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Skowron MA, Becker TK, Kurz L, Jostes S, Bremmer F, Fronhoffs F, Funke K, Wakileh GA, Müller MR, Burmeister A, Lenz T, Stefanski A, Stühler K, Petzsch P, Köhrer K, Altevogt P, Albers P, Kristiansen G, Schorle H, Nettersheim D. The signal transducer CD24 suppresses the germ cell program and promotes an ectodermal rather than mesodermal cell fate in embryonal carcinomas. Mol Oncol 2021; 16:982-1008. [PMID: 34293822 PMCID: PMC8847992 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs) are stratified into seminomas and nonseminomas. Seminomas share many histological and molecular features with primordial germ cells, whereas the nonseminoma stem cell population—embryonal carcinoma (EC)—is pluripotent and thus able to differentiate into cells of all three germ layers (teratomas). Furthermore, ECs are capable of differentiating into extra‐embryonic lineages (yolk sac tumors, choriocarcinomas). In this study, we deciphered the molecular and (epi)genetic mechanisms regulating expression of CD24, a highly glycosylated signaling molecule upregulated in many cancers. CD24 is overexpressed in ECs compared with other GCT entities and can be associated with an undifferentiated pluripotent cell fate. We demonstrate that CD24 can be transactivated by the pluripotency factor SOX2, which binds in proximity to the CD24 promoter. In GCTs, CD24 expression is controlled by epigenetic mechanisms, that is, histone acetylation, since CD24 can be induced by the application histone deacetylase inhibitors. Vice versa, CD24 expression is downregulated upon inhibition of histone methyltransferases, E3 ubiquitin ligases, or bromodomain (BRD) proteins. Additionally, three‐dimensional (3D) co‐cultivation of EC cells with microenvironmental cells, such as fibroblasts, and endothelial or immune cells, reduced CD24 expression, suggesting that crosstalk with the somatic microenvironment influences CD24 expression. In a CRISPR/Cas9 deficiency model, we demonstrate that CD24 fulfills a bivalent role in differentiation via regulation of homeobox, and phospho‐ and glycoproteins; that is, it is involved in suppressing the germ cell/spermatogenesis program and mesodermal/endodermal differentiation, while poising the cells for ectodermal differentiation. Finally, blocking CD24 by a monoclonal antibody enhanced sensitivity toward cisplatin in EC cells, including cisplatin‐resistant subclones, highlighting CD24 as a putative target in combination with cisplatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaretha A Skowron
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Teresa K Becker
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lukas Kurz
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sina Jostes
- Department of Oncological Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Felix Bremmer
- Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany
| | | | - Kai Funke
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, Germany
| | - Gamal A Wakileh
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.,Department of Urology, University Hospital Ulm, Germany
| | - Melanie R Müller
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Aaron Burmeister
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Thomas Lenz
- Molecular Proteomics Laboratory, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Anja Stefanski
- Molecular Proteomics Laboratory, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Kai Stühler
- Molecular Proteomics Laboratory, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Patrick Petzsch
- Genomics & Transcriptomics Lab, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Karl Köhrer
- Genomics & Transcriptomics Lab, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Peter Altevogt
- Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.,Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karl University Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Peter Albers
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Hubert Schorle
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, Germany
| | - Daniel Nettersheim
- Department of Urology, Urological Research Laboratory, Translational UroOncology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
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