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Bao Q, Kumar A, Wu D, Zhou J. Targeting EED as a key PRC2 complex mediator toward novel epigenetic therapeutics. Drug Discov Today 2024; 29:103986. [PMID: 38642703 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2024.103986] [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: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 04/06/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
EED within the PRC2 complex is crucial for chromatin regulation particularly in tumor development, making its inhibition a promising epigenetic therapeutic strategy. Significant advancement in PRC2 inhibitor development has been achieved with an approved EZH2 inhibitor in the market and with others in the clinical trials. However, current EZH2 inhibitors are limited to specific blood cancers and encounter therapeutic resistance. EED stabilizes PRC2 complex and enhances its activity through unique allosteric mechanisms, thereby acting as both a scaffold protein and a recognizer of H3K27me3 making it an attractive drug target. This review provides an overview of epigenetic therapeutic strategies targeting EED, including allosteric inhibitors, PPI inhibitors, and PROTACs, together with brief discussions on the relevant challenges, opportunities, and future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qichao Bao
- Chemical Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Anil Kumar
- Chemical Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Daqing Wu
- Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development and Department of Biological Sciences, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA 30314, USA
| | - Jia Zhou
- Chemical Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
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2
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Collados-Ros A, Muro M, Legaz I. Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Efficacy, Toxicity, and Resistance Mechanisms-A Systematic Review. Biomedicines 2024; 12:208. [PMID: 38255313 PMCID: PMC10813452 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12010208] [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: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a diverse group of leukemias characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of clonal neoplastic hematopoietic precursor cells with chromosomal rearrangements and multiple gene mutations and the impairment of normal hematopoiesis. Current efforts to improve AML outcomes have focused on developing targeted therapies that may allow for improved antileukemic effects while reducing toxicity significantly. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is one of the most thoroughly studied molecularly targeted therapies in adults. GO is a monoclonal antibody against CD33 IgG4 linked to the cytotoxic drug calicheamicin DMH. The use of GO as a chemotherapeutic agent is not generalized for all patients who suffer from AML, particularly for those whose health prevents them from using intensive conventional chemotherapy, in which case it can be used on its own, and those who have suffered a first relapse, where its combination with other chemotherapeutic agents is possible. This systematic review aimed to comprehensively evaluate GO, focusing on its molecular structure, mode of action, pharmacokinetics, recommended dosage, resistance mechanisms, and associated toxicities to provide valuable information on the potential benefits and risks associated with its clinical use. A systematic review of eight scientific articles from 2018 to 2023 was conducted using PRISMA analysis. The results showed that GO treatment activates proapoptotic pathways and induces double-strand breaks, initiating DNA repair mechanisms. Cells defective in DNA repair pathways are susceptible to GO cytotoxicity. GO has recommended doses for newly diagnosed CD33+ AML in combination or as a single agent. Depending on the treatment regimen and patient status, GO doses vary for induction, consolidation, and continuation cycles. Multidrug resistance (MDR) involving P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is associated with GO resistance. The overexpression of P-gp reduces GO cytotoxicity; inhibitors of P-gp can restore sensitivity. Mitochondrial pathway activation and survival signaling pathways are linked to GO resistance. Other resistance mechanisms include altered pharmacokinetics, reduced binding ability, and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. GO has limited extramedullary toxicity compared to other AML treatments and may cause hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVOD). The incidence of hepatic HVOD after GO therapy is higher in patients with high tumor burden. Hematological side effects and hepatotoxicity are prominent, with thrombocytopenia and neutropenia observed. In conclusion, GO's reintroduction in 2017 followed a thorough FDA review considering its altered dose, dosing schedule, and target population. The drug's mechanism involves CD33 targeting and calicheamicin-induced DNA damage, leading to apoptosis and resistance mechanisms, including MDR and survival signaling, which impact treatment outcomes. Despite limited extramedullary toxicity, GO is associated with hematological side effects and hepatotoxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurelia Collados-Ros
- Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute (IMIB), Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain;
| | - Manuel Muro
- Immunology Service, University Clinical Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca, Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB), 30120 Murcia, Spain;
| | - Isabel Legaz
- Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute (IMIB), Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain;
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Nakagawa-Saito Y, Mitobe Y, Suzuki S, Togashi K, Sugai A, Kitanaka C, Okada M. Domatinostat Targets the FOXM1-Survivin Axis to Reduce the Viability of Ovarian Cancer Cells Alone and in Combination with Chemotherapeutic Agents. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10817. [PMID: 37445993 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310817] [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: 05/29/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The deregulation of the FOXM1 transcription factor is a key molecular alteration in ovarian cancer, contributing to the development and progression of ovarian cancer via activation of the target genes. As such, FOXM1 is a highly attractive therapeutic target in the treatment of ovarian cancer, but there has been no clinically tested FOXM1 inhibitor to date. We investigated in this study the effects of domatinostat, a class I-selective HDAC inhibitor currently in the clinical stage of development as a cancer therapeutic, on the expression of FOXM1 and viability of ovarian cancer cells. Cell viability, as well as protein and mRNA expression of FOXM1 and its transcriptional target survivin, was examined after domatinostat treatment of TOV21G and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell lines in the absence or presence of cisplatin and paclitaxel. The effect of FOXM1 knockdown on survivin expression and those of genetic and pharmacological inhibition of survivin alone or in combination with the chemotherapeutic agents on cell viability were also examined. Domatinostat reduced the protein and mRNA expression of FOXM1 and survivin and also the viability of ovarian cancer cells alone and in combination with cisplatin or paclitaxel at clinically relevant concentrations. Knockdown experiments showed survivin expression was dependent on FOXM1 in ovarian cancer cells. Survivin inhibition was sufficient to reduce the viability of ovarian cancer cells alone and in combination with the chemotherapeutic agents. Our findings suggest that domatinostat, which effectively targets the FOXM1-survivin axis required for the viability of ovarian cancer cells, is a promising option for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yurika Nakagawa-Saito
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Yuta Mitobe
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
- Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Shuhei Suzuki
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Keita Togashi
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Asuka Sugai
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Chifumi Kitanaka
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
- Research Institute for Promotion of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
| | - Masashi Okada
- Department of Molecular Cancer Science, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan
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Han Y, Chen C, Zhang J. Editorial: Epigenetic mechanisms and epigenetic-based therapies in cardiometabolic and vascular disease. Front Genet 2023; 14:1233096. [PMID: 37424724 PMCID: PMC10328752 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1233096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yanshuo Han
- School of Life and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, China
| | - Chen Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
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Zhang S, Gong Y, Li C, Yang W, Li L. Beyond regulations at DNA levels: A review of epigenetic therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells. Cell Prolif 2020; 54:e12963. [PMID: 33314500 PMCID: PMC7848960 DOI: 10.1111/cpr.12963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In the past few years, the paramount role of cancer stem cells (CSCs), in terms of cancer initiation, proliferation, metastasis, invasion and chemoresistance, has been revealed by accumulating studies. However, this level of cellular plasticity cannot be entirely explained by genetic mutations. Research on epigenetic modifications as a complementary explanation for the properties of CSCs has been increasing over the past several years. Notably, therapeutic strategies are currently being developed in an effort to reverse aberrant epigenetic alterations using specific chemical inhibitors. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of CSCs and their role in cancer progression, and provide an overview of epigenetic alterations seen in CSCs. Importantly, we focus on primary cancer therapies that target the epigenetic modification of CSCs by the use of specific chemical inhibitors, such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors and microRNA‐based (miRNA‐based) therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shunhao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
| | - Yanji Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Temporomandibular Joint, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.,State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Chunjie Li
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Wenbin Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
| | - Longjiang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Qadeer ZA, Valle-Garcia D, Hasson D, Sun Z, Cook A, Nguyen C, Soriano A, Ma A, Griffiths LM, Zeineldin M, Filipescu D, Jubierre L, Chowdhury A, Deevy O, Chen X, Finkelstein DB, Bahrami A, Stewart E, Federico S, Gallego S, Dekio F, Fowkes M, Meni D, Maris JM, Weiss WA, Roberts SS, Cheung NKV, Jin J, Segura MF, Dyer MA, Bernstein E. ATRX In-Frame Fusion Neuroblastoma Is Sensitive to EZH2 Inhibition via Modulation of Neuronal Gene Signatures. Cancer Cell 2019; 36:512-527.e9. [PMID: 31631027 PMCID: PMC6851493 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.09.002] [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] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
ATRX alterations occur at high frequency in neuroblastoma of adolescents and young adults. Particularly intriguing are the large N-terminal deletions of ATRX (Alpha Thalassemia/Mental Retardation, X-linked) that generate in-frame fusion (IFF) proteins devoid of key chromatin interaction domains, while retaining the SWI/SNF-like helicase region. We demonstrate that ATRX IFF proteins are redistributed from H3K9me3-enriched chromatin to promoters of active genes and identify REST as an ATRX IFF target whose activation promotes silencing of neuronal differentiation genes. We further show that ATRX IFF cells display sensitivity to EZH2 inhibitors, due to derepression of neurogenesis genes, including a subset of REST targets. Taken together, we demonstrate that ATRX structural alterations are not loss-of-function and put forward EZH2 inhibitors as a potential therapy for ATRX IFF neuroblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zulekha A Qadeer
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - David Valle-Garcia
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Dan Hasson
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Zhen Sun
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - April Cook
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Christie Nguyen
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Aroa Soriano
- Laboratory of Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona 08035, Spain
| | - Anqi Ma
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Lyra M Griffiths
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Maged Zeineldin
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Dan Filipescu
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Luz Jubierre
- Laboratory of Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona 08035, Spain
| | - Asif Chowdhury
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Orla Deevy
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - David B Finkelstein
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Armita Bahrami
- Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Elizabeth Stewart
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Sara Federico
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Soledad Gallego
- Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Department, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona 08035, Spain
| | - Fumiko Dekio
- Department of Pathology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Mary Fowkes
- Department of Pathology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - David Meni
- Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - John M Maris
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - William A Weiss
- Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Stephen S Roberts
- Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Nai-Kong V Cheung
- Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jian Jin
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Miguel F Segura
- Laboratory of Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona 08035, Spain
| | - Michael A Dyer
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Emily Bernstein
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
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Xu J, Li L, Xiong J, denDekker A, Ye A, Karatas H, Liu L, Wang H, Qin ZS, Wang S, Dou Y. MLL1 and MLL1 fusion proteins have distinct functions in regulating leukemic transcription program. Cell Discov 2016; 2:16008. [PMID: 27462455 PMCID: PMC4869169 DOI: 10.1038/celldisc.2016.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [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: 11/19/2015] [Accepted: 02/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mixed lineage leukemia protein-1 (MLL1) has a critical role in human MLL1 rearranged leukemia (MLLr) and is a validated therapeutic target. However, its role in regulating global gene expression in MLLr cells, as well as its interplay with MLL1 fusion proteins remains unclear. Here we show that despite shared DNA-binding and cofactor interacting domains at the N terminus, MLL1 and MLL-AF9 are recruited to distinct chromatin regions and have divergent functions in regulating the leukemic transcription program. We demonstrate that MLL1, probably through C-terminal interaction with WDR5, is recruited to regulatory enhancers that are enriched for binding sites of E-twenty-six (ETS) family transcription factors, whereas MLL-AF9 binds to chromatin regions that have no H3K4me1 enrichment. Transcriptome-wide changes induced by different small molecule inhibitors also highlight the distinct functions of MLL1 and MLL-AF9. Taken together, our studies provide novel insights on how MLL1 and MLL fusion proteins contribute to leukemic gene expression, which have implications for developing effective therapies in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Xu
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Li Li
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jie Xiong
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Aaron denDekker
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Andrew Ye
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Hacer Karatas
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Liu Liu
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - He Wang
- China Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research , Shanghai, China
| | - Zhaohui S Qin
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Shaomeng Wang
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yali Dou
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Huffman K, Martinez ED. Pre-clinical studies of epigenetic therapies targeting histone modifiers in lung cancer. Front Oncol 2013; 3:235. [PMID: 24058902 PMCID: PMC3766830 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2013.00235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [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: 06/20/2013] [Accepted: 08/27/2013] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Treatment options for lung cancer patients have been generally limited to standard therapies or targeted interventions which involve a small number of known mutations. Although the targeted therapies are initially successful, they most often result in drug resistance, relapse, and mortality. We now know that the complexity of lung cancer comes not only from genomic changes, but also from aberrant epigenetic regulatory events. Epigenetic therapies have shown promise as single agents in the treatment of hematological malignancies but have yet to meet this expectation in solid tumors thus fostering researchers to pursue new approaches in the development and use of epigenetic interventions. Here, we review some recent pre-clinical findings involving the use of drugs targeting histone modifying enzymes both as single agents and as co-therapies against lung cancer. A greater understanding of the impact of these epigenetic compounds in lung cancer signaling is needed and further evaluation in vivo is warranted in several cases based on the pre-clinical activity of a subset of compounds discussed in this review, including drugs co-targeting HDACs and EGF receptor, targeting Brd4 and targeting Jumonji histone demethylases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Huffman
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, UT Southwestern Medical Center , Dallas, TX , USA
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Abstract
EZH2 is the catalytic subunit of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which generates a methylation epigenetic mark at lysine 27 residue of histone H3 (H3K27me3) to silence gene expression. EZH2 target genes are involved in a variety of biological processes such as stem cell pluripotency, cell proliferation, and oncogenic transformation. EZH2 is often over-expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells and in ovarian cancer-associated stromal endothelial cells. Notably, EZH2 promotes cell proliferation, inhibits apoptosis and enhances angiogenesis in EOCs. In contrast to genetic alterations, which are typically non-reversible, epigenetic alterations are reversible. Thus, inhibiting EZH2/PRC2 activity represents an attractive strategy for developing ovarian cancer therapeutics by targeting both ovarian cancer cells and ovarian tumor microenvironment. Here we discuss the progress recently obtained in understanding how EZH2/PRC2 promotes malignant phenotypes of EOC. In addition, we focus on strategies for targeting EZH2/PRC2 to develop novel EOC epigenetic therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua Li
- Gene Expression and Regulation Program, The Wistar Institute Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Ponomarev I. Epigenetic control of gene expression in the alcoholic brain. Alcohol Res 2013; 35:69-76. [PMID: 24313166 PMCID: PMC3860426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic alcohol exposure causes widespread changes in brain gene expression in humans and animal models. Many of these contribute to cellular adaptations that ultimately lead to behavioral tolerance and alcohol dependence. There is an emerging appreciation for the role of epigenetic processes in alcohol-induced changes in brain gene expression and behavior. For example, chronic alcohol exposure produces changes in DNA and histone methylation, histone acetylation, and microRNA expression that affect expression of multiple genes in various types of brain cells (i.e., neurons and glia) and contribute to brain pathology and brain plasticity associated with alcohol abuse and dependence. Drugs targeting the epigenetic "master regulators" are emerging as potential therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders and drug addiction.
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