Effects of Sepantronium Bromide (YM-155) on the Whole Transcriptome of MDA-MB-231 Cells: Highlight on Impaired ATR/ATM Fanconi Anemia DNA Damage Response

The pharmacoepigenomic landscape of cancer cell lines reveals the epigenetic component of drug sensitivity

Aberrant DNA methylation accompanies genetic alterations during oncogenesis and tumour homeostasis and contributes to the transcriptional deregulation of key signalling pathways in cancer. Despite increasing efforts in DNA methylation profiling of cancer patients, there is still a lack of epigenetic biomarkers to predict treatment efficacy. To address this, we analyse 721 cancer cell lines across 22 cancer types treated with 453 anti-cancer compounds. We systematically detect the predictive component of DNA methylation in the context of transcriptional and mutational patterns, i.e., in total 19 DNA methylation biomarkers across 17 drugs and five cancer types. DNA methylation constitutes drug sensitivity biomarkers by mediating the expression of proximal genes, thereby enhancing biological signals across multi-omics data modalities. Our method reproduces anticipated associations, and in addition, we find that the NEK9 promoter hypermethylation may confer sensitivity to the NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE) inhibitor pevonedistat in melanoma through downregulation of NEK9. In summary, we envision that epigenomics will refine existing patient stratification, thus empowering the next generation of precision oncology.

DNA Repair Genes as Drug Candidates for Early Breast Cancer Onset in Latin America: A Systematic Review

The prevalence of breast cancer in young women (YWBC) has increased alarmingly. Significant efforts are being made to elucidate the biological mechanisms concerning the development, prognosis, and pathological response in early-onset breast cancer (BC) patients. Dysfunctional DNA repair proteins are implied in BC predisposition, progression, and therapy response, underscoring the need for further analyses on DNA repair genes. Public databases of large patient datasets such as METABRIC, TCGA, COSMIC, and cancer cell lines allow the identification of variants in DNA repair genes and possible precision drug candidates. This study aimed at identifying variants and drug candidates that may benefit Latin American (LA) YWBC. We analyzed pathogenic variants in 90 genes involved in DNA repair in public BC datasets from METABRIC, TCGA, COSMIC, CCLE, and COSMIC Cell Lines Project. Results showed that reported DNA repair germline variants in the LA dataset are underrepresented in large databases, in contrast to other populations. Additionally, only six gene repair variants in women under 50 years old from the study population were reported in BC cell lines. Therefore, there is a need for new approaches to study DNA repair variants reported in young women from LA.

Targeted-Gene Sequencing and Bioinformatics Analysis of Patients with Pancreatic Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Background

Primary pancreatic mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is an extremely rare malignant tumor with unclear etiology and pathogenesis. There are only eleven reported cases in English papers published from 1959 to 2020. MEC generally occurs in the salivary gland, but cases in the pancreas have also been reported. Although being considered as a low-grade indolent carcinoma, pancreatic MEC always invades the surrounding lymph node and metastasizes. The prognosis of pancreatic MEC is unsatisfactory. To date, the genetic alterations, mechanistic relationships among mutated genes and signaling pathways of pancreatic MEC are unclear.

Patient and Methods

This paper presents a case of rare primary pancreatic MEC in a 56-year-old male patient with liver metastasis. Radical surgery of distal pancreatectomy and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of two liver metastatic lesions is conducted. Targeted-gene sequencing and bioinformatics analysis tools, including STRING, DAVID, cBioPortal, DGidb and Human Protein Atlas database (HPA), are used to clarify the biological functions and features of mutated genes in pancreatic MEC.

Results

Eight gene mutations (TP53, KRAS, ATR, FLI1, FLT4, MAGI2, RBM10, and TNFAIP3) were observed, and a tumor mutation burden (TMB) of 5.6 muts/Mb was calculated in the pancreatic MEC using targeted-gene sequencing. The patient subsequently underwent adjuvant chemotherapy and died three months after surgery. Gene–gene interaction network was constructed, which showed the significant interactions among eight mutated genes. In terms of the functions and pathways of eight gene mutations based on GO and KEGG, 20 tumor-related results are presented in this paper, Furthermore, the biological functions and features of pancreatic MEC are further compared with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Conclusion

Pancreatic MEC requires early and effective treatment, and lymph node metastases and multiple organ metastases were unfavorable prognostic factors. Pancreatic MEC can be compared with other pancreatic cancers that have characteristic clinical phenotype, molecular alterations, functional information and enrichment pathway.

Effect of Sepatronium Bromide (YM-155) on DNA Double-Strand Breaks Repair in Cancer Cells

Survivin, as an antiapoptotic protein often overexpressed in cancer cells, is a logical target for potential cancer treatment. By overexpressing survivin, cancer cells can avoid apoptotic cell death and often become resistant to treatments, representing a significant obstacle in modern oncology. A survivin suppressor, an imidazolium-based compound known as YM-155, is nowadays studied as an attractive anticancer agent. Although survivin suppression by YM-155 is evident, researchers started to report that YM-155 is also an inducer of DNA damage introducing yet another anticancer mechanism of this drug. Moreover, the concentrations of YM-155 for DNA damage induction seems to be far lower than those needed for survivin inhibition. Understanding the molecular mechanism of action of YM-155 is of vital importance for modern personalized medicine involving the selection of responsive patients and possible treatment combinations. This review focuses mainly on the documented effects of YM-155 on DNA damage signaling pathways. It summarizes up to date literature, and it outlines the molecular mechanism of YM-155 action in the context of the DNA damage field.

Emerging Effects of Sepantronium Bromide (YM155) on MOLT-4 Cell Line Apoptosis Induction and Expression of Critical Genes Involved in Apoptotic Pathways

Purpose: Sepantronium bromide (YM155) is a Survivin inhibitor which recently advanced as an anticancer agent in phase II clinical trials. Survivin belongs to IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis) gene family and is a pivotal target for treatment due to its overexpression and oncogenic function in many malignancies, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although survivin is a specific target for YM155, recent reports have shown that it has many other crucial targets that regulate its anti-apoptotic effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether YM155 could have an effect on cell death-inducing genes as well as inducing apoptosis in T-ALL MOLT4- cell line. Methods: We treated MOLT-4 cells with increasing concentrations of YM155 and then cell viability was determined using MTT (methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium) assay. Also, the rate of induction of apoptosis in MOLT-4 cells and the target genes expression levels were evaluated by Annexin V/PI and real-time PCR, respectively. Results: YM155 inhibited cell growth in MOLT-4 cells. This outcome is achieved by inducing apoptosis and a significant increase in the expression level of P53, MiR-9, caspase 3 and decreasing the mRNA expression levels of survivin, Sirtuin1(SIRT1), member of anti-apoptotic proteins family (Bcl-2), and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) initiating factors Snail1and Zeb2. Conclusion: The results showed that use of YM155 can be a potential drug therapy in T-ALL patients with promising effects on apoptosis induction.

Survivin modulatory role in autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases

Baculoviral IAP repeat containing 5 (BIRC5) gene encodes the important protein as survivin, a multifunctional protein, which is involved in cellular and molecular networks, progression of cell cycle, homeostasis, developmental morphogenesis, and apoptosis. The proximal BIRC5 promoter possesses specific binding sites for key transcription factors such as nuclear factor κB and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3. Upregulation of survivin exacerbates the autoimmune diseases (AIDs) including multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis by reducing the activity threshold of survivin-specific cytotoxic T cells. DNA damage along with upregulation or downregulation of survivin have been demonstrated in initiation and pathogenesis of cancers and AIDs. However, detailed mechanism of survivin function in pathogenesis of AIDs is not well understood. This review focuses on the structure, specificity, regulation, and function of survivin in physiologic conditions and pathogenesis of AIDs.