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Lin P, Lourenco C, Cruickshank J, Palomero L, van Leeuwen JE, Tong AHY, Chan K, El Ghamrasni S, Pujana MA, Cescon DW, Moffat J, Penn LZ. Topoisomerase 1 Inhibition in MYC-Driven Cancer Promotes Aberrant R-Loop Accumulation to Induce Synthetic Lethality. Cancer Res 2023; 83:4015-4029. [PMID: 37987734 PMCID: PMC10722143 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-22-2948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
MYC is a central regulator of gene transcription and is frequently dysregulated in human cancers. As targeting MYC directly is challenging, an alternative strategy is to identify specific proteins or processes required for MYC to function as a potent cancer driver that can be targeted to result in synthetic lethality. To identify potential targets in MYC-driven cancers, we performed a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen using an isogenic pair of breast cancer cell lines in which MYC dysregulation is the switch from benign to transformed tumor growth. Proteins that regulate R-loops were identified as a potential class of synthetic lethal targets. Dysregulated MYC elevated global transcription and coincident R-loop accumulation. Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1), a regulator of R-loops by DNA topology, was validated to be a vulnerability in cells with high MYC activity. Genetic knockdown of TOP1 in MYC-transformed cells resulted in reduced colony formation compared with control cells, demonstrating synthetic lethality. Overexpression of RNaseH1, a riboendonuclease that specifically degrades R-loops, rescued the reduction in clonogenicity induced by TOP1 deficiency, demonstrating that this vulnerability is driven by aberrant R-loop accumulation. Genetic and pharmacologic TOP1 inhibition selectively reduced the fitness of MYC-transformed tumors in vivo. Finally, drug response to TOP1 inhibitors (i.e., topotecan) significantly correlated with MYC levels and activity across panels of breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived organoids. Together, these results highlight TOP1 as a promising target for MYC-driven cancers. SIGNIFICANCE CRISPR screening reveals topoisomerase 1 as an immediately actionable vulnerability in cancers harboring MYC as a driver oncoprotein that can be targeted with clinically approved inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Lin
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - Corey Lourenco
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
| | | | - Luis Palomero
- ProCURE, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Oncobell, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet del Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jenna E. van Leeuwen
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
| | | | | | - Samah El Ghamrasni
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - Miquel Angel Pujana
- ProCURE, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Oncobell, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet del Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBERES, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - David W. Cescon
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jason Moffat
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Linda Z. Penn
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
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Zhou W, Fischer A, Ogwang MD, Luo W, Kerchan P, Reynolds SJ, Tenge CN, Were PA, Kuremu RT, Wekesa WN, Masalu N, Kawira E, Kinyera T, Otim I, Legason ID, Nabalende H, Ayers LW, Bhatia K, Goedert JJ, Gouveia MH, Cole N, Hicks B, Jones K, Hummel M, Schlesner M, Chagaluka G, Mutalima N, Borgstein E, Liomba GN, Kamiza S, Mkandawire N, Mitambo C, Molyneux EM, Newton R, Glaser S, Kretzmer H, Manning M, Hutchinson A, Hsing AW, Tettey Y, Adjei AA, Chanock SJ, Siebert R, Yeager M, Prokunina-Olsson L, Machiela MJ, Mbulaiteye SM. Mosaic chromosomal alterations in peripheral blood leukocytes of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8081. [PMID: 38057307 PMCID: PMC10700489 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43881-0] [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: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In high-income countries, mosaic chromosomal alterations in peripheral blood leukocytes are associated with an elevated risk of adverse health outcomes, including hematologic malignancies. We investigate mosaic chromosomal alterations in sub-Saharan Africa among 931 children with Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive lymphoma commonly characterized by immunoglobulin-MYC chromosomal rearrangements, 3822 Burkitt lymphoma-free children, and 674 cancer-free men from Ghana. We find autosomal and X chromosome mosaic chromosomal alterations in 3.4% and 1.7% of Burkitt lymphoma-free children, and 8.4% and 3.7% of children with Burkitt lymphoma (P-values = 5.7×10-11 and 3.74×10-2, respectively). Autosomal mosaic chromosomal alterations are detected in 14.0% of Ghanaian men and increase with age. Mosaic chromosomal alterations in Burkitt lymphoma cases include gains on chromosomes 1q and 8, the latter spanning MYC, while mosaic chromosomal alterations in Burkitt lymphoma-free children include copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity on chromosomes 10, 14, and 16. Our results highlight mosaic chromosomal alterations in sub-Saharan African populations as a promising area of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiyin Zhou
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Anja Fischer
- Institute of Human Genetics, Ulm University and Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Wen Luo
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | | | - Steven J Reynolds
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Constance N Tenge
- EMBLEM Study, Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Pamela A Were
- EMBLEM Study, Academic Model Providing Access To Healthcare (AMPATH), Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Robert T Kuremu
- EMBLEM Study, Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Walter N Wekesa
- EMBLEM Study, Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret, Kenya
| | | | - Esther Kawira
- EMBLEM Study, Shirati Health, Education, and Development Foundation, Shirati, Tanzania
| | - Tobias Kinyera
- EMBLEM Study, St. Mary's Hospital, Lacor, Gulu, Uganda
- EMBLEM Study, African Field Epidemiology Network, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Isaac Otim
- EMBLEM Study, St. Mary's Hospital, Lacor, Gulu, Uganda
- EMBLEM Study, African Field Epidemiology Network, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Ismail D Legason
- EMBLEM Study, Kuluva Hospital, Arua, Uganda
- EMBLEM Study, African Field Epidemiology Network, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Hadijah Nabalende
- EMBLEM Study, St. Mary's Hospital, Lacor, Gulu, Uganda
- EMBLEM Study, African Field Epidemiology Network, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Leona W Ayers
- Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Kishor Bhatia
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - James J Goedert
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mateus H Gouveia
- Center for Research on Genomics & Global Health, NHGRI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nathan Cole
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Belynda Hicks
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Kristine Jones
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Michael Hummel
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Pathology, D-10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathias Schlesner
- Biomedical Informatics, Data Mining and Data Analytics, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - George Chagaluka
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Nora Mutalima
- Epidemiology and Cancer Statistics Group, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eric Borgstein
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - George N Liomba
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Steve Kamiza
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Nyengo Mkandawire
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Collins Mitambo
- Research Department, Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 30377, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
| | - Elizabeth M Molyneux
- Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Robert Newton
- Epidemiology and Cancer Statistics Group, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | - Selina Glaser
- Institute of Human Genetics, Ulm University and Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
| | - Helene Kretzmer
- Department of Genome Regulation, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michelle Manning
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Amy Hutchinson
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Ann W Hsing
- Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Yao Tettey
- Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, College of Health Sciences, P.O. Box KB 52, Korle-Bu, Accra, Ghana
| | - Andrew A Adjei
- Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, College of Health Sciences, P.O. Box KB 52, Korle-Bu, Accra, Ghana
| | - Stephen J Chanock
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Reiner Siebert
- Institute of Human Genetics, Ulm University and Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
| | - Meredith Yeager
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mitchell J Machiela
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sam M Mbulaiteye
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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3
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Lee HM, Wright WC, Pan M, Low J, Currier D, Fang J, Singh S, Nance S, Delahunty I, Kim Y, Chapple RH, Zhang Y, Liu X, Steele JA, Qi J, Pruett-Miller SM, Easton J, Chen T, Yang J, Durbin AD, Geeleher P. A CRISPR-drug perturbational map for identifying compounds to combine with commonly used chemotherapeutics. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7332. [PMID: 37957169 PMCID: PMC10643606 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43134-0] [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: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Combination chemotherapy is crucial for successfully treating cancer. However, the enormous number of possible drug combinations means discovering safe and effective combinations remains a significant challenge. To improve this process, we conduct large-scale targeted CRISPR knockout screens in drug-treated cells, creating a genetic map of druggable genes that sensitize cells to commonly used chemotherapeutics. We prioritize neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial pediatric solid tumor, where ~50% of high-risk patients do not survive. Our screen examines all druggable gene knockouts in 18 cell lines (10 neuroblastoma, 8 others) treated with 8 widely used drugs, resulting in 94,320 unique combination-cell line perturbations, which is comparable to the largest existing drug combination screens. Using dense drug-drug rescreening, we find that the top CRISPR-nominated drug combinations are more synergistic than standard-of-care combinations, suggesting existing combinations could be improved. As proof of principle, we discover that inhibition of PRKDC, a component of the non-homologous end-joining pathway, sensitizes high-risk neuroblastoma cells to the standard-of-care drug doxorubicin in vitro and in vivo using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Our findings provide a valuable resource and demonstrate the feasibility of using targeted CRISPR knockout to discover combinations with common chemotherapeutics, a methodology with application across all cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeong-Min Lee
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - William C Wright
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Min Pan
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jonathan Low
- Department of Chemical Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Duane Currier
- Department of Chemical Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jie Fang
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Shivendra Singh
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Stephanie Nance
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Ian Delahunty
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Yuna Kim
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Richard H Chapple
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Yinwen Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Xueying Liu
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jacob A Steele
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jun Qi
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shondra M Pruett-Miller
- Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - John Easton
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Taosheng Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
| | - Adam D Durbin
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
| | - Paul Geeleher
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
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4
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Lal S, Bhola NE, Sun BC, Chen Y, Huang T, Morton V, Chen KX, Xia S, Zhang H, Parikh NS, Ye Q, Veiby OP, Bellovin DI, Ji Y. Discovery and Characterization of ZL-2201, a Potent, Highly Selective, and Orally Bioavailable Small-molecule DNA-PK Inhibitor. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:1731-1742. [PMID: 37663435 PMCID: PMC10473160 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-23-0304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a driver of the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA damage response pathway, plays an instrumental role in repairing double-strand breaks (DSB) induced by DNA-damaging poisons. We evaluate ZL-2201, an orally bioavailable, highly potent, and selective pharmacologic inhibitor of DNA-PK activity, for the treatment of human cancerous malignancies. ZL-2201 demonstrated greater selectivity for DNA-PK and effectively inhibited DNA-PK autophosphorylation in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Initial data suggested a potential correlation between ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) deficiency and ZL-2201 sensitivity. More so, ZL-2201 showed strong synergy with topoisomerase II inhibitors independent of ATM status in vitro. In vivo oral administration of ZL-2201 demonstrated dose-dependent antitumor activity in the NCI-H1703 xenograft model and significantly enhanced the activity of approved DNA-damaging agents in A549 and FaDu models. From a phosphoproteomic mass spectrometry screen, we identified and validated that ZL-2201 and PRKDC siRNA decreased Ser108 phosphorylation of MCM2, a key DNA replication factor. Collectively, we have characterized a potent and selective DNA-PK inhibitor with promising monotherapy and combinatory therapeutic potential with approved DNA-damaging agents. More importantly, we identified phospho-MCM2 (Ser108) as a potential proximal biomarker of DNA-PK inhibition that warrants further preclinical and clinical evaluation. Significance ZL-2201, a potent and selective DNA-PK inhibitor, can target tumor models in combination with DNA DSB-inducing agents such as radiation or doxorubicin, with potential to improve recurrent therapies in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shruti Lal
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Neil E. Bhola
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Bee-Chun Sun
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Yuping Chen
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Tom Huang
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Vivian Morton
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | | | | | | | - Nehal S. Parikh
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - Qiuping Ye
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | - O. Petter Veiby
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
| | | | - Yuhua Ji
- Biologics Discovery, Zai Lab (US) LLC, Menlo Park, California
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5
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Ando K, Suenaga Y, Kamijo T. DNA Ligase 4 Contributes to Cell Proliferation against DNA-PK Inhibition in MYCN-Amplified Neuroblastoma IMR32 Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24109012. [PMID: 37240360 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24109012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying the vulnerability of altered DNA repair machinery that displays synthetic lethality with MYCN amplification is a therapeutic rationale in unfavourable neuroblastoma. However, none of the inhibitors for DNA repair proteins are established as standard therapy in neuroblastoma. Here, we investigated whether DNA-PK inhibitor (DNA-PKi) could inhibit the proliferation of spheroids derived from neuroblastomas of MYCN transgenic mice and MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines. DNA-PKi exhibited an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of MYCN-driven neuroblastoma spheroids, whereas variable sensitivity was observed in those cell lines. Among them, the accelerated proliferation of IMR32 cells was dependent on DNA ligase 4 (LIG4), which comprises the canonical non-homologous end-joining pathway of DNA repair. Notably, LIG4 was identified as one of the worst prognostic factors in patients with MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas. It may play complementary roles in DNA-PK deficiency, suggesting the therapeutic potential of LIG4 inhibition in combination with DNA-PKi for MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas to overcome resistance to multimodal therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiyohiro Ando
- Research Institute for Clinical Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama 362-0806, Japan
| | - Yusuke Suenaga
- Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute, Chiba 260-8717, Japan
| | - Takehiko Kamijo
- Research Institute for Clinical Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama 362-0806, Japan
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Murray HC, Miller K, Brzozowski JS, Kahl RGS, Smith ND, Humphrey SJ, Dun MD, Verrills NM. Synergistic Targeting of DNA-PK and KIT Signaling Pathways in KIT Mutant Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Mol Cell Proteomics 2023; 22:100503. [PMID: 36682716 PMCID: PMC9986649 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common and aggressive form of acute leukemia, with a 5-year survival rate of just 24%. Over a third of all AML patients harbor activating mutations in kinases, such as the receptor tyrosine kinases FLT3 (receptor-type tyrosine-protein kinase FLT3) and KIT (mast/stem cell growth factor receptor kit). FLT3 and KIT mutations are associated with poor clinical outcomes and lower remission rates in response to standard-of-care chemotherapy. We have recently identified that the core kinase of the non-homologous end joining DNA repair pathway, DNA-PK (DNA-dependent protein kinase), is activated downstream of FLT3; and targeting DNA-PK sensitized FLT3-mutant AML cells to standard-of-care therapies. Herein, we investigated DNA-PK as a possible therapeutic vulnerability in KIT mutant AML, using isogenic FDC-P1 mouse myeloid progenitor cell lines transduced with oncogenic mutant KIT (V560G and D816V) or vector control. Targeted quantitative phosphoproteomic profiling identified phosphorylation of DNA-PK in the T2599/T2605/S2608/S2610 cluster in KIT mutant cells, indicative of DNA-PK activation. Accordingly, proliferation assays revealed that KIT mutant FDC-P1 cells were more sensitive to the DNA-PK inhibitors M3814 or NU7441, compared with empty vector controls. DNA-PK inhibition combined with inhibition of KIT signaling using the kinase inhibitors dasatinib or ibrutinib, or the protein phosphatase 2A activators FTY720 or AAL(S), led to synergistic cell death. Global phosphoproteomic analysis of KIT-D816V cells revealed that dasatinib and M3814 single-agent treatments inhibited extracellular signal-regulated kinase and AKT (RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase)/MTOR (serine/threonine-protein kinase mTOR) activity, with greater inhibition of both pathways when used in combination. Combined dasatinib and M3814 treatment also synergistically inhibited phosphorylation of the transcriptional regulators MYC and MYB. This study provides insight into the oncogenic pathways regulated by DNA-PK beyond its canonical role in DNA repair and demonstrates that DNA-PK is a promising therapeutic target for KIT mutant cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather C Murray
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Kasey Miller
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Joshua S Brzozowski
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Richard G S Kahl
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Nathan D Smith
- Analytical and Biomolecular Research Facility, Advanced Mass Spectrometry Unit, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Sean J Humphrey
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and The Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Matthew D Dun
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Nicole M Verrills
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, and Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
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7
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Wang C, Zhang J, Yin J, Gan Y, Xu S, Gu Y, Huang W. Alternative approaches to target Myc for cancer treatment. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2021; 6:117. [PMID: 33692331 PMCID: PMC7946937 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-021-00500-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The Myc proto-oncogene family consists of three members, C-MYC, MYCN, and MYCL, which encodes the transcription factor c-Myc (hereafter Myc), N-Myc, and L-Myc, respectively. Myc protein orchestrates diverse physiological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis. Myc modulates about 15% of the global transcriptome, and its deregulation rewires the cellular signaling modules inside tumor cells, thereby acquiring selective advantages. The deregulation of Myc occurs in >70% of human cancers, and is related to poor prognosis; hence, hyperactivated Myc oncoprotein has been proposed as an ideal drug target for decades. Nevertheless, no specific drug is currently available to directly target Myc, mainly because of its "undruggable" properties: lack of enzymatic pocket for conventional small molecules to bind; inaccessibility for antibody due to the predominant nucleus localization of Myc. Although the topic of targeting Myc has actively been reviewed in the past decades, exciting new progresses in this field keep emerging. In this review, after a comprehensive summarization of valuable sources for potential druggable targets of Myc-driven cancer, we also peer into the promising future of utilizing macropinocytosis to deliver peptides like Omomyc or antibody agents to intracellular compartment for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Wang
- Division of Medical Genomics and Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Ministry of Education), the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University and Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
| | - Jiawei Zhang
- Division of Medical Genomics and Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Ministry of Education), the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie Yin
- Division of Medical Genomics and Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Ministry of Education), the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University and Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
| | - Yichao Gan
- Division of Medical Genomics and Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Ministry of Education), the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University and Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
| | - Senlin Xu
- Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cancer Program & Department of Diabetes Complications and Metabolism, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
- Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Ying Gu
- Division of Medical Genomics and Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Ministry of Education), the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University and Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
- Zhejiang Laboratory for Systems & Precision Medicine, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
| | - Wendong Huang
- Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cancer Program & Department of Diabetes Complications and Metabolism, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
- Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
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8
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Sato M, Liebau RC, Liu Z, Liu L, Rabadan R, Gautier J. The UVSSA complex alleviates MYC-driven transcription stress. J Cell Biol 2021; 220:e201807163. [PMID: 33404608 PMCID: PMC7791342 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201807163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer cells develop strong genetic dependencies, enabling survival under oncogenic stress. MYC is a key oncogene activated across most cancers, and identifying associated synthetic lethality or sickness can provide important clues about its activity and potential therapeutic strategies. On the basis of previously conducted genome-wide screenings in MCF10A cells expressing MYC fused to an estrogen receptor fragment, we identified UVSSA, a gene involved in transcription-coupled repair, whose knockdown or knockout decreased cell viability when combined with MYC expression. Synthetic sick interactions between MYC expression and UVSSA down-regulation correlated with ATM/CHK2 activation, suggesting increased genome instability. We show that the synthetic sick interaction is diminished by attenuating RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) activity; yet, it is independent of UV-induced damage repair, suggesting that UVSSA has a critical function in regulating RNAPII in the absence of exogenous DNA damage. Supporting this hypothesis, RNAPII ChIP-seq revealed that MYC-dependent increases in RNAPII promoter occupancy are reduced or abrogated by UVSSA knockdown, suggesting that UVSSA influences RNAPII dynamics during MYC-dependent transcription. Taken together, our data show that the UVSSA complex has a significant function in supporting MYC-dependent RNAPII dynamics and maintaining cell survival during MYC addiction. While the role of UVSSA in regulating RNAPII has been documented thus far only in the context of UV-induced DNA damage repair, we propose that its activity is also required to cope with transcriptional changes induced by oncogene activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mai Sato
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
| | - Rowyn C. Liebau
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
- Department of Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Zhaoqi Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Departments of Systems Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Lizhi Liu
- Department of Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Raul Rabadan
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Departments of Systems Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Jean Gautier
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
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9
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Schneeweis C, Hassan Z, Schick M, Keller U, Schneider G. The SUMO pathway in pancreatic cancer: insights and inhibition. Br J Cancer 2021; 124:531-538. [PMID: 33071285 PMCID: PMC7851129 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-020-01119-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An urgent medical need to develop novel treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) exists. However, despite various efforts in the histopathological and molecular subtyping of PDAC, novel targeted or specific therapies have not been established. Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) with ubiquitin-like proteins, including small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs), mediate numerous processes that can contribute to the fitness and survival of cancer cells. The contribution of SUMOylation to transcriptional control, DNA repair pathways, mitotic progression, and oncogenic signalling has been described. Here we review functions of the SUMO pathway in PDAC, with a special focus on its connection to an aggressive subtype of the disease characterised by high MYC activity, and discuss SUMOylation inhibitors under development for precise PDAC therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Schneeweis
- Medical Clinic and Polyclinic II, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, 81675, München, Germany
| | - Zonera Hassan
- Medical Clinic and Polyclinic II, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, 81675, München, Germany
| | - Markus Schick
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ulrich Keller
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203, Berlin, Germany.
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, 13092, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Günter Schneider
- Medical Clinic and Polyclinic II, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, 81675, München, Germany.
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
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10
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Thng DKH, Toh TB, Chow EKH. Capitalizing on Synthetic Lethality of MYC to Treat Cancer in the Digital Age. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2021; 42:166-182. [PMID: 33422376 DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2020.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Deregulation of MYC is among the most frequent oncogenic drivers of cancer. Developing targeted therapies against MYC is, therefore, one of the most critical unmet needs of cancer therapy. Unfortunately, MYC has been labelled as undruggable due to the lack of success in developing clinically relevant MYC-targeted therapies. Synthetic lethality is a promising approach that targets MYC-dependent vulnerabilities in cancer. However, translating the synthetic lethality targets to the clinics is still challenging due to the complex nature of cancers. This review highlights the most promising mechanisms of MYC synthetic lethality and how these discoveries are currently translated into the clinic. Finally, we discuss how in silico computational platforms can improve clinical success of synthetic lethality-based therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dexter Kai Hao Thng
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Tan Boon Toh
- The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore; The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Edward Kai-Hua Chow
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore; The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore; The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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11
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Yin Y, He Q, Li Y, Long J, Lei X, Li Z, Zhu W. Emerging functions of PRKDC in the initiation and progression of cancer. TUMORI JOURNAL 2020; 107:483-488. [PMID: 32867618 DOI: 10.1177/0300891620950472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is encoded by the protein kinase, DNA-activated, catalytic polypeptide (PRKDC) gene. DNA-PKcs plays a major role in nonhomologous end joining DNA repair, and it has been identified to be an important factor in tumor progression and metastasis. DNA-PKcs may have opposite effects in diseases, depending on the cell and tissue types. In this review, we discuss its role in various tumors. High levels of DNA-PKcs are directly associated with prognosis, neoplasm recurrence rates, and overall survival. Our results suggest that DNA-PKcs may serve as a therapeutic target for advanced malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Yin
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Qinglian He
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Yuling Li
- Department of Pathology, Dongguan Hospital of Southern Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Jiali Long
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Xue Lei
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Ziqi Li
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Wei Zhu
- Department of Pathology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
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12
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Evaluation of gene expression levels in the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and malignant pleural mesothelioma. TURK GOGUS KALP DAMAR CERRAHISI DERGISI-TURKISH JOURNAL OF THORACIC AND CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY 2020; 28:188-196. [PMID: 32175161 DOI: 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2020.17279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 01/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Background This study aims to evaluate gene expression levels in the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and malignant pleural mesothelioma both which have a distinct treatment and prognosis. Methods Between January 2012 and January 2014, 12 newly diagnosed patients with a lung adenocarcinoma, 12 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, and eight healthy individuals as the control group were included. After treatment of the fresh samples of lung adenocarcinoma stored at -80°C for ribonucleic acid isolation, and paraffin-embedded tissues of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma were deparaffinized, complementary deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and expression of 84 genes associated with deoxyribonucleic acid repair were analyzed via real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. According to the expression of tumor cells, expression of each fold change was calculated. Results The BRCA1, BRCA2, CDK7, MLH3, MSH4, NEIL3, SMUG1, UNG, XRCC2, and XRCC4 genes showed more than five-fold higher expression in the patients with lung adenocarcinomas, compared to the control group. The patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma showed a five-fold higher expression in the APEX2, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDK7, MLH1, MLH3, MSH3, MSH4, NEIL3, PARP2, PARP3, PMS1, RAD50, RAD51, RAD51B, RAD51D, RAD52, RPA3, SMUG1, UNG, XPA, XRCC2, and XRCC4 genes, compared to the control group. Comparing malignant pleural mesothelioma with lung adenocarcinoma cases, we found that CDK7, MLH1, TREX1, PRKDC, XPA, PMS1, UNG, and RPA3 genes were overexpressed. Conclusion Our study results showed differences between expression profiles of deoxyribonucleic acid repair genes in lung adenocarcinoma and malignant pleural mesothelioma cells. Based on our study results, we suggest that TREX1, PRKDC, and PMS1 genes may play a key role in the differential diagnosis of these two entities.
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13
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Soleimani F, Babaei E, H Feizi MA, Fathi F. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout of the Prkdc in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to the modulation of the expression of pluripotency genes. J Cell Physiol 2019; 235:3994-4000. [PMID: 31603250 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.29295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Prkdc encodes for the catalytic subunit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) playing a key role in nonhomologous end joining pathway during DNA double-strand break repair and also influencing the homologous recombination (HR) repair system by phosphorylation of proteins involved in HR. In addition, Prkdc has other critical functions in biological processes, such as transcriptional regulation, telomere stability, apoptosis, and metabolism. DNA-PKcs upregulates during in vitro differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). To address the potential role of Prkdc in mESCs pluripotency and in vitro differentiation into ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm germ layers under normal physiological conditions, a bi-allelic Prkdc-knockout cell line was generated in the present study by employing CRISPR/Cas9 system, and subsequently, its potential role in stemness and development was studied. The results of the study showed that the expression of pluripotency-associated genes, including Nanog and Sox-2 were overexpressed in the bi-allelic Prkdc-knockout cell line. Also, bi-allelic Prkdc-knockout cell line was shown to have typical mESCs cell morphology, cell cycle distribution, and alkaline phosphatase activity. Furthermore, the results of the study revealed that the expression of several germ layer markers is modulated in Prkdc-knockout lines. In conclusion, the findings of our study demonstrated the role of Prkdc during differentiation and development of ESCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farzad Soleimani
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Esmaeil Babaei
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.,Institute of Environment, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Mohammad A H Feizi
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Fardin Fathi
- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
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14
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Spiniello M, Steinbrink MI, Cesnik AJ, Miller RM, Scalf M, Shortreed MR, Smith LM. Comprehensive in vivo identification of the c-Myc mRNA protein interactome using HyPR-MS. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2019; 25:1337-1352. [PMID: 31296583 PMCID: PMC6800478 DOI: 10.1261/rna.072157.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Proteins bind mRNA through their entire life cycle from transcription to degradation. We analyzed c-Myc mRNA protein interactors in vivo using the HyPR-MS method to capture the crosslinked mRNA by hybridization and then analyzed the bound proteins using mass spectrometry proteomics. Using HyPR-MS, 229 c-Myc mRNA-binding proteins were identified, confirming previously proposed interactors, suggesting new interactors, and providing information related to the roles and pathways known to involve c-Myc. We performed structural and functional analysis of these proteins and validated our findings with a combination of RIP-qPCR experiments, in vitro results released in past studies, publicly available RIP- and eCLIP-seq data, and results from software tools for predicting RNA-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Spiniello
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
- Department of Medicine of Precision, University of Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
- Division of Immuno-Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples 80131, Italy
| | - Maisie I Steinbrink
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - Anthony J Cesnik
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - Rachel M Miller
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - Mark Scalf
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - Michael R Shortreed
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - Lloyd M Smith
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
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15
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Zhang Y, Yang WK, Wen GM, Tang H, Wu CA, Wu YX, Jing ZL, Tang MS, Liu GL, Li DZ, Li YH, Deng YJ. High expression of PRKDC promotes breast cancer cell growth via p38 MAPK signaling and is associated with poor survival. Mol Genet Genomic Med 2019; 7:e908. [PMID: 31513357 PMCID: PMC6825841 DOI: 10.1002/mgg3.908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 07/14/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Catalytic Subunit (PRKDC), a key component of the DNA damage repair pathway, is associated with chemotherapy resistance and tumor progression. METHODS Here we analyzed transcriptome data of ~2,000 breast cancer patients and performed functional studies in vitro to investigate the function of PRKDC in breast cancer. RESULTS Our results revealed overexpression of PRKDC in multiple breast cancer subtypes. Consistent with patients' data, overexpression of PRKDC was also observed in breast cancer cell lines compared to normal breast epithelial cells. Knockdown of PRKDC in MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cell lines resulted in proliferation inhibition, reduced colony formation and G2/M cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, we showed that PRKDC knockdown induced proliferation inhibition through activation of p38 MAPK, but not ERK MAPK, signaling pathway in breast cancer cells. Blockage of p38 MAPK signaling could largely rescue proliferation inhibition and cell cycle arrest induced by PRKDC knockdown. Moreover, we analyzed gene expression and clinical data from six independent breast cancer cohorts containing ~1,000 patients. In all cohorts, our results consistently showed that high expression of PRKDC was significantly associated with poor survival in both treated and untreated breast cancer patients. CONCLUSION Together, our results suggest that high expression of PRKDC facilitates breast cancer cell growth via regulation of p38 MAPK signaling, and is a prognostic marker for poor survival in breast cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Shenzhen Longhua District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China.,Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Wei-Kang Yang
- Department of Prevention and Health Care, Shenzhen Longhua District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Guo-Ming Wen
- Department of Outpatient, Shenzhen Longhua District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Hongping Tang
- Department of Pathology, Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Chuan-An Wu
- Department of Prevention and Health Care, Shenzhen Longhua District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Yan-Xia Wu
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Zhi-Liang Jing
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Min-Shan Tang
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Guang-Long Liu
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Da-Zhou Li
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Yan-Hua Li
- Department of Pathology, Shenzhen Longhua District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Yong-Jian Deng
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
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Lourenco C, Kalkat M, Houlahan KE, De Melo J, Longo J, Done SJ, Boutros PC, Penn LZ. Modelling the MYC-driven normal-to-tumour switch in breast cancer. Dis Model Mech 2019; 12:12/7/dmm038083. [PMID: 31350286 PMCID: PMC6679384 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.038083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The potent MYC oncoprotein is deregulated in many human cancers, including breast carcinoma, and is associated with aggressive disease. To understand the mechanisms and vulnerabilities of MYC-driven breast cancer, we have generated an in vivo model that mimics human disease in response to MYC deregulation. MCF10A cells ectopically expressing a common breast cancer mutation in the phosphoinositide 3 kinase pathway (PIK3CAH1047R) led to the development of organised acinar structures in mice. Expressing both PIK3CAH1047R and deregulated MYC led to the development of invasive ductal carcinoma. Therefore, the deregulation of MYC expression in this setting creates a MYC-dependent normal-to-tumour switch that can be measured in vivo. These MYC-driven tumours exhibit classic hallmarks of human breast cancer at both the pathological and molecular level. Moreover, tumour growth is dependent upon sustained deregulated MYC expression, further demonstrating addiction to this potent oncogene and regulator of gene transcription. We therefore provide a MYC-dependent model of breast cancer, which can be used to assay invivo tumour signalling pathways, proliferation and transformation from normal breast acini to invasive breast carcinoma. We anticipate that this novel MYC-driven transformation model will be a useful research tool to better understand the oncogenic function of MYC and for the identification of therapeutic vulnerabilities. Summary: We present a MYC-driven transformation model of breast cancer that recapitulates the disease in vivo and which can be used to identify MYC-dependent cancer vulnerabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey Lourenco
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Manpreet Kalkat
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Kathleen E Houlahan
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada.,Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, 661 University Ave, Suite 510, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Jason De Melo
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Joseph Longo
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Susan J Done
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Paul C Boutros
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada.,Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, 661 University Ave, Suite 510, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Linda Z Penn
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 101 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada .,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 101 College Street Suite 15-701, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
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17
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Kiratipaiboon C, Stueckle TA, Ghosh R, Rojanasakul LW, Chen YC, Dinu CZ, Rojanasakul Y. Acquisition of Cancer Stem Cell-like Properties in Human Small Airway Epithelial Cells after a Long-term Exposure to Carbon Nanomaterials. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. NANO 2019; 6:2152-2170. [PMID: 31372228 PMCID: PMC6675031 DOI: 10.1039/c9en00183b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a key driver of tumor formation and metastasis, but how they are affected by nanomaterials is largely unknown. The present study investigated the effects of different carbon-based nanomaterials (CNMs) on neoplastic and CSC-like transformation of human small airway epithelial cells and determined the underlying mechanisms. Using a physiologically relevant exposure model (long-term/low-dose) with system validation using a human carcinogen, asbestos, we demonstrated that single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, ultrafine carbon black, and crocidolite asbestos induced particle-specific anchorage-independent colony formation, DNA-strand break, and p53 downregulation, indicating genotoxicity and carcinogenic potential of CNMs. The chronic CNM-exposed cells exhibited CSC-like properties as indicated by 3D spheroid formation, anoikis resistance, and CSC markers expression. Mechanistic studies revealed specific self-renewal and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related transcription factors that are involved in the cellular transformation process. Pathway analysis of gene signaling networks supports the role of SOX2 and SNAI1 signaling in CNM-mediated transformation. These findings support the potential carcinogenicity of high aspect ratio CNMs and identified molecular targets and signaling pathways that may contribute to the disease development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chayanin Kiratipaiboon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, United States
| | - Todd A Stueckle
- Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26505, United States
| | - Rajib Ghosh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, United States
| | - Liying W Rojanasakul
- Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26505, United States
| | - Yi Charlie Chen
- College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, Alderson Broaddus University, Philippi, West Virginia, 26416, United States
| | - Cerasela Zoica Dinu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, United States
| | - Yon Rojanasakul
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and WVU Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, United States
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18
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Murugesan SN, Yadav BS, Maurya PK, Chaudhary A, Singh S, Mani A. Interaction network analysis of YBX1 for identification of therapeutic targets in adenocarcinomas. J Biosci 2019; 44:27. [PMID: 31180040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Human Y-box binding protein-1 (YBX1) is a member of highly conserved cold-shock domain protein family, which is involved in transcriptional as well as translational regulation of many genes. Nuclear localization of YBX1 has been observed in various cancer types and it's overexpression has been linked to adverse clinical outcome and poor therapy response, but no diagnostic or therapeutic correlation has been established so far. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed novel genes among the interactors of YBX1 in different cancer types. Analysis of RNA-Seq data for colorectal, lung, prostate and stomach adenocarcinoma identified 39 unique genes, which are differentially expressed in the four adenocarcinoma types. Gene-enrichment analysis for the differentially expressed genes from individual adenocarcinoma with focus on unique genes resulted in a total of 57 gene sets specific to each adenocarcinoma. Gene ontology for commonly expressed genes suggested the pathways and possible mechanisms through which they affect each adenocarcinoma type considered in the study. Gene regulatory network constructed for the common genes and network topology was analyzed for the central nodes. Here 12 genes were found to play important roles in the network formation; among them, two genes FOXM1 and TOP2A were found to be in central network formation, which makes them a common target for therapeutics. Furthermore, five common differentially expressed genes in all adenocarcinomas were also identified.
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19
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Shimomura I, Yamamoto Y, Ochiya T. Synthetic Lethality in Lung Cancer-From the Perspective of Cancer Genomics. MEDICINES 2019; 6:medicines6010038. [PMID: 30871030 PMCID: PMC6473893 DOI: 10.3390/medicines6010038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cancer is a genetic disease, and this concept is now widely exploited by both scientists and clinicians to develop new genotype-selective anticancer therapeutics. Although the quest of cancer genomics is in its dawn, recognition of the widespread applicability of genetic interactions with biological processes of tumorigenesis is propelling research throughout academic fields. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death worldwide, with an estimated 1.6 million deaths each year. Despite the development of targeted therapies that inhibit oncogenic mutations of lung cancer cases, continued research into new therapeutic approaches is required for untreatable lung cancer patients, and the development of therapeutic modalities has proven elusive. The "synthetic lethal" approach holds the promise of delivering a therapeutic regimen that preferentially targets malignant cells while sparing normal cells. We highlight the potential challenges in synthetic lethal anticancer therapeutics that target untreatable genetic alterations in lung cancer. We also discuss both challenges and opportunities regarding the application of new synthetic lethal interactions in lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iwao Shimomura
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
- Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku Chiba-shi, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
| | - Yusuke Yamamoto
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
| | - Takahiro Ochiya
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
- Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo Medical University, 6-1-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8402, Japan.
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20
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Yan XT, An Z, Huangfu Y, Zhang YT, Li CH, Chen X, Liu PL, Gao JM. Polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol and phenolic metabolites from the aerial parts of Hypericum elatoides and their neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory activities. PHYTOCHEMISTRY 2019; 159:65-74. [PMID: 30594026 DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2018.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2018] [Revised: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 12/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
A phytochemical study on the aerial parts of Hypericum elatoides led to the isolation of a previously undescribed polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol derivative, hyperelatone A, seven previously undescribed phenolic metabolites, hyperelatones B-H, along with ten known analogues. The structures of hyperelatones A-H were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, HRESIMS experiment, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and comparison of experimental and calculated ECD spectra, as well as chemical derivatization. All compounds were evaluated for their neuroprotective activity against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell injury in rat pheochromocytoma PC-12 cells and inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in BV-2 microglial cells. Hyperelatones B-D and H, cinchonain Ib, and tenuiside A showed noticeable neuroprotection at concentrations of 1.0-100.0 μM. Hyperelatones D, G, and H, (-)-epicatechin, tenuiside A, and (Z)-3-hexenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside exhibited significant anti-neuroinflammatory activity with IC50 values ranging from 0.75 ± 0.02 to 5.83 ± 0.23 μM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi-Tao Yan
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhen An
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Yucui Huangfu
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan-Teng Zhang
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Chun-Huan Li
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Xin Chen
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China
| | - Pei-Liang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, People's Republic of China
| | - Jin-Ming Gao
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, People's Republic of China.
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21
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Identification of ADAR1 adenosine deaminase dependency in a subset of cancer cells. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5450. [PMID: 30575730 PMCID: PMC6303303 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07824-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Systematic exploration of cancer cell vulnerabilities can inform the development of novel cancer therapeutics. Here, through analysis of genome-scale loss-of-function datasets, we identify adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR or ADAR1) as an essential gene for the survival of a subset of cancer cell lines. ADAR1-dependent cell lines display increased expression of interferon-stimulated genes. Activation of type I interferon signaling in the context of ADAR1 deficiency can induce cell lethality in non-ADAR1-dependent cell lines. ADAR deletion causes activation of the double-stranded RNA sensor, protein kinase R (PKR). Disruption of PKR signaling, through inactivation of PKR or overexpression of either a wildtype or catalytically inactive mutant version of the p150 isoform of ADAR1, partially rescues cell lethality after ADAR1 loss, suggesting that both catalytic and non-enzymatic functions of ADAR1 may contribute to preventing PKR-mediated cell lethality. Together, these data nominate ADAR1 as a potential therapeutic target in a subset of cancers. Specific cancer cell vulnerabilities can provide an opportunity for the development of novel cancer therapeutics. In this study the authors demonstrate that targeting ADAR1 represents a potential therapeutic vulnerability in cancers with activated interferon response signatures.
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22
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Kantidze OL, Velichko AK, Luzhin AV, Petrova NV, Razin SV. Synthetically Lethal Interactions of ATM, ATR, and DNA-PKcs. Trends Cancer 2018; 4:755-768. [PMID: 30352678 DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2018.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Revised: 09/10/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic lethality occurs when simultaneous perturbations of two genes or molecular processes result in a loss of cell viability. The number of known synthetically lethal interactions is growing steadily. We review here synthetically lethal interactions of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), ATM- and Rad3-related (ATR), and DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). These kinases are appropriate for synthetic lethal therapies because their genes are frequently mutated in cancer, and specific inhibitors are currently in clinical trials. Understanding synthetically lethal interactions of a particular gene or gene family can facilitate predicting new synthetically lethal interactions, therapy toxicity, and mechanisms of resistance, as well as defining the spectrum of tumors amenable to these therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar L Kantidze
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; LFR2O, Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
| | - Artem K Velichko
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Artem V Luzhin
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Sergey V Razin
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; LFR2O, Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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23
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Transcription factor activating protein 4 is synthetically lethal and a master regulator of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma. Oncogene 2018; 37:5451-5465. [PMID: 29880876 PMCID: PMC6172192 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-018-0326-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Despite the identification of MYCN amplification as an adverse prognostic marker in neuroblastoma, MYCN inhibitors have yet to be developed. Here, by integrating evidence from a whole-genome shRNA library screen and the computational inference of master regulator proteins, we identify transcription factor activating protein 4 (TFAP4) as a critical effector of MYCN amplification in neuroblastoma, providing a novel synthetic lethal target. We demonstrate that TFAP4 is a direct target of MYCN in neuroblastoma cells, and that its expression and activity strongly negatively correlate with neuroblastoma patient survival. Silencing TFAP4 selectively inhibits MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell growth both in vitro and in vivo, in xenograft mouse models. Mechanistically, silencing TFAP4 induces neuroblastoma differentiation, as evidenced by increased neurite outgrowth and upregulation of neuronal markers. Taken together, our results demonstrate that TFAP4 is a key regulator of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma and may represent a valuable novel therapeutic target.
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24
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Chae YK, Anker JF, Carneiro BA, Chandra S, Kaplan J, Kalyan A, Santa-Maria CA, Platanias LC, Giles FJ. Genomic landscape of DNA repair genes in cancer. Oncotarget 2018; 7:23312-21. [PMID: 27004405 PMCID: PMC5029628 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.8196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2015] [Accepted: 03/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA repair genes are frequently mutated in cancer, yet limited data exist regarding the overall genomic landscape and functional implications of these alterations in their entirety. We created comprehensive lists of DNA repair genes and indirect caretakers. Mutation, copy number variation (CNV), and expression frequencies of these genes were analyzed in COSMIC. Mutation co-occurrence, clinical outcomes, and mutation burden were analyzed in TCGA. We report the 20 genes most frequently with mutations (n > 19,689 tumor samples for each gene), CNVs (n > 1,556), or up- or down-regulated (n = 7,998). Mutual exclusivity was observed as no genes displayed both high CNV gain and loss or high up- and down-regulation, and CNV gain and loss positively correlated with up- and down-regulation, respectively. Co-occurrence of mutations differed between cancers, and mutations in many DNA repair genes were associated with higher total mutation burden. Mutation and CNV frequencies offer insights into which genes may play tumor suppressive or oncogenic roles, such as NEIL2 and RRM2B, respectively. Mutual exclusivities within CNV and expression frequencies, and correlations between CNV and expression, support the functionality of these genomic alterations. This study provides comprehensive lists of candidate genes as potential biomarkers for genomic instability, novel therapeutic targets, or predictors of immunotherapy efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Young Kwang Chae
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jonathan F Anker
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Benedito A Carneiro
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sunandana Chandra
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jason Kaplan
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Aparna Kalyan
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Cesar A Santa-Maria
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Leonidas C Platanias
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.,Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Francis J Giles
- Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Chicago, IL, USA.,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
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25
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Brandsma I, Fleuren ED, Williamson CT, Lord CJ. Directing the use of DDR kinase inhibitors in cancer treatment. Expert Opin Investig Drugs 2017; 26:1341-1355. [PMID: 28984489 PMCID: PMC6157710 DOI: 10.1080/13543784.2017.1389895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Defects in the DNA damage response (DDR) drive the development of cancer by fostering DNA mutation but also provide cancer-specific vulnerabilities that can be exploited therapeutically. The recent approval of three different PARP inhibitors for the treatment of ovarian cancer provides the impetus for further developing targeted inhibitors of many of the kinases involved in the DDR, including inhibitors of ATR, ATM, CHEK1, CHEK2, DNAPK and WEE1. Areas covered: We summarise the current stage of development of these novel DDR kinase inhibitors, and describe which predictive biomarkers might be exploited to direct their clinical use. Expert opinion: Novel DDR inhibitors present promising candidates in cancer treatment and have the potential to elicit synthetic lethal effects. In order to fully exploit their potential and maximize their utility, identifying highly penetrant predictive biomarkers of single agent and combinatorial DDR inhibitor sensitivity are critical. Identifying the optimal drug combination regimens that could used with DDR inhibitors is also a key objective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inger Brandsma
- The CRUK Gene Function Laboratory and Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, SW3 6JB, UK
| | - Emmy D.G. Fleuren
- The CRUK Gene Function Laboratory and Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, SW3 6JB, UK
| | - Chris T. Williamson
- The CRUK Gene Function Laboratory and Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, SW3 6JB, UK
| | - Christopher J. Lord
- The CRUK Gene Function Laboratory and Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, SW3 6JB, UK
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26
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Kanhaiya K, Czeizler E, Gratie C, Petre I. Controlling Directed Protein Interaction Networks in Cancer. Sci Rep 2017; 7:10327. [PMID: 28871116 PMCID: PMC5583175 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10491-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 08/09/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Control theory is a well-established approach in network science, with applications in bio-medicine and cancer research. We build on recent results for structural controllability of directed networks, which identifies a set of driver nodes able to control an a-priori defined part of the network. We develop a novel and efficient approach for the (targeted) structural controllability of cancer networks and demonstrate it for the analysis of breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer. We build in each case a protein-protein interaction network and focus on the survivability-essential proteins specific to each cancer type. We show that these essential proteins are efficiently controllable from a relatively small computable set of driver nodes. Moreover, we adjust the method to find the driver nodes among FDA-approved drug-target nodes. We find that, while many of the drugs acting on the driver nodes are part of known cancer therapies, some of them are not used for the cancer types analyzed here; some drug-target driver nodes identified by our algorithms are not known to be used in any cancer therapy. Overall we show that a better understanding of the control dynamics of cancer through computational modelling can pave the way for new efficient therapeutic approaches and personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Kanhaiya
- Computational Biomodeling Laboratory, Turku Centre for Computer Science, and Department of Computer Science, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, 20500, Finland
| | - Eugen Czeizler
- Computational Biomodeling Laboratory, Turku Centre for Computer Science, and Department of Computer Science, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, 20500, Finland
- National Institute for Research and Development for Biological Sciences, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Cristian Gratie
- Computational Biomodeling Laboratory, Turku Centre for Computer Science, and Department of Computer Science, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, 20500, Finland
| | - Ion Petre
- Computational Biomodeling Laboratory, Turku Centre for Computer Science, and Department of Computer Science, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, 20500, Finland.
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27
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Suda K, Rozeboom L, Yu H, Ellison K, Rivard CJ, Mitsudomi T, Hirsch FR. Potential effect of spliceosome inhibition in small cell lung cancer irrespective of the MYC status. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0172209. [PMID: 28192473 PMCID: PMC5305228 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with few therapeutic advances in the treatment in recent decades. Based on a recent study that identified the spliceosome as a therapeutic vulnerability in MYC-driven breast cancers, we evaluated the efficacy of a spliceosome inhibitor in SCLC cell lines and analyzed the correlation with MYC status. Among 23 SCLC cell lines examined, eight showed high MYC protein expression (> 80% positive cells) by immunohistochemistry (IHC), while 10 cell lines demonstrated no staining for MYC. The remaining five cell lines showed weak staining (< 40% positive cells). All four cell lines that were previously demonstrated to have MYC gene amplification were positive for MYC by IHC. Four cell lines with high MYC expression and four with low MYC expression were used in further analysis. A spliceosome inhibitor, pladienolide B, showed high efficacy (IC50 < 12nM) in all eight cell lines tested, irrespective of the MYC IHC or MYC gene amplification status. We observed that the four cell lines with higher sensitivity to the spliceosome inhibitor were established from patients with prior chemotherapy. Therefore we chronically treated H1048 cells, that were established from a treatment-naïve patient, with cisplatin for 4 weeks, and found that H1048-cisplatin treated cells became more sensitive to pladienolide B. In conclusion, our in vitro results indicate that spliceosome inhibitors would be promising molecular target drugs in SCLC irrespective of the MYC status, especially in the second-line settings after an effective front-line chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenichi Suda
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America.,Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama, Japan
| | - Leslie Rozeboom
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Hui Yu
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Kim Ellison
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Christopher J Rivard
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Tetsuya Mitsudomi
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama, Japan
| | - Fred R Hirsch
- Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
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28
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Waks Z, Weissbrod O, Carmeli B, Norel R, Utro F, Goldschmidt Y. Driver gene classification reveals a substantial overrepresentation of tumor suppressors among very large chromatin-regulating proteins. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38988. [PMID: 28008934 PMCID: PMC5180091 DOI: 10.1038/srep38988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Compiling a comprehensive list of cancer driver genes is imperative for oncology diagnostics and drug development. While driver genes are typically discovered by analysis of tumor genomes, infrequently mutated driver genes often evade detection due to limited sample sizes. Here, we address sample size limitations by integrating tumor genomics data with a wide spectrum of gene-specific properties to search for rare drivers, functionally classify them, and detect features characteristic of driver genes. We show that our approach, CAnceR geNe similarity-based Annotator and Finder (CARNAF), enables detection of potentially novel drivers that eluded over a dozen pan-cancer/multi-tumor type studies. In particular, feature analysis reveals a highly concentrated pool of known and putative tumor suppressors among the <1% of genes that encode very large, chromatin-regulating proteins. Thus, our study highlights the need for deeper characterization of very large, epigenetic regulators in the context of cancer causality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeev Waks
- Machine Learning for Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Research - Haifa, Mount Carmel Campus, Israel
| | - Omer Weissbrod
- Machine Learning for Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Research - Haifa, Mount Carmel Campus, Israel
| | - Boaz Carmeli
- Machine Learning for Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Research - Haifa, Mount Carmel Campus, Israel
| | - Raquel Norel
- Computational Biology Center, IBM T. J. Watson Research, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
| | - Filippo Utro
- Computational Biology Center, IBM T. J. Watson Research, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
| | - Yaara Goldschmidt
- Machine Learning for Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Research - Haifa, Mount Carmel Campus, Israel
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29
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Nagel R, Semenova EA, Berns A. Drugging the addict: non-oncogene addiction as a target for cancer therapy. EMBO Rep 2016; 17:1516-1531. [PMID: 27702988 PMCID: PMC5090709 DOI: 10.15252/embr.201643030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Historically, cancers have been treated with chemotherapeutics aimed to have profound effects on tumor cells with only limited effects on normal tissue. This approach was followed by the development of small‐molecule inhibitors that can target oncogenic pathways critical for the survival of tumor cells. The clinical targeting of these so‐called oncogene addictions, however, is in many instances hampered by the outgrowth of resistant clones. More recently, the proper functioning of non‐mutated genes has been shown to enhance the survival of many cancers, a phenomenon called non‐oncogene addiction. In the current review, we will focus on the distinct non‐oncogenic addictions found in cancer cells, including synthetic lethal interactions, the underlying stress phenotypes, and arising therapeutic opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remco Nagel
- Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ekaterina A Semenova
- Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anton Berns
- Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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30
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Leung AWY, de Silva T, Bally MB, Lockwood WW. Synthetic lethality in lung cancer and translation to clinical therapies. Mol Cancer 2016; 15:61. [PMID: 27686855 PMCID: PMC5041331 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-016-0546-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Accepted: 09/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is a heterogeneous disease consisting of multiple histological subtypes each driven by unique genetic alterations. Despite the development of targeted therapies that inhibit the oncogenic mutations driving a subset of lung cancer cases, there is a paucity of effective treatments for the majority of lung cancer patients and new strategies are urgently needed. In recent years, the concept of synthetic lethality has been established as an effective approach for discovering novel cancer-specific targets as well as a method to improve the efficacy of existing drugs which provide partial but insufficient benefits for patients. In this review, we discuss the concept of synthetic lethality, the various types of synthetic lethal interactions in the context of oncology and the approaches used to identify these interactions, including recent advances that have transformed the ability to discover novel synthetic lethal combinations on a global scale. Lastly, we describe the specific synthetic lethal interactions identified in lung cancer to date and explore the pharmacological challenges and considerations in translating these discoveries to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ada W. Y. Leung
- Experimental Therapeutics, BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3 Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Rm. G227-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5 Canada
| | - Tanya de Silva
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Rm. G227-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5 Canada
- Integrative Oncology, BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3 Canada
| | - Marcel B. Bally
- Experimental Therapeutics, BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3 Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Rm. G227-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5 Canada
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2405 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada
- Centre for Drug Research and Development, 2405 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada
| | - William W. Lockwood
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Rm. G227-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5 Canada
- Integrative Oncology, BC Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3 Canada
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Hartl M. The Quest for Targets Executing MYC-Dependent Cell Transformation. Front Oncol 2016; 6:132. [PMID: 27313991 PMCID: PMC4889588 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2016.00132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
MYC represents a transcription factor with oncogenic potential converting multiple cellular signals into a broad transcriptional response, thereby controlling the expression of numerous protein-coding and non-coding RNAs important for cell proliferation, metabolism, differentiation, and apoptosis. Constitutive activation of MYC leads to neoplastic cell transformation, and deregulated MYC alleles are frequently observed in many human cancer cell types. Multiple approaches have been performed to isolate genes differentially expressed in cells containing aberrantly activated MYC proteins leading to the identification of thousands of putative targets. Functional analyses of genes differentially expressed in MYC-transformed cells had revealed that so far more than 40 upregulated or downregulated MYC targets are actively involved in cell transformation or tumorigenesis. However, further systematic and selective approaches are required for determination of the known or yet unidentified targets responsible for processing the oncogenic MYC program. The search for critical targets in MYC-dependent tumor cells is exacerbated by the fact that during tumor development, cancer cells progressively evolve in a multistep process, thereby acquiring their characteristic features in an additive manner. Functional expression cloning, combinatorial gene expression, and appropriate in vivo tests could represent adequate tools for dissecting the complex scenario of MYC-specified cell transformation. In this context, the central goal is to identify a minimal set of targets that suffices to phenocopy oncogenic MYC. Recently developed genomic editing tools could be employed to confirm the requirement of crucial transformation-associated targets. Knowledge about essential MYC-regulated genes is beneficial to expedite the development of specific inhibitors to interfere with growth and viability of human tumor cells in which MYC is aberrantly activated. Approaches based on the principle of synthetic lethality using MYC-overexpressing cancer cells and chemical or RNAi libraries have been employed to search for novel anticancer drugs, also leading to the identification of several druggable targets. Targeting oncogenic MYC effector genes instead of MYC may lead to compounds with higher specificities and less side effects. This class of drugs could also display a wider pharmaceutical window because physiological functions of MYC, which are important for normal cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation would be less impaired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Hartl
- Institute of Biochemistry and Center of Molecular Biosciences (CMBI), University of Innsbruck , Innsbruck , Austria
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Abstract
MYC is a transcription factor, which not only directly modulates multiple aspects of transcription and co‐transcriptional processing (e.g. RNA‐Polymerase II initiation, elongation, and mRNA capping), but also indirectly influences several steps of RNA metabolism, including both constitutive and alternative splicing, mRNA stability, and translation efficiency. As MYC is an oncoprotein whose expression is deregulated in multiple human cancers, identifying its critical downstream activities in tumors is of key importance for designing effective therapeutic strategies. With this knowledge and recent technological advances, we now have multiple angles to reach the goal of targeting MYC in tumors, ranging from the direct reduction of MYC levels, to the dampening of selected house‐keeping functions in MYC‐overexpressing cells, to more targeted approaches based on MYC‐induced secondary effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl M Koh
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
| | - Arianna Sabò
- Center for Genomic Science of IIT@SEMM, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Milan, Italy
| | - Ernesto Guccione
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.,Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.,National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore
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Tamura R, Yoshihara K, Yamawaki K, Suda K, Ishiguro T, Adachi S, Okuda S, Inoue I, Verhaak RGW, Enomoto T. Novel kinase fusion transcripts found in endometrial cancer. Sci Rep 2015; 5:18657. [PMID: 26689674 PMCID: PMC4687039 DOI: 10.1038/srep18657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in RNA-sequencing technology have enabled the discovery of gene fusion transcripts in the transcriptome of cancer cells. However, it remains difficult to differentiate the therapeutically targetable fusions from passenger events. We have analyzed RNA-sequencing data and DNA copy number data from 25 endometrial cancer cell lines to identify potential therapeutically targetable fusion transcripts, and have identified 124 high-confidence fusion transcripts, of which 69% are associated with gene amplifications. As targetable fusion candidates, we focused on three in-frame kinase fusion transcripts that retain a kinase domain (CPQ-PRKDC, CAPZA2-MET, and VGLL4-PRKG1). We detected only CPQ-PRKDC fusion transcript in three of 122 primary endometrial cancer tissues. Cell proliferation of the fusion-positive cell line was inhibited by knocking down the expression of wild-type PRKDC but not by blocking the CPQ-PRKDC fusion transcript expression. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR demonstrated that the expression of the CPQ-PRKDC fusion transcript was significantly lower than that of wild-type PRKDC, corresponding to a low transcript allele fraction of this fusion, based on RNA-sequencing read counts. In endometrial cancers, the CPQ-PRKDC fusion transcript may be a passenger aberration related to gene amplification. Our findings suggest that transcript allele fraction is a useful predictor to find bona-fide therapeutic-targetable fusion transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryo Tamura
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Kosuke Yoshihara
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Kaoru Yamawaki
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Kazuaki Suda
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Tatsuya Ishiguro
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Sosuke Adachi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Shujiro Okuda
- Department of Bioinformatics, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Ituro Inoue
- Division of Human Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan
| | - Roel G W Verhaak
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Genome Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Takayuki Enomoto
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
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Kacsinta AD, Dowdy SF. Current views on inducing synthetic lethal RNAi responses in the treatment of cancer. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2015; 16:161-72. [PMID: 26630128 DOI: 10.1517/14712598.2016.1110141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cancer cells arise from normal cells that have incurred mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The mutations are often unique and not readily found in normal cells, giving rise to the opportunity of exploiting these mutations to induce synthetic lethality. Synthetic lethality occurs when inhibition or mutation in two or more separate genes leads to cell death while inhibition or mutations of either gene alone has no lethal effect on the cell. Using RNA interference (RNAi) to identify synthetic lethality has become a growingly popular screening approach. AREAS COVERED In this review, we cover the use of RNAi therapeutics to induce synthetic lethality in cancer. Additionally, we discuss several select small molecule inhibitors that were identified or verified by RNAi that induce synthetic lethality in specific cancers. We also discuss the identification of novel synthetic lethal combinations and the cancer model that the combination was validated in. Lastly, we discuss RNAi delivery vehicles. EXPERT OPINION While RNAi therapeutics have great potential to treat cancer, due to the siRNA delivery problem, RNAi remains more commonly used as a tool, rather than a therapeutic. However, with emerging technological advances in the field of RNAi therapeutics, it is only a matter of time before RNAi-induced synthetic lethal clinical studies are initiated in cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apollo D Kacsinta
- a Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine , UCSD School of Medicine , La Jolla , CA , USA
| | - Steven F Dowdy
- a Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine , UCSD School of Medicine , La Jolla , CA , USA
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