1
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Jiang J, Hu Y, Fang D, Luo J. Glutamine synthetase and hepatocellular carcinoma. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol 2023; 47:102248. [PMID: 37979911 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinre.2023.102248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Abstract
Glutamine synthetase (GS) is an enzyme that converts ammonia and glutamate to glutamine using adenosine triphosphate. GS is expressed in the brain, kidney, and liver tissues under normal physiological conditions. GS is involved in abnormal lipid metabolism of the liver by catalyzing de novo synthesis of glutamine, thereby inducing liver inflammation. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver diseases (MASLD), such as Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Metabolic Associated Steato Hepatitis, are considered risk factors for HCC. GS may also be involved in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through other signaling pathways, including the rapamycin (mTOR) and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways. Furthermore, the correct combination of HSP70, GPC3, and GS can improve the accuracy and precision of HCC diagnosis. However, the prognostic value of GS in different HCC populations remains controversial. The expression of GS affects the sensitivity of HCC cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In addition, immunotherapy has been approved for the treatment of advanced HCC. This article delves into the development and application of GS in HCC, laying a theoretical foundation for the subsequent exploration of GS as a potential target for treating HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinghua Jiang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321000, China
| | - Yiting Hu
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital, Zhejiang Shuren University, Shulan International Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Dazhang Fang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321000, China
| | - JianSheng Luo
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321000, China.
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2
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Mao S, Liu Q, Wu H, Zhu J, Xie Y, Ma J, Zhen N, Pan Q. Phase separation of YAP mediated by coiled-coil domain promotes hepatoblastoma proliferation via activation of transcription. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023; 38:1398-1407. [PMID: 36908026 DOI: 10.1111/jgh.16173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
AIM AND BACKGROUND Yes-associated protein (YAP), a key transcriptional co-activator associated with cell fate and tumor progression, has been reported to be a powerful driver of hepatoblastoma (HB). In this study, we investigated the mechanism underlying oncogenic role of YAP in HB. METHODS The expression of YAP in HB tissues was measured through WB and qRT-PCR. The IHC and IF were performed to determine the distribution of YAP. The phase separation of YAP was proved by living cell imaging and FRAP experiment. The effect of YAP phase separation in HB cells in vitro an in vivo were tested using CCK8, flow cytometry, and xenograft tumors. RESULTS YAP was overexpressed and activated in HB. Nuclear YAP formed an active transcriptional site via LLPS to recruit the crucial transcription factor TEAD4. Thus, YAP phase separation facilitated transcription of oncogenic genes and subsequently mediated chemoresistance of HB. Mechanistically, the phase separation ability of YAP depends on the coiled-coil domain, which is a typical phase separation domain. The electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions within YAP are also vital to YAP phase separation. More importantly, YAP inhibitor verteporfin is potential treatment for HB and combination with cisplatin enhanced therapeutic efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Highly expressed and active YAP exerts an oncogenic effect in HB via phase separation and provides new insights for the treatment of HB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siwei Mao
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qianrui Liu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Han Wu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiabei Zhu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Xie
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ji Ma
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Clinical Molecular Diagnostics for Pediatrics, Shanghai, China
| | - Ni Zhen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiuhui Pan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Clinical Molecular Diagnostics for Pediatrics, Shanghai, China
- Sanya Women and Children's Hospital Managed by Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Sanya, Hainan, China
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3
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Fang J, Singh S, Cheng C, Natarajan S, Sheppard H, Abu-Zaid A, Durbin AD, Lee HW, Wu Q, Steele J, Connelly JP, Jin H, Chen W, Fan Y, Pruett-Miller SM, Rehg JE, Koo SC, Santiago T, Emmons J, Cairo S, Wang R, Glazer ES, Murphy AJ, Chen T, Davidoff AM, Armengol C, Easton J, Chen X, Yang J. Genome-wide mapping of cancer dependency genes and genetic modifiers of chemotherapy in high-risk hepatoblastoma. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4003. [PMID: 37414763 PMCID: PMC10326052 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39717-6] [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: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A lack of relevant genetic models and cell lines hampers our understanding of hepatoblastoma pathogenesis and the development of new therapies for this neoplasm. Here, we report an improved MYC-driven hepatoblastoma-like murine model that recapitulates the pathological features of embryonal type of hepatoblastoma, with transcriptomics resembling the high-risk gene signatures of the human disease. Single-cell RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics identify distinct subpopulations of hepatoblastoma cells. After deriving cell lines from the mouse model, we map cancer dependency genes using CRISPR-Cas9 screening and identify druggable targets shared with human hepatoblastoma (e.g., CDK7, CDK9, PRMT1, PRMT5). Our screen also reveals oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in hepatoblastoma that engage multiple, druggable cancer signaling pathways. Chemotherapy is critical for human hepatoblastoma treatment. A genetic mapping of doxorubicin response by CRISPR-Cas9 screening identifies modifiers whose loss-of-function synergizes with (e.g., PRKDC) or antagonizes (e.g., apoptosis genes) the effect of chemotherapy. The combination of PRKDC inhibition and doxorubicin-based chemotherapy greatly enhances therapeutic efficacy. These studies provide a set of resources including disease models suitable for identifying and validating potential therapeutic targets in human high-risk hepatoblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Fang
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Shivendra Singh
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Changde Cheng
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Sivaraman Natarajan
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Heather Sheppard
- Comparative Pathology Core, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ahmed Abu-Zaid
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Adam D Durbin
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ha Won Lee
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Qiong Wu
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jacob Steele
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering (CAGE), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jon P Connelly
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering (CAGE), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Hongjian Jin
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Wenan Chen
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Yiping Fan
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Shondra M Pruett-Miller
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering (CAGE), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jerold E Rehg
- Comparative Pathology Core, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Selene C Koo
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Teresa Santiago
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Joseph Emmons
- VPC Diagnostic Laboratory, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Stefano Cairo
- Champions Oncology, 1330 Piccard dr, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Ruoning Wang
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disease, Hematology/Oncology & BMT, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Evan S Glazer
- Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 910 Madison Ave., Suite 325, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Andrew J Murphy
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 910 Madison Ave., Suite 325, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Taosheng Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Andrew M Davidoff
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 910 Madison Ave., Suite 325, Memphis, TN, USA
- St Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Carolina Armengol
- Childhood Liver Oncology Group, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Translational Program in Cancer Research (CARE), Badalona, Spain
- CIBER, Hepatic and Digestive Diseases, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBERehd, Madrid, Spain
| | - John Easton
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
- St Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
- St Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
- Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
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Hurley EH, Tao J, Liu S, Krutsenko Y, Singh S, Monga SP. Inhibition of Heat Shock Factor 1 Signaling Decreases Hepatoblastoma Growth via Induction of Apoptosis. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2023; 193:148-160. [PMID: 36336065 PMCID: PMC9887635 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2022.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Although rare compared with adult liver cancers, hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver malignancy, and its incidence is increasing. Currently, the treatment includes surgical resection with or without chemotherapy, and in severe cases, liver transplantation in children. The effort to develop more targeted, HB-specific therapies has been stymied by the lack of fundamental knowledge about HB biology. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), a transcription factor, is a canonical inducer of heat shock proteins, which act as chaperone proteins to prevent or undo protein misfolding. Recent work has shown a role for HSF1 in cancer beyond the canonical heat shock response. The current study found increased HSF1 signaling in HB versus normal liver. It showed that less differentiated, more embryonic tumors had higher levels of HSF1 than more differentiated, more fetal-appearing tumors. Most strikingly, HSF1 expression levels correlated with mortality. This study used a mouse model of HB to test the effect of inhibiting HSF1 early in tumor development on cancer growth. HSF1 inhibition resulted in fewer and smaller tumors, suggesting HSF1 is needed for aggressive tumor growth. Moreover, HSF1 inhibition also increased apoptosis in tumor foci. These data suggest that HSF1 may be a viable pharmacologic target for HB treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward H Hurley
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| | - Junyan Tao
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Silvia Liu
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Yekaterina Krutsenko
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Sucha Singh
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Satdarshan P Monga
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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5
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Phosphorylation-Mediated Activation of β-Catenin-TCF4-CEGRs/ALCDs Pathway Is an Essential Event in Development of Aggressive Hepatoblastoma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14246062. [PMID: 36551548 PMCID: PMC9775972 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14246062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hepatoblastoma (HBL), a deadly malignancy in children, is the most common type of pediatric liver cancer. We recently demonstrated that β-catenin, phosphorylated at S675 (ph-S675-β-catenin), causes pathological alterations in fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC), by activating oncogenes and fibrotic genes via human genomic regions, known as cancer-enhancing genomic regions or aggressive liver cancer domains (CEGRs/ALCDs). The aim of this study was to determine the role of the ph-S675-β-catenin-TCF4-CEGRs/ALCDs pathway in HBL. METHODS The ph-S675-β-catenin-TCF4-CEGRs/ALCDs pathway was examined in a large cohort of HBL specimens, in HBL cell lines HepG2 and Huh6, and in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). RESULTS β-catenin is phosphorylated at S675 in a large portion of tested HBL patients. In these patients, ph-S675-β-catenin forms complexes with TCF4 and opens CEGRs/ALCDs-dependent oncogenes for transcription, leading to a massive overexpression of the oncogenes. The inhibition of the β-catenin-TCF4-CEGRs/ALCDs axis inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells and tumor growth in HBL cell lines and HBL-PDXs. The ph-S675-β-catenin is abundant in mitotic cells. We found that markers of HBL Glypican 3 (GPC3) and Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) are increased in HBL patients by β-catenin-TCF4-p300 complexes. CONCLUSIONS The phosphorylation-mediated activation of the β-catenin-TCF4-p300-CEGRs/ALCDs pathway increases oncogene expression in patients with aggressive liver cancer and promotes the development of hepatoblastoma.
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6
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Gong W, Han Z, Fang F, Chen L. Yap Expression Is Closely Related to Tumor Angiogenesis and Poor Prognosis in Hepatoblastoma. Fetal Pediatr Pathol 2022; 41:929-939. [PMID: 34978260 DOI: 10.1080/15513815.2021.2020384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Background: Hepatoblastoma (HB) is malignant embryonal tumor typically arising in infants and young children. Yes-associated protein (YAP) is aberrantly activated in various tumors; however, the role of YAP in hepatoblastoma is still unexplored. Methods: We assessed YAP expression in hepatoblastoma using immunohistochemistry. The relationships to clinicopathology and survival were analyzed. Results: Positive rate of YAP expression was higher in hepatoblastoma than in adjacent tissues. YAP overexpression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion. Both epithelial and mixed histological types expressed YAP, but high expression was more frequent in MT. YAP expression correlated with VEGF expression, high microvascular density and low overall survival. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that YAP was an independent prognostic factor for survival in children with hepatoblastoma. Conclusion: In hepatoblastoma, YAP may promote VEGF induced angiogenesis and metastases, with resulting poorer prognosis, representing a potential adverse prognostic marker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenchen Gong
- Department of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhiqiang Han
- National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China.,Department of Anesthesiology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Feng Fang
- National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China.,Department of Hepatobiliary Cancer, Liver Cancer Research Center, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Lu Chen
- National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China.,Department of Hepatobiliary Cancer, Liver Cancer Research Center, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
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7
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Gulati R, Johnston M, Rivas M, Cast A, Kumbaji M, Hanlon MA, Lee S, Zhou P, Lake C, Schepers E, Min K, Yoon J, Karns R, Reid LM, Lopez‐Terrada D, Timchenko L, Parameswaran S, Weirauch MT, Ranganathan S, Bondoc A, Geller J, Tiao G, Shin S, Timchenko N. β-catenin cancer-enhancing genomic regions axis is involved in the development of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatol Commun 2022; 6:2950-2963. [PMID: 36000549 PMCID: PMC9512470 DOI: 10.1002/hep4.2055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC) is a disease that occurs in children and young adults. The development of FLC is associated with creation of a fusion oncoprotein DNAJB1-PKAc kinase, which activates multiple cancer-associated pathways. The aim of this study was to examine the role of human genomic regions, called cancer-enhancing genomic regions or aggressive liver cancer domains (CEGRs/ALCDs), in the development of FLC. Previous studies revealed that CEGRs/ALCDs are located in multiple oncogenes and cancer-associated genes, regularly silenced in normal tissues. Using the regulatory element locus intersection (RELI) algorithm, we searched a large compendium of chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP) data sets and found that CEGRs/ALCDs contain regulatory elements in several human cancers outside of pediatric hepatic neoplasms. The RELI algorithm further identified components of the β-catenin-TCF7L2/TCF4 pathway, which interacts with CEGRs/ALCDs in several human cancers. Particularly, the RELI algorithm found interactions of transcription factors and chromatin remodelers with many genes that are activated in patients with FLC. We found that these FLC-specific genes contain CEGRs/ALCDs, and that the driver of FLC, fusion oncoprotein DNAJB1-PKAc, phosphorylates β-catenin at Ser675, resulting in an increase of β-catenin-TCF7L2/TCF4 complexes. These complexes increase a large family of CEGR/ALCD-dependent collagens and oncogenes. The DNAJB1-PKAc-β-catenin-CEGR/ALCD pathway is preserved in lung metastasis. The inhibition of β-catenin in FLC organoids inhibited the expression of CEGRs/ALCDs-dependent collagens and oncogenes, preventing the formation of the organoid's structure. Conclusion: This study provides a rationale for the development of β-catenin-based therapy for patients with FLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruhi Gulati
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Michael Johnston
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
- Department of SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Maria Rivas
- Institute of BiosciencesUniversity of São PauloSão PauloBrazil
| | - Ashley Cast
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Meenasri Kumbaji
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Margaret A. Hanlon
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Sanghoon Lee
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Ping Zhou
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Charissa Lake
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Emily Schepers
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Kyung‐Won Min
- Department of BiologyGangneung‐Wonju National UniversityGangneungRepublic of Korea
| | - Je‐Hyun Yoon
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMedical University of South CarolinaCharlestonSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Rebekah Karns
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and NutritionCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Lola M. Reid
- Departments of Cell Biology and PhysiologyProgram in Molecular Biology and BiotechnologyUNC School of MedicineChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Dolores Lopez‐Terrada
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, and Department of PediatricsBaylor College of MedicineOne Baylor PlazaHoustonTexasUSA
| | - Lubov Timchenko
- Department of NeurologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Sreeja Parameswaran
- Center for Autoimmune Genomics and EtiologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Matthew T. Weirauch
- Center for Autoimmune Genomics and EtiologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
- Divisions of Biomedical Informatics and Developmental BiologyCCHMCDepartment of PediatricsUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | | | - Alexander Bondoc
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - James Geller
- Department of OncologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Gregory Tiao
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
- Department of SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Soona Shin
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
- Department of SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Nikolai Timchenko
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOhioUSA
- Department of SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnatiOhioUSA
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8
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Poudel S, Cabrera DP, Bhushan B, Manley MW, Gunewardena S, Jaeschke H, Apte U. Hepatocyte-Specific Deletion of Yes-Associated Protein Improves Recovery From Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Injury. Toxicol Sci 2021; 184:276-285. [PMID: 34546377 PMCID: PMC8633918 DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfab115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Overdose of acetaminophen (APAP) is the major cause of acute liver failure (ALF) in the Western world with very limited treatment options. Previous studies from our groups and others have shown that timely activation of liver regeneration is a critical determinant of transplant-free survival of APAP-induced ALF patients. Here, we report that hepatocyte-specific deletion of Yes-associated protein (Yap), the downstream mediator of the Hippo Kinase signaling pathway results in faster recovery from APAP-induced acute liver injury. Initial studies performed with male C57BL/6J mice showed a rapid activation of Yap and its target genes within first 24 h after APAP administration. Treatment of hepatocyte-specific Yap knockout (Yap-KO) mice with 300 mg/kg APAP resulted in equal initial liver injury but a significantly accelerated recovery in Yap-KO mice. The recovery was accompanied by significantly rapid hepatocyte proliferation supported by faster activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Furthermore, Yap-KO mice had significantly earlier and higher pro-regenerative inflammatory response following APAP overdose. Global gene expression analysis indicated that Yap-KO mice had a robust activation of transcription factors involved in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress (XBP1) and maintaining hepatocyte differentiation (HNF4α). In conclusion, these data indicate that inhibition of Yap in hepatocytes results in rapid recovery from APAP overdose due to an earlier activation of liver regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samikshya Poudel
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Diego Paine Cabrera
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Bharat Bhushan
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Michael W Manley
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Sumedha Gunewardena
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Hartmut Jaeschke
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
| | - Udayan Apte
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA
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9
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Johnston ME, Rivas MP, Nicolle D, Gorse A, Gulati R, Kumbaji M, Weirauch MT, Bondoc A, Cairo S, Geller J, Tiao G, Timchenko N. Olaparib Inhibits Tumor Growth of Hepatoblastoma in Patient-Derived Xenograft Models. Hepatology 2021; 74:2201-2215. [PMID: 34037269 PMCID: PMC8463483 DOI: 10.1002/hep.31919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hepatoblastoma (HBL) is a devastating pediatric liver cancer with multiple treatment options, but it ultimately requires surgery for a cure. The most malicious form of HBL is a chemo-resistant aggressive tumor that is characterized by rapid growth, metastases, and poor response to treatment. Very little is known of the mechanisms of aggressive HBL, and recent focuses have been on developing alternative treatment strategies. In this study, we examined the role of human chromosomal regions, called aggressive liver cancer domains (ALCDs), in liver cancer and evaluated the mechanisms that activate ALCDs in aggressive HBL. RESULTS We found that ALCDs are critical regions of the human genome that are located on all human chromosomes, preferentially in intronic regions of the oncogenes and other cancer-associated genes. In aggressive HBL and in patients with Hepatocellular (HCC), JNK1/2 phosphorylates p53 at Ser6, which leads to the ph-S6-p53 interacting with and delivering the poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1)/Ku70 complexes on the oncogenes containing ALCDs. The ph-S6-p53-PARP1 complexes open chromatin around ALCDs and activate multiple oncogenic pathways. We found that the inhibition of PARP1 in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) from aggressive HBL by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved inhibitor olaparib (Ola) significantly inhibits tumor growth. Additionally, this is associated with the reduction of the ph-S6-p53/PARP1 complexes and subsequent inhibition of ALCD-dependent oncogenes. Studies in cultured cancer cells confirmed that the Ola-mediated inhibition of the ph-S6-p53-PARP1-ALCD axis inhibits proliferation of cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we showed that aggressive HBL is moderated by ALCDs, which are activated by the ph-S6-p53/PARP1 pathway. By using the PARP1 inhibitor Ola, we suppressed tumor growth in HBL-PDX models, which demonstrated its utility in future clinical models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Edward Johnston
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH,Department of SurgeryUniversity of CincinnatiCincinnatiOH
| | - Maria Prates Rivas
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | | | | | - Ruhi Gulati
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Meenasri Kumbaji
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Matthew T. Weirauch
- Center for Autoimmune Genomics and EtiologyCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Alexander Bondoc
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Stefano Cairo
- XenTech 4Évry‐CourcouronnesFrance,Istituto di Ricerca PediatricaPaduaItaly
| | - James Geller
- Department of OncologyCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Gregory Tiao
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH
| | - Nikolai Timchenko
- Division of General and Thoracic SurgeryCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterCincinnatiOH,Department of SurgeryUniversity of CincinnatiCincinnatiOH
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10
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Schmidt A, Armento A, Bussolati O, Chiu M, Ellerkamp V, Scharpf MO, Sander P, Schmid E, Warmann SW, Fuchs J. Hepatoblastoma: glutamine depletion hinders cell viability in the embryonal subtype but high GLUL expression is associated with better overall survival. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2021; 147:3169-3181. [PMID: 34235580 PMCID: PMC8484192 DOI: 10.1007/s00432-021-03713-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Purpose Glutamine plays an important role in cell viability and growth of various tumors. For the fetal subtype of hepatoblastoma, growth inhibition through glutamine depletion was shown. We studied glutamine depletion in embryonal cell lines of hepatoblastoma carrying different mutations. Since asparagine synthetase was identified as a prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target in adult hepatocellular carcinoma, we investigated the expression of its gene ASNS and of the gene GLUL, encoding for glutamine synthetase, in hepatoblastoma specimens and cell lines and investigated the correlation with overall survival. Methods We correlated GLUL and ASNS expression with overall survival using publicly available microarray and clinical data. We examined GLUL and ASNS expression by RT-qPCR and by Western blot analysis in the embryonal cell lines Huh-6 and HepT1, and in five hepatoblastoma specimens. In the same cell lines, we investigated the effects of glutamine depletion. Hepatoblastoma biopsies were examined for histology and CTNNB1 mutations. Results High GLUL expression was associated with a higher median survival time. Independent of mutations and histology, hepatoblastoma samples showed strong GLUL expression and glutamine synthesis. Glutamine depletion resulted in the inhibition of proliferation and of cell viability in both embryonal hepatoblastoma cell lines. ASNS expression did not correlate with overall survival. Conclusion Growth inhibition resulting from glutamine depletion, as described for the hepatoblastoma fetal subtype, is also detected in established embryonal hepatoblastoma cell lines carrying different mutations. At variance with adult hepatocellular carcinoma, in hepatoblastoma asparagine synthetase has no prognostic significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Schmidt
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany.
| | - Angela Armento
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tuebingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Straße 7, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Ovidio Bussolati
- Department of Medicine and Surgery (DiMeC), University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Martina Chiu
- Department of Medicine and Surgery (DiMeC), University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Verena Ellerkamp
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Marcus O Scharpf
- Institute for Pathology and Neuropathology, Department of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Liebermeisterstr. 8, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Philip Sander
- Institute for Pathology and Neuropathology, Department of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Liebermeisterstr. 8, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Evi Schmid
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Steven W Warmann
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Jörg Fuchs
- Department of Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric Urology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
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11
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He Z, Li R, Jiang H. Mutations and Copy Number Abnormalities of Hippo Pathway Components in Human Cancers. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:661718. [PMID: 34150758 PMCID: PMC8209335 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.661718] [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: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Hippo pathway is highly conserved from Drosophila to mammals. As a key regulator of cell proliferation, the Hippo pathway controls tissue homeostasis and has a major impact on tumorigenesis. The originally defined core components of the Hippo pathway in mammals include STK3/4, LATS1/2, YAP1/TAZ, TEAD, VGLL4, and NF2. However, for most of these genes, mutations and copy number variations are relatively uncommon in human cancer. Several other recently identified upstream and downstream regulators of Hippo signaling, including FAT1, SHANK2, Gq/11, and SWI/SNF complex, are more commonly dysregulated in human cancer at the genomic level. This review will discuss major genomic events in human cancer that enable cancer cells to escape the tumor-suppressive effects of Hippo signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengjin He
- State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Ruihan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Hai Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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12
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Help for Sick Kids: New Insights Into Hepatoblastoma. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2021; 12:350-351. [PMID: 33775655 PMCID: PMC8257457 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2021.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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13
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Delgado ER, Erickson HL, Tao J, Monga SP, Duncan AW, Anakk S. Scaffolding Protein IQGAP1 Is Dispensable, but Its Overexpression Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma via YAP1 Signaling. Mol Cell Biol 2021; 41:e00596-20. [PMID: 33526450 PMCID: PMC8088129 DOI: 10.1128/mcb.00596-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
IQ motif-containing GTPase-activating protein 1 (IQGAP1) is a ubiquitously expressed scaffolding protein that is overexpressed in a number of cancers, including liver cancer, and is associated with protumorigenic processes, such as cell proliferation, motility, and adhesion. IQGAP1 can integrate multiple signaling pathways and could be an effective antitumor target. Therefore, we examined the role of IQGAP1 in tumor initiation and promotion during liver carcinogenesis. We found that ectopic overexpression of IQGAP1 in the liver is not sufficient to initiate tumorigenesis. Moreover, we report that the tumor burden and cell proliferation in the diethylnitrosamine-induced liver carcinogenesis model in Iqgap1-/- mice may be driven by MET signaling. In contrast, IQGAP1 overexpression enhanced YAP activation and subsequent NUAK2 expression to accelerate and promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a clinically relevant model expressing activated (S45Y) β-catenin and MET. Here, increasing IQGAP1 expression in vivo does not alter β-catenin or MET activation; instead, it promotes YAP activity. Overall, we demonstrate that although IQGAP1 expression is not required for HCC development, the gain of IQGAP1 function promotes the rapid onset and increased liver carcinogenesis. Our results show that an adequate amount of IQGAP1 scaffold is necessary to maintain the quiescent status of the liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan R Delgado
- Department of Pathology, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Hanna L Erickson
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Junyan Tao
- Department of Pathology, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Satdarshan P Monga
- Department of Pathology, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Andrew W Duncan
- Department of Pathology, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
- Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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14
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Smith JL, Rodríguez TC, Mou H, Kwan SY, Pratt H, Zhang XO, Cao Y, Liang S, Ozata DM, Yu T, Yin Q, Hazeltine M, Weng Z, Sontheimer EJ, Xue W. YAP1 Withdrawal in Hepatoblastoma Drives Therapeutic Differentiation of Tumor Cells to Functional Hepatocyte-Like Cells. Hepatology 2021; 73:1011-1027. [PMID: 32452550 PMCID: PMC8500588 DOI: 10.1002/hep.31389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Despite surgical and chemotherapeutic advances, the 5-year survival rate for stage IV hepatoblastoma (HB), the predominant pediatric liver tumor, remains at 27%. Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) and β-catenin co-activation occurs in 80% of children's HB; however, a lack of conditional genetic models precludes tumor maintenance exploration. Thus, the need for a targeted therapy remains unmet. Given the predominance of YAP1 and β-catenin activation in HB, we sought to evaluate YAP1 as a therapeutic target in HB. APPROACH AND RESULTS We engineered the conditional HB murine model using hydrodynamic injection to deliver transposon plasmids encoding inducible YAP1S127A , constitutive β-cateninDelN90 , and a luciferase reporter to murine liver. Tumor regression was evaluated using bioluminescent imaging, tumor landscape characterized using RNA and ATAC sequencing, and DNA footprinting. Here we show that YAP1S127A withdrawal mediates more than 90% tumor regression with survival for 230+ days in mice. YAP1S127A withdrawal promotes apoptosis in a subset of tumor cells, and in remaining cells induces a cell fate switch that drives therapeutic differentiation of HB tumors into Ki-67-negative hepatocyte-like HB cells ("HbHeps") with hepatocyte-like morphology and mature hepatocyte gene expression. YAP1S127A withdrawal drives the formation of hbHeps by modulating liver differentiation transcription factor occupancy. Indeed, tumor-derived hbHeps, consistent with their reprogrammed transcriptional landscape, regain partial hepatocyte function and rescue liver damage in mice. CONCLUSIONS YAP1S127A withdrawal, without silencing oncogenic β-catenin, significantly regresses hepatoblastoma, providing in vivo data to support YAP1 as a therapeutic target for HB. YAP1S127A withdrawal alone sufficiently drives long-term regression in HB, as it promotes cell death in a subset of tumor cells and modulates transcription factor occupancy to reverse the fate of residual tumor cells to mimic functional hepatocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan L Smith
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Medical Scientist Training ProgramUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Tomás C Rodríguez
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Medical Scientist Training ProgramUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Haiwei Mou
- Cold Spring Harbor LaboratoryCold Spring HarborNY
| | - Suet-Yan Kwan
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Henry Pratt
- Medical Scientist Training ProgramUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Xiao-Ou Zhang
- Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Yueying Cao
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Shunqing Liang
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Deniz M Ozata
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Tianxiong Yu
- Department of BioinformaticsSchool of Life Science and TechnologyTongji UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Qiangzong Yin
- Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Max Hazeltine
- Department of SurgeryUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Zhiping Weng
- Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Erik J Sontheimer
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Program in Molecular MedicineUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases ResearchUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
| | - Wen Xue
- RNA Therapeutics InstituteUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Program in Molecular MedicineUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases ResearchUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA.,Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolWorcesterMA
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15
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Glutamine Synthetase as a Therapeutic Target for Cancer Treatment. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22041701. [PMID: 33567690 PMCID: PMC7915753 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22041701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The significance of glutamine in cancer metabolism has been extensively studied. Cancer cells consume an excessive amount of glutamine to facilitate rapid proliferation. Thus, glutamine depletion occurs in various cancer types, especially in poorly vascularized cancers. This makes glutamine synthetase (GS), the only enzyme responsible for de novo synthesizing glutamine, essential in cancer metabolism. In cancer, GS exhibits pro-tumoral features by synthesizing glutamine, supporting nucleotide synthesis. Furthermore, GS is highly expressed in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and provides glutamine to cancer cells, allowing cancer cells to maintain sufficient glutamine level for glutamine catabolism. Glutamine catabolism, the opposite reaction of glutamine synthesis by GS, is well known for supporting cancer cell proliferation via contributing biosynthesis of various essential molecules and energy production. Either glutamine anabolism or catabolism has a critical function in cancer metabolism depending on the complex nature and microenvironment of cancers. In this review, we focus on the role of GS in a variety of cancer types and microenvironments and highlight the mechanism of GS at the transcriptional and post-translational levels. Lastly, we discuss the therapeutic implications of targeting GS in cancer.
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16
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Abstract
Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the predominant primary liver tumor in children. While the prognosis is favorable when the tumor can be resected, the outcome is dismal for patients with progressed HB. Therefore, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for HB is imperative for early detection and effective treatment. Sequencing analysis of human HB specimens unraveled the pivotal role of Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation in this disease. Nonetheless, β-catenin activation alone does not suffice to induce HB, implying the need for additional alterations. Perturbations of several pathways, including Hippo, Hedgehog, NRF2/KEAP1, HGF/c-Met, NK-1R/SP, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR cascades and aberrant activation of c-MYC, n-MYC, and EZH2 proto-oncogenes, have been identified in HB, although their role requires additional investigation. Here, we summarize the current knowledge on HB molecular pathogenesis, the relevance of the preclinical findings for the human disease, and the innovative therapeutic strategies that could be beneficial for the treatment of HB patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China,Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, California
| | - Antonio Solinas
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Stefano Cairo
- XenTech, Evry, France,Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica, Padova, Italy
| | - Matthias Evert
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Xin Chen
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, California
| | - Diego F. Calvisi
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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17
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Yang Z, Deng Y, Zhang K, Bai Y, Zhu J, Zhang J, Cheng J, Li L, He J, Wang W. LIN28A polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma susceptibility in Chinese children. J Cancer 2021; 12:1373-1378. [PMID: 33531982 PMCID: PMC7847658 DOI: 10.7150/jca.52621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most prevalent primary hepatic cancer in children aged 6 months to 3 years. LIN28A is recurrently mutated in various diseases, and critically involved in tumorigenesis. However, a limited number of studies have examined the involvement of LIN28A polymorphisms in HB risk. We used the TaqMan assay to genotype four LIN28A polymorphisms (rs3811464 G>A, rs3811463 T>C, rs34787247 G>A, and rs11247957 G>A) in 275 Chinese children with HB and 1018 cancer-free controls from five medical centers in China. Their association with HB risk was evaluated on the basis of odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Overall, no significant associations were found in single locus and combine analysis. Interestingly, in the stratified analysis, we found that subjects with 1-3 risk genotypes were more likely to develop HB in patients ≥17 months of age (adjusted OR=1.76, 95% CI=1.04-2.98, P=0.034). The rs3811464 GA/AA genotypes were associated with decrease HB risk in patients with clinical stage III+IV disease (adjusted OR=0.50, 95% CI=0.26-0.96, P=0.038). Our results suggest that the LIN28A polymorphisms have a weak association with HB susceptibility in the Chinese children. LIN28A rs3811464 G>A may decrease HB risk in stage III+IV patients which need further validations with larger samples and different ethnicities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonghua Yang
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning, China
| | - Yuyao Deng
- Department of Clinical Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning, China
| | - Keren Zhang
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning, China
| | - Yuzuo Bai
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning, China
| | - Jinhong Zhu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Biobank, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang, China
| | - Jiao Zhang
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan, China
| | - Jiwen Cheng
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, Shaanxi, China
| | - Li Li
- Kunming Key Laboratory of Children Infection and Immunity, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Children's Major Disease Research, Yunnan Institute of Pediatrics Research, Yunnan Medical Center for Pediatric Diseases, Kunming Children's Hospital, Kunming 650228, Yunnan, China
| | - Jing He
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
- ✉ Corresponding author: Weilin Wang, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang110004, Liaoning, China, ; or Jing He, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China,
| | - Weilin Wang
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning, China
- ✉ Corresponding author: Weilin Wang, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang110004, Liaoning, China, ; or Jing He, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China,
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18
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Honda S, Chatterjee A, Leichter AL, Miyagi H, Minato M, Fujiyoshi S, Ara M, Kitagawa N, Tanaka M, Tanaka Y, Shinkai M, Hatanaka KC, Taketomi A, Eccles MR. A MicroRNA Cluster in the DLK1-DIO3 Imprinted Region on Chromosome 14q32.2 Is Dysregulated in Metastatic Hepatoblastomas. Front Oncol 2020; 10:513601. [PMID: 33282720 PMCID: PMC7689214 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.513601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common malignant liver neoplasm in children. Despite progress in HB therapy, outcomes for patients with metastatic disease remain poor. Dysregulation of miRNA expression is one of the potential epigenetic mechanisms associated with pathogenesis of HB. However, miRNA profiles related to the different stages of HB tissues and cells, in particular of lung metastatic tumor cells, are unknown. In the present study, using array-based miRNA expression and DNA methylation analysis on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, we aimed to identify miRNA changes that can discriminate between lung metastatic tumors, primary tumors (fetal and embryonal subtypes), and nontumorous surrounding livers. Our analysis demonstrated that a large cluster of microRNAs and snoRNAs located within the 14q32.2 DLK1-DIO3 region showed a strikingly upregulated expression pattern in HB tumors, especially metastatic tumors, compared to normal liver tissues. This revealed dysregulation of miRNAs similar to that seen in a malignant stem-like subtype of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with poor prognosis. These findings in HB mirror similar findings made in multiple other cancer types. With further analysis this may in future allow stratification of different stages and types of HB tumors based on their miRNA profiles, which could lead to new approaches to diagnosis and treatment in progressive HB patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohei Honda
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Aniruddha Chatterjee
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Anna L Leichter
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Hisayuki Miyagi
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Masashi Minato
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Sunao Fujiyoshi
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Momoko Ara
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Norihiko Kitagawa
- Department of Surgery, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Mio Tanaka
- Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Yukichi Tanaka
- Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Masato Shinkai
- Department of Surgery, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Kanako C Hatanaka
- Department of Surgical Pathology, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Akinobu Taketomi
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery I, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Michael R Eccles
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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19
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Abstract
The incidence of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is gradually rising. HCC occurs as a sequela to various chronic liver diseases and ensuing cirrhosis. There have been many therapies approved for unresectable HCC in the last 5 years, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, and the overall response rates have improved. However, there are many cases that do not respond, and personalized medicine is lacking, making HCC an unmet clinical need. Generation of appropriate animal models have been key to our understanding of HCC. Based on the overall concept of hepatocarcinogenesis, two major categories of animal models are discussed herein that can be useful to address specific questions. One category is described as the outside-in model of HCC and is based on the premise that it takes decades of hepatocyte injury, death, wound healing, and regeneration to eventually lead to DNA damage and mutations in a hepatocyte, which initiates tumorigenesis. Several animal models have been generated, which attempt to recapitulate this complex tissue damage and cellular interplay through genetics, diets, and toxins. The second category is the inside-out model of HCC, where clinically relevant genes can be coexpressed in a small subset of hepatocytes to yield a tumor, which matches HCC subsets in gene expression. This model has been made possible in part by the widely available molecular characterization of HCC, and in part by modalities like sleeping beauty transposon/transposase, Crispr/Cas9, and hydrodynamic tail vein injection. These two categories of HCC have distinct pros and cons, which are discussed in this Thinking Out Loud article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satdarshan P. Monga
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Ma J, Fan Z, Tang Q, Xia H, Zhang T, Bi F. Aspirin attenuates YAP and β-catenin expression by promoting β-TrCP to overcome docetaxel and vinorelbine resistance in triple-negative breast cancer. Cell Death Dis 2020; 11:530. [PMID: 32661222 PMCID: PMC7359325 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-020-2719-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The use of aspirin has been associated with reduced breast cancer risk, but it is litter known if aspirin overcomes chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Herein, we demonstrated that changes in the expression of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and β-catenin might be a promising predictive biomarker for neoadjuvant chemotherapy sensitivity in TNBC patients. Inhibition of YAP or β-catenin enhanced the cytotoxicity of the anti-microtubule agents docetaxel and vinorelbine against drug-resistant TNBC cells as well as the sensitivity of these cells to the agents in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, aspirin not only significantly inhibited the growth of TNBC cells, but also attenuated YAP and β-catenin expression by upregulating the E3 ubiquitin ligase β-TrCP to abolished docetaxel and vinorelbine resistance. The combination of aspirin and docetaxel or vinorelbine remarkably inhibited the growth of drug-resistant TNBC cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, TNBC patients with high YAP and/or β-catenin expression had a higher risk of relapse or mortality than patients with low YAP and/or β-catenin expression. Collectively, our study discovered a novel role of aspirin based on its anticancer effect, and put forward some possible mechanisms of chemoresistance in TNBC. The combined use of aspirin and anti-microtubule drugs presented several promising therapeutic approaches for TNBC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Ma
- Department of Medical Oncology and Laboratory of Molecular Targeted Therapy in Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guoxue Lane, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhenhai Fan
- Key Laboratory of Cell Engineering of Guizhou, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College, No. 149, Dalian Road, 573003, Zunyi, Guizhou, China
| | - Qiulin Tang
- Department of Medical Oncology and Laboratory of Molecular Targeted Therapy in Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guoxue Lane, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Hongwei Xia
- Department of Medical Oncology and Laboratory of Molecular Targeted Therapy in Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guoxue Lane, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
| | - Tao Zhang
- Department of Oncology, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, No. 270, Tianhui Road, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, PR China.
| | - Feng Bi
- Department of Medical Oncology and Laboratory of Molecular Targeted Therapy in Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guoxue Lane, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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21
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Zhang S, Zhang J, Evert K, Li X, Liu P, Kiss A, Schaff Z, Ament C, Zhang Y, Serra M, Evert M, Chen N, Xu F, Chen X, Tao J, Calvisi DF, Cigliano A. The Hippo Effector Transcriptional Coactivator with PDZ-Binding Motif Cooperates with Oncogenic β-Catenin to Induce Hepatoblastoma Development in Mice and Humans. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2020; 190:1397-1413. [PMID: 32283103 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver tumor. Though Wnt/β-catenin and Hippo cascades are implicated in HB development, studies on crosstalk between β-catenin and Hippo downstream effector transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in HB are lacking. Expression levels of TAZ and β-catenin in human HB specimens were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Functional interplay between TAZ and β-catenin was determined by overexpression of an activated form of TAZ (TAZS89A), either alone or combined with an oncogenic form of β-catenin (ΔN90-β-catenin), in mouse liver via hydrodynamic transfection. Activation of TAZ often co-occurred with that of β-catenin in clinical specimens. Although the overexpression of TAZS89A alone did not induce hepatocarcinogenesis, concomitant overexpression of TAZS89A and ΔN90-β-catenin triggered the development of HB lesions exhibiting both epithelial and mesenchymal features. Mechanistically, TAZ/β-catenin-driven HB development required TAZ interaction with transcriptional enhanced associate domain factors. Blockade of the Notch cascade did not inhibit TAZ/β-catenin-dependent HB formation in mice but suppressed the mesenchymal phenotype. Neither Yes-associated protein nor heat shock factor 1 depletion affected HB development in TAZ/β-catenin mice. In human HB cell lines, silencing of TAZ resulted in decreased cell growth, which was further reduced when TAZ knockdown was associated with suppression of either β-catenin or Yes-associated protein. Overall, our study identified TAZ as a crucial oncogene in HB development and progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu Zhang
- Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Department of Thoracic Oncology II, Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Ministry of Education, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, PR China
| | - Katja Evert
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Xiaolei Li
- Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The 960th Hospital of the PLA, Jinan, PR China
| | - Pin Liu
- Department of Pediatrics, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Andras Kiss
- Second Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsuzsa Schaff
- Second Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Cindy Ament
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Monica Serra
- Department of Medical, Surgical, and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Matthias Evert
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Nianyong Chen
- Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China
| | - Feng Xu
- Lung Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China
| | - Xin Chen
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Junyan Tao
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| | - Diego F Calvisi
- Department of Medical, Surgical, and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
| | - Antonio Cigliano
- Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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22
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Whitlock RS, Yang T, Vasudevan SA, Woodfield SE. Animal Modeling of Pediatric Liver Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12020273. [PMID: 31979130 PMCID: PMC7072332 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12020273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 01/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver malignancy. Management of HB requires multidisciplinary efforts. The 5-year overall survival of this disease is about 80% in developed countries. Despite advances in the care of these patients, survival in recurrent or treatment-refractory disease is lower than 50%. This is due to more complex tumor biology, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-like mutations and expression of aggressive gene signatures leading to chemoresistance, vascular invasion, and metastatic spread. The current treatment protocols for pediatric liver cancer do not incorporate targeted therapies, and the ability to test these therapies is limited due to the inaccessibility of cell lines and mouse models. In this review, we discuss the current status of preclinical animal modeling in pediatric liver cancer, primarily HB. Although HB is a rare cancer, the research community has worked together to develop a range of interesting and relevant mouse models for diverse preclinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard S. Whitlock
- Divisions of Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Research, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Pediatric Surgical Oncology Laboratory, Texas Children’s Surgical Oncology Program, Texas Children’s Liver Tumor Program, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (R.S.W.); (S.A.V.)
| | - Tianyou Yang
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
| | - Sanjeev A. Vasudevan
- Divisions of Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Research, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Pediatric Surgical Oncology Laboratory, Texas Children’s Surgical Oncology Program, Texas Children’s Liver Tumor Program, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (R.S.W.); (S.A.V.)
| | - Sarah E. Woodfield
- Divisions of Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Research, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Pediatric Surgical Oncology Laboratory, Texas Children’s Surgical Oncology Program, Texas Children’s Liver Tumor Program, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (R.S.W.); (S.A.V.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-832-824-4591
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23
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Wnt/β-catenin signaling as a useful therapeutic target in hepatoblastoma. Biosci Rep 2019; 39:BSR20192466. [PMID: 31511432 PMCID: PMC6757184 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20192466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Revised: 08/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma is a malignant tumor in the liver of children that generally occurs at the age of 2–3 years. There have been ample evidence from the preclinical as well as clinical studies suggesting the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in hepatoblastoma, which is mainly attributed to the somatic mutations in the exon 3 of β-catenin gene. There is increased translocation of β-catenin protein from the cell surface to cytoplasm and nucleus and intracellular accumulation is directly linked to the severity of the cancer. Accordingly, the alterations in β-catenin and its target genes may be used as markers in the diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric live tumors. Furthermore, scientists have reported the therapeutic usefulness of inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in hepatoblastoma and this inhibition of signaling has been done using different methods including short interfering RNA (siRNA), miRNA and pharmacological agents. Wnt/β-catenin works in association with other signaling pathways to induce the development of hepatoblastoma including Yes-associated protein (YAP)1 (YAP-1), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) 1 (mTOR-1), SLC38A1, glypican 3 (GPC3), nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB), epidermal growth factor receptor, ERK1/2, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), regenerating islet-derived 1 and 3 α (REG1A and 3A), substance P (SP)/neurokinin-1 receptor and PARP-1. The present review describes the key role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the development of hepatoblastoma. Moreover, the role of other signaling pathways in hepatoblastoma in association with Wnt/β-catenin has also been described.
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The Role of MicroRNAs in Hepatoblastoma Tumors. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:cancers11030409. [PMID: 30909459 PMCID: PMC6468899 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11030409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatoblastoma is the most common hepatic malignancy during childhood. However, little is still known about the molecular mechanisms that govern the development of this disease. This review is focused on the recent advances regarding the study of microRNAs in hepatoblastoma and their substantial contribution to improv our knowledge of the pathogenesis of this disease. We show here that miRNAs represent valuable tools to identify signaling pathways involved in hepatoblastoma progression as well as useful biomarkers and novel molecular targets to develop alternative therapeutic strategies in this disease.
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