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Ferro A, Marinato GM, Mulargiu C, Marino M, Pasello G, Guarneri V, Bonanno L. The study of primary and acquired resistance to first-line osimertinib to improve the outcome of EGFR-mutated advanced Non-small cell lung cancer patients: the challenge is open for new therapeutic strategies. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 2024; 196:104295. [PMID: 38382773 DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2024.104295] [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: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The development of targeted therapy in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients has radically changed their clinical perspectives. Current first-line standard treatment for advanced disease is commonly considered third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), osimertinib. The study of primary and acquired resistance to front-line osimertinib is one of the main burning issues to further improve patients' outcome. Great heterogeneity has been depicted in terms of duration of clinical benefit and pattern of progression and this might be related to molecular factors including subtypes of EGFR mutations and concomitant genetic alterations. Acquired resistance can be categorized into two main classes: EGFR-dependent and EGFR-independent mechanisms and specific pattern of progression to first-line osimertinib have been demonstrated. The purpose of the manuscript is to provide a comprehensive overview of literature about molecular resistance mechanisms to first-line osimertinib, from a clinical perspective and therefore in relationship to emerging therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Ferro
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy
| | - Gian Marco Marinato
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Cristiana Mulargiu
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Monica Marino
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Giulia Pasello
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Valentina Guarneri
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Laura Bonanno
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Padua, Italy; Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
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Lawrence-Paul MR, Pan TC, Pant DK, Shih NNC, Chen Y, Belka GK, Feldman M, DeMichele A, Chodosh LA. Rare subclonal sequencing of breast cancers indicates putative metastatic driver mutations are predominately acquired after dissemination. Genome Med 2024; 16:26. [PMID: 38321573 PMCID: PMC10848417 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-024-01293-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evolutionary models of breast cancer progression differ on the extent to which metastatic potential is pre-encoded within primary tumors. Although metastatic recurrences often harbor putative driver mutations that are not detected in their antecedent primary tumor using standard sequencing technologies, whether these mutations were acquired before or after dissemination remains unclear. METHODS To ascertain whether putative metastatic driver mutations initially deemed specific to the metastasis by whole exome sequencing were, in actuality, present within rare ancestral subclones of the primary tumors from which they arose, we employed error-controlled ultra-deep sequencing (UDS-UMI) coupled with FFPE artifact mitigation by uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) to assess the presence of 132 "metastasis-specific" mutations within antecedent primary tumors from 21 patients. Maximum mutation detection sensitivity was ~1% of primary tumor cells. A conceptual framework was developed to estimate relative likelihoods of alternative models of mutation acquisition. RESULTS The ancestral primary tumor subclone responsible for seeding the metastasis was identified in 29% of patients, implicating several putative drivers in metastatic seeding including LRP5 A65V and PEAK1 K140Q. Despite this, 93% of metastasis-specific mutations in putative metastatic driver genes remained undetected within primary tumors, as did 96% of metastasis-specific mutations in known breast cancer drivers, including ERRB2 V777L, ESR1 D538G, and AKT1 D323H. Strikingly, even in those cases in which the rare ancestral subclone was identified, 87% of metastasis-specific putative driver mutations remained undetected. Modeling indicated that the sequential acquisition of multiple metastasis-specific driver or passenger mutations within the same rare subclonal lineage of the primary tumor was highly improbable. CONCLUSIONS Our results strongly suggest that metastatic driver mutations are sequentially acquired and selected within the same clonal lineage both before, but more commonly after, dissemination from the primary tumor, and that these mutations are biologically consequential. Despite inherent limitations in sampling archival primary tumors, our findings indicate that tumor cells in most patients continue to undergo clinically relevant genomic evolution after their dissemination from the primary tumor. This provides further evidence that metastatic recurrence is a multi-step, mutation-driven process that extends beyond primary tumor dissemination and underscores the importance of longitudinal tumor assessment to help guide clinical decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Lawrence-Paul
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Tien-Chi Pan
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Dhruv K Pant
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Natalie N C Shih
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Yan Chen
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - George K Belka
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Michael Feldman
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Angela DeMichele
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Lewis A Chodosh
- 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence, Philadelphia, USA.
- Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, USA.
- Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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Jani V, Sonavane U, Sawant S. Structural insights into the activation mechanism of phosphoinositide 3-kinase alpha. Comput Biol Chem 2024; 108:107994. [PMID: 38043374 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2023.107994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are lipid kinases known to regulate important cellular functions by phosphorylating the inositol ring of inositol-phospholipids (PtdIns) at 3' position. The PI3Kα is a heterodimer and the activation of the catalytic subunit (p110α) is regulated by its regulatory subunit (p85α). The current work deals with studying the activation mechanism of the PI3Kα using multi micro-second molecular dynamic simulations. Structural changes involved in activation mechanism is studied by gradually releasing the inhibitory effects of different domains of regulatory subunit namely, n-terminal SH2 (nSH2) and inter SH2 (iSH2). The observation shows that even in the presence of n-terminal and inter SH2 domain (niSH2) of regulatory subunit, the catalytic domain has some intrinsic activation activity and the presence of c-terminal SH2 (cSH2) domain may be required for complete inhibition. The release of nSH2 domain leads to loss of interactions between iSH2 domain (regulatory subunit) and C2 and kinase domain (catalytic subunit). The study shows that early events in the activation mechanism involve the movement of the ABD domain of the catalytic subunit along with the linker region between ABD and RBD region which may lead to movement of ABD closer to the CLobe of the kinase domain. This movement is essentially as it triggers the rearrangement of CLobe especially the catalytic loop and activation loop which bring catalytic important residues closer to ATP and PIP2(phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate). Water mediated interaction analysis reveal that water may be playing an important role in the transfer of phosphate from ATP to PIP2. The study shows that initial signal for release of inhibitory effect of the regulatory subunit might be propagated through the linker region between ABD and RBD through allosteric effect to different regions of the protein. These understanding of early events during the activation mechanism may help in the design of better therapeutic targeting PI3K.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinod Jani
- HPC-M&BA group, Centre for Development of Advanced computing, Pune 411008, India; Bioinformatics centre, SSP University, Pune 411007, India
| | - Uddhavesh Sonavane
- HPC-M&BA group, Centre for Development of Advanced computing, Pune 411008, India.
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Versini R, Sritharan S, Aykac Fas B, Tubiana T, Aimeur SZ, Henri J, Erard M, Nüsse O, Andreani J, Baaden M, Fuchs P, Galochkina T, Chatzigoulas A, Cournia Z, Santuz H, Sacquin-Mora S, Taly A. A Perspective on the Prospective Use of AI in Protein Structure Prediction. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:26-41. [PMID: 38124369 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01361] [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: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
AlphaFold2 (AF2) and RoseTTaFold (RF) have revolutionized structural biology, serving as highly reliable and effective methods for predicting protein structures. This article explores their impact and limitations, focusing on their integration into experimental pipelines and their application in diverse protein classes, including membrane proteins, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), and oligomers. In experimental pipelines, AF2 models help X-ray crystallography in resolving the phase problem, while complementarity with mass spectrometry and NMR data enhances structure determination and protein flexibility prediction. Predicting the structure of membrane proteins remains challenging for both AF2 and RF due to difficulties in capturing conformational ensembles and interactions with the membrane. Improvements in incorporating membrane-specific features and predicting the structural effect of mutations are crucial. For intrinsically disordered proteins, AF2's confidence score (pLDDT) serves as a competitive disorder predictor, but integrative approaches including molecular dynamics (MD) simulations or hydrophobic cluster analyses are advocated for accurate dynamics representation. AF2 and RF show promising results for oligomeric models, outperforming traditional docking methods, with AlphaFold-Multimer showing improved performance. However, some caveats remain in particular for membrane proteins. Real-life examples demonstrate AF2's predictive capabilities in unknown protein structures, but models should be evaluated for their agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, AF2 models can be used complementarily with MD simulations. In this Perspective, we propose a "wish list" for improving deep-learning-based protein folding prediction models, including using experimental data as constraints and modifying models with binding partners or post-translational modifications. Additionally, a meta-tool for ranking and suggesting composite models is suggested, driving future advancements in this rapidly evolving field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphaelle Versini
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Sujith Sritharan
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Burcu Aykac Fas
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Thibault Tubiana
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Sana Zineb Aimeur
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut de Chimie Physique, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - Julien Henri
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie, Computationnelle et Quantitative UMR 7238, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Marie Erard
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut de Chimie Physique, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - Oliver Nüsse
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut de Chimie Physique, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - Jessica Andreani
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marc Baaden
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Patrick Fuchs
- Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, Laboratoire des Biomolécules, LBM, 75005 Paris, France
- Université de Paris, UFR Sciences du Vivant, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Tatiana Galochkina
- Université Paris Cité and Université des Antilles and Université de la Réunion, INSERM, BIGR, F-75014 Paris, France
| | - Alexios Chatzigoulas
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
| | - Hubert Santuz
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Sophie Sacquin-Mora
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Antoine Taly
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS (UPR9080), Université Paris Cité, F-75005 Paris, France
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Anderson WJ, Mariño-Enríquez A, Trpkov K, Hornick JL, Nucci MR, Dickson BC, Fletcher CDM. Expanding the Clinicopathologic and Molecular Spectrum of Lipoblastoma-Like Tumor in a Series of 28 Cases. Mod Pathol 2023; 36:100252. [PMID: 37355153 DOI: 10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100252] [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: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Lipoblastoma-like tumor (LLT) is a rare adipocytic neoplasm with a predilection for the vulva. Since 2002, <30 cases have been reported, characterizing it as an indolent tumor that may sometimes recur locally. Diagnosis can be challenging due to its rarity and morphologic overlap with other adipocytic tumors. Thus far, there are no specific molecular or immunohistochemical features to aid in the diagnosis of LLT. Recent case reports have described LLT arising at other sites, including the spermatic cord and gluteal region, suggesting wider anatomical distribution. We present a large series of LLT to further characterize its clinicopathologic and molecular features. Twenty-eight cases of LLT were retrieved from departmental and consult archives (including 8 from a prior series). The cohort comprised 28 patients (8 males, 20 females) with a median age of 28 years (range: 1-80 years). There were 17 primary LLT of the vulva. Other anatomical sites included the scrotum (n = 3), spermatic cord (n = 2), inguinal region (n = 2), limbs (n = 2), pelvis (n = 1), and retroperitoneum (n = 1). Median tumor size was 6.0 cm (range: 1.8-30.0 cm). The tumors had a lobulated architecture and were typically composed of adipocytes, lipoblasts, and spindle cells in a myxoid stroma with prominent thin-walled vessels. Using immunohistochemistry, a subset showed loss of Rb expression (12/23 of samples). Follow-up in 15 patients (median: 56 months) revealed 8 patients with local recurrence and 1 patient with metastases to the lung/pleura and breasts. Targeted DNA sequencing revealed a simple genomic profile with limited copy number alterations and low mutational burden. No alterations in RB1 were identified. The metastatic LLT showed concurrent pathogenic PIK3CA and MTOR activating mutations, both in the primary and in the lung/pleural metastasis; the latter also harbored TERT promoter mutation. One tumor had a pathogenic TSC1 mutation, and one tumor showed 2-copy deletion of CDKN2A, CDKN2B, and MTAP. No biologically significant variants were identified in 8 tumors. No gene fusions were identified by RNA sequencing in 4 tumors successfully sequenced. This study expands the clinicopathologic spectrum of LLT, highlighting its wider anatomical distribution and potential for occasional metastasis. Molecularly, we identified activating mutations in the PI3K-MTOR signaling pathway in 2 tumors, which may contribute to exceptional aggressive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- William J Anderson
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Adrian Mariño-Enríquez
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kiril Trpkov
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jason L Hornick
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Marisa R Nucci
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Brendan C Dickson
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Christopher D M Fletcher
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
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Jung JH, Yang DQ, Song H, Wang X, Wu X, Kim KP, Pandey A, Byeon SK. Characterization of Lipid Alterations by Oncogenic PIK3CA Mutations Using Untargeted Lipidomics in Breast Cancer. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2023; 27:327-335. [PMID: 37463468 PMCID: PMC10366275 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2023.0076] [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] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Lipids play crucial biological roles in health and disease, including in cancers. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is a pivotal promoter of cell growth and proliferation in various types of cancer. The somatic mutations in PIK3CA, the gene coding for the catalytic subunit p110α of PI3K, are frequently present in cancer cells, including breast cancer. Although the most prominent mutants, represented by single amino acid substitutions in the helical domain in exon 9 (E545K) and the kinase domain in exon 20 (H1047R) are known to cause a gain of PI3K function, activate AKT signaling and induce oncogenic transformation, the effect of these mutations on cellular lipid profiles has not been studied. We carried out untargeted lipidomics using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to detect the lipid alterations in mammary gland epithelial MCF10A cells with isogenic knockin of these mutations. A total of 536 species of lipids were analyzed. We found that the levels of monosialogangliosides, signaling molecules known to enhance cell motility through PI3K/AKT pathway, were significantly higher in both mutants. In addition, triglycerides and ceramides, lipid molecules known to be involved in promoting lipid droplet production, cancer cell migration and invasion, were increased, whereas lysophosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylcholines that are known to inhibit cancer cell motility were decreased in both mutants. Our results provide novel insights into a potential link between altered lipid profile and carcinogenesis caused by the PIK3CA hotspot mutations. In addition, we suggest untargeted lipidomics offers prospects for precision/personalized medicine by unpacking new molecular substrates of cancer biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae Hun Jung
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, South Korea
| | - Da-Qing Yang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Hongming Song
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Xiangyu Wang
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Xinyan Wu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kwang Pyo Kim
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, South Korea
| | - Akhilesh Pandey
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Seul Kee Byeon
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Butler K, Banday AR. APOBEC3-mediated mutagenesis in cancer: causes, clinical significance and therapeutic potential. J Hematol Oncol 2023; 16:31. [PMID: 36978147 PMCID: PMC10044795 DOI: 10.1186/s13045-023-01425-5] [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: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptides (APOBECs) are cytosine deaminases involved in innate and adaptive immunity. However, some APOBEC family members can also deaminate host genomes to generate oncogenic mutations. The resulting mutations, primarily signatures 2 and 13, occur in many tumor types and are among the most common mutational signatures in cancer. This review summarizes the current evidence implicating APOBEC3s as major mutators and outlines the exogenous and endogenous triggers of APOBEC3 expression and mutational activity. The review also discusses how APOBEC3-mediated mutagenesis impacts tumor evolution through both mutagenic and non-mutagenic pathways, including by inducing driver mutations and modulating the tumor immune microenvironment. Moving from molecular biology to clinical outcomes, the review concludes by summarizing the divergent prognostic significance of APOBEC3s across cancer types and their therapeutic potential in the current and future clinical landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Butler
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - A Rouf Banday
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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Testicular germ cell tumors: Genomic alternations and RAS-dependent signaling. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 2023; 183:103928. [PMID: 36717007 DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.103928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are a common malignancy occurring in young adult men. The various genetic risk factors have been suggested to contribute to TGCT pathogenesis, however, they have a distinct mutational profile with a low rate of somatic point mutations, more frequent chromosomal gains, and aneuploidy. The most frequently mutated oncogenes in human cancers are RAS oncogenes, while their impact on testicular carcinogenesis and refractory disease is still poorly understood. In this mini-review, we summarize current knowledge on genetic alternations of RAS signaling-associated genes (the single nucleotide polymorphisms and point mutations) in this particular cancer type and highlight their link to chemotherapy resistance mechanisms. We also mention the impact of epigenetic changes on TGCT progression. Lastly, we propose a model for RAS-dependent signaling networks, regulation, cross-talks, and outcomes in TGCTs.
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Tsai HC, Pietrobon V, Peng M, Wang S, Zhao L, Marincola FM, Cai Q. Current strategies employed in the manipulation of gene expression for clinical purposes. J Transl Med 2022; 20:535. [PMID: 36401279 PMCID: PMC9673226 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03747-3] [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: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal gene expression level or expression of genes containing deleterious mutations are two of the main determinants which lead to genetic disease. To obtain a therapeutic effect and thus to cure genetic diseases, it is crucial to regulate the host's gene expression and restore it to physiological conditions. With this purpose, several molecular tools have been developed and are currently tested in clinical trials. Genome editing nucleases are a class of molecular tools routinely used in laboratories to rewire host's gene expression. Genome editing nucleases include different categories of enzymes: meganucleses (MNs), zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)- CRISPR associated protein (Cas) and transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALENs). Transposable elements are also a category of molecular tools which includes different members, for example Sleeping Beauty (SB), PiggyBac (PB), Tol2 and TcBuster. Transposons have been used for genetic studies and can serve as gene delivery tools. Molecular tools to rewire host's gene expression also include episomes, which are divided into different categories depending on their molecular structure. Finally, RNA interference is commonly used to regulate gene expression through the administration of small interfering RNA (siRNA), short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and bi-functional shRNA molecules. In this review, we will describe the different molecular tools that can be used to regulate gene expression and discuss their potential for clinical applications. These molecular tools are delivered into the host's cells in the form of DNA, RNA or protein using vectors that can be grouped into physical or biochemical categories. In this review we will also illustrate the different types of payloads that can be used, and we will discuss recent developments in viral and non-viral vector technology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Maoyu Peng
- Kite Pharma Inc, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA
| | - Suning Wang
- Kite Pharma Inc, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA
| | - Lihong Zhao
- Kite Pharma Inc, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA
| | | | - Qi Cai
- Kite Pharma Inc, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA.
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Kotzampasi DM, Premeti K, Papafotika A, Syropoulou V, Christoforidis S, Cournia Z, Leondaritis G. The orchestrated signaling by PI3Kα and PTEN at the membrane interface. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:5607-5621. [PMID: 36284707 PMCID: PMC9578963 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The oncogene PI3Kα and the tumor suppressor PTEN represent two antagonistic enzymatic activities that regulate the interconversion of the phosphoinositide lipids PI(4,5)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3 in membranes. As such, they are defining components of phosphoinositide-based cellular signaling and membrane trafficking pathways that regulate cell survival, growth, and proliferation, and are often deregulated in cancer. In this review, we highlight aspects of PI3Kα and PTEN interplay at the intersection of signaling and membrane trafficking. We also discuss the mechanisms of PI3Kα- and PTEN- membrane interaction and catalytic activation, which are fundamental for our understanding of the structural and allosteric implications on signaling at the membrane interface and may aid current efforts in pharmacological targeting of these proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danai Maria Kotzampasi
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece
- Department of Biology, University of Crete, Heraklion 71500, Greece
| | - Kyriaki Premeti
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
| | - Alexandra Papafotika
- Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
- Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology, Ioannina 45110, Greece
| | - Vasiliki Syropoulou
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
| | - Savvas Christoforidis
- Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
- Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology, Ioannina 45110, Greece
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece
| | - George Leondaritis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
- Institute of Biosciences, University Research Center of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
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11
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Menteş M, Karakuzulu BB, Uçar GB, Yandım C. Comparative molecular dynamics analyses on PIK3CA hotspot mutations with PI3Kα specific inhibitors and ATP. Comput Biol Chem 2022; 99:107726. [PMID: 35842959 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2022.107726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Revised: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
PI3K pathway is heavily emphasized in cancer where PIK3CA, which encodes for the p110α subunit of PI3Kα, presents itself as the second most common mutated gene. A lot of effort has been put in developing PI3K inhibitors, opening promising avenues for the treatment of cancer. Among these, PI3Kα specific inhibitor alpelisib was approved by FDA for breast cancer and other α-isoform specific inhibitors such as inavolisib and serabelisib reached clinical trials. However, the mode of action of these inhibitors on mutated PI3Kα and how they interact with mutant structures has not been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we are revealing the calculated interactions and binding affinities of these inhibitors within the context of PIK3CA hotspot mutations (E542K, E545K and H1047R) by employing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We performed principal component analysis to understand the motions of the protein complex during our simulations and also checked the correlated motions of all amino acids. Binding affinity calculations with MM-PBSA confirmed the consistent binding of alpelisib across mutations and revealed relatively higher affinities for inavolisib towards wild-type and H1047R mutant structures in comparison to other inhibitors. On the other hand, E542K mutation significantly impaired the interaction of inavolisib and serabelisib with PI3Kα. We also investigated the structural relationship of the natural ligand ATP with PI3Kα, and interestingly realized a significant reduction in binding affinity for the mutants, with potentially unexpected implications on the mechanisms that render these mutations oncogenic. Moreover, correlated motions of all residues were generally higher for ATP except the H1047R mutation which exhibited a distinguishable reduction. The results presented here could be guiding for pre-clinical and clinical studies of personalized medicine where individual mutations are a strong consideration point.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muratcan Menteş
- Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, 35330 Balçova, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Başak Buse Karakuzulu
- Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, 35330 Balçova, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Gönlüm Bahar Uçar
- Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, 35330 Balçova, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Cihangir Yandım
- Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, 35330 Balçova, İzmir, Turkey; Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG), Dokuz Eylül University Health Campus, 35340 İnciraltı, İzmir, Turkey.
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12
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Hall DCN, Benndorf RA. Aspirin sensitivity of PIK3CA-mutated Colorectal Cancer: potential mechanisms revisited. Cell Mol Life Sci 2022; 79:393. [PMID: 35780223 PMCID: PMC9250486 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04430-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
PIK3CA mutations are amongst the most prevalent somatic mutations in cancer and are associated with resistance to first-line treatment along with low survival rates in a variety of malignancies. There is evidence that patients carrying PIK3CA mutations may benefit from treatment with acetylsalicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin, particularly in the setting of colorectal cancer. In this regard, it has been clarified that Class IA Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3K), whose catalytic subunit p110α is encoded by the PIK3CA gene, are involved in signal transduction that regulates cell cycle, cell growth, and metabolism and, if disturbed, induces carcinogenic effects. Although PI3K is associated with pro-inflammatory cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and signaling, and COX-2 is among the best-studied targets of aspirin, the mechanisms behind this clinically relevant phenomenon are still unclear. Indeed, there is further evidence that the protective, anti-carcinogenic effect of aspirin in this setting may be mediated in a COX-independent manner. However, until now the understanding of aspirin's prostaglandin-independent mode of action is poor. This review will provide an overview of the current literature on this topic and aims to analyze possible mechanisms and targets behind the aspirin sensitivity of PIK3CA-mutated cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniella C N Hall
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy, Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Ralf A Benndorf
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy, Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.
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13
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Karagiannakos A, Adamaki M, Tsintarakis A, Vojtesek B, Fåhraeus R, Zoumpourlis V, Karakostis K. Targeting Oncogenic Pathways in the Era of Personalized Oncology: A Systemic Analysis Reveals Highly Mutated Signaling Pathways in Cancer Patients and Potential Therapeutic Targets. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14030664. [PMID: 35158934 PMCID: PMC8833388 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14030664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 01/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. One of the main hallmarks in cancer is the functional deregulation of crucial molecular pathways via driver genetic events that lead to abnormal gene expression, giving cells a selective growth advantage. Driver events are defined as mutations, fusions and copy number alterations that are causally implicated in oncogenesis. Molecular analysis on tissues that have originated from a wide range of anatomical areas has shown that mutations in different members of several pathways are implicated in different cancer types. In recent decades, significant efforts have been made to incorporate this knowledge into daily medical practice, providing substantial insight towards clinical diagnosis and personalized therapies. However, since there is still a strong need for more effective drug development, a deep understanding of the involved signaling mechanisms and the interconnections between these pathways is highly anticipated. Here, we perform a systemic analysis on cancer patients included in the Pan-Cancer Atlas project, with the aim to select the ten most highly mutated signaling pathways (p53, RTK-RAS, lipids metabolism, PI-3-Kinase/Akt, ubiquitination, b-catenin/Wnt, Notch, cell cycle, homology directed repair (HDR) and splicing) and to provide a detailed description of each pathway, along with the corresponding therapeutic applications currently being developed or applied. The ultimate scope is to review the current knowledge on highly mutated pathways and to address the attractive perspectives arising from ongoing experimental studies for the clinical implementation of personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandros Karagiannakos
- Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (A.K.); (M.A.); (A.T.)
| | - Maria Adamaki
- Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (A.K.); (M.A.); (A.T.)
| | - Antonis Tsintarakis
- Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (A.K.); (M.A.); (A.T.)
| | - Borek Vojtesek
- Research Centre for Applied Molecular Oncology (RECAMO), Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, 65653 Brno, Czech Republic; (B.V.); (R.F.)
| | - Robin Fåhraeus
- Research Centre for Applied Molecular Oncology (RECAMO), Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, 65653 Brno, Czech Republic; (B.V.); (R.F.)
- Inserm UMRS1131, Institut de Génétique Moléculaire, Université Paris 7, Hôpital St. Louis, F-75010 Paris, France
- Department of Medical Biosciences, Umeå University, 90185 Umeå, Sweden
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Vassilis Zoumpourlis
- Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (A.K.); (M.A.); (A.T.)
- Correspondence: (V.Z.); (K.K.)
| | - Konstantinos Karakostis
- Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (A.K.); (M.A.); (A.T.)
- Inserm UMRS1131, Institut de Génétique Moléculaire, Université Paris 7, Hôpital St. Louis, F-75010 Paris, France
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
- Correspondence: (V.Z.); (K.K.)
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14
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Lim M, Nguyen TH, Niland C, Reid LE, Jat PS, Saunus JM, Lakhani SR. Landscape of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Heterodimers in Brain Metastases. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14030533. [PMID: 35158800 PMCID: PMC8833370 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14030533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary HER2+ breast cancer patients are treated with agents that tag HER2+ tumour cells for elimination by the immune system, down-modulate HER2 activity and/or block the formation of HER2 dimers, including the neuregulin-1 receptor, HER2-HER3. HER2-targeted therapies prolong survival by lowering the risk of relapse, but do not prevent brain metastases. The reasons for this are not fully understood. We quantified HER2-HER3 dimers in 203 brain metastases, and 34 primary breast tumour samples. Dimer frequency was relatively high in brain metastases from breast, ovarian, lung and kidney cancers, and in brain metastases compared to patient-matched breast tumours; but did not reliably correlate with HER2/HER3 expression or activation. In in vitro experiments, pertuzumab failed to suppress HER2-HER3 dimers in HER2+ breast cancer cells provided with a saturating concentration of neuregulin-1. These findings may provide insights about the differences in intracranial versus extracranial efficacy of HER2-targeted therapies. Abstract HER2+ breast cancer patients have an elevated risk of developing brain metastases (BM), despite adjuvant HER2-targeted therapy. The mechanisms underpinning this reduced intracranial efficacy are unclear. We optimised the in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) for detection of the high-affinity neuregulin-1 receptor, HER2-HER3 (a key target of pertuzumab), in archival tissue samples and developed a pipeline for high throughput extraction of PLA data from fluorescent microscope image files. Applying this to a large BM sample cohort (n = 159) showed that BM from breast, ovarian, lung and kidney cancers have higher HER2-HER3 levels than other primary tumour types (melanoma, colorectal and prostate cancers). HER2 status, and tumour cell membrane expression of pHER2(Y1221/1222) and pHER3(Y1222) were positively, but not exclusively, associated with HER2-HER3 frequency. In an independent cohort (n = 78), BM had significantly higher HER2-HER3 levels than matching primary tumours (p = 0.0002). For patients who had two craniotomy procedures, HER2-HER3 dimer levels were lower in the consecutive lesion (n = 7; p = 0.006). We also investigated the effects of trastuzumab and pertuzumab on five different heterodimers in vitro: HER2-EGFR, HER2-HER4, HER2-HER3, HER3-HER4, HER3-EGFR. Treatment significantly altered the absolute frequencies of individual complexes in SKBr3 and/or MDA-MB-361 cells, but in the presence of neuregulin-1, the overall distribution was not markedly altered, with HER2-HER3 and HER2-HER4 remaining predominant. Together, these findings suggest that markers of HER2 and HER3 expression are not always indicative of dimerization, and that pertuzumab may be less effective at reducing HER2-HER3 dimerization in the context of excess neuregulin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malcolm Lim
- Faculty of Medicine, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia; (M.L.); (C.N.); (L.E.R.)
| | - Tam H. Nguyen
- Flow Cytometry and Imaging Facility, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia;
| | - Colleen Niland
- Faculty of Medicine, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia; (M.L.); (C.N.); (L.E.R.)
| | - Lynne E. Reid
- Faculty of Medicine, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia; (M.L.); (C.N.); (L.E.R.)
| | - Parmjit S. Jat
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease and MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK;
| | - Jodi M. Saunus
- Faculty of Medicine, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia; (M.L.); (C.N.); (L.E.R.)
- Correspondence: (J.M.S.); (S.R.L.)
| | - Sunil R. Lakhani
- Faculty of Medicine, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia; (M.L.); (C.N.); (L.E.R.)
- Pathology Queensland, Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia
- Correspondence: (J.M.S.); (S.R.L.)
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15
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Wong JKL, Aichmüller C, Schulze M, Hlevnjak M, Elgaafary S, Lichter P, Zapatka M. Association of mutation signature effectuating processes with mutation hotspots in driver genes and non-coding regions. Nat Commun 2022; 13:178. [PMID: 35013316 PMCID: PMC8748499 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27792-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer driving mutations are difficult to identify especially in the non-coding part of the genome. Here, we present sigDriver, an algorithm dedicated to call driver mutations. Using 3813 whole-genome sequenced tumors from International Cancer Genome Consortium, The Cancer Genome Atlas Program, and a childhood pan-cancer cohort, we employ mutational signatures based on single-base substitution in the context of tri- and penta-nucleotide motifs for hotspot discovery. Knowledge-based annotations on mutational hotspots reveal enrichment in coding regions and regulatory elements for 6 mutational signatures, including APOBEC and somatic hypermutation signatures. APOBEC activity is associated with 32 hotspots of which 11 are known and 11 are putative regulatory drivers. Somatic single nucleotide variants clusters detected at hypermutation-associated hotspots are distinct from translocation or gene amplifications. Patients carrying APOBEC induced PIK3CA driver mutations show lower occurrence of signature SBS39. In summary, sigDriver uncovers mutational processes associated with known and putative tumor drivers and hotspots particularly in the non-coding regions of the genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- John K L Wong
- Division of Molecular Genetics and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Christian Aichmüller
- Division of Molecular Genetics and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Markus Schulze
- Computational Oncology Group, Molecular Precision Oncology Program, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mario Hlevnjak
- Computational Oncology Group, Molecular Precision Oncology Program, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Shaymaa Elgaafary
- Gynecologic Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Precision Oncology Program at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Peter Lichter
- Division of Molecular Genetics and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Precision Oncology Program at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marc Zapatka
- Division of Molecular Genetics and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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16
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Marimuthu P, Gorle S, Karnati KR. Mechanistic Insights into SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibition Reveals Hotspot Residues. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:6053-6065. [PMID: 34842417 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) is a key enzyme responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication that causes the spread of the global pandemic novel coronavirus (nCOVID-19) infection. In the present study, multiple computational approaches such as docking, long-range molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and binding free-energy (BFE) estimation techniques were employed to investigate the mechanistic basis of the high-affinity inhibitors─GC-376, Calpain XII, and Calpain II (hereafter Calpain as Cal) from the literature─binding to Mpro. Redocking GC-376 and docking Cal XII and Cal II inhibitors to Mpro were able to reproduce all crucial interactions like the X-ray conformation. Subsequently, the apo (ligand-free) and three holo (ligand-bound) complexes were subjected to extensive MD simulations, which revealed that the ligand binding did not alter the overall Mpro structural features, whereas the heatmap analysis showed that the residues located in subsites S1 and S2, the catalytic dyad, and the 45TSEDMLN51 loop in Mpro exhibit a conformational deviation. Moreover, the BFE estimation method was used to elucidate the crucial thermodynamic properties, which revealed that Coulomb, solvation surface accessibility (Solv_SA), and lipophilic components contributed significant energies for complex formation. The decomposition of the total BFE to per-residue showed that H41, H163, M165, Q166, and Q189 residues contributed maximum energies. The overall results from the current investigation might be valuable for designing novel anti-Mpro inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parthiban Marimuthu
- Pharmaceutical Science Laboratory (PSL─Pharmacy) and Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory (SBL─Biochemistry), Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Turku, Finland
| | - Suresh Gorle
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
| | - Konda Reddy Karnati
- Department of Natural Sciences, Bowie State University, 14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie, Maryland 20715-9465, United States
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17
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Nussinov R, Zhang M, Maloney R, Tsai CJ, Yavuz BR, Tuncbag N, Jang H. Mechanism of activation and the rewired network: New drug design concepts. Med Res Rev 2021; 42:770-799. [PMID: 34693559 PMCID: PMC8837674 DOI: 10.1002/med.21863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Precision oncology benefits from effective early phase drug discovery decisions. Recently, drugging inactive protein conformations has shown impressive successes, raising the cardinal questions of which targets can profit and what are the principles of the active/inactive protein pharmacology. Cancer driver mutations have been established to mimic the protein activation mechanism. We suggest that the decision whether to target an inactive (or active) conformation should largely rest on the protein mechanism of activation. We next discuss the recent identification of double (multiple) same-allele driver mutations and their impact on cell proliferation and suggest that like single driver mutations, double drivers also mimic the mechanism of activation. We further suggest that the structural perturbations of double (multiple) in cis mutations may reveal new surfaces/pockets for drug design. Finally, we underscore the preeminent role of the cellular network which is deregulated in cancer. Our structure-based review and outlook updates the traditional Mechanism of Action, informs decisions, and calls attention to the intrinsic activation mechanism of the target protein and the rewired tumor-specific network, ushering innovative considerations in precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA.,Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Mingzhen Zhang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Ryan Maloney
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Chung-Jung Tsai
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Bengi Ruken Yavuz
- Department of Health Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Nurcan Tuncbag
- Department of Health Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.,Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.,Koc University Research Center for Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
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18
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Targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway in Lung Cancer: An Update Regarding Potential Drugs and Natural Products. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26134100. [PMID: 34279440 PMCID: PMC8271933 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26134100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers and has a high mortality rate. Due to its high incidence, the clinical management of the disease remains a major challenge. Several reports have documented a relationship between the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT)/ mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and lung cancer. The recognition of this pathway as a notable therapeutic target in lung cancer is mainly due to its central involvement in the initiation and progression of the disease. Interest in using natural and synthetic medications to target these signaling pathways has increased in recent years, with promising results in vitro, in vivo, and in clinical trials. In this review, we focus on the current understanding of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in tumor development. In addition to the signaling pathway, we highlighted the therapeutic potential of recently developed PI3K/AKT/mTOR inhibitors based on preclinical and clinical trials.
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19
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Nussinov R, Jang H, Gursoy A, Keskin O, Gaponenko V. Inhibition of Nonfunctional Ras. Cell Chem Biol 2021; 28:121-133. [PMID: 33440168 PMCID: PMC7897307 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Intuitively, functional states should be targeted; not nonfunctional ones. So why could drugging the inactive K-Ras4BG12Cwork-but drugging the inactive kinase will likely not? The reason is the distinct oncogenic mechanisms. Kinase driver mutations work by stabilizing the active state and/or destabilizing the inactive state. Either way, oncogenic kinases are mostly in the active state. Ras driver mutations work by quelling its deactivation mechanisms, GTP hydrolysis, and nucleotide exchange. Covalent inhibitors that bind to the inactive GDP-bound K-Ras4BG12C conformation can thus work. By contrast, in kinases, allosteric inhibitors work by altering the active-site conformation to favor orthosteric drugs. From the translational standpoint this distinction is vital: it expedites effective pharmaceutical development and extends the drug classification based on the mechanism of action. Collectively, here we postulate that drug action relates to blocking the mechanism of activation, not to whether the protein is in the active or inactive state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Attila Gursoy
- Department of Computer Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul 34450, Turkey
| | - Ozlem Keskin
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul 34450, Turkey
| | - Vadim Gaponenko
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.
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20
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Claeys A, Luijts T, Marchal K, Van den Eynden J. Low immunogenicity of common cancer hot spot mutations resulting in false immunogenic selection signals. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009368. [PMID: 33556087 PMCID: PMC7895404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is driven by somatic mutations that result in a cellular fitness advantage. This selective advantage is expected to be counterbalanced by the immune system when these driver mutations simultaneously lead to the generation of neoantigens, novel peptides that are presented at the cancer cell membrane via HLA molecules from the MHC complex. The presentability of these peptides is determined by a patient’s MHC genotype and it has been suggested that this results in MHC genotype-specific restrictions of the oncogenic mutational landscape. Here, we generated a set of virtual patients, each with an identical and prototypical MHC genotype, and show that the earlier reported HLA affinity differences between observed and unobserved mutations are unrelated to MHC genotype variation. We demonstrate how these differences are secondary to high frequencies of 13 hot spot driver mutations in 6 different genes. Several oncogenic mechanisms were identified that lower the peptides’ HLA affinity, including phospho-mimicking substitutions in BRAF, destabilizing tyrosine mutations in TP53 and glycine-rich mutational contexts in the GTP-binding KRAS domain. In line with our earlier findings, our results emphasize that HLA affinity predictions are easily misinterpreted when studying immunogenic selection processes. The diagnosis of a malignant tumor is preceded by a long process of tumor evolution, characterized by the gradual accumulation of driver mutations, genomic alterations that give cancer cells their typical growth advantage. This process is controlled by the immune system and understanding tumor-immune interactions is critical for the development of new anti-cancer therapies. Immune cells mainly respond to neoantigens, small mutated peptides that are presented at the cancer cell membrane by binding to the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). MHC genes are highly variable between individuals and it was recently suggested that an individual’s MHC genotype determines cancer susceptibility. In this study we used a computational approach and simulated a set of virtual cancer patients, based on the expected driver mutation frequencies and each with a similar prototypical MHC genotype. Using these simulations, we show that the earlier perceived signals are unrelated to the underlying MHC genotypes, but rather secondary to high frequencies of 13 driver mutations in 6 cancer genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne Claeys
- Department of Human Structure and Repair, Anatomy and Embryology Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tom Luijts
- Department of Human Structure and Repair, Anatomy and Embryology Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kathleen Marchal
- Department of Information Technology, IDLab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jimmy Van den Eynden
- Department of Human Structure and Repair, Anatomy and Embryology Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- * E-mail:
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21
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Zhang M, Jang H, Nussinov R. PI3K Driver Mutations: A Biophysical Membrane-Centric Perspective. Cancer Res 2021; 81:237-247. [PMID: 33046444 PMCID: PMC7855922 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-20-0911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Revised: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Ras activates its effectors at the membrane. Active PI3Kα and its associated kinases/phosphatases assemble at membrane regions enriched in signaling lipids. In contrast, the Raf kinase domain extends into the cytoplasm and its assembly is away from the crowded membrane surface. Our structural membrane-centric outlook underscores the spatiotemporal principles of membrane and signaling lipids, which helps clarify PI3Kα activation. Here we focus on mechanisms of activation driven by PI3Kα driver mutations, spotlighting the PI3Kα double (multiple) activating mutations. Single mutations can be potent, but double mutations are stronger: their combination is specific, a single strong driver cannot fully activate PI3K, and two weak drivers may or may not do so. In contrast, two strong drivers may successfully activate PI3K, where one, for example, H1047R, modulates membrane interactions facilitating substrate binding at the active site (km) and the other, for example, E542K and E545K, reduces the transition state barrier (ka), releasing autoinhibition by nSH2. Although mostly unidentified, weak drivers are expected to be common, so we ask here how common double mutations are likely to be and why PI3Kα with double mutations responds effectively to inhibitors. We provide a structural view of hotspot and weak driver mutations in PI3Kα activation, explain their mechanisms, compare these with mechanisms of Raf activation, and point to targeting cell-specific, chromatin-accessible, and parallel (or redundant) pathways to thwart the expected emergence of drug resistance. Collectively, our biophysical outlook delineates activation and highlights the challenges of drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhen Zhang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland.
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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22
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Soto P, Claflin IA, Bursott AL, Schwab-McCoy AD, Bartz JC. Cellular prion protein gene polymorphisms linked to differential scrapie susceptibility correlate with distinct residue connectivity between secondary structure elements. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2021; 39:129-139. [PMID: 31900058 PMCID: PMC7340567 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2019.1708794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The conformational conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) to the misfolded and aggregated isoform, termed scrapie prion protein (PrPSc), is key to the development of a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Although the conversion mechanism is not fully understood, the role of gene polymorphisms in varying susceptibilities to prion diseases is well established. In ovine, specific gene polymorphisms in PrPC alter prion disease susceptibility: the Valine136-Glutamine171 variant (Susceptible structure) displays high susceptibility to classical scrapie while the Alanine136-Arginine171 variant (Resistant structure) displays reduced susceptibility. The opposite trend has been reported in atypical scrapie. Despite the differentiation between classical and atypical scrapie, a complete understanding of the effect of polymorphisms on the structural dynamics of PrPC is lacking. From our structural bioinformatics study, we propose that polymorphisms locally modulate the network of residue interactions in the globular C-terminus of the ovine recombinant prion protein while maintaining the overall fold. Although the two variants we examined exhibit a densely connected group of residues that includes both β-sheets, the β2-α2 loop and the N-terminus of α-helix 2, only in the Resistant structure do most residues of α-helix 2 belong to this group. We identify the structural role of Valine136Alanine and Glutamine171Arginine: modulation of residue interaction networks that affect the connectivity between α-helix 2 and α-helix 3. We propose blocking interactions of residue 171 as a potential target for the design of therapeutics to prevent efficient PrPC misfolding. We discuss our results in the context of initial PrPC conversion and extrapolate to recently proposed PrPSc structures.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Soto
- Department of Physics, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178,Corresponding author: Patricia Soto, Creighton University – Department of Physics, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, Phone number: 402.280.3361, Fax: 402.280.2140,
| | - India A. Claflin
- Department of Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178
| | | | | | - Jason C. Bartz
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178
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23
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Ghalamkari S, Alavi S, Mianesaz H, Khosravian F, Bahreini A, Salehi M. A novel carcinogenic PI3Kα mutation suggesting the role of helical domain in transmitting nSH2 regulatory signals to kinase domain. Life Sci 2020; 269:118759. [PMID: 33189828 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Mutations in PIK3CA, which encodes p110α subunit of PI3K class IA enzymes, are highly frequent in breast cancer. Here, we aimed to probe mutations in exon 9 of PIK3CA and computationally simulate their function. MATERIALS AND METHODS PCR/HRM and PCR/sequencing were used for mutation detection in 40 breast cancer specimens. The identified mutations were queried via in silico algorithms to check the pathogenicity. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were utilized to assess the function of mutant proteins. KEY FINDINGS Three samples were found to harbor at least one of the E542K, E545K and L551Q mutations of which L551Q has not been reported previously. All mutations were confirmed to be pathogenic and MD simulations revealed their impact on protein function and regulation. The novel L551Q mutant dynamics was similar to that of previously found carcinogenic mutants, E542K and E545K. A functional role for the helical domain was also suggested by which the inhibitory signal of p85α is conducted to kinase domain via helical domain. Helical domain mutations lead to impairment of kinase domain allosteric regulation. Interestingly, our results show that p110α substrate binding pocket of kinase domain in mutants may have differential affinity for enzyme substrates, including anit-p110α drugs. SIGNIFICANCE The novel p110α L551Q mutation could have carcinogenic feature similar to previously known helical domain mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Safoura Ghalamkari
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Shahryar Alavi
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Hamidreza Mianesaz
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Farinaz Khosravian
- Cellular, Molecular and Genetics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Medical Genetics Research Center of Genome, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Amir Bahreini
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; KaryoGen, Isfahan, Iran.
| | - Mansoor Salehi
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Cellular, Molecular and Genetics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Medical Genetics Research Center of Genome, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
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Zhang M, Jang H, Nussinov R. Structural Features that Distinguish Inactive and Active PI3K Lipid Kinases. J Mol Biol 2020; 432:5849-5859. [PMID: 32918948 PMCID: PMC8916166 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
PI3K lipid kinases signal through the PI3K/Akt pathway, regulating cell growth and proliferation. While the structural features that distinguish between the active and inactive states of protein kinases are well established, that has not been the case for lipid kinases, and neither was the structural mechanism controlling the switch between the two states. Class I PI3Ks are obligate heterodimers with catalytic and regulatory subunits. Here, we analyze PI3K crystal structures. Structures with the nSH2 (inactive state) are featured by collapsed activation loop (a-loop) and an IN kinase domain helix 11 (kα11). In the active state, the a-loop is extended and kα11 in the OUT conformation. Our analysis suggests that the nSH2 domain in the regulatory subunit regulates activation, catalysis and autoinhibition through the a-loop. Inhibition, activation and catalytic scenarios are shared by class IA PI3Ks; the activation is mimicked by oncogenic mutations and the inhibition offers an allosteric inhibitor strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhen Zhang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
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25
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Vuong LD, Ta TV, Chu HH, Truong VL, Nguyen QN. PIK3CA mutation profiling in Vietnamese patients with breast cancer. Meta Gene 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mgene.2020.100709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022] Open
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26
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Shah OS, Soran A, Sahin M, Knapick BA, Ugras S, Celik E, Lucas PC, Lee AV. Identifying Genomic Alterations in Patients With Stage IV Breast Cancer Using MammaSeq: An International Collaborative Study. Clin Breast Cancer 2020; 21:210-217. [PMID: 33191115 DOI: 10.1016/j.clbc.2020.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identification of genomic alterations present in cancer patients may aid in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic target discovery. In this study, we aimed to identify clinically actionable variants present in stage IV breast cancer (BC) samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of BC (n = 41). DNA was sequenced using MammaSeq, a BC-specific next-generation sequencing panel targeting 79 genes and 1369 mutations. Ion Torrent Suite 4.0 was used to make variant calls on the raw data, and the resulting single nucleotide variants were annotated using the CRAVAT toolkit. Single nucleotide variations (SNVs) were filtered to remove common polymorphisms and germline variants. CNVkit was employed to identify copy number variations (CNVs). The Precision Medicine Knowledgebase (PMKB) and OncoKB Precision Oncology Database were used to associate clinical significance with the identified variants. RESULTS A total of 41 samples from Turkish patients with BC were sequenced (read depth of 94-13,340; median of 1529). These patients were diagnosed with various BC subtypes including invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, apocrine BC, and micropapillary BC. In total, 59 different alterations (49 SNVs and 10 CNVs) were identified. From these, 8 alterations (3 CNVs - ERBB2, FGFR1, and AR copy number gains and 5 SNVs - IDH1.R132H, TP53.E204∗, PI3KCA.E545K, PI3KCA.H1047R, and PI3KCA.R88Q) were identified to have some clinical significance by PMKB and OncoKB. Moreover, the top 5 genes with the most SNVs included PIK3CA, TP53, MAP3K1, ATM, and NCOR1. Additionally, copy number gains and losses were found in ERBB2, GRB7, IGFR1, AR, FGFR1, MYC, and IKBKB, and BRCA2, RUNX1, and RB1, respectively. CONCLUSION We identified 59 unique alterations in 38 genes in 41 stage IV BC tissue samples using MammaSeqTM. Eight of these alterations were found to have some clinical significance by OncoKB and PKMB. This study highlights the potential use of cancer specific next-generation sequencing panels in clinic to get better insight into the patient-specific genomic alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osama Shiraz Shah
- Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; Integrative Systems Biology Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | | | - Mustafa Sahin
- Department of General Surgery, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
| | | | - Serdar Ugras
- Department of Pathology, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
| | - Esin Celik
- Department of Pathology, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
| | - Peter C Lucas
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Adrian V Lee
- Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; Women's Cancer Research Center, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA; Institute for Precision Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.
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27
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Zhang M, Jang H, Nussinov R. PI3K inhibitors: review and new strategies. Chem Sci 2020; 11:5855-5865. [PMID: 32953006 PMCID: PMC7472334 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc01676d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The search is on for effective specific inhibitors for PI3Kα mutants. PI3Kα, a critical lipid kinase, has two subunits, catalytic and inhibitory. PIK3CA, the gene that encodes the p110α catalytic subunit is a highly mutated protein in cancer. Dysregulation of PI3Kα signalling is commonly associated with tumorigenesis and drug resistance. Despite its vast importance, only recently the FDA approved the first drug (alpelisib by Novartis) for breast cancer. A second (GDC0077), classified as PI3Kα isoform-specific, is undergoing clinical trials. Not surprisingly, these ATP-competitive drugs commonly elicit severe concentration-dependent side effects. Here we briefly review PI3Kα mutations, focus on PI3K drug repertoire and propose new, to-date unexplored PI3Kα therapeutic strategies. These include (1) an allosteric and orthosteric inhibitor combination and (2) taking advantage of allosteric rescue mutations to guide drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhen Zhang
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute at Frederick , Frederick , MD 21702 , USA . ; Tel: +1-301-846-5579
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute at Frederick , Frederick , MD 21702 , USA . ; Tel: +1-301-846-5579
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute at Frederick , Frederick , MD 21702 , USA . ; Tel: +1-301-846-5579
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry , Sackler School of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978 , Israel
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28
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Allostery in membrane proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 62:197-204. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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29
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Batalini F, Moulder SL, Winer EP, Rugo HS, Lin NU, Wulf GM. Response of Brain Metastases From PIK3CA-Mutant Breast Cancer to Alpelisib. JCO Precis Oncol 2020; 4:1900403. [PMID: 32923889 PMCID: PMC7446424 DOI: 10.1200/po.19.00403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Hope S Rugo
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
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30
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Galdadas I, Gervasio FL, Cournia Z. Unravelling the effect of the E545K mutation on PI3Kα kinase. Chem Sci 2020; 11:3511-3515. [PMID: 34703536 PMCID: PMC8493679 DOI: 10.1039/c9sc05903b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PI3Kα controls several cellular processes and its aberrant signalling is implicated in tumorigenesis. One of its hotspot mutations, E545K, increases PI3Kα lipid kinase activity, but its mode of action is only partially understood. Here, we perform biased and unbiased molecular dynamics simulations of PI3Kα and uncover, for the first time, the free energy landscape of the E545K PI3Kα mutant. We reveal the mechanism by which E545K leads to PI3Kα activation in atomic-level detail, which is considerably more complex than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Galdadas
- Department of Chemistry, University College London London WC1E 6BT UK
| | - Francesco Luigi Gervasio
- Department of Chemistry, University College London London WC1E 6BT UK
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London London WC1E 6BT UK
- Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva Geneva CH-1211 Switzerland
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens Athens 11527 Greece
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31
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Allosteric Activation of PI3Kα Results in Dynamic Access to Catalytically Competent Conformations. Structure 2020; 28:465-474.e5. [PMID: 32049032 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2020.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Class I phosphoinositide-3-kinases (PI3Ks) phosphorylate PIP2 at its 3' inositol position to generate PIP3, a second messenger that influences signaling cascades regulating cellular growth, survival, and proliferation. Previous studies have suggested that PI3Kα activation involves dislodging the p85α nSH2 domain from the p110α catalytic subunit by binding activated receptor tyrosine kinases. We carried out molecular dynamics simulations to determine, mechanistically and structurally, how PI3Kα conformations are influenced by physiological effectors and the nSH2 domain. We demonstrate that changes in protein dynamics mediated by allosteric regulation significantly increase the population of catalytically competent states without changing the enzyme ground-state structure. Furthermore, we demonstrate that modulation of active-site residue interactions with enzyme substrates can reciprocally influence nSH2 domain dynamics. Together, these results suggest that dynamic allostery plays a role in populating the catalytically competent conformation of PI3Kα, and provide a key platform for the design of novel chemotherapeutic PI3Kα inhibitors.
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32
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Georgoulia PS, Bjelic S, Friedman R. Deciphering the molecular mechanism of FLT3 resistance mutations. FEBS J 2020; 287:3200-3220. [PMID: 31943770 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) has been found to be mutated in ~ 30% of acute myeloid leukaemia patients. Small-molecule inhibitors targeting FLT3 that are currently approved or still undergoing clinical trials are subject to drug resistance due to FLT3 mutations. How these mutations lead to drug resistance is hitherto poorly understood. Herein, we studied the molecular mechanism of the drug resistance mutations D835N, Y842S and M664I, which confer resistance against the most advanced inhibitors, quizartinib and PLX3397 (pexidartinib), using enzyme kinetics and computer simulations. In vitro kinase assays were performed to measure the comparative catalytic activity of the native protein and the mutants, using a bacterial expression system developed to this aim. Our results reveal that the differential drug sensitivity profiles can be rationalised by the dynamics of the protein-drug interactions and perturbation of the intraprotein contacts upon mutations. Drug binding induced a single conformation in the native protein, whereas multiple conformations were observed otherwise (in the mutants or in the absence of drugs). The end-point kinetics measurements indicated that the three resistant mutants conferred catalytic activity that is at least as high as that of the reference without such mutations. Overall, our calculations and measurements suggest that the structural dynamics of the drug-resistant mutants that affect the active state and the increased conformational freedom of the remaining inactive drug-bound population are the two major factors that contribute to drug resistance in FLT3 harbouring cancer cells. Our results explain the mechanism of drug resistance mutations and can aid to the design of more effective tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sinisa Bjelic
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Ran Friedman
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
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Li X, Dai J, Ni D, He X, Zhang H, Zhang J, Fu Q, Liu Y, Lu S. Insight into the mechanism of allosteric activation of PI3Kα by oncoprotein K-Ras4B. Int J Biol Macromol 2019; 144:643-655. [PMID: 31816384 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Ras is a key member in the superfamily of small GTPase. Transforming between GTP-bound active state and GDP-bound inactive state in response to exogenous signals, Ras serves as a binary switch in various signaling pathways. One of its downstream effectors is phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase α (PI3Kα), which phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate into phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and mediates an array of important cellular activities including cell growth, migration and survival. Hyperactivation of PI3Kα induced by the Ras isoform K-Ras4B has been unveiled as a key event during the oncogenesis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, but the underlying mechanism of how K-Ras4B allosterically activates PI3Kα still remains largely unsolved. Here, we employed accelerated molecular dynamic simulations and allosteric pathway analysis to explore into the activation process of PI3Kα by K-Ras4B and unraveled the underlying structural mechanisms. We found that K-Ras4B binding induced more conformational dynamics within PI3Kα and triggered its step-wise transition from a self-inhibited state towards an activated state. Moreover, K-Ras4B binding markedly disrupted the interactions along the p110/p85 interface, especially the ones between nSH2 in p85 and its nearby functional domains in p110 like C2, helical, and kinase domains. The altered inter-domain interactions exposed the kinase domain, which promoted the membrane association and substrate phosphorylation of PI3Kα, thereby facilitating its activation. In particular, the community networks and allosteric pathways analysis further revealed that in PI3Kα/K-Ras4B system, allosteric signaling regulating p110/p85 interaction was rewired from the helical domain to the kinase domain and several important residues and their related allosteric pathways mediating PI3Kα autoinhibition were bypassed. The obtained structural mechanisms provide an in-depth mechanistic insight into the allosteric activation of PI3Kα by K-Ras4B as well as shed light on its drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Li
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jinyuan Dai
- Chemical Engineering and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 201424, China
| | - Duan Ni
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Xinheng He
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Qiang Fu
- Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China.
| | - Yaqin Liu
- Medicinal Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
| | - Shaoyong Lu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China; Medicinal Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
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Nussinov R, Tsai C, Jang H. Autoinhibition can identify rare driver mutations and advise pharmacology. FASEB J 2019; 34:16-29. [DOI: 10.1096/fj.201901341r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section Basic Science Program Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Frederick MD USA
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| | - Chung‐Jung Tsai
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
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35
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Molecular Docking: Shifting Paradigms in Drug Discovery. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20184331. [PMID: 31487867 PMCID: PMC6769923 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20184331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 742] [Impact Index Per Article: 148.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 09/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular docking is an established in silico structure-based method widely used in drug discovery. Docking enables the identification of novel compounds of therapeutic interest, predicting ligand-target interactions at a molecular level, or delineating structure-activity relationships (SAR), without knowing a priori the chemical structure of other target modulators. Although it was originally developed to help understanding the mechanisms of molecular recognition between small and large molecules, uses and applications of docking in drug discovery have heavily changed over the last years. In this review, we describe how molecular docking was firstly applied to assist in drug discovery tasks. Then, we illustrate newer and emergent uses and applications of docking, including prediction of adverse effects, polypharmacology, drug repurposing, and target fishing and profiling, discussing also future applications and further potential of this technique when combined with emergent techniques, such as artificial intelligence.
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Zhang M, Jang H, Nussinov R. The mechanism of PI3Kα activation at the atomic level. Chem Sci 2019; 10:3671-3680. [PMID: 30996962 PMCID: PMC6430085 DOI: 10.1039/c8sc04498h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
PI3K lipid kinases phosphorylate PIP2 to PIP3 in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway to regulate cellular processes. They are frequently mutated in cancer. Here we determine the PI3Kα activation mechanism at the atomic level. Unlike protein kinases where the substrate abuts the ATP, crystal structures indicate that in PI3Kα, the distance between the γ phosphate of the ATP and the PIP2 lipid substrate is over 6 Å, much too far for the phosphoryl transfer, raising the question of how catalysis is executed. PI3Kα has two subunits, the catalytic p110α and the regulatory p85α. Our simulations show that release of the autoinhibition exerted by the nSH2 domain of the p85α triggers significant conformational change in p110α, leading to the exposure of the kinase domain for membrane interaction. Structural rearrangement in the C-lobe of the kinase domain reduces the distance between the ATP γ-phosphate and the substrate, offering an explanation as to how phosphoryl transfer is executed. An alternative mechanism may involve ATP relocation. This mechanism not only explains how oncogenic mutations promote PI3Kα activation by facilitating nSH2 release, or nSH2-release-induced, allosteric motions; it also offers an innovative, PI3K isoform-specific drug discovery principle. Rather than competing with nanomolar range ATP in the ATP-binding pocket and contending with ATP pocket conservation and massive binding targets, this mechanism suggests blocking the PI3Kα sequence-specific cavity between the ATP-binding pocket and the substrate binding site. Targeting isoform-specific residues in the cavity may prevent PIP2 phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhen Zhang
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Basic Science Program , Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , Frederick , MD 21702 , USA .
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Basic Science Program , Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , Frederick , MD 21702 , USA .
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section , Basic Science Program , 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
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Ranjbar R, Mohammadpour S, Torshizi Esfahani A, Namazian S, Yaghob-Taleghani M, Baghaei K, Mortazavi Tabatabaei SA, Pasharavesh L, Nazemalhosseini-Mojarad E. Prevalence and prognostic role of PIK3CA E545K mutation in Iranian colorectal cancer patients. GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY FROM BED TO BENCH 2019; 12:S22-S29. [PMID: 32099598 PMCID: PMC7011074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
AIM This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of PIK3CA E545K mutation in Iranian CRC patients and explored its roles in disease prognosis. BACKGROUND Deregulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway contributes to the progression of tumors. The p110a (PIK3CA), a catalytic subunit of PIK3, is mutated in many types of cancers. Exon 9 (E545K) is the most frequently mutated hotspot in PIK3CA in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the prognostic role of PIK3CA E545K mutation needs to be elucidated. METHODS Tumors from 187 CRC patients were retrospectively collected from the Taleghani and Shohada Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, between 2010 and 2017. PIK3CA E545K status was detected in Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues using PCR-RFLP methods, and validated by pyrosequencing. Correlations between PIK3CA E545K mutation clinicopathological features were analyzed. RESULTS The frequency of PIK3CA E545K gene mutations in CRC patients was 10.7%. Significant correlations were observed in PIK3CA E545K mutation with tumor differentiation and TNM stage (p < 0.042 and p = 0.033, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a worse prognosis in overall survival (OS) in patients with PIK3CA E545K mutation (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that PIK3CA E545K mutation was a detrimental factor for OS (HR = 6.497, 95% CI: 2.859-14.768, p < 0.021). CONCLUSION A high frequency of PIK3CA E545K mutation was detected in Iranian CRC patients. The results of the present study suggested that PIK3CA E545K mutation may be associated with poor prognosis. These findings require further confirmation via prospective studies with larger samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Ranjbar
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Somayeh Mohammadpour
- Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Amir Torshizi Esfahani
- Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sina Namazian
- Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Yaghob-Taleghani
- Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Kaveh Baghaei
- Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Leila Pasharavesh
- Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ehsan Nazemalhosseini-Mojarad
- Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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