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Cesana M, Tufano G, Panariello F, Zampelli N, Ambrosio S, De Cegli R, Mutarelli M, Vaccaro L, Ziller MJ, Cacchiarelli D, Medina DL, Ballabio A. EGR1 drives cell proliferation by directly stimulating TFEB transcription in response to starvation. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002034. [PMID: 36888606 PMCID: PMC9994711 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The stress-responsive transcription factor EB (TFEB) is a master controller of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy and plays a major role in several cancer-associated diseases. TFEB is regulated at the posttranslational level by the nutrient-sensitive kinase complex mTORC1. However, little is known about the regulation of TFEB transcription. Here, through integrative genomic approaches, we identify the immediate-early gene EGR1 as a positive transcriptional regulator of TFEB expression in human cells and demonstrate that, in the absence of EGR1, TFEB-mediated transcriptional response to starvation is impaired. Remarkably, both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of EGR1, using the MEK1/2 inhibitor Trametinib, significantly reduced the proliferation of 2D and 3D cultures of cells displaying constitutive activation of TFEB, including those from a patient with Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome, a TFEB-driven inherited cancer condition. Overall, we uncover an additional layer of TFEB regulation consisting in modulating its transcription via EGR1 and propose that interfering with the EGR1-TFEB axis may represent a therapeutic strategy to counteract constitutive TFEB activation in cancer-associated conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcella Cesana
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
- Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
- * E-mail: (MC); (AB)
| | - Gennaro Tufano
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
| | | | - Nicolina Zampelli
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
| | - Susanna Ambrosio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples ’Federico II’, Naples, Italy
| | - Rossella De Cegli
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
| | - Margherita Mutarelli
- Istituto di Scienze Applicate e Sistemi Intelligenti “E. Caianiello,” Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Pozzuoli, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Vaccaro
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
| | - Micheal J. Ziller
- Lab for Genomics of Complex Diseases, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Davide Cacchiarelli
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
- Department of Medical and Translational Science, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
| | - Diego L. Medina
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
- Department of Medical and Translational Science, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
| | - Andrea Ballabio
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
- Department of Medical and Translational Science, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MC); (AB)
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