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Mishra AK, Ye T, Banday S, Thakare RP, Su CTT, Pham NNH, Ali A, Kulshreshtha A, Chowdhury SR, Simone TM, Hu K, Zhu LJ, Eisenhaber B, Deibler SK, Simin K, Thompson PR, Kelliher MA, Eisenhaber F, Malonia SK, Green MR. Targeting the GPI transamidase subunit GPAA1 abrogates the CD24 immune checkpoint in ovarian cancer. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114041. [PMID: 38573857 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
CD24 is frequently overexpressed in ovarian cancer and promotes immune evasion by interacting with its receptor Siglec10, present on tumor-associated macrophages, providing a "don't eat me" signal that prevents targeting and phagocytosis by macrophages. Factors promoting CD24 expression could represent novel immunotherapeutic targets for ovarian cancer. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen, we identify GPAA1 (glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor attachment 1), a factor that catalyzes the attachment of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) lipid anchor to substrate proteins, as a positive regulator of CD24 cell surface expression. Genetic ablation of GPAA1 abolishes CD24 cell surface expression, enhances macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, and inhibits ovarian tumor growth in mice. GPAA1 shares structural similarities with aminopeptidases. Consequently, we show that bestatin, a clinically advanced aminopeptidase inhibitor, binds to GPAA1 and blocks GPI attachment, resulting in reduced CD24 cell surface expression, increased macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, and suppressed growth of ovarian tumors. Our study highlights the potential of targeting GPAA1 as an immunotherapeutic approach for CD24+ ovarian cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alok K Mishra
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
| | - Tianyi Ye
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Shahid Banday
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Ritesh P Thakare
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Chinh Tran-To Su
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A(∗)STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, Matrix, #07-01, Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Ngoc N H Pham
- Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Science, Vietnam National University, 227 Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Amjad Ali
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Ankur Kulshreshtha
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Shreya Roy Chowdhury
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Tessa M Simone
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Kai Hu
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Lihua Julie Zhu
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA; Program in Molecular Medicine and Department of Genomics and Computational Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Birgit Eisenhaber
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A(∗)STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, Matrix, #07-01, Singapore 138671, Singapore; Lausitz Advanced Scientific Applications (LASA) gGmbH, Straße der Einheit 2-24, 02943 Weißwasser, Germany
| | - Sara K Deibler
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Karl Simin
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Paul R Thompson
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Michelle A Kelliher
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Frank Eisenhaber
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A(∗)STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, Matrix, #07-01, Singapore 138671, Singapore; Lausitz Advanced Scientific Applications (LASA) gGmbH, Straße der Einheit 2-24, 02943 Weißwasser, Germany; School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore.
| | - Sunil K Malonia
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
| | - Michael R Green
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
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Fang M, Deibler SK, Krishnamurthy PM, Wang F, Rodriguez P, Banday S, Virbasius CM, Sena-Esteves M, Watts JK, Green MR. EZH2 inhibition reactivates epigenetically silenced FMR1 and normalizes molecular and electrophysiological abnormalities in fragile X syndrome neurons. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1348478. [PMID: 38449737 PMCID: PMC10915284 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1348478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a neurological disorder caused by epigenetic silencing of the FMR1 gene. Reactivation of FMR1 is a potential therapeutic approach for FXS that would correct the root cause of the disease. Here, using a candidate-based shRNA screen, we identify nine epigenetic repressors that promote silencing of FMR1 in FXS cells (called FMR1 Silencing Factors, or FMR1- SFs). Inhibition of FMR1-SFs with shRNAs or small molecules reactivates FMR1 in cultured undifferentiated induced pluripotent stem cells, neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and post-mitotic neurons derived from FXS patients. One of the FMR1-SFs is the histone methyltransferase EZH2, for which an FDA-approved small molecule inhibitor, EPZ6438 (also known as tazemetostat), is available. We show that EPZ6438 substantially corrects the characteristic molecular and electrophysiological abnormalities of cultured FXS neurons. Unfortunately, EZH2 inhibitors do not efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier, limiting their therapeutic use for FXS. Recently, antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)-based approaches have been developed as effective treatment options for certain central nervous system disorders. We therefore derived efficacious ASOs targeting EZH2 and demonstrate that they reactivate FMR1 expression and correct molecular and electrophysiological abnormalities in cultured FXS neurons, and reactivate FMR1 expression in human FXS NPCs engrafted within the brains of mice. Collectively, our results establish EZH2 inhibition in general, and EZH2 ASOs in particular, as a therapeutic approach for FXS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minggang Fang
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Sara K. Deibler
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | | | - Feng Wang
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Paola Rodriguez
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Shahid Banday
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Ching-Man Virbasius
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Miguel Sena-Esteves
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Jonathan K. Watts
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Michael R. Green
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
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Fang M, Deibler SK, Nana AL, Vatsavayai SC, Banday S, Zhou Y, Almeida S, Weiss A, Brown RH, Seeley WW, Gao FB, Green MR. Loss of TDP-43 function contributes to genomic instability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1251228. [PMID: 37849894 PMCID: PMC10577185 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1251228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
A common pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of the DNA/RNA-binding protein TDP-43, but how loss of nuclear TDP-43 function contributes to ALS and FTD pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Here, using large-scale RNAi screening, we identify TARDBP, which encodes TDP-43, as a gene whose loss-of-function results in elevated DNA mutation rate and genomic instability. Consistent with this finding, we observe increased DNA damage in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and iPSC-derived post-mitotic neurons generated from ALS patients harboring TARDBP mutations. We find that the increase in DNA damage in ALS iPSC-derived neurons is due to defects in two major pathways for DNA double-strand break repair: non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination. Cells with defects in DNA repair are sensitive to DNA damaging agents and, accordingly, we find that ALS iPSC-derived neurons show a marked reduction in survival following treatment with a DNA damaging agent. Importantly, we find that increased DNA damage is also observed in neurons with nuclear TDP-43 depletion from ALS/FTD patient brain tissues. Collectively, our results demonstrate that ALS neurons with loss of nuclear TDP-43 function have elevated levels of DNA damage and contribute to the idea that genomic instability is a defining pathological feature of ALS/FTD patients with TDP-43 pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minggang Fang
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Sara K. Deibler
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Alissa L. Nana
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Sarat C. Vatsavayai
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Shahid Banday
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - You Zhou
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Sandra Almeida
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Alexandra Weiss
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Robert H. Brown
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - William W. Seeley
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Fen-Biao Gao
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Michael R. Green
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
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Roeder RG, Deibler SK, Jacobson A, Lillie JW, Rosbash M, Singer RH, Wajapeyee N. Michael R. Green (1954-2023). Mol Cell 2023; 83:2152-2154. [PMID: 37419086 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Michael Rosbash
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
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Roeder RG, Deibler SK, Jacobson A, Lillie JW, Rosbash M, Singer RH, Wajapeyee N. Michael R. Green (1954-2023). Cell 2023; 186:2722-2724. [PMID: 37352831 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Michael Rosbash
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
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Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful research tool that can be used to turn off-or silence-the expression of a specific gene. In recent years, RNAi screening on a genome-wide scale has provided the opportunity to identify factors and pathways involved in complex biological processes in a systematic and unbiased manner. Here we describe a genome-wide RNAi screening strategy to identify genes that are required for a particular type of cellular senescence called oncogene-induced senescence. The approach we describe is a general screening strategy that can be applied to the study of other forms of cellular senescence, including replicative senescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narendra Wajapeyee
- Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
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