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Limberg J, Egan CE, Gray KD, Singh M, Loewenstein Z, Yang Y, Riascos MC, Al Asadi H, Safe P, El Eshaky S, Liang H, Ullmann TM, Wang W, Li W, Zhang T, Xiang J, Stefanova D, Jin MM, Zarnegar R, Fahey TJ, Min IM. Activation of the JAK/STAT Pathway Leads to BRAF Inhibitor Resistance in BRAFV600E Positive Thyroid Carcinoma. Mol Cancer Res 2023; 21:397-410. [PMID: 36790391 PMCID: PMC10159921 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-21-0832] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
A subset of thyroid cancers, recurrent differentiated thyroid cancers and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), are difficult to treat by thyroidectomy and systemic therapy. A common mutation in thyroid cancer, BRAFV600E, has targetable treatment options; however, the results have been disappointing in thyroid cancers compared with BRAFV600E melanoma, as thyroid cancers quickly become resistant to BRAFV600E inhibitor (BRAFi). Here, we studied the molecular pathway that is induced in BRAFV600E thyroid cancer cells and patient-derived tumor samples in response to BRAFi, vemurafenib, using RNA-sequencing and molecular analysis. Both inducible response to BRAFi and acquired BRAFi resistance in BRAFV600E thyroid cancer cells showed significant activation of the JAK/STAT pathway. Functional analyses revealed that the combination of BRAFi and inhibitors of JAK/STAT pathway controlled BRAFV600E thyroid cancer cell growth. The Cancer Genome Atlas data analysis demonstrated that potent activation of the JAK/STAT signaling was associated with shorter recurrence rate in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. Analysis of tumor RNA expression in patients with poorly differentiated thyroid cancer and ATC also support that enhanced activity of JAK/STAT signaling pathway is correlated with worse prognosis. Our study demonstrates that JAK/STAT pathway is activated as BRAFV600E thyroid cancer cells develop resistance to BRAFi and that this pathway is a potential target for anticancer activity and to overcome drug resistance that commonly develops to treatment with BRAFi in thyroid cancer. IMPLICATIONS Dual inhibition of BRAF and JAK/STAT signaling pathway is a potential therapeutic treatment for anticancer activity and to overcome drug resistance to BRAFi in thyroid cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Limberg
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Caitlin E. Egan
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Mandeep Singh
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Yanping Yang
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Hala Al Asadi
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Parima Safe
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Steve El Eshaky
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Heng Liang
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Weibin Wang
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Tuo Zhang
- Genomics Resource Core Facility, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Jenny Xiang
- Genomics Resource Core Facility, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - Moonsoo M. Jin
- Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Rasa Zarnegar
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Thomas J. Fahey
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Irene M. Min
- Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
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Greenberg J, Limberg J, Verma A, Kim D, Chen X, Lee YJ, Moore MD, Ullmann TM, Thiesmeyer JW, Loewenstein Z, Chen KJ, Egan CE, Stefanova D, Bareja R, Zarnegar R, Finnerty BM, Scognamiglio T, Du YCN, Elemento O, Fahey TJ, Min IM. Metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors feature elevated T cell infiltration. JCI Insight 2022; 7:160130. [PMID: 36301668 PMCID: PMC9746918 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.160130] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are malignancies arising from the islets of Langerhans. Therapeutic options are limited for the over 50% of patients who present with metastatic disease. We aimed to identify mechanisms to remodel the PNET tumor microenvironment (TME) to ultimately enhance susceptibility to immunotherapy. The TMEs of localized and metastatic PNETs were investigated using an approach that combines RNA-Seq, cancer and T cell profiling, and pharmacologic perturbations. RNA-Seq analysis indicated that the primary tumors of metastatic PNETs showed significant activation of inflammatory and immune-related pathways. We determined that metastatic PNETs featured increased numbers of tumor-infiltrating T cells compared with localized tumors. T cells isolated from both localized and metastatic PNETs showed evidence of recruitment and antigen-dependent activation, suggestive of an immune-permissive microenvironment. A computational analysis suggested that vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, may perturb the transcriptomic signature of metastatic PNETs. Treatment of PNET cell lines with vorinostat increased chemokine CCR5 expression by NF-κB activation. Vorinostat treatment of patient-derived metastatic PNET tissues augmented recruitment of autologous T cells, and this augmentation was substantiated in a mouse model of PNET. Pharmacologic induction of chemokine expression may represent a promising approach for enhancing the immunogenicity of metastatic PNET TMEs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Akanksha Verma
- Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, and
| | - David Kim
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Rohan Bareja
- Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, and
| | | | | | - Theresa Scognamiglio
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yi-Chieh Nancy Du
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Olivier Elemento
- Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, and
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Stamatiou AT, Limberg J, Mora HA, Stefanova D, Thiesmeyer J, Loewenstein Z, Michael Finnerty B, Beninato TM, Fahey TJ. The Hidden World of the Biliary System: Metagenomic Sequencing of the Gallbladder Microbiome. J Am Coll Surg 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.07.208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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