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Yang J, Bergdorf K, Yan C, Luo W, Chen SC, Ayers GD, Liu Q, Liu X, Boothby M, Weiss VL, Groves SM, Oleskie AN, Zhang X, Maeda DY, Zebala JA, Quaranta V, Richmond A. CXCR2 expression during melanoma tumorigenesis controls transcriptional programs that facilitate tumor growth. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:92. [PMID: 37270599 PMCID: PMC10239119 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01789-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Though the CXCR2 chemokine receptor is known to play a key role in cancer growth and response to therapy, a direct link between expression of CXCR2 in tumor progenitor cells during induction of tumorigenesis has not been established. METHODS To characterize the role of CXCR2 during melanoma tumorigenesis, we generated tamoxifen-inducible tyrosinase-promoter driven BrafV600E/Pten-/-/Cxcr2-/- and NRasQ61R/INK4a-/-/Cxcr2-/- melanoma models. In addition, the effects of a CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist, SX-682, on melanoma tumorigenesis were evaluated in BrafV600E/Pten-/- and NRasQ61R/INK4a-/- mice and in melanoma cell lines. Potential mechanisms by which Cxcr2 affects melanoma tumorigenesis in these murine models were explored using RNAseq, mMCP-counter, ChIPseq, and qRT-PCR; flow cytometry, and reverse phosphoprotein analysis (RPPA). RESULTS Genetic loss of Cxcr2 or pharmacological inhibition of CXCR1/CXCR2 during melanoma tumor induction resulted in key changes in gene expression that reduced tumor incidence/growth and increased anti-tumor immunity. Interestingly, after Cxcr2 ablation, Tfcp2l1, a key tumor suppressive transcription factor, was the only gene significantly induced with a log2 fold-change greater than 2 in these three different melanoma models. CONCLUSIONS Here, we provide novel mechanistic insight revealing how loss of Cxcr2 expression/activity in melanoma tumor progenitor cells results in reduced tumor burden and creation of an anti-tumor immune microenvironment. This mechanism entails an increase in expression of the tumor suppressive transcription factor, Tfcp2l1, along with alteration in the expression of genes involved in growth regulation, tumor suppression, stemness, differentiation, and immune modulation. These gene expression changes are coincident with reduction in the activation of key growth regulatory pathways, including AKT and mTOR.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Yang
- TVHS Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - K Bergdorf
- TVHS Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - C Yan
- TVHS Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - W Luo
- TVHS Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - S C Chen
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37203-1742, USA
| | - G D Ayers
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37203-1742, USA
| | - Q Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37203-1742, USA
| | - X Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37203-1742, USA
| | - M Boothby
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - V L Weiss
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - S M Groves
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - A N Oleskie
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - X Zhang
- Department of Genomic Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - D Y Maeda
- Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, 98001, USA
| | - J A Zebala
- Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, 98001, USA
| | - V Quaranta
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, TN, 37240, Nashville, USA
| | - A Richmond
- TVHS Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA.
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Yang J, Bergdorf K, Yan C, Luo W, Chen SC, Ayers D, Liu Q, Liu X, Boothby M, Groves SM, Oleskie AN, Zhang X, Maeda DY, Zebala JA, Quaranta V, Richmond A. CXCR2 expression during melanoma tumorigenesis controls transcriptional programs that facilitate tumor growth. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.22.529548. [PMID: 36865260 PMCID: PMC9980137 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.22.529548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Background Though the CXCR2 chemokine receptor is known to play a key role in cancer growth and response to therapy, a direct link between expression of CXCR2 in tumor progenitor cells during induction of tumorigenesis has not been established. Methods To characterize the role of CXCR2 during melanoma tumorigenesis, we generated tamoxifen-inducible tyrosinase-promoter driven Braf V600E /Pten -/- /Cxcr2 -/- and NRas Q61R /INK4a -/- /Cxcr2 -/- melanoma models. In addition, the effects of a CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist, SX-682, on melanoma tumorigenesis were evaluated in Braf V600E /Pten -/- and NRas Q61R /INK4a -/- mice and in melanoma cell lines. Potential mechanisms by which Cxcr2 affects melanoma tumorigenesis in these murine models were explored using RNAseq, mMCP-counter, ChIPseq, and qRT-PCR; flow cytometry, and reverse phosphoprotein analysis (RPPA). Results Genetic loss of Cxcr2 or pharmacological inhibition of CXCR1/CXCR2 during melanoma tumor induction resulted in key changes in gene expression that reduced tumor incidence/growth and increased anti-tumor immunity. Interestingly, after Cxcr2 ablation, Tfcp2l1 , a key tumor suppressive transcription factor, was the only gene significantly induced with a log 2 fold-change greater than 2 in these three different melanoma models. Conclusions Here, we provide novel mechanistic insight revealing how loss of Cxcr2 expression/activity in melanoma tumor progenitor cells results in reduced tumor burden and creation of an anti-tumor immune microenvironment. This mechanism entails an increase in expression of the tumor suppressive transcription factor, Tfcp2l1, along with alteration in the expression of genes involved in growth regulation, tumor suppression, stemness, differentiation, and immune modulation. These gene expression changes are coincident with reduction in the activation of key growth regulatory pathways, including AKT and mTOR.
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