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Carroll C, Manaprasertsak A, Boffelli Castro A, van den Bos H, Spierings DC, Wardenaar R, Bukkuri A, Engström N, Baratchart E, Yang M, Biloglav A, Cornwallis CK, Johansson B, Hagerling C, Arsenian-Henriksson M, Paulsson K, Amend SR, Mohlin S, Foijer F, McIntyre A, Pienta KJ, Hammarlund EU. Drug-resilient Cancer Cell Phenotype Is Acquired via Polyploidization Associated with Early Stress Response Coupled to HIF2α Transcriptional Regulation. Cancer Res Commun 2024; 4:691-705. [PMID: 38385626 PMCID: PMC10919208 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-23-0396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Therapeutic resistance and recurrence remain core challenges in cancer therapy. How therapy resistance arises is currently not fully understood with tumors surviving via multiple alternative routes. Here, we demonstrate that a subset of cancer cells survives therapeutic stress by entering a transient state characterized by whole-genome doubling. At the onset of the polyploidization program, we identified an upregulation of key transcriptional regulators, including the early stress-response protein AP-1 and normoxic stabilization of HIF2α. We found altered chromatin accessibility, ablated expression of retinoblastoma protein (RB1), and enrichment of AP-1 motif accessibility. We demonstrate that AP-1 and HIF2α regulate a therapy resilient and survivor phenotype in cancer cells. Consistent with this, genetic or pharmacologic targeting of AP-1 and HIF2α reduced the number of surviving cells following chemotherapy treatment. The role of AP-1 and HIF2α in stress response by polyploidy suggests a novel avenue for tackling chemotherapy-induced resistance in cancer. SIGNIFICANCE In response to cisplatin treatment, some surviving cancer cells undergo whole-genome duplications without mitosis, which represents a mechanism of drug resistance. This study presents mechanistic data to implicate AP-1 and HIF2α signaling in the formation of this surviving cell phenotype. The results open a new avenue for targeting drug-resistant cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Carroll
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Auraya Manaprasertsak
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Arthur Boffelli Castro
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Hilda van den Bos
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Diana C.J. Spierings
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - René Wardenaar
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Anuraag Bukkuri
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Niklas Engström
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Etienne Baratchart
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Minjun Yang
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Andrea Biloglav
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Bertil Johansson
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Catharina Hagerling
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Marie Arsenian-Henriksson
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kajsa Paulsson
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Sarah R. Amend
- Cancer Ecology Center, the Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Sofie Mohlin
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Division of Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Floris Foijer
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Alan McIntyre
- Hypoxia and Acidosis Group, Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Centre, School of Medicine, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Kenneth J. Pienta
- Cancer Ecology Center, the Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Emma U. Hammarlund
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund Stem Cell Center (SCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Lund University Cancer Center (LUCC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Brown JS, Amend SR, Austin RH, Gatenby RA, Hammarlund EU, Pienta KJ. Updating the Definition of Cancer. Mol Cancer Res 2023; 21:1142-1147. [PMID: 37409952 PMCID: PMC10618731 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-23-0411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Most definitions of cancer broadly conform to the current NCI definition: "Cancer is a disease in which some of the body's cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body." These definitions tend to describe what cancer "looks like" or "does" but do not describe what cancer "is" or "has become." While reflecting past insights, current definitions have not kept pace with the understanding that the cancer cell is itself transformed and evolving. We propose a revised definition of cancer: Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled proliferation by transformed cells subject to evolution by natural selection. We believe this definition captures the essence of the majority of previous and current definitions. To the simplest definition of cancer as a disease of uncontrolled proliferation of cells, our definition adds in the adjective "transformed" to capture the many tumorigenic processes that cancer cells adopt to metastasize. To the concept of uncontrolled proliferation of transformed cells, our proposed definition then adds "subject to evolution by natural selection." The subject to evolution by natural selection modernizes the definition to include the genetic and epigenetic changes that accumulate within a population of cancer cells that lead to the lethal phenotype. Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled proliferation by transformed cells subject to evolution by natural selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel S. Brown
- Cancer Biology and Evolution Program, Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Sarah R. Amend
- The Cancer Ecology Center, The Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Robert H. Austin
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
| | - Robert A. Gatenby
- Cancer Biology and Evolution Program, Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Emma U. Hammarlund
- Tissue Development and Evolution Research Group, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Kenneth J. Pienta
- The Cancer Ecology Center, The Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
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