
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
| | - Karen Mei-Ling Tan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119074, Singapore.
- Singapore Institute For Clinical Sciences, Brenner Centre for Molecular Medicine, 30 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117609, Singapore.
| | - Soo Yong Tan
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.
- Department of Pathology, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Proteos, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore.
| | - Evelyn Siew-Chuan Koay
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119074, Singapore.
| | - Marco Archetti
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, W210 Millennium Science Complex, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
| | - Sai Mun Leong
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 3 NUH Main Building, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), MD6, Centre for Translational Medicine, National University of Singapore, 14 Medical Drive, #12-01, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Rashidi SK, Kalirad A, Rafie S, Behzad E, Dezfouli MA. The role of microRNAs in neurobiology and pathophysiology of the hippocampus. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1226413. [PMID: 37727513 PMCID: PMC10506409 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1226413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding and well-conserved RNAs that are linked to many aspects of development and disorders. MicroRNAs control the expression of genes related to different biological processes and play a prominent role in the harmonious expression of many genes. During neural development of the central nervous system, miRNAs are regulated in time and space. In the mature brain, the dynamic expression of miRNAs continues, highlighting their functional importance in neurons. The hippocampus, as one of the crucial brain structures, is a key component of major functional connections in brain. Gene expression abnormalities in the hippocampus lead to disturbance in neurogenesis, neural maturation and synaptic formation. These disturbances are at the root of several neurological disorders and behavioral deficits, including Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and schizophrenia. There is strong evidence that abnormalities in miRNAs are contributed in neurodegenerative mechanisms in the hippocampus through imbalanced activity of ion channels, neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity and neuronal apoptosis. Some miRNAs affect oxidative stress, inflammation, neural differentiation, migration and neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Furthermore, major signaling cascades in neurodegeneration, such as NF-Kβ signaling, PI3/Akt signaling and Notch pathway, are closely modulated by miRNAs. These observations, suggest that microRNAs are significant regulators in the complicated network of gene regulation in the hippocampus. In the current review, we focus on the miRNA functional role in the progression of normal development and neurogenesis of the hippocampus. We also consider how miRNAs in the hippocampus are crucial for gene expression mechanisms in pathophysiological pathways.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Khalil Rashidi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
| | - Ata Kalirad
- Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shahram Rafie
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
- Neuroscience Lab, Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Ebrahim Behzad
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
- Neuroscience Lab, Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Mitra Ansari Dezfouli
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
- Neuroscience Lab, Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| |
Collapse
|