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Mazumder S, Mitra Ghosh T, Mukherjee UK, Chakravarti S, Amiri F, Waliagha RS, Hemmati F, Mistriotis P, Ahmed S, Elhussin I, Salam AB, Dean-Colomb W, Yates C, Arnold RD, Mitra AK. Integrating Pharmacogenomics Data-Driven Computational Drug Prediction with Single-Cell RNAseq to Demonstrate the Efficacy of a NAMPT Inhibitor against Aggressive, Taxane-Resistant, and Stem-like Cells in Lethal Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:6009. [PMID: 36497496 PMCID: PMC9738762 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14236009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Metastatic prostate cancer/PCa is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in US men. Most early-stage PCa are dependent on overexpression of the androgen receptor (AR) and, therefore, androgen deprivation therapies/ADT-sensitive. However, eventual resistance to standard medical castration (AR-inhibitors) and secondary chemotherapies (taxanes) is nearly universal. Further, the presence of cancer stem-like cells (EMT/epithelial-to-mesenchymal transdifferentiation) and neuroendocrine PCa (NEPC) subtypes significantly contribute to aggressive/lethal/advanced variants of PCa (AVPC). In this study, we introduced a pharmacogenomics data-driven optimization-regularization-based computational prediction algorithm ("secDrugs") to predict novel drugs against lethal PCa. Integrating secDrug with single-cell RNA-sequencing/scRNAseq as a 'Double-Hit' drug screening tool, we demonstrated that single-cells representing drug-resistant and stem-cell-like cells showed high expression of the NAMPT pathway genes, indicating potential efficacy of the secDrug FK866 which targets NAMPT. Next, using several cell-based assays, we showed substantial impact of FK866 on clinically advanced PCa as a single agent and in combination with taxanes or AR-inhibitors. Bulk-RNAseq and scRNAseq revealed that, in addition to NAMPT inhibition, FK866 regulates tumor metastasis, cell migration, invasion, DNA repair machinery, redox homeostasis, autophagy, as well as cancer stemness-related genes, HES1 and CD44. Further, we combined a microfluidic chip-based cell migration assay with a traditional cell migration/'scratch' assay and demonstrated that FK866 reduces cancer cell invasion and motility, indicating abrogation of metastasis. Finally, using PCa patient datasets, we showed that FK866 is potentially capable of reversing the expression of several genes associated with biochemical recurrence, including IFITM3 and LTB4R. Thus, using FK866 as a proof-of-concept candidate for drug repurposing, we introduced a novel, universally applicable preclinical drug development pipeline to circumvent subclonal aggressiveness, drug resistance, and stemness in lethal PCa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suman Mazumder
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Center for Pharmacogenomics and Single-Cell Omics (AUPharmGx), Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Taraswi Mitra Ghosh
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Department of Urology Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ujjal K. Mukherjee
- Department of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
- Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| | - Sayak Chakravarti
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Farshad Amiri
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Razan S. Waliagha
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Farnaz Hemmati
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Panagiotis Mistriotis
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Salsabil Ahmed
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Center for Pharmacogenomics and Single-Cell Omics (AUPharmGx), Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Isra Elhussin
- Department of Biology and Canter for Cancer Research, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA
| | - Ahmad-Bin Salam
- Department of Biology and Canter for Cancer Research, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA
| | - Windy Dean-Colomb
- Department of Biology and Canter for Cancer Research, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA
- Piedmont Hospital, Newnan, GA 30309, USA
| | - Clayton Yates
- Department of Biology and Canter for Cancer Research, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Robert D. Arnold
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
| | - Amit K. Mitra
- Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Center for Pharmacogenomics and Single-Cell Omics (AUPharmGx), Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
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Yang L, Yang J, Jacobson B, Gilbertsen A, Smith K, Higgins L, Guerrero C, Xia H, Henke CA, Lin J. SFPQ Promotes Lung Cancer Malignancy via Regulation of CD44 v6 Expression. Front Oncol 2022; 12:862250. [PMID: 35707369 PMCID: PMC9190464 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.862250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) contribute to tumor pathogenesis and elicit antitumor immune responses in tumor microenvironments. Nuclear proteins might be the main players in these processes. In the current study, combining spatial proteomics with ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) in lung non-small cell (NSC) cancer MSCs, we identify a key nuclear protein regulator, SFPQ (Splicing Factor Proline and Glutamine Rich), which is overexpressed in lung cancer MSCs and functions to promote MSCs proliferation, chemical resistance, and invasion. Mechanistically, the knockdown of SFPQ reduces CD44v6 expression to inhibit lung cancer MSCs stemness, proliferation in vitro, and metastasis in vivo. The data indicates that SFPQ may be a potential therapeutic target for limiting growth, chemotherapy resistance, and metastasis of lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libang Yang
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Jianbo Yang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, United States.,The Cancer Center, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China
| | - Blake Jacobson
- Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Adam Gilbertsen
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Karen Smith
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - LeeAnn Higgins
- Center for Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, United States
| | - Candace Guerrero
- Center for Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, United States
| | - Hong Xia
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Craig A Henke
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Jizhen Lin
- The Cancer Center, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.,The Immunotherapy Research Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology, Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
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Fontana F, Limonta P. Dissecting the Hormonal Signaling Landscape in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Cells 2021; 10:1133. [PMID: 34067217 PMCID: PMC8151003 DOI: 10.3390/cells10051133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying prostate cancer (PCa) progression towards its most aggressive, castration-resistant (CRPC) stage is urgently needed to improve the therapeutic options for this almost incurable pathology. Interestingly, CRPC is known to be characterized by a peculiar hormonal landscape. It is now well established that the androgen/androgen receptor (AR) axis is still active in CRPC cells. The persistent activity of this axis in PCa progression has been shown to be related to different mechanisms, such as intratumoral androgen synthesis, AR amplification and mutations, AR mRNA alternative splicing, increased expression/activity of AR-related transcription factors and coregulators. The hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), by binding to its specific receptors (GnRH-Rs) at the pituitary level, plays a pivotal role in the regulation of the reproductive functions. GnRH and GnRH-R are also expressed in different types of tumors, including PCa. Specifically, it has been demonstrated that, in CRPC cells, the activation of GnRH-Rs is associated with a significant antiproliferative/proapoptotic, antimetastatic and antiangiogenic activity. This antitumor activity is mainly mediated by the GnRH-R-associated Gαi/cAMP signaling pathway. In this review, we dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of the androgen/AR and GnRH/GnRH-R axes in CRPC progression and the possible therapeutic implications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrizia Limonta
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy;
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