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Gao R, Kalathur RKR, Coto‐Llerena M, Ercan C, Buechel D, Shuang S, Piscuoglio S, Dill MT, Camargo FD, Christofori G, Tang F. YAP/TAZ and ATF4 drive resistance to Sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma by preventing ferroptosis. EMBO Mol Med 2021; 13:e14351. [PMID: 34664408 PMCID: PMC8649869 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202114351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 61.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms underlying evasive resistance in cancer is an unmet medical need to improve the efficacy of current therapies. In this study, a combination of shRNA-mediated synthetic lethality screening and transcriptomic analysis revealed the transcription factors YAP/TAZ as key drivers of Sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by repressing Sorafenib-induced ferroptosis. Mechanistically, in a TEAD-dependent manner, YAP/TAZ induce the expression of SLC7A11, a key transporter maintaining intracellular glutathione homeostasis, thus enabling HCC cells to overcome Sorafenib-induced ferroptosis. At the same time, YAP/TAZ sustain the protein stability, nuclear localization, and transcriptional activity of ATF4 which in turn cooperates to induce SLC7A11 expression. Our study uncovers a critical role of YAP/TAZ in the repression of ferroptosis and thus in the establishment of Sorafenib resistance in HCC, highlighting YAP/TAZ-based rewiring strategies as potential approaches to overcome HCC therapy resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruize Gao
- Department of BiomedicineUniversity of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | | | | | - Caner Ercan
- Institute of PathologyUniversity Hospital BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - David Buechel
- Department of BiomedicineUniversity of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Song Shuang
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical ResearchBaselSwitzerland
| | | | - Michael T Dill
- Stem Cell ProgramBoston Children's HospitalBostonMAUSA
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative BiologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeMAUSA
| | - Fernando D Camargo
- Stem Cell ProgramBoston Children's HospitalBostonMAUSA
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative BiologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeMAUSA
| | | | - Fengyuan Tang
- Department of BiomedicineUniversity of BaselBaselSwitzerland
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2
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Saxena M, Hisano M, Neutzner M, Diepenbruck M, Ivanek R, Sharma K, Kalathur RKR, Bürglin TR, Risoli S, Christofori G. The long non-coding RNA ET-20 mediates EMT by impairing desmosomes in breast cancer cells. J Cell Sci 2021; 134:272428. [PMID: 34633031 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.258418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The vast majority of breast cancer-associated deaths are due to metastatic spread of cancer cells, a process aided by epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mounting evidence has indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) also contribute to tumor progression. We report the identification of 114 novel lncRNAs that change their expression during TGFβ-induced EMT in murine breast cancer cells (referred to as EMT-associated transcripts; ETs). Of these, the ET-20 gene localizes in antisense orientation within the tenascin C (Tnc) gene locus. TNC is an extracellular matrix protein that is critical for EMT and metastasis formation. Both ET-20 and Tnc are regulated by the EMT master transcription factor Sox4. Notably, ablation of ET-20 lncRNA effectively blocks Tnc expression and with it EMT. Mechanistically, ET-20 interacts with desmosomal proteins, thereby impairing epithelial desmosomes and promoting EMT. A short transcript variant of ET-20 is shown to be upregulated in invasive human breast cancer cell lines, where it also promotes EMT. Targeting ET-20 appears to be a therapeutically attractive lead to restrain EMT and breast cancer metastasis in addition to its potential utility as a biomarker for invasive breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meera Saxena
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Mizue Hisano
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Neutzner
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Maren Diepenbruck
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Robert Ivanek
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Kirti Sharma
- Proteomics Kymera Therapeutics Basel Cambridge, MA 02472, USA
| | - Ravi K R Kalathur
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.,Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, 3052 Parkville, Australia
| | - Thomas R Bürglin
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Salvatore Risoli
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
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Vafaizadeh V, Buechel D, Rubinstein N, Kalathur RKR, Bazzani L, Saxena M, Valenta T, Hausmann G, Cantù C, Basler K, Christofori G. The interactions of Bcl9/Bcl9L with β-catenin and Pygopus promote breast cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis. Oncogene 2021; 40:6195-6209. [PMID: 34545187 PMCID: PMC8553620 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-021-02016-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling is an established regulator of cellular state and its critical contributions to tumor initiation, malignant tumor progression and metastasis formation have been demonstrated in various cancer types. Here, we investigated how the binding of β-catenin to the transcriptional coactivators B-cell CLL/lymphoma 9 (Bcl9) and Bcl9-Like (Bcl9L) affected mammary gland carcinogenesis in the MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse model of metastatic breast cancer. Conditional knockout of both Bcl9 and Bcl9L resulted into tumor cell death. In contrast, disrupting the interaction of Bcl9/Bcl9L with β-catenin, either by deletion of their HD2 domains or by a point mutation in the N-terminal domain of β-catenin (D164A), diminished primary tumor growth and tumor cell proliferation and reduced tumor cell invasion and lung metastasis. In comparison, the disruption of HD1 domain-mediated binding of Bcl9/Bcl9L to Pygopus had only moderate effects. Interestingly, interfering with the β-catenin-Bcl9/Bcl9L-Pygo chain of adapters only partially impaired the transcriptional response of mammary tumor cells to Wnt3a and TGFβ treatments. Together, the results indicate that Bcl9/Bcl9L modulate but are not critically required for canonical Wnt signaling in its contribution to breast cancer growth and malignant progression, a notion consistent with the “just-right” hypothesis of Wnt-driven tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vida Vafaizadeh
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - David Buechel
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Natalia Rubinstein
- Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ravi K R Kalathur
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Lorenzo Bazzani
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Meera Saxena
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tomas Valenta
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - George Hausmann
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Claudio Cantù
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Konrad Basler
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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4
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Saxena M, Kalathur RKR, Rubinstein N, Vettiger A, Sugiyama N, Neutzner M, Coto-Llerena M, Kancherla V, Ercan C, Piscuoglio S, Fischer J, Fagiani E, Cantù C, Basler K, Christofori G. A Pygopus 2-Histone Interaction Is Critical for Cancer Cell Dedifferentiation and Progression in Malignant Breast Cancer. Cancer Res 2020; 80:3631-3648. [PMID: 32586983 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-2910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Pygopus 2 (Pygo2) is a coactivator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling that can bind bi- or trimethylated lysine 4 of histone-3 (H3K4me2/3) and participate in chromatin reading and writing. It remains unknown whether the Pygo2-H3K4me2/3 association has a functional relevance in breast cancer progression in vivo. To investigate the functional relevance of histone-binding activity of Pygo2 in malignant progression of breast cancer, we generated a knock-in mouse model where binding of Pygo2 to H3K4me2/3 was rendered ineffective. Loss of Pygo2-histone interaction resulted in smaller, differentiated, and less metastatic tumors, due, in part, to decreased canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling. RNA- and ATAC-sequencing analyses of tumor-derived cell lines revealed downregulation of TGFβ signaling and upregulation of differentiation pathways such as PDGFR signaling. Increased differentiation correlated with a luminal cell fate that could be reversed by inhibition of PDGFR activity. Mechanistically, the Pygo2-histone interaction potentiated Wnt/β-catenin signaling, in part, by repressing the expression of Wnt signaling antagonists. Furthermore, Pygo2 and β-catenin regulated the expression of miR-29 family members, which, in turn, repressed PDGFR expression to promote dedifferentiation of wild-type Pygo2 mammary epithelial tumor cells. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the histone binding function of Pygo2 is important for driving dedifferentiation and malignancy of breast tumors, and loss of this binding activates various differentiation pathways that attenuate primary tumor growth and metastasis formation. Interfering with the Pygo2-H3K4me2/3 interaction may therefore serve as an attractive therapeutic target for metastatic breast cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: Pygo2 represents a potential therapeutic target in metastatic breast cancer, as its histone-binding capability promotes β-catenin-mediated Wnt signaling and transcriptional control in breast cancer cell dedifferentiation, EMT, and metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meera Saxena
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
| | | | | | - Andrea Vettiger
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Nami Sugiyama
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Neutzner
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Caner Ercan
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Jonas Fischer
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ernesta Fagiani
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Claudio Cantù
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine Linköping; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Konrad Basler
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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5
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Tang F, Gao R, Jeevan-Raj B, Wyss CB, Kalathur RKR, Piscuoglio S, Ng CKY, Hindupur SK, Nuciforo S, Dazert E, Bock T, Song S, Buechel D, Morini MF, Hergovich A, Matthias P, Lim DS, Terracciano LM, Heim MH, Hall MN, Christofori G. LATS1 but not LATS2 represses autophagy by a kinase-independent scaffold function. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5755. [PMID: 31848340 PMCID: PMC6917744 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13591-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Autophagy perturbation represents an emerging therapeutic strategy in cancer. Although LATS1 and LATS2 kinases, core components of the mammalian Hippo pathway, have been shown to exert tumor suppressive activities, here we report a pro-survival role of LATS1 but not LATS2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Specifically, LATS1 restricts lethal autophagy in HCC cells induced by sorafenib, the standard of care for advanced HCC patients. Notably, autophagy regulation by LATS1 is independent of its kinase activity. Instead, LATS1 stabilizes the autophagy core-machinery component Beclin-1 by promoting K27-linked ubiquitination at lysine residues K32 and K263 on Beclin-1. Consequently, ubiquitination of Beclin-1 negatively regulates autophagy by promoting inactive dimer formation of Beclin-1. Our study highlights a functional diversity between LATS1 and LATS2, and uncovers a scaffolding role of LATS1 in mediating a cross-talk between the Hippo signaling pathway and autophagy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengyuan Tang
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Ruize Gao
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Beena Jeevan-Raj
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christof B Wyss
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Charlotte K Y Ng
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Sandro Nuciforo
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Eva Dazert
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Bock
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Shuang Song
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Buechel
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Marco F Morini
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Patrick Matthias
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dae-Sik Lim
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Markus H Heim
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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