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Nopora A, Weidle UH. CircRNAs as New Therapeutic Entities and Tools for Target Identification in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Genomics Proteomics 2024; 21:118-136. [PMID: 38423599 PMCID: PMC10905271 DOI: 10.21873/cgp.20434] [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: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a genetically extremely heterogeneous disease. Drug resistance after induction therapy is a very frequent event resulting in poor medium survival times. Therefore, the identification of new targets and treatment modalities is a medical high priority issue. We addressed our attention to circular RNAs (circRNAs), which can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in AML. We searched the literature (PubMed) and identified eight up-regulated and two down-regulated circ-RNAs with activity in preclinical in vivo models. In addition, we identified twenty-two up-regulated and four down-regulated circRNAs with activity in preclinical in vitro systems, but pending in vivo activity. Up-regulated RNAs are potential targets for si- or shRNA-based approaches, and down-regulated circRNAs can be reconstituted by replacement therapy to achieve a therapeutic benefit in preclinical systems. The up-regulated targets can be tackled with small molecules, antibody-based entities, or other modes of intervention. For down-regulated targets, up-regulators must be identified. The ranking of the identified circRNAs with respect to therapy of AML will depend on further target validation experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Nopora
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Munich, Penzberg, Germany
| | - Ulrich H Weidle
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Munich, Penzberg, Germany
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Ito K, Otani S, Date Y. p53 Deficiency-Dependent Oncogenicity of Runx3. Cells 2023; 12:cells12081122. [PMID: 37190031 DOI: 10.3390/cells12081122] [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: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The RUNX transcription factors are frequently dysregulated in human cancers, suggesting their potential as attractive targets for drug treatment. However, all three transcription factors have been described as both tumor suppressors and oncogenes, indicating the need to determine their molecular mechanisms of action. Although RUNX3 has long been considered a tumor suppressor in human cancers, several recent studies have shown that RUNX3 is upregulated during the development or progression of various malignant tumors, suggesting it may act as a "conditional" oncogene. Resolving this paradox and understanding how a single gene can exhibit both oncogenic and tumor-suppressive properties is essential for successful drug targeting of RUNX. This review describes the evidence for the activities of RUNX3 in human cancer and proposes an explanation for the duality of RUNX3 involving the status of p53. In this model, p53 deficiency causes RUNX3 to become oncogenic, leading to aberrant upregulation of MYC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kosei Ito
- Department of Molecular Bone Biology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan
| | - Shohei Otani
- Department of Molecular Bone Biology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan
| | - Yuki Date
- Department of Molecular Bone Biology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
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Song Q, Zhu X, Jin L, Chen M, Zhang W, Su J. SMGR: a joint statistical method for integrative analysis of single-cell multi-omics data. NAR Genom Bioinform 2022; 4:lqac056. [PMID: 35910046 PMCID: PMC9326599 DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqac056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Unravelling the regulatory programs from single-cell multi-omics data has long been one of the major challenges in genomics, especially in the current emerging single-cell field. Currently there is a huge gap between fast-growing single-cell multi-omics data and effective methods for the integrative analysis of these inherent sparse and heterogeneous data. In this study, we have developed a novel method, Single-cell Multi-omics Gene co-Regulatory algorithm (SMGR), to detect coherent functional regulatory signals and target genes from the joint single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (scATAC-seq) data obtained from different samples. Given that scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq data can be captured by zero-inflated Negative Binomial distribution, we utilize a generalized linear regression model to identify the latent representation of consistently expressed genes and peaks, thus enables the identification of co-regulatory programs and the elucidation of regulating mechanisms. Results from both simulation and experimental data demonstrate that SMGR outperforms the existing methods with considerably improved accuracy. To illustrate the biological insights of SMGR, we apply SMGR to mixed-phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) and identify the MPAL-specific regulatory program with significant peak-gene links, which greatly enhance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms and potential targets of this complex tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Song
- Center for Cancer Genomics and Precision Oncology, Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Winston-Salem, NC27157, USA
| | - Xuewei Zhu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Molecular Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC27101, USA
| | - Lingtao Jin
- Department of Molecular Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX78229, USA
| | - Minghan Chen
- Wake Forest University, Department of Computer Science, Winston-Salem, NC27109, USA
| | - Wei Zhang
- Center for Cancer Genomics and Precision Oncology, Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Winston-Salem, NC27157, USA
| | - Jing Su
- Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
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Menezes AC, Jones R, Shrestha A, Nicholson R, Leckenby A, Azevedo A, Davies S, Baker S, Gilkes AF, Darley RL, Tonks A. Increased expression of RUNX3 inhibits normal human myeloid development. Leukemia 2022; 36:1769-1780. [PMID: 35490198 PMCID: PMC9252899 DOI: 10.1038/s41375-022-01577-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
RUNX3 is a transcription factor dysregulated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, its role in normal myeloid development and leukemia is poorly understood. Here we investigate RUNX3 expression in both settings and the impact of its dysregulation on myelopoiesis. We found that RUNX3 mRNA expression was stable during hematopoiesis but decreased with granulocytic differentiation. In AML, RUNX3 mRNA was overexpressed in many disease subtypes, but downregulated in AML with core binding factor abnormalities, such as RUNX1::ETO. Overexpression of RUNX3 in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) inhibited myeloid differentiation, particularly of the granulocytic lineage. Proliferation and myeloid colony formation were also inhibited. Conversely, RUNX3 knockdown did not impact the myeloid growth and development of human HSPC. Overexpression of RUNX3 in the context of RUNX1::ETO did not rescue the RUNX1::ETO-mediated block in differentiation. RNA-sequencing showed that RUNX3 overexpression downregulates key developmental genes, such as KIT and RUNX1, while upregulating lymphoid genes, such as KLRB1 and TBX21. Overall, these data show that increased RUNX3 expression observed in AML could contribute to the developmental arrest characteristic of this disease, possibly by driving a competing transcriptional program favoring a lymphoid fate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Catarina Menezes
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Rachel Jones
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Alina Shrestha
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Rachael Nicholson
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Adam Leckenby
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Aleksandra Azevedo
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Sara Davies
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Sarah Baker
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
- Cardiff Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Amanda F Gilkes
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
- Cardiff Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Richard L Darley
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Alex Tonks
- Department of Haematology, Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK.
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