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Thng DKH, Toh TB, Pigini P, Hooi L, Dan YY, Chow PK, Bonney GK, Rashid MBMA, Guccione E, Wee DKB, Chow EK. Splice-switch oligonucleotide-based combinatorial platform prioritizes synthetic lethal targets CHK1 and BRD4 against MYC-driven hepatocellular carcinoma. Bioeng Transl Med 2022; 8:e10363. [PMID: 36684069 PMCID: PMC9842033 DOI: 10.1002/btm2.10363] [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: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Deregulation of MYC is among the most frequent oncogenic drivers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Unfortunately, the clinical success of MYC-targeted therapies is limited. Synthetic lethality offers an alternative therapeutic strategy by leveraging on vulnerabilities in tumors with MYC deregulation. While several synthetic lethal targets of MYC have been identified in HCC, the need to prioritize targets with the greatest therapeutic potential has been unmet. Here, we demonstrate that by pairing splice-switch oligonucleotide (SSO) technologies with our phenotypic-analytical hybrid multidrug interrogation platform, quadratic phenotypic optimization platform (QPOP), we can disrupt the functional expression of these targets in specific combinatorial tests to rapidly determine target-target interactions and rank synthetic lethality targets. Our SSO-QPOP analyses revealed that simultaneous attenuation of CHK1 and BRD4 function is an effective combination specific in MYC-deregulated HCC, successfully suppressing HCC progression in vitro. Pharmacological inhibitors of CHK1 and BRD4 further demonstrated its translational value by exhibiting synergistic interactions in patient-derived xenograft organoid models of HCC harboring high levels of MYC deregulation. Collectively, our work demonstrates the capacity of SSO-QPOP as a target prioritization tool in the drug development pipeline, as well as the therapeutic potential of CHK1 and BRD4 in MYC-driven HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dexter Kai Hao Thng
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore
| | - Tan Boon Toh
- The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of SingaporeSingapore
| | - Paolo Pigini
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)SingaporeSingapore
| | - Lissa Hooi
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), Yong Loo Lin School of MedicineNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore
| | - Yock Young Dan
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,Division of Gastroenterology and HepatologyNational University Health SystemSingaporeSingapore,Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of MedicineNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore
| | - Pierce Kah‐Hoe Chow
- Division of Surgical OncologyNational Cancer Centre SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,Department of Hepato‐Pancreato‐Biliary and Transplant SurgerySingapore General HospitalSingaporeSingapore,Duke‐NUS Medical SchoolSingaporeSingapore
| | - Glenn Kunnath Bonney
- NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), Yong Loo Lin School of MedicineNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,Division of Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplantation SurgeryNational University Health SystemSingaporeSingapore
| | | | - Ernesto Guccione
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)SingaporeSingapore,Department of Oncological SciencesTisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkNew YorkUSA,Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery, Department of Oncological and Pharmacological SciencesIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Dave Keng Boon Wee
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)SingaporeSingapore
| | - Edward Kai‐Hua Chow
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of SingaporeSingapore,NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR), Yong Loo Lin School of MedicineNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of MedicineNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore,Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and EngineeringNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore
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