1
|
Affiliation(s)
- Christian Umkehrer
- Cancer Cell Signaling, Boehringer-Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Vienna, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Haas L, Elewaut A, Gerard CL, Umkehrer C, Leiendecker L, Pedersen M, Krecioch I, Hoffmann D, Novatchkova M, Kuttke M, Neumann T, da Silva IP, Witthock H, Cuendet MA, Carotta S, Harrington KJ, Zuber J, Scolyer RA, Long GV, Wilmott JS, Michielin O, Vanharanta S, Wiesner T, Obenauf AC. Acquired resistance to anti-MAPK targeted therapy confers an immune-evasive tumor microenvironment and cross-resistance to immunotherapy in melanoma. Nat Cancer 2021; 2:693-708. [PMID: 35121945 PMCID: PMC7613740 DOI: 10.1038/s43018-021-00221-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
How targeted therapies and immunotherapies shape tumors, and thereby influence subsequent therapeutic responses, is poorly understood. In the present study, we show, in melanoma patients and mouse models, that when tumors relapse after targeted therapy with MAPK pathway inhibitors, they are cross-resistant to immunotherapies, despite the different modes of action of these therapies. We find that cross-resistance is mediated by a cancer cell-instructed, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that lacks functional CD103+ dendritic cells, precluding an effective T cell response. Restoring the numbers and functionality of CD103+ dendritic cells can re-sensitize cross-resistant tumors to immunotherapy. Cross-resistance does not arise from selective pressure of an immune response during evolution of resistance, but from the MAPK pathway, which not only is reactivated, but also exhibits an increased transcriptional output that drives immune evasion. Our work provides mechanistic evidence for cross-resistance between two unrelated therapies, and a scientific rationale for treating patients with immunotherapy before they acquire resistance to targeted therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Haas
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anais Elewaut
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Camille L Gerard
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christian Umkehrer
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Leiendecker
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Izabela Krecioch
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Hoffmann
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Novatchkova
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mario Kuttke
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Tobias Neumann
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ines Pires da Silva
- Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Michel A Cuendet
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Molecular Modeling Group, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, UNIL Sorge, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Johannes Zuber
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard A Scolyer
- Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital & NSW Health Pathology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Georgina V Long
- Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - James S Wilmott
- Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Olivier Michielin
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Molecular Modeling Group, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, UNIL Sorge, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Thomas Wiesner
- Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna C Obenauf
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Umkehrer C, Holstein F, Formenti L, Jude J, Froussios K, Neumann T, Cronin SM, Haas L, Lipp JJ, Burkard TR, Fellner M, Wiesner T, Zuber J, Obenauf AC. Isolating live cell clones from barcoded populations using CRISPRa-inducible reporters. Nat Biotechnol 2021; 39:174-178. [PMID: 32719478 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-020-0614-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
We developed a functional lineage tracing tool termed CaTCH (CRISPRa tracing of clones in heterogeneous cell populations). CaTCH combines precise clonal tracing of millions of cells with the ability to retrospectively isolate founding clones alive before and during selection, allowing functional experiments. Using CaTCH, we captured rare clones representing as little as 0.001% of a population and investigated the emergence of resistance to targeted melanoma therapy in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christian Umkehrer
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Felix Holstein
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Laura Formenti
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Julian Jude
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Kimon Froussios
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Tobias Neumann
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Shona M Cronin
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Lisa Haas
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Jesse J Lipp
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
- Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas R Burkard
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Michaela Fellner
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Wiesner
- Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Johannes Zuber
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
- Medical University of Vienna, Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna C Obenauf
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Umkehrer C, Holstein F, Formenti L, Jude J, Froussios K, Neumann T, Cronin SM, Haas L, Lipp J, Burkard TR, Fellner M, Wiesner T, Zuber J, Obenauf AC. Abstract PO-132: CaTCH - A barcode-guided CRISPRa-inducible reporter to isolate clones from heterogeneous populations. Cancer Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.tumhet2020-po-132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The emergence of resistant cell clones to targeted therapies poses a significant issue in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. While these founding clones are often extremely rare in a starting population, their isolation and characterization holds unique potential for understanding disease processes, uncovering novel biomarkers and developing therapeutic concepts. The functional characterization of such founder clones and comprehensive comparisons to their post-selection counterparts requires live cells. To achieve this, we developed a novel lineage tracing tool termed CaTCH (CRISPRa tracing of clones in heterogeneous cell populations). CaTCH combines precise mapping of the lineage history of millions of cells with the ability to isolate any given clone alive from a complex population based on genetic barcodes. CaTCH thereby enables the retrospective isolation and analysis of founding clones from heterogeneous cell populations prior to evolutionary selection. In first applications, we use CaTCH to provide insights into the development of resistance to targeted cancer therapies. We demonstrate that CaTCH can be used to trace and isolate a single pre-existing therapy-resistant clone from a complex cancer cell population in vitro. Furthermore, we validate the utility of CaTCH for applications in vivo by investigating the origins of resistance to clinically relevant RAF/MEK inhibition in an immunocompetent melanoma mouse model. Here we find that most clones have the capacity to acquire resistance to combined RAF/MEK inhibitor therapy, indicating that resistance to this clinically relevant regimen is a universally achievable state in this model. We envision that CaTCH will address fundamental questions in basic and translational research (e.g., how cell identity states and trajectories are determined in therapy resistance, metastasis formation, tissue development and somatic cell re-programming), potentially revealing new vulnerabilities that can serve as targets for therapies.
Citation Format: Christian Umkehrer, Felix Holstein, Laura Formenti, Julian Jude, Kimon Froussios, Tobias Neumann, Shona M. Cronin, Lisa Haas, Jesse Lipp, Thomas R. Burkard, Michaela Fellner, Thomas Wiesner, Johannes Zuber, Anna C. Obenauf. CaTCH - A barcode-guided CRISPRa-inducible reporter to isolate clones from heterogeneous populations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Tumor Heterogeneity: From Single Cells to Clinical Impact; 2020 Sep 17-18. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(21 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-132.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Felix Holstein
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Laura Formenti
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Julian Jude
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Kimon Froussios
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Tobias Neumann
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Shona M. Cronin
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Lisa Haas
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Jesse Lipp
- 2Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Austria, Vienna, Austria,
| | | | - Michaela Fellner
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Thomas Wiesner
- 3Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Johannes Zuber
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| | - Anna C. Obenauf
- 1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria,
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Muhar M, Ebert A, Neumann T, Umkehrer C, Jude J, Wieshofer C, Rescheneder P, Lipp JJ, Herzog VA, Reichholf B, Cisneros DA, Hoffmann T, Schlapansky MF, Bhat P, von Haeseler A, Köcher T, Obenauf AC, Popow J, Ameres SL, Zuber J. SLAM-seq defines direct gene-regulatory functions of the BRD4-MYC axis. Science 2018; 360:800-805. [PMID: 29622725 PMCID: PMC6409205 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.2] [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: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Defining direct targets of transcription factors and regulatory pathways is key to understanding their roles in physiology and disease. We combined SLAM-seq [thiol(SH)-linked alkylation for the metabolic sequencing of RNA], a method for direct quantification of newly synthesized messenger RNAs (mRNAs), with pharmacological and chemical-genetic perturbation in order to define regulatory functions of two transcriptional hubs in cancer, BRD4 and MYC, and to interrogate direct responses to BET bromodomain inhibitors (BETis). We found that BRD4 acts as general coactivator of RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription, which is broadly repressed upon high-dose BETi treatment. At doses triggering selective effects in leukemia, BETis deregulate a small set of hypersensitive targets including MYC. In contrast to BRD4, MYC primarily acts as a selective transcriptional activator controlling metabolic processes such as ribosome biogenesis and de novo purine synthesis. Our study establishes a simple and scalable strategy to identify direct transcriptional targets of any gene or pathway.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Muhar
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Anja Ebert
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Tobias Neumann
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian Umkehrer
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Julian Jude
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Corinna Wieshofer
- Boehringer Ingelheim-Regional Center Vienna GmbH and Company KG, 1121 Vienna, Austria
| | - Philipp Rescheneder
- Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jesse J Lipp
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Veronika A Herzog
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), VBC, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Brian Reichholf
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), VBC, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - David A Cisneros
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Hoffmann
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Moritz F Schlapansky
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Pooja Bhat
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), VBC, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Arndt von Haeseler
- Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Köcher
- Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities (VBCF), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna C Obenauf
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Johannes Popow
- Boehringer Ingelheim-Regional Center Vienna GmbH and Company KG, 1121 Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan L Ameres
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), VBC, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Johannes Zuber
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria.
- Medical University of Vienna, VBC, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Brand V, Lehmann C, Umkehrer C, Bissinger S, Thier M, de Wouters M, Raemsch R, Jucknischke U, Haas A, Breuer S, Birzele F, Racek T, Reis M, Lorenzon E, Herting F, Stürzl M, Lorenz S, Kienast Y. Impact of selective anti-BMP9 treatment on tumor cells and tumor angiogenesis. Mol Oncol 2018; 10:1603-1620. [PMID: 28949445 DOI: 10.1016/j.molonc.2016.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/11/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The role of bone morphogenic protein 9 (BMP9) signaling in angiogenesis has been controversial, with a number of studies showing that it acts either as a pro-angiogenic or, conversely, as an anti-angiogenic factor in a context-dependent manner. Notably, BMP9 was also reported to function in both pro- or anti-tumorigenic roles during tumor progression. It has therefore remained unclear, whether selective BMP9 inhibition is a useful target for antibody therapy of cancer. To shed light on these questions, we characterized BMP9 expression in plasma of patients with different cancer indications and found elevated levels of pro-domains and precursor BMP9 with a strong response in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). These studies prompted us to evaluate the potential of selective anti-BMP9 cancer therapy in RCC. We generated a novel monoclonal therapeutic antibody candidate, mAb BMP9-0093, that selectively targets all different BMP9 variants but does not bind to the closest homolog BMP10. In vitro, mAb BMP9-0093 treatment inhibited signaling, endothelin-1 (ET-1) production and spreading of endothelial cells and restored BMP9-induced decrease in pericyte migration and attachment. Furthermore, BMP9-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition of renal cell carcinoma cells was reversed by mAb BMP9-0093 treatment in vitro. In vivo, mAb BMP9-0093 showed significant anti-tumor activity that was associated with an increase in apoptosis as well as a decrease in tumor cell proliferation and ET-1 release. Furthermore, mAb BMP9-0093 induced mural cell coverage of endothelial cells, which was corroborated by a reduction in vascular permeability, demonstrated by a diminished penetration of omalizumab-Alexa 647 into tumor tissue. Our findings provide new evidence for a better understanding of BMP9 contribution in tumor progression and angiogenesis that may result in the development of effective targeted therapeutic interventions.
Collapse
|