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Pagani G, Gandellini P. Cleavage and polyadenylation machinery as a novel targetable vulnerability for human cancer. Cancer Gene Ther 2024:10.1038/s41417-024-00770-y. [PMID: 38632357 DOI: 10.1038/s41417-024-00770-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
The role of alternative polyadenylation of mRNA in sustaining aggressive features of tumors is quite well established, as it is responsible for the 3'UTR shortening of oncogenes and subsequent relief from miRNA-mediated repression observed in cancer cells. However, the information regarding the vulnerability of cancer cells to the inhibition of cleavage and polyadenylation (CPA) machinery is very scattered. Only few recent reports show the antitumor activity of pharmacological inhibitors of CPSF3, one among CPA factors. More in general, the fact that deregulated CPA can be seen as a new hallmark of cancer and as a potential reservoir of novel therapeutic targets has never been formalized. Here, to extend our view on the potential of CPA inhibition (CPAi) approaches as anticancer therapies, we systematically tested the fitness of about one thousand cell lines of different cancer types upon depletion of all known CPA factors by interrogating genome-scale CRISPR and RNAi dependency maps of the DepMap project. Our analysis confirmed core and accessory CPA factors as novel vulnerabilities for human cancer, thus highlighting the potential of CPAi as anticancer therapy. Among all, CPSF1 appeared as a promising actionable candidate for drug development, as it showed low dependency scores pancancer and particularly in highly proliferating cells. In a personalized medicine perspective, the observed differential vulnerability of cancer cell lines to selected CPA factors may be used to build up signatures to predict response of individual human tumors to CPAi approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Pagani
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Gandellini
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy.
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Naro C, Antonioni A, Medici V, Caggiano C, Jolly A, de la Grange P, Bielli P, Paronetto MP, Sette C. Splicing targeting drugs highlight intron retention as an actionable vulnerability in advanced prostate cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2024; 43:58. [PMID: 38413979 PMCID: PMC10898177 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-024-02986-0] [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: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Advanced prostate cancer (PC) is characterized by insensitivity to androgen deprivation therapy and chemotherapy, resulting in poor outcome for most patients. Thus, advanced PC urgently needs novel therapeutic strategies. Mounting evidence points to splicing dysregulation as a hallmark of advanced PC. Moreover, pharmacologic inhibition of the splicing process is emerging as a promising option for this disease. METHOD By using a representative androgen-insensitive PC cell line (22Rv1), we have investigated the genome-wide transcriptomic effects underlying the cytotoxic effects exerted by three splicing-targeting drugs: Pladienolide B, indisulam and THZ531. Bioinformatic analyses were performed to uncover the gene structural features underlying sensitivity to transcriptional and splicing regulation by these treatments. Biological pathways altered by these treatments were annotated by gene ontology analyses and validated by functional experiments in cell models. RESULTS Although eliciting similar cytotoxic effects on advanced PC cells, Pladienolide B, indisulam and THZ531 modulate specific transcriptional and splicing signatures. Drug sensitivity is associated with distinct gene structural features, expression levels and cis-acting sequence elements in the regulated exons and introns. Importantly, we identified PC-relevant genes (i.e. EZH2, MDM4) whose drug-induced splicing alteration exerts an impact on cell survival. Moreover, computational analyses uncovered a widespread impact of splicing-targeting drugs on intron retention, with enrichment in genes implicated in pre-mRNA 3'-end processing (i.e. CSTF3, PCF11). Coherently, advanced PC cells displayed high sensitivity to a specific inhibitor of the cleavage and polyadenylation complex, which enhances the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs that are already in use for this cancer. CONCLUSIONS Our study uncovers intron retention as an actionable vulnerability for advanced PC, which may be exploited to improve therapeutic management of this currently incurable disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Naro
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
- GSTeP Organoids Research Core Facility, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Ambra Antonioni
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Vanessa Medici
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Cinzia Caggiano
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
- GSTeP Organoids Research Core Facility, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Pamela Bielli
- Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Paola Paronetto
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143, Rome, Italy
- University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Sette
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy.
- GSTeP Organoids Research Core Facility, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, 00168, Rome, Italy.
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Alahmari AA, Chaubey AH, Jonnakuti VS, Tisdale AA, Schwarz CD, Cornwell AC, Maraszek KE, Paterson EJ, Kim M, Venkat S, Gomez EC, Wang J, Gurova KV, Yalamanchili HK, Feigin ME. CPSF3 inhibition blocks pancreatic cancer cell proliferation through disruption of core histone mRNA processing. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2024; 30:281-297. [PMID: 38191171 PMCID: PMC10870380 DOI: 10.1261/rna.079931.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease with limited effective treatment options, potentiating the importance of uncovering novel drug targets. Here, we target cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 3 (CPSF3), the 3' endonuclease that catalyzes mRNA cleavage during polyadenylation and histone mRNA processing. We find that CPSF3 is highly expressed in PDAC and is associated with poor prognosis. CPSF3 knockdown blocks PDAC cell proliferation and colony formation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Chemical inhibition of CPSF3 by the small molecule JTE-607 also attenuates PDAC cell proliferation and colony formation, while it has no effect on cell proliferation of nontransformed immortalized control pancreatic cells. Mechanistically, JTE-607 induces transcriptional readthrough in replication-dependent histones, reduces core histone expression, destabilizes chromatin structure, and arrests cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. Therefore, CPSF3 represents a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulrahman A Alahmari
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aditi H Chaubey
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Venkata S Jonnakuti
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
- Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
| | - Arwen A Tisdale
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Carla D Schwarz
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Abigail C Cornwell
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Kathryn E Maraszek
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Emily J Paterson
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Minsuh Kim
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Swati Venkat
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Eduardo Cortes Gomez
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Jianmin Wang
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Katerina V Gurova
- Department of Cell Stress Biology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
| | - Hari Krishna Yalamanchili
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
- USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
| | - Michael E Feigin
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA
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Liu L, Yu AM, Wang X, Soles LV, Teng X, Chen Y, Yoon Y, Sarkan KSK, Valdez MC, Linder J, England W, Spitale R, Yu Z, Marazzi I, Qiao F, Li W, Seelig G, Shi Y. The anticancer compound JTE-607 reveals hidden sequence specificity of the mRNA 3' processing machinery. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2023; 30:1947-1957. [PMID: 38087090 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01161-x] [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: 12/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
JTE-607 is an anticancer and anti-inflammatory compound and its active form, compound 2, directly binds to and inhibits CPSF73, the endonuclease for the cleavage step in pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) 3' processing. Surprisingly, compound 2-mediated inhibition of pre-mRNA cleavage is sequence specific and the drug sensitivity is predominantly determined by sequences flanking the cleavage site (CS). Using massively parallel in vitro assays, we identified key sequence features that determine drug sensitivity. We trained a machine learning model that can predict poly(A) site (PAS) relative sensitivity to compound 2 and provide the molecular basis for understanding the impact of JTE-607 on PAS selection and transcription termination genome wide. We propose that CPSF73 and associated factors bind to the CS region in a sequence-dependent manner and the interaction affinity determines compound 2 sensitivity. These results have not only elucidated the mechanism of action of JTE-607, but also unveiled an evolutionarily conserved sequence specificity of the mRNA 3' processing machinery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Liu
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Center for Virus Research, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Angela M Yu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Xiuye Wang
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangdong, China
| | - Lindsey V Soles
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Xueyi Teng
- Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Yiling Chen
- Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Yoseop Yoon
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Kristianna S K Sarkan
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Marielle Cárdenas Valdez
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Johannes Linder
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Whitney England
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Robert Spitale
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Zhaoxia Yu
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Ivan Marazzi
- Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Feng Qiao
- Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Georg Seelig
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Paul G Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Yongsheng Shi
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Center for Virus Research, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
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