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Eskandari E, Negri GL, Tan S, MacAldaz ME, Ding S, Long J, Nielsen K, Spencer SE, Morin GB, Eaves CJ. Dependence of human cell survival and proliferation on the CASP3 prodomain. Cell Death Discov 2024; 10:63. [PMID: 38321033 PMCID: PMC10847432 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-024-01826-6] [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: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Mechanisms that regulate cell survival and proliferation are important for both the development and homeostasis of normal tissue, and as well as for the emergence and expansion of malignant cell populations. Caspase-3 (CASP3) has long been recognized for its proteolytic role in orchestrating cell death-initiated pathways and related processes; however, whether CASP3 has other functions in mammalian cells that do not depend on its known catalytic activity have remained unknown. To investigate this possibility, we examined the biological and molecular consequences of reducing CASP3 levels in normal and transformed human cells using lentiviral-mediated short hairpin-based knockdown experiments in combination with approaches designed to test the potential rescue capability of different components of the CASP3 protein. The results showed that a ≥50% reduction in CASP3 levels rapidly and consistently arrested cell cycle progression and survival in all cell types tested. Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analyses and more specific flow cytometric measurements strongly implicated CASP3 as playing an essential role in regulating intracellular protein aggregate clearance. Intriguingly, the rescue experiments utilizing different forms of the CASP3 protein showed its prosurvival function and effective removal of protein aggregates did not require its well-known catalytic capability, and pinpointed the N-terminal prodomain of CASP3 as the exclusive component needed in a diversity of human cell types. These findings identify a new mechanism that regulates human cell survival and proliferation and thus expands the complexity of how these processes can be controlled. The graphical abstract illustrates the critical role of CASP3 for sustained proliferation and survival of human cells through the clearance of protein aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebrahim Eskandari
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Gian Luca Negri
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Susanna Tan
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Margarita E MacAldaz
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Shengsen Ding
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Justin Long
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Karina Nielsen
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Sandra E Spencer
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Gregg B Morin
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Connie J Eaves
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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Stedile M, Lara Montero A, García Solá ME, Goddio MV, Beckerman I, Bogni E, Ayre M, Naguila Z, Coso OA, Kordon EC. Tristetraprolin promotes survival of mammary progenitor cells by restraining TNFα levels. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 11:1265475. [PMID: 38274271 PMCID: PMC10808302 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1265475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Tristetraprolin (TTP) is an RNA binding protein that destabilizes mRNAs of factors involved in proliferation, invasiveness, and inflammation. Disruption of the gene that codes for TTP (Zfp36) led to severe arthritis, autoimmunity, cachexia and dermatitis in mice. It has been shown that these phenotypes were mostly due to excessive TNFα levels in the affected tissues. We have previously reported that TTP expression is required for lactation maintenance. Our results indicated that conditional MG TTP-KO female mice displayed early involution due to the untimely induction of pro-inflammatory pathways led mostly by TNFα overexpression. Here we show that reducing TTP levels not only affects the fully differentiated mammary gland, but also harms morphogenesis of this tissue by impairing the progenitor cell population. We found that Zfp36 expression is linked to mammary stemness in human and mice. In addition, diminishing TTP expression and activity induced apoptosis of stem-like mouse mammary cells, reduced its ability to form mammospheres in culture and to develop into complete glands when implanted into cleared mammary fat pads in vivo. Our results show that survival of the stem-like cells is compromised by increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and stimulation of signaling cascades involving NFκB, STAT3 and MAPK-p38 activation. Moreover, TNFα overexpression and the consequent p38 phosphorylation would be the leading cause of progenitor cell death upon TTP expression restriction. Taken together, our results reveal the relevance of TTP for the maintenance of the mammary progenitor cell compartment by maintaining local TNFα levels at bay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micaela Stedile
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Angela Lara Montero
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martín Emilio García Solá
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María Victoria Goddio
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Inés Beckerman
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Emilia Bogni
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marina Ayre
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Zaira Naguila
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (FCEN), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Omar A. Coso
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (FCEN), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Edith C. Kordon
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Química Biológica (DQB), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (FCEN), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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3
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Smirnov A, Melino G, Candi E. Gene expression in organoids: an expanding horizon. Biol Direct 2023; 18:11. [PMID: 36964575 PMCID: PMC10038780 DOI: 10.1186/s13062-023-00360-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent development of human three-dimensional organoid cultures has opened new doors and opportunities ranging from modelling human development in vitro to personalised cancer therapies. These new in vitro systems are opening new horizons to the classic understanding of human development and disease. However, the complexity and heterogeneity of these models requires cutting-edge techniques to capture and trace global changes in gene expression to enable identification of key players and uncover the underlying molecular mechanisms. Rapid development of sequencing approaches made possible global transcriptome analyses and epigenetic profiling. Despite challenges in organoid culture and handling, these techniques are now being adapted to embrace organoids derived from a wide range of human tissues. Here, we review current state-of-the-art multi-omics technologies, such as single-cell transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility assays, employed to study organoids as a model for development and a platform for precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artem Smirnov
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Torvergata Oncoscience Research, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Gerry Melino
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Torvergata Oncoscience Research, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Eleonora Candi
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Torvergata Oncoscience Research, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
- Biochemistry Laboratory, Istituto Dermopatico Immacolata (IDI-IRCCS), 00166, Rome, Italy.
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Shi L, Li H, Huang X, Shu Z, Li J, Wang L, Yan H, Wang L. Integrated analysis of transcriptome and metabolome revealed biological basis of sows from estrus to lactation. iScience 2022; 26:105825. [PMID: 36636351 PMCID: PMC9830223 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterization of molecular mechanisms underlying pregnancy development of sows is important for the genetic improvement of pig breeding traits, and also provides resources for biomedical research on human pregnancy diseases. However, the transcriptome and metabolome across multiple developmental stages of sow pregnancy were still lacking. In this study, we obtained 84 distinct RNA sequencing and 42 metabolome datasets of pig blood across six development stages from estrus to lactation. We confirmed the initial sequence and exonic structural features, stage-specific molecules, expression or accumulation pattern of molecules, the regulatory mechanism of transcriptome and metabolome, and important pregnancy-related metabolites both in pigs and humans. In conclusion, we proposed the key differences among the stages of sows from estrus to lactation in RNAs and metabolites and put forward key markers. These data results were expected to provide essential resources for pig breeding and biomedical research on human pregnancy disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijun Shi
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China,Corresponding author
| | - Huihui Li
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Xiaoyu Huang
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Ze Shu
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Jingna Li
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Ligang Wang
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Hua Yan
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Lixian Wang
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China,Corresponding author
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Regan JL, Schumacher D, Staudte S, Steffen A, Lesche R, Toedling J, Jourdan T, Haybaeck J, Golob-Schwarzl N, Mumberg D, Henderson D, Győrffy B, Regenbrecht CR, Keilholz U, Schäfer R, Lange M. Identification of a Neural Development Gene Expression Signature in Colon Cancer Stem Cells Reveals a Role for EGR2 in Tumorigenesis. iScience 2022; 25:104498. [PMID: 35720265 PMCID: PMC9204726 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence demonstrates that colon cancer stem cells (CSCs) can generate neurons that synapse with tumor innervating fibers required for tumorigenesis and disease progression. Greater understanding of the mechanisms that regulate CSC driven tumor neurogenesis may therefore lead to more effective treatments. RNA-sequencing analyses of ALDHPositive CSCs from colon cancer patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and xenografts (PDXs) showed CSCs to be enriched for neural development genes. Functional analyses of genes differentially expressed in CSCs from PDO and PDX models demonstrated the neural crest stem cell (NCSC) regulator EGR2 to be required for tumor growth and to control expression of homebox superfamily embryonic master transcriptional regulator HOX genes and the neural stem cell and master cell fate regulator SOX2. These data support CSCs as the source of tumor neurogenesis and suggest that targeting EGR2 may provide a therapeutic differentiation strategy to eliminate CSCs and block nervous system driven disease progression. Colon cancer stem cells (CSCs) are enriched for nervous system development genes Colon cancer cells express nerve cell markers EGR2 is required for CSC survival and tumor growth and regulates SOX2 and HOX genes Targeting EGR2 may block cancer neurogenesis and stop disease progression
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