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Cordaro A, Barreca MM, Zichittella C, Loria M, Anello D, Arena G, Sciaraffa N, Coronnello C, Pizzolanti G, Alessandro R, Conigliaro A. Regulatory role of lncH19 in RAC1 alternative splicing: implication for RAC1B expression in colorectal cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2024; 43:217. [PMID: 39098911 PMCID: PMC11299361 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-024-03139-z] [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: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Aberrant alternative splicing events play a critical role in cancer biology, contributing to tumor invasion, metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and drug resistance. Recent studies have shown that alternative splicing is a key feature for transcriptomic variations in colorectal cancer, which ranks third among malignant tumors worldwide in both incidence and mortality. Long non-coding RNAs can modulate this process by acting as trans-regulatory agents, recruiting splicing factors, or driving them to specific targeted genes. LncH19 is a lncRNA dis-regulated in several tumor types and, in colorectal cancer, it plays a critical role in tumor onset, progression, and metastasis. In this paper, we found, that in colorectal cancer cells, the long non-coding RNA H19 can bind immature RNAs and splicing factors as hnRNPM and RBFOX2. Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified 57 transcripts associated with lncH19 and containing binding sites for both splicing factors, hnRNPM, and RBFOX2. Among these transcripts, we identified the mRNA of the GTPase-RAC1, whose alternatively spliced isoform, RAC1B, has been ascribed several roles in the malignant transformation. We confirmed, in vitro, the binding of the splicing factors to both the transcripts RAC1 and lncH19. Loss and gain of expression experiments in two colorectal cancer cell lines (SW620 and HCT116) demonstrated that lncH19 is required for RAC1B expression and, through RAC1B, it induces c-Myc and Cyclin-D increase. In vivo, investigation from biopsies of colorectal cancer patients showed higher levels of all the explored genes (lncH19, RAC1B, c-Myc and Cyclin-D) concerning the healthy counterpart, thus supporting our in vitro model. In addition, we identified a positive correlation between lncH19 and RAC1B in colorectal cancer patients. Finally, we demonstrated that lncH19, as a shuttle, drives the splicing factors RBFOX2 and hnRNPM to RAC1 allowing exon retention and RAC1B expression. The data shown in this paper represent the first evidence of a new mechanism of action by which lncH19 carries out its functions as an oncogene by prompting colorectal cancer through the modulation of alternative splicing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurora Cordaro
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Magdalena Barreca
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Chiara Zichittella
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Loria
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Denise Anello
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Goffredo Arena
- McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Canada
- Fondazione Istituto G. Giglio di Cefalù, Cefalù, Italy
| | | | | | - Giuseppe Pizzolanti
- Dipartimento di Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza "G. D'Alessandro", PROMISE, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90127, Italy
- AteN Center-Advanced Technologies Network Center, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90128, Italy
| | - Riccardo Alessandro
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council (CNR), Palermo, Italy
| | - Alice Conigliaro
- Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
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2
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Pan D, Long L, Li C, Zhou Y, Liu Q, Zhao Z, Zhao H, Lin W, Zheng Z, Peng L, Li E, Xu L. Splicing factor hnRNPA1 regulates alternative splicing of LOXL2 to enhance the production of LOXL2Δ13. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107414. [PMID: 38810697 PMCID: PMC11259713 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107414] [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: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) is a member of the lysyl oxidase family and has the ability to catalyze the cross-linking of extracellular matrix collagen and elastin. High expression of LOXL2 is related to tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. LOXL2 contains 14 exons. Previous studies have found that LOXL2 has abnormal alternative splicing and exon skipping in a variety of tissues and cells, resulting in a new alternatively spliced isoform denoted LOXL2Δ13. LOXL2Δ13 lacks LOXL2WT exon 13, but its encoded protein has greater ability to induce tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. However, the molecular events that produce LOXL2Δ13 are still unclear. In this study, we found that overexpression of the splicing factor hnRNPA1 in cells can regulate the alternative splicing of LOXL2 and increase the expression of LOXL2Δ13. The exonic splicing silencer exists at the 3' splice site and 5' splice site of LOXL2 exon 13. HnRNPA1 can bind to the exonic splicing silencer and inhibit the inclusion of exon 13. The RRM domain of hnRNPA1 and phosphorylation of hnRNPA1 at S91 and S95 are important for the regulation of LOXL2 alternative splicing. These results show that hnRNPA1 is a splicing factor that enhances the production of LOXL2Δ13.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deyuan Pan
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Lin Long
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Chengyu Li
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Yingxin Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Qing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China
| | - Ziting Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Hui Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Wan Lin
- Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Zhenyuan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Liu Peng
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Enmin Li
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - Liyan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Basic Medical Science, Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China; Institute of Oncologic Pathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China.
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3
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Yuan X, Sabzvar MK, Patil AD, Chinnaswamy K, Howie KL, Andhavaram R, Wang B, Siegler MA, Dumaz A, Stuckey JA, Corey SJ, Maciejewski JP, Visconte V, Yang CY. Comprehensive Analyses of the Effects of the Small-Molecule Inhibitor of the UHM Domain in the Splicing Factor U2AF1 in Leukemia Cells. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4477663. [PMID: 38883705 PMCID: PMC11177969 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4477663/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
Mutations in RNA splicing factor genes including SF3B1, U2AF1, SRSF2, and ZRSR2 have been reported to contribute to development of myeloid neoplasms including myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML). Chemical tools targeting cells carrying these mutant genes remain limited and underdeveloped. Among the four proteins, mutant U2AF1 (U2AF1mut) acquires an altered 3' splice site selection preference and co-operates with the wild-type U2AF1 (U2AF1wt) to change various gene isoform patterns to support MDS cells survival and proliferation. U2AF1 mutations in MDS cells are always heterozygous and the cell viability is reduced when exposed to additional insult affecting U2AF1wt function. To investigate if the pharmacological inhibition of U2AF1wt function can provoke drug-induced vulnerability of cells harboring U2AF1 mut , we conducted a fragment-based library screening campaign to discover compounds targeting the U2AF homology domain (UHM) in U2AF1 that is required for the formation of the U2AF1/U2AF2 complex to define the 3' splice site. The most promising hit (SF1-8) selectively inhibited growth of leukemia cell lines overexpressingU2AF1 mut and human primary MDS cells carrying U2AF1 mut . RNA-seq analysis of K562-U2AF1mut following treatment with SF1-8 further revealed alteration of isoform patterns for a set of proteins that impair or rescue pathways associated with endocytosis, intracellular vesicle transport, and secretion. Our data suggested that further optimization of SF1-8 is warranted to obtain chemical probes that can be used to evaluate the therapeutic concept of inducing lethality to U2AF1 mut cells by inhibiting the U2AF1wt protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinrui Yuan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Mona Kazemi Sabzvar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Amol D Patil
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | | | - Kathryn L Howie
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Ramaraju Andhavaram
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Borwyn Wang
- Departments of Pediatrics and Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
| | - Maxime A Siegler
- Department of Chemistry, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Arda Dumaz
- Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
| | - Jeanne A Stuckey
- Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Seth J Corey
- Departments of Pediatrics and Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
| | - Jaroslaw P Maciejewski
- Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
| | - Valeria Visconte
- Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA
| | - Chao-Yie Yang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
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Yu L, Li J, Zhang M, Li Y, Bai J, Liu P, Yan J, Wang C. Identification of RFC4 as a potential biomarker for pan-cancer involving prognosis, tumour immune microenvironment and drugs. J Cell Mol Med 2024; 28:e18478. [PMID: 39031628 PMCID: PMC11190950 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.18478] [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: 02/04/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024] Open
Abstract
RFC4 is required for DNA polymerase δ and DNA polymerase ε to initiate DNA template expansion. Downregulated RFC4 inhibits tumour proliferation by causing S-phase arrest and inhibiting mitosis, resulting in the reduction of tumour cells. RFC4 has been implicated that it plays an important role in the initiation and progression of cancers, but a comprehensive analysis of the role of RFC4 in cancer has not been performed. We comprehensively analysed the expression, prognosis, methylation level, splicing level, relationship of RFC4 and immune infiltration, and pan-cancer immunotherapy response used various databases (including TCGA, GTEx, UALCAN, Oncosplicing, TIDE, TISCH, HPA and CAMOIP), and experimented its biological function in HCC. Through pan-cancer analysis, we found that RFC4 is significantly upregulated in most tumours. The tumour patients with high expression of RFC4 have poor prognosis. The methylation level and variable splicing level of RFC4 were abnormal in most tumours compared with the adjacent tissues. Furthermore, RFC4 was closely associated with immune cell infiltration in various cancers. RFC4 was significantly co-expressed with immune checkpoints and other immune-related genes. The expression of RFC4 could indicate the immunotherapy efficacy of some tumours. The RFC4 expression was associated with sensitivity to specific small molecule drugs. Cell experiments have shown that downregulated RFC4 can inhibit cell cycle and tumour cell proliferation. We conducted a systematic pan-cancer analysis of RFC4, and the results showed that RFC4 can serve as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. These findings open new perspectives for precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Yu
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Jing Li
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Mingyang Zhang
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Yu Li
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Jing Bai
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Pengxia Liu
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Jia Yan
- School of Basic medicalInner Mongolia Medical UniversityHohhotInner MongoliaChina
| | - Changshan Wang
- School of Life ScienceInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
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5
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Lang F, Sorn P, Suchan M, Henrich A, Albrecht C, Köhl N, Beicht A, Riesgo-Ferreiro P, Holtsträter C, Schrörs B, Weber D, Löwer M, Sahin U, Ibn-Salem J. Prediction of tumor-specific splicing from somatic mutations as a source of neoantigen candidates. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae080. [PMID: 38863673 PMCID: PMC11165244 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Motivation Neoantigens are promising targets for cancer immunotherapies and might arise from alternative splicing. However, detecting tumor-specific splicing is challenging because many non-canonical splice junctions identified in tumors also appear in healthy tissues. To increase tumor-specificity, we focused on splicing caused by somatic mutations as a source for neoantigen candidates in individual patients. Results We developed the tool splice2neo with multiple functionalities to integrate predicted splice effects from somatic mutations with splice junctions detected in tumor RNA-seq and to annotate the resulting transcript and peptide sequences. Additionally, we provide the tool EasyQuant for targeted RNA-seq read mapping to candidate splice junctions. Using a stringent detection rule, we predicted 1.7 splice junctions per patient as splice targets with a false discovery rate below 5% in a melanoma cohort. We confirmed tumor-specificity using independent, healthy tissue samples. Furthermore, using tumor-derived RNA, we confirmed individual exon-skipping events experimentally. Most target splice junctions encoded neoepitope candidates with predicted major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I or MHC-II binding. Compared to neoepitope candidates from non-synonymous point mutations, the splicing-derived MHC-I neoepitope candidates had lower self-similarity to corresponding wild-type peptides. In conclusion, we demonstrate that identifying mutation-derived, tumor-specific splice junctions can lead to additional neoantigen candidates to expand the target repertoire for cancer immunotherapies. Availability and implementation The R package splice2neo and the python package EasyQuant are available at https://github.com/TRON-Bioinformatics/splice2neo and https://github.com/TRON-Bioinformatics/easyquant, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Lang
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz 55128, Germany
| | - Patrick Sorn
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Martin Suchan
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Alina Henrich
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Christian Albrecht
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Nina Köhl
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Aline Beicht
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Pablo Riesgo-Ferreiro
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Christoph Holtsträter
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Barbara Schrörs
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - David Weber
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Martin Löwer
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Ugur Sahin
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
- BioNTech SE, Mainz 55131, Germany
- Institute of Immunology, University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Jonas Ibn-Salem
- TRON—Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz 55131, Germany
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6
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Tang Y, Ni A, Sun L, Li S, Li G. Analysis of the Upregulated Expression Mechanism of Apoptotic Chromatin Condensation Inducer 1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Bioinformatics. THE TURKISH JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF TURKISH SOCIETY OF GASTROENTEROLOGY 2024; 35:307-315. [PMID: 39128105 PMCID: PMC11114172 DOI: 10.5152/tjg.2024.23454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS A large number of differentially expressed molecules exist in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the mechanism by which they upregulate or downregulate expression is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the possible mechanism of differential expression of apoptotic chromatin condensation inducer 1 (Acin1) in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS A mouse HCC model was constructed, and the expression of Acin1 in HCC was analyzed by whole transcriptome sequencing, bioinformatics analysis, and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and differentially expressed Acin1-related genes were screened to construct a protein-protein interaction and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. The microRNA (miRNAs) targeting Acin1 were further predicted using online databases and finally compared with sequencing data. RESULTS The expression of Acin1 was significantly up-regulated in HCC compared to the paracancerous and healthy control groups (P<.001). The top 10 upregulated genes closely related to Acin1 (Slc3a2, Wiz, Srrm2, Akt1, Hnrnpu, Sap18b, Pabpn1, Ddx39b, Eif4a3, and Rnps1) were mainly involved in pathways such as messenger RNA (mRNA) surveillance, RNA transport, spliceosome, Janus kinase/ signal transducers and activators of transcription signaling, apoptosis, and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. The ceRNA network identified several molecules (2 long noncoding RNAs, 50 miRNAs, and 49 mRNAs) interacting with Acin1, among which miR-674-5p was highly expressed in all sample tissues, and higher than that of other differentially expressed miRNAs, and significantly downregulated in HCC. Multiple online databases such as miRWalk also predicted that miR-674-5p targets Acin1. This shows that miR-674-5p may be an important molecule for targeting Acin1. CONCLUSION Acin1 is overexpressed in HCC, and the overexpressed Acin1 is most likely regulated by miR-674-5p and other ceRNA molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulian Tang
- Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities School of Laboratory Medicine, Baise, Guangxi, China
| | - Anni Ni
- Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities Graduate School, Baise, Guangxi, China
| | - Lishuang Sun
- Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities Graduate School, Baise, Guangxi, China
| | - Shu Li
- Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities Graduate School, Baise, Guangxi, China
| | - Genliang Li
- Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities School of Basic Medical Sciences, Baise, Guangxi, China
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7
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Sun Y, Hu T, Zhang M, Song J, Qin Z, Liu M, Ji J, Li Z, Qiu Z, Bian J. Structure-Guided Discovery of Potent and Selective CLK2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis. J Med Chem 2024. [PMID: 38500250 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder. However, there are no disease-modifying drugs approved for OA treatment. CDC2-like kinase 2 (CLK2) could modulate Wnt signaling via alternative splicing of Wnt target genes and further affect bone differentiation, chondrocyte function, and inflammation, making CLK2 an attractive target for OA therapy. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of highly potent CLK2 inhibitors based on Indazole 1. Among them, compound LQ23 showed more elevated inhibitory activity against CLK2 than the lead compound (IC50, 1.4 nM) with high CLK2/CLK3 selectivity (>70-fold). Furthermore, LQ23 showed outstanding antiosteoarthritis effects in vitro and in vivo, with the roles specific in decreased inflammatory cytokines, downregulated cartilage degradative enzymes, and increased joint cartilage via suppressing CLK2/Wnt signaling pathway. Overall, these data support LQ23 as a potential candidate for intra-articular knee OA therapy, leveraging its unique mechanism of action for targeted treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqiang Sun
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Tianxing Hu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Mengdi Zhang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Jiaxing Song
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Zhen Qin
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Mai Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Jinliang Ji
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Zhiyu Li
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Zhixia Qiu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Jinlei Bian
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
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8
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Xie Y, Zhang H, Song X. AEP promotes aberrant RNA splicing through DDX3X cleavage in solid tumors. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e177609. [PMID: 38299588 PMCID: PMC10836795 DOI: 10.1172/jci177609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Aberrant alternative splicing (AS) events have been identified in a variety of cancers. Although somatic mutations of splicing factors and dysregulation of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been linked to AS and tumor malignancy, it remains unclear how upstream mechanisms contribute to cancer development via alternative gene splicing. In this issue of the JCI, Wenrui Zhang and colleagues identified the role of asparagine endopeptidase (AEP), an intracellular cysteine endopeptidase, in promoting solid tumor-associated RNA splicing. The authors demonstrated that tumor environmental factors such as oxygen and nutrient deprivation induce the activity of AEP in a HIF1A-dependent manner. The activated AEP, in turn, cleaves an RNA helicase DDX3X to promote its nuclear retention. The authors further showed that this DDX3X nuclear fraction engages with splicing machinery to induce AS events in several cancer cells. These findings suggest that targeting an AEP-dependent aberrant RNA splicing cascade may facilitate therapeutics for solid tumors.
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Quesnel-Vallières M, Jewell S, Lynch KW, Thomas-Tikhonenko A, Barash Y. MAJIQlopedia: an encyclopedia of RNA splicing variations in human tissues and cancer. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:D213-D221. [PMID: 37953365 PMCID: PMC10767883 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad1043] [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: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Quantification of RNA splicing variations based on RNA-Sequencing can reveal tissue- and disease-specific splicing patterns. To study such splicing variations, we introduce MAJIQlopedia, an encyclopedia of splicing variations that encompasses 86 human tissues and 41 cancer datasets. MAJIQlopedia reports annotated and unannotated splicing events for a total of 486 175 alternative splice junctions in normal tissues and 338 317 alternative splice junctions in cancer. This database, available at https://majiq.biociphers.org/majiqlopedia/, includes a user-friendly interface that provides graphical representations of junction usage quantification for each junction across all tissue or cancer types. To demonstrate case usage of MAJIQlopedia, we review splicing variations in genes WT1, MAPT and BIN1, which all have known tissue or cancer-specific splicing variations. We also use MAJIQlopedia to highlight novel splicing variations in FDX1 and MEGF9 in normal tissues, and we uncover a novel exon inclusion event in RPS6KA6 that only occurs in two cancer types. Users can download the database, request the addition of data to the webtool, or install a MAJIQlopedia server to integrate proprietary data. MAJIQlopedia can serve as a reference database for researchers seeking to understand what splicing variations exist in genes of interest, and those looking to understand tissue- or cancer-specific splice isoform usage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Quesnel-Vallières
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - San Jewell
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Kristen W Lynch
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko
- Division of Cancer Pathobiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yoseph Barash
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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10
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Nian Q, Li Y, Li J, Zhao L, Rodrigues Lima F, Zeng J, Liu R, Ye Z. U2AF1 in various neoplastic diseases and relevant targeted therapies for malignant cancers with complex mutations (Review). Oncol Rep 2024; 51:5. [PMID: 37975232 PMCID: PMC10688450 DOI: 10.3892/or.2023.8664] [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: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
U2 small nuclear RNA auxiliary factor 1 (U2AF1) is a multifunctional protein that plays a crucial role in the regulation of RNA splicing during eukaryotic gene expression. U2AF1 belongs to the SR family of splicing factors and is involved in the removal of introns from mRNAs and exon-exon binding. Mutations in U2AF1 are frequently observed in myelodysplastic syndrome, primary myelofibrosis, chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia, hairy cell leukaemia and other solid tumours, particularly in lung, pancreatic, and ovarian carcinomas. Therefore, targeting U2AF1 for therapeutic interventions may be a viable strategy for treating malignant diseases. In the present review, the pathogenic mechanisms associated with U2AF1 in different malignant diseases were summarized, and the potential of related targeting agents was discussed. Additionally, the feasibility of natural product-based therapies directed against U2AF1 was explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Nian
- Department of Transfusion, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, P.R. China
| | - Yihui Li
- Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing 100730, P.R. China
| | - Jingwei Li
- Department of Transfusion, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, P.R. China
| | - Liyun Zhao
- Department of Pharmacy, Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, P.R. China
| | - Fernando Rodrigues Lima
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Jinhao Zeng
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China
| | - Rongxing Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400000, P.R. China
| | - Zhijun Ye
- Department of Clinical Nutrition, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, P.R. China
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11
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Malakar P, Shukla S, Mondal M, Kar RK, Siddiqui JA. The nexus of long noncoding RNAs, splicing factors, alternative splicing and their modulations. RNA Biol 2024; 21:1-20. [PMID: 38017665 PMCID: PMC10761143 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2023.2286099] [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] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The process of alternative splicing (AS) is widely deregulated in a variety of cancers. Splicing is dependent upon splicing factors. Recently, several long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to regulate AS by directly/indirectly interacting with splicing factors. This review focuses on the regulation of AS by lncRNAs through their interaction with splicing factors. AS mis-regulation caused by either mutation in splicing factors or deregulated expression of splicing factors and lncRNAs has been shown to be involved in cancer development and progression, making aberrant splicing, splicing factors and lncRNA suitable targets for cancer therapy. This review also addresses some of the current approaches used to target AS, splicing factors and lncRNAs. Finally, we discuss research challenges, some of the unanswered questions in the field and provide recommendations to advance understanding of the nexus of lncRNAs, AS and splicing factors in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pushkar Malakar
- Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, School of Biological Sciences, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational Research Institute (RKMVERI), Kolkata, India
| | - Sudhanshu Shukla
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad, Dharwad, Karnataka, India
| | - Meghna Mondal
- Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, School of Biological Sciences, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational Research Institute (RKMVERI), Kolkata, India
| | - Rajesh Kumar Kar
- Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jawed Akhtar Siddiqui
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
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12
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Li X, Wang Y, Min Q, Zhang W, Teng H, Li C, Zhang K, Shi L, Wang B, Zhan Q. Comparative transcriptome characterization of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:3841-3853. [PMID: 37564101 PMCID: PMC10410469 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.07.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Esophageal cancers are primarily categorized as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). While various (epi) genomic alterations associated with tumor development in ESCC and EAC have been documented, a comprehensive comparison of the transcriptomes in these two cancer subtypes remains lacking. Methods We collected 551 gene expression profiles from publicly available sources, including normal, ESCC, and EAC tissues or cell lines. Subsequently, we conducted a systematic analysis to compare the transcriptomes of these samples at various levels, including gene expression, promoter activity, alternative splicing (AS), alternative polyadenylation (APA), and gene fusion. Results Seven distinct cluster gene expression patterns were identified among the differentially expressed genes in normal, ESCC, and EAC tissues. These patterns were enriched in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and the activation of extracellular matrix organization and exhibited repression of epidermal development. Notably, we observed additional genes or unique expression levels enriched in these shared pathways and biological processes related to tumor development and immune activation. In addition to the differentially expressed genes, there was an enrichment of lncRNA co-expression networks and downregulation of promoter activity associated with the repression of epidermal development in both ESCC and EAC. This indicates a common feature between these two cancer subtypes. Furthermore, differential AS and APA patterns in ESCC and EAC appear to partially affect the expression of host genes associated with bacterial or viral infections in these subtypes. No gene fusions were observed between ESCC and EAC, thus highlighting the distinct molecular mechanisms underlying these two cancer subtypes. Conclusions We conducted a comprehensive comparison of ESCC and EAC transcriptomes and uncovered shared and distinct transcriptomic signatures at multiple levels. These findings suggest that ESCC and EAC may exhibit common and unique mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianfeng Li
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
- Department of Gastroenterology and Chongqing Key Laboratory of Digestive Malignancies, Daping Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), 10# Changjiang Branch Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400042, People's Republic of China
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology of Ministry of Education of China, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing 400038, People's Republic of China
- Jinfeng Laboratory, Chongqing 401329, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Wang
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
| | - Qingjie Min
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
| | - Weimin Zhang
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
| | - Huajing Teng
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
| | - Chao Li
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, China
| | - Kun Zhang
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, China
| | - Leisheng Shi
- Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology and Chongqing Key Laboratory of Digestive Malignancies, Daping Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), 10# Changjiang Branch Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400042, People's Republic of China
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology of Ministry of Education of China, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing 400038, People's Republic of China
- Jinfeng Laboratory, Chongqing 401329, People's Republic of China
| | - Qimin Zhan
- Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
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Chen X, Yang HT, Zhang B, Phillips JW, Cheng D, Rigo F, Witte ON, Xing Y, Black DL. The RNA-binding proteins hnRNP H and F regulate splicing of a MYC-dependent HRAS exon in prostate cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2220190120. [PMID: 37399401 PMCID: PMC10334793 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2220190120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The MYC proto-oncogene contributes to the pathogenesis of more than half of human cancers. Malignant transformation by MYC transcriptionally up-regulates the core pre-mRNA splicing machinery and causes misregulation of alternative splicing. However, our understanding of how splicing changes are directed by MYC is limited. We performed a signaling pathway-guided splicing analysis to identify MYC-dependent splicing events. These included an HRAS cassette exon repressed by MYC across multiple tumor types. To molecularly dissect the regulation of this HRAS exon, we used antisense oligonucleotide tiling to identify splicing enhancers and silencers in its flanking introns. RNA-binding motif prediction indicated multiple binding sites for hnRNP H and hnRNP F within these cis-regulatory elements. Using siRNA knockdown and cDNA expression, we found that both hnRNP H and F activate the HRAS cassette exon. Mutagenesis and targeted RNA immunoprecipitation implicate two downstream G-rich elements in this splicing activation. Analyses of ENCODE RNA-seq datasets confirmed hnRNP H regulation of HRAS splicing. Analyses of RNA-seq datasets across multiple cancers showed a negative correlation of HNRNPH gene expression with MYC hallmark enrichment, consistent with the effect of hnRNP H on HRAS splicing. Interestingly, HNRNPF expression showed a positive correlation with MYC hallmarks and thus was not consistent with the observed effects of hnRNP F. Loss of hnRNP H/F altered cell cycle progression and induced apoptosis in the PC3 prostate cancer cell line. Collectively, our results reveal mechanisms for MYC-dependent regulation of splicing and point to possible therapeutic targets in prostate cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyuan Chen
- Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Doctoral Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Harry Taegyun Yang
- Bioinformatics Interdepartmental Graduate Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Beatrice Zhang
- Center for Computational and Genomic Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - John W. Phillips
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Donghui Cheng
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2855 Gazelle Ct., Carlsbad, CA92010
| | - Owen N. Witte
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Yi Xing
- Center for Computational and Genomic Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA19104
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Douglas L. Black
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
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Montero-Hidalgo AJ, Pérez-Gómez JM, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Gómez-Gómez E, Gahete MD, Jiménez-Vacas JM, Luque RM. Alternative splicing in bladder cancer: potential strategies for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2023; 14:e1760. [PMID: 36063028 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract worldwide. The therapeutic options to tackle this disease comprise surgery, intravesical or systemic chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Unfortunately, a wide number of patients ultimately become resistant to these treatments and develop aggressive metastatic disease, presenting a poor prognosis. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic approaches to tackle this devastating pathology is urgently needed. However, a significant limitation is that the progression and drug response of bladder cancer is strongly associated with its intrinsic molecular heterogeneity. In this sense, RNA splicing is recently gaining importance as a critical hallmark of cancer since can have a significant clinical value. In fact, a profound dysregulation of the splicing process has been reported in bladder cancer, especially in the expression of certain key splicing variants and circular RNAs with a potential clinical value as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in this pathology. Indeed, some authors have already evidenced a profound antitumor effect by targeting some splicing factors (e.g., PTBP1), mRNA splicing variants (e.g., PKM2, HYAL4-v1), and circular RNAs (e.g., circITCH, circMYLK), which illustrates new possibilities to significantly improve the management of this pathology. This review represents the first detailed overview of the splicing process and its alterations in bladder cancer, and highlights opportunities for the development of novel diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and their clinical potential for the treatment of this devastating cancer type. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio J Montero-Hidalgo
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Jesús M Pérez-Gómez
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Antonio J Martínez-Fuentes
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Enrique Gómez-Gómez
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Urology Service, HURS/IMIBIC, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Manuel D Gahete
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Juan M Jiménez-Vacas
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
| | - Raúl M Luque
- Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- Reina Sofia University Hospital (HURS), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
- CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Cordoba, 14004, Spain
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15
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Qiao X, Zhu L, Song R, Shang C, Guo Y. CD44 occurring alternative splicing promotes cisplatin resistance and evokes tumor immune response in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. Transl Oncol 2023; 31:101644. [PMID: 36827716 PMCID: PMC9982036 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2023.101644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent malignant tumor in head and neck region. Platinum drug resistance limits the clinical application of chemotherapy regardless of medical development. The aim of our study is to identify cisplatin-resistant genes which can be used as new therapeutic targets and investigate the functional mechanism of OSCC chemoresistance. METHODS The OSCC Cal27 and HSC4 cisplatin-resistant cell lines were constructed to screen the differential genes/transcripts expression. GO, KEGG and GSEA were performed to reveal the relevant signaling pathways. Alternative splicing (AS) software rMATs was applied to explore AS events in chemoresistance. R package and TIMER tools were used to evaluate the linear correlation between CD44 and immune cell subpopulations. The co-culture model of dendritic cells (DCs) and OSCC cells was applied to explore the effect of CD44 on immune microenvironment and cisplatin resistance. RESULTS Our results showed that CD44 was differentially expressed in cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells. Through bioinformatics prediction and experimental verification, we confirmed that CD44 occurring AS was involved in tumor progression and cisplatin resistance. Moreover, CD44 could further enhance the cisplatin resistance of OSCC by activating DCs, making CD44 to be a potential intervention target. We also identified DC as a new target for platinum drugs to stimulate the growth of OSCC. CONCLUSION Our findings not only make it possible to explore new therapeutic methods, such as CD44 inhibitors or antisense oligonucleotides, but also provide insights into the new mechanisms of cisplatin resistance to chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Qiao
- Department of Central Laboratory, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110002, China; Department of Oral Biology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Li Zhu
- Department of Central Laboratory, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110002, China
| | - Rongbo Song
- Department of Central Laboratory, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110002, China
| | - Chao Shang
- Department of Neurobiology, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Yan Guo
- Department of Central Laboratory, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110002, China; Department of Oral Biology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
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16
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Li G, Bhattacharjee A, Salomonis N. Quantifying tumor specificity using Bayesian probabilistic modeling for drug target discovery and prioritization. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.03.530994. [PMID: 36945433 PMCID: PMC10028977 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.03.530994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
In diseases such as cancer, the design of new therapeutic strategies requires extensive, costly, and unfortunately sometimes deadly testing to reveal life threatening "off target" effects. A crucial first step in predicting toxicity are analyses of normal RNA and protein tissue expression, which are now possible using comprehensive molecular tissue atlases. However, no standardized approaches exist for target prioritization, which instead rely on ad-hoc thresholds and manual inspection. Such issues are compounded, given that genomic and proteomic data detection sensitivity and accuracy are often problematic. Thus, quantifiable probabilistic scores for tumor specificity that address these challenges could enable the creation of new predictive models for combinatorial drug design and correlative analyses. Here, we propose a Bayesian Tumor Specificity (BayesTS) score that can naturally account for multiple independent forms of molecular evidence derving from both RNA-Seq and protein expression while preserving the uncertainty of the inference. We applied BayesTS to 24,905 human protein-coding genes across 3,644 normal samples (GTEx and TCGA) spanning 63 tissues. These analyses demonstrate the ability of BayesTS to accurately incorporate protein, RNA and tissue distribution evidence, while effectively capturing the uncertainty of these inferences. This approach prioritized well-established drug targets, while deemphasizing those which were later found to induce toxicity. BayesTS allows for the adjustment of tissue importance weights for tissues of interest, such as reproductive and physiologically dispensable tissues (e.g., tonsil, appendix), enabling clinically translatable prioritizations. Our results show that BayesTS can facilitate novel drug target discovery and can be easily generalized to unconventional molecular targets, such as splicing neoantigens. We provide the code and inferred tumor specificity predictions as a database available online (https://github.com/frankligy/BayesTS). We envision that the widespread adoption of BayesTS will facilitate improved target prioritization for oncology drug development, ultimately leading to the discovery of more effective and safer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangyuan Li
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA
| | - Anukana Bhattacharjee
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Nathan Salomonis
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA
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17
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Luo L, Tan H, Liao Y. In silico analysis of marine natural product for protein arginine methyltransferase 5(PRMT5) inhibitors based on pharmacophore and molecular docking. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:13180-13197. [PMID: 36856049 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2184172] [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: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Over the past few decades, various inhibitors of PRMT5 have been developed because of its involvement in a variety of tumor development processes. As of now, no drugs targeting PRMT5 have been approved, and multiple drugs entering clinical trials have proven to have side effects. In this study, PRMT5 was used to perform virtual screening of 52119 marine natural compounds by combining various methods. We constructed 20 pharmacophore models based on multiple ligands. The best pharmacophore model AARR_2 was selected by analyzing the statistical parameters of the pharmacophore model and the binding characteristics of the ligand active site, and then 3552 compounds were screened out. Compared with the positive compound, 46 compounds were selected based on the molecular docking fraction and docking mode analysis. Then, 3D-QSAR was used to analyze the relationship between structure and activity of the compounds. Then, in addition to marine compounds 36404, 36405 and 14436, we selected compound 46 (the positive control compound) and used the CLC-Pred online Web server to predict their cytotoxicity to human cell lines, making cell experiments possible. Finally, we conducted the prediction of ADMET in order to better promote clinical trials. After comprehensive judgment, we screened out the marine natural compounds 36404 and 36405 as candidates for PRMT5 substrate competitive inhibitors.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lianxiang Luo
- The Marine Biomedical Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China
- The Marine Biomedical Research Institute of Guangdong Zhanjiang, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China
| | - Huiting Tan
- The First Clinical College, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China
| | - Yinglin Liao
- The First Clinical College, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China
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18
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Mian SA, Philippe C, Maniati E, Protopapa P, Bergot T, Piganeau M, Nemkov T, Bella DD, Morales V, Finch AJ, D’Alessandro A, Bianchi K, Wang J, Gallipoli P, Kordasti S, Kubasch AS, Cross M, Platzbecker U, Wiseman DH, Bonnet D, Bernard DG, Gribben JG, Rouault-Pierre K. Vitamin B5 and succinyl-CoA improve ineffective erythropoiesis in SF3B1-mutated myelodysplasia. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eabn5135. [PMID: 36857430 PMCID: PMC7614516 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn5135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
Patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and ring sideroblasts (MDS-RS) present with symptomatic anemia due to ineffective erythropoiesis that impedes their quality of life and increases morbidity. More than 80% of patients with MDS-RS harbor splicing factor 3B subunit 1 (SF3B1) mutations, the founder aberration driving MDS-RS disease. Here, we report how mis-splicing of coenzyme A synthase (COASY), induced by mutations in SF3B1, affects heme biosynthesis and erythropoiesis. Our data revealed that COASY was up-regulated during normal erythroid differentiation, and its silencing prevented the formation of erythroid colonies, impeded erythroid differentiation, and precluded heme accumulation. In patients with MDS-RS, loss of protein due to COASY mis-splicing led to depletion of both CoA and succinyl-CoA. Supplementation with COASY substrate (vitamin B5) rescued CoA and succinyl-CoA concentrations in SF3B1mut cells and mended erythropoiesis differentiation defects in MDS-RS primary patient cells. Our findings reveal a key role of the COASY pathway in erythroid maturation and identify upstream and downstream metabolites of COASY as a potential treatment for anemia in patients with MDS-RS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed A Mian
- The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, United Kingdom
| | - Céline Philippe
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Eleni Maniati
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Pantelitsa Protopapa
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Tiffany Bergot
- University of Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR1078, GGB, 29238 Brest, France
| | | | - Travis Nemkov
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Doriana Di Bella
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Valle Morales
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J Finch
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Angelo D’Alessandro
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Katiuscia Bianchi
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Jun Wang
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Paolo Gallipoli
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Shahram Kordasti
- System Cancer Immunology, Comprehensive Cancer Centre, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Anne Sophie Kubasch
- Department of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Hemostaseology, Leipzig University Hospital, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Cross
- Department of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Hemostaseology, Leipzig University Hospital, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Uwe Platzbecker
- Department of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Hemostaseology, Leipzig University Hospital, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel H Wiseman
- Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M20 4GJ, UK
| | | | - Delphine G Bernard
- University of Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR1078, GGB, 29238 Brest, France
- Centre de Ressources Biologiques du CHRU de Brest, 29238 Brest, France
| | - John G Gribben
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Kevin Rouault-Pierre
- Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
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19
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Zhuang L, Tian J, Lai B, Zhang G, Li H. Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Cellular Heterogeneity in an Acral Amelanotic Melanoma After Immunotherapy Treatment. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol 2023; 16:1009-1018. [PMID: 37077860 PMCID: PMC10108909 DOI: 10.2147/ccid.s404381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/21/2023]
Abstract
Background Anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 (anti-PD-L1) immunotherapy is often used for advanced urothelial carcinoma and melanoma, including amelanotic melanoma, a relatively rare subtype with little to no pigment in the tumor cells. However, cellular heterogeneity of amelanotic melanoma during or after anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy treatments has not been described. Purpose To investigate cellular heterogeneity in acral amelanotic melanoma after immunotherapy exposure. Methods We evaluated subtle visual changes of the melanoma by dermoscopy and performed a pathological examination to analyze the heterogeneity of microscopic morphological and immunohistochemistry changes. The cellular transcriptional heterogeneity and corresponding biological function profiles of the melanoma were determined by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Results The dermoscopic examination revealed black globules and scar-like depigmentation areas against a homogeneous red background. Pigmented and amelanotic melanoma cells were observed microscopically. The pigmented cells were large and contained melanin granules expressing Melan-A and HMB45; the amelanotic cells were small and did not express HMB45. Ki-67 immunohistochemical staining revealed that the pigmented melanoma cells had a higher proliferative ability than the amelanotic cells. scRNA-seq identified three cell clusters: amelanotic cell cluster 1, amelanotic cell cluster 2, and pigmented cell cluster. Furthermore, a pseudo-time trajectory analysis showed that amelanotic cell cluster 2 originated from amelanotic cell cluster 1 and transformed into the pigmented melanoma cell cluster. The expression pattern of melanin synthesis-related and lysosome-endosome-related genes in different cell clusters supported the cell cluster transformation results. Also, upregulated expression of cell cycle genes indicated that the pigmented melanoma cells had a high proliferative ability. Conclusion Coexisting amelanotic and pigmented melanoma cells indicated cellular heterogeneity in an acral amelanotic melanoma from a patient who underwent immunotherapy treatment. Additionally, the pigmented melanoma cells acquired a higher proliferative ability than the amelanotic melanoma cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le Zhuang
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis on Dermatoses, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control and Evaluation of Cosmetics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Tian
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis on Dermatoses, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control and Evaluation of Cosmetics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Institute of Medical Technology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Binbin Lai
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis on Dermatoses, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control and Evaluation of Cosmetics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Institute of Medical Technology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Guohong Zhang
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis on Dermatoses, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control and Evaluation of Cosmetics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Hang Li
- Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis on Dermatoses, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control and Evaluation of Cosmetics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Correspondence: Hang Li, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, Xishiku Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100034, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8613693058190, Fax +861083572350, Email
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20
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Orabi B, Xie N, McConeghy B, Dong X, Chauve C, Hach F. Freddie: annotation-independent detection and discovery of transcriptomic alternative splicing isoforms using long-read sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 51:e11. [PMID: 36478271 PMCID: PMC9881145 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac1112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative splicing (AS) is an important mechanism in the development of many cancers, as novel or aberrant AS patterns play an important role as an independent onco-driver. In addition, cancer-specific AS is potentially an effective target of personalized cancer therapeutics. However, detecting AS events remains a challenging task, especially if these AS events are novel. This is exacerbated by the fact that existing transcriptome annotation databases are far from being comprehensive, especially with regard to cancer-specific AS. Additionally, traditional sequencing technologies are severely limited by the short length of the generated reads, which rarely spans more than a single splice junction site. Given these challenges, transcriptomic long-read (LR) sequencing presents a promising potential for the detection and discovery of AS. We present Freddie, a computational annotation-independent isoform discovery and detection tool. Freddie takes as input transcriptomic LR sequencing of a sample alongside its genomic split alignment and computes a set of isoforms for the given sample. It then partitions the input reads into sets that can be processed independently and in parallel. For each partition, Freddie segments the genomic alignment of the reads into canonical exon segments. The goal of this segmentation is to be able to represent any potential isoform as a subset of these canonical exons. This segmentation is formulated as an optimization problem and is solved with a dynamic programming algorithm. Then, Freddie reconstructs the isoforms by jointly clustering and error-correcting the reads using the canonical segmentation as a succinct representation. The clustering and error-correcting step is formulated as an optimization problem-the Minimum Error Clustering into Isoforms (MErCi) problem-and is solved using integer linear programming (ILP). We compare the performance of Freddie on simulated datasets with other isoform detection tools with varying dependence on annotation databases. We show that Freddie outperforms the other tools in its accuracy, including those given the complete ground truth annotation. We also run Freddie on a transcriptomic LR dataset generated in-house from a prostate cancer cell line with a matched short-read RNA-seq dataset. Freddie results in isoforms with a higher short-read cross-validation rate than the other tested tools. Freddie is open source and available at https://github.com/vpc-ccg/freddie/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baraa Orabi
- Department of Computer Science, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Ning Xie
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Xuesen Dong
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Department of Urologic Sciences, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Cedric Chauve
- Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Faraz Hach
- To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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21
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Zanelli M, Parente P, Sanguedolce F, Zizzo M, Palicelli A, Bisagni A, Carosi I, Trombetta D, Mastracci L, Ricci L, Pancetti S, Martino G, Broggi G, Caltabiano R, Cavazza A, Ascani S. Intravascular NK/T-Cell Lymphoma: What We Know about This Diagnostically Challenging, Aggressive Disease. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:5458. [PMID: 36358876 PMCID: PMC9658079 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14215458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/05/2022] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Intravascular lymphoma is a form of lymphoid malignancy characterized by neoplastic cells growing almost exclusively within the lumina of small- to medium-sized blood vessels. Most cases are of B-cell origin with rare cases of natural killer or T-cell lineage. Extranodal sites are affected, mainly the skin and central nervous system, although any organ may be involved. Intravascular NK/T-cell lymphoma deserves special attention because of its clinicopathologic features and the need for adequate immunophenotyping combined with clonality test for a proper diagnosis. Moreover, intravascular NK/T-cell lymphoma is strongly linked to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is considered to play a role in tumorigenesis and to be responsible for the aggressive behavior of the disease. In this paper, we review the current knowledge on this rare lymphoma and, in particular, the most recent advances about its molecular landscape. The main distinguishing features with other EBV-related entities, such as extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, EBV-positive primary nodal T/NK-cell lymphoma, and aggressive NK-cell leukemia, are discussed to help pathologists obtain the correct diagnosis and consequently develop an adequate and prompt therapy response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magda Zanelli
- Pathology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Paola Parente
- Pathology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | | | - Maurizio Zizzo
- Surgical Oncology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Andrea Palicelli
- Pathology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Alessandra Bisagni
- Pathology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Illuminato Carosi
- Pathology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Domenico Trombetta
- Laboratory Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza San Giovanni Rotondo, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Luca Mastracci
- Anatomic Pathology, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino IRCCS Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | - Linda Ricci
- Pathology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria di Terni, University of Perugia, 05100 Terni, Italy
| | - Saverio Pancetti
- Pathology Unit, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, 20072 Milan, Italy
- Pathology Unit, Humanitas Research Hospital-IRCCS, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Giovanni Martino
- Pathology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria di Terni, University of Perugia, 05100 Terni, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Broggi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia” Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Rosario Caltabiano
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia” Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Alberto Cavazza
- Pathology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Stefano Ascani
- Pathology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria di Terni, University of Perugia, 05100 Terni, Italy
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22
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Pattwell SS, Arora S, Nuechterlein N, Zager M, Loeb KR, Cimino PJ, Holland NC, Reche-Ley N, Bolouri H, Almiron Bonnin DA, Szulzewsky F, Phadnis VV, Ozawa T, Wagner MJ, Haffner MC, Cao J, Shendure J, Holland EC. Oncogenic role of a developmentally regulated NTRK2 splice variant. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo6789. [PMID: 36206341 PMCID: PMC9544329 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo6789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Temporally regulated alternative splicing choices are vital for proper development, yet the wrong splice choice may be detrimental. Here, we highlight a previously unidentified role for the neurotrophin receptor splice variant TrkB.T1 in neurodevelopment, embryogenesis, transformation, and oncogenesis across multiple tumor types in humans and mice. TrkB.T1 is the predominant NTRK2 isoform across embryonic organogenesis, and forced overexpression of this embryonic pattern causes multiple solid and nonsolid tumors in mice in the context of tumor suppressor loss. TrkB.T1 also emerges as the predominant NTRK isoform expressed in a wide range of adult and pediatric tumors, including those harboring tropomyosin receptor kinase fusions. Affinity purification-mass spectrometry proteomic analysis reveals distinct interactors with known developmental and oncogenic signaling pathways such as Wnt, transforming growth factor-β, Sonic Hedgehog, and Ras. From alterations in splicing factors to changes in gene expression, the discovery of isoform specific oncogenes with embryonic ancestry has the potential to shape the way we think about developmental systems and oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siobhan S. Pattwell
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
- Division of Pediatrics, Department Hematology/Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Sonali Arora
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Nicholas Nuechterlein
- Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Michael Zager
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Center for Data Visualization, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Keith R. Loeb
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, 325 9th Avenue, Box 359791, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Patrick J. Cimino
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, 325 9th Avenue, Box 359791, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Nikolas C. Holland
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, #809, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | | | - Hamid Bolouri
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Benaroya Research Institute, 1201 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Damian A. Almiron Bonnin
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Frank Szulzewsky
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | | | - Tatsuya Ozawa
- Division of Brain Tumor Translational Research, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan
| | - Michael J. Wagner
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Washington, 825 Eastlake Ave E., Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Michael C. Haffner
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, 325 9th Avenue, Box 359791, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Junyue Cao
- Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jay Shendure
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Allen Discovery Center for Cell Lineage Tracing, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Eric C. Holland
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mailstop C3-168, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Seattle Tumor Translational Research Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
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23
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Slusher AL, Kim JJJ, Ribick M, Pollens-Voigt J, Bankhead A, Palmbos PL, Ludlow AT. Intronic Cis-Element DR8 in hTERT Is Bound by Splicing Factor SF3B4 and Regulates hTERT Splicing in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Mol Cancer Res 2022; 20:1574-1588. [PMID: 35852380 PMCID: PMC9532359 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-21-0058] [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: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Splicing of the hTERT gene to produce the full-length (FL) transcript is necessary for telomerase enzyme activity and telomere-dependent cellular immortality in the majority of human tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. The molecular machinery to splice hTERT to the FL isoform remains mostly unknown. Previously, we reported that an intron 8 cis-element termed "direct repeat 8" (DR8) promotes FL hTERT splicing, telomerase, and telomere length maintenance when bound by NOVA1 and PTBP1 in NSCLC cells. However, some NSCLC cells and patient tumor samples lack NOVA1 expression. This leaves a gap in knowledge about the splicing factors and cis-elements that promote telomerase in the NOVA1-negative context. We report that DR8 regulates FL hTERT splicing in the NOVA1-negative and -positive lung cancer contexts. We identified splicing factor 3b subunit 4 (SF3B4) as an RNA trans-factor whose expression is increased in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tumors compared with adjacent normal tissue and predicts poor LUAD patient survival. In contrast to normal lung epithelial cells, which continued to grow with partial reductions of SF3B4 protein, SF3B4 knockdown reduced hTERT splicing, telomerase activity, telomere length, and cell growth in lung cancer cells. SF3B4 was also demonstrated to bind the DR8 region of hTERT pre-mRNA in both NOVA1-negative and -positive NSCLC cells. These findings provide evidence that DR8 is a critical binding hub for trans-factors to regulate FL hTERT splicing in NSCLC cells. These studies help define mechanisms of gene regulation important to the generation of telomerase activity during carcinogenesis. IMPLICATIONS Manipulation of a core spliceosome protein reduces telomerase/hTERT splicing in lung cancer cells and results in slowed cancer cell growth and cell death, revealing a potential therapeutic strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron L. Slusher
- School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jeongjin JJ Kim
- School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Mark Ribick
- School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | | | - Armand Bankhead
- Biostatistics Department and School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Phillip L. Palmbos
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Andrew T. Ludlow
- School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
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24
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Imbriano C, Belluti S. Histone Marks-Dependent Effect on Alternative Splicing: New Perspectives for Targeted Splicing Modulation in Cancer? Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23158304. [PMID: 35955433 PMCID: PMC9368390 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23158304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative splicing (AS) is a tightly regulated mechanism that generates the complex human proteome from a small number of genes. Cis-regulatory RNA motifs in exons and introns control AS, recruiting positive and negative trans-acting splicing regulators. At a higher level, chromatin affects splicing events. Growing evidence indicates that the popular histone code hypothesis can be extended to RNA-level processes, such as AS. In addition to nucleosome positioning, which can generate transcriptional barriers to shape the final splicing outcome, histone post-translational modifications can contribute to the detailed regulation of single exon inclusion/exclusion. A histone-based system can identify alternatively spliced chromatin stretches, affecting RNAPII elongation locally or recruiting splicing components via adaptor complexes. In tumor cells, several mechanisms trigger misregulated AS events and produce cancer-associated transcripts. On a genome-wide level, aberrant AS can be the consequence of dysfunctional epigenetic splicing code, including altered enrichment in histone post-translational modifications. This review describes the main findings related to the effect of histone modifications and variants on splicing outcome and how a dysfunctional epigenetic splicing code triggers aberrant AS in cancer. In addition, it highlights recent advances in programmable DNA-targeting technologies and their possible application for AS targeted epigenetic modulation.
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25
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Yang W, Liu H, Zhang R, Freedman JA, Han Y, Hung RJ, Brhane Y, McLaughlin J, Brennan P, Bickeboeller H, Rosenberger A, Houlston RS, Caporaso NE, Landi MT, Brueske I, Risch A, Christiani DC, Amos CI, Chen X, Patierno SR, Wei Q. Deciphering associations between three RNA splicing-related genetic variants and lung cancer risk. NPJ Precis Oncol 2022; 6:48. [PMID: 35773316 PMCID: PMC9247007 DOI: 10.1038/s41698-022-00281-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Limited efforts have been made in assessing the effect of genome-wide profiling of RNA splicing-related variation on lung cancer risk. In the present study, we first identified RNA splicing-related genetic variants linked to lung cancer in a genome-wide profiling analysis and then conducted a two-stage (discovery and replication) association study in populations of European ancestry. Discovery and validation were conducted sequentially with a total of 29,266 cases and 56,450 controls from both the Transdisciplinary Research in Cancer of the Lung and the International Lung Cancer Consortium as well as the OncoArray database. For those variants identified as significant in the two datasets, we further performed stratified analyses by smoking status and histological type and investigated their effects on gene expression and potential regulatory mechanisms. We identified three genetic variants significantly associated with lung cancer risk: rs329118 in JADE2 (P = 8.80E-09), rs2285521 in GGA2 (P = 4.43E-08), and rs198459 in MYRF (P = 1.60E-06). The combined effects of all three SNPs were more evident in lung squamous cell carcinomas (P = 1.81E-08, P = 6.21E-08, and P = 7.93E-04, respectively) than in lung adenocarcinomas and in ever smokers (P = 9.80E-05, P = 2.70E-04, and P = 2.90E-05, respectively) than in never smokers. Gene expression quantitative trait analysis suggested a role for the SNPs in regulating transcriptional expression of the corresponding target genes. In conclusion, we report that three RNA splicing-related genetic variants contribute to lung cancer susceptibility in European populations. However, additional validation is needed, and specific splicing mechanisms of the target genes underlying the observed associations also warrants further exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Yang
- International Center for Aging and Cancer, Pathology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, China
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- Ningxia Human Stem Cell Research Institute, the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China
| | - Hongliang Liu
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Ruoxin Zhang
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- School of Public Health, Fudan University; Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 200032, China
- Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan University, Yiwu, Zhejiang, 322000, China
| | - Jennifer A Freedman
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Younghun Han
- Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Rayjean J Hung
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yonathan Brhane
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Paul Brennan
- International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, 69372, France
| | - Heike Bickeboeller
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, 37073, Germany
| | - Albert Rosenberger
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, 37073, Germany
| | - Richard S Houlston
- Division of Genetics and Epidemiology, the Institute of Cancer Research, London, SW7 3RP, UK
| | - Neil E Caporaso
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Maria Teresa Landi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Irene Brueske
- Helmholtz Centre Munich, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Neuherberg, 85764, Germany
| | - Angela Risch
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, 5020, Austria
| | - David C Christiani
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Christopher I Amos
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Xiaoxin Chen
- Cancer Research Program, Julius L. Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, 27707, USA
| | - Steven R Patierno
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
| | - Qingyi Wei
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
- Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
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Zhu J, Huang Q, Peng X, Luo C, Liu S, Liu Z, Wu X, Luo H. Identification of LncRNA Prognostic Signature Associated With Genomic Instability in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Front Oncol 2022; 12:799475. [PMID: 35433487 PMCID: PMC9012103 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.799475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genomic instability (GI) is a critical feature of cancer which plays a key role in the occurrence and development of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) is an emerging prognostic biomarker because it is involved in regulating GI. Recently, researchers used such GI-related LncRNAs (GILncRNAs) to establish a prognostic signature for patients with cancer and helped in predicting the overall prognosis of the patients. However, it is evident that patients with PAAD still lack such prognostic signature constructed with GILncRNA. Methods The present study screened GILncRNAs from 83 patients with PAAD. Prognosis-related GILncRNAs were identified by univariate Cox regression analysis. The correlation coefficients of these GILncRNAs were obtained by multivariate Cox regression analysis and used to construct a signature. The signature in the present study was then assessed through survival analysis, mutation correlation analysis, independent prognostic analysis, and clinical stratification analysis in the training set and validated in the testing as well as all TCGA set. The current study performed external clinical relevance validation of the signature and validated the effect of AC108134.2 in GILncSig on PAAD using in vitro experiments. Finally, the function of GILncRNA signature (GILncSig) dependent on Gene Ontology enrichment analysis was explored and chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results Results of the present study found that a total of 409 GILncRNAs were identified, 5 of which constituted the prognostic risk signature in this study, namely, AC095057.3, AC108134.2, AC124798.1, AL606834.1, and AC104695.4. It was found that the signature of the present study was better than others in predicting the overall survival and applied to patients with PAAD of all ages, genders, and tumor grades. Further, it was noted that the signature of the current study in the GSE102238, was correlated with tumor length, and tumor stage of patients with PAAD. In vitro, functional experiments were used in the present study to validate that AC108134.2 is associated with PAAD genomic instability and progression. Notably, results of the pRRophetic analysis in the current study showed that the high-risk group possessed reverse characteristics and was sensitive to chemotherapy. Conclusions In conclusion, it was evident that the GILncSig used in the present study has good prognostic performance. Therefore, the signature may become a potential sensitive biological indicator of PAAD chemotherapy, which may help in clinical decision-making and management of patients with cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinfeng Zhu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.,Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang, China
| | - Qian Huang
- Department of General Practice, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xingyu Peng
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.,Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang, China
| | - Chen Luo
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Sicheng Liu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Zitao Liu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Xun Wu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Hongliang Luo
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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D A, Y L, R S, H D, E B, Rm W, I V, L C, N.J D. Background splicing as a predictor of aberrant splicing in genetic disease. RNA Biol 2022; 19:256-265. [PMID: 35188075 PMCID: PMC8865296 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2021.2024031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations of splice sites, auxiliary splicing elements and the splicing machinery cause a wide range of genetic disease. Here we report that many of the complex effects of splicing mutations can be predicted from background splicing information, with emphasis on BRCA1, BRCA2 and DMD. Background splicing arises from very low level splicing between rarely used background splice sites and from low-level exon skipping between intron splice sites. We show how this information can be downloaded from the Snaptron database of spliced RNA, which we then compared with databases of human splice site mutations. We report that inactivating mutations of intron splice sites typically caused the non-mutated partner splice site to splice to a known background splice site in over 90% of cases and to the strongest background splice site in the large majority of cases. Consequently, background splicing information can usefully predict the effects of splice site mutations, which include cryptic splice activation and single or multiple exon skipping. In addition, de novo splice sites and splice sites involved in pseudoexon formation, recursive splicing and aberrant splicing in cancer show a 90% match to background splice sites, so establishing that the enhancement of background splicing causes a wide range of splicing aberrations. We also discuss how background splicing information can identify cryptic splice sites that might be usefully targeted by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and how it might indicate possible multiple exon skipping side effects of ASOs designed to induce single exon skipping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexieva D
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Long Y
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Sarkar R
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Dhayan H
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Bruet E
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Winston Rm
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Vorechovsky I
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Castellano L
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Imperial Centre for Translational and Experimental Medicine (Ictem), London, UK
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Dibb N.J
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK
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Gómez-Redondo I, Pericuesta E, Navarrete-Lopez P, Ramos-Ibeas P, Planells B, Fonseca-Balvís N, Vaquero-Rey A, Fernández-González R, Laguna-Barraza R, Horiuchi K, Gutiérrez-Adán A. Zrsr2 and functional U12-dependent spliceosome are necessary for follicular development. iScience 2022; 25:103860. [PMID: 35198906 PMCID: PMC8850803 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
ZRSR2 is a splicing factor involved in recognition of 3'-intron splice sites that is frequently mutated in myeloid malignancies and several tumors; however, the role of mutations of Zrsr2 in other tissues has not been analyzed. To explore the biological role of ZRSR2, we generated three Zrsr2 mutant mouse lines. All Zrsr2 mutant lines exhibited blood cell anomalies, and in two lines, oogenesis was blocked at the secondary follicle stage. RNA-seq of Zrsr2 mu secondary follicles showed aberrations in gene expression and showed altered alternative splicing (AS) events involving enrichment of U12-type intron retention (IR), supporting the functional Zrsr2 action in minor spliceosomes. IR events were preferentially associated with centriole replication, protein phosphorylation, and DNA damage checkpoint. Notably, we found alterations in AS events of 50 meiotic genes. These results indicate that ZRSR2 mutations alter splicing mainly in U12-type introns, which may affect peripheral blood cells, and impede oogenesis and female fertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Gómez-Redondo
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eva Pericuesta
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Paula Navarrete-Lopez
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Priscila Ramos-Ibeas
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Benjamín Planells
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Noelia Fonseca-Balvís
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Aida Vaquero-Rey
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Raúl Fernández-González
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ricardo Laguna-Barraza
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Keiko Horiuchi
- Department of Protein-Protein Interaction Research, Institute for Advanced Medical Sciences, Nippon Medical School, 1-396 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-8533, Japan
| | - Alfonso Gutiérrez-Adán
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA-CSIC, Avda. Puerta de Hierro nº 12. Local 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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USP15 and USP4 facilitate lung cancer cell proliferation by regulating the alternative splicing of SRSF1. Cell Death Dis 2022; 8:24. [PMID: 35027535 PMCID: PMC8758713 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-022-00820-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The deubiquitinating enzyme USP15 is implicated in several human cancers by regulating different cellular processes, including splicing regulation. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of its functional relevance and the successive roles in enhanced tumorigenesis remain ambiguous. Here, we found that USP15 and its close paralog USP4 are overexpressed and facilitate lung cancer cell proliferation by regulating the alternative splicing of SRSF1. Depletion of USP15 and USP4 impair SRSF1 splicing characterized by the replacement of exon 4 with non-coding intron sequences retained at its C-terminus, resulting in an alternative isoform SRSF1-3. We observed an increased endogenous expression of SRSF1 in lung cancer cells as well, and its overexpression significantly enhanced cancer cell phenotype and rescued the depletion effect of USP15 and USP4. However, the alternatively spliced isoform SRSF1-3 was deficient in such aspects for its premature degradation through nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. The increased USP15 expression contributes to the lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) development and shows significantly lower disease-specific survival of patients with USP15 alteration. In short, we identified USP15 and USP4 as key regulators of SRSF1 alternative splicing with altered functions, which may represent the novel prognostic biomarker as well as a potential target for LUAD.
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Jutzi D, Ruepp MD. Alternative Splicing in Human Biology and Disease. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2537:1-19. [PMID: 35895255 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2521-7_1] [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] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Alternative pre-mRNA splicing allows for the production of multiple mRNAs from an individual gene, which not only expands the protein-coding potential of the genome but also enables complex mechanisms for the post-transcriptional control of gene expression. Regulation of alternative splicing entails a combinatorial interplay between an abundance of trans-acting splicing factors, cis-acting regulatory sequence elements and their concerted effects on the core splicing machinery. Given the extent and biological significance of alternative splicing in humans, it is not surprising that aberrant splicing patterns can cause or contribute to a wide range of diseases. In this introductory chapter, we outline the mechanisms that govern alternative pre-mRNA splicing and its regulation and discuss how dysregulated splicing contributes to human diseases affecting the motor system and the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Jutzi
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, UK.
| | - Marc-David Ruepp
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, UK.
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Genetic Mutations of Pancreatic Cancer and Genetically Engineered Mouse Models. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 14:cancers14010071. [PMID: 35008235 PMCID: PMC8750056 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14010071] [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: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy. Recent multi-gene analysis approaches such as next-generation sequencing have provided useful information on the molecular characterization of pancreatic tumors. Different types of pancreatic cancer and precursor lesions are characterized by specific molecular alterations. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) of PDAC are useful tools to understand the roles of altered genes. Most GEMMs are driven by oncogenic Kras, and can recapitulate the histological and molecular hallmarks of human PDAC and comparable precursor lesions. In this review, we summarize the main molecular alterations found in pancreatic neoplasms and GEMMs developed based on these alterations. Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy, and the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. An improved understanding of tumor biology and novel therapeutic discoveries are needed to improve overall survival. Recent multi-gene analysis approaches such as next-generation sequencing have provided useful information on the molecular characterization of pancreatic tumors. Different types of pancreatic cancer and precursor lesions are characterized by specific molecular alterations. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) of PDAC are useful to understand the roles of altered genes. Most GEMMs are driven by oncogenic Kras, and can recapitulate the histological and molecular hallmarks of human PDAC and comparable precursor lesions. Advanced GEMMs permit the temporally and spatially controlled manipulation of multiple target genes using a dual-recombinase system or CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. GEMMs that express fluorescent proteins allow cell lineage tracing to follow tumor growth and metastasis to understand the contribution of different cell types in cancer progression. GEMMs are widely used for therapeutic optimization. In this review, we summarize the main molecular alterations found in pancreatic neoplasms, developed GEMMs, and the contribution of GEMMs to the current understanding of PDAC pathobiology. Furthermore, we attempted to modify the categorization of altered driver genes according to the most updated findings.
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32
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Raguraman P, Balachandran AA, Chen S, Diermeier SD, Veedu RN. Antisense Oligonucleotide-Mediated Splice Switching: Potential Therapeutic Approach for Cancer Mitigation. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:5555. [PMID: 34771719 PMCID: PMC8583451 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13215555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Splicing is an essential process wherein precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) is reshaped into mature mRNA. In alternative splicing, exons of any pre-mRNA get rearranged to form mRNA variants and subsequently protein isoforms, which are distinct both by structure and function. On the other hand, aberrant splicing is the cause of many disorders, including cancer. In the past few decades, developments in the understanding of the underlying biological basis for cancer progression and therapeutic resistance have identified many oncogenes as well as carcinogenic splice variants of essential genes. These transcripts are involved in various cellular processes, such as apoptosis, cell signaling and proliferation. Strategies to inhibit these carcinogenic isoforms at the mRNA level are promising. Antisense oligonucleotides (AOs) have been developed to inhibit the production of alternatively spliced carcinogenic isoforms through splice modulation or mRNA degradation. AOs can also be used to induce splice switching, where the expression of an oncogenic protein can be inhibited by the induction of a premature stop codon. In general, AOs are modified chemically to increase their stability and binding affinity. One of the major concerns with AOs is efficient delivery. Strategies for the delivery of AOs are constantly being evolved to facilitate the entry of AOs into cells. In this review, the different chemical modifications employed and delivery strategies applied are discussed. In addition to that various AOs in clinical trials and their efficacy are discussed herein with a focus on six distinct studies that use AO-mediated exon skipping as a therapeutic strategy to combat cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prithi Raguraman
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; (P.R.); (A.A.B.); (S.C.)
- Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Akilandeswari Ashwini Balachandran
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; (P.R.); (A.A.B.); (S.C.)
- Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Suxiang Chen
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; (P.R.); (A.A.B.); (S.C.)
- Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Sarah D. Diermeier
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand;
| | - Rakesh N. Veedu
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; (P.R.); (A.A.B.); (S.C.)
- Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
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Venugopal K, Feng Y, Nowialis P, Xu H, Shabashvili DE, Berntsen CM, Kaur P, Krajcik KI, Taragjini C, Zaroogian Z, Casellas Román HL, Posada LM, Gunaratne C, Li J, Dupéré-Richer D, Bennett RL, Pondugula S, Riva A, Cogle CR, Opavsky R, Law BK, Bhaduri-McIntosh S, Kubicek S, Staber PB, Licht JD, Bird JE, Guryanova OA. DNMT3A Harboring Leukemia-Associated Mutations Directs Sensitivity to DNA Damage at Replication Forks. Clin Cancer Res 2021; 28:756-769. [PMID: 34716195 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-21-2863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), recurrent DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) mutations are associated with chemoresistance and poor prognosis, especially in advanced-age patients. Gene-expression studies in DNMT3A-mutated cells identified signatures implicated in deregulated DNA damage response and replication fork integrity, suggesting sensitivity to replication stress. Here, we tested whether pharmacologically induced replication fork stalling, such as with cytarabine, creates a therapeutic vulnerability in cells with DNMT3A(R882) mutations. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Leukemia cell lines, genetic mouse models, and isogenic cells with and without DNMT3A(mut) were used to evaluate sensitivity to nucleoside analogues such as cytarabine in vitro and in vivo, followed by analysis of DNA damage and signaling, replication restart, and cell-cycle progression on treatment and after drug removal. Transcriptome profiling identified pathways deregulated by DNMT3A(mut) expression. RESULTS We found increased sensitivity to pharmacologically induced replication stress in cells expressing DNMT3A(R882)-mutant, with persistent intra-S-phase checkpoint activation, impaired PARP1 recruitment, and elevated DNA damage, which was incompletely resolved after drug removal and carried through mitosis. Pulse-chase double-labeling experiments with EdU and BrdU after cytarabine washout demonstrated a higher rate of fork collapse in DNMT3A(mut)-expressing cells. RNA-seq studies supported deregulated cell-cycle progression and p53 activation, along with splicing, ribosome biogenesis, and metabolism. CONCLUSIONS Together, our studies show that DNMT3A mutations underlie a defect in recovery from replication fork arrest with subsequent accumulation of unresolved DNA damage, which may have therapeutic tractability. These results demonstrate that, in addition to its role in epigenetic control, DNMT3A contributes to preserving genome integrity during replication stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kartika Venugopal
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Yang Feng
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Pawel Nowialis
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Huanzhou Xu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Daniil E Shabashvili
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Cassandra M Berntsen
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Prabhjot Kaur
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Kathryn I Krajcik
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Christina Taragjini
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Zachary Zaroogian
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Heidi L Casellas Román
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Luisa M Posada
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Chamara Gunaratne
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Jianping Li
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Daphné Dupéré-Richer
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Richard L Bennett
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Santhi Pondugula
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Alberto Riva
- University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida.,Bioinformatics Core, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Christopher R Cogle
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Rene Opavsky
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Brian K Law
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida.,Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Stefan Kubicek
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Philipp B Staber
- Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Department of Medicine 1, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jonathan D Licht
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Jonathan E Bird
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Olga A Guryanova
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida. .,University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida
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PRMT5: An Emerging Target for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13205136. [PMID: 34680285 PMCID: PMC8534199 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13205136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The burden of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) increases with rising incidence, yet 5-year overall survival remains poor at 17%. Routine comprehensive genomic profiling of PDAC only finds 2.5% of patients who may benefit and receive matched targeted therapy. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) as an anti-cancer target has gained significant interest in recent years and high levels of PRMT5 protein are associated with worse survival outcomes across multiple cancer types. Inhibition of PRMT5 in pre-clinical models can lead to cancer growth inhibition. However, PRMT5 is involved in multiple cellular processes, thus determining its mechanism of action is challenging. While past reviews on PRMT5 have focused on its role in diverse cellular processes and past research studies have focused mainly on haematological malignancies and glioblastoma, this review provides an overview of the possible biological mechanisms of action of PRMT5 inhibition and its potential as a treatment in pancreatic cancer. Abstract The overall survival of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains poor and its incidence is rising. Targetable mutations in PDAC are rare, thus novel therapeutic approaches are needed. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) overexpression is associated with worse survival and inhibition of PRMT5 results in decreased cancer growth across multiple cancers, including PDAC. Emerging evidence also suggests that altered RNA processing is a driver in PDAC tumorigenesis and creates a partial dependency on this process. PRMT5 inhibition induces altered splicing and this vulnerability can be exploited as a novel therapeutic approach. Three possible biological pathways underpinning the action of PRMT5 inhibitors are discussed; c-Myc regulation appears central to its action in the PDAC setting. Whilst homozygous MTAP deletion and symmetrical dimethylation levels are associated with increased sensitivity to PRMT5 inhibition, neither measure robustly predicts its growth inhibitory response. The immunomodulatory effect of PRMT5 inhibitors on the tumour microenvironment will also be discussed, based on emerging evidence that PDAC stroma has a significant bearing on disease behaviour and response to therapy. Lastly, with the above caveats in mind, current knowledge gaps and the implications and rationales for PRMT5 inhibitor development in PDAC will be explored.
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35
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Qin Z, Qin L, Feng X, Li Z, Bian J. Development of Cdc2-like Kinase 2 Inhibitors: Achievements and Future Directions. J Med Chem 2021; 64:13191-13211. [PMID: 34519506 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Cdc2-like kinases (CLKs; CLK1-4) are associated with various neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic regulation, and viral infection and have been recognized as potential drug targets. Human CLK2 has received increasing attention as a regulator that phosphorylates serine- and arginine-rich (SR) proteins and subsequently modulates the alternative splicing of precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA), which is an attractive target for degenerative disease and cancer. Numerous CLK2 inhibitors have been identified, with several molecules currently in clinical development. The first CLK2 inhibitor Lorecivivint (compound 1) has recently entered phase 3 clinical trials. However, highly selective CLK2 inhibitors are rarely reported. This Perspective summarizes the biological roles and therapeutic potential of CLK2 along with progress on the development of CLK2 inhibitors and discusses the achievements and future prospects of CLK2 inhibitors for therapeutic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Qin
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211100, P. R. China
| | - Lian Qin
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211100, P. R. China
| | - Xi Feng
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211100, P. R. China
| | - Zhiyu Li
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211100, P. R. China
| | - Jinlei Bian
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211100, P. R. China
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36
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Ruggeri B. Cancer 2021: New therapeutic approaches for the treatment of cancer - building on advances in cancer biology and the molecular genetics of cancer. Curr Opin Pharmacol 2021; 60:341-345. [PMID: 34534753 DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2021.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Ruggeri
- Prelude Therapeutics Inc., 200 Powder Mill Rd, Experimental Station E400/3213, Wilmington, DE 19803, United States.
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37
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Biswas K, Couillard M, Cavallone L, Burkett S, Stauffer S, Martin BK, Southon E, Reid S, Plona TM, Baugher RN, Mellott SD, Pike KM, Albaugh ME, Maedler-Kron C, Hamel N, Tessarollo L, Marcus V, Foulkes WD, Sharan SK. A novel mouse model of PMS2 founder mutation that causes mismatch repair defect due to aberrant splicing. Cell Death Dis 2021; 12:838. [PMID: 34489406 PMCID: PMC8421400 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-04130-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer, now known as Lynch syndrome (LS) is one of the most common cancer predisposition syndromes and is caused by germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. A common founder GPV in PMS2 in the Canadian Inuit population, NM_000535.5: c.2002A>G, leads to a benign missense (p.I668V) but also acts as a de novo splice site that creates a 5 bp deletion resulting in a truncated protein (p.I668*). Individuals homozygous for this GPV are predisposed to atypical constitutional MMR deficiency with a delayed onset of first primary malignancy. We have generated mice with an equivalent germline mutation (Pms2c.1993A>G) and demonstrate that it results in a splicing defect similar to those observed in humans. Homozygous mutant mice are viable like the Pms2 null mice. However, unlike the Pms2 null mice, these mutant mice are fertile, like humans homozygous for this variant. Furthermore, these mice exhibit a significant increase in microsatellite instability and intestinal adenomas on an Apc mutant background. Rectification of the splicing defect in human and murine fibroblasts using antisense morpholinos suggests that this novel mouse model can be valuable in evaluating the efficacy aimed at targeting the splicing defect in PMS2 that is highly prevalent among the Canadian Inuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kajal Biswas
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Martin Couillard
- The Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Luca Cavallone
- The Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sandra Burkett
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Stacey Stauffer
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Betty K Martin
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
- Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Eileen Southon
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
- Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Susan Reid
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Teri M Plona
- CLIA Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Ryan N Baugher
- CLIA Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Stephanie D Mellott
- CLIA Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Kristen M Pike
- CLIA Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Mary E Albaugh
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
- Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | | | - Nancy Hamel
- Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lino Tessarollo
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Victoria Marcus
- Department of Pathology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - William D Foulkes
- The Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics and Cancer Research Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H4A 3JI, Canada
| | - Shyam K Sharan
- Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, USA.
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38
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Roehrig AE, Klupsch K, Oses-Prieto JA, Chaib S, Henderson S, Emmett W, Young LC, Surinova S, Blees A, Pfeiffer A, Tijani M, Brunk F, Hartig N, Muñoz-Alegre M, Hergovich A, Jennings BH, Burlingame AL, Rodriguez-Viciana P. Cell-cell adhesion regulates Merlin/NF2 interaction with the PAF complex. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254697. [PMID: 34424918 PMCID: PMC8382200 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The PAF complex (PAFC) coordinates transcription elongation and mRNA processing and its CDC73/parafibromin subunit functions as a tumour suppressor. The NF2/Merlin tumour suppressor functions both at the cell cortex and nucleus and is a key mediator of contact inhibition but the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study we have used affinity proteomics to identify novel Merlin interacting proteins and show that Merlin forms a complex with multiple proteins involved in RNA processing including the PAFC and the CHD1 chromatin remodeller. Tumour-derived inactivating mutations in both Merlin and the CDC73 PAFC subunit mutually disrupt their interaction and growth suppression by Merlin requires CDC73. Merlin interacts with the PAFC in a cell density-dependent manner and we identify a role for FAT cadherins in regulating the Merlin-PAFC interaction. Our results suggest that in addition to its function within the Hippo pathway, Merlin is part of a tumour suppressor network regulated by cell-cell adhesion which coordinates post-initiation steps of the transcription cycle of genes mediating contact inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne E. Roehrig
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kristina Klupsch
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Juan A. Oses-Prieto
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Selim Chaib
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen Henderson
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Warren Emmett
- University College London Genetics Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucy C. Young
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Silvia Surinova
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Blees
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anett Pfeiffer
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maha Tijani
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Fabian Brunk
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicole Hartig
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Alma L. Burlingame
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
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Jbara A, Siegfried Z, Karni R. Splice-switching as cancer therapy. Curr Opin Pharmacol 2021; 59:140-148. [PMID: 34217945 DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2021.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
In light of recent advances in RNA splicing modulation as therapy for specific genetic diseases, there is great optimism that this approach can be applied to treatment of cancer as well. Dysregulation of alternative RNA splicing is a common aberration detected in many cancers and thus, provides an attractive target for therapeutics. Here, we present and compare two promising approaches that are currently being investigated to manipulate alternative splicing and their potential use in therapy. The first strategy makes use of splice-switching oligonucleotides, whereas the second strategy uses CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat Cas (CRISPR-associated) technology. We will discuss both the challenges and limitations of these technologies and progress being made to implement splice-switching as a potential cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amina Jbara
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel
| | - Zahava Siegfried
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel
| | - Rotem Karni
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel.
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40
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Mikolaskova B, Jurcik M, Cipakova I, Selicky T, Jurcik J, Polakova SB, Stupenova E, Dudas A, Sivakova B, Bellova J, Barath P, Aronica L, Gregan J, Cipak L. Identification of Nrl1 Domains Responsible for Interactions with RNA-Processing Factors and Regulation of Nrl1 Function by Phosphorylation. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:7011. [PMID: 34209806 PMCID: PMC8268110 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22137011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Pre-mRNA splicing is a key process in the regulation of gene expression. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Nrl1 regulates splicing and expression of several genes and non-coding RNAs, and also suppresses the accumulation of R-loops. Here, we report analysis of interactions between Nrl1 and selected RNA-processing proteins and regulation of Nrl1 function by phosphorylation. Bacterial two-hybrid system (BACTH) assays revealed that the N-terminal region of Nrl1 is important for the interaction with ATP-dependent RNA helicase Mtl1 while the C-terminal region of Nrl1 is important for interactions with spliceosome components Ctr1, Ntr2, and Syf3. Consistent with this result, tandem affinity purification showed that Mtl1, but not Ctr1, Ntr2, or Syf3, co-purifies with the N-terminal region of Nrl1. Interestingly, mass-spectrometry analysis revealed that in addition to previously identified phosphorylation sites, Nrl1 is also phosphorylated on serines 86 and 112, and that Nrl1-TAP co-purifies with Cka1, the catalytic subunit of casein kinase 2. In vitro assay showed that Cka1 can phosphorylate bacterially expressed Nrl1 fragments. An analysis of non-phosphorylatable nrl1 mutants revealed defects in gene expression and splicing consistent with the notion that phosphorylation is an important regulator of Nrl1 function. Taken together, our results provide insights into two mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of the spliceosome-associated factor Nrl1, namely domain-specific interactions between Nrl1 and RNA-processing proteins and post-translational modification of Nrl1 by phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbora Mikolaskova
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Matus Jurcik
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Ingrid Cipakova
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Tomas Selicky
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Jan Jurcik
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Silvia Bagelova Polakova
- Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 840 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (S.B.P.); (E.S.)
| | - Erika Stupenova
- Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 840 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (S.B.P.); (E.S.)
| | - Andrej Dudas
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovicova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia;
| | - Barbara Sivakova
- Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 38 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.S.); (J.B.); (P.B.)
| | - Jana Bellova
- Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 38 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.S.); (J.B.); (P.B.)
| | - Peter Barath
- Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 38 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.S.); (J.B.); (P.B.)
- Medirex Group Academy, n.o., Jana Bottu 2, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Aronica
- Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA;
| | - Juraj Gregan
- Advanced Microscopy Facility, VBCF, Vienna Biocenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Lubos Cipak
- Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia; (B.M.); (M.J.); (I.C.); (T.S.); (J.J.)
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41
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Splicing Factor Mutations and Disease Phenotype: Searching for a Needle in a Haystack. Hemasphere 2021; 5:e587. [PMID: 34095770 PMCID: PMC8171363 DOI: 10.1097/hs9.0000000000000587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
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42
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Supadmanaba IGP, Mantini G, Randazzo O, Capula M, Muller IB, Cascioferro S, Diana P, Peters GJ, Giovannetti E. Interrelationship between miRNA and splicing factors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Epigenetics 2021; 17:381-404. [PMID: 34057028 PMCID: PMC8993068 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2021.1916697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers because of diagnosis at late stage and inherent/acquired chemoresistance. Recent advances in genomic profiling and biology of this disease have not yet been translated to a relevant improvement in terms of disease management and patient’s survival. However, new possibilities for treatment may emerge from studies on key epigenetic factors. Deregulation of microRNA (miRNA) dependent gene expression and mRNA splicing are epigenetic processes that modulate the protein repertoire at the transcriptional level. These processes affect all aspects of PDAC pathogenesis and have great potential to unravel new therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers. Remarkably, several studies showed that they actually interact with each other in influencing PDAC progression. Some splicing factors directly interact with specific miRNAs and either facilitate or inhibit their expression, such as Rbfox2, which cleaves the well-known oncogenic miRNA miR-21. Conversely, miR-15a-5p and miR-25-3p significantly downregulate the splicing factor hnRNPA1 which acts also as a tumour suppressor gene and is involved in processing of miR-18a, which in turn, is a negative regulator of KRAS expression. Therefore, this review describes the interaction between splicing and miRNA, as well as bioinformatic tools to explore the effect of splicing modulation towards miRNA profiles, in order to exploit this interplay for the development of innovative treatments. Targeting aberrant splicing and deregulated miRNA, alone or in combination, may hopefully provide novel therapeutic approaches to fight the complex biology and the common treatment recalcitrance of PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Gede Putu Supadmanaba
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
| | - Giulia Mantini
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Cancer Pharmacology Lab, AIRC Start up Unit, Fondazione Pisana per La Scienza, Pisa, Italy
| | - Ornella Randazzo
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche E Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università Degli Studi Di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Mjriam Capula
- Cancer Pharmacology Lab, AIRC Start up Unit, Fondazione Pisana per La Scienza, Pisa, Italy.,Institute of Life Sciences, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
| | - Ittai B Muller
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stella Cascioferro
- Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche E Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università Degli Studi Di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Patrizia Diana
- Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche E Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università Degli Studi Di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Godefridus J Peters
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Biochemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
| | - Elisa Giovannetti
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Cancer Pharmacology Lab, AIRC Start up Unit, Fondazione Pisana per La Scienza, Pisa, Italy
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43
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Zhang L, Zhang Y, Hu X. Targeting the transcription cycle and RNA processing in cancer treatment. Curr Opin Pharmacol 2021; 58:69-75. [PMID: 33964728 DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2021.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2020] [Revised: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The transcriptional program and RNA splicing machinery are highly and frequently dysregulated in human cancers due to genomic and epigenomic alterations during tumorigenesis. This leads to cancer-specific dependencies on components of the transcriptional program and RNA splicing machinery, providing alternative and targetable 'Achilles' heels' for cancer treatment in the clinic. To target these vulnerabilities in cancer cells, potent and specific transcriptional CDK inhibitors and chemical compounds that impair splicing have been developed and evaluated in preclinical cancer models. Several novel combination approaches with immune or targeted therapies have also been proposed for cancer treatment. More recently, inhibitors targeting transcriptional CDKs, splicing, or PRMT5 have shown promising therapeutic potential in preclinical studies, and many of them have rapidly advanced into early clinical trials for treatment of human cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhang
- Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Youyou Zhang
- Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Xiaowen Hu
- Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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44
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Kawalerski RR, Leach SD, Escobar-Hoyos LF. Pancreatic cancer driver mutations are targetable through distant alternative RNA splicing dependencies. Oncotarget 2021; 12:525-533. [PMID: 33796221 PMCID: PMC7984828 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.27901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common histological subtype of pancreatic cancer, has one of the highest case fatality rates of all known solid malignancies. Over the past decade, several landmark studies have established mutations in KRAS and TP53 as the predominant drivers of PDAC pathogenesis and therapeutic resistance, though treatment options for PDACs and other tumors with these mutations remain extremely limited. Hampered by late tumor discovery and diagnosis, clinicians are often faced with using aggressive and non-specific chemotherapies to treat advanced disease. Clinically meaningful responses to targeted therapy are often limited to the minority of patients with susceptible PDACs, and immunotherapies have routinely encountered roadblocks in effective activation of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Alternative RNA splicing (ARS) has recently gained traction in the PDAC literature as a field from which we may better understand and treat complex mechanisms of PDAC initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance. Here, we review PDAC pathogenesis as it relates to fundamental ARS biology, with an extension to implications for PDAC patient clinical management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan R. Kawalerski
- Medical Scientist Training Program, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Steven D. Leach
- Departments of Molecular and Systems Biology, Surgery, and Medicine, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
| | - Luisa F. Escobar-Hoyos
- Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06513, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06513, USA
- Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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Wu P, Zhang M, Webster NJG. Alternative RNA Splicing in Fatty Liver Disease. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021; 12:613213. [PMID: 33716968 PMCID: PMC7953061 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.613213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative RNA splicing is a process by which introns are removed and exons are assembled to construct different RNA transcript isoforms from a single pre-mRNA. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between dysregulation of RNA splicing and a number of clinical syndromes, but the generality to common disease has not been established. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease affecting one-third of adults worldwide, increasing the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this review we focus on the change in alternative RNA splicing in fatty liver disease and the role for splicing regulation in disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panyisha Wu
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Moya Zhang
- University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Nicholas J. G. Webster
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
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Head SA, Hernandez-Alias X, Yang JS, Ciampi L, Beltran-Sastre V, Torres-Méndez A, Irimia M, Schaefer MH, Serrano L. Silencing of SRRM4 suppresses microexon inclusion and promotes tumor growth across cancers. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001138. [PMID: 33621242 PMCID: PMC7935315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Revised: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA splicing is widely dysregulated in cancer, frequently due to altered expression or activity of splicing factors (SFs). Microexons are extremely small exons (3–27 nucleotides long) that are highly evolutionarily conserved and play critical roles in promoting neuronal differentiation and development. Inclusion of microexons in mRNA transcripts is mediated by the SF Serine/Arginine Repetitive Matrix 4 (SRRM4), whose expression is largely restricted to neural tissues. However, microexons have been largely overlooked in prior analyses of splicing in cancer, as their small size necessitates specialized computational approaches for their detection. Here, we demonstrate that despite having low expression in normal nonneural tissues, SRRM4 is further silenced in tumors, resulting in the suppression of normal microexon inclusion. Remarkably, SRRM4 is the most consistently silenced SF across all tumor types analyzed, implying a general advantage of microexon down-regulation in cancer independent of its tissue of origin. We show that this silencing is favorable for tumor growth, as decreased SRRM4 expression in tumors is correlated with an increase in mitotic gene expression, and up-regulation of SRRM4 in cancer cell lines dose-dependently inhibits proliferation in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model. Further, this proliferation inhibition is accompanied by induction of neural-like expression and splicing patterns in cancer cells, suggesting that SRRM4 expression shifts the cell state away from proliferation and toward differentiation. We therefore conclude that SRRM4 acts as a proliferation brake, and tumors gain a selective advantage by cutting off this brake. Using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, this study shows that the splicing factor SRRM4 and its program of differentiation-promoting microexons are downregulated across tumor types with remarkable consistency, providing tumors with a proliferative advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A. Head
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail: (SAH); (MHS); (LS)
| | - Xavier Hernandez-Alias
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jae-Seong Yang
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica, Consortium CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ludovica Ciampi
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Violeta Beltran-Sastre
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Torres-Méndez
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Manuel Irimia
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martin H. Schaefer
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Department of Experimental Oncology, Milan, Italy
- * E-mail: (SAH); (MHS); (LS)
| | - Luis Serrano
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail: (SAH); (MHS); (LS)
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Alternative splicing of ceramide synthase 2 alters levels of specific ceramides and modulates cancer cell proliferation and migration in Luminal B breast cancer subtype. Cell Death Dis 2021; 12:171. [PMID: 33568634 PMCID: PMC7876150 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-03436-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Global dysregulation of RNA splicing and imbalanced sphingolipid metabolism has emerged as promoters of cancer cell transformation. Here, we present specific signature of alternative splicing (AS) events of sphingolipid genes for each breast cancer subtype from the TCGA-BRCA dataset. We show that ceramide synthase 2 (CERS2) undergoes a unique cassette exon event specifically in Luminal B subtype tumors. We validated this exon 8 skipping event in Luminal B cancer cells compared to normal epithelial cells, and in patient-derived tumor tissues compared to matched normal tissues. Differential AS-based survival analysis shows that this AS event of CERS2 is a poor prognostic factor for Luminal B patients. As Exon 8 corresponds to catalytic Lag1p domain, overexpression of AS transcript of CERS2 in Luminal B cancer cells leads to a reduction in the level of very-long-chain ceramides compared to overexpression of protein-coding (PC) transcript of CERS2. We further demonstrate that this AS event-mediated decrease of very-long-chain ceramides leads to enhanced cancer cell proliferation and migration. Therefore, our results show subtype-specific AS of sphingolipid genes as a regulatory mechanism that deregulates sphingolipids like ceramides in breast tumors, and can be explored further as a suitable therapeutic target.
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Alternative splicing modulates cancer aggressiveness: role in EMT/metastasis and chemoresistance. Mol Biol Rep 2021; 48:897-914. [PMID: 33400075 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-020-06094-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Enhanced metastasis and disease recurrence accounts for the high mortality rates associated with cancer. The process of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) contributes towards the augmentation of cancer invasiveness along with the gain of stem-like and the subsequent drug-resistant behavior. Apart from the well-established transcriptional regulation, EMT is also controlled post-transcriptionally by virtue of alternative splicing (AS). Numerous genes including Fibroblast Growth Factor receptor (FGFR) as well as CD44 are differentially spliced during this trans-differentiation process which, in turn, governs cancer progression. These splicing alterations are controlled by various splicing factors including ESRP, RBFOX2 as well as hnRNPs. Here, we have depicted the mechanisms governing the splice isoform switching of FGFR and CD44. Moreover, the role of the splice variants generated by AS of these gene transcripts in modulating the metastatic potential and stem-like/chemoresistant behavior of cancer cells has also been highlighted. Additionally, the involvement of splicing factors in regulating EMT/invasiveness along with drug-resistance as well as the metabolic properties of the cells has been emphasized. Tumorigenesis is accompanied by a remodeling of the cellular splicing profile generating diverse protein isoforms which, in turn, control the cancer-associated hallmarks. Therefore, we have also briefly discussed about a wide variety of genes which are differentially spliced in the tumor cells and promote cancer progression. We have also outlined different strategies for targeting the tumor-associated splicing events which have shown promising results and therefore this approach might be useful in developing therapies to reduce cancer aggressiveness in a more specific manner.
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Taniguchi-Ponciano K, Peña-Martínez E, Silva-Román G, Vela-Patiño S, Guzman-Ortiz AL, Quezada H, Gomez-Apo E, Chavez-Macias L, Mercado-Medrez S, Vargas-Ortega G, Espinosa-de-los-Monteros AL, Gonzales-Virla B, Ferreira-Hermosillo A, Espinosa-Cardenas E, Ramirez-Renteria C, Sosa E, Lopez-Felix B, Guinto G, Marrero-Rodríguez D, Mercado M. Proteomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Identify Spliceosome as a Significant Component of the Molecular Machinery in the Pituitary Tumors Derived from POU1F1- and NR5A1-Cell Lineages. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11121422. [PMID: 33261069 PMCID: PMC7760979 DOI: 10.3390/genes11121422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 11/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Pituitary adenomas (PA) are the second most common tumor in the central nervous system and have low counts of mutated genes. Splicing occurs in 95% of the coding RNA. There is scarce information about the spliceosome and mRNA-isoforms in PA, and therefore we carried out proteomic and transcriptomic analysis to identify spliceosome components and mRNA isoforms in PA. Methods: Proteomic profile analysis was carried out by nano-HPLC and mass spectrometry with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The mRNA isoforms and transcriptomic profiles were carried out by microarray technology. With proteins and mRNA information we carried out Gene Ontology and exon level analysis to identify splicing-related events. Results: Approximately 2000 proteins were identified in pituitary tumors. Spliceosome proteins such as SRSF1, U2AF1 and RBM42 among others were found in PA. These results were validated at mRNA level, which showed up-regulation of spliceosome genes in PA. Spliceosome-related genes segregate and categorize PA tumor subtypes. The PA showed alterations in CDK18 and THY1 mRNA isoforms which could be tumor specific. Conclusions: Spliceosome components are significant constituents of the PA molecular machinery and could be used as molecular markers and therapeutic targets. Splicing-related genes and mRNA-isoforms profiles characterize tumor subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Taniguchi-Ponciano
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
| | - Eduardo Peña-Martínez
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
| | - Gloria Silva-Román
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
| | - Sandra Vela-Patiño
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
| | - Ana Laura Guzman-Ortiz
- Laboratorio de Investigacion en Inmunologia y Proteomica, Hospital Infantil de Mexico “Federico Gomez”, Mexico City 06720, Mexico; (A.L.G.-O.); (H.Q.)
| | - Hector Quezada
- Laboratorio de Investigacion en Inmunologia y Proteomica, Hospital Infantil de Mexico “Federico Gomez”, Mexico City 06720, Mexico; (A.L.G.-O.); (H.Q.)
| | - Erick Gomez-Apo
- Área de Neuropatología, Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital General de México “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (E.G.-A.); (L.C.-M.)
| | - Laura Chavez-Macias
- Área de Neuropatología, Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital General de México “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (E.G.-A.); (L.C.-M.)
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Sophia Mercado-Medrez
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
| | - Guadalupe Vargas-Ortega
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Ana Laura Espinosa-de-los-Monteros
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Baldomero Gonzales-Virla
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Aldo Ferreira-Hermosillo
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Etual Espinosa-Cardenas
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Claudia Ramirez-Renteria
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Ernesto Sosa
- Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (G.V.-O.); (A.L.E.-d.-l.-M.); (B.G.-V.); (E.E.-C.); (E.S.)
| | - Blas Lopez-Felix
- Servicio de Neurocirugia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (B.L.-F.); (G.G.)
| | - Gerardo Guinto
- Servicio de Neurocirugia, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México 06720, Mexico; (B.L.-F.); (G.G.)
| | - Daniel Marrero-Rodríguez
- Catedra CONACyT-Laboratorio de Endocrinologia Experimental, Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico
- Correspondence: (D.M.-R.); (M.M.); Tel.: +54-401-021 (D.M.-R. & M.M.)
| | - Moises Mercado
- Unidad de Investigación Medica en Enfermedades Endocrinas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Mexico D.F. 06720, Mexico; (K.T.-P.); (E.P.-M.); (G.S.-R.); (S.V.-P.); (S.M.-M.); (A.F.-H.); (C.R.-R.)
- Correspondence: (D.M.-R.); (M.M.); Tel.: +54-401-021 (D.M.-R. & M.M.)
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50
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Clark ME, Rizos H, Pereira MR, McEvoy AC, Marsavela G, Calapre L, Meehan K, Ruhen O, Khattak MA, Meniawy TM, Long GV, Carlino MS, Menzies AM, Millward M, Ziman M, Gray ES. Detection of BRAF splicing variants in plasma-derived cell-free nucleic acids and extracellular vesicles of melanoma patients failing targeted therapy therapies. Oncotarget 2020; 11:4016-4027. [PMID: 33216826 PMCID: PMC7646833 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.27790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The analysis of plasma circulating tumour nucleic acids provides a non-invasive approach to assess disease burden and the genetic evolution of tumours in response to therapy. BRAF splicing variants are known to confer melanoma resistance to BRAF inhibitors. We developed a test to screen cell-free RNA (cfRNA) for the presence of BRAF splicing variants. Custom droplet digital PCR assays were designed for the detection of BRAF splicing variants p61, p55, p48 and p41 and then validated using RNA from cell lines carrying these variants. Evaluation of plasma from patients with reported objective response to BRAF/MEK inhibition followed by disease progression was revealed by increased circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in 24 of 38 cases at the time of relapse. Circulating BRAF splicing variants were detected in cfRNA from 3 of these 38 patients; two patients carried the BRAF p61 variant and one the p55 variant. In all three cases the presence of the splicing variant was apparent only at the time of progressive disease. BRAF p61 was also detectable in plasma of one of four patients with confirmed BRAF splicing variants in their progressing tumours. Isolation and analysis of RNA from extracellular vesicles (EV) from resistant cell lines and patient plasma demonstrated that BRAF splicing variants are associated with EVs. These findings indicate that in addition to plasma ctDNA, RNA carried by EVs can provide important tumour specific information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael E. Clark
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Helen Rizos
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michelle R. Pereira
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Ashleigh C. McEvoy
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Gabriela Marsavela
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Leslie Calapre
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Katie Meehan
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Olivia Ruhen
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Muhammad A. Khattak
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Department of Medical Oncology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Tarek M. Meniawy
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Georgina V. Long
- Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Matteo S. Carlino
- Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Alexander M. Menzies
- Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michael Millward
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Melanie Ziman
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Elin S. Gray
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
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