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Sharma D, Hager CG, Shang L, Tran L, Zhu Y, Ma A, Magnuson B, Lesko MW, Wicha MS, Burness ML. The BET degrader ZBC260 suppresses stemness and tumorigenesis and promotes differentiation in triple-negative breast cancer by disrupting inflammatory signaling. Breast Cancer Res 2023; 25:144. [PMID: 37968653 PMCID: PMC10648675 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-023-01715-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are resistant to standard therapies, facilitate tumor dissemination, and contribute to relapse and progression. Super-enhancers are regulators of stemness, and BET proteins, which are critical for super-enhancer function, are a potential therapeutic target. Here, we investigated the effects of BET proteins on the regulation of breast cancer stemness using the pan-BET degrader ZBC260. METHODS We evaluated the effect of ZBC260 on CSCs in TNBC cell lines. We assessed the effect of ZBC260 on cellular viability and tumor growth and measured its effects on cancer stemness. We used RNA sequencing and stemness index to determine the global transcriptomic changes in CSCs and bulk cells and further validated our findings by qPCR, western blot, and ELISA. RESULTS ZBC260 potently inhibited TNBC growth both in vitro and in vivo. ZBC260 reduced stemness as measured by cell surface marker expression, ALDH activity, tumorsphere number, and stemness index while increasing differentiated cells. GSEA analysis indicated preferential downregulation of stemness-associated and inflammatory genes by ZBC260 in ALDH+ CSCs. CONCLUSIONS The BET degrader ZBC260 is an efficient degrader of BET proteins that suppresses tumor progression and decreases CSCs through the downregulation of inflammatory genes and pathways. Our findings support the further development of BET degraders alone and in combination with other therapeutics as CSC targeting agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deeksha Sharma
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Cody G Hager
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Li Shang
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lam Tran
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, NCRC 26-319S, SPC 2800, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yongyou Zhu
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Elevate Bio, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Aihui Ma
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Brian Magnuson
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Matthew W Lesko
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Monika L Burness
- Department, Unit, and Laboratories, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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2
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Bushnell GG, Sharma D, Wilmot HC, Zheng M, Fashina TD, Hutchens CM, Osipov S, Wicha MS. Natural killer cell regulation of breast cancer stem cells mediates metastatic dormancy. bioRxiv 2023:2023.10.02.560493. [PMID: 37873211 PMCID: PMC10592904 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.02.560493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor positive tumors face a constant risk of disease recurrence for the remainder of their lives. Dormant tumor cells residing in tissues such as the bone marrow may generate clinically significant metastases many years after initial diagnosis. Previous studies suggest that dormant cells display "stem like" properties (CSCs), which may be regulated by the immune system. Although many studies have examined tumor cell intrinsic characteristics of dormancy, the role of the immune system in controlling dormancy and its escape is not well understood. This scientific gap is due, in part, to a lack of immunocompetent mouse models of breast cancer dormancy with many studies involving human xenografts in immunodeficient mice. To overcome this limitation, we studied dormancy in immunocompetent, syngeneic mouse breast cancer models. We find that PyMT, Met-1 and D2.0R cell lines contain CSCs that display both short- and long-term metastatic dormancy in vivo, which is dependent on the host immune system. Natural killer cells were key for the metastatic dormancy phenotype observed for D2.0R and the role of NK cells in regulating CSCs was further investigated.Quiescent D2.0R CSC are resistant to NK cytotoxicity, while proliferative D2.0R CSC were sensitive to NK cytotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo. This resistance was mediated, in part, by the expression of Bach1 and Sox2 transcription factors. NK killing was enhanced by the STING agonist MSA-2. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the important role of immune regulation of breast tumor dormancy and highlight the importance of utilizing immunocompetent models to study this phenomenon.
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Orbach SM, Brooks MD, Zhang Y, Campit SE, Bushnell GG, Decker JT, Rebernick RJ, Chandrasekaran S, Wicha MS, Jeruss JS, Shea LD. Correction: Single-cell RNA-sequencing identifies anti-cancer immune phenotypes in the early lung metastatic niche during breast cancer. Clin Exp Metastasis 2023:10.1007/s10585-023-10215-9. [PMID: 37310520 DOI: 10.1007/s10585-023-10215-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sophia M Orbach
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Michael D Brooks
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yining Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Scott E Campit
- Program in Chemical Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Joseph T Decker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ryan J Rebernick
- Medical Science Training Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sriram Chandrasekaran
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Program in Chemical Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacqueline S Jeruss
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lonnie D Shea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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4
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Ma Y, Zhu Y, Shang L, Qiu Y, Shen N, Wang J, Adam T, Wei W, Song Q, Li J, Wicha MS, Luo M. LncRNA XIST regulates breast cancer stem cells by activating proinflammatory IL-6/STAT3 signaling. Oncogene 2023; 42:1419-1437. [PMID: 36922677 PMCID: PMC10154203 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-023-02652-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Aberrant expression of XIST, a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) initiating X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in early embryogenesis, is a common feature of breast cancer (BC). However, the roles of post-XCI XIST in breast carcinogenesis remain elusive. Here we identify XIST as a key regulator of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), which exhibit aldehyde dehydrogenase positive (ALDH+) epithelial- (E) and CD24loCD44hi mesenchymal-like (M) phenotypes. XIST is variably expressed across the spectrum of BC subtypes, and doxycycline (DOX)-inducible knockdown (KD) of XIST markedly inhibits spheroid/colony forming capacity, tumor growth and tumor-initiating potential. This phenotype is attributed to impaired E-CSC in luminal and E- and M-CSC activities in triple-negative (TN) BC. Gene expression profiling unveils that XIST KD most significantly affects cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, leading to markedly suppressed expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 in ALDH- bulk BC cells. Exogenous IL-6, but not IL-8, rescues the reduced sphere-forming capacity and proportion of ALDH+ E-CSCs in luminal and TN BC upon XIST KD. XIST functions as a nuclear sponge for microRNA let-7a-2-3p to activate IL-6 production from ALDH- bulk BC cells, which acts in a paracrine fashion on ALDH+ E-CSCs that display elevated cell surface IL-6 receptor (IL6R) expression. This promotes CSC self-renewal via STAT3 activation and expression of key CSC factors including c-MYC, KLF4 and SOX9. Together, this study supports a novel role of XIST by derepressing let-7 controlled paracrine IL-6 proinflammatory signaling to promote CSC self-renewal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxi Ma
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China
| | - Yongyou Zhu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Li Shang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Yan Qiu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Na Shen
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China
| | - Jonathan Wang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Tiffany Adam
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Wei Wei
- Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, 518036, China
| | - Qingxuan Song
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
| | - Ming Luo
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, 518036, China.
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5
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Palma AM, Bushnell GG, Wicha MS, Gogna R. Tumor microenvironment interactions with cancer stem cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Adv Cancer Res 2023; 159:343-372. [PMID: 37268400 DOI: 10.1016/bs.acr.2023.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer in the United States. Additionally, the low survival rate makes PDAC the third-leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, and it is projected that by 2030, it will become the second-leading cause of cancer mortality. Several biological factors contribute to PDAC aggressiveness, and their understanding will narrow the gap from biology to clinical care of PDAC, leading to earlier diagnoses and the development of better treatment options. In this review, we describe the origins of PDAC highlighting the role of cancer stem cells (CSC). CSC, also known as tumor initiating cells, which exhibit a unique metabolism that allows them to maintain a highly plastic, quiescent, immune- and therapy-evasive state. However, CSCs can exit quiescence during proliferation and differentiation, with the capacity to form tumors while constituting a small population in tumor tissues. Tumorigenesis depends on the interactions between CSCs and other cellular and non-cellular components in the microenvironment. These interactions are fundamental to support CSC stemness and are maintained throughout tumor development and metastasis. PDAC is characterized by a massive desmoplastic reaction, which result from the deposition of high amounts of extracellular matrix components by stromal cells. Here we review how this generates a favorable environment for tumor growth by protecting tumor cells from immune responses and chemotherapy and inducing tumor cell proliferation and migration, leading to metastasis formation ultimately leading to death. We emphasize the interactions between CSCs and the tumor microenvironment leading to metastasis formation and posit that better understanding and targeting of these interactions will improve patient outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
| | - Rajan Gogna
- VCU Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, United States; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, United States; VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, United States.
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6
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Rodriguez-Ramirez C, Zhang Z, Warner KA, Herzog AE, Mantesso A, Zhang Z, Yoon E, Wang S, Wicha MS, Nör JE. p53 Inhibits Bmi-1-driven Self-Renewal and Defines Salivary Gland Cancer Stemness. Clin Cancer Res 2022; 28:4757-4770. [PMID: 36048559 PMCID: PMC9633396 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-22-1357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is a poorly understood salivary gland malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Cancer stem cells (CSC) are considered drivers of cancer progression by mediating tumor recurrence and metastasis. We have shown that clinically relevant small molecule inhibitors of MDM2-p53 interaction activate p53 signaling and reduce the fraction of CSC in MEC. Here we examined the functional role of p53 in the plasticity and self-renewal of MEC CSC. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Using gene silencing and therapeutic activation of p53, we analyzed the cell-cycle profiles and apoptosis levels of CSCs in MEC cell lines (UM-HMC-1, -3A, -3B) via flow cytometry and looked at the effects on survival/self-renewal of the CSCs through sphere assays. We evaluated the effect of p53 on tumor development (N = 51) and disease recurrence (N = 17) using in vivo subcutaneous and orthotopic murine models of MEC. Recurrence was followed for 250 days after tumor resection. RESULTS Although p53 activation does not induce MEC CSC apoptosis, it reduces stemness properties such as self-renewal by regulating Bmi-1 expression and driving CSC towards differentiation. In contrast, downregulation of p53 causes expansion of the CSC population while promoting tumor growth. Remarkably, therapeutic activation of p53 prevented CSC-mediated tumor recurrence in preclinical trials. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, these results demonstrate that p53 defines the stemness of MEC and suggest that therapeutic activation of p53 might have clinical utility in patients with salivary gland MEC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zhaocheng Zhang
- Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kristy A. Warner
- Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Alexandra E. Herzog
- Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Andrea Mantesso
- Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Zhixiong Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Eusik Yoon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Shaomeng Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacques E. Nör
- Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,Department of Otolaryngology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA
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7
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Aikins ME, Qin Y, Dobson HE, Najafabadi AH, Lyu K, Xu Y, Xin Y, Schwendeman A, Wicha MS, Chang AE, Li Q, Moon JJ. Cancer stem cell antigen nanodisc cocktail elicits anti-tumor immune responses in melanoma. J Control Release 2022; 351:872-882. [PMID: 36206945 PMCID: PMC9765445 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.09.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
One of the major reasons for poor cancer outcomes is the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs are a small subpopulation of tumor cells that can self-renew, differentiate into the majority of tumor cells, and maintain tumorigenicity. As CSCs are resistant to traditional chemotherapy and radiation, they contribute to metastasis and relapse. Thus, new approaches are needed to target and eliminate CSCs. Here, we sought to target and reduce the frequency of CSCs in melanoma by therapeutic vaccination against CSC-associated transcription factors, such as Sox2 and Nanog, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Toward this goal, we have identified novel immunogenic peptide epitopes derived from CSC-associated Sox2 and Nanog and synthesized synthetic high-density lipoprotein (sHDL) nanodisc vaccine formulated with Sox2, Nanog, and ALDH antigen peptides together with CpG, a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist. Vaccination with nanodiscs containing six CSC antigen peptides elicited robust T cell responses against CSC-associated antigens and promoted intratumoral infiltration of CD8+ T cells, while reducing the frequency of CSCs and CD4+ regulatory T cells within melanoma tumors. Nanodisc vaccination effectively reduced tumor growth and significantly extended animal survival without toxicity toward normal stem cells. Overall, our therapeutic strategy against CSCs represents a cost-effective, safe, and versatile approach that may be applied to melanoma and other cancer types, as well as serve as a critical component in combined therapies to target and eliminate CSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa E Aikins
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - You Qin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
| | - Hannah E Dobson
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Alireza Hassani Najafabadi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA
| | - Kexing Lyu
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Yao Xu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ying Xin
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Anna Schwendeman
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Alfred E Chang
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Qiao Li
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - James J Moon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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8
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Achreja A, Yu T, Mittal A, Choppara S, Animasahun O, Nenwani M, Wuchu F, Meurs N, Mohan A, Jeon JH, Sarangi I, Jayaraman A, Owen S, Kulkarni R, Cusato M, Weinberg F, Kweon HK, Subramanian C, Wicha MS, Merajver SD, Nagrath S, Cho KR, DiFeo A, Lu X, Nagrath D. Metabolic collateral lethal target identification reveals MTHFD2 paralogue dependency in ovarian cancer. Nat Metab 2022; 4:1119-1137. [PMID: 36131208 DOI: 10.1038/s42255-022-00636-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recurrent loss-of-function deletions cause frequent inactivation of tumour suppressor genes but often also involve the collateral deletion of essential genes in chromosomal proximity, engendering dependence on paralogues that maintain similar function. Although these paralogues are attractive anticancer targets, no methodology exists to uncover such collateral lethal genes. Here we report a framework for collateral lethal gene identification via metabolic fluxes, CLIM, and use it to reveal MTHFD2 as a collateral lethal gene in UQCR11-deleted ovarian tumours. We show that MTHFD2 has a non-canonical oxidative function to provide mitochondrial NAD+, and demonstrate the regulation of systemic metabolic activity by the paralogue metabolic pathway maintaining metabolic flux compensation. This UQCR11-MTHFD2 collateral lethality is confirmed in vivo, with MTHFD2 inhibition leading to complete remission of UQCR11-deleted ovarian tumours. Using CLIM's machine learning and genome-scale metabolic flux analysis, we elucidate the broad efficacy of targeting MTHFD2 despite distinct cancer genetic profiles co-occurring with UQCR11 deletion and irrespective of stromal compositions of tumours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhinav Achreja
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Tao Yu
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Anjali Mittal
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Srinadh Choppara
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Olamide Animasahun
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Minal Nenwani
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Fulei Wuchu
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Noah Meurs
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Aradhana Mohan
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jin Heon Jeon
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Itisam Sarangi
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Anusha Jayaraman
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sarah Owen
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Reva Kulkarni
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Michele Cusato
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Frank Weinberg
- Hematology and Oncology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Hye Kyong Kweon
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Chitra Subramanian
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sofia D Merajver
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sunitha Nagrath
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kathleen R Cho
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Analisa DiFeo
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Xiongbin Lu
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
- Melvin & Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
| | - Deepak Nagrath
- Laboratory for Systems Biology of Human Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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9
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Orbach SM, Brooks MD, Zhang Y, Campit SE, Bushnell GG, Decker JT, Rebernick RJ, Chandrasekaran S, Wicha MS, Jeruss JS, Shea LD. Single-cell RNA-sequencing identifies anti-cancer immune phenotypes in the early lung metastatic niche during breast cancer. Clin Exp Metastasis 2022; 39:865-881. [PMID: 36002598 DOI: 10.1007/s10585-022-10185-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Microenvironmental changes in the early metastatic niche may be exploited to identify therapeutic targets to inhibit secondary tumor formation and improve disease outcomes. We dissected the developing lung metastatic niche in a model of metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer using single-cell RNA-sequencing. Lungs were extracted from mice at 7-, 14-, or 21 days after tumor inoculation corresponding to the pre-metastatic, micro-metastatic, and metastatic niche, respectively. The progression of the metastatic niche was marked by an increase in neutrophil infiltration (5% of cells at day 0 to 81% of cells at day 21) and signaling pathways corresponding to the hallmarks of cancer. Importantly, the pre-metastatic and early metastatic niche were composed of immune cells with an anti-cancer phenotype not traditionally associated with metastatic disease. As expected, the metastatic niche exhibited pro-cancer phenotypes. The transition from anti-cancer to pro-cancer phenotypes was directly associated with neutrophil and monocyte behaviors at these time points. Predicted metabolic, transcription factor, and receptor-ligand signaling suggested that changes in the neutrophils likely induced the transitions in the other immune cells. Conditioned medium generated by cells extracted from the pre-metastatic niche successfully inhibited tumor cell proliferation and migration in vitro and the in vivo depletion of pre-metastatic neutrophils and monocytes worsened survival outcomes, thus validating the anti-cancer phenotype of the developing niche. Genes associated with the early anti-cancer response could act as biomarkers that could serve as targets for the treatment of early metastatic disease. Such therapies have the potential to revolutionize clinical outcomes in metastatic breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia M Orbach
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Michael D Brooks
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yining Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Scott E Campit
- Program in Chemical Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Joseph T Decker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ryan J Rebernick
- Medical Science Training Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sriram Chandrasekaran
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Program in Chemical Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacqueline S Jeruss
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lonnie D Shea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. .,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. .,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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10
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Liao F, Zhang J, Hu Y, Najafabadi AH, Moon JJ, Wicha MS, Kaspo B, Whitfield J, Chang AE, Li Q. Efficacy of an ALDH peptide-based dendritic cell vaccine targeting cancer stem cells. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2022; 71:1959-1973. [DOI: 10.1007/s00262-021-03129-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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11
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Udden SN, Wang Q, Kumar S, Malladi VS, Wu SY, Wei S, Posner BA, Geboers S, Williams NS, Liu YL, Sharma JK, Mani RS, Malladi S, Parra K, Hofstad M, Raj GV, Larios JM, Jagsi R, Wicha MS, Park BH, Gupta GP, Chinnaiyan AM, Chiang CM, Alluri PG. Targeting ESR1 mutation-Induced transcriptional addiction in breast cancer with BET inhibition. JCI Insight 2022; 7:151851. [PMID: 35881485 PMCID: PMC9536271 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.151851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Acquired mutations in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the gene encoding Estrogen Receptor alpha (ESR1) are a common mechanism of endocrine therapy resistance in metastatic ER-positive breast cancer patients. ESR1 Y537S mutation, in particular, is associated with development of resistance to most endocrine therapies used to treat breast cancer. Employing a high-throughput screen of nearly 1200 Federal Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs, we show that OTX015, a bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) inhibitor, is one of the top suppressors of ESR1 mutant cell growth. OTX015 was more efficacious than fulvestrant, a selective ER degrader, in inhibiting ESR1 mutant xenograft growth. When combined with abemaciclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor, OTX015 induced more potent tumor regression than current standard-of-care treatment of abemaciclib+fulvestrant. OTX015 has preferential activity against Y537S mutant breast cancer cells and blocks their clonal selection in competition studies with wild-type cells. Thus, BET inhibition has the potential to both prevent and overcome ESR1 mutant-induced endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sm N Udden
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Qian Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Sunil Kumar
- Genetics, Naveris, Inc., Natick, United States of America
| | - Venkat S Malladi
- Department of Bioinformatics, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Shwu-Yuan Wu
- Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Shuguang Wei
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Bruce A Posner
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Sophie Geboers
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Noelle S Williams
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Yu-Lun Liu
- Department of Population and Data Sciences, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Jayesh K Sharma
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Ram S Mani
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Srinivas Malladi
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Karla Parra
- Department of Urology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Mia Hofstad
- Department of Urology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Ganesh V Raj
- Department of Urology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Jose M Larios
- Department of Internal Medicine, Ascension Providence Hospital, Southfield, United States of America
| | - Reshma Jagsi
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States of America
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States of America
| | - Ben Ho Park
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States of America
| | - Gaorav P Gupta
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Arul M Chinnaiyan
- Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States of America
| | - Cheng-Ming Chiang
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
| | - Prasanna G Alluri
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States of America
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12
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Buschhaus JM, Rajendran S, Humphries BA, Cutter AC, Muñiz AJ, Ciavattone NG, Buschhaus AM, Cañeque T, Nwosu ZC, Sahoo D, Bevoor AS, Shah YM, Lyssiotis CA, Ghosh P, Wicha MS, Rodriguez R, Luker GD. Effects of iron modulation on mesenchymal stem cell-induced drug resistance in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Oncogene 2022; 41:3705-3718. [PMID: 35732800 PMCID: PMC9288981 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-022-02385-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Patients with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, the most common subtype, remain at risk for lethal metastatic disease years after diagnosis. Recurrence arises partly because tumor cells in bone marrow become resistant to estrogen-targeted therapy. Here, we utilized a co-culture model of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and ER+ breast cancer cells to recapitulate interactions of cancer cells in bone marrow niches. ER+ breast cancer cells in direct contact with MSCs acquire cancer stem-like (CSC) phenotypes with increased resistance to standard antiestrogenic drugs. We confirmed that co-culture with MSCs increased labile iron in breast cancer cells, a phenotype associated with CSCs and disease progression. Clinically approved iron chelators and in-house lysosomal iron-targeting compounds restored sensitivity to antiestrogenic therapy. These findings establish iron modulation as a mechanism to reverse MSC-induced drug resistance and suggest iron modulation in combination with estrogen-targeted therapy as a promising, translatable strategy to treat ER+ breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna M Buschhaus
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2099, USA
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Shrila Rajendran
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Brock A Humphries
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Alyssa C Cutter
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Ayşe J Muñiz
- Macromolecular Science and Engineering and Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Nicholas G Ciavattone
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Alexander M Buschhaus
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Tatiana Cañeque
- Institut Curie, Chemical Biology of Cancer Laboratory, CNRS UMR 3666, INSERM U1143, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Zeribe C Nwosu
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Debashis Sahoo
- Pediatrics, and Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Avinash S Bevoor
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Yatrik M Shah
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Costas A Lyssiotis
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Pradipta Ghosh
- Departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Raphaël Rodriguez
- Institut Curie, Chemical Biology of Cancer Laboratory, CNRS UMR 3666, INSERM U1143, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Gary D Luker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2099, USA.
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA.
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13
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Chen VL, Huang Q, Harouaka R, Du Y, Lok AS, Parikh ND, Garmire LX, Wicha MS. A Dual-Filtration System for Single-Cell Sequencing of Circulating Tumor Cells and Clusters in HCC. Hepatol Commun 2022; 6:1482-1491. [PMID: 35068084 PMCID: PMC9134808 DOI: 10.1002/hep4.1900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Identification and sequencing of circulating tumor (CT) cells and clusters may allow for noninvasive molecular characterization of HCC, which is an unmet need, as many patients with HCC do not undergo biopsy. We evaluated CT cells and clusters, collected using a dual-filtration system in patients with HCC. We collected and filtered whole blood from patients with HCC and selected individual CT cells and clusters with a micropipette. Reverse transcription, polymerase chain reaction, and library preparation were performed using a SmartSeq2 protocol, followed by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) on an Illumina MiSeq V3 platform. Of the 8 patients recruited, 6 had identifiable CT cells or clusters. Median age was 64 years old; 7 of 8 were male; and 7 of 8 had and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C. We performed scRNAseq of 38 CT cells and 33 clusters from these patients. These CT cells and clusters formed two distinct groups. Group 1 had significantly higher expression than group 2 of markers associated with epithelial phenotypes (CDH1 [Cadherin 1], EPCAM [epithelial cell adhesion molecule], ASGR2 [asialoglycoprotein receptor 2], and KRT8 [Keratin 8]), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (VIM [Vimentin]), and stemness (PROM1 [CD133], POU5F1 [POU domain, class 5, transcription factor 1], NOTCH1, STAT3 [signal transducer and activator of transcription 3]) (P < 0.05 for all). Patients with identifiable group 1 cells or clusters had poorer prognosis than those without them (median overall survival 39 vs. 384 days; P = 0.048 by log-rank test). Conclusion: A simple dual-filtration system allows for isolation and sequencing of CT cells and clusters in HCC and may identify cells expressing candidate genes known to be involved in cancer biology. Presence of CT cells/clusters expressing candidate genes is associated with poorer prognosis in advanced-stage HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent L. Chen
- Division of Gastroenterology and HepatologyDepartment of Internal MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Qianhui Huang
- Department of Computational Medicine and BioinformaticsUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Ramdane Harouaka
- Division of Hematology and OncologyDepartment of Internal MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Yuheng Du
- Department of Computational Medicine and BioinformaticsUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Anna S. Lok
- Division of Gastroenterology and HepatologyDepartment of Internal MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Neehar D. Parikh
- Division of Gastroenterology and HepatologyDepartment of Internal MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Lana X. Garmire
- Department of Computational Medicine and BioinformaticsUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Division of Hematology and OncologyDepartment of Internal MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
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14
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Kuburich NA, den Hollander P, Deshmukh AP, Vasaikar S, Joseph R, Wicha MS, Mani SA. In Vitro Quantification of Cancer Stem Cells Using a Mammosphere Formation Assay. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2429:509-513. [PMID: 35507185 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1979-7_35] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of self-renewing cancer cells that are present within tumors. In this chapter, we provide a detailed method for the quantification of CSCs in vitro through mammosphere formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick A Kuburich
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Petra den Hollander
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Abhijeet P Deshmukh
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Suhas Vasaikar
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robiya Joseph
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sendurai A Mani
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
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15
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Yekelchyk M, Madan E, Wilhelm J, Short KR, Palma AM, Liao L, Camacho D, Nkadori E, Winters MT, Rice ES, Rolim I, Cruz‐Duarte R, Pelham CJ, Nagane M, Gupta K, Chaudhary S, Braun T, Pillappa R, Parker MS, Menter T, Matter M, Haslbauer JD, Tolnay M, Galior KD, Matkwoskyj KA, McGregor SM, Muller LK, Rakha EA, Lopez‐Beltran A, Drapkin R, Ackermann M, Fisher PB, Grossman SR, Godwin AK, Kulasinghe A, Martinez I, Marsh CB, Tang B, Wicha MS, Won KJ, Tzankov A, Moreno E, Gogna R. Flower lose, a cell fitness marker, predicts COVID-19 prognosis. EMBO Mol Med 2021; 13:e13714. [PMID: 34661368 PMCID: PMC8573598 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202013714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Risk stratification of COVID-19 patients is essential for pandemic management. Changes in the cell fitness marker, hFwe-Lose, can precede the host immune response to infection, potentially making such a biomarker an earlier triage tool. Here, we evaluate whether hFwe-Lose gene expression can outperform conventional methods in predicting outcomes (e.g., death and hospitalization) in COVID-19 patients. We performed a post-mortem examination of infected lung tissue in deceased COVID-19 patients to determine hFwe-Lose's biological role in acute lung injury. We then performed an observational study (n = 283) to evaluate whether hFwe-Lose expression (in nasopharyngeal samples) could accurately predict hospitalization or death in COVID-19 patients. In COVID-19 patients with acute lung injury, hFwe-Lose is highly expressed in the lower respiratory tract and is co-localized to areas of cell death. In patients presenting in the early phase of COVID-19 illness, hFwe-Lose expression accurately predicts subsequent hospitalization or death with positive predictive values of 87.8-100% and a negative predictive value of 64.1-93.2%. hFwe-Lose outperforms conventional inflammatory biomarkers and patient age and comorbidities, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) 0.93-0.97 in predicting hospitalization/death. Specifically, this is significantly higher than the prognostic value of combining biomarkers (serum ferritin, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio), patient age and comorbidities (AUROC of 0.67-0.92). The cell fitness marker, hFwe-Lose, accurately predicts outcomes in COVID-19 patients. This finding demonstrates how tissue fitness pathways dictate the response to infection and disease and their utility in managing the current COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michail Yekelchyk
- Department of Cardiac Development and RemodellingMax Planck Institute for Heart and Lung ResearchBad NauheimGermany
| | - Esha Madan
- Champalimaud Centre for the UnknownLisbonPortugal
| | - Jochen Wilhelm
- Universities Giessen & Marburg Lung CenterGerman Center for Lung Research (DZL)Justus‐Liebig‐UniversityGiessenGermany
- Institute for Lung Health (ILH)Universities Giessen & Marburg Lung CenterGerman Center for Lung Research (DZL)Justus‐Liebig‐University GiessenGiessenGermany
| | - Kirsty R Short
- School of Chemistry and Molecular BiosciencesThe University of QueenslandBrisbaneQldAustralia
| | | | - Linbu Liao
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC)University of CopenhagenCopenhagen NDenmark
| | | | - Everlyne Nkadori
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer CenterUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public HealthMadisonWIUSA
| | - Michael T Winters
- Department of MicrobiologyImmunology & Cell Biology and WVU Cancer InstituteWest Virginia UniversityMorgantownWVUSA
| | - Emily S Rice
- Department of MicrobiologyImmunology & Cell Biology and WVU Cancer InstituteWest Virginia UniversityMorgantownWVUSA
| | - Inês Rolim
- Champalimaud Centre for the UnknownLisbonPortugal
| | - Raquel Cruz‐Duarte
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo AntunesFaculdade de MedicinaUniversidade de LisboaLisboaPortugal
| | | | - Masaki Nagane
- Department of BiochemistrySchool of Veterinary MedicineAzabu UniversityKanagawaJapan
| | - Kartik Gupta
- Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine and Public HealthUniversity of WisconsinMadisonWIUSA
| | - Sahil Chaudhary
- Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine and Public HealthUniversity of WisconsinMadisonWIUSA
| | - Thomas Braun
- Department of Cardiac Development and RemodellingMax Planck Institute for Heart and Lung ResearchBad NauheimGermany
- Member of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)GreifswaldGermany
| | - Raghavendra Pillappa
- Department of PathologyVirginia Commonwealth University School of MedicineRichmondVAUSA
| | - Mark S Parker
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Internal Medicine, Early Detection Lung Cancer Screening Program, Thoracic Imaging Division, Thoracic Imaging Fellowship ProgramVCU Health SystemsRichmondVAUSA
| | - Thomas Menter
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and PathologyUniversity Hospital Basel and University of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Matthias Matter
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and PathologyUniversity Hospital Basel and University of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Jasmin Dionne Haslbauer
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and PathologyUniversity Hospital Basel and University of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Markus Tolnay
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and PathologyUniversity Hospital Basel and University of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Kornelia D Galior
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer CenterUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public HealthMadisonWIUSA
| | - Kristina A Matkwoskyj
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer CenterUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public HealthMadisonWIUSA
| | - Stephanie M McGregor
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer CenterUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public HealthMadisonWIUSA
| | - Laura K Muller
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer CenterUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public HealthMadisonWIUSA
| | - Emad A Rakha
- Division of Cancer and Stem CellsDepartment of PathologySchool of MedicineNottingham University HospitalsUniversity of NottinghamNottinghamUK
| | - Antonio Lopez‐Beltran
- Champalimaud Centre for the UnknownLisbonPortugal
- Department of Morphological SciencesCordoba UniversityCordobaSpain
| | - Ronny Drapkin
- Penn Ovarian Cancer Research CenterDepartment of Obstetrics and GynecologyUniversity of Pennsylvania Perelman School of MedicinePhiladelphiaPAUSA
- Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular BiologyUniversity of Pennsylvania Perelman School of MedicinePhiladelphiaPAUSA
- Basser Center for BRCAAbramson Cancer CenterUniversity of Pennsylvania School of MedicinePhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Maximilian Ackermann
- Institute of Pathology and Molecular PathologyHelios University Clinic WuppertalUniversity of Witten/HerdeckeWuppertalGermany
- Institute of Functional and Clinical AnatomyUniversity Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg‐University MainzMainzGermany
| | - Paul B Fisher
- Department of Human and Molecular GeneticsSchool of MedicineVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondVAUSA
- Massey Cancer CenterVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondVAUSA
- Department of Human and Molecular GeneticsInstitute of Molecular MedicineSchool of MedicineVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondVAUSA
| | - Steven R Grossman
- Department of Internal MedicineKeck School of MedicineNorris Comprehensive Cancer CenterLos AngelesCAUSA
- University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCAUSA
| | - Andrew K Godwin
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKSUSA
- University of Kansas Cancer CenterKansas CityKSUSA
| | - Arutha Kulasinghe
- The University of Queensland Diamantina InstituteThe University of QueenslandBrisbaneQldAustralia
| | - Ivan Martinez
- Department of MicrobiologyImmunology & Cell Biology and WVU Cancer InstituteWest Virginia UniversityMorgantownWVUSA
| | - Clay B Marsh
- Department of MicrobiologyImmunology & Cell Biology and WVU Cancer InstituteWest Virginia UniversityMorgantownWVUSA
| | - Benjamin Tang
- Department of Intensive Care MedicineNepean HospitalPenrithNSWAustralia
| | - Max S Wicha
- Rogel Cancer CenterUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
- Department of Internal MedicineMichigan MedicineUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMIUSA
| | - Kyoung Jae Won
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC)University of CopenhagenCopenhagen NDenmark
- Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, DanStemUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagen NDenmark
| | - Alexandar Tzankov
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and PathologyUniversity Hospital Basel and University of BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | | | - Rajan Gogna
- Champalimaud Centre for the UnknownLisbonPortugal
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC)University of CopenhagenCopenhagen NDenmark
- Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, DanStemUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagen NDenmark
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16
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Fujiwara H, Seike K, Brooks MD, Mathew AV, Kovalenko I, Pal A, Lee HJ, Peltier D, Kim S, Liu C, Oravecz-Wilson K, Li L, Sun Y, Byun J, Maeda Y, Wicha MS, Saunders TL, Rehemtulla A, Lyssiotis CA, Pennathur S, Reddy P. Mitochondrial complex II in intestinal epithelial cells regulates T cell-mediated immunopathology. Nat Immunol 2021; 22:1440-1451. [PMID: 34686860 PMCID: PMC9351914 DOI: 10.1038/s41590-021-01048-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) damage by T cells contributes to graft-versus-host disease, inflammatory bowel disease and immune checkpoint blockade-mediated colitis. But little is known about the target cell-intrinsic features that affect disease severity. Here we identified disruption of oxidative phosphorylation and an increase in succinate levels in the IECs from several distinct in vivo models of T cell-mediated colitis. Metabolic flux studies, complemented by imaging and protein analyses, identified disruption of IEC-intrinsic succinate dehydrogenase A (SDHA), a component of mitochondrial complex II, in causing these metabolic alterations. The relevance of IEC-intrinsic SDHA in mediating disease severity was confirmed by complementary chemical and genetic experimental approaches and validated in human clinical samples. These data identify a critical role for the alteration of the IEC-specific mitochondrial complex II component SDHA in the regulation of the severity of T cell-mediated intestinal diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hideaki Fujiwara
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Keisuke Seike
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Michael D Brooks
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Anna V Mathew
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ilya Kovalenko
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Anupama Pal
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ho-Joon Lee
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Daniel Peltier
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology and BMT, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Stephanie Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Chen Liu
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Katherine Oravecz-Wilson
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lu Li
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yaping Sun
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jaeman Byun
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yoshinobu Maeda
- Department of Hematology Oncology and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Thomas L Saunders
- Transgenic Animal Model Core, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Alnawaz Rehemtulla
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Costas A Lyssiotis
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Subramaniam Pennathur
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Pavan Reddy
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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17
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Ma Y, Shen N, Wicha MS, Luo M. The Roles of the Let-7 Family of MicroRNAs in the Regulation of Cancer Stemness. Cells 2021; 10:cells10092415. [PMID: 34572067 PMCID: PMC8469079 DOI: 10.3390/cells10092415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer has long been viewed as a disease of normal development gone awry. Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), also termed as tumor-initiating cells (TICs), are increasingly recognized as a critical tumor cell population that drives not only tumorigenesis but also cancer progression, treatment resistance and metastatic relapse. The let-7 family of microRNAs (miRNAs), first identified in C. elegans but functionally conserved from worms to human, constitutes an important class of regulators for diverse cellular functions ranging from cell proliferation, differentiation and pluripotency to cancer development and progression. Here, we review the current state of knowledge regarding the roles of let-7 miRNAs in regulating cancer stemness. We outline several key RNA-binding proteins, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) involved in the regulation of let-7 biogenesis, maturation and function. We then highlight key gene targets and signaling pathways that are regulated or mutually regulated by the let-7 family of miRNAs to modulate CSC characteristics in various types of cancer. We also summarize the existing evidence indicating distinct metabolic pathways regulated by the let-7 miRNAs to impact CSC self-renewal, differentiation and treatment resistance. Lastly, we review current preclinical studies and discuss the clinical implications for developing let-7-based replacement strategies as potential cancer therapeutics that can be delivered through different platforms to target CSCs and reduce/overcome treatment resistance when applied alone or in combination with current chemo/radiation or molecularly targeted therapies. By specifically targeting CSCs, these strategies have the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of cancer therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxi Ma
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (Y.M.); (N.S.)
- Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
| | - Na Shen
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (Y.M.); (N.S.)
- Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (Y.M.); (N.S.)
- Correspondence: (M.S.W.); (M.L.)
| | - Ming Luo
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (Y.M.); (N.S.)
- Correspondence: (M.S.W.); (M.L.)
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18
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Abstract
Integrins mediate cell-cell interactions and communication with the extracellular matrix (ECM). These transmembrane protein receptors allow binding between a cell and its surroundings, initiating a breadth of intracellular signaling resulting in proliferation, differentiation, survival, or migration. Such responses have made integrins an attractive target for cancer therapy. Self-renewing and highly tumorigenic cancer stem cells (CSCs) are most resistant to traditional radiation treatment and chemotherapy, and therefore may contribute directly to the metastasis and relapse of the disease. In both the 4T1 mouse metastatic mammary tumor model and SCC7 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma model, integrin β4 (ITGB4) was expressed on ALDHhigh 4T1 and SCC7 CSCs. Using two immunological approaches, we targeted ITGB4 through 1) ITGB4 protein-pulsed dendritic cell (ITGB4-DC) vaccination or 2) via anti-CD3/anit-ITGB4 bispecific antibody (ITGB4 BiAb)-armed T cell adoptive transfer. These two therapies reduced ITGB4-expressing CSCs and inhibited local tumor growth and lung metastasis through ITGB4 specific cellular and humoral immune responses. Additionally, the combination of anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy with our two ITGB4-targeted approaches significantly improved treatment efficacy. We also found increased concentrations of serum IFN-γ and IL-6 in the 4T1 and SCC7 models which may help define future directions of this ITGB4-targeted study. Together, these results emphasize ITGB4 as a practical CSC immunological target with possible therapeutic benefits across tumor types with high ITGB4 expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah E Dobson
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Shasha Ruan
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.,Department of Clinical Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China
| | - Alfred E Chang
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Qiao Li
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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19
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Korkaya H, Alkan FK, Arslan ZE, Altintas E, Piranlioglu R, Lee E, Wicha MS. Abstract 1900: Dual function of HSP70 in cytoprotection of tumor cells and generation of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Immunology 2021. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2021-1900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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20
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Qin Y, Dobson HE, Comer FI, Chang AE, Wicha MS, Li Q. Abstract 514: Specific anti-HER2 host immunity conferred by HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate therapy and checkpoint blockade. Cancer Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2021-514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Using HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugates (ADC), we tested the therapeutic efficacy, direct impact on cancer stem cells (CSCs), and potential added benefit when combined with PD-L1 blockade in immunocompetent mouse tumor models. Two murine mammary tumor models were used in this study: D2F2/E2, a cell line resulting from stable transfection of parental D2F2 murine mammary tumor cells with wild-type human HER2, and 4T1-HER2, derived from parental 4T1 by stable transduction with wild-type human HER2. We demonstrate that HER2-targeted ADC treatment induced both cellular and humoral anti-HER2 adaptive immune responses which effectively targeted both bulk tumor and cancer stem cells. We recently investigated induction of host immunity using a tumor re-challenge strategy in tumor free animals subjected to ADC or ADC + anti-PD-L1 therapy. D2F2/E2 tumor-bearing mice were treated with ADC or ADC + anti-PD-L1 to generate tumor free mice. These tumor free animals were re-challenged with the relevant tumor D2F2/E2 or irrelevant tumor WT 4T1 respectively. While all the tumor free animals re-challenged with WT 4T1 showed aggressive tumor growth, ADC-treated tumor free animals re-challenged with D2F2/E2 demonstrated significantly (p<0.0001) slower tumor growth compared with the age-matched naive mice, and this protection was significantly (p=0.0078) enhanced in ADC + anti-PD-L1-treated tumor free animals, resulting in completely rejection of the re-challenge and thus documenting immunological memory formation. B cell activation was obvious by the significant upregulation of Ki67 and GL7 CD86 on both CD45+CD19+ tumor-infiltration lymphocytes (TILs) and splenocytes. B cell differentiation was evident by the upregulation of GL7 on both TILs and splenocytes, as well as the expression of CD138 on splenotytes. We found that IgG1 was the predominant isotype in treated mice vs. IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, and ADC + anti-PD-L1 dual treatment drastically increased the amount of IgG1 in serum. In addition, ADC+ anti-PD-L1 dual treatment significantly increased the frequency of CD8+IFNγ+ cells in TILs. Both ADC alone (p=0.0004) and ADC+anti-PD-L1 dual treatment (p=0.01) significantly decreased CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells. These results provide evidence that HER2-targeted ADC + anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy-induced B cell activation and differentiation along with the modulation of T cell subsets could confer host anti-HER2 immunity.
Citation Format: You Qin, Hannah E. Dobson, Frank I. Comer, Alfred E. Chang, Max S. Wicha, Qiao Li. Specific anti-HER2 host immunity conferred by HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate therapy and checkpoint blockade [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 514.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Qin
- 1University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | | | - Max S. Wicha
- 1University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Qiao Li
- 1University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
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21
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Bushnell GG, Deshmukh AP, den Hollander P, Luo M, Soundararajan R, Jia D, Levine H, Mani SA, Wicha MS. Breast cancer dormancy: need for clinically relevant models to address current gaps in knowledge. NPJ Breast Cancer 2021; 7:66. [PMID: 34050189 PMCID: PMC8163741 DOI: 10.1038/s41523-021-00269-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the USA. Although advances in treatment over the past several decades have significantly improved the outlook for this disease, most women who are diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive disease remain at risk of metastatic relapse for the remainder of their life. The cellular source of late relapse in these patients is thought to be disseminated tumor cells that reactivate after a long period of dormancy. The biology of these dormant cells and their natural history over a patient's lifetime is largely unclear. We posit that research on tumor dormancy has been significantly limited by the lack of clinically relevant models. This review will discuss existing dormancy models, gaps in biological understanding, and propose criteria for future models to enhance their clinical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Abhijeet P Deshmukh
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Petra den Hollander
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ming Luo
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Rama Soundararajan
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Dongya Jia
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Herbert Levine
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics and Departments of Physics and Bioengineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Sendurai A Mani
- Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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22
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Cody RL, Wicha MS. Contemporary Chemotherapy. Breast Cancer 2021. [DOI: 10.1201/9781003210542-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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23
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Abstract
Using syngeneic murine tumor models established in immunocompetent hosts, we showed that cancer stem cells are immunogenic and can be selectively targeted by dendritic cell-based vaccines. This new approach induced both humoral and cellular immune responses and conferred significantly superior antitumor immunity as compared with conventional vaccines.
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24
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Jiagge EM, Ulintz PJ, Wong S, McDermott SP, Fossi SI, Suhan TK, Hoenerhoff MJ, Bensenhaver JM, Salem B, Dziubinski M, Oppong JK, Aitpillah F, Ishmael K, Osei-Bonsu E, Adjei E, Baffour A, Aldrich J, Kurdoglu A, Fernando K, Craig DW, Trent JM, Li J, Chitale D, Newman LA, Carpten JD, Wicha MS, Merajver SD. Multiethnic PDX models predict a possible immune signature associated with TNBC of African ancestry. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2021; 186:391-401. [PMID: 33576900 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-021-06097-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype most prevalent among women of Western Sub-Saharan African ancestry. It accounts for 15-25% of African American (AA) breast cancers (BC) and up to 80% of Ghanaian breast cancers, thus contributing to outcome disparities in BC for black women. The aggressive biology of TNBC has been shown to be regulated partially by breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) which mediate tumor recurrence and metastasis and are more abundant in African breast tumors. METHODS We studied the biological differences between TNBC in women with African ancestry and those of Caucasian women by comparing the gene expression of the BCSC. From low-passage patient derived xenografts (PDX) from Ghanaian (GH), AA, and Caucasian American (CA) TNBCs, we sorted for and sequenced the stem cell populations and analyzed for differential gene enrichment. RESULTS In our cohort of TNBC tumors, we observed that the ALDH expressing stem cells display distinct ethnic specific gene expression patterns, with the largest difference existing between the GH and AA ALDH+ cells. Furthermore, the tumors from the women of African ancestry [GH/AA] had ALDH stem cell (SC) enrichment for expression of immune related genes and processes. Among the significantly upregulated genes were CD274 (PD-L1), CXCR9, CXCR10 and IFI27, which could serve as potential drug targets. CONCLUSIONS Further exploration of the role of immune regulated genes and biological processes in BCSC may offer insight into developing novel approaches to treating TNBC to help ameliorate survival disparities in women with African ancestry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyn M Jiagge
- Henry Ford Cancer Institute/Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA. .,Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA. .,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.
| | - Peter J Ulintz
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA
| | - Shukmei Wong
- The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Sean P McDermott
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA
| | - Sabrina I Fossi
- Henry Ford Cancer Institute/Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.,Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA
| | - Tahra K Suhan
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.,Department of Urology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Mark J Hoenerhoff
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Jessica M Bensenhaver
- Henry Ford Cancer Institute/Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - Barbara Salem
- Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research, Ann Arbor, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jessica Aldrich
- The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Ahmet Kurdoglu
- The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Kurt Fernando
- Henry Ford Cancer Institute/Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - David W Craig
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeff M Trent
- The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Jun Li
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA
| | - Dhananjay Chitale
- Henry Ford Cancer Institute/Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - Lisa A Newman
- New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - John D Carpten
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA
| | - Sofia D Merajver
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, RCC 7314, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA. .,Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.
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25
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Bushnell GG, Orbach SM, Ma JA, Crawford HC, Wicha MS, Jeruss JS, Shea LD. Disease-induced immunomodulation at biomaterial scaffolds detects early pancreatic cancer in a spontaneous model. Biomaterials 2020; 269:120632. [PMID: 33418200 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer has the worst prognosis of all cancers due to disease aggressiveness and paucity of early detection platforms. We developed biomaterial scaffolds that recruit metastatic tumor cells and reflect the immune dysregulation of native metastatic sites. While this platform has shown promise in orthotopic breast cancer models, its potential in other models is untested. Herein, we demonstrate that scaffolds recruit disseminated pancreatic cells in the KPCY model of spontaneous pancreatic cancer prior to adenocarcinoma formation (3-fold increase in scaffold YFP + cells). Furthermore, immune cells at the scaffolds differentiate early- and late-stage disease with greater accuracy (0.83) than the natural metastatic site (liver, 0.50). Early disease was identified by an approximately 2-fold increase in monocytes. Late-stage disease was marked by a 1.5-2-fold increase in T cells and natural killer cells. The differential immune response indicated that the scaffolds could distinguish spontaneous pancreatic cancer from spontaneous breast cancer. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the utility of scaffolds to reflect immunomodulation in two spontaneous models of tumorigenesis, and their particular utility for identifying early disease stages in the aggressive KPCY pancreatic cancer model. Such scaffolds may serve as a platform for early detection of pancreatic cancer to improve treatment and prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Sophia M Orbach
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jeffrey A Ma
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Howard C Crawford
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA; Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jacqueline S Jeruss
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA; Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Lonnie D Shea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
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26
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Chen VL, Xu D, Wicha MS, Lok AS, Parikh ND. Utility of Liquid Biopsy Analysis in Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Determination of Prognosis, and Disease Monitoring: A Systematic Review. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2020; 18:2879-2902.e9. [PMID: 32289533 PMCID: PMC7554087 DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2020.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Liquid biopsies, or blood samples, can be analyzed to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and extracellular vesicles, which might identify patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or help determine their prognoses. We performed a systematic review of studies of analyses of liquid biopsies from patients with HCC and their comparisons with other biomarkers. METHODS We performed a systematic review of original studies published before December 1, 2019. We included studies that compared liquid biopsies alone and in combination with other biomarkers for the detection of HCC, performed multivariate analyses of the accuracy of liquid biopsy analysis in determining patient prognoses, or evaluated the utility of liquid biopsy analysis in monitoring treatment response. RESULTS Our final analysis included 112 studies: 67 on detection, 46 on determining prognosis, and 25 on treatment monitoring or selection. Ten studies evaluated assays that characterized cfDNA for detection of HCC in combination with measurement of α-fetoprotein (AFP)-these studies found that the combined measurement of cfDNA and AFP more accurately identified patients with HCC than measurement of AFP alone. Six studies evaluated assays for extracellular vesicles and 2 studies evaluated assays for CTC in detection of HCC, with and without other biomarkers-most of these studies found that detection of CTCs or extracellular vesicles with AFP more accurately identified patients with HCC than measurement of AFP alone. Detection of CTCs before surgery was associated with HCC recurrence after resection in 13 of 14 studies; cfDNA and extracellular vesicles have been studied less frequently as prognostic factors. Changes in CTC numbers before vs after treatment more accurately identify patients with HCC recurrence than pretreatment counts alone, and measurements of cfDNA can identify patients with disease recurrence or progression before changes can be detected by imaging. We found little evidence that analyses of liquid biopsies can aid in the selection of treatment for HCC. Quality assessment showed risk of bias in studies of HCC detection and determination of prognosis. CONCLUSIONS In a systematic review of 112 studies of the accuracy of liquid biopsy analysis, we found that assays for CTCs and cfDNA might aid in determining patient prognoses and monitoring HCC, and assays for cfDNA might aid in HCC detection, but there is a risk of bias in these studies. Studies must be standardized before we can assess the clinical utility of liquid biopsy analysis in the detection and management of patients with HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent L Chen
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
| | - Dabo Xu
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Max S Wicha
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Anna S Lok
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Neehar D Parikh
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Hassani Najafabadi A, Zhang J, Aikins ME, Najaf Abadi ZI, Liao F, Qin Y, Okeke EB, Scheetz LM, Nam J, Xu Y, Adams D, Lester P, Hetrick T, Schwendeman A, Wicha MS, Chang AE, Li Q, Moon JJ. Cancer Immunotherapy via Targeting Cancer Stem Cells Using Vaccine Nanodiscs. Nano Lett 2020; 20:7783-7792. [PMID: 32926633 PMCID: PMC7572838 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c03414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) proliferate extensively and drive tumor metastasis and recurrence. CSCs have been identified in over 20 cancer types to date, but it remains unknown how to target and eliminate CSCs in vivo. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is a marker that has been used extensively for isolating CSCs. Here we present a novel approach to target and reduce the frequency of ALDHhigh CSCs by vaccination against ALDH. We have identified ALDH1-A1 and ALDH1-A3 epitopes from CSCs and developed synthetic high-density lipoprotein nanodiscs for vaccination against ALDHhigh CSCs. Nanodiscs increased antigen trafficking to lymph nodes and generated robust ALDH-specific T cell responses. Nanodisc vaccination against ALDHhigh CSCs combined with anti-PD-L1 therapy exerted potent antitumor efficacy and prolonged animal survival in multiple murine models. Overall, this is the first demonstration of a simple nanovaccine strategy against CSCs and may lead to new avenues for cancer immunotherapy against CSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Hassani Najafabadi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, China
| | - Marisa E Aikins
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Zeynab Izadi Najaf Abadi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Fei Liao
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Gastroenterology Department, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China
| | - You Qin
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, China
| | - Emeka B Okeke
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Lindsay M Scheetz
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Jutaek Nam
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Yao Xu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - David Adams
- Biomedical Research Core Facilities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Patrick Lester
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Taryn Hetrick
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Anna Schwendeman
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Alfred E Chang
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Qiao Li
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - James J Moon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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28
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Burnett JP, Johnson G, Truchan N, Brooks M, Wicha MS, Sun D. Abstract 500: Discovering epigenetic regulators of cells states in triple negative breast cancers. Cancer Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2020-500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The implementation of targeted therapies have been instrumental in achieving clinical responses for ER, PR, and HER2 receptor expressing breast cancers. However, triple negative breast cancers in themselves do not respond to such therapies and are highly heterogeneous diseases with significantly worse progression and survival. Our preliminary data and literature have also shown that in TNBC different cancer cell subpopulations are present in any given tumor, each with its own unique chemo-response and resistance. To discover novel targets regulating cancer cell states in TNBCs, we have created a reporter cell line using CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knock-in of fluorescent reporter proteins after the endogenous loci of major cell type markers in SUM149. Using this reporter line allows for the direct visualization of ALDH1A3+/- and CD24+/- cells, facilities tracking of distinct cell state transitions in a given cell, and allows for lineage tracing following cell divisions. These reporter cells were subjected to HTS-FACS analysis after exposure to a siRNA library of known epigenetic regulators. Following secondary screening, three siRNA targets are able to uniquely inhibit distinct subpopulations of cells within the cell line DCAF1 (ALDH-/CD24- cells), MLL2 (ALDH-/CD24+ cells), and TRIM24 (ALDH+ cells). In combination, these siRNA's proportionally eliminated all cell types. Due to the inherent heterogeneity of TNBCs we then sought to determine if efficacy was consistent or unique across different cell lines with varying percentages of CD44, CD24, and Aldefluor+ cell populations. Most notably, in MDA-MB-468 which contains similar cell population percentages to SUM149 each siRNA was capable of reducing cell proliferation. Similarly, TRIM24 was also capable of reducing cellular proliferation in BT20, MLL2 in MDA-MB-231, and DCAF1 in HCC1937. Knockdown of TRIM24 consistently reduced Aldefluor+ cells in MDA-MB-468 and BT20 cells. Finally, coupled with sc-Omics technologies we utilized this efficacy data identify a subset of TNBC patients likely to respond to therapies which will target these genes in the future.
Citation Format: Joseph Patrick Burnett, Garrett Johnson, Nathan Truchan, Michael Brooks, Max S. Wicha, Duxin Sun. Discovering epigenetic regulators of cells states in triple negative breast cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 500.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Duxin Sun
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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Buschhaus JM, Muniz AJ, Luo M, Burnett JP, Truchan NA, Brooks MD, Humphries BA, Luker KE, Lahann J, Sun D, Wicha MS, Luker GD. Abstract 5727: Metabolic status and adaptability of breast cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2020-5727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) represent the subpopulation of malignant cells that cause tumor initiation, metastasis, and recurrence. BCSCs resist therapy with radiation and standard drugs, emphasizing the need to identify new vulnerabilities as therapeutic targets. Here, we investigated the metabolism of BCSCs at single-cell resolution using molecular imaging and scRNA sequencing techniques. We imaged retention of the fluorescent dye PKH26 or expression of a CRISPR/Cas9-engineered ALDH1A3-mCherry promoter-reporter to identify BCSCs and metabolic state of cells by two-photon microscopy with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of endogenous NADH. We previously reported that sorted BCSCs exhibited enhanced metabolic plasticity relative to bulk tumor cells in 2D culture and rapidly metabolically adapted to the glycolysis inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose (2DG). Since cells rewire signaling and metabolism in 3D environments, we utilized two-photon microscopy to quantify metabolism in secondary mammospheres and living animals. In both intact spheres and orthotopic tumor xenografts, BCSCs marked by either fluorescent reporter utilized glycolysis to a greater extent than bulk cancer cells. We validated our findings by correlating cellular entropy as a marker for cancer stem cells with metabolic pathway preferences on a single-cell basis. When treated with 2DG, mammospheres showed increased OXPHOS and a significant decrease in the percentage of ALDH1A3-mCherry+ cells. These data 1) highlight capabilities of FLIM to measure the metabolism of single cancer cells in physiologic environments; 2) correlate molecular phenotypes with real-time molecular imaging profiles of metabolism and stem-ness; and 3) reveal that BCSCs rely on glycolysis, suggesting a potential target for metabolic therapy.
Citation Format: Johanna M. Buschhaus, Ayse J. Muniz, Ming Luo, Joseph P. Burnett, Nathan A. Truchan, Michael D. Brooks, Brock A. Humphries, Kathy E. Luker, Joerg Lahann, Duxin Sun, Max S. Wicha, Gary D. Luker. Metabolic status and adaptability of breast cancer stem cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5727.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ming Luo
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Duxin Sun
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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30
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Zeinali M, Huang W, Lee M, Nadhan A, Mathur A, Hedman C, Lin E, Harouaka R, Wicha MS, Zhao L, Palanisamy N, Hafner M, Reddy R, Kalemkerian GP, Schneider BJ, Hassan KA, Ramnath N, Nagrath S. Abstract B45: High-throughput label-free isolation and expansion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for personalized treatments. Clin Cancer Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1158/1557-3265.liqbiop20-b45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters are emerging as clinically significant harbingers of metastases in solid organ cancers. Prior to engaging these CTC clusters in animal models of metastases, it is imperative for technology to identify them with high sensitivity. These clusters often present heterogeneous surface markers, and current methods for isolation of clusters may fall short.
Methods: We have applied the inertial microfluidic Labyrinth device for high-throughput, biomarker-independent, size-based isolation of CTCs and CTC clusters from patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Results: Using the Labyrinth device, CTCs (PanCK+/DAPI+/CD45-) were isolated from metastatic NSCLC patients (n=25). Heterogeneous CTC populations were detected, including CTCs expressing epithelial (EpCAM), mesenchymal (vimentin), or both markers. CTCs were isolated from 100% of patients (417±1023 CTCs/mL), and CTCs that were EpCAM negative were significantly higher in numbers than EpCAM+ CTCs. Cell clusters of ≥2 CTCs were observed in 96% of patients, of which 75% were negative for EpCAM. Patients with higher number of CTC clusters than single CTCs had worse progression-free survival (PFS) (p=0.05). Recovered CTCs from patients with RET, ROS1, and ALK-rearranged tumors revealed identical genetic aberrations as the primary tumor for each gene using FISH analysis. We have successfully expanded the recovered CTCs from 2 patients and screened for therapeutic targeting. We have found that TPX-0005 might be effective in these patients and would direct them to a clinical trial using this compound.
Conclusions: The label-free Labyrinth device demonstrated the capability of collecting recovered CTCs from the device using a continuous processing technique while in a suspension state. This advantage opens the opportunities not only for CTC expansion off-chip, but also for ex vivo drug testing to direct patient-specific therapies.
Citation Format: Mina Zeinali, Wei Huang, Maggie Lee, Arthi Nadhan, Anvya Mathur, Casey Hedman, Eric Lin, Ramdane Harouaka, Max S. Wicha, Lili Zhao, Nallasivam Palanisamy, Mathias Hafner, Rishindra Reddy, Gregory P. Kalemkerian, Bryan J. Schneider, Khaled A. Hassan, Nithya Ramnath, Sunitha Nagrath. High-throughput label-free isolation and expansion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for personalized treatments [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Liquid Biopsies; Jan 13-16, 2020; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(11_Suppl):Abstract nr B45.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wei Huang
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
| | | | | | | | | | - Eric Lin
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
| | | | | | - Lili Zhao
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
| | | | - Mathias Hafner
- 2Institute for Medical Technology of Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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31
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Dillard C, Kiyohara M, Mah V, McDermott SP, Bazzoun D, Tsui J, Chan AM, Haddad G, Pellegrini M, Chang YL, Elshimali Y, Wu Y, Vadgama JV, Kim SR, Goodglick L, Law SM, Patel DD, Dhawan P, O'Brien NA, Gordon LK, Braun J, Lazar G, Wicha MS, Wadehra M. EMP2 Is a Novel Regulator of Stemness in Breast Cancer Cells. Mol Cancer Ther 2020; 19:1682-1695. [PMID: 32451329 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-19-0850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the role of epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) in breast cancer development or progression. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that EMP2 may regulate the formation or self-renewal of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) in the tumor microenvironment. In silico analysis of gene expression data demonstrated a correlation of EMP2 expression with known metastasis-related genes and markers of cancer stem cells (CSC) including aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). In breast cancer cell lines, EMP2 overexpression increased and EMP2 knockdown decreased the proportion of stem-like cells as assessed by the expression of the CSC markers CD44+/CD24-, ALDH activity, or by tumor sphere formation. In vivo, upregulation of EMP2 promoted tumor growth, whereas knockdown reduced the ALDHhigh CSC population as well as retarded tumor growth. Mechanistically, EMP2 functionally regulated the response to hypoxia through the upregulation of HIF-1α, a transcription factor previously shown to regulate the self-renewal of ALDHhigh CSCs. Furthermore, in syngeneic mouse models and primary human tumor xenografts, mAbs directed against EMP2 effectively targeted CSCs, reducing the ALDH+ population and blocking their tumor-initiating capacity when implanted into secondary untreated mice. Collectively, our results show that EMP2 increases the proportion of tumor-initiating cells, providing a rationale for the continued development of EMP2-targeting agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christen Dillard
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Meagan Kiyohara
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Vei Mah
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Sean P McDermott
- Department of Internal Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Dana Bazzoun
- Department of Internal Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Jessica Tsui
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Ann M Chan
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.,Department of Internal Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Ghassan Haddad
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Matteo Pellegrini
- Department of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Yu-Ling Chang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Yahya Elshimali
- Center to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities, Charles Drew University, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Yanyuan Wu
- Center to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities, Charles Drew University, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Jaydutt V Vadgama
- Center to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities, Charles Drew University, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Sara R Kim
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Lee Goodglick
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Samuel M Law
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Deven D Patel
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | | | - Neil A O'Brien
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.,Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Lynn K Gordon
- Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Jonathan Braun
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.,Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Gary Lazar
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Madhuri Wadehra
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. .,Center to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities, Charles Drew University, Los Angeles, CA.,Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
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32
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Thong T, Wang Y, Brooks MD, Lee CT, Scott C, Balzano L, Wicha MS, Colacino JA. Hybrid Stem Cell States: Insights Into the Relationship Between Mammary Development and Breast Cancer Using Single-Cell Transcriptomics. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:288. [PMID: 32457901 PMCID: PMC7227401 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Similarities between stem cells and cancer cells have implicated mammary stem cells in breast carcinogenesis. Recent evidence suggests that normal breast stem cells exist in multiple phenotypic states: epithelial, mesenchymal, and hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M). Hybrid E/M cells in particular have been implicated in breast cancer metastasis and poor prognosis. Mounting evidence also suggests that stem cell phenotypes change throughout the life course, for example, through embryonic development and pregnancy. The goal of this study was to use single cell RNA-sequencing to quantify cell state distributions of the normal mammary (NM) gland throughout developmental stages and when perturbed into a stem-like state in vitro using conditional reprogramming (CR). Using machine learning based dataset alignment, we integrate multiple mammary gland single cell RNA-seq datasets from human and mouse, along with bulk RNA-seq data from breast tumors in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), to interrogate hybrid stem cell states in the normal mammary gland and cancer. CR of human mammary cells induces an expanded stem cell state, characterized by increased expression of embryonic stem cell associated genes. Alignment to a mouse single-cell transcriptome atlas spanning mammary gland development from in utero to adulthood revealed that NM cells align to adult mouse cells and CR cells align across the pseudotime trajectory with a stem-like population aligning to the embryonic mouse cells. Three hybrid populations emerge after CR that are rare in NM: KRT18+/KRT14+ (hybrid luminal/basal), EPCAM+/VIM+ (hybrid E/M), and a quadruple positive population, expressing all four markers. Pseudotime analysis and alignment to the mouse developmental trajectory revealed that E/M hybrids are the most developmentally immature. Analyses of single cell mouse mammary RNA-seq throughout pregnancy show that during gestation, there is an enrichment of hybrid E/M cells, suggesting that these cells play an important role in mammary morphogenesis during lactation. Finally, pseudotime analysis and alignment of TCGA breast cancer expression data revealed that breast cancer subtypes express distinct developmental signatures, with basal tumors representing the most “developmentally immature” phenotype. These results highlight phenotypic plasticity of normal mammary stem cells and provide insight into the relationship between hybrid cell populations, stemness, and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tasha Thong
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Yutong Wang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Michael D Brooks
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Christopher T Lee
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Clayton Scott
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Laura Balzano
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Justin A Colacino
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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33
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Wu S, Zhang H, Fouladdel S, Li H, Keller E, Wicha MS, Omenn GS, Azizi E, Guan Y. Cellular, transcriptomic and isoform heterogeneity of breast cancer cell line revealed by full-length single-cell RNA sequencing. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 18:676-685. [PMID: 32257051 PMCID: PMC7114460 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor heterogeneity is generated through a combination of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, the latter of which plays an important role in the generation of stem like cells responsible for tumor formation and metastasis. Although the development of single cell transcriptomic technologies holds promise to deconvolute this complexity, a number of these techniques have limitations including drop-out and uneven coverage, which challenge the further delineation of tumor heterogeneity. We adopted deep and full-length single-cell RNA sequencing on Fluidigm's Polaris platform to reveal the cellular, transcriptomic, and isoform heterogeneity of SUM149, a triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell line. We first validate the quality of the TNBC sequencing data with the sequencing data from erythroleukemia K562 cell line as control. We next scrutinized well-defined marker genes for cancer stem-like cell to identify different cell populations. We then profile the isoform expression data to investigate the heterogeneity of alternative splicing patterns. Though classified as triple-negative breast cancer, the SUM149 stem cells show heterogeneous expression of marker receptors (ER, PR, and HER2) across the cells. We identified three cell populations that express patterns of stemness: epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cancer stem cells (CSCs), mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) CSCs and Dual-EMT-MET CSCs. These cells also manifested a high level of heterogeneity in alternative splicing patterns. For example, CSCs have shown different expression patterns of the CD44v6 exon, as well as different levels of truncated EGFR transcripts, which may suggest different potentials for proliferation and invasion among cancer stem cells. Our study identified features of the landscape of previously underestimated cellular, transcriptomic, and isoform heterogeneity of cancer stem cells in triple-negative breast cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaocheng Wu
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program, University of British Columbia, 570 West 7th Avenue, V5Z 4S6 Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Hongjiu Zhang
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
- Microsoft, Inc., Bellevue, WA, United States
| | - Shamileh Fouladdel
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Hongyang Li
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Evan Keller
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
- Department of Urology, Biointerfaces Institute and Single Cell Spatial Analysis Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Gilbert S. Omenn
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Ebrahim Azizi
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
| | - Yuanfang Guan
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, United States
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34
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Orbach SM, Oakes RS, Brooks MD, Bushnell GG, Kandagatla P, Wicha MS, Jeruss JS, Shea LD. Abstract P3-01-07: Early detection of metastatic breast cancer through gene expression and cell heterogeneity at an engineered metastatic niche. Cancer Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.sabcs19-p3-01-07] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Current technology limits the detection of metastatic lesions until the patient becomes symptomatic or radiological evidence is identified, and thus invasive cancer cells are not detectable prior to their colonization in distant organs. We have developed a biomaterial implant that serves as a synthetic metastatic niche that recruits tumor cells prior to their accumulation in the lung, a natural metastatic niche. We aimed to dissect the heterogeneity of stromal and immune cells at the synthetic and lung metastatic niches over time, thereby identifying changes in cell populations, phenotypes, and gene expression that could be used for the molecular staging of metastatic disease.
Methods: Porous polycaprolactone scaffolds (5 mm diameter x 2 mm height) were implanted subcutaneously into Balb/c mice two weeks before triple negative murine breast cancer cells (4T1) were inoculated into the mammary fat pad. We tracked disease progression in the lung from a pre-metastatic niche (7 days post-inoculation) to micrometastases (14 days) to overt metastatic disease (21 days). Ten genes were selected from the TaqManTM Open Array Mouse Inflammation Panel to develop a PCR-based signature and single value decomposition (SVD) score in the scaffold that successfully delineated metastatic staging. Furthermore, the scaffold and lung were analyzed through single cell RNA-sequencing (Drop-seq) to identify heterogeneity and contributions of each cell type.
Results: Ten genes were identified from Open Array of the scaffolds that directly correlated to disease stage in the lungs – S100a8, S100a9, Pglyrp1, Ltf, Camp, Ela2, and Chi3l3 increased with metastatic progression, while Bmp15, Ccl22 and Ccr7 decreased. SVD was applied to establish a single score from the scaffold that could be used for accurate molecular staging. Scaffolds were scored on a scale from 0 to 1, where a value of 0.2 – 0.3 generally correlated to pre-metastatic disease, 0.4 - 0.8 indicated micrometastases and 0.8 – 1.0 demarked metastasis. This model successfully predicted disease stage with an area under the curve of 0.878. When the scaffold-derived gene signature was applied to the lung metastases (21 days), the output was comparable to the scaffold, further demonstrating the physiological relevance of the implants. Single cell analysis indicated that the genes in the signature were primarily expressed by macrophages and neutrophils. After 7 days, 22% of macrophages and 83% of neutrophils were classified as tumor associated cells in the scaffold. In contrast, only 16% of macrophages and 44% of neutrophils in the lung were tumor associated at this time point. These findings support the hypothesis that the scaffolds could be used as early surrogates for the pre-metastatic niche, becoming responsive prior to their biological metastatic counterpart. Moreover, this finding was demonstrated through changes in T cell phenotype, specifically loss of cytotoxic Cd8+ T cells. After 7 days, Cd8+ T cells in the scaffolds decreased by 35%. Whereas Cd8+ T cells in the lungs decreased by 35% after 14 days.
Conclusions: A biomaterial scaffold was employed as a synthetic niche that recruits metastatic tumor cells. These scaffolds established a molecular signature of metastatic breast cancer using a 10-gene panel. Additionally, single cell analysis identified the cell types that induce this signature and the disease-associated changes that occur in the scaffold earlier than the lung. In summary, we have shown the potential of a biomaterial scaffold to act as a surrogate metastatic niche that can be used to delineate disease progression and understand the role of specific cell types in the formation of this niche. Mechanistic investigation into the synthetic niche may identify novel therapeutic targets that could be activated to inhibit the advent of metastasis.
Citation Format: Sophia M Orbach, Robert S Oakes, Michael D Brooks, Grace G Bushnell, Pridvi Kandagatla, Max S Wicha, Jacqueline S Jeruss, Lonnie D Shea. Early detection of metastatic breast cancer through gene expression and cell heterogeneity at an engineered metastatic niche [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-01-07.
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Zeinali M, Lee M, Nadhan A, Mathur A, Hedman C, Lin E, Harouaka R, Wicha MS, Zhao L, Palanisamy N, Hafner M, Reddy R, Kalemkerian GP, Schneider BJ, Hassan KA, Ramnath N, Nagrath S. High-Throughput Label-Free Isolation of Heterogeneous Circulating Tumor Cells and CTC Clusters from Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12010127. [PMID: 31947893 PMCID: PMC7016759 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12010127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters are emerging as clinically significant harbingers of metastases in solid organ cancers. Prior to engaging these CTC clusters in animal models of metastases, it is imperative for technology to identify them with high sensitivity. These clusters often present heterogeneous surface markers and current methods for isolation of clusters may fall short. (2) Methods: We applied an inertial microfluidic Labyrinth device for high-throughput, biomarker-independent, size-based isolation of CTCs/CTC clusters from patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). (3) Results: Using Labyrinth, CTCs (PanCK+/DAPI+/CD45−) were isolated from patients (n = 25). Heterogeneous CTC populations, including CTCs expressing epithelial (EpCAM), mesenchymal (Vimentin) or both markers were detected. CTCs were isolated from 100% of patients (417 ± 1023 CTCs/mL). EpCAM− CTCs were significantly greater than EpCAM+ CTCs. Cell clusters of ≥2 CTCs were observed in 96% of patients—of which, 75% were EpCAM−. CTCs revealed identical genetic aberrations as the primary tumor for RET, ROS1 , and ALK genes using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. (4) Conclusions: The Labyrinth device recovered heterogeneous CTCs in 100% and CTC clusters in 96% of patients with metastatic NSCLC. The majority of recovered CTCs/clusters were EpCAM−, suggesting that these would have been missed using traditional antibody-based capture methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mina Zeinali
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Institute for Medical Technology of Heidelberg University & University of Applied Sciences Mannheim, Paul-Wittsack-Straße 10, 68163 Mannheim, Germany;
| | - Maggie Lee
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Arthi Nadhan
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Anvya Mathur
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Casey Hedman
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, 1105 North University Avenue, 2220 Biological Science Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Eric Lin
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ramdane Harouaka
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
| | - Lili Zhao
- Biostatistics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Nallasivam Palanisamy
- Department of Urology, Henry Ford Health System, 1 Ford Place, Room 2D26, Detroit, MI 48202, USA;
| | - Mathias Hafner
- Institute for Medical Technology of Heidelberg University & University of Applied Sciences Mannheim, Paul-Wittsack-Straße 10, 68163 Mannheim, Germany;
| | - Rishindra Reddy
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Gregory P. Kalemkerian
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
| | - Bryan J. Schneider
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
| | - Khaled A. Hassan
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
| | - Nithya Ramnath
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (R.H.); (M.S.W.); (G.P.K.); (B.J.S.); (K.A.H.)
- Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
- Correspondence: (N.R.); (S.N.); Tel.: +734-936-9015 (N.R.); +734-647-7985 (S.N.)
| | - Sunitha Nagrath
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC, Building 20-3rd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.Z.); (M.L.); (A.N.); (A.M.); (E.L.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC B10-A184, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Correspondence: (N.R.); (S.N.); Tel.: +734-936-9015 (N.R.); +734-647-7985 (S.N.)
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Ruan S, Lin M, Zhu Y, Lum L, Thakur A, Jin R, Shao W, Zhang Y, Hu Y, Huang S, Hurt EM, Chang AE, Wicha MS, Li Q. Integrin β4-Targeted Cancer Immunotherapies Inhibit Tumor Growth and Decrease Metastasis. Cancer Res 2019; 80:771-783. [PMID: 31843981 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-1145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Integrin β4 (ITGB4) has been shown to play an important role in the regulation of cancer stem cells (CSC). Immune targeting of ITGB4 represents a novel approach to target this cell population, with potential clinical benefit. We developed two immunologic strategies to target ITGB4: ITGB4 protein-pulsed dendritic cells (ITGB4-DC) for vaccination and adoptive transfer of anti-CD3/anti-ITGB4 bispecific antibody (ITGB4 BiAb)-armed tumor-draining lymph node T cells. Two immunocompetent mouse models were utilized to assess the efficacy of these immunotherapies in targeting both CSCs and bulk tumor populations: 4T1 mammary tumors and SCC7 head and neck squamous carcinoma cell line. Immunologic targeting of ITGB4 utilizing either ITGB4-DC or ITGB4 BiAb-T cells significantly inhibited local tumor growth and metastases in both the 4T1 and SCC7 tumor models. Furthermore, the efficacy of both of these ITGB4-targeted immunotherapies was significantly enhanced by the addition of anti-PD-L1. Both ITGB4-targeted immunotherapies induced endogenous T-cell cytotoxicity directed at CSCs as well as non-CSCs, which expressed ITGB4, and immune plasma-mediated killing of CSCs. As a result, ITGB4-targeted immunotherapy reduced not only the number of ITGB4high CSCs in residual 4T1 and SCC7 tumors but also their tumor-initiating capacity in secondary mouse implants. In addition, treated mice demonstrated no apparent toxicity. The specificity of these treatments was demonstrated by the lack of effects observed using ITGB4 knockout 4T1 or ITGB4-negative CT26 colon carcinoma cells. Because ITGB4 is expressed by CSCs across a variety of tumor types, these results support immunologic targeting of ITGB4 as a promising therapeutic strategy.Significance: This study identifies a novel mechanism of resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy mediated by HPV E5, which can be exploited using the HPV E5 inhibitor rimantadine to improve outcomes for head and neck cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shasha Ruan
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.,Department of Clinical Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Ming Lin
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.,Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Yong Zhu
- Guangzhou Improve Medical Instruments Co., Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Lawrence Lum
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Cancer Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
| | - Archana Thakur
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Cancer Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
| | - Runming Jin
- Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Wenlong Shao
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yalei Zhang
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yangyang Hu
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Shiang Huang
- Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | | | - Alfred E Chang
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Max S Wicha
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
| | - Qiao Li
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Chen YC, Jung S, Zhang Z, Wicha MS, Yoon E. Co-culture of functionally enriched cancer stem-like cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts for single-cell whole transcriptome analysis. Integr Biol (Camb) 2019; 11:353-361. [DOI: 10.1093/intbio/zyz029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
AbstractConsiderable evidence suggests that breast cancer development and metastasis are driven by cancer stem-like cells (CSCs). Due to their unique role in tumor initiation, the interaction between CSCs and stromal cells is especially critical. In this work, we developed a platform to reliably isolate single cells in suspension and grow single-cell-derived spheres for functional enrichment of CSCs. The platform also allows adherent culture of stromal cells for cancer-stromal interaction. As a proof of concept, we grew SUM149 breast cancer cells and successfully formed single-cell-derived spheres. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) as stromal cells were found to significantly enhance the formation and growth of cancer spheres, indicating elevated tumor-initiation potential. After on-chip culture for 14 days, we retrieved single-cell derived spheres with and without CAF co-culture for single-cell transcriptome sequencing. Whole transcriptome analysis highlights that CAF co-culture can boost cancer stemness especially ALDHhigh CSCs and alter epithelial/mesenchymal status. Single-cell resolution allows identification of individual CSCs and investigation of cancer cellular heterogeneity. Incorporating whole transcriptome sequencing data with public patient database, we discovered novel genes associated with cancer-CAF interaction and critical to patient survival. The preliminary works demonstrated a reliable platform for enrichment of CSCs and studies of cancer-stromal interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chih Chen
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USA
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Seungwon Jung
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USA
| | - Zhixiong Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Euisik Yoon
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA
- Center for Nanomedicine, Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Graduate Program of Nano Biomedical Engineering (Nano BME), Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
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Chen YC, Sahoo S, Brien R, Jung S, Humphries B, Lee W, Cheng YH, Zhang Z, Luker KE, Wicha MS, Luker GD, Yoon E. Single-cell RNA-sequencing of migratory breast cancer cells: discovering genes associated with cancer metastasis. Analyst 2019; 144:7296-7309. [PMID: 31710321 PMCID: PMC8942075 DOI: 10.1039/c9an01358j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Considerable evidence suggests breast cancer metastasis arises from cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and cancer stem-like cells (CSCs). Using a microfluidic device that enriches migratory breast cancer cells with enhanced capacity for tumor formation and metastasis, we identified genes differentially expressed in migratory cells by high-throughput single-cell RNA-sequencing. Migratory cells exhibited overall signatures of EMT and CSCs with variable expression of marker genes, and they retained expression profiles of EMT over time. With single-cell resolution, we discovered intermediate EMT states and distinct epithelial and mesenchymal sub-populations of migratory cells, indicating breast cancer cells can migrate rapidly while retaining an epithelial state. Migratory cells showed differential profiles for regulators of oxidative stress, mitochondrial morphology, and the proteasome, revealing potential vulnerabilities and unexpected consequences of drugs. We also identified novel genes correlated with cell migration and outcomes in breast cancer as potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets to block migratory cells in metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chih Chen
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Saswat Sahoo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA
| | - Riley Brien
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
| | - Seungwon Jung
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
| | - Brock Humphries
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200, USA
| | - Woncheol Lee
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
| | - Yu-Heng Cheng
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
| | - Zhixiong Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
| | - Kathryn E. Luker
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200, USA
| | - Max S. Wicha
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Gary D. Luker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200, USA
| | - Euisik Yoon
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA
- Center for Nanomedicine, Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Graduate Program of Nano Biomedical Engineering (Nano BME), Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
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Oakes RS, Bushnell GG, Orbach SM, Kandagatla P, Zhang Y, Morris AH, Hall MS, LaFaire P, Decker JT, Hartfield RM, Brooks MD, Wicha MS, Jeruss JS, Shea LD. Metastatic Conditioning of Myeloid Cells at a Subcutaneous Synthetic Niche Reflects Disease Progression and Predicts Therapeutic Outcomes. Cancer Res 2019; 80:602-612. [PMID: 31662327 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-1932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring metastatic events in distal tissues is challenged by their sporadic occurrence in obscure and inaccessible locations within these vital organs. A synthetic biomaterial scaffold can function as a synthetic metastatic niche to reveal the nature of these distal sites. These implanted scaffolds promote tissue ingrowth, which upon cancer initiation is transformed into a metastatic niche that captures aggressive circulating tumor cells. We hypothesized that immune cell phenotypes at synthetic niches reflect the immunosuppressive conditioning within a host that contributes to metastatic cell recruitment and can identify disease progression and response to therapy. We analyzed the expression of 632 immune-centric genes in tissue biopsied from implants at weekly intervals following inoculation. Specific immune populations within implants were then analyzed by single-cell RNA-seq. Dynamic gene expression profiles in innate cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, suggest the development of an immunosuppressive microenvironment. These dynamics in immune phenotypes at implants was analogous to that in the diseased lung and had distinct dynamics compared with blood leukocytes. Following a therapeutic excision of the primary tumor, longitudinal tracking of immune phenotypes at the implant in individual mice showed an initial response to therapy, which over time differentiated recurrence versus survival. Collectively, the microenvironment at the synthetic niche acts as a sentinel by reflecting both progression and regression of disease. SIGNIFICANCE: Immune dynamics at biomaterial implants, functioning as a synthetic metastatic niche, provides unique information that correlates with disease progression. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/80/3/602/F1.large.jpg.See related commentary by Wolf and Elisseeff, p. 377.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert S Oakes
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Grace G Bushnell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Sophia M Orbach
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Pridvi Kandagatla
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.,Department of Surgery, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan
| | - Yining Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Aaron H Morris
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Matthew S Hall
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | | | - Joseph T Decker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Rachel M Hartfield
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Michael D Brooks
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Max S Wicha
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Jacqueline S Jeruss
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. .,Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.,Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Lonnie D Shea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. .,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Zheng F, Dang J, Zhang H, Xu F, Ba D, Zhang B, Cheng F, Chang AE, Wicha MS, Li Q. Cancer Stem Cell Vaccination With PD-L1 and CTLA-4 Blockades Enhances the Eradication of Melanoma Stem Cells in a Mouse Tumor Model. J Immunother 2019; 41:361-368. [PMID: 30063587 DOI: 10.1097/cji.0000000000000242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies reinvigorate cancer immunotherapy. However, these immunotherapies only benefit a subset of patients. We previously reported that ALDH tumor cells were highly enriched for cancer stem cells (CSCs), and ALDH CSC lysate-pulsed dendritic cell (CSC-DC) vaccine was shown to induce CSC-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In this study, we investigated the CSC targeting effect of the CSC-DC vaccine combined with a dual blockade of programmed death-ligand 1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein (CTLA-4) in B16-F10 murine melanoma tumor model. Our data showed that animals treated with the dual blockade of programmed death-ligand 1 and CTLA-4 and CSC-DC vaccine conferred significantly more tumor regression than the CSC-DC vaccine alone. Importantly, the triple combination treatment dramatically eliminated ALDH CSCs in vivo. We observed that CSC-DC vaccine in combination with anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 administration resulted in ∼1.7-fold fewer PD-1CD8 T cells and ∼2.5-fold fewer CTLA-4CD8 T cells than the populations observed following the CSC-DC vaccination alone. Moreover, significant antitumor effects and dramatically eliminated ALDH CSCs following the triple combination treatment were accompanied by significantly enhanced T-cell expansion, suppressed transforming growth factor β secretion, enhanced IFN-γ secretion, and significantly enhanced host specific CD8 T-cell response against CSCs. Collectively, these data showed that administration of a-PD-L1 and a-CTLA-4 combined with CSC-DC vaccine may represent an effective immunotherapeutic strategy for cancer patients in clinical.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jianzhong Dang
- Department of Geriatrics, Renmin Hospitial of Wuhan University, Wuhan
| | | | - Fangzhou Xu
- The Clinical Trial Institute, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen
| | | | | | - Fanjun Cheng
- Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
| | - Alfred E Chang
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Qiao Li
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
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Zhang Z, Chen L, Humphries B, Brien R, Wicha MS, Luker KE, Luker GD, Chen YC, Yoon E. Morphology-based prediction of cancer cell migration using an artificial neural network and a random decision forest. Integr Biol (Camb) 2019; 10:758-767. [PMID: 30420987 DOI: 10.1039/c8ib00106e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Metastasis is the cause of death in most patients of breast cancer and other solid malignancies. Identification of cancer cells with highly migratory capability to metastasize relies on markers for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process increasing cell migration and metastasis. Marker-based approaches are limited by inconsistences among patients, types of cancer, and partial EMT states. Alternatively, we analyzed cancer cell migration behavior using computer vision. Using a microfluidic single-cell migration chip and high-content imaging, we extracted morphological features and recorded migratory direction and speed of breast cancer cells. By applying a Random Decision Forest (RDF) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), we achieved over 99% accuracy for cell movement direction prediction and 91% for speed prediction. Unprecedentedly, we identified highly motile cells and non-motile cells based on microscope images and a machine learning model, and pinpointed and validated morphological features determining cell migration, including not only known features related to cell polarization but also novel ones that can drive future mechanistic studies. Predicting cell movement by computer vision and machine learning establishes a ground-breaking approach to analyze cell migration and metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhixiong Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USA.
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Ruan S, Lin M, Chen Y, Hurt E, Chang AE, Wicha MS, Li Q. Abstract 375: Integrin β4-targeted cancer immunotherapies. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors that mediate interaction of cells with extracellular matrix components. Integrin β4 (ITGB4) has been reported by other investigators as a marker of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Immunological targeting of CSCs utilizing ITGB4 as a biomarker represnets a novel therapeutic opportunity to improve the efficacy of current cancer treatment. We previously reported the use of ALDH as a marker to isolate CSCs from multiple tumor types, including both human and animal tumors. In this study, we used two murine tumor models: triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) 4T1 tumor syngeneic to Balb/c mice and SCC7 tumor which is a spontaneously arising head and neck squamous cell cancer syngeneic to C3H mice. 4T1 cells highly express ITGB4 (about 90%) in unsorted, ALDHhigh and ALDHlow cell populations. In contrast, SCC7 cells preferentially express ITGB4 on ALDHhigh CSCs because ITGB4 cell-surface abundance on ALDHhigh SCC7 cells is approximately 2-fold higher than that on ALDHlow SCC7 cells. We tested two different approaches for ITGB4-targeted immunotherapy: using ITGB4 protein as antigen to pulse dendritic cells (DC) to prepare ITGB4-DC for vaccination, or coating tumor-draining lymph node (TDLN) T cells with anti-CD3 x anti-ITGB4 bispecific antibody (ITGB4BiAb) to prepare ITGB4BiAb-T cells for adoptive transfer. We found that for the tumor which expresses ITGB4 on all the tumor cells at high level (4T1), ITGB4-targeted immunotherapies could inhibit both local tumor growth and metastasis; for the tumor which preferentially expresses ITGB4 on ALDHhigh CSCs (SCC7), ITGB4-targeted immunotherapies inhibited the tumor growth in the lung, with partial effect on local tumor. Co-current administration of anti-PD-L1 mAb significantly enhanced the therapeutic effectiveness of both approches. Our immune monitoring studies in vitro revealed that splenetic T cells harvested from mice treated with ITGB4-DC vaccine or ITGB4BiAb armed T cells mediated significant cytotoxicity against 4T1 cells and SCC7 cells, especially to ALDHhigh CSCs. In addition, ITGB4-DC vaccine or ITGB4BiAb armed T cells conferred significant host anti-ITGB4 humoral immunity as evident by produced antibodies that specifically bind and kill 4T1 cells and SCC7 cells, especially the ALDHhigh CSC population. As a result, both immunotherapeutic approaches significantly reduced the number of ALDHhigh CSCs in the residual tumor subjected to immunotherapies. In conclusion, ITGB4-targeted immunotherapies alone or combined with PD-L1 blockade demonstrated significant antitumor immunity via targeting CSCs. This may provide novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of ITGB4-positive cancers, such as breast cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and other soilid tumors.
Citation Format: Shasha Ruan, Ming Lin, Yongshun Chen, Elaine Hurt, Alfred E. Chang, Max S. Wicha, Qiao Li. Integrin β4-targeted cancer immunotherapies [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 375.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ming Lin
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | | | | | - Qiao Li
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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Gray EV, Dyar CE, Ouzounova M, Wicha MS, Korkaya H, Shull AY. Abstract 3683: IL32 expression is epigenetically regulated in EpCAM-/Cd49f- basal-like breast cancers and can be suppressed by the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-3683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Metastatic basal-like breast cancers are believed to correspond with EpCAM-/Cd49f- cancer stem cell (CSC) enrichment. As well, basal-like breast cancers typically correspond with tumor inflammation and immunoediting phenotypes. However, the exact interplay between CSCs and the inflammatory signature of basal-like breast cancers is not well understood. To provide insight regarding the clinical overlap between breast cancer stem cells and tumor inflammation, we compared the 450K DNA methylation profile of EpCAM-/CD49f- CSCs from the isogenic MCF10A p53-/PTEN- breast cell line against the corresponding EpCAM+/CD49f+ and EpCAM-/CD49f+ subpopulations to determine whether differential DNA methylation occurred within the promoters of immune-related genes in CSCs. In addition, we also overlapped the 450K DNA methylation profile from 16 established breast cancer cell lines of varying EpCAM-/CD49f- concentrations to compare against the isolated CSCs. Based on our results, we identified 1432 differentially methylated promoter regions overall (ANOVA FDR p-value <0.001) and found IL32 to be differentially hypomethylated in the EpCAM-/CD49f- enriched cell lines. This hypomethylation of IL32 corresponded with increased expression of the beta isoform of IL32. Results from the cell lines were mirrored in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) breast cancer datasets, which revealed decreased promoter DNA methylation and increased gene expression of IL32 in basal-like patients. Further analysis of TCGA data using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed that transcripts that tightly correlate with IL32 expression were preferentially involved in NF-kappaB mediated inflammation, with specific examples including REL, CCL5, PIK3CD, and IDO1. Furthermore, publicly available H3K27Ac and BRD4 ChIPseq data revealed that the IL32 promoter in the basal-like breast cancer cell line SUM159PT contains a high presence of H3K27 acetylation and BRD4 recruitment, with the latter event being disrupted by JQ1 treatment. These results complemented qRT-PCR results showing the IL32-beta isoform being quickly suppressed by 1uM JQ1 in SUM159PT as well as chick chorioallanotoic membrane (CAM) xenograft assays demonstrating suppressed metastasis and neovascularization of SUM159PT treated with JQ1. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential impact of IL32 promoter hypomethylation in basal-like breast cancer stem cells and how the overall epigenetic signature may predispose CSCs towards an immunomodulatory phenotype.
Citation Format: Emma V. Gray, Caroline E. Dyar, Maria Ouzounova, Max S. Wicha, Hasan Korkaya, Austin Y. Shull. IL32 expression is epigenetically regulated in EpCAM-/Cd49f- basal-like breast cancers and can be suppressed by the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3683.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Max S. Wicha
- 3University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
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Piranlioglu R, Lee E, Ouzuonova M, Rodier R, Greer A, Bayraktar F, Durmus OC, Arbab AS, Thangaraju M, Wicha MS, Celis E, Korkaya H. Abstract 4580: Primary tumor-induced immunity eradicates disseminated tumor cells in syngeneic mouse model. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-4580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Although clinically apparent metastasis is associated with late stages of cancer development, micro-metastatic dissemination may be an early event. However, the fate of these early disseminated tumor cells (DTC) remains elusive.
Using the syngeneic mouse models, we demonstrated that although both orthotopically-implanted murine 4T1 and EMT6 tumors are capable of disseminating into secondary organs, only 4T1 tumors develop overt metastasis. However, EMT6 tumors induce an anti-tumor immunity in syngeneic mice and that eradicates disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in distant organs. Following the complete removal of primary EMT6 tumors, mice do not develop detectable metastasis and generate an immunological memory that leads to complete elimination of repeatedly injected tumor cells via tail vein. Conversely, these cells readily grow and metastasize in immuno-deficient athymic or Rag2- mice, and when g-MDSCs from 4T1 tumor-bearing mice were co-injected into immunocompetent EMT6 primed mice. In contrast to complete resection, mice with residual tumors following surgery exhibited an enhanced growth of local and concomitant growth of DTCs at metastatic site with increased g-MDSCs accumulation in lung and spleen.
Together, our results suggest that some tumors are capable of inducing anti-tumor immunity against the DTCs when complete resection of primary tumor cures animals. However, in the presence of residual tumors, inflammation induced by surgical procedure promote the growth of DTCs.
Citation Format: Raziye Piranlioglu, Eunmi Lee, Maria Ouzuonova, Riley Rodier, Adam Greer, Feyzanur Bayraktar, Omer Can Durmus, Ali S. Arbab, Muthushamy Thangaraju, Max S. Wicha, Esteban Celis, Hasan Korkaya. Primary tumor-induced immunity eradicates disseminated tumor cells in syngeneic mouse model [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4580.
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Zeinali M, Lee M, Nadhan A, Mathur A, Huang W, Lin E, Harouaka R, Wicha MS, Palanisamy N, Hafner M, Reddy R, Kalemkerian GP, Schneider BJ, Hassan KA, Ramnath N, Nagrath S. Abstract 1332: High Throughput isolation and expansion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for personalized treatments. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-1332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have emerged as important blood-based surrogate markers of primary tumors. Current methods for isolation of lung CTCs mostly rely on biomarker dependent antibody-based capture, missing populations that may be stem-like in nature. Results: We have applied the microfluidic Labyrinth device for high throughput, label-free, size-based isolation of CTCs from non-small cell lung cancer patients (NSCLC). The Labyrinth device was optimized and tested for inertial separation of cancer cells using the human lung cancer cell line H1650. The recovery and purity were >82% and >78%, respectively, operating at a flow rate of 2.5 mL/min. Using the biomarker-independent Labyrinth separation device, heterogeneous CTC populations were isolated from metastatic NSCLC patients (n=21). Heterogeneous CTC populations were detected, including CTCs (PanCK+ and CD45-), CTCs expressing EpCAM or Vimentin, and CTCs expressing both markers representing an EMT-like population of CTCs. Using Labyrinth, we were able to isolate CTCs from 100% of patients with an average yield of 180±168 CTCs/mL. Among the captured CTCs, EpCAM- CTCs were significantly more common than EpCAM+ CTCs (115.7 vs. 39.1 CTCs/mL respectively). Cell clusters of 2 or more CTCs were also observed in 95% of patients; 79% of these clusters were negative for EpCAM expression, whereas 35% expressed Vimentin, suggestive of an EMT phenotype. Recovered CTCs from patients with RET, ROS1 and ALK rearranged tumors showed aberrations matching with the primary tumor for each gene using FISH analysis. We have successfully expanded the recovered CTCs from 2 patients and screened for therapeutic targeting. We have found that TPX-0005 might be effective in these patients and would direct them to a clinical trial using this compound. Conclusion: The label-free Labyrinth device demonstrated the capability of collecting recovered CTCs from the device using a continuous processing technique while in a suspension state. This advantage opens the opportunities not only for CTC expansion off-chip, but also for ex-vivo drug testing to direct patient-specific therapies.
Citation Format: Mina Zeinali, Maggie Lee, Arthi Nadhan, Anvya Mathur, Wei Huang, Eric Lin, Ramdane Harouaka, Max S. Wicha, Nallasivam Palanisamy, Mathias Hafner, Rishindra Reddy, Gregory P. Kalemkerian, Bryan J. Schneider, Khaled A. Hassan, Nithya Ramnath, Sunitha Nagrath. High Throughput isolation and expansion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for personalized treatments [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1332.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Wei Huang
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Eric Lin
- 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | | | - Mathias Hafner
- 3Institute for Medical Technology of Heidelberg University & University of Applied Sciences Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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Korkaya H, Lee E, Piranioglu R, Ouzounova M, Korkaya A, Gestwicki J, Wicha MS, Celis E. Abstract 2245: Improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in breast cancer by targeting the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-2245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Large cohorts of recent clinical studies have firmly established that increased levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in TNBC and HER2+ subtypes predicted better clinical outcome compared to the luminal subtype. These observations led to the hypothesis that women with TNBC or HER2+ subtypes may respond to a checkpoint blockade. However, early results from these trials using check point inhibitors alone or in combination with chemotherapy have shown very little promise in breast cancer patients, despite the remarkable long-lasting responses in other hard to treat malignancies such as non-small cell lung and melanoma. Although the outcome falls short of the expectation, it has suggested that the combinations of check point blockade with therapeutics that target immunosuppression may potentiate its efficacy. TNFα exhibits paradoxical roles; it may fuel tumor cell growth, invasion and metastasis in some tumor types, while in others it induces cytotoxic cell death. We recently demonstrated that TNFα distinctly induces A20 in TNBC subtype and protects these cells from TNFα-induced cytotoxic cell death by upregulating HSP70 protein and maintaining EMT/CSC phenotype. In contrast, luminal MCF7 or ZR75-1 cells display approximately 70% apoptosis when treated with TNFα. Overexpression of A20 in luminal cells not only protected them from TNFα-induced cytotoxicity by upregulating HSP70 and EMT/CSC phenotype, but also exhibited aggressive metastatic properties in mouse xenograft models. Furthermore, we show that A20/HSP70 pathway attracts tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) while inducing the accumulation of immunosuppressive MDSCs in syngeneic mouse models. Interestingly, pulmonary DTCs as well as the immune infiltrates from 4T1 tumor-bearing mice exhibited significantly higher HSP70 expression. Therefore, we proposed that targeting HSP70 may potentiate the efficacy of immunotherapy in preclinical models of breast cancer. As previously reported, murine 4T1 tumors do respond to check point inhibitors. We reasoned that this may be an appropriate model to test the efficacy of HSP70 inhibitor, JG-231. Expectedly, there was no difference in tumor growth and metastasis between control and anti-PDL1 treated animals, however, combination of anti-PDL1 antibody ed with JG-231 and chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide-CTX) significantly reduced primary tumor growth (>10 fold) and eliminated metastasis. Collectively, our pilot experiments provide a strong rationale for testing our hypothesis and may lead to a rapid translation into the clinical utility.
Citation Format: Hasan Korkaya, Eunmi Lee, Raziye Piranioglu, Maria Ouzounova, Ahmet Korkaya, Jason Gestwicki, Max S. Wicha, Esteban Celis. Improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in breast cancer by targeting the tumor microenvironment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2245.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika L Burness
- University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Hill EM, Esper RM, Sen A, Simon BR, Aslam MN, Jiang Y, Dame MK, McClintock SD, Colacino JA, Djuric Z, Wicha MS, Smith WL, Brenner DE. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids modulate adipose secretome and is associated with changes in mammary epithelial stem cell self-renewal. J Nutr Biochem 2019; 71:45-53. [PMID: 31272031 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2019.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Chronic low-grade adipose inflammation, characterized by aberrant adipokine production and pro-inflammatory macrophage activation/polarization is associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Adipocyte fatty acid composition is influenced by dietary availability and may regulate adipokine secretion and adipose inflammation. After feeding F344 rats for 20 weeks with a Western diet or a fish oil-supplemented diet, we cultured primary rat adipose tissue in a three-dimensional explant culture and collected the conditioned medium. The rat adipose tissue secretome was assayed using the Proteome Profiler Cytokine XL Array, and adipose tissue macrophage polarization (M1/M2 ratio) was assessed using the iNOS/ARG1 ratio. We then assessed the adipokine's effects upon stem cell self-renewal using primary human mammospheres from normal breast mammoplasty tissue. Adipose from rats fed the fish oil diet had an ω-3:ω-6 fatty acid ratio of 0.28 compared to 0.04 in Western diet rats. The adipokine profile from the fish oil-fed rats was shifted toward adipokines associated with reduced inflammation compared to the rats fed the Western diet. The M1/M2 macrophage ratio decreased by 50% in adipose of fish oil-fed rats compared to that from rats fed the Western diet. Conditioned media from rats fed the high ω-6 Western diet increased stem cell self-renewal by 62%±9% (X¯%±SD) above baseline compared to only an 11%±11% increase with the fish oil rat adipose. Modulating the adipokine secretome with dietary interventions therefore may alter stromal-epithelial signaling that plays a role in controlling mammary stem cell self-renewal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan M Hill
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Raymond M Esper
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ananda Sen
- Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Becky R Simon
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Muhammad N Aslam
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yan Jiang
- MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael K Dame
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Shannon D McClintock
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Justin A Colacino
- Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Zora Djuric
- Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - William L Smith
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Dean E Brenner
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Cheng YH, Chen YC, Lin E, Brien R, Jung S, Chen YT, Lee W, Hao Z, Sahoo S, Min Kang H, Cong J, Burness M, Nagrath S, S Wicha M, Yoon E. Hydro-Seq enables contamination-free high-throughput single-cell RNA-sequencing for circulating tumor cells. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2163. [PMID: 31092822 PMCID: PMC6520360 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10122-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at single-cell resolution offers great promise for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics from simple liquid biopsy. Recent development of massively parallel single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides a powerful method to resolve the cellular heterogeneity from gene expression and pathway regulation analysis. However, the scarcity of CTCs and the massive contamination of blood cells limit the utility of currently available technologies. Here, we present Hydro-Seq, a scalable hydrodynamic scRNA-seq barcoding technique, for high-throughput CTC analysis. High cell-capture efficiency and contamination removal capability of Hydro-Seq enables successful scRNA-seq of 666 CTCs from 21 breast cancer patient samples at high throughput. We identify breast cancer drug targets for hormone and targeted therapies and tracked individual cells that express markers of cancer stem cells (CSCs) as well as of epithelial/mesenchymal cell state transitions. Transcriptome analysis of these cells provides insights into monitoring target therapeutics and processes underlying tumor metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Heng Cheng
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA
| | - Yu-Chih Chen
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA.,Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Eric Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Riley Brien
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA
| | - Seungwon Jung
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA.,Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Yu-Ting Chen
- Computer Science Department UCLA, Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1596, USA
| | - Woncheol Lee
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA
| | - Zhijian Hao
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA
| | - Saswat Sahoo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2099, USA
| | - Hyun Min Kang
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA
| | - Jason Cong
- Computer Science Department UCLA, Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1596, USA
| | - Monika Burness
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Sunitha Nagrath
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Max S Wicha
- Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Euisik Yoon
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2122, USA. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2099, USA.
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Lee E, Piranlioglu R, Wicha MS, Korkaya H. Plasticity and Potency of Mammary Stem Cell Subsets During Mammary Gland Development. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20092357. [PMID: 31085991 PMCID: PMC6539898 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20092357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Revised: 05/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
It is now widely believed that mammary epithelial cell plasticity, an important physiological process during the stages of mammary gland development, is exploited by the malignant cells for their successful disease progression. Normal mammary epithelial cells are heterogeneous and organized in hierarchical fashion, in which the mammary stem cells (MaSC) lie at the apex with regenerative capacity as well as plasticity. Despite the fact that the majority of studies supported the existence of multipotent MaSCs giving rise to both basal and luminal lineages, others proposed lineage restricted unipotent MaSCs. Consistent with the notion, the latest research has suggested that although normal MaSC subsets mainly stay in a quiescent state, they differ in their reconstituting ability, spatial localization, and molecular and epigenetic signatures in response to physiological stimuli within the respective microenvironment during the stages of mammary gland development. In this review, we will focus on current research on the biology of normal mammary stem cells with an emphasis on properties of cellular plasticity, self-renewal and quiescence, as well as the role of the microenvironment in regulating these processes. This will include a discussion of normal breast stem cell heterogeneity, stem cell markers, and lineage tracing studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunmi Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
| | - Raziye Piranlioglu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
| | - Max S Wicha
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Hasan Korkaya
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
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