1
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Dermawan JK, Malik F, Gross JM, Baraban E, Pratilas C, Mneimneh W, Trucco M, Sun W, Barr FG, D'Almeida Costa F, Fritchie KJ. Novel PAX3::MAML3 Fusion Identified in Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, Using DNA Methylation Profiling to Expand the Genetic Spectrum of "Fusion-Positive" Cases. Mod Pathol 2024; 37:100594. [PMID: 39147032 DOI: 10.1016/j.modpat.2024.100594] [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: 05/31/2024] [Revised: 07/28/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) with FOXO1 gene rearrangements is an aggressive pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma subtype that is prognostically distinct from embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and fusion-negative ARMS. Here, we report 2 cases of ARMS with PAX3::MAML3 fusions. The tumors arose in an infant and an adolescent as stage IV metastatic disease (by Children's Oncology Group staging system). Histologically, both cases were small round blue cell tumors arranged in vague nests and solid sheets that were diffusely positive for desmin and myogenin. By methylation profiling and unsupervised clustering analysis, the tumors clustered with ARMS with classic FOXO1 rearrangements and ARMS with variant PAX3::NCOA1/INO80D fusions, but not with biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma (BSNS) with PAX3::MAML3/NCOA2/FOXO1/YAP1 fusions nor with other small round blue cell tumors, including embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. The differentially methylated genes between ARMS and BSNS were highly enriched in genes involved in myogenesis, and 21% of these genes overlap with target genes of the PAX3::FOXO1 fusion transcription factor. On follow-up after initiation of vincristine/actinomycin/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, the tumors showed partial and complete clinical responses, consistent with typical upfront chemotherapy responsiveness of ARMS with the classic FOXO1 rearrangement. We conclude that PAX3::MAML3 is a novel variant fusion of ARMS, which displays a methylation signature distinct from BSNS despite sharing similar PAX3 fusions. These findings highlight the utility of methylation profiling in classifying ARMS with noncanonical fusions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josephine K Dermawan
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Faizan Malik
- Department of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
| | - John M Gross
- Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Ezra Baraban
- Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Christine Pratilas
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Wadad Mneimneh
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Matteo Trucco
- Department of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplant, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Wenyue Sun
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Frederic G Barr
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
| | | | - Karen J Fritchie
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
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2
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Chen T, Zhang Y, Chatterjee P. moPPIt: De Novo Generation of Motif-Specific Binders with Protein Language Models. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.31.606098. [PMID: 39131360 PMCID: PMC11312608 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.31.606098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
The ability to precisely target specific motifs on disease-related proteins, whether conserved epitopes on viral proteins, intrinsically disordered regions within transcription factors, or breakpoint junctions in fusion oncoproteins, is essential for modulating their function while minimizing off-target effects. Current methods struggle to achieve this specificity without reliable structural information. In this work, we introduce a motif-specific PPI targeting algorithm, moPPIt, for de novo generation of motif-specific peptide binders from the target protein sequence alone. At the core of moPPIt is BindEvaluator, a transformer-based model that interpolates protein language model embeddings of two proteins via a series of multi-headed self-attention blocks, with a key focus on local motif features. Trained on over 510,000 annotated PPIs, BindEvaluator accurately predicts target binding sites given protein-protein sequence pairs with a test AUC > 0.94, improving to AUC > 0.96 when fine-tuned on peptide-protein pairs. By combining BindEvaluator with our PepMLM peptide generator and genetic algorithm-based optimization, moPPIt generates peptides that bind specifically to user-defined residues on target proteins. We demonstrate moPPIt's efficacy in computationally designing binders to specific motifs, first on targets with known binding peptides and then extending to structured and disordered targets with no known binders. In total, moPPIt serves as a powerful tool for developing highly specific peptide therapeutics without relying on target structure or structure-dependent latent spaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Yinuo Zhang
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University
| | - Pranam Chatterjee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University
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3
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Hong L, Ye T, Wang TZ, Srijay D, Zhao L, Watson R, Vincoff S, Chen T, Kholina K, Goel S, DeLisa MP, Chatterjee P. Programmable Protein Stabilization with Language Model-Derived Peptide Guides. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4670386. [PMID: 39108486 PMCID: PMC11302690 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670386/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Dysregulated protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway can induce numerous disease phenotypes, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and diabetes. Stabilizing improperly ubiquitinated proteins via target-specific deubiquitination is thus a critical therapeutic goal. Building off the major advances in targeted protein degradation (TPD) using bifunctional small-molecule degraders, targeted protein stabilization (TPS) modalities have been described recently. However, these rely on a limited set of chemical linkers and warheads, which are difficult to generate de novo for new targets and do not exist for classically "undruggable" targets. To address the limited reach of small molecule-based degraders, we previously engineered ubiquibodies (uAbs) by fusing computationally-designed "guide" peptides to E3 ubiquitin ligase domains for modular, CRISPR-analogous TPD. Here, we expand the TPS target space by engineering "deubiquibodies" (duAbs) via fusion of computationally-designed guides to the catalytic domain of the potent OTUB1 deubiquitinase. In human cells, duAbs effectively stabilize exogenous and endogenous proteins in a DUB-dependent manner. To demonstrate duAb modularity, we swap in new target-binding peptides designed via our generative language models to stabilize diverse target proteins, including key tumor suppressor proteins such as p53 and WEE1, as well as heavily-disordered fusion oncoproteins, such as PAX3::FOXO1. In total, our duAb system represents a simple, programmable, CRISPR-analogous strategy for TPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Hong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Tianzheng Ye
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Tian Zi Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Divya Srijay
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Lin Zhao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Rio Watson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | | | - Tianlai Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | | | - Shrey Goel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Matthew P. DeLisa
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Pranam Chatterjee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University
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4
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Kucinski J, Tallan A, Taslim C, Wang M, Cannon MV, Silvius KM, Stanton BZ, Kendall GC. Rhabdomyosarcoma fusion oncoprotein initially pioneers a neural signature in vivo. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.12.603270. [PMID: 39071299 PMCID: PMC11275748 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.12.603270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive pediatric cancer molecularly characterized by arrested myogenesis. The defining genetic driver, PAX3::FOXO1, functions as a chimeric gain-of-function transcription factor. An incomplete understanding of PAX3::FOXO1's in vivo epigenetic mechanisms has hindered therapeutic development. Here, we establish a PAX3::FOXO1 zebrafish injection model and semi-automated ChIP-seq normalization strategy to evaluate how PAX3::FOXO1 initially interfaces with chromatin in a developmental context. We investigated PAX3::FOXO1's recognition of chromatin and subsequent transcriptional consequences. We find that PAX3::FOXO1 interacts with inaccessible chromatin through partial/homeobox motif recognition consistent with pioneering activity. However, PAX3::FOXO1-genome binding through a composite paired-box/homeobox motif alters chromatin accessibility and redistributes H3K27ac to activate neural transcriptional programs. We uncover neural signatures that are highly representative of clinical rhabdomyosarcoma gene expression programs that are enriched following chemotherapy. Overall, we identify partial/homeobox motif recognition as a new mode for PAX3::FOXO1 pioneer function and identify neural signatures as a potentially critical PAX3::FOXO1 tumor initiation event.
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5
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Nussinov R, Zhang W, Liu Y, Jang H. Mitogen signaling strength and duration can control cell cycle decisions. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadm9211. [PMID: 38968359 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adm9211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
Decades ago, mitogen-promoted signaling duration and strength were observed to be sensed by the cell and to be critical for its decisions: to proliferate or differentiate. Landmark publications established the importance of mitogen signaling not only in the G1 cell cycle phase but also through the S and the G2/M transition. Despite these early milestones, how mitogen signal duration and strength, short and strong or weaker and sustained, control cell fate has been largely unheeded. Here, we center on cardinal signaling-related questions, including (i) how fluctuating mitogenic signals are converted into cell proliferation-differentiation decisions and (ii) why extended duration of weak signaling is associated with differentiation, while bursts of strong and short induce proliferation but, if too strong and long, induce irreversible senescence. Our innovative broad outlook harnesses cell biology and protein conformational ensembles, helping us to define signaling strength, clarify cell cycle decisions, and thus cell fate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Wengang Zhang
- Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Yonglan Liu
- Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
- Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
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6
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Vincoff S, Goel S, Kholina K, Pulugurta R, Vure P, Chatterjee P. FusOn-pLM: A Fusion Oncoprotein-Specific Language Model via Focused Probabilistic Masking. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.03.597245. [PMID: 38895377 PMCID: PMC11185609 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.03.597245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Fusion oncoproteins, a class of chimeric proteins arising from chromosomal translocations, drive and sustain various cancers, particularly those impacting children. Unfortunately, due to their intrinsically disordered nature, large size, and lack of well-defined, druggable pockets, they have been historically challenging to target therapeutically: neither small molecule-based methods nor structure-based approaches for binder design are strong options for this class of molecules. Recently, protein language models (pLMs) have demonstrated success at representing protein sequences with information-rich embeddings, enabling downstream design applications from sequence alone. However, no current pLM has been trained on fusion oncoprotein sequences and thus may not produce optimal representations for these proteins. In this work, we introduce FusOn-pLM, a novel pLM that fine-tunes the state-of-the-art ESM-2 model on fusion oncoprotein sequences. We specifically introduce a novel masked language modeling (MLM) strategy, employing a binding-site probability predictor to focus masking on key amino acid residues, thereby generating more optimal fusion oncoprotein-aware embeddings. Our model improves performance on both fusion oncoprotein-specific benchmarks and disorder prediction tasks in comparison to baseline ESM-2 representations, as well as manually-constructed biophysical embeddings, motivating downstream usage of FusOn-pLM embeddings for therapeutic design tasks targeting these fusions. We have made our model publicly available to the community at https://huggingface.co/ChatterjeeLab/FusOn-pLM.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shrey Goel
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University
| | | | | | - Pranay Vure
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
| | - Pranam Chatterjee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University
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7
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Sánchez-Guixé M, Muiños F, Pinheiro-Santin M, González-Huici V, Rodriguez-Hernandez CJ, Avgustinova A, Lavarino C, González-Pérez A, Mora J, López-Bigas N. Origins of Second Malignancies in Children and Mutational Footprint of Chemotherapy in Normal Tissues. Cancer Discov 2024; 14:953-964. [PMID: 38501975 PMCID: PMC11145171 DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-23-1186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Pediatric cancers are rare diseases, and children without known germline predisposing conditions who develop a second malignancy during developmental ages are extremely rare. We present four such clinical cases and, through whole-genome and error-correcting ultra-deep duplex sequencing of tumor and normal samples, we explored the origin of the second malignancy in four children, uncovering different routes of development. The exposure to cytotoxic therapies was linked to the emergence of a secondary acute myeloid leukemia. A common somatic mutation acquired early during embryonic development was the driver of two solid malignancies in another child. In two cases, the two tumors developed from completely independent clones diverging during embryogenesis. Importantly, we demonstrate that platinum-based therapies contributed at least one order of magnitude more mutations per day of exposure than aging to normal tissues in these children. SIGNIFICANCE Using whole-genome and error-correcting ultra-deep duplex sequencing, we uncover different origins for second neoplasms in four children. We also uncover the presence of platinum-related mutations across 10 normal tissues of exposed individuals, highlighting the impact that the use of cytotoxic therapies may have on cancer survivors. See related commentary by Pacyna and Nangalia, p. 900. This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 897.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mònica Sánchez-Guixé
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ferran Muiños
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Morena Pinheiro-Santin
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Víctor González-Huici
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Alexandra Avgustinova
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cinzia Lavarino
- Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB), Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Abel González-Pérez
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jaume Mora
- Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB), Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Núria López-Bigas
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
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8
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Singh S, Shi X, Haddox S, Elfman J, Ahmad SB, Lynch S, Manley T, Piczak C, Phung C, Sun Y, Sharma A, Li H. RTCpredictor: identification of read-through chimeric RNAs from RNA sequencing data. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae251. [PMID: 38796690 PMCID: PMC11128028 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae251] [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: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Read-through chimeric RNAs are being recognized as a means to expand the functional transcriptome and contribute to cancer tumorigenesis when mis-regulated. However, current software tools often fail to predict them. We have developed RTCpredictor, utilizing a fast ripgrep tool to search for all possible exon-exon combinations of parental gene pairs. We also added exonic variants allowing searches containing common SNPs. To our knowledge, it is the first read-through chimeric RNA specific prediction method that also provides breakpoint coordinates. Compared with 10 other popular tools, RTCpredictor achieved high sensitivity on a simulated and three real datasets. In addition, RTCpredictor has less memory requirements and faster execution time, making it ideal for applying on large datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Singh
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Xinrui Shi
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Samuel Haddox
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Justin Elfman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Syed Basil Ahmad
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Sarah Lynch
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Tommy Manley
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Claire Piczak
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Christopher Phung
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Yunan Sun
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Aadi Sharma
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States
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9
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Li Q, Chen Y, Chen Y, Hua Z, Gong B, Liu Z, Thiele CJ, Li Z. Novel small molecule DMAMCL induces differentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma by downregulating of DLL1. Biomed Pharmacother 2024; 174:116562. [PMID: 38626518 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.116562] [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: 12/27/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a mesenchymal tumor occurring in the soft tissue of children, is associated with a defect in differentiation. This study unveils a novel anti-tumor mechanism of dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL), which is a water-soluble derivative of Micheliolide. First, we demonstrate that DMAMCL inhibits RMS cell growth without obvious cell death, leading to morphological alterations, enhanced expression of muscle differentiation markers, and a shift from a malignant to a more benign metabolic phenotype. Second, we detected decreased expression of DLL1 in RMS cells after DMAMCL treatment, known as a pivotal ligand in the Notch signaling pathway. Downregulation of DLL1 inhibits RMS cell growth and induces morphological changes similar to the effects of DMAMCL. Furthermore, DMAMCL treatment or loss of DLL1 expression also inhibits RMS xenograft tumor growth and augmented the expression of differentiation markers. Surprisingly, in C2C12 cells DMAMCL treatment or DLL1 downregulation also induces cell growth inhibition and an elevation in muscle differentiation marker expression. These data indicated that DMAMCL induced RMS differentiation and DLL1 is an important factor for RMS differentiation, opening a new window for the clinical use of DMAMCL as an agent for differentiation-inducing therapy for RMS treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Li
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Yexi Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Yang Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Zhongyan Hua
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Baocheng Gong
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Zhihui Liu
- Cell and Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Carol J Thiele
- Cell and Molecular Biology Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Zhijie Li
- Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China; Medical Research Center, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environment and Metabolic Diseases, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
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10
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Zhao SJ, Prior D, Heske CM, Vasquez JC. Therapeutic Targeting of DNA Repair Pathways in Pediatric Extracranial Solid Tumors: Current State and Implications for Immunotherapy. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:1648. [PMID: 38730598 PMCID: PMC11083679 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16091648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Revised: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA damage is fundamental to tumorigenesis, and the inability to repair DNA damage is a hallmark of many human cancers. DNA is repaired via the DNA damage repair (DDR) apparatus, which includes five major pathways. DDR deficiencies in cancers give rise to potential therapeutic targets, as cancers harboring DDR deficiencies become increasingly dependent on alternative DDR pathways for survival. In this review, we summarize the DDR apparatus, and examine the current state of research efforts focused on identifying vulnerabilities in DDR pathways that can be therapeutically exploited in pediatric extracranial solid tumors. We assess the potential for synergistic combinations of different DDR inhibitors as well as combinations of DDR inhibitors with chemotherapy. Lastly, we discuss the immunomodulatory implications of targeting DDR pathways and the potential for using DDR inhibitors to enhance tumor immunogenicity, with the goal of improving the response to immune checkpoint blockade in pediatric solid tumors. We review the ongoing and future research into DDR in pediatric tumors and the subsequent pediatric clinical trials that will be critical to further elucidate the efficacy of the approaches targeting DDR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia J. Zhao
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; (S.J.Z.); (D.P.)
| | - Daniel Prior
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; (S.J.Z.); (D.P.)
| | - Christine M. Heske
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;
| | - Juan C. Vasquez
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; (S.J.Z.); (D.P.)
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11
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Qin Q, Popic V, Yu H, White E, Khorgade A, Shin A, Wienand K, Dondi A, Beerenwinkel N, Vazquez F, Al’Khafaji AM, Haas BJ. CTAT-LR-fusion: accurate fusion transcript identification from long and short read isoform sequencing at bulk or single cell resolution. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.24.581862. [PMID: 38464114 PMCID: PMC10925146 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.24.581862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Gene fusions are found as cancer drivers in diverse adult and pediatric cancers. Accurate detection of fusion transcripts is essential in cancer clinical diagnostics, prognostics, and for guiding therapeutic development. Most currently available methods for fusion transcript detection are compatible with Illumina RNA-seq involving highly accurate short read sequences. Recent advances in long read isoform sequencing enable the detection of fusion transcripts at unprecedented resolution in bulk and single cell samples. Here we developed a new computational tool CTAT-LR-fusion to detect fusion transcripts from long read RNA-seq with or without companion short reads, with applications to bulk or single cell transcriptomes. We demonstrate that CTAT-LR-fusion exceeds fusion detection accuracy of alternative methods as benchmarked with simulated and real long read RNA-seq. Using short and long read RNA-seq, we further apply CTAT-LR-fusion to bulk transcriptomes of nine tumor cell lines, and to tumor single cells derived from a melanoma sample and three metastatic high grade serous ovarian carcinoma samples. In both bulk and in single cell RNA-seq, long isoform reads yielded higher sensitivity for fusion detection than short reads with notable exceptions. By combining short and long reads in CTAT-LR-fusion, we are able to further maximize detection of fusion splicing isoforms and fusion-expressing tumor cells. CTAT-LR-fusion is available at https://github.com/TrinityCTAT/CTAT-LR-fusion/wiki.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Qin
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Victoria Popic
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Houlin Yu
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Emily White
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Akanksha Khorgade
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Asa Shin
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Kirsty Wienand
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Arthur Dondi
- ETH Zurich, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Schanzenstrasse 44, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Schanzenstrasse 44, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Niko Beerenwinkel
- ETH Zurich, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Schanzenstrasse 44, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Schanzenstrasse 44, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Francisca Vazquez
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Aziz M. Al’Khafaji
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Brian J. Haas
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
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12
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Sharobim M, Matkovic E, Schwalbe M, Matkowskyj KA. Pathologic Features of Miscellaneous Foregut Malignancies. Cancer Treat Res 2024; 192:49-66. [PMID: 39212915 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-61238-1_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Neuroendocrine neoplasms are a heterogeneous group of tumors that can occur in almost any organ and share a common neuroendocrine phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Sharobim
- School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Eduard Matkovic
- School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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13
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Wallander K, Öfverholm I, Boye K, Tsagkozis P, Papakonstantinou A, Lin Y, Haglund de Flon F. Sarcoma care in the era of precision medicine. J Intern Med 2023; 294:690-707. [PMID: 37643281 DOI: 10.1111/joim.13717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Sarcoma subtype classification is currently mainly based upon histopathological morphology. Molecular analyses have emerged as an efficient addition to the diagnostic workup and sarcoma care. Knowledge about the sarcoma genome increases, and genetic events that can either support a histopathological diagnosis or suggest a differential diagnosis are identified, as well as novel therapeutic targets. In this review, we present diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic molecular markers that are, or might soon be, used clinically. For sarcoma diagnostics, there are specific fusions highly supportive or pathognomonic for a diagnostic entity-for instance, SYT::SSX in synovial sarcoma. Complex karyotypes also give diagnostic information-for example, supporting dedifferentiation rather than low-grade central osteosarcoma or well-differentiated liposarcoma when detected in combination with MDM2/CDK4 amplification. Molecular treatment predictive sarcoma markers are available for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and locally aggressive benign mesenchymal tumors. The molecular prognostic markers for sarcomas in clinical practice are few. For solitary fibrous tumor, the type of NAB2::STAT6 fusion is associated with the outcome, and the KIT/PDGFRA pathogenic variant in GISTs can give prognostic information. With the exploding availability of sequencing technologies, it becomes increasingly important to understand the strengths and limitations of those methods and their context in sarcoma diagnostics. It is reasonable to believe that most sarcoma treatment centers will increase the use of massive-parallel sequencing soon. We conclude that the context in which the genetic findings are interpreted is of importance, and the interpretation of genomic findings requires considering tumor histomorphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Wallander
- Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Kjetil Boye
- Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Panagiotis Tsagkozis
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Andri Papakonstantinou
- Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Breast Cancer, Endocrine Tumors and Sarcoma, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yingbo Lin
- Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Felix Haglund de Flon
- Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Pathology and Cancer diagnostics, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
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14
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Panicker S, Chengizkhan G, Gor R, Ramachandran I, Ramalingam S. Exploring the Relationship between Fusion Genes and MicroRNAs in Cancer. Cells 2023; 12:2467. [PMID: 37887311 PMCID: PMC10605240 DOI: 10.3390/cells12202467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Fusion genes are key cancer driver genes that can be used as potential drug targets in precision therapies, and they can also serve as accurate diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The fusion genes can cause microRNA (miRNA/miR) aberrations in many types of cancer. Nevertheless, whether fusion genes incite miRNA aberrations as one of their many critical oncogenic functionalities for driving carcinogenesis needs further investigation. Recent discoveries of miRNA genes that are present within the regions of genomic rearrangements that initiate fusion gene-based intronic miRNA dysregulation have brought the fusion genes into the limelight and revealed their unexplored potential in the field of cancer biology. Fusion gene-based 'promoter-switch' event aberrantly activate the miRNA-related upstream regulatory signals, while fusion-based coding region alterations disrupt the original miRNA coding loci. Fusion genes can potentially regulate the miRNA aberrations regardless of the protein-coding capability of the resultant fusion transcript. Studies on out-of-frame fusion and nonrecurrent fusion genes that cause miRNA dysregulation have attracted the attention of researchers on fusion genes from an oncological perspective and therefore could have potential implications in cancer therapies. This review will provide insights into the role of fusion genes and miRNAs, and their possible interrelationships in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saurav Panicker
- Department of Genetic Engineering, School of Bio-Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, Tamil Nadu, India; (S.P.); (R.G.)
| | - Gautham Chengizkhan
- Department of Endocrinology, Dr. ALM PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai 600113, Tamil Nadu, India;
| | - Ravi Gor
- Department of Genetic Engineering, School of Bio-Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, Tamil Nadu, India; (S.P.); (R.G.)
| | - Ilangovan Ramachandran
- Department of Endocrinology, Dr. ALM PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai 600113, Tamil Nadu, India;
| | - Satish Ramalingam
- Department of Genetic Engineering, School of Bio-Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, Tamil Nadu, India; (S.P.); (R.G.)
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15
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Dehner CA, Broski SM, Meis JM, Murugan P, Chrisinger JSA, Sosa C, Petersen M, Halling KC, Gupta S, Folpe AL. Fusion-driven Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcomas of Bone and Soft Tissue: A Clinicopathologic and Molecular Genetic Study of 25 Cases. Mod Pathol 2023; 36:100271. [PMID: 37422156 DOI: 10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
The evolving classification of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) now includes spindle cell RMS (SRMS). Bone/soft tissue SRMS often harbor TFCP2, or less often MEIS1 rearrangements. We studied 25 fusion-driven SRMS involving bone (n = 19) and soft tissue (n = 6). Osseous SRMS occurred in 13 women and 6 men (median age: 41 years) and involved the pelvis (5), sacrum (2), spine (4), maxilla (4), mandible (1), skull (1), and femur (2). Follow-up (median: 5 months) demonstrated local recurrence in 2/16 and distant metastases in 8/17 patients (median time to metastasis: 1 month). Eight patients died of disease; 9 were alive with disease. Soft tissue SRMS occurred in 4 men and 2 women (median: 50 years). Follow-up (median: 10 months) revealed distant metastasis at diagnosis (1), alive with unresected tumor (1), and no evidence of disease (4). Next-generation sequencing demonstrated FUS::TFCP2 (12), EWSR1::TFCP2 (3) and MEIS1::NCOA2 (2); FISH identified EWSR1 (2) rearrangements. Most TFCP2-rearranged SRMS (13/17) showed spindled/epithelioid morphology, rarely with rhabdomyoblasts. The bone tumors were diffusely desmin and MyoD1 positive with limited myogenin; 10/13 were ALK -positive and 6/15 were keratin positive. Soft tissue SRMS harbored EWSR1::TFCP2, MEIS1::NCOA2, ZFP64::NCOA2, MEIS1::FOXO1, TCF12::VGLL3 and DCTN1::ALK, and displayed spindled/epithelioid, leiomyomatous, and myxofibrosarcoma-like morphologies. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was positive for MyoD1 (6/6), focal desmin (5/6), myogenin (3/6), and keratin (1/6). We conclude that TFCP2-rearranged SRMS of bone and soft tissue show consistent morphologic and IHC features, likely representing a distinct subset of RMS. Non-TFCP2 fusion-positive SRMS could represent a single RMS subset, multiple subtypes of RMS, or "fusion-defined" sarcomas with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina A Dehner
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | | | - Jeanne M Meis
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Paari Murugan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - John S A Chrisinger
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Carlos Sosa
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Matthew Petersen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Kevin C Halling
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Sounak Gupta
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Andrew L Folpe
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
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16
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Cornelison R, Marrah L, Fierti A, Piczak C, Glowczyk M, Tajammal A, Lynch S, Li H. The Potential for Targeting AVIL and Other Actin-Binding Proteins in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:14196. [PMID: 37762498 PMCID: PMC10531751 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241814196] [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: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common pediatric soft-tissue cancer with a survival rate below 27% for high-risk children despite aggressive multi-modal therapeutic interventions. After decades of research, no targeted therapies are currently available. Therapeutically targeting actin-binding proteins, although promising, has historically been challenging. Recent advances have made this possibility more salient, including our lab's identification of advillin (AVIL), a novel oncogenic actin-binding protein that plays a role in many cytoskeletal functions. AVIL is overexpressed in many RMS cell lines, patient-derived xenograft models, and a cohort of 30 clinical samples of both the alveolar (ARMS) and embryonal (ERMS) subtypes. Overexpression of AVIL in mesenchymal stem cells induces neoplastic transformation both in vitro and in vivo, and reversing overexpression through genetic modulation reverses the transformation. This suggests a critical role of AVIL in RMS tumorigenesis and maintenance. As an actin-binding protein, AVIL would not traditionally be considered a druggable target. This perspective will address the feasibility of targeting differentially expressed actin-binding proteins such as AVIL therapeutically, and how critical cell infrastructure can be damaged in a cancer-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hui Li
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA
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17
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Sroka MW, Skopelitis D, Vermunt MW, Preall JB, El Demerdash O, de Almeida LMN, Chang K, Utama R, Gryder B, Caligiuri G, Ren D, Nalbant B, Milazzo JP, Tuveson DA, Dobin A, Hiebert SW, Stengel KR, Mantovani R, Khan J, Kohli RM, Shi J, Blobel GA, Vakoc CR. Myo-differentiation reporter screen reveals NF-Y as an activator of PAX3-FOXO1 in rhabdomyosarcoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2303859120. [PMID: 37639593 PMCID: PMC10483665 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303859120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Recurrent chromosomal rearrangements found in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) produce the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion protein, which is an oncogenic driver and a dependency in this disease. One important function of PAX3-FOXO1 is to arrest myogenic differentiation, which is linked to the ability of RMS cells to gain an unlimited proliferation potential. Here, we developed a phenotypic screening strategy for identifying factors that collaborate with PAX3-FOXO1 to block myo-differentiation in RMS. Unlike most genes evaluated in our screen, we found that loss of any of the three subunits of the Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) complex leads to a myo-differentiation phenotype that resembles the effect of inactivating PAX3-FOXO1. While the transcriptomes of NF-Y- and PAX3-FOXO1-deficient RMS cells bear remarkable similarity to one another, we found that these two transcription factors occupy nonoverlapping sites along the genome: NF-Y preferentially occupies promoters, whereas PAX3-FOXO1 primarily binds to distal enhancers. By integrating multiple functional approaches, we map the PAX3 promoter as the point of intersection between these two regulators. We show that NF-Y occupies CCAAT motifs present upstream of PAX3 to function as a transcriptional activator of PAX3-FOXO1 expression in RMS. These findings reveal a critical upstream role of NF-Y in the oncogenic PAX3-FOXO1 pathway, highlighting how a broadly essential transcription factor can perform tumor-specific roles in governing cellular state.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marit W. Vermunt
- Division of Hematology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | | | | | | | - Kenneth Chang
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | - Raditya Utama
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | - Berkley Gryder
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH44106
| | | | - Diqiu Ren
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Benan Nalbant
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY11724
| | | | | | | | - Scott W. Hiebert
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Kristy R. Stengel
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY10461
| | - Roberto Mantovani
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133Milano, Italy
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD20892
| | - Rahul M. Kohli
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Junwei Shi
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Gerd A. Blobel
- Division of Hematology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
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18
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Singh S, Shi X, Ahmad SB, Manley T, Piczak C, Phung C, Sun Y, Lynch S, Sharma A, Li H. RTCpredictor: Identification of Read-Through Chimeric RNAs from RNA Sequencing Data. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.02.526869. [PMID: 36778443 PMCID: PMC9915620 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.02.526869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Read-through chimeric RNAs are gaining attention in cancer and other research fields, yet current tools often fail in predicting them. We have thus developed the first read-through chimeric RNA specific prediction method, RTCpredictor, utilizing a fast ripgrep algorithm to search for all possible exon-exon combinations of parental gene pairs. Compared with other ten popular tools, RTCpredictor achieved top performance on both simulated and real datasets. We randomly selected up to 30 candidate read-through chimeras predicted from each software method and experimentally validated a total of 109 read-throughs and on this set, RTCpredictor outperformed all the other methods. In addition, RTCpredictor ( https://github.com/sandybioteck/RTCpredictor ) has less memory requirements and faster execution time.
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19
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Zhang S, Wang J, Liu Q, McDonald WH, Bomber ML, Layden HM, Ellis J, Borinstein SC, Hiebert SW, Stengel KR. PAX3-FOXO1 coordinates enhancer architecture, eRNA transcription, and RNA polymerase pause release at select gene targets. Mol Cell 2022; 82:4428-4442.e7. [PMID: 36395771 PMCID: PMC9731406 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptional control is a highly dynamic process that changes rapidly in response to various cellular and extracellular cues, making it difficult to define the mechanism of transcription factor function using slow genetic methods. We used a chemical-genetic approach to rapidly degrade a canonical transcriptional activator, PAX3-FOXO1, to define the mechanism by which it regulates gene expression programs. By coupling rapid protein degradation with the analysis of nascent transcription over short time courses and integrating CUT&RUN, ATAC-seq, and eRNA analysis with deep proteomic analysis, we defined PAX3-FOXO1 function at a small network of direct transcriptional targets. PAX3-FOXO1 degradation impaired RNA polymerase pause release and transcription elongation at most regulated gene targets. Moreover, the activity of PAX3-FOXO1 at enhancers controlling this core network was surprisingly selective, affecting single elements in super-enhancers. This combinatorial analysis indicated that PAX3-FOXO1 was continuously required to maintain chromatin accessibility and enhancer architecture at regulated enhancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susu Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Qi Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - W Hayes McDonald
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Monica L Bomber
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Hillary M Layden
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jacob Ellis
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Scott C Borinstein
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37027, USA
| | - Scott W Hiebert
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37027, USA.
| | - Kristy R Stengel
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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20
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Aepala MR, Peiris MN, Jiang Z, Yang W, Meyer AN, Donoghue DJ. Nefarious NTRK oncogenic fusions in pediatric sarcomas: Too many to Trk. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 2022; 68:93-106. [PMID: 36153202 DOI: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2022.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Neurotrophic Tyrosine Receptor Kinase (NTRK) genes undergo chromosomal translocations to create novel open reading frames coding for oncogenic fusion proteins; the N-terminal portion, donated by various partner genes, becomes fused to the tyrosine kinase domain of either NTRK1, NTRK2, or NTRK3. NTRK fusion proteins have been identified as driver oncogenes in a wide variety of tumors over the past three decades, including Pediatric Gliomas, Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma, Spitzoid Neoplasms, Glioblastoma, and additional tumors. Importantly, NTRK fusions function as drivers of pediatric sarcomas, accounting for approximately 15% of childhood cancers including Infantile Fibrosarcoma (IFS), a subset of pediatric soft tissue sarcoma (STS). While tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as larotrectinib and entrectinib, have demonstrated profound results against NTRK fusion-positive cancers, acquired resistance to these TKIs has resulted in the formation of gatekeeper, solvent-front, and compound mutations. We present a comprehensive compilation of oncogenic fusions involving NTRKs focusing specifically on pediatric STS, examining their biological signaling pathways and mechanisms of activation. The importance of an obligatory dimerization or multimerization domain, invariably donated by the N-terminal fusion partner, is discussed using characteristic fusions that occur in pediatric sarcomas. In addition, examples are presented of oncogenic fusion proteins in which the N-terminal partners may contribute additional biological activities beyond an oligomerization domain. Lastly, therapeutic approaches to the treatment of pediatric sarcoma will be presented, using first generation and second-generation agents such as selitrectinib and repotrectinib.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megha R Aepala
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA
| | - Malalage N Peiris
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA
| | - Zian Jiang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA
| | - Wei Yang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA
| | - April N Meyer
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA
| | - Daniel J Donoghue
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA; UCSD Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0367, USA.
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21
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LaCombe R, Cecchini A, Seibert M, Cornelison DDW. EphA1 receptor tyrosine kinase is localized to the nucleus in rhabdomyosarcoma from multiple species. Biol Open 2022; 11:bio059352. [PMID: 36214254 PMCID: PMC9581518 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
While the typical role of receptor tyrosine kinases is to receive and transmit signals at the cell surface, in some cellular contexts (particularly transformed cells) they may also act as nuclear proteins. Aberrant nuclear localization of receptor tyrosine kinases associated with transformation often enhances the transformed phenotype (i.e. nuclear ErbBs promote tumor progression in breast cancer). Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common soft tissue tumor in children, develops to resemble immature skeletal muscle and has been proposed to derive from muscle stem/progenitor cells (satellite cells). It is an aggressive cancer with a 5-year survival rate of 33% if it has metastasized. Eph receptor tyrosine kinases have been implicated in the development and progression of many other tumor types, but there are only two published studies of Ephs localizing to the nucleus of any cell type and to date no nuclear RTKs have been identified in RMS. In a screen for protein expression of Ephs in canine RMS primary tumors as well as mouse and human RMS cell lines, we noted strong expression of EphA1 in the nucleus of interphase cells in tumors from all three species. This localization pattern changes in dividing cells, with EphA1 localizing to the nucleus or the cytoplasm depending on the phase of the cell cycle. These data represent the first case of a nuclear RTK in RMS, and the first time that EphA1 has been detected in the nucleus of any cell type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronnie LaCombe
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Alessandra Cecchini
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Morgan Seibert
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - DDW Cornelison
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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22
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Ramadan F, Saab R, Hussein N, Clézardin P, Cohen PA, Ghayad SE. Non-coding RNA in rhabdomyosarcoma progression and metastasis. Front Oncol 2022; 12:971174. [PMID: 36033507 PMCID: PMC9403786 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.971174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a soft tissue sarcoma of skeletal muscle differentiation, with a predominant occurrence in children and adolescents. One of the major challenges facing treatment success is the presence of metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, commonly associated with the more aggressive fusion-positive subtype. Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) can regulate gene transcription and translation, and their dysregulation has been associated with cancer development and progression. MicroRNA (miRNA) are short non-coding nucleic acid sequences involved in the regulation of gene expression that act by targeting messenger RNA (mRNA), and their aberrant expression has been associated with both RMS initiation and progression. Other ncRNA including long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), circular RNA (circRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) have also been associated with RMS revealing important mechanistic roles in RMS biology, but these studies are still limited and require further investigation. In this review, we discuss the established roles of ncRNA in RMS differentiation, growth and progression, highlighting their potential use in RMS prognosis, as therapeutic agents or as targets of treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farah Ramadan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science II, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- INSERM, Unit 1033, LYOS, Lyon, France
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon
| | - Raya Saab
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Nader Hussein
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon
| | - Philippe Clézardin
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- INSERM, Unit 1033, LYOS, Lyon, France
| | - Pascale A. Cohen
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- INSERM, Unit 1033, LYOS, Lyon, France
| | - Sandra E. Ghayad
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science II, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM 1263, INRAE 1260, C2VN, Marseille, France
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23
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Fahs A, Hussein N, Zalzali H, Ramadan F, Ghamloush F, Tamim H, El Homsi M, Badran B, Boulos F, Tawil A, Ghayad SE, Saab R. CD147 Promotes Tumorigenesis via Exosome-Mediated Signaling in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cells 2022; 11:cells11152267. [PMID: 35892564 PMCID: PMC9331498 DOI: 10.3390/cells11152267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive childhood soft-tissue tumor, with propensity for local invasion and distant metastasis. Exosomes are secreted vesicles that mediate paracrine signaling by delivering functional proteins and miRNA to recipient cells. The transmembrane protein CD147, also known as Basigin or EMMPRIN, is enriched in various tumor cells, as well as in tumor-derived exosomes, and has been correlated with poor prognosis in several types of cancer, but has not been previously investigated in RMS. We investigated the effects of CD147 on RMS cell biology and paracrine signaling, specifically its contribution to invasion and metastatic phenotype. CD147 downregulation diminishes RMS cell invasion and inhibits anchorage-independent growth in vitro. While treatment of normal fibroblasts with RMS-derived exosomes results in a significant increase in proliferation, migration, and invasion, these effects are reversed when using exosomes from CD147-downregulated RMS cells. In human RMS tissue, CD147 was expressed exclusively in metastatic tumors. Altogether, our results demonstrate that CD147 contributes to RMS tumor cell aggressiveness, and is involved in modulating the microenvironment through RMS-secreted exosomes. Targeted inhibition of CD147 reduces its expression levels within the isolated exosomes and reduces the capacity of these exosomes to enhance cellular invasive properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assil Fahs
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science II, Lebanese University, Fanar P.O. Box 90656, Lebanon; (A.F.); (F.R.)
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat 1003, Lebanon; (N.H.); (M.E.H.); (B.B.)
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon
| | - Nader Hussein
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat 1003, Lebanon; (N.H.); (M.E.H.); (B.B.)
| | - Hasan Zalzali
- Department of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; (H.Z.); (F.G.)
| | - Farah Ramadan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science II, Lebanese University, Fanar P.O. Box 90656, Lebanon; (A.F.); (F.R.)
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat 1003, Lebanon; (N.H.); (M.E.H.); (B.B.)
| | - Farah Ghamloush
- Department of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; (H.Z.); (F.G.)
| | - Hani Tamim
- Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon;
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mahmoud El Homsi
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat 1003, Lebanon; (N.H.); (M.E.H.); (B.B.)
| | - Bassam Badran
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science I, Lebanese University, Hadat 1003, Lebanon; (N.H.); (M.E.H.); (B.B.)
| | - Fouad Boulos
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; (F.B.); (A.T.)
| | - Ayman Tawil
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; (F.B.); (A.T.)
| | - Sandra E. Ghayad
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science II, Lebanese University, Fanar P.O. Box 90656, Lebanon; (A.F.); (F.R.)
- C2VN, INSERM 1263, INRAE 1260, Aix-Marseille University, CEDEX 5, 13385 Marseille, France
- Correspondence: (S.E.G.); (R.S.); Tel.: +33-491835601 (S.E.G.); +961-1-350000 (ext. 4780) (R.S.); Fax: +33-491835602 (S.E.G.); +961-1-377384 (R.S.)
| | - Raya Saab
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon
- Department of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; (H.Z.); (F.G.)
- Correspondence: (S.E.G.); (R.S.); Tel.: +33-491835601 (S.E.G.); +961-1-350000 (ext. 4780) (R.S.); Fax: +33-491835602 (S.E.G.); +961-1-377384 (R.S.)
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24
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Singh S, Abu-Zaid A, Jin H, Fang J, Wu Q, Wang T, Feng H, Quarni W, Shao Y, Maxham L, Abdolvahabi A, Yun MK, Vaithiyalingam S, Tan H, Bowling J, Honnell V, Young B, Guo Y, Bajpai R, Pruett-Miller SM, Grosveld GC, Hatley M, Xu B, Fan Y, Wu G, Chen EY, Chen T, Lewis PW, Rankovic Z, Li Y, Murphy AJ, Easton J, Peng J, Chen X, Wang R, White SW, Davidoff AM, Yang J. Targeting KDM4 for treating PAX3-FOXO1-driven alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabq2096. [PMID: 35857643 PMCID: PMC9548378 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq2096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Chimeric transcription factors drive lineage-specific oncogenesis but are notoriously difficult to target. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive childhood soft tissue sarcoma transformed by the pathognomonic Paired Box 3-Forkhead Box O1 (PAX3-FOXO1) fusion protein, which governs a core regulatory circuitry transcription factor network. Here, we show that the histone lysine demethylase 4B (KDM4B) is a therapeutic vulnerability for PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS. Genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of KDM4B substantially delayed tumor growth. Suppression of KDM4 proteins inhibited the expression of core oncogenic transcription factors and caused epigenetic alterations of PAX3-FOXO1-governed superenhancers. Combining KDM4 inhibition with cytotoxic chemotherapy led to tumor regression in preclinical PAX3-FOXO1+ RMS subcutaneous xenograft models. In summary, we identified a targetable mechanism required for maintenance of the PAX3-FOXO1-related transcription factor network, which may translate to a therapeutic approach for fusion-positive RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivendra Singh
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ahmed Abu-Zaid
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Hongjian Jin
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jie Fang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Qiong Wu
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Tingting Wang
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disease, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Helin Feng
- Department of Orthopedics, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, China
| | - Waise Quarni
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Lily Maxham
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Alireza Abdolvahabi
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Mi-Kyung Yun
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Sivaraja Vaithiyalingam
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Protein Technologies Center, Molecular Interaction Analysis, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Haiyan Tan
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - John Bowling
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Victoria Honnell
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Brandon Young
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yian Guo
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Richa Bajpai
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Shondra M. Pruett-Miller
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Gerard C Grosveld
- Department of Genetics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Mark Hatley
- Department of Oncology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Beisi Xu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yiping Fan
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Gang Wu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Eleanor Y. Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Taosheng Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Peter W. Lewis
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, USA
| | - Zoran Rankovic
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Yimei Li
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew J. Murphy
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - John Easton
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Junmin Peng
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Ruoning Wang
- Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disease, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Stephen W. White
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew M. Davidoff
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 930 Madison Ave, Suite 500, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
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25
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Pitolli C, Marini A, Sette C, Pagliarini V. Non-Canonical Splicing and Its Implications in Brain Physiology and Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23052811. [PMID: 35269953 PMCID: PMC8911335 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The advance of experimental and computational techniques has allowed us to highlight the existence of numerous different mechanisms of RNA maturation, which have been so far unknown. Besides canonical splicing, consisting of the removal of introns from pre-mRNA molecules, non-canonical splicing events may occur to further increase the regulatory and coding potential of the human genome. Among these, splicing of microexons, recursive splicing and biogenesis of circular and chimeric RNAs through back-splicing and trans-splicing processes, respectively, all contribute to expanding the repertoire of RNA transcripts with newly acquired regulatory functions. Interestingly, these non-canonical splicing events seem to occur more frequently in the central nervous system, affecting neuronal development and differentiation programs with important implications on brain physiology. Coherently, dysregulation of non-canonical RNA processing events is associated with brain disorders, including brain tumours. Herein, we summarize the current knowledge on molecular and regulatory mechanisms underlying canonical and non-canonical splicing events with particular emphasis on cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors that all together orchestrate splicing catalysis reactions and decisions. Lastly, we review the impact of non-canonical splicing on brain physiology and pathology and how unconventional splicing mechanisms may be targeted or exploited for novel therapeutic strategies in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Consuelo Pitolli
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.P.); (C.S.)
- GSTEP-Organoids Research Core Facility, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Alberto Marini
- GSTEP-Organoids Research Core Facility, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Claudio Sette
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.P.); (C.S.)
- GSTEP-Organoids Research Core Facility, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Vittoria Pagliarini
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.P.); (C.S.)
- GSTEP-Organoids Research Core Facility, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, 00168 Rome, Italy;
- Correspondence:
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26
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Asakage T. Epidemiology and treatment of head and neck malignancies in the AYA generation. Int J Clin Oncol 2022; 27:465-472. [PMID: 35028770 DOI: 10.1007/s10147-021-02093-6] [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: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) population refers to the population of young adults and adolescents in the 15-39 years age group. This population subgroup experiences various important life events. Head and neck malignancies are rare tumors, in general, but they are extremely rare in the AYA population. When analyzed by the primary site of the tumors, thyroid gland, soft tissue, and nasopharyngeal malignancies are the most commonly encountered head and neck malignancies in the AYA generation. The most common histopathologic subtypes are carcinomas (thyroid carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma) and rhabdomyosarcoma. Therefore, in this review, the author discusses these three diseases in the AYA population in detail. Especially, patients with parameningeal rhabdomyosarcoma are at a high risk of dysfunction and facial deformity. Infertility problems may also occur as long-term sequelae of chemotherapy in this population. Radiation therapy might be associated with considerable morbidity. Complications such as cataract, xerostomia, hearing loss, neck fibrosis, and trismus are also common. Head and neck surgeons and medical oncologists should choose the optimal treatment taking into account the curability of the tumors relative to the long-term adverse events of treatment use. Finally, little evidence has been accumulated on head and neck malignancies in the AYA population, and it is urgently necessary to build a high level of evidence for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Asakage
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8519, Japan.
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27
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Mirzaei G, Petreaca RC. Distribution of copy number variations and rearrangement endpoints in human cancers with a review of literature. Mutat Res 2022; 824:111773. [PMID: 35091282 PMCID: PMC11301607 DOI: 10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2021.111773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Copy number variations (CNVs) which include deletions, duplications, inversions, translocations, and other forms of chromosomal re-arrangements are common to human cancers. In this report we investigated the pattern of these variations with the goal of understanding whether there exist specific cancer signatures. We used re-arrangement endpoint data deposited on the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancers (COSMIC) for our analysis. Indeed, we find that human cancers are characterized by specific patterns of chromosome rearrangements endpoints which in turn result in cancer specific CNVs. A review of the literature reveals tissue specific mutations which either drive these CNVs or appear as a consequence of CNVs because they confer an advantage to the cancer cell. We also identify several rearrangement endpoints hotspots that were not previously reported. Our analysis suggests that in addition to local chromosomal architecture, CNVs are driven by the internal cellular or nuclear physiology of each cancer tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Golrokh Mirzaei
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University at Marion, Marion, OH, 43302, USA
| | - Ruben C Petreaca
- Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University at Marion, Marion, OH, 43302, USA; Cancer Biology Program, The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
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28
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Sievers P, Henneken SC, Blume C, Sill M, Schrimpf D, Stichel D, Okonechnikov K, Reuss DE, Benzel J, Maaß KK, Kool M, Sturm D, Zheng T, Ghasemi DR, Kohlhof-Meinecke P, Cruz O, Suñol M, Lavarino C, Ruf V, Boldt HB, Pagès M, Pouget C, Schweizer L, Kranendonk MEG, Akhtar N, Bunkowski S, Stadelmann C, Schüller U, Mueller WC, Dohmen H, Acker T, Harter PN, Mawrin C, Beschorner R, Brandner S, Snuderl M, Abdullaev Z, Aldape K, Gilbert MR, Armstrong TS, Ellison DW, Capper D, Ichimura K, Reifenberger G, Grundy RG, Jabado N, Krskova L, Zapotocky M, Vicha A, Varlet P, Wesseling P, Rutkowski S, Korshunov A, Wick W, Pfister SM, Jones DTW, von Deimling A, Pajtler KW, Sahm F. Recurrent fusions in PLAGL1 define a distinct subset of pediatric-type supratentorial neuroepithelial tumors. Acta Neuropathol 2021; 142:827-839. [PMID: 34355256 PMCID: PMC8500895 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02356-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Ependymomas encompass a heterogeneous group of central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms that occur along the entire neuroaxis. In recent years, extensive (epi-)genomic profiling efforts have identified several molecular groups of ependymoma that are characterized by distinct molecular alterations and/or patterns. Based on unsupervised visualization of a large cohort of genome-wide DNA methylation data, we identified a highly distinct group of pediatric-type tumors (n = 40) forming a cluster separate from all established CNS tumor types, of which a high proportion were histopathologically diagnosed as ependymoma. RNA sequencing revealed recurrent fusions involving the pleomorphic adenoma gene-like 1 (PLAGL1) gene in 19 of 20 of the samples analyzed, with the most common fusion being EWSR1:PLAGL1 (n = 13). Five tumors showed a PLAGL1:FOXO1 fusion and one a PLAGL1:EP300 fusion. High transcript levels of PLAGL1 were noted in these tumors, with concurrent overexpression of the imprinted genes H19 and IGF2, which are regulated by PLAGL1. Histopathological review of cases with sufficient material (n = 16) demonstrated a broad morphological spectrum of tumors with predominant ependymoma-like features. Immunohistochemically, tumors were GFAP positive and OLIG2- and SOX10 negative. In 3/16 of the cases, a dot-like positivity for EMA was detected. All tumors in our series were located in the supratentorial compartment. Median age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 6.2 years. Median progression-free survival was 35 months (for 11 patients with data available). In summary, our findings suggest the existence of a novel group of supratentorial neuroepithelial tumors that are characterized by recurrent PLAGL1 fusions and enriched for pediatric patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Sievers
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sophie C Henneken
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christina Blume
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Bioinformatics and Omics Data Analytics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martin Sill
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daniel Schrimpf
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Damian Stichel
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Konstantin Okonechnikov
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David E Reuss
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julia Benzel
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kendra K Maaß
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pulmonology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marcel Kool
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Dominik Sturm
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pulmonology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Pediatric Glioma Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tuyu Zheng
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David R Ghasemi
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Ofelia Cruz
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mariona Suñol
- Department of Pathology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cinzia Lavarino
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Viktoria Ruf
- Institute of Neuropathology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Henning B Boldt
- Department of Pathology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Mélanie Pagès
- Department of Neuropathology, GHU Paris Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris, France
- Laboratory of Translational Research in Pediatric Oncology, SIREDO, INSERM U830, Institut Curie, Paris Sciences Lettres University, Paris, France
| | | | - Leonille Schweizer
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Neuropathology, Berlin, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Berlin, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mariëtte E G Kranendonk
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Noreen Akhtar
- Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
- Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Stephanie Bunkowski
- Institute for Neuropathology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Christine Stadelmann
- Institute for Neuropathology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ulrich Schüller
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Research Institute Children's Cancer Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Wolf C Mueller
- Paul-Flechsig Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hildegard Dohmen
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Till Acker
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Patrick N Harter
- Frankfurt Cancer Institute (FCI), University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Institute of Neurology (Edinger-Institute), University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner site Frankfurt/Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christian Mawrin
- Department of Neuropathology, Otto-Von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Rudi Beschorner
- Department of Neuropathology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London, UK
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Matija Snuderl
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zied Abdullaev
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kenneth Aldape
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark R Gilbert
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - David W Ellison
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - David Capper
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Neuropathology, Berlin, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Berlin, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Koichi Ichimura
- Division of Brain Tumor Translational Research, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Guido Reifenberger
- Institute of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Essen/Düsseldorf, Essen/Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Richard G Grundy
- Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Nada Jabado
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H4A 3J1, Canada
- The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, H4A 3J1, Canada
| | - Lenka Krskova
- Prague Brain Tumor Research Group, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Zapotocky
- Prague Brain Tumor Research Group, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Pediatric Haematology and Oncology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ales Vicha
- Prague Brain Tumor Research Group, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Pediatric Haematology and Oncology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pascale Varlet
- Department of Neuropathology, GHU Paris Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Pieter Wesseling
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location VUmc and Brain Tumor Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stefan Rutkowski
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andrey Korshunov
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wick
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neurooncology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neurology and Neurooncology Program, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan M Pfister
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pulmonology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Pediatric Glioma Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andreas von Deimling
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kristian W Pajtler
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pulmonology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Felix Sahm
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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29
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Pozzo E, Giarratana N, Sassi G, Elmastas M, Killian T, Wang CC, Marini V, Ronzoni F, Yustein J, Uyttebroeck A, Sampaolesi M. Upregulation of miR181a/miR212 Improves Myogenic Commitment in Murine Fusion-Negative Rhabdomyosarcoma. Front Physiol 2021; 12:701354. [PMID: 34421639 PMCID: PMC8378536 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.701354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Fusion-negative rhabdomyosarcoma (FN-RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood arising from undifferentiated skeletal muscle cells from uncertain origin. Currently used therapies are poorly tumor-specific and fail to tackle the molecular machinery underlying the tumorigenicity and uncontrolled proliferation of FN-RMS. We and other groups recently found that microRNAs (miRNA) network contributes to myogenic epigenetic memory and can influence pluripotent stem cell commitments. Here, we used the previously identified promyogenic miRNAs and tailored it to the murine FN-RMS. Subsequently, we addressed the effects of miRNAs in vivo by performing syngeneic transplant of pre-treated FN-RMS cell line in C57Bl/6 mice. miRNA pre-treatment affects murine FN-RMS cell proliferation in vivo as showed by bioluminescence imaging analysis, resulting in better muscle performances as highlighted by treadmill exhaustion tests. In conclusion, in our study we identified a novel miRNA combination tackling the anti-myogenic features of FN-RMS by reducing proliferation and described novel antitumorigenic therapeutic targets that can be further explored for future pre-clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Pozzo
- Stem Cell Institute Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | | | | | - Theo Killian
- VIB KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Chao-Chi Wang
- Stem Cell Institute Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Flavio Ronzoni
- Human Anatomy Unit, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy
| | - Jason Yustein
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, United States.,Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.,Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Anne Uyttebroeck
- Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Paediatric Haemato-Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maurilio Sampaolesi
- Stem Cell Institute Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Human Anatomy Unit, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
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30
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Wei T, Lu J, Ma T, Huang H, Kocher JP, Wang L. Re-Evaluate Fusion Genes in Prostate Cancer. Cancer Inform 2021; 20:11769351211027592. [PMID: 34234399 PMCID: PMC8226361 DOI: 10.1177/11769351211027592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Thousands of gene fusions have been reported in prostate cancer, but their
authenticity, incidence, and tumor specificity have not been thoroughly
evaluated, nor have their genomic characteristics been carefully
explored. Methods: We developed FusionVet to dedicatedly validate known fusion genes using
RNA-seq alignments. Using FusionVet, we re-assessed 2727 gene fusions
reported from 36 studies using the RNA-seq data generated by The Cancer
Genome Atlas (TCGA). We also explored their genomic characteristics and
interrogated the transcriptomic and DNA methylomic consequences of the E26
transformation-specific (ETS) fusions. Results: We found that nearly two-thirds of reported fusions are intra-chromosomal,
and 80% of them were formed between 2 protein-coding genes. Although most
(76%) genes were fused to only 1 partner, we observed many fusion hub genes
that have multiple fusion partners, including ETS family genes, androgen
receptor signaling pathway genes, tumor suppressor genes, and
proto-oncogenes. More than 90% of the reported fusions cannot be validated
by TCGA RNA-seq data. For those fusions that can be validated, 5% were
detected from tumor and normal samples with similar frequencies, and only 4%
(120 fusions) were tumor-specific. The occurrences of ERG,
ETV1, and ETV4 fusions were mutually
exclusive, and their fusion statuses were tightly associated with
overexpressions. Besides, we found ERG fusions were
significantly co-occurred with PTEN deletion but mutually
exclusive with common genomic alterations such as SPOP
mutation and FOXA1 mutation. Conclusions: Most of the reported fusion genes cannot be validated by TCGA samples. The
ETS family and androgen response genes were significantly enriched in
prostate cancer–specific fusion genes. Transcription activity was
significantly repressed, and the DNA methylation was significantly increased
in samples carrying ERG fusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Wei
- Division of Computational Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Ji Lu
- Department of Urology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China
| | - Tao Ma
- Division of Computational Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Haojie Huang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jean-Pierre Kocher
- Division of Computational Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Liguo Wang
- Division of Computational Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Science, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.,Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester, MN, USA
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31
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Blattner-Johnson M, Jones DTW, Pfaff E. Precision medicine in pediatric solid cancers. Semin Cancer Biol 2021; 84:214-227. [PMID: 34116162 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite huge advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cancers over the past several decades, it remains one of the leading causes of death during childhood in developed countries. The development of new targeted treatments for these diseases has been hampered by two major factors. First, the extremely heterogeneous nature of the types of tumors encountered in this age group, and their fundamental differences from common adult carcinomas, has made it hard to truly get a handle on the complexities of the underlying biology driving tumor growth. Second, a reluctance of the pharmaceutical industry to develop products or trials for this population due to the relatively small size of the 'market', and a too-easy mechanism of obtaining waivers for pediatric development of adult oncology drugs based on disease type rather than mechanism of action, led to significant difficulties in getting access to new drugs. Thankfully, the field has now started to change, both scientifically and from a regulatory perspective, in order to address some of these challenges. In this review, we will examine some of the recent insights into molecular features which make pediatric tumors so unique and how these might represent therapeutic targets; highlight ongoing international initiatives for providing comprehensive, personalized genomic profiling of childhood tumors in a clinically-relevant timeframe, and look briefly at where the field of pediatric precision oncology may be heading in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Blattner-Johnson
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Pediatric Glioma Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Pediatric Glioma Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Elke Pfaff
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Pediatric Glioma Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pulmonology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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32
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Xu MC, Ghani MO, Apple A, Chen H, Whiteside M, Borinstein SC, Correa H, Lovvorn HN. Changes in FXR1 expression after Chemotherapy for Rhabdomyosarcoma. J Pediatr Surg 2021; 56:1148-1156. [PMID: 33736876 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.02.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) arises from abnormal muscle development. We reported previously that Fragile-X-Related 1 (FXR1), essential to normal myogenesis, was highly expressed in RMS relative to other embryonal tumors. This current study explored FXR1 expression across RMS disease characteristics and treatment response. METHODS RMS patients ≤18 years (1980-2019; n = 152) were categorized according to tumor histology, PAX/FOXO1 translocation, and vital status. FXR1 protein expression was compared before and after chemotherapy. Impact of FXR1 expression on relapse-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed. RESULTS FXR1 was most intensely expressed in the cytosol of undifferentiated rhabdomyoblasts. At diagnosis, FXR1 expression was ubiquitous and strong across all disease characteristics and foremost associated with worse RFS in translocation-positive patients (p = 0.0411). Among embryonal and translocation-negative RMS, survivors showed a significantly greater decrease in FXR1 expression after chemotherapy (p < 0.001) compared to decedents (p = 0.8). In contrast, alveolar and translocation-positive RMS specimens showed insignificant changes in FXR1 expression across therapy. As expected, alveolar histology, translocation presence, stage, and clinical group associated with worse survival. CONCLUSIONS FXR1 was expressed strongly across RMS specimens at diagnosis regardless of disease or patient characteristics, and particularly in undifferentiated cells. Reduction in FXR1 expression after chemotherapy associated with improved survival for embryonal and translocation-negative RMS patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark C Xu
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - M Owais Ghani
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Annie Apple
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Heidi Chen
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Martin Whiteside
- Office of Cancer Surveillance, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Scott C Borinstein
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Hernan Correa
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Harold N Lovvorn
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
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33
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Zahnreich S, Schmidberger H. Childhood Cancer: Occurrence, Treatment and Risk of Second Primary Malignancies. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13112607. [PMID: 34073340 PMCID: PMC8198981 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13112607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer represents the leading cause of disease-related death and treatment-associated morbidity in children with an increasing trend in recent decades worldwide. Nevertheless, the 5-year survival of childhood cancer patients has been raised impressively to more than 80% during the past decades, primarily attributed to improved diagnostic technologies and multiagent cytotoxic regimens. This strong benefit of more efficient tumor control and prolonged survival is compromised by an increased risk of adverse and fatal late sequelae. Long-term survivors of pediatric tumors are at the utmost risk for non-carcinogenic late effects such as cardiomyopathies, neurotoxicity, or pneumopathies, as well as the development of secondary primary malignancies as the most detrimental consequence of genotoxic chemo- and radiotherapy. Promising approaches to reducing the risk of adverse late effects in childhood cancer survivors include high precision irradiation techniques like proton radiotherapy or non-genotoxic targeted therapies and immune-based treatments. However, to date, these therapies are rarely used to treat pediatric cancer patients and survival rates, as well as incidences of late effects, have changed little over the past two decades in this population. Here we provide an overview of the epidemiology and etiology of childhood cancers, current developments for their treatment, and therapy-related adverse late health consequences with a special focus on second primary malignancies.
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34
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Wang D, Jiang W, Kim CK, Bokesch HR, Woldemichael GM, Gryder BE, Shern JF, Khan J, O'Keefe BR, Beutler JA, Gustafson KR. Neopetrothiazide: An Intriguing Pentacyclic Thiazide Alkaloid from the Sponge Neopetrosia sp. Org Lett 2021; 23:3278-3281. [PMID: 33848174 PMCID: PMC9341131 DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.1c00743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Neopetrothiazide (1), a pentacyclic isoquinoline quinone, was isolated from a Neopetrosia sp. sponge. The structure elucidation was facilitated by utilizing long-range heteronuclear single quantum multiple bond correlation (LR-HSQMBC) and heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) pulse sequences optimized to detect four- and five-bond 1H-13C heteronuclear correlations. These NMR experiments can help assign proton-deficient structural motifs like neopetrothiazide (1), which has 14 contiguous nonprotonated centers (C, N, and S). Neopetrothiazide (1), with an unprecedented thiazide-fused structural scaffold, is the first natural product containing a thiazide moiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongdong Wang
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Wei Jiang
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Marine Science & Technology Institute, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225127, People's Republic of China
| | - Chang-Kwon Kim
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Heidi R Bokesch
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Basic Science Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Girma M Woldemichael
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Basic Science Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
| | - John F Shern
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Barry R O'Keefe
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Natural Products Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21701-1201, United States
| | - John A Beutler
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Kirk R Gustafson
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
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35
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Novel GATA6-FOXO1 fusions in a subset of epithelioid hemangioma. Mod Pathol 2021; 34:934-941. [PMID: 33318580 PMCID: PMC8076054 DOI: 10.1038/s41379-020-00723-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Revised: 11/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The genetic hallmark of epithelioid hemangioma (EH) is the presence of recurrent gene fusions involving FOS and FOSB transcription factors, which occur in one-third of the cases. Certain clinical, pathologic, and genotypic correlations have been described, with FOS-related fusions being more often detected in skeletal and cellular variants of EH, while FOSB gene rearrangements are more commonly associated with atypical histologic features and penile location. These fusions are infrequently detected in the cutaneous or head and neck EH. Overall, two-thirds of EH lack these canonical fusions and remain difficult to classify, especially when associated with atypical features and/or clinical presentations. Triggered by an index case of an intravascular soft tissue EH with a novel GATA6-FOXO1 gene fusion by targeted RNA sequencing (Archer® FusionPlex® Sarcoma Panel), we have investigated 27 additional EH cases negative for FOS and FOSB gene rearrangements for this novel abnormality to determine its recurrent potential, and its association with clinical and pathologic features. Four additional EH cases were found to display GATA6-FOXO1 fusions (18%). There were three females and two males, with a mean age of 32 years old. Three lesions occurred in the head and neck (dura, nasopharyngeal, and cheek), one in the back and one in the leg. Two of these lesions were cutaneous and one was intravascular in the subcutis of the leg. Microscopically, the tumors showed a variegated morphology, with alternating vasoformative and solid components, extravasated red blood cells and mild to moderate cytologic atypia. None showed brisk mitotic activity or necrosis. Tumors were negative for FOS and FOSB by immunohistochemistry. In conclusion, we report a new GATA6-FOXO1 fusion in a subset of EH, with a predilection for skin, and head and neck location. The relationship of this novel molecular subset with the more common FOS/FOSB fusion-positive EH remains to be determined.
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36
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Fusion transcript discovery using RNA sequencing in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimen. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 2021; 160:103303. [DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2021.103303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2020] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
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37
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Kubo H, Yagyu S, Nakamura K, Yamashima K, Tomida A, Kikuchi K, Iehara T, Nakazawa Y, Hosoi H. Development of non-viral, ligand-dependent, EPHB4-specific chimeric antigen receptor T cells for treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma. MOLECULAR THERAPY-ONCOLYTICS 2021; 20:646-658. [PMID: 33816783 PMCID: PMC7985479 DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2021.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Ephrin type-B receptor 4 (EPHB4), expressed in tumors including rhabdomyosarcoma, is a suitable target for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. Ligand-independent activation of EPHB4 causes cell proliferation and malignant transformation in rhabdomyosarcoma, whereas ligand-dependent stimulation of EPHB4 induces apoptosis in rhabdomyosarcoma. Therefore, we hypothesized that ligand-based, EPHB4-specific CAR-T cells may kill rhabdomyosarcoma cells without stimulating downstream cell proliferation mechanisms. We developed novel CAR-T cells by targeting EPHB4 via EPHRIN B2, a natural ligand of EPHB4. The generation of EPHB4-CAR-T cells via piggyBac (PB) transposon-based gene transfer resulted in sufficient T cell expansion and CAR positivity (78.5% ± 5.9%). PB-EPHB4-CAR-T cells displayed a dominant stem cell memory fraction (59.4% ± 7.2%) as well as low PD-1 expression (0.60% ± 0.21%) after 14 days of expansion. The PB-EPHB4-CAR-T cells inhibited EPHB4-positive tumor cells without activating cell proliferation downstream of EPHB4, even after multiple tumor re-challenges and suppressed tumor growth in xenograft-bearing mice. Therefore, PB-EPHB4-CAR-T cells possess a memory-rich fraction without early T cell exhaustion and show potential as promising therapeutic agents for treating rhabdomyosarcoma and other EPHB4-positive tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Kubo
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Shigeki Yagyu
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Kayoko Nakamura
- Department of Pediatrics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan
| | - Kumiko Yamashima
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Akimasa Tomida
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Ken Kikuchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Tomoko Iehara
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Yozo Nakazawa
- Department of Pediatrics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.,Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Japan
| | - Hajime Hosoi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
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38
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Codenotti S, Marampon F, Triggiani L, Bonù ML, Magrini SM, Ceccaroli P, Guescini M, Gastaldello S, Tombolini V, Poliani PL, Asperti M, Poli M, Monti E, Fanzani A. Caveolin-1 promotes radioresistance in rhabdomyosarcoma through increased oxidative stress protection and DNA repair. Cancer Lett 2021; 505:1-12. [PMID: 33610729 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2021.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this work was to investigate whether Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a membrane scaffolding protein widely implicated in cancer, may play a role in radiation response in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a pediatric soft tissue tumor. For this purpose, we employed human RD cells in which Cav-1 expression was stably increased via gene transfection. After radiation treatment, we observed that Cav-1 limited cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and enhanced resistance to cell senescence and apoptosis via reduction of p21Cip1/Waf1, p16INK4a and Caspase-3 cleavage. After radiotherapy, Cav-1-mediated cell radioresistance was characterized by low accumulation of H2AX foci, as confirmed by Comet assay, marked neutralization of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and enhanced DNA repair via activation of ATM, Ku70/80 complex and DNA-PK. We found that Cav-1-overexpressing RD cells, already under basal conditions, had higher glutathione (GSH) content and greater catalase expression, which conferred protection against acute treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, pre-treatment of Cav-1-overexpressing cells with PP2 or LY294002 compounds restored the sensitivity to radiation treatment, indicating a role for Src-kinases and Akt pathways in Cav-1-mediated radioresistance. These findings were confirmed using radioresistant RD and RH30 lines generated by hypofractionated radiotherapy protocol, which showed marked increase of Cav-1, catalase and Akt, and sensitivity to PP2 and LY294002 treatment. In conclusion, these data suggest that concerted activity of Cav-1 and catalase, in cooperation with activation of Src-kinase and Akt pathways, may represent a network of vital mechanisms that allow irradiated RMS cells to evade cell death induced by oxidative stress and DNA damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Codenotti
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Francesco Marampon
- Department of Pediatrics, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Department of Radiotherapy, Policlinico Umberto I, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Luca Triggiani
- Radiation Oncology Department, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Marco Lorenzo Bonù
- Radiation Oncology Department, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Stefano Maria Magrini
- Radiation Oncology Department, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Paola Ceccaroli
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Michele Guescini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Stefano Gastaldello
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Precision Medicine Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Laishan District, Guanhai Road 346, Yantai, Shandong Province, 264003 China
| | - Vincenzo Tombolini
- Department of Pediatrics, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Department of Radiotherapy, Policlinico Umberto I, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Pietro Luigi Poliani
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Michela Asperti
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Maura Poli
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Eugenio Monti
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Alessandro Fanzani
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
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Singh S, Abu-Zaid A, Lin W, Low J, Abdolvahabi A, Jin H, Wu Q, Cooke B, Fang J, Bowling J, Vaithiyalingam S, Currier D, Yun MK, Fernando DM, Maier J, Tillman H, Bulsara P, Lu Z, Das S, Shelat A, Li Z, Young B, Lee R, Rankovic Z, Murphy AJ, White SW, Davidoff AM, Chen T, Yang J. 17-DMAG dually inhibits Hsp90 and histone lysine demethylases in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. iScience 2020; 24:101996. [PMID: 33490904 PMCID: PMC7811140 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Histone lysine demethylases (KDMs) play critical roles in oncogenesis and therefore may be effective targets for anticancer therapy. Using a time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer demethylation screen assay, in combination with multiple orthogonal validation approaches, we identified geldanamycin and its analog 17-DMAG as KDM inhibitors. In addition, we found that these Hsp90 inhibitors increase degradation of the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) driver oncoprotein PAX3-FOXO1 and induce the repressive epigenetic mark H3K9me3 and H3K36me3 at genomic loci of PAX3-FOXO1 targets. We found that as monotherapy 17-DMAG significantly inhibits expression of PAX3-FOXO1 target genes and multiple oncogenic pathways, induces a muscle differentiation signature, delays tumor growth and extends survival in aRMS xenograft mouse models. The combination of 17-DMAG with conventional chemotherapy significantly enhances therapeutic efficacy, indicating that targeting KDM in combination with chemotherapy may serve as a therapeutic approach to PAX3-FOXO1-positive aRMS. Identification of geldanamycin/17-DMAG as histone lysine demethylase inhibitors Geldanamycin/17-DMAG causes degradation of PAX3-FOXO1, an Hsp90 client Geldanamycin/17-DMAG induces epigenetic changes and targets PAX3-FOXO1 pathway 17-DMAG alone or combined with chemotherapy show potency to PAX3-FOXO1 xenografts
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivendra Singh
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Ahmed Abu-Zaid
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Wenwei Lin
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jonathan Low
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Alireza Abdolvahabi
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Hongjian Jin
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Qiong Wu
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Bailey Cooke
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Jie Fang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - John Bowling
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Sivaraja Vaithiyalingam
- Protein Technologies Center, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Duane Currier
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Mi-Kyung Yun
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Dinesh M Fernando
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Julie Maier
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Heather Tillman
- Department of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Purva Bulsara
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Zhaohua Lu
- Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Sourav Das
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Anang Shelat
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Zhenmei Li
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Brandon Young
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Richard Lee
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Zoran Rankovic
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew J Murphy
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Stephen W White
- Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Andrew M Davidoff
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
| | - Taosheng Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105, USA
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Huo B, Yang Y, Li M, Wan J, Zhang W, Yu B, Chen X. Pax3 inhibits Neuro-2a cells proliferation and neurite outgrowth. J Cell Mol Med 2020; 25:1252-1262. [PMID: 33336498 PMCID: PMC7812298 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Pax3 and Pax7 are closely related transcription factors that are widely expressed in the developing nervous system and somites. During the normal development in the central nervous system (CNS), Pax3 and Pax7 are mainly expressed in the dorsal part of the neural tube. Further analysis revealed that Pax3 and Pax7 shared redundant functions in the spinal cord development. However, it is still unknown whether Pax3 and Pax7 play a role in neuronal differentiation. In this study, Pax3 and Pax7 genes were overexpressed in Neuro‐2a, the mouse neuroblastoma cell line. CCK‐8 and EdU assay results showed that overexpression of Pax3 inhibited cell viability and proliferation of Neuro‐2a cells, whereas the overexpression of Pax7 had no significant difference on their cell viability and proliferation. Overexpression of Pax3 not only increased the percentage of cells in the S phase and G0/G1 phase, but also decreased that in the G2 phase. Moreover, the total neurite lengths of Neuro‐2a cells were significantly shorter in Pax3 overexpressed group than those in negative control group and showed no significant difference between Pax7 overexpressed group and negative control group. These results suggested that Pax3 not only inhibited the cell viability and proliferation but also affected the cell cycle and the neurite outgrowth of Neuro‐2a cells. RNA sequencing analysis showed up‐regulated genes in Pax3 overexpressed group were involved in cell cycle machinery, which may reveal the potential mechanism of Neuro‐2a cells proliferation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingqing Huo
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Manhui Li
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jun Wan
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China.,Greater Bay Biomedical Innocenter, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China.,Greater Bay Biomedical Innocenter, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Bo Yu
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiaofan Chen
- Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, China
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41
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Klouda T, Steele J, Weichert-Leahey N, Mack J, Subramaniam M. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma presenting as a pleural effusion: An atypical presentation of a malignancy. Pediatr Pulmonol 2020; 55:3231-3233. [PMID: 33085831 DOI: 10.1002/ppul.25110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Revised: 10/03/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Klouda
- Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Oncology Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jasmine Steele
- Department of Pathology, Oncology Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nina Weichert-Leahey
- Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jennifer Mack
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Meera Subramaniam
- Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Oncology Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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42
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Darwish C, Shim T, Sparks AD, Chillakuru Y, Strum D, Benito DA, Monfared A. Pediatric head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma: An analysis of treatment and survival in the United States (1975-2016). Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2020; 139:110403. [PMID: 33049553 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.110403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue head and neck sarcoma in children. Stringent analysis of survival data is imperative to optimize treatment. METHODS The National Cancer Database (NCDB, 2004-2016) and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER, 1975-2016) were queried for patients ages 0-19 with RMS of the head and neck. Survival trends were analyzed using univariable logistic regression and Chi-square pairwise comparisons. Survival by treatment was analyzed using log-rank tests, Kaplan Meier, and multivariable Cox-proportional hazards regression. RESULTS 1147 (63.3% age <10 years, 54.3% male) and 459 (71.4% age <10 years, 53.6% male) patients were identified in NCDB and SEER, respectively. In NCDB, embryonal (n = 625, 54.5%) and alveolar (n = 300, 26.2%) were the most common histology and nonparameningeal/non-orbital (n = 634, 55.3%), followed by parameningeal (n = 303, 26.4%) and orbital (n = 210, 18.3%) the most common location. Five-year overall survival (OS) was 70.3% with lower mortality risk for embryonal histology (adjusted HR [aHR] = 0.69, p = 0.0038). Orbital tumors had greatest survival (5-year OS = 92.4%) of all sites, and their mortality risk was higher with chemotherapy and radiation compared to surgery and radiation (aHR = 6.27, p = 0.0302). SEER analysis showed average increased survival by 4% per year (p < 0.0001), but no significant 5-year OS difference when comparing 1976-1980 and 2006-2010 (p = 0.0843). CONCLUSIONS Major prognostic factors for survival in childhood RMS of the head and neck were embryonal histology, orbital site, extent of disease, and use of SRT for orbital tumors. Larger population studies are required to demonstrate survival differences between treatment modalities for other sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Darwish
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Timothy Shim
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Andrew D Sparks
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Yeshwant Chillakuru
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - David Strum
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Daniel A Benito
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Ashkan Monfared
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA.
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43
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Kang U, Cartner LK, Wang D, Kim CK, Thomas CL, Woldemichael GM, Gryder BE, Shern JF, Khan J, Castello-Branco C, Sherer EC, Wang X, Regalado EL, Gustafson KR. Denigrins and Dactylpyrroles, Arylpyrrole Alkaloids from a Dactylia sp. Marine Sponge. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2020; 83:3464-3470. [PMID: 33151696 PMCID: PMC8942300 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Seven new arylpyrrole alkaloids (1-7), along with four known compounds, were isolated from an extract of a Dactylia sp. nov. marine sponge, and their structures were elucidated by interpretation of NMR and MS spectroscopic data. Denigrins D-G (1-4) have highly substituted pyrrole or pyrrolone rings in their core structures, while dactylpyrroles A-C (5-7) have tricyclic phenanthrene cores. Due to the proton-deficient nature of these scaffolds, key heteronuclear correlations from 1H-15N HMBC and LR-HSQMBC NMR experiments were used in the structure assignment of denigrin D (1). Dictyodendrin F (8), a previously described co-metabolite, inhibited transcription driven by the oncogenic PAX3-FOXO1 fusion gene with an IC50 value of 13 μM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unwoo Kang
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Laura K Cartner
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Dongdong Wang
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Chang-Kwon Kim
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Cheryl L Thomas
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Girma M Woldemichael
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
| | - Berkley E Gryder
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - John F Shern
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Javed Khan
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Cristiana Castello-Branco
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, United States
| | - Edward C Sherer
- Department of Analytical Research and Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, United States
| | - Xiao Wang
- Department of Analytical Research and Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, United States
| | - Erik L Regalado
- Department of Analytical Research and Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, United States
| | - Kirk R Gustafson
- Molecular Targets Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, United States
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Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive childhood mesenchymal tumor with two major molecular and histopathologic subtypes: fusion-positive (FP)RMS, characterized by the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion protein and largely of alveolar histology, and fusion-negative (FN)RMS, the majority of which exhibit embryonal tumor histology. Metastatic disease continues to be associated with poor overall survival despite intensive treatment strategies. Studies on RMS biology have provided some insight into autocrine as well as paracrine signaling pathways that contribute to invasion and metastatic propensity. Such pathways include those driven by the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion oncoprotein in FPRMS and signaling pathways such as IGF/RAS/MEK/ERK, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, cMET, FGFR4, and PDGFR in both FP and FNRMS. In addition, specific cytoskeletal proteins, G protein coupled receptors, Hedgehog, Notch, Wnt, Hippo, and p53 pathways play a role, as do specific microRNA. Paracrine factors, including secreted proteins and RMS-derived exosomes that carry cargo of protein and miRNA, have also recently emerged as potentially important players in RMS biology. This review summarizes the known factors contributing to RMS invasion and metastasis and their implications on identifying targets for treatment and a better understanding of metastatic RMS.
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45
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Gonzalez Curto G, Der Vartanian A, Frarma YEM, Manceau L, Baldi L, Prisco S, Elarouci N, Causeret F, Korenkov D, Rigolet M, Aurade F, De Reynies A, Contremoulins V, Relaix F, Faklaris O, Briscoe J, Gilardi-Hebenstreit P, Ribes V. The PAX-FOXO1s trigger fast trans-differentiation of chick embryonic neural cells into alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma with tissue invasive properties limited by S phase entry inhibition. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1009164. [PMID: 33175861 PMCID: PMC7682867 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The chromosome translocations generating PAX3-FOXO1 and PAX7-FOXO1 chimeric proteins are the primary hallmarks of the paediatric fusion-positive alveolar subtype of Rhabdomyosarcoma (FP-RMS). Despite the ability of these transcription factors to remodel chromatin landscapes and promote the expression of tumour driver genes, they only inefficiently promote malignant transformation in vivo. The reason for this is unclear. To address this, we developed an in ovo model to follow the response of spinal cord progenitors to PAX-FOXO1s. Our data demonstrate that PAX-FOXO1s, but not wild-type PAX3 or PAX7, trigger the trans-differentiation of neural cells into FP-RMS-like cells with myogenic characteristics. In parallel, PAX-FOXO1s remodel the neural pseudo-stratified epithelium into a cohesive mesenchyme capable of tissue invasion. Surprisingly, expression of PAX-FOXO1s, similar to wild-type PAX3/7, reduce the levels of CDK-CYCLIN activity and increase the fraction of cells in G1. Introduction of CYCLIN D1 or MYCN overcomes this PAX-FOXO1-mediated cell cycle inhibition and promotes tumour growth. Together, our findings reveal a mechanism that can explain the apparent limited oncogenicity of PAX-FOXO1 fusion transcription factors. They are also consistent with certain clinical reports indicative of a neural origin of FP-RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Line Manceau
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
| | - Lorenzo Baldi
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
| | - Selene Prisco
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
| | - Nabila Elarouci
- Programme Cartes d'Identité des Tumeurs, Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Causeret
- Université de Paris, Imagine Institute, Team Genetics and Development of the Cerebral Cortex, Paris, France
- Université de Paris, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, INSERM U1266, Paris, France
| | - Daniil Korenkov
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
| | - Muriel Rigolet
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM, EnVA, EFS, IMRB, Créteil, France
| | - Frédéric Aurade
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM, EnVA, EFS, IMRB, Créteil, France
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, UMRS974, Center for Research in Myology, Paris, France
| | - Aurélien De Reynies
- Programme Cartes d'Identité des Tumeurs, Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Contremoulins
- ImagoSeine core facility of Institut Jacques Monod and member of France-BioImaging, France
| | - Frédéric Relaix
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM, EnVA, EFS, IMRB, Créteil, France
| | - Orestis Faklaris
- ImagoSeine core facility of Institut Jacques Monod and member of France-BioImaging, France
| | - James Briscoe
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Vanessa Ribes
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
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Elfman J, Pham LP, Li H. The relationship between chimeric RNAs and gene fusions: Potential implications of reciprocity in cancer. J Genet Genomics 2020; 47:341-348. [PMID: 33008771 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2020.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin Elfman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904 USA
| | - Lam-Phong Pham
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904 USA
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904 USA; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904 USA.
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47
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Ouchi K, Miyachi M, Yagyu S, Kikuchi K, Kuwahara Y, Tsuchiya K, Iehara T, Hosoi H. Oncogenic role of HMGA2 in fusion-negative rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Cancer Cell Int 2020; 20:192. [PMID: 32489328 PMCID: PMC7247181 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-020-01282-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common pediatric soft tissue sarcoma. There are two subtypes, fusion gene-positive RMS (FP-RMS) and fusion gene-negative RMS (FN-RMS), depending on the presence of a fusion gene, either PAX3-FOXO1 or PAX7-FOXO1. These fusion genes are thought to be oncogenic drivers of FP-RMS. By contrast, the underlying mechanism of FN-RMS has not been thoroughly investigated. It has recently been shown that HMGA2 is specifically positive in pathological tissue from FN-RMS, but the role of HMGA2 in FN-RMS remains to be clarified. Methods In this study, we used FN-RMS cell lines to investigate the function of HMGA2. Gene expression, cell growth, cell cycle, myogenic differentiation, tumor formation in vivo, and cell viability under drug treatment were assessed. Results We found that HMGA2 was highly expressed in FN-RMS cells compared with FP-RMS cells and that knockdown of HMGA2 in FN-RMS cells inhibited cell growth and induced G1 phase accumulation in the cell cycle and myogenic differentiation. Additionally, we showed using both gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays that HMGA2 was required for tumor formation in vivo. Consistent with these findings, the HMGA2 inhibitor netropsin inhibited the cell growth of FN-RMS. Conclusions Our results suggest that HMGA2 has important role in the oncogenicity of FP-RMS and may be a potential therapeutic target in patients with FN-RMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazutaka Ouchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Mitsuru Miyachi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Shigeki Yagyu
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Ken Kikuchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Yasumichi Kuwahara
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan.,Department of Molecular Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Kunihiko Tsuchiya
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Tomoko Iehara
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
| | - Hajime Hosoi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan
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48
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A Review of FoxO1-Regulated Metabolic Diseases and Related Drug Discoveries. Cells 2020; 9:cells9010184. [PMID: 31936903 PMCID: PMC7016779 DOI: 10.3390/cells9010184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Revised: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
FoxO1 is a conserved transcription factor involved in energy metabolism. It is tightly regulated by modifications on its mRNA and protein and responds to environmental nutrient signals. FoxO1 controls the transcription of downstream genes mediating metabolic regulation. Dysfunction of FoxO1 pathways results in several metabolic diseases, including diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and atherosclerosis. Here, we summarize the mechanism of FoxO1 regulation behind these diseases and FoxO1-related drug discoveries.
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49
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Calvão J, Cardoso JC, Ramos L, Figueiredo A. Primary cutaneous alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in an adolescent - A challenging diagnosis. Pediatr Dermatol 2020; 37:184-186. [PMID: 31797424 DOI: 10.1111/pde.14055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Primary cutaneous alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is an extremely rare and highly aggressive soft tissue sarcoma that predominantly arises on the extremities and perineum of adolescents and young adults. Dermatologists should be aware of these tumors in order to promptly make the diagnosis and initiate treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Calvão
- Dermatovenereology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - José Carlos Cardoso
- Dermatovenereology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Leonor Ramos
- Dermatovenereology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Américo Figueiredo
- Dermatovenereology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal
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50
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Helm BR, Zhan X, Pandya PH, Murray ME, Pollok KE, Renbarger JL, Ferguson MJ, Han Z, Ni D, Zhang J, Huang K. Gene Co-Expression Networks Restructured Gene Fusion in Rhabdomyosarcoma Cancers. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10090665. [PMID: 31480361 PMCID: PMC6770752 DOI: 10.3390/genes10090665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma is subclassified by the presence or absence of a recurrent chromosome translocation that fuses the FOXO1 and PAX3 or PAX7 genes. The fusion protein (FOXO1-PAX3/7) retains both binding domains and becomes a novel and potent transcriptional regulator in rhabdomyosarcoma subtypes. Many studies have characterized and integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic differences among rhabdomyosarcoma subtypes that contain the FOXO1-PAX3/7 gene fusion and those that do not; however, few investigations have investigated how gene co-expression networks are altered by FOXO1-PAX3/7. Although transcriptional data offer insight into one level of functional regulation, gene co-expression networks have the potential to identify biological interactions and pathways that underpin oncogenesis and tumorigenicity. Thus, we examined gene co-expression networks for rhabdomyosarcoma that were FOXO1-PAX3 positive, FOXO1-PAX7 positive, or fusion negative. Gene co-expression networks were mined using local maximum Quasi-Clique Merger (lmQCM) and analyzed for co-expression differences among rhabdomyosarcoma subtypes. This analysis observed 41 co-expression modules that were shared between fusion negative and positive samples, of which 17/41 showed significant up- or down-regulation in respect to fusion status. Fusion positive and negative rhabdomyosarcoma showed differing modularity of co-expression networks with fusion negative (n = 109) having significantly more individual modules than fusion positive (n = 53). Subsequent analysis of gene co-expression networks for PAX3 and PAX7 type fusions observed 17/53 were differentially expressed between the two subtypes. Gene list enrichment analysis found that gene ontology terms were poorly matched with biological processes and molecular function for most co-expression modules identified in this study; however, co-expressed modules were frequently localized to cytobands on chromosomes 8 and 11. Overall, we observed substantial restructuring of co-expression networks relative to fusion status and fusion type in rhabdomyosarcoma and identified previously overlooked genes and pathways that may be targeted in this pernicious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan R Helm
- Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Xiaohui Zhan
- Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
- National-Regional Key Technology Engineering Laboratory for Medical Ultrasound, Guangdong Key Laboratory for Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Pankita H Pandya
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Mary E Murray
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Karen E Pollok
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Jamie L Renbarger
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Michael J Ferguson
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Zhi Han
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA
| | - Dong Ni
- National-Regional Key Technology Engineering Laboratory for Medical Ultrasound, Guangdong Key Laboratory for Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA.
| | - Kun Huang
- Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3082, USA.
- Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
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