1
|
Bertonnier‐Brouty L, Andersson J, Kaprio T, Hagström J, Bsharat S, Asplund O, Hatem G, Haglund C, Seppänen H, Prasad RB, Artner I. E2F transcription factors promote tumorigenicity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Med 2024; 13:e7187. [PMID: 38686617 PMCID: PMC11058697 DOI: 10.1002/cam4.7187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers with limited treatment options, illustrating an urgent need to identify new drugable targets in PDACs. OBJECTIVE Using the similarities between tumor development and normal embryonic development, which is accompanied by rapid cell expansion, we aimed to identify and characterize embryonic signaling pathways that were reinitiated during tumor formation and expansion. METHODS AND RESULTS Here, we report that the transcription factors E2F1 and E2F8 are potential key regulators in PDAC. E2F1 and E2F8 RNA expression is mainly localized in proliferating cells in the developing pancreas and in malignant ductal cells in PDAC. Silencing of E2F1 and E2F8 in PANC-1 pancreatic tumor cells inhibited cell proliferation and impaired cell spreading and migration. Moreover, loss of E2F1 also affected cell viability and apoptosis with E2F expression in PDAC tissues correlating with expression of apoptosis and mitosis pathway genes, suggesting that E2F factors promote cell cycle regulation and tumorigenesis in PDAC cells. CONCLUSION Our findings illustrate that E2F1 and E2F8 transcription factors are expressed in pancreatic progenitor and PDAC cells, where they contribute to tumor cell expansion by regulation of cell proliferation, viability, and cell migration making these genes attractive therapeutic targets and potential prognostic markers for pancreatic cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ludivine Bertonnier‐Brouty
- Lund Stem Cell CenterLund UniversityLundSweden
- Lund University Diabetes Center, Lund UniversityMalmöSweden
| | | | - Tuomas Kaprio
- Department of SurgeryHelsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
- Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- iCAN, Digital Cancer Precision MedicineUniversity of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
| | - Jaana Hagström
- Department of SurgeryHelsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
- Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- iCAN, Digital Cancer Precision MedicineUniversity of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
- Department of Oral Pathology and RadiologyUniversity of TurkuTurkuFinland
| | - Sara Bsharat
- Lund Stem Cell CenterLund UniversityLundSweden
- Lund University Diabetes Center, Lund UniversityMalmöSweden
| | - Olof Asplund
- Lund University Diabetes Center, Lund UniversityMalmöSweden
| | - Gad Hatem
- Lund University Diabetes Center, Lund UniversityMalmöSweden
| | - Caj Haglund
- Department of SurgeryHelsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
- Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- iCAN, Digital Cancer Precision MedicineUniversity of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
| | - Hanna Seppänen
- Department of SurgeryHelsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
- Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- iCAN, Digital Cancer Precision MedicineUniversity of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University HospitalHelsinkiFinland
| | | | - Isabella Artner
- Lund Stem Cell CenterLund UniversityLundSweden
- Lund University Diabetes Center, Lund UniversityMalmöSweden
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gong C, Tu Z, Long X, Liu X, Liu F, Liu J, Zhu X, Li J, Huang K. Predictive role of E2F6 in cancer prognosis and responses of immunotherapy. Int Immunopharmacol 2024; 127:111302. [PMID: 38071912 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.111302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND E2F6 is a member of the E2F transcription factor family. Numerous studies have demonstrated that E2F6 is critical to cancer development and progression, but its role in cancer immunotherapy remains unclear. METHODS Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were used to obtain RNA-seq data for cancer and normal tissues, and we utilized the cBioPortal to analyze E2F6 genomic alterations in pan-cancer. The protein localization of E2F6 was obtained using the Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and the upregulation of E2F6 expression in clinical glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tissues was detected by Western blot analysis. The ComPPI website was used to analyze the protein interaction information of E2F6. To evaluate the role of E2F6 in pan-cancer prognosis, we used univariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier methods, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was utilized to identify markers associated with E2F6 expression in tumors. TIMER 2.0 was used to study E2F6-related immune cell infiltration in tumor tissues, and the correlation of E2F6 with immunotherapy biomarkers was investigated using Spearman correlation analysis. The role of E2F6 in the cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry, and the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays were utilized to determine the proliferative ability of cells. RESULTS In most tumor types, E2F6 was highly expressed and was a good predictor of prognosis. E2F6 was significantly related to markers of immune activation, tumor immune cell infiltration, and immune regulators. Furthermore, E2F6 knockdown significantly attenuated the proliferative ability of glioma cells. Finally, E2F6 effectively predicted anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD1) treatment response. CONCLUSION E2F6 is an effective biomarker that predicts the prognosis of cancer patients treated with anti-immune checkpoint therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chuandong Gong
- Department of Neurosurgery, the 2(nd) affiliated hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Neurological Tumors and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; JXHC Key Laboratory of Neurological Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China
| | - Zewei Tu
- Department of Neurosurgery, the 2(nd) affiliated hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Neurological Tumors and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; JXHC Key Laboratory of Neurological Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China
| | - Xiaoyan Long
- East China Institute of Digital Medical Engineering, Shangrao, Jiangxi 330006, PR China
| | - Xinjun Liu
- People's Hospital of Yingtan City, Yingtan, Jiangxi 330006, PR China
| | - Feng Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jiangxi Provincial Children's Hospital, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China
| | - Jia Liu
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Xingen Zhu
- Department of Neurosurgery, the 2(nd) affiliated hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Neurological Tumors and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; JXHC Key Laboratory of Neurological Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China.
| | - Jingying Li
- Department of Comprehensive Intensive Care Unit, the 2(nd) affiliated hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China.
| | - Kai Huang
- Department of Neurosurgery, the 2(nd) affiliated hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Neurological Tumors and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China; JXHC Key Laboratory of Neurological Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Aberrant transcription factors in the cancers of the pancreas. Semin Cancer Biol 2022; 86:28-45. [PMID: 36058426 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2022.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) are essential for proper activation of gene set during the process of organogenesis, differentiation, lineage specificity. Reactivation or dysregulation of TFs regulatory networks could lead to deformation of organs, diseases including various malignancies. Currently, understanding the mechanism of oncogenesis became necessity for the development of targeted therapeutic strategy for different cancer types. It is evident that many TFs go awry in cancers of the pancreas such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs). These mutated or dysregulated TFs abnormally controls various signaling pathways in PDAC and PanNENs including RTK, PI3K-PTEN-AKT-mTOR, JNK, TGF-β/SMAD, WNT/β-catenin, SHH, NOTCH and VEGF which in turn regulate different hallmarks of cancer. Aberrant regulation of such pathways have been linked to the initiation, progression, metastasis, and resistance in pancreatic cancer. As of today, a number of TFs has been identified as crucial regulators of pancreatic cancer and a handful of them shown to have potential as therapeutic targets in pre-clinical and clinical settings. In this review, we have summarized the current knowledge on the role and therapeutic usefulness of TFs in PDAC and PanNENs.
Collapse
|