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Li K, Liu Y, Ding Y, Zhang Z, Feng J, Hu J, Chen J, Lian Z, Chen Y, Hu K, Chen Z, Cai Z, Liu M, Pang X. BCL6 is regulated by the MAPK/ELK1 axis and promotes KRAS-driven lung cancer. J Clin Invest 2022; 132:161308. [PMID: 36377663 PMCID: PMC9663163 DOI: 10.1172/jci161308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutational activation of KRAS is a common oncogenic event in lung cancer, yet effective therapies are still lacking. Here, we identify B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) as a lynchpin in KRAS-driven lung cancer. BCL6 expression was increased upon KRAS activation in lung tumor tissue in mice and was positively correlated with the expression of KRAS-GTP, the active form of KRAS, in various human cancer cell lines. Moreover, BCL6 was highly expressed in human KRAS-mutant lung adenocarcinomas and was associated with poor patient survival. Mechanistically, the MAPK/ERK/ELK1 signaling axis downstream of mutant KRAS directly regulated BCL6 expression. BCL6 maintained the global expression of prereplication complex components; therefore, BCL6 inhibition induced stalling of the replication fork, leading to DNA damage and growth arrest in KRAS-mutant lung cancer cells. Importantly, BCL6-specific knockout in lungs significantly reduced the tumor burden and mortality in the LSL-KrasG12D/+ lung cancer mouse model. Likewise, pharmacological inhibition of BCL6 significantly impeded the growth of KRAS-mutant lung cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. In summary, our findings reveal a crucial role of BCL6 in promoting KRAS-addicted lung cancer and suggest BCL6 as a therapeutic target for the treatment of this intractable disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Li
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
- Joint Translational Science and Technology Research Institute, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanan Liu
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Yi Ding
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Zhengwei Zhang
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Juanjuan Feng
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Jiaxin Hu
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Jiwei Chen
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Zhengke Lian
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Yiliang Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Kewen Hu
- Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhi Chen
- Medical Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhenyu Cai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Mingyao Liu
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
| | - Xiufeng Pang
- Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences and
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Karantzelis N, Petropoulos M, De Marco V, Egan DA, Fish A, Christodoulou E, Will DW, Lewis JD, Perrakis A, Lygerou Z, Taraviras S. Small Molecule Inhibitor Targeting CDT1/Geminin Protein Complex Promotes DNA Damage and Cell Death in Cancer Cells. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:860682. [PMID: 35548337 PMCID: PMC9083542 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.860682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA replication initiation requires the loading of MCM2-7 complexes at the origins of replication during G1. Replication licensing renders chromatin competent for DNA replication and its tight regulation is essential to prevent aberrant DNA replication and genomic instability. CDT1 is a critical factor of licensing and its activity is controlled by redundant mechanisms, including Geminin, a protein inhibitor of CDT1. Aberrant CDT1 and Geminin expression have been shown to promote tumorigenesis in vivo and are also evident in multiple human tumors. In this study, we developed an in vitro AlphaScreen™ high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for the identification of small-molecule inhibitors targeting the CDT1/Geminin protein complex. Biochemical characterization of the most potent compound, AF615, provided evidence of specific, dose-dependent inhibition of Geminin binding to CDT1 both in-vitro and in cells. Moreover, compound AF615 induces DNA damage, inhibits DNA synthesis and reduces viability selectively in cancer cell lines, and this effect is CDT1-dependent. Taken together, our data suggest that AF615 may serve as a useful compound to elucidate the role of CDT1/Geminin protein complex in replication licensing and origin firing as well as a scaffold for further medicinal chemistry optimisation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michalis Petropoulos
- Department of General Biology, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
| | - Valeria De Marco
- Division of Biochemistry, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - David A Egan
- Division of Biochemistry, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Alexander Fish
- Division of Biochemistry, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - David W Will
- Chemical Biology Core Facility, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joe D Lewis
- Chemical Biology Core Facility, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anastassis Perrakis
- Division of Biochemistry, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Zoi Lygerou
- Department of General Biology, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
| | - Stavros Taraviras
- Department of Physiology, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
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Yang B, Zhou J, Wang F, Hu XW, Shi Y. Pyrazoline derivatives as tubulin polymerization inhibitors with one hit for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 inhibition. Bioorg Chem 2021; 114:105134. [PMID: 34246970 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2021.105134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
In this work, to check the effect of the transposition of the rings in typical patterns, a series of pyrazoline derivatives 3a-3t bearing the characteristic 3,4,5-trimethoxy phenyl and thiophene moieties were synthesized and evaluated as tubulin polymerization inhibitors. Basically, as the concise output of our design, a majority of the synthesized compounds showed potency in inhibiting the tubulin polymerization. The top hit, 3q, exhibited potent anti-proliferation activity on cancer cell lines. It was comparable on tubulin-polymerization inhibition with the positive control Colchicine but lower toxic. The VEGFR2 inhibitory potency was introduced occasionally. The flow cytometry assay confirmed the apoptotic procedure and the confocal imaging revealed the tubulin-microtubule dynamics pattern. The anti-cancer mechanism of 3q was similar to Colchicine but not exactly the same on forming multi-polar spindles. The docking simulation visualized the possible binding patterns of 3q into tubulin and VEGFR2, respectively. The results inferred that further investigations on the transposition of the rings might lead to the improvement of tubulin polymerization inhibitory activity and the steadily introduction of the VEGFR2 inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Yang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, China.
| | - Jiahua Zhou
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, China
| | - Fa Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, China
| | - Xiao-Wei Hu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276005, China
| | - Yujun Shi
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, China.
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Targeting the DNA replication stress phenotype of KRAS mutant cancer cells. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3656. [PMID: 33574444 PMCID: PMC7878884 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-83142-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutant KRAS is a common tumor driver and frequently confers resistance to anti-cancer treatments such as radiation. DNA replication stress in these tumors may constitute a therapeutic liability but is poorly understood. Here, using single-molecule DNA fiber analysis, we first characterized baseline replication stress in a panel of unperturbed isogenic and non-isogenic cancer cell lines. Correlating with the observed enhanced replication stress we found increased levels of cytosolic double-stranded DNA in KRAS mutant compared to wild-type cells. Yet, despite this phenotype replication stress-inducing agents failed to selectively impact KRAS mutant cells, which were protected by CHK1. Similarly, most exogenous stressors studied did not differentially augment cytosolic DNA accumulation in KRAS mutant compared to wild-type cells. However, we found that proton radiation was able to slow fork progression and preferentially induce fork stalling in KRAS mutant cells. Proton treatment also partly reversed the radioresistance associated with mutant KRAS. The cellular effects of protons in the presence of KRAS mutation clearly contrasted that of other drugs affecting replication, highlighting the unique nature of the underlying DNA damage caused by protons. Taken together, our findings provide insight into the replication stress response associated with mutated KRAS, which may ultimately yield novel therapeutic opportunities.
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