Epigenetic regulation of cancer stem cell gene expression

Panobinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, rescues the angiogenic potential of endothelial colony-forming cells in moyamoya disease

PURPOSE

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is one of the most common causes of pediatric stroke. We found defective angiogenic function and downregulation of retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (RALDH2) in MMD endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs). Downregulation of RALDH2 mRNA was caused by decreased binding of acetyl-histone H3 (Ac-H3) to the RALDH2 promoter. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, panobinostat, to upregulate RALDH2 expression and restore the angiogenic potential of MMD ECFCs.

METHODS

ECFCs from healthy normal controls and patients with MMD were isolated and characterized. After panobinostat treatment, western blot, tube formation, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were conducted in vitro. A matrigel plug assay was performed in vivo.

RESULTS

Panobinostat increased the levels of Ac-H3 and Ac-H4 in both normal and MMD ECFCs but was much more effective in MMD ECFCs. Increased expression of RALDH2 by panobinostat was observed only in MMD ECFCs. Panobinostat increased the tube formation of both normal and MMD ECFCs in vitro and in vivo, but the effect was greater with MMD ECFCs.

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrated that panobinostat increases the angiogenic ability of MMD ECFCs by regulating RALDH2 acetylation. Our results suggest that panobinostat might be a potent therapeutic option for MMD patients.

Novel molecular insights and new therapeutic strategies in osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most prevalent malignant cancers with lower survival and poor overall prognosis mainly in children and adolescents. Identifying the molecular mechanisms and OS stem cells (OSCs) as new concepts involved in disease pathogenesis and progression may potentially lead to new therapeutic targets. Therefore, therapeutic targeting of OSCs can be one of the most important and effective strategies for the treatment of OS. This review describes the new molecular targets of OS as well as novel therapeutic approaches in the design of future investigations and treatment.

Transcriptomic but not genomic variability confers phenotype of breast cancer stem cells

Background

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are considered responsible for cancer relapse and drug resistance. Understanding the identity of BCSCs may open new avenues in breast cancer therapy. Although several discoveries have been made on BCSC characterization, the factors critical to the origination of BCSCs are largely unclear. This study aimed to determine whether genomic mutations contribute to the acquisition of cancer stem-like phenotype and to investigate the genetic and transcriptional features of BCSCs.

Methods

We detected potential BCSC phenotype-associated mutation hotspot regions by using whole-genome sequencing on parental cancer cells and derived serial-generation spheres in increasing order of BCSC frequency, and then performed target deep DNA sequencing at bulk-cell and single-cell levels. To identify the transcriptional program associated with BCSCs, bulk-cell and single-cell RNA sequencing was performed.

Results

By using whole-genome sequencing of bulk cells, potential BCSC phenotype-associated mutation hotspot regions were detected. Validation by target deep DNA sequencing, at both bulk-cell and single-cell levels, revealed no genetic changes specifically associated with BCSC phenotype. Moreover, single-cell RNA sequencing showed profound transcriptomic variability in cancer cells at the single-cell level that predicted BCSC features. Notably, this transcriptomic variability was enriched during the transcription of 74 genes, revealed as BCSC markers. Breast cancer patients with a high risk of relapse exhibited higher expression levels of these BCSC markers than those with a low risk of relapse, thereby highlighting the clinical significance of predicting breast cancer prognosis with these BCSC markers.

Conclusions

Transcriptomic variability, not genetic mutations, distinguishes BCSCs from non-BCSCs. The identified 74 BCSC markers have the potential of becoming novel targets for breast cancer therapy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40880-018-0326-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The JAZF1-SUZ12 fusion protein disrupts PRC2 complexes and impairs chromatin repression during human endometrial stromal tumorogenesis

The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which contains three core proteins EZH2, EED and SUZ12, controls chromatin compaction and transcription repression through trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone 3. The (7;17)(p15;q21) chromosomal translocation present in most cases of endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESSs) results in the in-frame fusion of the JAZF1 and SUZ12 genes. We have investigated whether and how the fusion protein JAZF1-SUZ12 functionally alters PRC2. We found that the fusion protein exists at high levels in ESS containing the t(7;17). Co-transient transfection assay indicated JAZF1-SUZ12 destabilized PRC2 components EZH2 and EED, resulting in decreased histone methyl transferase (HMT) activity, which was confirmed by in vitro studies using reconstituted PRC2 and nucleosome array substrates. We also demonstrated the PRC2 containing the fusion protein decreased the binding affinity to target chromatin loci. In addition, we found that trimethylation of H3K27 was decreased in ESS samples with the t(7;17), but there was no detectable change in H3K9 in these tissues. Moreover, re-expression of SUZ12 in Suz12 (−/−) ES cells rescued the neuronal differentiation while the fusion protein failed to restore this function and enhanced cell proliferation. In summary, our studies reveal that JAZF1-SUZ12 fusion protein disrupts the PRC2 complex, abolishes HMT activity and subsequently activates chromatin/genes normally repressed by PRC2. Such dyesfunction of PRC2 inhibits normal neural differentiation of ES cell and increases cell proliferation. Related changes induced by the JAZF-SUZ12 protein in endometrial stromal cells may explain the oncogenic effect of the t(7;17) in ESS.