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Conway JR, Gillani R, Crowdis J, Reardon B, Park J, Han S, Titchen B, Benamar M, Haq R, Van Allen EM. Somatic structural variants drive distinct modes of oncogenesis in melanoma. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e177270. [PMID: 38758740 PMCID: PMC11213511 DOI: 10.1172/jci177270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The diversity of structural variants (SVs) in melanoma and how they impact oncogenesis are incompletely known. We performed harmonized analysis of SVs across melanoma histologic and genomic subtypes, and we identified distinct global properties between subtypes. These included the frequency and size of SVs and SV classes, their relation to chromothripsis events, and the impact on cancer-related genes of SVs that alter topologically associated domain (TAD) boundaries. Following our prior identification of double-stranded break repair deficiency in a subset of triple-wild-type cutaneous melanoma, we identified MRE11 and NBN loss-of-function SVs in melanomas with this mutational signature. Experimental knockouts of MRE11 and NBN, followed by olaparib cell viability assays in melanoma cells, indicated that dysregulation of each of these genes may cause sensitivity to PARP inhibitors in cutaneous melanomas. Broadly, harmonized analysis of melanoma SVs revealed distinct global genomic properties and molecular drivers, which may have biological and therapeutic impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake R. Conway
- Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Riaz Gillani
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jett Crowdis
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Brendan Reardon
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jihye Park
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Seunghun Han
- Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Breanna Titchen
- Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Rizwan Haq
- Center for Cancer Precision Medicine and
| | - Eliezer M. Van Allen
- Cancer Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Center for Cancer Precision Medicine and
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Papenberg BW, Ingles J, Gao S, Feng J, Allen JL, Markwell SM, Interval ET, Montague PA, Wen S, Weed SA. Copy number alterations identify a smoking-associated expression signature predictive of poor outcome in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Genet 2021; 256-257:136-148. [PMID: 34130230 PMCID: PMC8273756 DOI: 10.1016/j.cancergen.2021.05.011] [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: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), partially due to tobacco-induced large-scale chromosomal copy-number alterations (CNAs). Identifying CNAs caused by smoking is essential in determining how gene expression from such regions impact tumor progression and patient outcome. We utilized The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) whole genome sequencing data for HNSCC to directly identify amplified or deleted genes correlating with smoking pack-year based on linear modeling. Internal cross-validation identified 35 CNAs that significantly correlated with patient smoking, independent of human papillomavirus (HPV) status. The most abundant CNAs were chromosome 11q13.3-q14.4 amplification and 9p23.1/9p24.1 deletion. Evaluation of patient amplicons reveals four different patterns of 11q13 gene amplification in HNSCC resulting from breakage-fusion-bridge (BFB) events. . Predictive modeling identified 16 genes from these regions that denote poorer overall and disease-free survival with increased pack-year use, constituting a smoking-associated expression signature (SAES). Patients with altered expression of signature genes have increased risk of death and enhanced cervical lymph node involvement. The identified SAES can be utilized as a novel predictor of increased disease aggressiveness and poor outcome in smoking-associated HNSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Si Gao
- Department of Biostatistics USA
| | | | - Jessica L Allen
- Department of Biochemistry, Program in Cancer Cell Biology USA
| | | | - Erik T Interval
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506 USA
| | - Phillip A Montague
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506 USA
| | | | - Scott A Weed
- Department of Biochemistry, Program in Cancer Cell Biology USA.
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Impaired Replication Timing Promotes Tissue-Specific Expression of Common Fragile Sites. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11030326. [PMID: 32204553 PMCID: PMC7140878 DOI: 10.3390/genes11030326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Common fragile sites (CFSs) are particularly vulnerable regions of the genome that become visible as breaks, gaps, or constrictions on metaphase chromosomes when cells are under replicative stress. Impairment in DNA replication, late replication timing, enrichment of A/T nucleotides that tend to form secondary structures, the paucity of active or inducible replication origins, the generation of R-loops, and the collision between replication and transcription machineries on particularly long genes are some of the reported characteristics of CFSs that may contribute to their tissue-specific fragility. Here, we validated the induction of two CFSs previously found in the human fetal lung fibroblast line, Medical Research Council cell strain 5 (MRC-5), in another cell line derived from the same fetal tissue, Institute for Medical Research-90 cells (IMR-90). After induction of CFSs through aphidicolin, we confirmed the expression of the CFS 1p31.1 on chromosome 1 and CFS 3q13.3 on chromosome 3 in both fetal lines. Interestingly, these sites were found to not be fragile in lymphocytes, suggesting a role for epigenetic or transcriptional programs for this tissue specificity. Both these sites contained late-replicating genes NEGR1 (neuronal growth regulator 1) at 1p31.1 and LSAMP (limbic system-associated membrane protein) at 3q13.3, which are much longer, 0.880 and 1.4 Mb, respectively, than the average gene length. Given the established connection between long genes and CFS, we compiled information from the literature on all previously identified CFSs expressed in fibroblasts and lymphocytes in response to aphidicolin, including the size of the genes contained in each fragile region. Our comprehensive analysis confirmed that the genes found within CFSs are longer than the average human gene; interestingly, the two longest genes in the human genome are found within CFSs: Contactin Associated Protein 2 gene (CNTNAP2) in a lymphocytes’ CFS, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene (DMD) in a CFS expressed in both lymphocytes and fibroblasts. This indicates that the presence of very long genes is a unifying feature of all CFSs. We also obtained replication profiles of the 1p31.1 and 3q13.3 sites under both perturbed and unperturbed conditions using a combination of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunofluorescence against bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) on interphase nuclei. Our analysis of the replication dynamics of these CFSs showed that, compared to lymphocytes where these regions are non-fragile, fibroblasts display incomplete replication of the fragile alleles, even in the absence of exogenous replication stress. Our data point to the existence of intrinsic features, in addition to the presence of long genes, which affect DNA replication of the CFSs in fibroblasts, thus promoting chromosomal instability in a tissue-specific manner.
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Stepanenko AA, Heng HH. Transient and stable vector transfection: Pitfalls, off-target effects, artifacts. MUTATION RESEARCH-REVIEWS IN MUTATION RESEARCH 2017; 773:91-103. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2017.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Revised: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 05/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Chira S, Jackson CS, Oprea I, Ozturk F, Pepper MS, Diaconu I, Braicu C, Raduly LZ, Calin GA, Berindan-Neagoe I. Progresses towards safe and efficient gene therapy vectors. Oncotarget 2016; 6:30675-703. [PMID: 26362400 PMCID: PMC4741561 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.5169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 08/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of genetic engineering at the beginning of the 1970′s opened the era of biomedical technologies, which aims to improve human health using genetic manipulation techniques in a clinical context. Gene therapy represents an innovating and appealing strategy for treatment of human diseases, which utilizes vehicles or vectors for delivering therapeutic genes into the patients' body. However, a few past unsuccessful events that negatively marked the beginning of gene therapy resulted in the need for further studies regarding the design and biology of gene therapy vectors, so that this innovating treatment approach can successfully move from bench to bedside. In this paper, we review the major gene delivery vectors and recent improvements made in their design meant to overcome the issues that commonly arise with the use of gene therapy vectors. At the end of the manuscript, we summarized the main advantages and disadvantages of common gene therapy vectors and we discuss possible future directions for potential therapeutic vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergiu Chira
- Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cluj Napoca, Romania
| | - Carlo S Jackson
- Department of Immunology and Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Iulian Oprea
- Department of Oncology and Pathology, Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ferhat Ozturk
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Canik Başari University, Samsun, Turkey
| | - Michael S Pepper
- Department of Immunology and Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | | | - Cornelia Braicu
- Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cluj Napoca, Romania
| | - Lajos-Zsolt Raduly
- Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cluj Napoca, Romania.,Department of Physiopathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj Napoca, Romania
| | - George A Calin
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
- Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cluj Napoca, Romania.,Department of Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cluj Napoca, Romania.,Department of Functional Genomics and Experimental Pathology, Oncological Institute "Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuţă", Cluj Napoca, Romania.,Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
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Savelyeva L, Brueckner LM. Molecular characterization of common fragile sites as a strategy to discover cancer susceptibility genes. Cell Mol Life Sci 2014; 71:4561-75. [PMID: 25231336 PMCID: PMC11114050 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-014-1723-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/28/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The cytogenetic hypothesis that common fragile sites (cFSs) are hotspots of cancer breakpoints is increasingly supported by recent data from whole-genome profiles of different cancers. cFSs are components of the normal chromosome structure that are particularly prone to breakage under conditions of replication stress. In recent years, cFSs have become of increasing interest in cancer research, as they not only appear to be frequent targets of genomic alterations in progressive tumors, but also already in precancerous lesions. Despite growing evidence of their importance in disease development, most cFSs have not been investigated at the molecular level and most cFS genes have not been identified. In this review, we summarize the current data on molecularly characterized cFSs, their genetic and epigenetic characteristics, and put emphasis on less-studied cFS genes as potential contributors to cancer development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Savelyeva
- Neuroblastoma Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany,
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Georgakilas AG, Tsantoulis P, Kotsinas A, Michalopoulos I, Townsend P, Gorgoulis VG. Are common fragile sites merely structural domains or highly organized "functional" units susceptible to oncogenic stress? Cell Mol Life Sci 2014; 71:4519-44. [PMID: 25238782 PMCID: PMC4232749 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-014-1717-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/28/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Common fragile sites (CFSs) are regions of the genome with a predisposition to DNA double-strand breaks in response to intrinsic (oncogenic) or extrinsic replication stress. CFS breakage is a common feature in carcinogenesis from its earliest stages. Given that a number of oncogenes and tumor suppressors are located within CFSs, a question that emerges is whether fragility in these regions is only a structural “passive” incident or an event with a profound biological effect. Furthermore, there is sparse evidence that other elements, like non-coding RNAs, are positioned with them. By analyzing data from various libraries, like miRbase and ENCODE, we show a prevalence of various cancer-related genes, miRNAs, and regulatory binding sites, such as CTCF within CFSs. We propose that CFSs are not only susceptible structural domains, but highly organized “functional” entities that when targeted, severe repercussion for cell homeostasis occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandros G Georgakilas
- Physics Department, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Zografou, 15780, Athens, Greece
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