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Liang YY, Niu FY, Xu AA, Jiang LL, Liu CS, Liang HP, Huang YF, Shao XF, Mo ZW, Yuan YW. Increased MCL-1 synthesis promotes irradiation-induced nasopharyngeal carcinoma radioresistance via regulation of the ROS/AKT loop. Cell Death Dis 2022; 13:131. [PMID: 35136016 PMCID: PMC8827103 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-04551-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Worldwide, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare head and neck cancer; however, it is a common malignancy in southern China. Radiotherapy is the most important treatment strategy for NPC. However, although radiotherapy is a strong tool to kill cancer cells, paradoxically it also promotes aggressive phenotypes. Therefore, we mimicked the treatment process in NPC cells in vitro. Upon exposure to radiation, a subpopulation of NPC cells gradually developed resistance to radiation and displayed cancer stem-cell characteristics. Radiation-induced stemness largely depends on the accumulation of the antiapoptotic myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL-1) protein. Upregulated MCL-1 levels were caused by increased stability and more importantly, enhanced protein synthesis. We showed that repeated ionizing radiation resulted in persistently enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production at a higher basal level, further promoting protein kinase B (AKT) signaling activation. Intracellular ROS and AKT activation form a positive feedback loop in the process of MCL-1 protein synthesis, which in turn induces stemness and radioresistance. AKT/MCL-1 axis inhibition attenuated radiation-induced resistance, providing a potential target to reverse radiation therapy-induced radioresistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Ying Liang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fei-Yu Niu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section 3, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - An-An Xu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Li-Li Jiang
- Guangzhou Municipal and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Modification and Degradation, School of Basic Medical Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chun-Shan Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hui-Ping Liang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yu-Fan Huang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xun-Fan Shao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhi-Wen Mo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Ya-Wei Yuan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
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2
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Hagenbuchner J, Oberacher H, Arnhard K, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Ausserlechner MJ. Modulation of Respiration and Mitochondrial Dynamics by SMAC-Mimetics for Combination Therapy in Chemoresistant Cancer. Am J Cancer Res 2019; 9:4909-4922. [PMID: 31410190 PMCID: PMC6691393 DOI: 10.7150/thno.33758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP) are cell death regulators that bind caspases and interfere with apoptotic signalling via death receptors or intrinsic cell death pathways. BIRC4/XIAP is the most potent anti-apoptotic IAP-member and it physically interacts with caspases via its BIR2 and its BIR3 domain. These domains are also critical for the interaction with mitochondria-derived SMAC/Diablo and with the IAP protein survivin. Survivin is frequently overexpressed in neuroblastoma due to a gain of 17q and we have demonstrated that survivin confers resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and reprograms metabolism of neuroblastoma cells towards glycolysis. As regulator of mitochondrial fission and autophagy survivin acts at the crossroads of mitochondrial architecture, autophagy and cellular energy metabolism. Methods: We tested the effect of SMAC-mimetics on the XIAP/survivin axis as modulator of cellular metabolism analysing mitochondrial morphology, metabolic intermediates and cellular survival. Finally, the impact of the combined treatment was evaluated in a xenograft neuroblastoma mouse model assessing the therapy effect on tumour size and volume. Results: Here we demonstrated that XIAP sequesters significant amounts of survivin within the cell that can be mobilized by so called SMAC-mimetics. SMAC-mimetics are drugs that are designed to bind with high affinity to XIAP-BIR2 / BIR3 domains to release caspases and re-sensitize XIAP-overexpressing tumors for chemotherapy. However, SMAC-mimetic treatment releases also survivin from XIAP and thereby induces mitochondrial fragmentation, prevents ROS accumulation and leads to the Warburg effect, an unwanted side effect of this therapy. Importantly, cells that drift into a highly glycolytic state due to SMAC-mimetic treatment become also highly sensitive to non-genotoxic treatment with glycolysis inhibitors such as 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: A combinational therapy of non-genotoxic SMAC-mimetics and glycolysis-inhibitors overcomes IAP-mediated cell survival in cancer and provides therefore an attractive usage of SMAC-mimetics.
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Hagenbuchner J, Lungkofler L, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Viola G, Ferlin MG, Ausserlechner MJ, Obexer P. The tubulin inhibitor MG-2477 induces autophagy-regulated cell death, ROS accumulation and activation of FOXO3 in neuroblastoma. Oncotarget 2018; 8:32009-32026. [PMID: 28415610 PMCID: PMC5458265 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.16434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma is the most frequent extra-cranial solid tumor in children with still high mortality in stage M. Here we studied the tubulin-inhibitor MG-2477 as a possible therapeutic agent for neuroblastoma therapy and uncovered that MG-2477 induces death in neuroblastoma cells independent of PKB-activation status and stage. MG-2477 triggers within 30 minutes extensive autophagosome-formation that finally leads to cell death associated with mitotic catastrophe. Autophagy is critical for MG-2477-induced death and is regulated by the BH3-only protein PMAIP1/NOXA which sequesters the anti-apoptotic BCL2-protein BCLXL and thereby displaces and activates the autophagy-regulator BECN1/beclin1. Knockdown of NOXA or overexpression of its pro-survival binding partners MCL1 and BCLXL counteracts MG-2477-induced cell death. MG-2477 also rapidly induces the repression of the anti-apoptotic protein Survivin, which promotes autophagy and cell death. We further observed the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that triggers autophagy induction suggesting a change of the PI3 kinase-III/BECN1 complex and activates the transcription factor FOXO3, which contributes to final cell death induction. The combined data suggest that MG-2477 induces a sequential process of ROS-accumulation, autophagy and FOXO3-activation that leads to cell death in neuroblastoma cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Hagenbuchner
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | | | - Giampietro Viola
- Department of Woman's and Child's Health, Oncohematology Laboratory University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Ferlin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Petra Obexer
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innsbruck, Austria
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4
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Hagenbuchner J, Rupp M, Salvador C, Meister B, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Müller T, Geiger K, Sergi C, Obexer P, Ausserlechner MJ. Nuclear FOXO3 predicts adverse clinical outcome and promotes tumor angiogenesis in neuroblastoma. Oncotarget 2018; 7:77591-77606. [PMID: 27769056 PMCID: PMC5363607 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.12728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma is the most frequent, extracranial solid tumor in children with still poor prognosis in stage IV disease. In this study, we analyzed FOXO3-phosphorylation and cellular localization in tumor biopsies and determined the function of this homeostasis regulator in vitro and in vivo. FOXO3-phosphorylation at threonine-32 (T32) and nuclear localization in biopsies significantly correlated with stage IV disease. DNA-damaging drugs induced nuclear accumulation of FOXO3, which was associated with elevated T32-phosphorylation in stage IV-derived neuroblastoma cells, thereby reflecting the in situ results. In contrast, hypoxic conditions repressed PKB-activity and caused dephosphorylation of FOXO3 in both, stroma-like SH-EP and high-stage-derived STA-NB15 cells. The activation of an ectopically-expressed FOXO3 in these cells reduced viability at normoxia, but promoted growth at hypoxic conditions and elevated VEGF-C-expression. In chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays STA-NB15 tumors with ectopic FOXO3 showed increased micro-vessel formation and, when xenografted into nude mice, a gene-dosage-dependent effect of FOXO3 in high-stage STA-NB15 cells became evident: low-level activation increased tumor-vascularization, whereas hyper-activation repressed tumor growth. The combined data suggest that, depending on the mode and intensity of activation, cellular FOXO3 acts as a homeostasis regulator promoting tumor growth at hypoxic conditions and tumor angiogenesis in high-stage neuroblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Hagenbuchner
- Departments of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Martina Rupp
- Departments of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | | | | | - Thomas Müller
- Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Consolato Sergi
- Walter C. Mackenzie Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Petra Obexer
- Departments of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Michael J Ausserlechner
- Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innsbruck, Austria
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Li Y, Deutzmann A, Choi PS, Fan AC, Felsher DW. BIM mediates oncogene inactivation-induced apoptosis in multiple transgenic mouse models of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Oncotarget 2017; 7:26926-34. [PMID: 27095570 PMCID: PMC5053622 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.8731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/08/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Oncogene inactivation in both clinical targeted therapies and conditional transgenic mouse cancer models can induce significant tumor regression associated with the robust induction of apoptosis. Here we report that in MYC-, RAS-, and BCR-ABL-induced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), apoptosis upon oncogene inactivation is mediated by the same pro-apoptotic protein, BIM. The induction of BIMin the MYC- and RAS-driven leukemia is mediated by the downregulation of miR-17-92. Overexpression of miR-17-92 blocked the induction of apoptosis upon oncogene inactivation in the MYC and RAS-driven but not in the BCR-ABL-driven ALL leukemia. Hence, our results provide novel insight into the mechanism of apoptosis upon oncogene inactivation and suggest that induction of BIM-mediated apoptosis may be an important therapeutic approach for ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Li
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Anja Deutzmann
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Peter S Choi
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Alice C Fan
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Dean W Felsher
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
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Rupp M, Hagenbuchner J, Rass B, Fiegl H, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Obexer P, Ausserlechner MJ. FOXO3-mediated chemo-protection in high-stage neuroblastoma depends on wild-type TP53 and SESN3. Oncogene 2017; 36:6190-6203. [PMID: 28869600 PMCID: PMC5671944 DOI: 10.1038/onc.2017.288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Forkhead box O class transcription factors are homeostasis regulators that control cell death, longevity and therapy-resistance. In neuroblastoma (NB), nuclear FOXO3 correlates with stage M disease and poor prognosis. To analyze whether FOXO3 contributes to drug-resistance in this childhood cancer, we investigated how different high-stage-derived NB cells respond to the activation of an ectopic FOXO3 allele. We found endogenous FOXO3 mostly localized to the nucleus—upon activation of an ectopic, 4OHT-activated FOXO3(A3)ER fusion protein two of the cell lines underwent apoptosis, whereas in the others FOXO3-activation even increased survival during drug-treatment. In the latter cell type, FOXO3 did not induce the BH3-only protein BCL2L11/BIM due to impaired binding of FOXO3 to the BIM-promoter, but still activated other FOXO3 targets. It was shown before that FOXO3 and TP53 physically interact with each other at two different regions—the TP53-N-terminus binds to the FOXO3-DNA binding domain (DBD) and the FOXO3-C-terminus interacts with the TP53-DBD. Interestingly, cell lines that undergo FOXO3-induced cell death carry homozygous point mutations in the TP53-DBD near the structural hotspot-mutation-site R175H, which abrogated FOXO3–TP53 interaction. In contrast, in FOXO3-death-resistant cells no point mutations in the TP53-DBD were found—in these cells FOXO3–TP53 complexes are formed and FOXO3-binding to the BIM-promoter, but not the induction of the detoxifying protein SESN3, were prevented, which in turn increased chemo-protection in this type of high-stage-derived NB cells. Our combined data suggest that FOXO3 steps in as a death inducer in case of TP53-mutation, whereas functional TP53 alters FOXO3-target-promoter-recognition, which prevents death induction by FOXO3 and instead increases chemo-protection and survival of NB cells. This novel mechanism may explain the low incidence of TP53 mutation in high-stage NB at diagnosis and suggests FOXO3 as a therapeutic target for this childhood malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Rupp
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - J Hagenbuchner
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - B Rass
- Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - H Fiegl
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - P Obexer
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - M J Ausserlechner
- Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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Salcher S, Hermann M, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Ausserlechner MJ, Obexer P. C10ORF10/DEPP-mediated ROS accumulation is a critical modulator of FOXO3-induced autophagy. Mol Cancer 2017; 16:95. [PMID: 28545464 PMCID: PMC5445297 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-017-0661-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor in childhood and develops from undifferentiated progenitor cells of the sympathetic nervous system. In neuronal tumor cells DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents activate the transcription factor FOXO3 which regulates the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death as well as a longevity program associated with therapy resistance. We demonstrated before that C10ORF10/DEPP, a transcriptional target of FOXO3, localizes to peroxisomes and mitochondria and impairs cellular ROS detoxification. In the present study, we investigated the impact of FOXO3 and DEPP on the regulation of autophagy. Autophagy serves to reduce oxidative damage as it triggers a self-degradative process for the removal of aggregated or misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. Methods The effect of FOXO3 and DEPP on autophagy induction was analyzed using live cell fluorescence microscopy and immunoblot analyses of SH-EP cells transfected with a plasmid for EYFP-LC3 and with siRNAs specific for LC3, respectively. ROS steady-state levels were measured with reduced MitoTrackerRed CM-H2XROS. Cellular apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and the caspase 3/7 assay. Results We report for the first time that DEPP induces ROS accumulation and thereby mediates the formation of autophagosomes as inhibition of ROS formation by N-acetyl-cysteine completely blocks autophagy. We further demonstrate that H2O2-treatment triggers autophagy-induction by FOXO3-mediated DEPP expression. Importantly, knockdown of DEPP was sufficient to efficiently inhibit autophagy-induction under different stress conditions such as serum starvation and genotoxic stress, suggesting that DEPP expression is critical for the initiation of autophagy in neuroblastoma. FOXO3-triggered autophagy partially protects neuroblastoma cells from cell death. Consistent with this concept, we demonstrate that inhibition of autophagy by LC3-knockdown significantly increased etoposide- and doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. These results were also confirmed by the use of the autophagy-inhibitor chloroquine that significantly enhanced the chemotherapeutic effect of etoposide and doxorubicin in neuronal tumor cells. Conclusion Targeting FOXO3/DEPP-triggered autophagy is a promising strategy to sensitize neuroblastoma cells to chemotherapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12943-017-0661-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Salcher
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria.,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - M Hermann
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - U Kiechl-Kohlendorfer
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - M J Ausserlechner
- Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University Innsbruck, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - P Obexer
- Department of Pediatrics II, Medical University Innsbruck, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria. .,Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute, Innrain 66, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
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Hagenbuchner J, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, Obexer P, Ausserlechner MJ. BIRC5/Survivin as a target for glycolysis inhibition in high-stage neuroblastoma. Oncogene 2015; 35:2052-61. [DOI: 10.1038/onc.2015.264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2015] [Revised: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 06/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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