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Moscona R, Janssen SM, Elchebly M, Papadakis AI, Rubin E, Spatz A. BORIS/CTCFL-mediated chromatin accessibility alterations promote a pro-invasive transcriptional signature in melanoma cells. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res 2023; 36:299-313. [PMID: 37082838 DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.13089] [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: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, due to its tendency to metastasize early. Brother of regulator of imprinted sites (BORIS), also known as CCCTC binding factor-like (CTCFL), is a transcription regulator that becomes ectopically expressed in melanoma. We recently showed that BORIS contributes to melanoma phenotype switching by altering the gene expression program of melanoma cells from an intermediate melanocytic state toward a more mesenchymal-like state. However, the mechanism underlying this transcriptional switch remains unclear. Here, ATAC-seq was used to study BORIS-mediated chromatin accessibility alterations in melanoma cells harboring an intermediate melanocytic state. The gene set that gained promoter accessibility, following ectopic BORIS expression, showed enrichment for biological processes associated with melanoma invasion, while promoters of genes associated with proliferation showed reduced accessibility. Integration of ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data demonstrated that increased chromatin accessibility was associated with transcriptional upregulation of genes involved in tumor progression processes, and the aberrant activation of oncogenic transcription factors, while reduced chromatin accessibility and downregulated genes were associated with repressed activity of tumor suppressors and proliferation factors. Together, these findings indicate that BORIS mediates transcriptional reprogramming in melanoma cells by altering chromatin accessibility and gene expression, shifting the cellular transcription landscape of melanoma cells toward a mesenchymal-like genetic signature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roy Moscona
- The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Sanne Marlijn Janssen
- Lady Davis Institute, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Pathology, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | | | | | - Eitan Rubin
- The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Alan Spatz
- Lady Davis Institute, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Pathology, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, McGill University Health Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
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