51
|
Sidarovich V, De Mariano M, Aveic S, Pancher M, Adami V, Gatto P, Pizzini S, Pasini L, Croce M, Parodi F, Cimmino F, Avitabile M, Emionite L, Cilli M, Ferrini S, Pagano A, Capasso M, Quattrone A, Tonini GP, Longo L. A High-Content Screening of Anticancer Compounds Suggests the Multiple Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Ponatinib for Repurposing in Neuroblastoma Therapy. Mol Cancer Ther 2018; 17:1405-1415. [PMID: 29695637 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-17-0841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Novel druggable targets have been discovered in neuroblastoma (NB), paving the way for more effective treatments. However, children with high-risk NB still show high mortality rates prompting for a search of novel therapeutic options. Here, we aimed at repurposing FDA-approved drugs for NB treatment by performing a high-content screening of a 349 anticancer compounds library. In the primary screening, we employed three NB cell lines, grown as three-dimensional (3D) multicellular spheroids, which were treated with 10 μmol/L of the library compounds for 72 hours. The viability of 3D spheroids was evaluated using a high-content imaging approach, resulting in a primary hit list of 193 compounds. We selected 60 FDA-approved molecules and prioritized drugs with multi-target activity, discarding those already in use for NB treatment or enrolled in NB clinical trials. Hence, 20 drugs were further tested for their efficacy in inhibiting NB cell viability, both in two-dimensional and 3D models. Dose-response curves were then supplemented with the data on side effects, therapeutic index, and molecular targets, suggesting two multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors, ponatinib and axitinib, as promising candidates for repositioning in NB. Indeed, both drugs showed induction of cell-cycle block and apoptosis, as well as inhibition of colony formation. However, only ponatinib consistently affected migration and inhibited invasion of NB cells. Finally, ponatinib also proved effective inhibition of tumor growth in orthotopic NB mice, providing the rationale for its repurposing in NB therapy. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(7); 1405-15. ©2018 AACR.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sanja Aveic
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP), Città della Speranza, Padova, Italy
| | - Michael Pancher
- High Throughput Screening Core Facility, CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Valentina Adami
- High Throughput Screening Core Facility, CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Pamela Gatto
- High Throughput Screening Core Facility, CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Silvia Pizzini
- Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Luigi Pasini
- Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Michela Croce
- UOC Bioterapie, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Federica Parodi
- UOC Bioterapie, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Flora Cimmino
- University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy.,CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli, Italy
| | - Marianna Avitabile
- University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy.,CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli, Italy
| | - Laura Emionite
- Animal Facility, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Michele Cilli
- Animal Facility, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Silvano Ferrini
- UOC Bioterapie, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Aldo Pagano
- University of Genova, Genova, Italy.,Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy
| | - Mario Capasso
- University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy.,CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli, Italy.,IRCCS SDN, Istituto di Ricerca Diagnostica e Nucleare, Napoli, Italy
| | | | - Gian Paolo Tonini
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP), Città della Speranza, Padova, Italy
| | - Luca Longo
- UOC Bioterapie, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
52
|
A kinome-wide RNAi screen identifies ALK as a target to sensitize neuroblastoma cells for HDAC8-inhibitor treatment. Cell Death Differ 2018. [PMID: 29515255 PMCID: PMC6261943 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-018-0080-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The prognosis of advanced stage neuroblastoma patients remains poor and, despite intensive therapy, the 5-year survival rate remains less than 50%. We previously identified histone deacetylase (HDAC) 8 as an indicator of poor clinical outcome and a selective drug target for differentiation therapy in vitro and in vivo. Here, we performed kinome-wide RNAi screening to identify genes that are synthetically lethal with HDAC8 inhibitors. These experiments identified the neuroblastoma predisposition gene ALK as a candidate gene. Accordingly, the combination of the ALK/MET inhibitor crizotinib and selective HDAC8 inhibitors (3–6 µM PCI-34051 or 10 µM 20a) efficiently killed neuroblastoma cell lines carrying wildtype ALK (SK-N-BE(2)-C, IMR5/75), amplified ALK (NB-1), and those carrying the activating ALK F1174L mutation (Kelly), and, in cells carrying the activating R1275Q mutation (LAN-5), combination treatment decreased viable cell count. The effective dose of crizotinib in neuroblastoma cell lines ranged from 0.05 µM (ALK-amplified) to 0.8 µM (wildtype ALK). The combinatorial inhibition of ALK and HDAC8 also decreased tumor growth in an in vivo zebrafish xenograft model. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that the mRNA expression level of HDAC8 was significantly correlated with that of ALK in two independent patient cohorts, the Academic Medical Center cohort (n = 88) and the German Neuroblastoma Trial cohort (n = 649), and co-expression of both target genes identified patients with very poor outcome. Mechanistically, HDAC8 and ALK converge at the level of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling and their downstream survival pathways, such as ERK signaling. Combination treatment of HDAC8 inhibitor with crizotinib efficiently blocked the activation of growth receptor survival signaling and shifted the cell cycle arrest and differentiation phenotype toward effective cell death of neuroblastoma cell lines, including sensitization of resistant models, but not of normal cells. These findings reveal combined targeting of ALK and HDAC8 as a novel strategy for the treatment of neuroblastoma.
Collapse
|
53
|
Lopergolo A, Perrone R, Tortoreto M, Doria F, Beretta GL, Zuco V, Freccero M, Borrello MG, Lanzi C, Richter SN, Zaffaroni N, Folini M. Targeting of RET oncogene by naphthalene diimide-mediated gene promoter G-quadruplex stabilization exerts anti-tumor activity in oncogene-addicted human medullary thyroid cancer. Oncotarget 2018; 7:49649-49663. [PMID: 27351133 PMCID: PMC5226536 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.10105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) relies on the aberrant activation of RET proto-oncogene. Though targeted approaches (i.e., tyrosine kinase inhibitors) are available, the absence of complete responses and the onset of resistance mechanisms indicate the need for novel therapeutic interventions. Due to their role in regulation of gene expression, G-quadruplexes (G4) represent attractive targets amenable to be recognized or stabilized by small molecules. Here, we report that exposure of MTC cells to a tri-substituted naphthalene diimide (NDI) resulted in a significant antiproliferative activity paralleled by inhibition of RET expression. Biophysical analysis and gene reporter assays showed that impairment of RET expression was consequent to the NDI-mediated stabilization of the G4 forming within the gene promoter. We also showed for the first time that systemic administration of the NDI in mice xenotransplanted with MTC cells resulted in a remarkable inhibition of tumor growth in vivo. Overall, our findings indicate that NDI-dependent RET G4 stabilization represents a suitable approach to control RET transcription and delineate the rationale for the development of G4 stabilizing-based treatments for MTC as well as for other tumors in which RET may have functional and therapeutic implications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Lopergolo
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Rosalba Perrone
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Monica Tortoreto
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Filippo Doria
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - Giovanni L Beretta
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Valentina Zuco
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Mauro Freccero
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Borrello
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Cinzia Lanzi
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Sara N Richter
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Nadia Zaffaroni
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Marco Folini
- Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milano, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
54
|
Alshareef A, Irwin MS, Gupta N, Zhang HF, Haque M, Findlay SD, Seong BKA, Lai J, Rayis M, Al-Dandan S, Lai R. The absence of a novel intron 19-retaining ALK transcript ( ALK-I19) and MYCN amplification correlates with an excellent clinical outcome in neuroblastoma patients. Oncotarget 2018. [PMID: 29535836 PMCID: PMC5828214 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.24216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
ALK missense mutations are detected in 8% of neuroblastoma (NB) tumors at diagnosis and confer gain-of-function oncogenic effects. The mechanisms by which the expression of wild-type or mutant ALK, which is detectable in the majority of cases, is regulated are not well understood. We have identified a novel ALK transcript characterized by the retention of intron 19 (ALK-I19). ALK-I19 was detected in 4/4 NB cell lines, but not other non-NB cells with ALK aberrations. The functional significance of ALK-I19 was determined by specific siRNA knockdown of this transcript, which resulted in substantially decreased expression of the fully-spliced ALK transcripts (FS-ALK) and a significant reduction in cell growth. We also demonstrate that ALK-I19 is a precursor of FS-ALK. ALK-I19 was detected in 14/37 (38%) tumors from patients with newly diagnosed NB. ALK-I19 expression correlated with undifferentiated histology and strong ALK protein expression detectable by immunohistochemistry. Importantly, patients with tumors that did not express ALK-I19 and lacked MYCN amplification had an excellent clinical outcome, with 19/19 patients survived at 5-years. In conclusion, ALK-I19 is a novel ALK transcript that likely represents a marker of undifferentiated NB cells. The absence of ALK-I19 and MYCN amplification is a useful prognostic marker for NB patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Abdulraheem Alshareef
- Department of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia.,Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Meredith S Irwin
- Division of Haematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nidhi Gupta
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Hai-Feng Zhang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Moinul Haque
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Scott D Findlay
- Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.,Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | | | - Justine Lai
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Mohammed Rayis
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sadeq Al-Dandan
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, King Fahad Medical City, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Raymond Lai
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.,Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.,DynaLIFE Medical Laboratories, Edmonton, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
55
|
Activated ALK signals through the ERK-ETV5-RET pathway to drive neuroblastoma oncogenesis. Oncogene 2018; 37:1417-1429. [PMID: 29321660 PMCID: PMC6168456 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-017-0039-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 10/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Activating mutations of the ALK receptor occur in a subset of neuroblastoma tumors. We previously demonstrated that Alk mutations cooperate with MYCN overexpression to induce neuroblastoma in mice and identified Ret as being strongly upregulated in MYCN/Alkmut tumors. By a genetic approach in vivo, we now document an oncogenic cooperation between activated Ret and MYCN overexpression in neuroblastoma formation. We show that MYCN/RetM919T tumors exhibit histological features and expression profiles close to MYCN/Alkmut tumors. We show that RET transcript levels decrease precedes RET protein levels decrease upon ALK inhibition in neuroblastoma cell lines. Etv5 was identified as a candidate transcription factor regulating Ret expression from murine MYCN/Alkmut tumor transcriptomic data. We demonstrate that ETV5 is regulated both at the protein and mRNA levels upon ALK activation or inhibition in neuroblastoma cell lines and that this regulation precedes RET modulation. We document that ALK activation induces ETV5 protein upregulation through stabilization in a MEK/ERK-dependent manner. We show that RNAi-mediated inhibition of ETV5 decreases RET expression. Reporter assays indicate that ETV5 is able to drive RET gene transcription. ChIP-seq analysis confirmed ETV5 binding on the RET promoter and identified an enhancer upstream of the promoter. Finally, we demonstrate that combining RET and ALK inhibitors reduces tumor growth more efficiently than each single agent in MYCN and AlkF1178L-driven murine neuroblastoma. Altogether, these results define the ERK–ETV5–RET pathway as a critical axis driving neuroblastoma oncogenesis downstream of activated ALK.
Collapse
|
56
|
Guan S, Lu J, Zhao Y, Yu Y, Li H, Chen Z, Shi Z, Liang H, Wang M, Guo K, Chen X, Sun W, Bieerkehazhi S, Xu X, Sun S, Agarwal S, Yang J. MELK is a novel therapeutic target in high-risk neuroblastoma. Oncotarget 2017; 9:2591-2602. [PMID: 29416794 PMCID: PMC5788662 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.23515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is known to modulate intracellular signaling and control cellular processes. However, the role of MELK in oncogenesis is not well defined. In this study, using two microarray datasets of neuroblastoma (NB) patients, we identified that MELK expression is significantly correlated to poor overall survival, unfavorable prognosis, and high-risk status. We found that MELK is a direct transcription target of MYCN and MYC in NB, and MYCN increases MELK expression via direct promoter binding. Interestingly, knockdown of MELK expression significantly reduced the phosphorylation of target protein Retinoblastoma (pRb) and inhibited NB cell growth. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of MELK activity by small-molecule inhibitor OTSSP167 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, anchorage-independent colony formation, blocked cell cycle progression, and induced apoptosis in different NB cell lines including a drug-resistant cell line. Additionally, OTSSP167 suppressed NB tumor growth in an orthotopic xenograft mouse model. Overall, our data suggest that MELK is a novel therapeutic target for NB and its inhibitor OTSSP167 is a promising drug for further clinical development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shan Guan
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.,Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jiaxiong Lu
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yanling Zhao
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yang Yu
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China
| | - Zhenghu Chen
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongcheng Shi
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Haoqian Liang
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Mopei Wang
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Tumor Chemotherapy and Radiation Sickness, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Kevin Guo
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xiangmei Chen
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Wenjing Sun
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
| | - Shayahati Bieerkehazhi
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xin Xu
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Surong Sun
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
| | - Saurabh Agarwal
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jianhua Yang
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| |
Collapse
|
57
|
Umapathy G, Guan J, Gustafsson DE, Javanmardi N, Cervantes-Madrid D, Djos A, Martinsson T, Palmer RH, Hallberg B. MEK inhibitor trametinib does not prevent the growth of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-addicted neuroblastomas. Sci Signal 2017; 10:10/507/eaam7550. [PMID: 29184034 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.aam7550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Activation of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway is implicated in driving the initiation and progression of multiple cancers. Several inhibitors targeting the RAS-MAPK pathway are clinically approved as single- or polyagent therapies for patients with specific types of cancer. One example is the MEK inhibitor trametinib, which is included as a rational polytherapy strategy for treating EML4-ALK-positive, EGFR-activated, or KRAS-mutant lung cancers and neuroblastomas that also contain activating mutations in the RAS-MAPK pathway. In addition, in neuroblastoma, a heterogeneous disease, relapse cases display an increased rate of mutations in ALK, NRAS, and NF1, leading to increased activation of RAS-MAPK signaling. Co-targeting ALK and the RAS-MAPK pathway is an attractive option, because monotherapies have not yet produced effective results in ALK-addicted neuroblastoma patients. We evaluated the response of neuroblastoma cell lines to MEK-ERK pathway inhibition by trametinib. In contrast to RAS-MAPK pathway-mutated neuroblastoma cell lines, ALK-addicted neuroblastoma cells treated with trametinib showed increased activation (inferred by phosphorylation) of the kinases AKT and ERK5. This feedback response was mediated by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2-associated protein SIN1, resulting in increased survival and proliferation that depended on AKT signaling. In xenografts in mice, trametinib inhibited the growth of EML4-ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer and RAS-mutant neuroblastoma but not ALK-addicted neuroblastoma. Thus, our results advise against the seemingly rational option of using MEK inhibitors to treat ALK-addicted neuroblastoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ganesh Umapathy
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Jikui Guan
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Dan E Gustafsson
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Niloufar Javanmardi
- Department of Clinical Pathology and Genetics, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Diana Cervantes-Madrid
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Anna Djos
- Department of Clinical Pathology and Genetics, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Tommy Martinsson
- Department of Clinical Pathology and Genetics, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Ruth H Palmer
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Bengt Hallberg
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
58
|
Claeys S, Denecker G, Cannoodt R, Kumps C, Durinck K, Speleman F, De Preter K. Early and late effects of pharmacological ALK inhibition on the neuroblastoma transcriptome. Oncotarget 2017; 8:106820-106832. [PMID: 29290991 PMCID: PMC5739776 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.22423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood malignancy of the sympathetic nervous system. Despite multi-modal therapy, survival of high-risk patients remains disappointingly low, underscoring the need for novel treatment strategies. The discovery of ALK activating mutations opened the way to precision treatment in a subset of these patients. Previously, we investigated the transcriptional effects of pharmacological ALK inhibition on neuroblastoma cell lines, six hours after TAE684 administration, resulting in the 77-gene ALK signature, which was shown to gradually decrease from 120 minutes after TAE684 treatment, to gain deeper insight into the molecular effects of oncogenic ALK signaling. Aim Here, we further dissected the transcriptional dynamic profiles of neuroblastoma cells upon TAE684 treatment in a detailed timeframe of ten minutes up to six hours after inhibition, in order to identify additional early targets for combination treatment. Results We observed an unexpected initial upregulation of positively regulated MYCN target genes following subsequent downregulation of overall MYCN activity. In addition, we identified adrenomedullin (ADM), previously shown to be implicated in sunitinib resistance, as the earliest response gene upon ALK inhibition. Conclusions We describe the early and late effects of ALK inhibitor TAE684 treatment on the neuroblastoma transcriptome. The observed unexpected upregulation of ADM warrants further investigation in relation to putative ALK resistance in neuroblastoma patients currently undergoing ALK inhibitor treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shana Claeys
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Geertrui Denecker
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Robrecht Cannoodt
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Bioinformatics Institute Ghent From Nucleotides to Networks, Ghent, Belgium.,Data Mining and Modelling for Biomedicine group, VIB Inflammation Research Center, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Candy Kumps
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Uro-Gynaecology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kaat Durinck
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Frank Speleman
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Katleen De Preter
- Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
59
|
Kollareddy M, Sherrard A, Park JH, Szemes M, Gallacher K, Melegh Z, Oltean S, Michaelis M, Cinatl J, Kaidi A, Malik K. The small molecule inhibitor YK-4-279 disrupts mitotic progression of neuroblastoma cells, overcomes drug resistance and synergizes with inhibitors of mitosis. Cancer Lett 2017; 403:74-85. [PMID: 28602975 PMCID: PMC5542135 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2017.05.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2017] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Neuroblastoma is a biologically and clinically heterogeneous pediatric malignancy that includes a high-risk subset for which new therapeutic agents are urgently required. As well as MYCN amplification, activating point mutations of ALK and NRAS are associated with high-risk and relapsing neuroblastoma. As both ALK and RAS signal through the MEK/ERK pathway, we sought to evaluate two previously reported inhibitors of ETS-related transcription factors, which are transcriptional mediators of the Ras-MEK/ERK pathway in other cancers. Here we show that YK-4-279 suppressed growth and triggered apoptosis in nine neuroblastoma cell lines, while BRD32048, another ETV1 inhibitor, was ineffective. These results suggest that YK-4-279 acts independently of ETS-related transcription factors. Further analysis reveals that YK-4-279 induces mitotic arrest in prometaphase, resulting in subsequent cell death. Mechanistically, we show that YK-4-279 inhibits the formation of kinetochore microtubules, with treated cells showing a broad range of abnormalities including multipolar, fragmented and unseparated spindles, together leading to disrupted progression through mitosis. Notably, YK-4-279 does not affect microtubule acetylation, unlike the conventional mitotic poisons paclitaxel and vincristine. Consistent with this, we demonstrate that YK-4-279 overcomes vincristine-induced resistance in two neuroblastoma cell-line models. Furthermore, combinations of YK-4-279 with vincristine, paclitaxel or the Aurora kinase A inhibitor MLN8237/Alisertib show strong synergy, particularly at low doses. Thus, YK-4-279 could potentially be used as a single-agent or in combination therapies for the treatment of high-risk and relapsing neuroblastoma, as well as other cancers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Madhu Kollareddy
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Alice Sherrard
- Nuclear Dynamics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ji Hyun Park
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Marianna Szemes
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Kelli Gallacher
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Zsombor Melegh
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Sebastian Oltean
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Martin Michaelis
- Centre for Molecular Processing and School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Jindrich Cinatl
- Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Klinikum der Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Abderrahmane Kaidi
- Nuclear Dynamics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Karim Malik
- Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
60
|
Orentas RJ, Sindiri S, Duris C, Wen X, He J, Wei JS, Jarzembowski J, Khan J. Paired Expression Analysis of Tumor Cell Surface Antigens. Front Oncol 2017; 7:173. [PMID: 28871274 PMCID: PMC5566986 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2017.00173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Adoptive immunotherapy with antibody-based therapy or with T cells transduced to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) is useful to the extent that the cell surface membrane protein being targeted is not expressed on normal tissues. The most successful CAR-based (anti-CD19) or antibody-based therapy (anti-CD20) in hematologic malignancies has the side effect of eliminating the normal B cell compartment. Targeting solid tumors may not provide a similar expendable marker. Beyond antibody to Her2/NEU and EGFR, very few antibody-based and no CAR-based therapies have seen broad clinical application for solid tumors. To expand the way in which the surfaceome of solid tumors can be analyzed, we created an algorithm that defines the pairwise relative overexpression of surface antigens. This enables the development of specific immunotherapies that require the expression of two discrete antigens on the surface of the tumor target. This dyad analysis was facilitated by employing the Hotelling’s T-squared test (Hotelling–Lawley multivariate analysis of variance) for two independent variables in comparison to a third constant entity (i.e., gene expression levels in normal tissues). We also present a unique consensus scoring mechanism for identifying transcripts that encode cell surface proteins. The unique application of our bioinformatics processing pipeline and statistical tools allowed us to compare the expression of two membrane protein targets as a pair, and to propose a new strategy based on implementing immunotherapies that require both antigens to be expressed on the tumor cell surface to trigger therapeutic effector mechanisms. Specifically, we found that, for MYCN amplified neuroblastoma, pairwise expression of ACVR2B or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) with GFRA3, GFRA2, Cadherin 24, or with one another provided the strongest hits. For MYCN, non-amplified stage 4 neuroblastoma, neurotrophic tyrosine kinase 1, or ALK paired with GFRA2, GFRA3, SSK1, GPR173, or with one another provided the most promising paired-hits. We propose that targeting these markers together would increase the specificity and thereby the safety of CAR-based therapy for neuroblastoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rimas J Orentas
- Lentigen Technology, Inc., a Miltenyi Biotec Company, Gaithersburg, MD, United States
| | - Sivasish Sindiri
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Christine Duris
- Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Xinyu Wen
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Jianbin He
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Jun S Wei
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Jason Jarzembowski
- Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
61
|
Proliferation and Survival of Embryonic Sympathetic Neuroblasts by MYCN and Activated ALK Signaling. J Neurosci 2017; 36:10425-10439. [PMID: 27707976 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0183-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a childhood tumor that arises from the sympathoadrenal lineage. MYCN amplification is the most reliable marker for poor prognosis and MYCN overexpression in embryonic mouse sympathetic ganglia results in NB-like tumors. MYCN cooperates with mutational activation of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which promotes progression to NB, but the role of MYCN and ALK in tumorigenesis is still poorly understood. Here, we use chick sympathetic neuroblasts to examine the normal function of MYCN and MYC in the control of neuroblast proliferation, as well as effects of overexpression of MYCN, MYC, and activated ALK, alone and in combination. We demonstrate that MYC is more strongly expressed than MYCN during neurogenesis and is important for in vitro neuroblast proliferation. MYC and MYCN overexpression elicits increased proliferation but does not sustain neuroblast survival. Unexpectedly, long-term expression of activated ALKF1174L leads to cell-cycle arrest and promotes differentiation and survival of postmitotic neurons. ALKF1174L induces NEFM, RET, and VACHT and results in decreased expression of proapototic (BMF, BIM), adrenergic (TH), and cell-cycle genes (e.g., CDC25A, CDK1). In contrast, neuroblast proliferation is maintained when MYCN and ALKF1174L are coexpressed. Proliferating MYCN/ALKF1174L neuroblasts display a differentiated phenotype but differ from ALK-expressing neurons by the upregulation of SKP2, CCNA2, E2F8, and DKC1 Inhibition of the ubiquitin ligase SKP2 (S-phase kinase-associated protein 2), which targets the CDK inhibitor p27 for degradation, reduces neuroblast proliferation, implicating SKP2 in the maintained proliferation of MYCN/ALKF1174L neuroblasts. Together, our results characterize MYCN/ALK cooperation leading to neuroblast proliferation and survival that may represent initial steps toward NB development. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT MYCN overexpression combined with activated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is sufficient to induce neuroblastoma (NB) in mouse sympathoadrenal cells. To address cellular and molecular effects elicited by MYCN/ALK cooperation, we used cultures of chick sympathetic neuroblasts. We demonstrate that MYCN increases proliferation but not survival, whereas long-term expression of ALKF1174L elicits cell-cycle exit, differentiation, and survival of postmitotic neurons. Combined MYCN/ALKF1174L expression allows long-term proliferation and survival of neuroblasts with differentiated characteristics. In the presence of ALKF1174L signaling, MYCN induces the expression of the ubiquitin ligase SKP2 (S-phase kinase-associated protein 2), which targets p27 for degradation and is also upregulated in high-risk NB. SKP2 inhibition supports a function for SKP2 in the maintained neuroblast proliferation downstream of MYCN/ALK, which may represent an early step toward tumorigenesis.
Collapse
|
62
|
Duffy DJ, Krstic A, Halasz M, Schwarzl T, Konietzny A, Iljin K, Higgins DG, Kolch W. Retinoic acid and TGF-β signalling cooperate to overcome MYCN-induced retinoid resistance. Genome Med 2017; 9:15. [PMID: 28187790 PMCID: PMC5303304 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-017-0407-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Retinoid therapy is widely employed in clinical oncology to differentiate malignant cells into their more benign counterparts. However, certain high-risk cohorts, such as patients with MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma, are innately resistant to retinoid therapy. Therefore, we employed a precision medicine approach to globally profile the retinoid signalling response and to determine how an excess of cellular MYCN antagonises these signalling events to prevent differentiation and confer resistance. METHODS We applied RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and interaction proteomics coupled with network-based systems level analysis to identify targetable vulnerabilities of MYCN-mediated retinoid resistance. We altered MYCN expression levels in a MYCN-inducible neuroblastoma cell line to facilitate or block retinoic acid (RA)-mediated neuronal differentiation. The relevance of differentially expressed genes and transcriptional regulators for neuroblastoma outcome were then confirmed using existing patient microarray datasets. RESULTS We determined the signalling networks through which RA mediates neuroblastoma differentiation and the inhibitory perturbations to these networks upon MYCN overexpression. We revealed opposing regulation of RA and MYCN on a number of differentiation-relevant genes, including LMO4, CYP26A1, ASCL1, RET, FZD7 and DKK1. Furthermore, we revealed a broad network of transcriptional regulators involved in regulating retinoid responsiveness, such as Neurotrophin, PI3K, Wnt and MAPK, and epigenetic signalling. Of these regulators, we functionally confirmed that MYCN-driven inhibition of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signalling is a vulnerable node of the MYCN network and that multiple levels of cross-talk exist between MYCN and TGF-β. Co-targeting of the retinoic acid and TGF-β pathways, through RA and kartogenin (KGN; a TGF-β signalling activating small molecule) combination treatment, induced the loss of viability of MYCN-amplified retinoid-resistant neuroblastoma cells. CONCLUSIONS Our approach provides a powerful precision oncology tool for identifying the driving signalling networks for malignancies not primarily driven by somatic mutations, such as paediatric cancers. By applying global omics approaches to the signalling networks regulating neuroblastoma differentiation and stemness, we have determined the pathways involved in the MYCN-mediated retinoid resistance, with TGF-β signalling being a key regulator. These findings revealed a number of combination treatments likely to improve clinical response to retinoid therapy, including co-treatment with retinoids and KGN, which may prove valuable in the treatment of high-risk MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David J Duffy
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
- Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
- School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida, 32080, USA.
| | - Aleksandar Krstic
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Melinda Halasz
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Thomas Schwarzl
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Konietzny
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Present address: Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Kristiina Iljin
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tietotie 2, FI-02044 VTT, Espoo, Finland
| | - Desmond G Higgins
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Walter Kolch
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
63
|
Speleman F, Park JR, Henderson TO. Neuroblastoma: A Tough Nut to Crack. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book 2017; 35:e548-57. [PMID: 27249766 DOI: 10.1200/edbk_159169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Neuroblastoma, an embryonal tumor arising from neural crest-derived progenitor cells, is the most common solid tumor in childhood, with more than 700 cases diagnosed per year in the United States. In the past several decades, significant advances have been made in the treatment of neuroblastoma. Treatment advances reflect improved understanding of the biology of neuroblastoma. Although amplification of MYCN was discovered in the early 1980s, our understanding of neuroblastoma oncogenesis has advanced in the last decade as a result of high-throughput genomic analysis, exome and whole-genome sequencing, genome-wide association studies, and synthetic lethal drug screens. Our refined understanding of neuroblastoma biology and genetics is reflected in improved prognostic stratification and appropriate tailoring of therapy in recent clinical trials. Moreover, for high-risk neuroblastoma, a disease that was uniformly fatal 3 decades ago, recent clinical trials incorporating autologous hematopoietic transplant and immunotherapy utilizing anti-GD2 antibody plus cytokines have shown improved event-free and overall survival. These advances have resulted in a growing population of long-term survivors of neuroblastoma. Examination of the late effects and second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in both older generations of survivors and more recently treated survivors will inform both design of future trials and surveillance guidelines for long-term follow-up. As a consequence of advances in understanding of the biology of neuroblastoma, successful clinical trials, and refined understanding of the late effects and SMNs of survivors, the promise of precision medicine is becoming a reality for patients with neuroblastoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frank Speleman
- From the Center for Medical Genetics Ghent, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent, Belgium; Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA; University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL
| | - Julie R Park
- From the Center for Medical Genetics Ghent, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent, Belgium; Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA; University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL
| | - Tara O Henderson
- From the Center for Medical Genetics Ghent, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent, Belgium; Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA; University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL
| |
Collapse
|
64
|
Aveic S, Pantile M, Seydel A, Esposito MR, Zanon C, Li G, Tonini GP. Combating autophagy is a strategy to increase cytotoxic effects of novel ALK inhibitor entrectinib in neuroblastoma cells. Oncotarget 2016; 7:5646-63. [PMID: 26735175 PMCID: PMC4868711 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.6778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 12/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a threatening childhood malignancy. Its prognosis is affected by several morphological, and biological characteristics, including the constitutive expression of ALK tyrosine kinase. In this study we examined the therapeutic potential of a novel ALK inhibitor, entrectinib, in obliterating NB tumor cells. Entrectinib showed the growth-inhibitory effects on NB cells with a 50% inhibitory concentration range of 0.03–5 μM. In the ALK-dependent cells, entrectinib mediated G1-arrest, which was associated with modified expression of multiple cell-cycle regulators. Down-regulation of Ki-67, and attenuated phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and STAT3, correlated with observed antiproliferative capacity of entrectinib. Initial cytostatic activity of entrectinib was followed by concentration-dependent apoptotic cell death, and Caspase-3 activation. However, we delineated a reduced sensitivity of ALK mutated NB cells to entrectinib, and demonstrated strong activation of autophagy in SH-SY5YF1174L NB cell line. Abrogation of autophagy by chloroquine increased significantly the toxicity of entrectinib, as confirmed by enhanced death rate, and PARP protein cleavage in SH-SY5YF1174L cells. In aggregate, our data show that entrectinib inhibits proliferation, and induces G1-arrest, and apoptosis in NB cells. We propose entrectinib for further consideration in treatment of NB, and recommend pharmacological inhibition of autophagy to be explored for a combined therapeutic approach in NB patients that might develop resistance to entrectinib.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sanja Aveic
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| | - Marcella Pantile
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| | - Anke Seydel
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| | - Maria Rosaria Esposito
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| | - Carlo Zanon
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| | - Gary Li
- Ignyta Inc., San Diego, California, USA
| | - Gian Paolo Tonini
- Neuroblastoma Laboratory, Pediatric Research Institute, Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
65
|
Abstract
Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumour occurring in childhood and has a diverse clinical presentation and course depending on the tumour biology. Unique features of these neuroendocrine tumours are the early age of onset, the high frequency of metastatic disease at diagnosis and the tendency for spontaneous regression of tumours in infancy. The most malignant tumours have amplification of the MYCN oncogene (encoding a transcription factor), which is usually associated with poor survival, even in localized disease. Although transgenic mouse models have shown that MYCN overexpression can be a tumour-initiating factor, many other cooperating genes and tumour suppressor genes are still under investigation and might also have a role in tumour development. Segmental chromosome alterations are frequent in neuroblastoma and are associated with worse outcome. The rare familial neuroblastomas are usually associated with germline mutations in ALK, which is mutated in 10-15% of primary tumours, and provides a potential therapeutic target. Risk-stratified therapy has facilitated the reduction of therapy for children with low-risk and intermediate-risk disease. Advances in therapy for patients with high-risk disease include intensive induction chemotherapy and myeloablative chemotherapy, followed by the treatment of minimal residual disease using differentiation therapy and immunotherapy; these have improved 5-year overall survival to 50%. Currently, new approaches targeting the noradrenaline transporter, genetic pathways and the tumour microenvironment hold promise for further improvements in survival and long-term quality of life.
Collapse
|
66
|
Duffy DJ, Krstic A, Halasz M, Schwarzl T, Fey D, Iljin K, Mehta JP, Killick K, Whilde J, Turriziani B, Haapa-Paananen S, Fey V, Fischer M, Westermann F, Henrich KO, Bannert S, Higgins DG, Kolch W. Integrative omics reveals MYCN as a global suppressor of cellular signalling and enables network-based therapeutic target discovery in neuroblastoma. Oncotarget 2016; 6:43182-201. [PMID: 26673823 PMCID: PMC4791225 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.6568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2015] [Accepted: 11/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite intensive study, many mysteries remain about the MYCN oncogene's functions. Here we focus on MYCN's role in neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial childhood cancer. MYCN gene amplification occurs in 20% of cases, but other recurrent somatic mutations are rare. This scarcity of tractable targets has hampered efforts to develop new therapeutic options. We employed a multi-level omics approach to examine MYCN functioning and identify novel therapeutic targets for this largely un-druggable oncogene. We used systems medicine based computational network reconstruction and analysis to integrate a range of omic techniques: sequencing-based transcriptomics, genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation, siRNA screening and interaction proteomics, revealing that MYCN controls highly connected networks, with MYCN primarily supressing the activity of network components. MYCN's oncogenic functions are likely independent of its classical heterodimerisation partner, MAX. In particular, MYCN controls its own protein interaction network by transcriptionally regulating its binding partners. Our network-based approach identified vulnerable therapeutically targetable nodes that function as critical regulators or effectors of MYCN in neuroblastoma. These were validated by siRNA knockdown screens, functional studies and patient data. We identified β-estradiol and MAPK/ERK as having functional cross-talk with MYCN and being novel targetable vulnerabilities of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma. These results reveal surprising differences between the functioning of endogenous, overexpressed and amplified MYCN, and rationalise how different MYCN dosages can orchestrate cell fate decisions and cancerous outcomes. Importantly, this work describes a systems-level approach to systematically uncovering network based vulnerabilities and therapeutic targets for multifactorial diseases by integrating disparate omic data types.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David J Duffy
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida, USA
| | - Aleksandar Krstic
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Melinda Halasz
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Thomas Schwarzl
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Fey
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Jai Prakash Mehta
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Kate Killick
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jenny Whilde
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | | | - Vidal Fey
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland
| | - Matthias Fischer
- Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Frank Westermann
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kai-Oliver Henrich
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Steffen Bannert
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Desmond G Higgins
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Walter Kolch
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
67
|
Ruan H, Luo H, Wang J, Ji X, Zhang Z, Wu J, Zhang X, Wu X. Smoothened-independent activation of hedgehog signaling by rearranged during transfection promotes neuroblastoma cell proliferation and tumor growth. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2016; 1860:1961-72. [PMID: 27316313 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2016.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2016] [Revised: 06/09/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rearranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) signaling, and high RET expression is closely related to the tumorigenesis and malignancy of neuroblastoma(NB). METHODS We have investigated whether RET signals through hedgehog (HH) pathway in NB cell proliferation and tumor growth by in vitro cell culture and in vivo xenograft approaches. RESULTS The key members of both GDNF/RET and HH/GLI pathways are expressed in NB cell lines to different extents. Knockdown of RET in NB cells significantly attenuates the activity of HH signaling, whereas overexpression of RET robustly enhances the output of transcriptional activation by HH. Likewise, activation of RET by GDNF induces HH signaling, whereas knockdown of RET attenuates both basal and GDNF-induced activities of HH signaling. Moreover, protein kinase B lies on the downstream of GDNF/RET signaling module to inhibit the GSK3β, resulting in activation of HH signaling. Furthermore, either knockdown of RET by shRNA or inhibition of HH pathway by cyclopamine attenuates not only basal but also GDNF-induced proliferation of SH-SY5Y cells, and knockdown of either RET or smoothened in SH-SY5Y cell xenografts significantly attenuated the tumor growth. Finally, inhibition of HH signaling by GLI1 and GLI2 inhibitor, Gant61, reduces not only basal but also RET-induced proliferation of SH-SY5Y cells and outgrowth of xenografts. CONCLUSION GDNF/RET/AKT/GSK3β signaling module activates HH pathway to stimulate NB cells proliferation and tumor outgrowth. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Targeting HH pathway is a rational approach for therapeutic intervention of NB with high RET expression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongfeng Ruan
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
| | - Huan Luo
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China
| | - Jirong Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xing Ji
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhongmiao Zhang
- Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China
| | - Junsong Wu
- Department of Emergence, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China
| | - Xianning Zhang
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
| | - Ximei Wu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
| |
Collapse
|