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Barsoum M, Sayadi-Boroujeni R, Stenzel AT, Bussmann P, Lüscher-Firzlaff J, Lüscher B. Sequential deregulation of histone marks, chromatin accessibility and gene expression in response to PROTAC-induced degradation of ASH2L. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22565. [PMID: 38114530 PMCID: PMC10730889 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49284-x] [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: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The trithorax protein ASH2L is essential for organismal and tissue development. As a subunit of COMPASS/KMT2 complexes, ASH2L is necessary for methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4). Mono- and tri-methylation at this site mark active enhancers and promoters, respectively, although the functional relevance of H3K4 methylation is only partially understood. ASH2L has a long half-life, which results in a slow decrease upon knockout. This has made it difficult to define direct consequences. To overcome this limitation, we employed a PROTAC system to rapidly degrade ASH2L and address direct effects. ASH2L loss resulted in inhibition of proliferation of mouse embryo fibroblasts. Shortly after ASH2L degradation H3K4me3 decreased with its half-life varying between promoters. Subsequently, H3K4me1 increased at promoters and decreased at some enhancers. H3K27ac and H3K27me3, histone marks closely linked to H3K4 methylation, were affected with considerable delay. In parallel, chromatin compaction increased at promoters. Of note, nascent gene transcription was not affected early but overall RNA expression was deregulated late after ASH2L loss. Together, these findings suggest that downstream effects are ordered but relatively slow, despite the rapid loss of ASH2L and inactivation of KMT2 complexes. It appears that the systems that control gene transcription are well buffered and strong effects are only beginning to unfold after considerable delay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirna Barsoum
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Roksaneh Sayadi-Boroujeni
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
- Bayer AG, Crop Science Division, R&D, Pest Control, 40789, Monheim am Rhein, Germany
| | - Alexander T Stenzel
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Germany
| | - Philip Bussmann
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Juliane Lüscher-Firzlaff
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Bernhard Lüscher
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
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Wang K, Gong Z, Chen Y, Zhang M, Wang S, Yao S, Liu Z, Huang Z, Fei B. KDM4C-mediated senescence defense is a targetable vulnerability in gastric cancer harboring TP53 mutations. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:163. [PMID: 37848946 PMCID: PMC10583429 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01579-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gastric cancer patients harboring a TP53 mutation exhibit a more aggressive and chemoresistant phenotype. Unfortunately, efforts to identify the vulnerabilities to overcome these aggressive malignancies have made minimal progress in recent years. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the novel therapeutic strategies for this subclass. Histone methylation modulators are critical epigenetic targets for cancer therapies that help maintain the malignancies of cancers harboring TP53 mutations and senescence evasion. Triggering senescence is now considered to benefit multiple cancer therapies. Furthermore, senescence-based "one-two punch" therapy was validated in clinical trials. Therefore, we hypothesized that screening epigenetic modulators might help identify a novel vulnerability to trigger senescence in gastric cancer harboring TP53 mutations. RESULTS We developed a novel efficient approach to identify senescence inducers by sequentially treating cells with drug candidates and senolytic agents. Based on this, we demonstrated that QC6352 (a selective KDM4C inhibitor) efficiently triggered cellular senescence in gastric cancer harboring TP53 mutations. More importantly, the "one-two punch' therapy consisting of QC6352 and SSK1 eliminates tumor cells harboring TP53 mutations. This finding highlights a potential therapeutic strategy for the aggressive subgroup of gastric cancer. Besides, the functions of QC6352 were totally unknown. We demonstrated that QC6352 might possess far more powerful anti-tumor capacities compared to the traditional genotoxic drugs, 5-Fu and Oxaliplatin. CONCLUSIONS This initial investigation to identify a senescence inducer revealed that QC6352 triggers senescence in gastric cancer cells harboring TP53 mutations by regulating the SP1/CDK2 axis through suppressing KDM4C. QC6352 and senolytic agent-SSK1 represent a novel 'one-two punch' therapeutic strategy for the more malignant gastric cancer subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiqing Wang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zhicheng Gong
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China.
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Yanyan Chen
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China
| | - Meimei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine for TCM Compatibility, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, 712046, Shaanxi, China
| | - Suzeng Wang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China
| | - Surui Yao
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zhihui Liu
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zhaohui Huang
- Wuxi Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China.
- Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Bojian Fei
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214062, Jiangsu, China.
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Zhu L, Wang L, Liu D, Chen C, Mo K, Lan X, Liu J, Huang Y, Guo D, Huang H, Li M, Guo H, Tan J, Zhang K, Ji J, Yuan J, Ouyang H. Single-cell transcriptomics implicates the FEZ1-DKK1 axis in the regulation of corneal epithelial cell proliferation and senescence. Cell Prolif 2023; 56:e13433. [PMID: 36851859 PMCID: PMC10472519 DOI: 10.1111/cpr.13433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Limbal stem/progenitor cells (LSC) represent the source of corneal epithelium renewal. LSC proliferation and differentiation are essential for corneal homeostasis, however, the regulatory mechanism remains largely unexplored. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing and discovered proliferation heterogeneity as well as spontaneously differentiated and senescent cell subgroups in multiply passaged primary LSC. Fasciculation and elongation protein zeta 1 (FEZ1) and Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) were identified as two significant regulators of LSC proliferation and senescence. These two factors were mainly expressed in undifferentiated corneal epithelial cells (CECs). Knocking down the expression of either FEZ1 or DKK1 reduced cell division and caused cell cycle arrest. We observed that DKK1 acted as a downstream target of FEZ1 in LSC and that exogenous DKK1 protein partially prevented growth arrest and senescence upon FEZ1 suppression in vitro. In a mouse model of corneal injury, DKK1 also rescued the corneal epithelium after recovery was inhibited by FEZ1 suppression. Hence, the FEZ1-DKK1 axis was required for CEC proliferation and the juvenile state and can potentially be targeted as a therapeutic strategy for promoting recovery after corneal injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liqiong Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Li Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Dongmei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Chaoqun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Kunlun Mo
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Xihong Lan
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Jiafeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Ying Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Dianlei Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Huaxing Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Mingsen Li
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Huizhen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Jieying Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Kang Zhang
- Center for Biomedicine and Innovations, Faculty of MedicineMacau University of Science and TechnologyChina
| | - Jianping Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Jin Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
| | - Hong Ouyang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic CenterSun Yat‐sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science|GuangzhouChina
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Barsoum M, Stenzel AT, Bochyńska A, Kuo CC, Tsompanidis A, Sayadi-Boroujeni R, Bussmann P, Lüscher-Firzlaff J, Costa IG, Lüscher B. Loss of the Ash2l subunit of histone H3K4 methyltransferase complexes reduces chromatin accessibility at promoters. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21506. [PMID: 36513698 PMCID: PMC9747801 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25881-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Changes in gene expression programs are intimately linked to cell fate decisions. Post-translational modifications of core histones contribute to control gene expression. Methylation of lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4) correlates with active promoters and gene transcription. This modification is catalyzed by KMT2 methyltransferases, which require interaction with 4 core subunits, WDR5, RBBP5, ASH2L and DPY30, for catalytic activity. Ash2l is necessary for organismal development and for tissue homeostasis. In mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs), Ash2l loss results in gene repression, provoking a senescence phenotype. We now find that upon knockout of Ash2l both H3K4 mono- and tri-methylation (H3K4me1 and me3, respectively) were deregulated. In particular, loss of H3K4me3 at promoters correlated with gene repression, especially at CpG island promoters. Ash2l loss resulted in increased loading of histone H3 and reduced chromatin accessibility at promoters, accompanied by an increase of repressing and a decrease of activating histone marks. Moreover, we observed altered binding of CTCF upon Ash2l loss. Lost and gained binding was noticed at promoter-associated and intergenic sites, respectively. Thus, Ash2l loss and reduction of H3K4me3 correlate with altered chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding. These findings contribute to a more detailed understanding of mechanistic consequences of H3K4me3 loss and associated repression of gene transcription and thus of the observed cellular consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirna Barsoum
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Alexander T. Stenzel
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Agnieszka Bochyńska
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Chao-Chung Kuo
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute for Computational Genomics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany ,grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInterdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF), Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Alexander Tsompanidis
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Roksaneh Sayadi-Boroujeni
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Philip Bussmann
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Juliane Lüscher-Firzlaff
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Ivan G. Costa
- grid.1957.a0000 0001 0728 696XInstitute for Computational Genomics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Bernhard Lüscher
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
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