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Kim T, Jeong K, Kim E, Yoon K, Choi J, Park JH, Kim JH, Kim HS, Youn HD, Cho EJ. Menin Enhances Androgen Receptor-Independent Proliferation and Migration of Prostate Cancer Cells. Mol Cells 2022; 45:202-215. [PMID: 35014621 PMCID: PMC9001152 DOI: 10.14348/molcells.2021.0206] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The androgen receptor (AR) is an important therapeutic target for treating prostate cancer (PCa). Moreover, there is an increasing need for understanding the AR-independent progression of tumor cells such as neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). Menin, which is encoded by multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), serves as a direct link between AR and the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) complex in PCa development by activating AR target genes through histone H3 lysine 4 methylation. Although menin is a critical component of AR signaling, its tumorigenic role in AR-independent PCa cells remains unknown. Here, we compared the role of menin in AR-positive and AR-negative PCa cells via RNAi-mediated or pharmacological inhibition of menin. We demonstrated that menin was involved in tumor cell growth and metastasis in PCa cells with low or deficient levels of AR. The inhibition of menin significantly diminished the growth of PCa cells and induced apoptosis, regardless of the presence of AR. Additionally, transcriptome analysis showed that the expression of many metastasis-associated genes was perturbed by menin inhibition in AR-negative DU145 cells. Furthermore, wound-healing assay results showed that menin promoted cell migration in AR-independent cellular contexts. Overall, these findings suggest a critical function of menin in tumorigenesis and provide a rationale for drug development against menin toward targeting high-risk metastatic PCa, especially those independent of AR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taewan Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Kwanyoung Jeong
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Eunji Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Kwanghyun Yoon
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Jinmi Choi
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Jae Hyeon Park
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Jae-Hwan Kim
- NineBiopharm, Co., Ltd., Cheongju 28161, Korea
- National Creative Research Center for Epigenome Reprogramming Network, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Hyung Sik Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
| | - Hong-Duk Youn
- National Creative Research Center for Epigenome Reprogramming Network, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
| | - Eun-Jung Cho
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
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Phillips RE, Yang Y, Smith RC, Thompson BM, Yamasaki T, Soto-Feliciano YM, Funato K, Liang Y, Garcia-Bermudez J, Wang X, Garcia BA, Yamasaki K, McDonald JG, Birsoy K, Tabar V, Allis CD. Target identification reveals lanosterol synthase as a vulnerability in glioma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:7957-62. [PMID: 30923116 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820989116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) remains an incurable childhood brain tumor for which novel therapeutic approaches are desperately needed. Previous studies have shown that the menin inhibitor MI-2 exhibits promising activity in preclinical DIPG and adult glioma models, although the mechanism underlying this activity is unknown. Here, using an integrated approach, we show that MI-2 exerts its antitumor activity in glioma largely independent of its ability to target menin. Instead, we demonstrate that MI-2 activity in glioma is mediated by disruption of cholesterol homeostasis, with suppression of cholesterol synthesis and generation of the endogenous liver X receptor ligand, 24,25-epoxycholesterol, resulting in cholesterol depletion and cell death. Notably, this mechanism is responsible for MI-2 activity in both DIPG and adult glioma cells. Metabolomic and biochemical analyses identify lanosterol synthase as the direct molecular target of MI-2, revealing this metabolic enzyme as a vulnerability in glioma and further implicating cholesterol homeostasis as an attractive pathway to target in this malignancy.
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