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Rojas-Prats E, Martinez-Gonzalez L, Gil C, Ramírez D, Martinez A. Druggable cavities and allosteric modulators of the cell division cycle 7 (CDC7) kinase. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2024; 39:2301767. [PMID: 38205514 PMCID: PMC10786434 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2024.2301767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Cell division cycle 7 kinase (CDC7) has been found overexpressed in many cancer cell lines being also one of the kinases involved in the nuclear protein TDP-43 phosphorylation in vivo. Thus, inhibitors of CDC7 are emerging drug candidates for the treatment of oncological and neurodegenerative unmet diseases. All the known CDC7 inhibitors are ATP-competitives, lacking of selectivity enough for success in clinical trials. As allosteric sites are less conserved among kinase proteins, discovery of allosteric modulators of CDC7 is a great challenge and opportunity in this field.Using different computational approaches, we have here identified new druggable cavities on the human CDC7 structure and subsequently selective CDC7 inhibitors with allosteric modulation mainly targeting the pockets where the interaction between this kinase and its activator DBF4 takes place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Rojas-Prats
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas -Margarita Salas-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Loreto Martinez-Gonzalez
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas -Margarita Salas-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Instituto de 13 Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Gil
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas -Margarita Salas-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Ramírez
- Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Ana Martinez
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas -Margarita Salas-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Instituto de 13 Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
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Cazzaniga C, Göder A, Rainey MD, Quinlan A, Coughlan S, Bernard S, Santocanale C. CDC7 inhibition drives an inflammatory response and a p53-dependent senescent-like state in breast epithelial cells. FEBS J 2024; 291:3147-3168. [PMID: 38555567 DOI: 10.1111/febs.17127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 02/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Drugs that block DNA replication prevent cell proliferation, which may result in anticancer activity. The latter is dependent on the drug's mode of action as well as on cell type-dependent responses to treatment. The inhibition of Cell division cycle 7-related protein kinase (CDC7), a key regulator of DNA replication, decreases the efficiency of origin firing and hampers the restarting of paused replication forks. Here, we show that upon prolonged CDC7 inhibition, breast-derived MCF10A cells progressively withdraw from the cell cycle and enter a reversible senescent-like state. This is characterised by the rewiring of the transcriptional programme with the induction of cytokine and chemokine expression and correlates with the accumulation of Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-positive micronuclei. Importantly, cell fate depends on Cellular tumour antigen p53 (p53) function as cells no longer enter senescence but are funnelled into apoptosis upon p53 knockout. This work uncovers key features of the secondary response to CDC7 inhibitors, which could aid the development of these compounds as anticancer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Cazzaniga
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Anja Göder
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Michael David Rainey
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Aisling Quinlan
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Simone Coughlan
- SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Stefanus Bernard
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
- SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science, University of Galway, Ireland
| | - Corrado Santocanale
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland
- SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science, University of Galway, Ireland
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Fu M, Ge M, Yang W, Hu C, Li X, Wang Y, Gou S. Discovery of a potent and selective cell division cycle 7 inhibitor from 6-(3-fluoropyridin-4-yl)thieno[3,2- d]pyrimidin-4(3 H)-one derivatives as an orally active antitumor agent. Acta Pharm Sin B 2024; 14:893-896. [PMID: 38322352 PMCID: PMC10840422 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2023.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mingwei Fu
- Pharmaceutical Research Center and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
- Zenji Research Laboratories, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Min Ge
- Zenji Research Laboratories, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Wanxiang Yang
- Pharmaceutical Research Center and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
- Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Biomedical Research, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Chunchen Hu
- Zenji Research Laboratories, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Xiaowei Li
- Zenji Research Laboratories, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Yuanjiang Wang
- Pharmaceutical Research Center and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
- Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Biomedical Research, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Shaohua Gou
- Pharmaceutical Research Center and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
- Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Biomedical Research, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
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Hsieh MJ, Lo YS, Ho HY, Lin CC, Chuang YC, Chen MK. The Interaction between CLSPN Gene Polymorphisms and Alcohol Consumption Contributes to Oral Cancer Progression. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1098. [PMID: 38256171 PMCID: PMC10816373 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25021098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Most disease single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are regulatory and approximately half of heritability is occupied by the top 1% of genes, with the gene-level structure varying with the number of variants associated with the most common alleles. Cancer occurrence and progression are significantly affected by Claspin (CLSPN) gene polymorphism present in the population, which alters the expression, function, and regulation of the gene. CLSPN genotypes are associated with oral cancer, but the literature on this association is limited. As a result, the goal of this study is to investigate the correlation between CLSPN genotypes and oral cancers' development. This study will explore the presence of four CLSPN SNPs including rs12058760, rs16822339, rs535638 and rs7520495 gene polymorphisms, and analyze the expression of these genes in 304 cancer-free controls and 402 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases. Attempts have been made to obtain insight into the role of CLSPN gene polymorphisms in oral cancer through the analysis of this study. We demonstrated that the OSCC risk of individuals with four CLSPN SNPs relative to the wild type did not differ significantly from that of the wild type when the polymorphisms are analyzed according to individual habits. We further studied the mechanism by which CLSPN polymorphisms affect the progression of clinicopathological features in OSCC patients. The results of the degree of cell differentiation showed that compared with patients of rs7520495 SNP carrying the CC genotype, the incidence of poor cell differentiation in patients carrying the CC + GG genotype was higher (AOR: 1.998-fold; 95% CI, 1.127-3.545; p = 0.018). In particular, patients with the G genotype of rs7520495 had increased poor cell differentiation compared with patients with the C genotype (AOR: 4.736-fold; 95% CI, 1.306-17.178; p = 0.018), especially in the drinking group. On the basis of our analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, we found that higher CLSPN levels were associated with poorer cell differentiation in oral cancers. In this study, we provide the first evidence showing that CLSPN SNPs contribute to oral cancer. Whether or not rs7520495 can be used as a confirmatory factor in the future is uncertain, but it seems likely that it can be used as an important factor in predicting recurrence, response to treatment and medication toxicity to patients with oral cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ju Hsieh
- Oral Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
- Doctoral Program in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Sheng Lo
- Oral Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Yu Ho
- Oral Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Chieh Lin
- Oral Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ching Chuang
- Oral Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
| | - Mu-Kuan Chen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan
- Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
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Zhu L, Chen C, Kang M, Ma X, Sun X, Xue Y, Fang Y. KIF11 serves as a cell cycle mediator in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2023; 149:15609-15622. [PMID: 37656243 PMCID: PMC10620298 DOI: 10.1007/s00432-023-05240-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To identify key gene in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and their enriched biological functions and signaling pathways. METHODS Array data of the GSE73578 dataset, involving 46 childhood ALL samples, were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Hub modules associated with childhood ALL were screened out by WGCNA. Enriched biological functions and signaling pathways were then identified by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Hub genes were selected by overlapping those between down-regulated genes in GSE73578, GSE4698 and the hub module. Guilt by association (GBA) was adopted to verify the function of the identified KIF11 gene and to predict its target genes. Regulatory effects of KIF11 on the proliferation and cell cycle progression of ALL in vitro were determined by cytological experiments. RESULTS WGCNA showed that the yellow module was the most relevant to childhood ALL treatment, containing 698 genes that were enriched in cell division, mitotic nuclear division, DNA replication and DNA repair, cell cycle, DNA replication and the P53 signaling pathway. The KIF11 gene was screened out and predicted as a cell cycle mediator in childhood ALL. Knockdown of KIF11 in ALL cells inhibited cell proliferation and arrested cell cycle progression in G2/M phase. CONCLUSIONS The KIF11 gene is critical in the treatment process of childhood ALL, which is a promising therapeutic target for childhood ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwen Zhu
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Chuqin Chen
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Meiyun Kang
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xiaopeng Ma
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xiaoyan Sun
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yao Xue
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yongjun Fang
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China.
- Key Laboratory of Hematology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 220000, Jiangsu Province, China.
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Irie T, Sawa M. CDC7 kinase inhibitors: a survey of recent patent literature (2017-2022). Expert Opin Ther Pat 2023; 33:493-501. [PMID: 37735909 DOI: 10.1080/13543776.2023.2262138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION CDC7 is a serine/threonine kinase which plays an important role in DNA replication. Inhibition of CDC7 in cancer cells causes lethal S phase or M phase progression, whereas inhibition of CDC7 in normal cells does not cause cell death and only leads to cell cycle arrest at the DNA replication checkpoint. Therefore, CDC7 has been recognized as a potential target for novel therapeutic interventions in cancers. AREAS COVERED Patent literature claiming novel small molecule compounds inhibiting CDC7 disclosed from 2017 to 2022. EXPERT OPINION Despite the indisputable positive impact of CDC7 as a drug target, there have been reported only a handful of chemical scaffolds as CDC7 inhibitors. Several CDC7 inhibitors have been progressed into clinical trials for cancer treatments, but they did not result in satisfactory efficacies in those trials. One possible reason for the failure might be due to the dose-limiting toxicities, and some of the observed toxicities were thought to be not related to CDC7 inhibition, suggesting it should be important to identify novel chemical scaffolds to eliminate unwanted toxicities. Another important factor is the patient stratification that would enable greater response, and the identification of such predictive biomarkers should be the key to success for the development of CDC7 inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Irie
- Drug Discovery and Development, Carna Biosciences, Inc, Kobe, Japan
| | - Masaaki Sawa
- Drug Discovery and Development, Carna Biosciences, Inc, Kobe, Japan
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Fang G, Chen H, Cheng Z, Tang Z, Wan Y. Azaindole derivatives as potential kinase inhibitors and their SARs elucidation. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 258:115621. [PMID: 37423125 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Currently, heterocycles have occupied an important position in the fields of drug design. Among them, azaindole moiety is regarded as one privileged scaffold to develop therapeutic agents. Since two nitrogen atoms of azaindole increase the possibility to form hydrogen bonds in the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding site, azaindole derivatives are important sources of kinase inhibitors. Moreover, some of them have been on the market or in clinical trials for the treatment of some kinase-related diseases (e.g., vemurafenib, pexidartinib, decernotinib). In this review, we focused on the recent development of azaindole derivatives as potential kinase inhibitors based on kinase targets, such as adaptor-associated kinase 1 (AAK1), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), AXL, cell division cycle 7 (Cdc7), cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), dual-specificity tyrosine (Y)-phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A), fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and proviral insertion site in moloney murine leukemia virus (PIM) kinases. Meanwhile, the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of most azaindole derivatives were also elucidated. In addition, the binding modes of some azaindoles complexed with kinases were also investigated during the SARs elucidation. This review may offer an insight for medicinal chemists to rationally design more potent kinase inhibitors bearing the azaindole scaffold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoqing Fang
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, PR China
| | - Hongjuan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, PR China
| | - Zhiyun Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, PR China
| | - Zilong Tang
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, PR China
| | - Yichao Wan
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, PR China.
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Göder A, Quinlan A, Rainey MD, Bennett D, Shamavu D, Corso J, Santocanale C. PTBP1 enforces ATR-CHK1 signaling determining the potency of CDC7 inhibitors. iScience 2023; 26:106951. [PMID: 37378325 PMCID: PMC10291475 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
CDC7 kinase is crucial for DNA replication initiation and fork processing. CDC7 inhibition mildly activates the ATR pathway, which further limits origin firing; however, to date the relationship between CDC7 and ATR remains controversial. We show that CDC7 and ATR inhibitors are either synergistic or antagonistic depending on the degree of inhibition of each individual kinase. We find that Polypyrimidine Tract Binding Protein 1 (PTBP1) is important for ATR activity in response to CDC7 inhibition and genotoxic agents. Compromised PTBP1 expression makes cells defective in RPA recruitment, genomically unstable, and resistant to CDC7 inhibitors. PTBP1 deficiency affects the expression and splicing of many genes indicating a multifactorial impact on drug response. We find that an exon skipping event in RAD51AP1 contributes to checkpoint deficiency in PTBP1-deficient cells. These results identify PTBP1 as a key factor in replication stress response and define how ATR activity modulates the activity of CDC7 inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja Göder
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
| | - Aisling Quinlan
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
| | - Michael D. Rainey
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
| | - Declan Bennett
- School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91TK33, Ireland
| | - Daniel Shamavu
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
| | - Jacqueline Corso
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
| | - Corrado Santocanale
- Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway H91W2TY, Ireland
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Anand J, Chiou L, Sciandra C, Zhang X, Hong J, Wu D, Zhou P, Vaziri C. Roles of trans-lesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerases in tumorigenesis and cancer therapy. NAR Cancer 2023; 5:zcad005. [PMID: 36755961 PMCID: PMC9900426 DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcad005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA damage tolerance and mutagenesis are hallmarks and enabling characteristics of neoplastic cells that drive tumorigenesis and allow cancer cells to resist therapy. The 'Y-family' trans-lesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerases enable cells to replicate damaged genomes, thereby conferring DNA damage tolerance. Moreover, Y-family DNA polymerases are inherently error-prone and cause mutations. Therefore, TLS DNA polymerases are potential mediators of important tumorigenic phenotypes. The skin cancer-propensity syndrome xeroderma pigmentosum-variant (XPV) results from defects in the Y-family DNA Polymerase Pol eta (Polη) and compensatory deployment of alternative inappropriate DNA polymerases. However, the extent to which dysregulated TLS contributes to the underlying etiology of other human cancers is unclear. Here we consider the broad impact of TLS polymerases on tumorigenesis and cancer therapy. We survey the ways in which TLS DNA polymerases are pathologically altered in cancer. We summarize evidence that TLS polymerases shape cancer genomes, and review studies implicating dysregulated TLS as a driver of carcinogenesis. Because many cancer treatment regimens comprise DNA-damaging agents, pharmacological inhibition of TLS is an attractive strategy for sensitizing tumors to genotoxic therapies. Therefore, we discuss the pharmacological tractability of the TLS pathway and summarize recent progress on development of TLS inhibitors for therapeutic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Anand
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 614 Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Lilly Chiou
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 614 Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Carly Sciandra
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Xingyuan Zhang
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 3101 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jiyong Hong
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Di Wu
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 3101 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Pei Zhou
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Cyrus Vaziri
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 614 Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Hu F, Li H, Li L, Gale RP, Song Y, Chen S, Liang Y. Degree of stemness predicts micro-environmental response and clinical outcomes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and identifies a potential targeted therapy. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1012242. [PMID: 36426371 PMCID: PMC9678919 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1012242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Some cells within a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have the genotype of a stem cell, the proportion of which is termed degree of stemness. We interrogated correlations between the degree of stemness with immune and stromal cell scores and clinical outcomes in persons with DLBCL. We evaluated gene expression data on 1,398 subjects from Gene Expression Omnibus to calculate the degree of stemness. Subjects were classified into low- and high-stemness cohorts based on restricted cubic spline plots. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to screen for stemness-related genes. Immune and stromal scores correlated with the degree of stemness (both P < 0.001). A high degree of stemness correlated with a shorter progression-free survival (PFS; Hazard Ratio [HR; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] =1.90 (1.37, 2.64; P < 0.001) and a shorter survival (HR = 2.29 (1.53, 3.44; P < 0.001). CDC7 expression correlated with the degree of stemness, and CDC7-inhibitors significantly increased apoptosis (P < 0.01), the proportion of cells in G1 phase (P < 0.01), and inhibited lymphoma growth in a mice xenograft model (P = 0.04). Our data indicate correlations between the degree of stemness, immune and stromal scores, PFS, and survival. These data will improve the prediction of therapy outcomes in DLBCL and suggest potential new therapies.
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Evaluation of the Synergistic Potential of Simultaneous Pan- or Isoform-Specific BET and SYK Inhibition in B-Cell Lymphoma: An In Vitro Approach. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14194691. [PMID: 36230614 PMCID: PMC9564024 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14194691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary B-cell lymphomas represent the majority of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and are the most common lymphoid malignancies in the Western world. Genetic alterations or epigenetic modulations can lead to tumor initiation and tumor progression. Aside from standard care, targeted, individualized therapies can be highly effective. Here, we evaluated the impact of simultaneous specific inhibition of two key regulators involved in B lymphoid tumor progression. Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is a B-cell receptor-associated kinase acting as a proto-oncogene in B-cell malignancies, while bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are epigenetic reader proteins involved in histone recognition and transcription regulation. The simultaneous inhibition of SYK and BET showed enhanced anti-proliferative effects, as well as inducing a distinct combination-specific gene expression profile, suggesting SYK and BET inhibition as a promising combination in the treatment of B-cell lymphoma. Abstract Background: Both bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins and spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) represent promising targets in diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) and Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). We evaluated the anti-lymphoma activity of the isoform-specific bivalent BET inhibitor AZD5153 (AZD) and the pan-BET inhibitor I-BET151 (I-BET) as single agents and in combination with SYK inhibitor Entospletinib (Ento) in vitro. Methods: The effect of the single agents on cell proliferation and metabolic activity was evaluated in two DLBCL and two BL cell lines. Proliferation, metabolic activity, apoptosis, cell cycle and morphology were further investigated after a combined treatment of AZD or I-BET and Ento. RNAseq profiling of combined AZD+Ento treatment was performed in SU-DHL-4 cells. Results: Both BET inhibitors reduced cell proliferation and metabolic activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Combined BET and SYK inhibition enhanced the anti-proliferative effect and induced a G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. SU-DHL-4 demonstrated a pronounced modulation of gene expression by AZD, which was markedly increased by additional SYK inhibition. Functional enrichment analyses identified combination-specific GO terms related to DNA replication and cell division. Genes such as ADGRA2, MYB, TNFRSF11A, S100A10, PLEKHH3, DHRS2 and FOXP1-AS1 were identified as possible key regulators. Conclusion: Simultaneous inhibition of BET and SYK enhanced the anti-proliferative effects, and induced a combination-specific gene expression signature.
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