PKMYT1 is a Marker of Treatment Response and a Therapeutic Target for CDK4/6 Inhibitor-Resistance in ER+ Breast Cancer

Endocrine therapies (ET) with CDK4/6 inhibition are the standard treatment for estrogen receptor-α-positive (ER+) breast cancer, however drug resistance is common. In this study, proteogenomic analyses of 22 ER+ breast cancer patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) demonstrated that PKMYT1, a WEE1 homolog, is estradiol (E2) regulated in E2-dependent PDXs and constitutively expressed when growth is E2-independent. In clinical samples, high PKMYT1 mRNA levels associated with resistance to both ET and CDK4/6 inhibition. The PKMYT1 inhibitor lunresertib (RP-6306) with gemcitabine selectively and synergistically reduced the viability of ET and palbociclib-resistant ER+ breast cancer cells without functional p53. In vitro the combination increased DNA damage and apoptosis. In palbociclib-resistant, TP53 mutant PDX organoids and xenografts, RP-6306 with low-dose gemcitabine induced greater tumor volume reduction compared to treatment with either single agent. Our study demonstrates the clinical potential of RP-6306 in combination with gemcitabine for ET and CDK4/6 inhibitor resistant TP53 mutant ER+ breast cancer.

Kinase inhibitor pulldown assay (KiP) for clinical proteomics

Protein kinases are frequently dysregulated and/or mutated in cancer and represent essential targets for therapy. Accurate quantification is essential. For breast cancer treatment, the identification and quantification of the protein kinase ERBB2 is critical for therapeutic decisions. While immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the current clinical diagnostic approach, it is only semiquantitative. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics offers quantitative assays that, unlike IHC, can be used to accurately evaluate hundreds of kinases simultaneously. The enrichment of less abundant kinase targets for quantification, along with depletion of interfering proteins, improves sensitivity and thus promotes more effective downstream analyses. Multiple kinase inhibitors were therefore deployed as a capture matrix for kinase inhibitor pulldown (KiP) assays designed to profile the human protein kinome as broadly as possible. Optimized assays were initially evaluated in 16 patient derived xenograft models (PDX) where KiP identified multiple differentially expressed and biologically relevant kinases. From these analyses, an optimized single-shot parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) method was developed to improve quantitative fidelity. The PRM KiP approach was then reapplied to low quantities of proteins typical of yields from core needle biopsies of human cancers. The initial prototype targeting 100 kinases recapitulated intrinsic subtyping of PDX models obtained from comprehensive proteomic and transcriptomic profiling. Luminal and HER2 enriched OCT-frozen patient biopsies subsequently analyzed through KiP-PRM also clustered by subtype. Finally, stable isotope labeled peptide standards were developed to define a prototype clinical method. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifiers PXD044655 and PXD046169.

The Breast Cancer Proteome and Precision Oncology

The goal of precision oncology is to translate the molecular features of cancer into predictive and prognostic tests that can be used to individualize treatment leading to improved outcomes and decreased toxicity. Success for this strategy in breast cancer is exemplified by efficacy of trastuzumab in tumors overexpressing ERBB2 and endocrine therapy for tumors that are estrogen receptor positive. However, other effective treatments, including chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and CDK4/6 inhibitors are not associated with strong predictive biomarkers. Proteomics promises another tier of information that, when added to genomic and transcriptomic features (proteogenomics), may create new opportunities to improve both treatment precision and therapeutic hypotheses. Here, we review both mass spectrometry-based and antibody-dependent proteomics as complementary approaches. We highlight how these methods have contributed toward a more complete understanding of breast cancer and describe the potential to guide diagnosis and treatment more accurately.

Kinome Reprogramming Is a Targetable Vulnerability in ESR1 Fusion-Driven Breast Cancer

Transcriptionally active ESR1 fusions (ESR1-TAF) are a potent cause of breast cancer endocrine therapy (ET) resistance. ESR1-TAFs are not directly druggable because the C-terminal estrogen/anti-estrogen-binding domain is replaced with translocated in-frame partner gene sequences that confer constitutive transactivation. To discover alternative treatments, a mass spectrometry (MS)-based kinase inhibitor pulldown assay (KIPA) was deployed to identify druggable kinases that are upregulated by diverse ESR1-TAFs. Subsequent explorations of drug sensitivity validated RET kinase as a common therapeutic vulnerability despite remarkable ESR1-TAF C-terminal sequence and structural diversity. Organoids and xenografts from a pan-ET-resistant patient-derived xenograft model that harbors the ESR1-e6>YAP1 TAF were concordantly inhibited by the selective RET inhibitor pralsetinib to a similar extent as the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib. Together, these findings provide preclinical rationale for clinical evaluation of RET inhibition for the treatment of ESR1-TAF-driven ET-resistant breast cancer.

SIGNIFICANCE

Kinome analysis of ESR1 translocated and mutated breast tumors using drug bead-based mass spectrometry followed by drug-sensitivity studies nominates RET as a therapeutic target. See related commentary by Wu and Subbiah, p. 3159.

Kinase Inhibitor Pulldown Assay Identifies a Chemotherapy Response Signature in Triple-negative Breast Cancer Based on Purine-binding Proteins

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes 10%-15% of all breast tumors. The current standard of care is multiagent chemotherapy, which is effective in only a subset of patients. The original objective of this study was to deploy a mass spectrometry (MS)-based kinase inhibitor pulldown assay (KIPA) to identify kinases elevated in non-pCR (pathologic complete response) cases for therapeutic targeting. Frozen optimal cutting temperature compound-embedded core needle biopsies were obtained from 43 patients with TNBC before docetaxel- and carboplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. KIPA was applied to the native tumor lysates that were extracted from samples with high tumor content. Seven percent of all identified proteins were kinases, and none were significantly associated with lack of pCR. However, among a large population of "off-target" purine-binding proteins (PBP) identified, seven were enriched in pCR-associated samples (P < 0.01). In orthogonal mRNA-based TNBC datasets, this seven-gene "PBP signature" was associated with chemotherapy sensitivity and favorable clinical outcomes. Functional annotation demonstrated IFN gamma response, nuclear import of DNA repair proteins, and cell death associations. Comparisons with standard tandem mass tagged-based discovery proteomics performed on the same samples demonstrated that KIPA-nominated pCR biomarkers were unique to the platform. KIPA is a novel biomarker discovery tool with unexpected utility for the identification of PBPs related to cytotoxic drug response. The PBP signature has the potential to contribute to clinical trials designed to either escalate or de-escalate therapy based on pCR probability.

Significance

The identification of pretreatment predictive biomarkers for pCR in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy would advance precision treatment for TNBC. To complement standard proteogenomic discovery profiling, a KIPA was deployed and unexpectedly identified a seven-member non-kinase PBP pCR-associated signature. Individual members served diverse pathways including IFN gamma response, nuclear import of DNA repair proteins, and cell death.

Proteogenomic Approaches for the Identification of NF1/Neurofibromin-depleted Estrogen Receptor-positive Breast Cancers for Targeted Treatment

NF1 is a key tumor suppressor that represses both RAS and estrogen receptor-α (ER) signaling in breast cancer. Blocking both pathways by fulvestrant (F), a selective ER degrader, together with binimetinib (B), a MEK inhibitor, promotes tumor regression in NF1-depleted ER⁺ models. We aimed to establish approaches to determine how NF1 protein levels impact B+F treatment response to improve our ability to identify B+F sensitive tumors. We examined a panel of ER⁺ patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models by DNA and mRNA sequencing and found that more than half of these models carried an NF1 shallow deletion and generally have low mRNA levels. Consistent with RAS and ER activation, RET and MEK levels in NF1-depleted tumors were elevated when profiled by mass spectrometry (MS) after kinase inhibitor bead pulldown. MS showed that NF1 can also directly and selectively bind to palbociclib-conjugated beads, aiding quantification. An IHC assay was also established to measure NF1, but the MS-based approach was more quantitative. Combined IHC and MS analysis defined a threshold of NF1 protein loss in ER⁺ breast PDX, below which tumors regressed upon treatment with B+F. These results suggest that we now have a MS-verified NF1 IHC assay that can be used for patient selection as a complement to somatic genomic analysis.

Significance

A major challenge for targeting the consequence of tumor suppressor disruption is the accurate assessment of protein functional inactivation. NF1 can repress both RAS and ER signaling, and a ComboMATCH trial is underway to treat the patients with binimetinib and fulvestrant. Herein we report a MS-verified NF1 IHC assay that can determine a threshold for NF1 loss to predict treatment response. These approaches may be used to identify and expand the eligible patient population.

Abstract 5011: Targeting kinome reprogramming in ESR1 fusion-driven breast cancer

Background: Transcriptionally active ESR1 gene fusions (ESR1-TAF) are a potent cause of estrogen receptor alpha-positive (ERα+) breast cancer endocrine therapy (ET) resistance. These ESR1-TAF are gain-of-function mutations, exhibiting estrogen-independent cell growth, motility and ET resistance. They are not directly druggable because the ERα C-terminal ligand binding domain (LBD) encoding sequence is replaced with a translocated in-frame partner gene sequence. Herein we utilized proteomic approaches to develop novel targeted therapies against ESR1-TAF driven tumorigenesis.

Methods: ESR1 fusion cDNA constructs were expressed in ERα+ breast cancer cell lines (T47D and MCF7). Cell growth was assayed by an Alamar blue assay. A mass spectrometry (MS)-based Kinase Inhibitor Pulldown Assay (KIPA) was employed to identify druggable kinases that are commonly upregulated by diverse ESR1-TAFs. A panel of 22 ERα+ patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models were profiled using proteomics and phosphoproteomics to identify models with sensitivity to RET kinase inhibition.

Results: KIPA detected an increased abundance of a receptor tyrosine kinase, RET, in T47D cells expressing ESR1-TAFs in an estrogen-independent manner, compared to stable cell lines expressing transcriptionally inactive fusions as well as wild-type ERα protein. Interestingly, RET was also increased when constitutive activating ERα LBD point mutants, Y537S and D538G, were expressed in breast cancer cells. Inhibition of the RET kinase in vitro by repurposing pralsetinib, an FDA-approved RET inhibitor for advanced thyroid and non-small-cell lung cancers, demonstrated a significant reduction in the growth of cells expressing ESR1-TAFs and ERα LBD mutants. These data nominate RET kinase as a common therapeutic vulnerability for ESR1-TAF expressing breast cancers. Proteomic profiling of 22 biologically heterogenous ERα+ PDX tumors defined targetable pathways and predicted tumor subsets that were responsive to RET inhibition therapy. Organoids and xenografts from the pan-ET resistant WHIM18 PDX (that expresses the ESR1-YAP1 TAF) were inhibited by pralsetinib to a similar extent as the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib. These data provide key preclinical rationale for the consideration of RET inhibition for the treatment of ESR1-TAF-driven ET-resistant breast cancer. Interestingly, the growth of WHIM37 PDX (that expresses ERα D538G) that had low level of RET and high level of GFRα-1, the co-receptor of RET, was also suppressed by pralsetinib. This data suggests that either RET or GFRα-1 is a predictive biomarker for RET inhibitor efficacy.

Conclusions: Kinome analysis of ESR1 translocated breast tumors using KIPA followed by drug sensitivity studies nominated RET as a new therapeutic target for ET-resistant ERα+ breast cancer.

Citation Format: Xuxu Gou, Beom-Jun Kim, Meenakshi Anurag, Jonathan T. Lei, Meggie N. Young, Matthew V. Holt, Diana Fandino, Craig T. Vollert, Purba Singh, Mohammad A. Alzubi, Anna Malovannaya, Lacey E. Dobrolecki, Michael T. Lewis, Shunqiang Li, Matthew J. Ellis, Charles E. Foulds. Targeting kinome reprogramming in ESR1 fusion-driven breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 5011.

Abstract P5-02-36: Proteogenomic profiling of fresh frozen core biopsies from CALGB 40601

Background: Targeted therapy for HER2+ breast cancer has significantly improved outcomes for this aggressive subtype. However, a subset of patients do not achieve pathological complete response (pCR). In CALGB 40601, a randomized Phase III Trial for neoadjuvant treatment of HER2+ primary breast cancer with Paclitaxel (T: taxane) combined with HER2 antibody therapy (H: Herceptin/Trastuzumab), the small molecule inhibitor Lapatinib (L), or the antibody-inhibitor combination, pCR frequency was 56% for the combination (THL arm), 46% for Trastuzumab (TH arm), and 32% for Lapatinib (TL arm, closed early because of lower efficacy) (PMID: 26527775). While a recent publication reports relapse-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and RNA-based gene expression signatures that can predict pCR (PMID: 33095682), understanding the proteogenomic landscape of treatment response should facilitate identification of alternative and therapeutically tractable protein targets for treatment-resistant tumors. Methods: Microscaled proteogenomic profiling (PMID: 31988290) was performed on treatment-naïve, flash-frozen core needle biopsies from the CALGB 40601 trial obtained from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology tissue bank. Multi-omics profiling included whole-exome sequencing (WES), RNA-sequencing, and mass spectroscopy-based proteomics and phosphoproteomics from one or two cores from each patient. Results: Eighty baseline core biopsies from 54 patients, including 22 patients from the THL arm, 24 from the TH arm, and 8 from the TL arm, from the CALGB 40601 tissue archive were of sufficient quality to yield genomics, transcriptomics, and/or proteomics profiling data. The frequency of pCR for profiled samples was representative of the overall trial cohort. Linear models were employed to identify baseline determinants of pCR for each arm and to assess differences in genes associated with response between the TH and THL arms. Pathways associated with RNA processing, translation, and the proteasome were elevated in pCR tumors in TH and THL arms, while cell cycle, DNA replication and repair pathways were higher in pCR only in the THL arm. While enrichment of similar pathways was observed in pCR in the transcriptome, the proteome specifically showed enrichment of pathways associated with extracellular matrix and EMT in non-pCR in the THL but not the TH arm. In particular, “EMT”, “ECM-receptor interaction”, and “extracellular structure organization” constituted the most enriched pathways and GO terms that were higher in non-pCR than in pCR tumors from the combination arm (THL) in the proteomics data despite showing no enrichment in the transcriptomics data. Driving this pathway enrichment were several collagens and matrix metalloproteinases that were significantly elevated in non-pCR tumors at the protein but not the RNA level. Finally, kinase target enrichment of differential phosphorylation sites suggested that the activity of PAK1, a regulator of cytoskeletal remodeling, is elevated in non-pCR tumors from the THL arm (p=0.006), but not the TH arm (p=0.69). Conclusion: Proteogenomic analysis of archival HER2+ breast cancer core biopsies provides opportunities for identifying proteins and phosphorylation sites in treatment-naive tumors that are associated with pCR to neoadjuvant Paclitaxel/anti-HER2 therapy. Notably, proteomic but not transcriptomic data showed that ECM and EMT pathways were elevated in non-pCR tumors; thus, signatures encompassing these pathways may serve as biomarkers for aggressive HER2+ breast cancer that is more likely to evade treatment. Non-pCR tumors in the THL arm were also marked by elevated levels of PAK1 target phosphorylation sites, suggesting that this kinase may be a potential therapeutic target in HER2+ breast cancer that is refractory to combination anti-HER2 therapy.

Citation Format: Eric J. Jaehnig, Aranzazu Fernandez-Martinez, Tanmayi Vashist, Matthew V. Holt, LaTerrica Williams, Jonathan Lei, Beom-Jun Kim, Yongchao Dou, Viktoriya Korchina, Richard Gibbs, Donna Muzny, Harshavardhan Doddapaneni, Henry Rodriguez, Ana Robles, Tara Hiltke, DR Mani, Michael Gillette, Terry Hyslop, Yujia Wen, Linda McCart, George Miles, Steven Carr, Bing Zhang, Shankha Satpathy, Matthew Ellis, Meenakshi Anurag. Proteogenomic profiling of fresh frozen core biopsies from CALGB 40601 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-02-36.

Abstract 3922: Proteomic profiling of muscle invasive bladder cancer

Background: Only one quarter of patients with muscle invasive urothelial bladder cancer (MIBC) gain approximately 5% improvement in 5-year overall survival from cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). For patients with residual invasive cancer post radical cystectomy there is no standard of care and high mortality. Previous TCGA projects focused on pre-NAC MIBC genomic and transcriptomic alterations and identified 5 molecular subtypes with differential risk and response. For this study we hypothesized that comprehensive proteomic and phosphoproteomic profiling of MIBC prior to NAC will further define mechanisms responsible for chemotherapy resistance, and identify specific and actionable targeted therapies for patients with NAC-resistant tumors.

Methods: OCT-embedded and flash frozen tissue samples from 143 eligible patients were processed and tested for proteomics quality control (QC). Samples containing &gt;45% tumor content, less than 10% muscle content and &gt;2,000 protein identifications in a single-shot quality control assay were selected for deep-scale proteomic and phosphoproteomic profiling. A final cohort of 60 samples (52 pre-treatment and 8 patient-matched post-treatment tumors) were multiplexed using tandem mass tags (TMT-11), fractionated by basic reverse phase chromatography and analyzed by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

Results: Over 12,000 proteins were identified in total, and 8,353 proteins identified in all samples, including 425 kinases and 77 targets of FDA approved cancer therapies. Principal component analysis identified two distinct resistant clusters and one sensitive cluster. The samples were clustered based on the 5 TCGA subtypes which resulted in the sub stratification of the resistant clusters into two resistance-enriched basal-squamous clusters (BS1 and BS2 respectively), one infiltrated-luminal cluster (L1), one sensitive luminal cluster (L2) and one intermediary cluster (L3) (with 86% samples resistant). UV response, Epithelial to Mesenchymal transition and Myogenesis were significantly elevated in both L1 and L3 (resistant) relative to L2 (sensitive). Similar, these pathways are significantly altered in L1 relative to L3. EGFR, CDK6, ITPKC and CSNK1 were elevated in the B4 subtype, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Matched samples and phosphoproteomics data will be presented.

Conclusion: Surrounding non-tumor tissue can obfuscate true tumor signatures in MIBC, cohort selection through stringent pathologic QC allows proteomic profiling to identify tumor features that correlate with NAC resistance. This dataset provides proof of principle that actionable targets and subtype distinctions can be identified through discovery proteomics and further analysis in NAC treated cohorts are justified.

Citation Format: Matthew V. Holt, Meggie N. Young, Karoline Kremers, Alexander Saltzman, Antrix Jain, Mei Leng, Hugo Villanueva, Lacey E. Dobrolecki, Beom-Jun Kim, Meenakshi Anurag, Matthew J. Ellis, Anna Malovannaya, Seth P. Lerner. Proteomic profiling of muscle invasive bladder cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3922.

The histone H3.3 chaperone HIRA restrains erythroid-biased differentiation of adult hematopoietic stem cells

Histone variants contribute to the complexity of the chromatin landscape and play an integral role in defining DNA domains and regulating gene expression. The histone H3 variant H3.3 is incorporated into genic elements independent of DNA replication by its chaperone HIRA. Here we demonstrate that Hira is required for the self-renewal of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and to restrain erythroid differentiation. Deletion of Hira led to rapid depletion of HSCs while differentiated hematopoietic cells remained largely unaffected. Depletion of HSCs after Hira deletion was accompanied by increased expression of bivalent and erythroid genes, which was exacerbated upon cell division and paralleled increased erythroid differentiation. Assessing H3.3 occupancy identified a subset of polycomb-repressed chromatin in HSCs that depends on HIRA to maintain the inaccessible, H3.3-occupied state for gene repression. HIRA-dependent H3.3 incorporation thus defines distinct repressive chromatin that represses erythroid differentiation of HSCs.

Expeditious Extraction of Histones from Limited Cells or Tissue Samples and Quantitative Top-Down Proteomic Analysis

Histones are the primary protein component of chromatin and are involved in virtually all DNA-templated processes. Histones are abundantly post-translationally modified by a variety of chromatin-modifying machinery. These post-translational modifications (PTMs) are recognized by a range of "reader" proteins, which recruit additional proteins to specific locations on chromatin and impart precise and powerful effects on gene regulation. Each PTM typically exerts a positive or negative effect on transcription, and recent studies have shown that histone PTMs function in a combinatorial histone code: that is, histone PTMs function in combination to exert precise DNA-templated regulation. Thus, there is a need to identify and understand proteoforms, or unambiguously defined single protein molecules with all combinations of modifications. Top-down proteomics is currently the only viable approach for identifying and quantitating histone proteoforms, and mass spectrometry instruments have become sufficiently powerful to perform these quantitative analyses in a robust and high-throughput fashion. These recent innovations have enabled new experimental directions in chromatin research but have also introduced temporal and other constraints. This has led us to develop the protocols described here, which increase throughput, reduce sample requirements, and maintain robust quantitation. Although originally designed for high-throughput quantitative top-down proteomics, the protocols described here are useful for a wide range of chromatin biology applications. Starting with small amounts of cells or tissue, we describe two basic protocols for exceptionally rapid and efficient nuclei isolation, acid extraction of histones, and high-performance liquid chromatography fractionation of histones into histone families. We additionally describe the quantitative top-down proteomic analysis of histone H4 proteoforms. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Nuclei isolation and acid extraction of histones from mammalian cells in culture/tissues Basic Protocol 2: HPLC fractionation of histones and histone H4 HPLC-MS/MS Support Protocol: Preparation of intact H3 histone tails by Glu-C digestion.

Interlaboratory Study for Characterizing Monoclonal Antibodies by Top-Down and Middle-Down Mass Spectrometry

The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics (www.topdownproteomics.org) launched the present study to assess the current state of top-down mass spectrometry (TD MS) and middle-down mass spectrometry (MD MS) for characterizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) primary structures, including their modifications. To meet the needs of the rapidly growing therapeutic antibody market, it is important to develop analytical strategies to characterize the heterogeneity of a therapeutic product's primary structure accurately and reproducibly. The major objective of the present study is to determine whether current TD/MD MS technologies and protocols can add value to the more commonly employed bottom-up (BU) approaches with regard to confirming protein integrity, sequencing variable domains, avoiding artifacts, and revealing modifications and their locations. We also aim to gather information on the common TD/MD MS methods and practices in the field. A panel of three mAbs was selected and centrally provided to 20 laboratories worldwide for the analysis: Sigma mAb standard (SiLuLite), NIST mAb standard, and the therapeutic mAb Herceptin (trastuzumab). Various MS instrument platforms and ion dissociation techniques were employed. The present study confirms that TD/MD MS tools are available in laboratories worldwide and provide complementary information to the BU approach that can be crucial for comprehensive mAb characterization. The current limitations, as well as possible solutions to overcome them, are also outlined. A primary limitation revealed by the results of the present study is that the expert knowledge in both experiment and data analysis is indispensable to practice TD/MD MS.

Characterization of SETD3 methyltransferase-mediated protein methionine methylation

Most characterized protein methylation events encompass arginine and lysine N-methylation, and only a few cases of protein methionine thiomethylation have been reported. Newly discovered oncohistone mutations include lysine-to-methionine substitutions at positions 27 and 36 of histone H3.3. In these instances, the methionine substitution localizes to the active-site pocket of the corresponding histone lysine methyltransferase, thereby inhibiting the respective transmethylation activity. SET domain-containing 3 (SETD3) is a protein (i.e. actin) histidine methyltransferase. Here, we generated an actin variant in which the histidine target of SETD3 was substituted with methionine. As for previously characterized histone SET domain proteins, the methionine substitution substantially (76-fold) increased binding affinity for SETD3 and inhibited SETD3 activity on histidine. Unexpectedly, SETD3 was active on the substituted methionine, generating S-methylmethionine in the context of actin peptide. The ternary structure of SETD3 in complex with the methionine-containing actin peptide at 1.9 Å resolution revealed that the hydrophobic thioether side chain is packed by the aromatic rings of Tyr³¹² and Trp²⁷³, as well as the hydrocarbon side chain of Ile³¹⁰ Our results suggest that placing methionine properly in the active site-within close proximity to and in line with the incoming methyl group of SAM-would allow some SET domain proteins to selectively methylate methionine in proteins.

High-Throughput Quantitative Top-Down Proteomics: Histone H4

Proteins physiologically exist as "proteoforms" that arise from one gene and acquire additional function by post-translational modifications (PTM). When multiple PTMs coexist on single protein molecules, top-down proteomics becomes the only feasible method of characterization; however, most top-down methods have limited quantitative capacity and insufficient throughput to truly address proteoform biology. Here we demonstrate that top-down proteomics can be quantitative, reproducible, sensitive, and high throughput. The proteoforms of histone H4 are well studied both as a challenging proteoform identification problem and due to their essential role in the regulation of all eukaryotic DNA-templated processes. Much of histone H4's function is obfuscated from prevailing methods due to combinatorial mechanisms. Starting from cells or tissues, after an optimized protein purification process, the H4 proteoforms are physically separated by on-line C3 chromatography, narrowly isolated in MS1 and sequenced with ETD fragmentation. We achieve more than 30 replicates from a single 35-mm tissue culture dish by loading 55 ng of H4 on column. Parallelization and automation yield a sustained throughput of 12 replicates per day. We achieve reproducible quantitation (average biological Pearson correlations of 0.89) of hundreds of proteoforms (about 200-300) over almost six orders of magnitude and an estimated LLoQ of 0.001% abundance. We demonstrate the capacity of the method to precisely measure well-established changes with sodium butyrate treatment of SUM159 cells. We show that the data produced by a quantitative top-down method can be amenable to parametric statistical comparisons and is capable of delineating relevant biological changes at the full proteoform level.

One-Pot Quantitative Top- and Middle-Down Analysis of GluC-Digested Histone H4

Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have been intensively investigated due to their essential function in eukaryotic genome regulation. Histone modifications have been effectively studied using modified bottom-up proteomics approaches; however, the methods often do not capture single-molecule combinations of PTMs (proteoforms) that mediate known and expected biochemical mechanisms. Both middle-down mass spectrometry (MS) and top-down MS quantitation of H4 proteoforms present viable access to this important information. Histone H4 middle-down has previously avoided GluC digestion due to complex digestion products and interferences; however, the common AspN digestion cleaves at amino acid 23, disconnecting K31ac from other PTMs. Here, we demonstrate the effective use of GluC-based middle-down quantitation and compare it to top-down-based quantitation of proteoforms. Despite potential interferences in the m/z space, the proteoforms arising from all three GluC products (E52, E53, and E63) and intact H4 are chromatographically resolved and successfully analyzed in a single LC-MS analysis. Quantitative results and associated analytical metrics are compared between the different analytes of a single sample digested to different extents to reveal general concordance as well as the relative biases and complementarity of each approach. There is moderate proteoform discordance between digestion products (e.g., E52 and E53); however, each digestion product exhibits high concordance, regardless of digestion time. Under the conditions used, the GluC products are better chromatographically resolved yet show greater variance than the top-down quantitation that are more extensively sampled for MS2. GluC-based middle-down of H4 is thus viable. Both top-down and middle-down approaches have comparable quantitation capacity and are complementary.

Abstract LB-035: p16 epimutation cooperates with Apc mutation to promote colon cancer initiation and progression

Background: Although an extensive catalog of DNA methylation changes has been generated in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), an important unmet need is to understand their functional contributions during the initiation and progression of CRC. Epimutation, or mitotically stable gene silencing associated with epigenetic alteration in promoter DNA methylation, is proposed to act as one of the classical Knudson’s two-hit model for loss of tumor suppressor gene function. Importantly, unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic mechanisms are intrinsically malleable. Thus, to improve clinical care of CRC patients, we aim to investigate how the epimutations frequently observed in cancer cells contribute to colonic tumorigenesis.

Methods: We generated mice that replicates two common genetic and epigenetic events observed in human CRCs: Apc mutation and p16 epimutation. We used ApcMin/+ mice carrying a heterozygous germline mutation at codon 850 of the Apc gene (Moser et al. Science, 1990). Our p16 epimutation mice were created by targeted knock-in of a 140-bp DNA sequence (cis-element) that facilitates the spread of DNA methylation at promoter CpG islands in cis. (Yu et al. JCI, 2014). All mice were on a C57BL/6J background. For tumor phenotyping, we conducted survival and time-course histological analyses of tumor development and progression. To understand the regulatory mechanism of p16 epigenetic silencing, we used an unbiased, label-free mass spectrometry (MS)-based approach to capture the DNA-binding profile and identify proteins that bind to the p16 promoter in a DNA methylation-dependent manner. Finally, to determine the synergistic effects of Apc mutation and p16epimutation, we performed RNA-seq and proteomics analysis in both normal colonic epithelial cells and tumors.

Results: We found that the mice with combined Apc mutation and p16 epimutation (ApcMin/+; p16cis/cis) had a significantly shortened overall survival than the ApcMin/+ mice (P=0.001), indicating that p16 epimutation promotes intestinal tumor progression. To assess the cause of early morbidity in ApcMin/+; p16cis/cis mice, we examined the intestines for tumor formation at 15 weeks of age. In the small intestines, we found that the ApcMin/+; p16cis/cis mice had a greater number of tumors than the ApcMin/+ mice. Moreover, the tumors were significantly larger than those in ApcMin/+ mice. In the colons, ApcMin/+; p16cis/cis mice also showed more than 2-fold increase in tumor number. Importantly, we found the colonic tumors in ApcMin/+; p16cis/cis mice were highly vascularized and had foci of invasive carcinomas, a feature of malignancy that was not observed in the age-matched ApcMin/+ mice. In addition, we have discovered sequence-specific transcription factors that are recruited to the methylated p16 promoter to control epigenetic silencing. Furthermore, our integrated approach combining transcriptome and proteomic data revealed a cell-cycle independent role for p16 epimutation during colon carcinogenesis. The most striking hits are genes involved in immune responses, inflammation, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Conclusion: Our work demonstrates that one driver mutation (Apc) plus one driver epimutation (p16) is sufficient for colon cancer development.

Citation Format: Li Yang, Yue Chen, Matthew V. Holt, Feng Jin, Jong Min Choi, Sung Yun Jung, Anusha Mandala, Lanjing Zhang, Sayantani Goswami, Nan Gao, Yi Wang, Lanlan Shen. p16 epimutation cooperates with Apc mutation to promote colon cancer initiation and progression [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 LB-035.

Early butyrate induced acetylation of histone H4 is proteoform specific and linked to methylation state

Histone posttranslational modifications (PTMs) help regulate DNA templated processes; however, relatively little work has unbiasedly explored the single-molecule combinations of histone PTMs, their dynamics on short timescales, or how these preexisting histone PTMs modulate further histone modifying enzyme activity. We use quantitative top down proteomics to unbiasedly measure histone H4 proteoforms (single-molecule combinations of PTMs) upon butyrate treatment. Our results show that histone proteoforms change in cells within 10 minutes of application of sodium butyrate. Cells recover from treatment within 30 minutes after removal of butyrate. Surprisingly, K20me2 containing proteoforms are the near-exclusive substrate of histone acetyltransferases upon butyrate treatment. Single-molecule hierarchies of progressive PTMs mostly dictate the addition and removal of histone PTMs (K16ac > K12ac ≥ K8ac > K5ac, and the reverse on recovery). This reveals the underlying single-molecule mechanism that explains the previously reported but indistinct and unexplained patterns of H4 acetylation. Thus, preexisting histone PTMs strongly modulate histone modifying enzyme activity and this suggests that proteoform constrained reaction pathways are crucial mechanisms that enable the long-term stability of the cellular epigenetic state.

The histone H4 proteoform dynamics in response to SUV4-20 inhibition reveals single molecule mechanisms of inhibitor resistance

Background

The dynamics of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) are sparsely described, especially in their true physiological context of proteoforms (single histone molecules harboring combinations of PTMs).

Methods

Here we time-resolve the response of cells to SUV4-20 methyltransferase inhibition and unbiasedly quantitate the dynamic response of histone H4 PTMs and proteoforms.

Results

Contrary to the prevailing dogma, cells exhibit an immediate-early response with changes to histone proteoforms. Cells also recover to basal-like conditions upon removal of epigenetic inhibitors rapidly. Inhibition of SUV4-20 results in decreased H4{K20me2}; however, no effects on H4{K20me3} are observed, implying that another enzyme mediates H4K20me3. Most surprisingly, SUV4-20 inhibition results in an increase in histone H4 acetylation attributable to proteoforms containing K20me2. This led us to hypothesize that hyperacetylated proteoforms protect K20me2 from demethylation as an evolved compensatory mechanism. This concept is supported by subsequent results that pretreatment with an HDACi substantially diminishes the effects of SUV4-20 inhibition in prone cells and is further confirmed by HATi-facilitating SUV4-20 inhibition to decrease discrete H4{K20me2} in resistant cells.

Conclusions

The chromatin response of cells to sudden perturbations is significantly faster, nuanced and complex than previously described. The persistent nature of chromatin regulation may be achieved by a network of dynamic equilibria with compensatory mechanisms that operate at the proteoform level.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13072-018-0198-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Middle-Down Characterization of the Cell Cycle Dependence of Histone H4 Posttranslational Modifications and Proteoforms

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones are important epigenetic regulatory mechanisms that are often dysregulated in cancer. We employ middle-down proteomics to investigate the PTMs and proteoforms of histone H4 during cell cycle progression. We use pH gradient weak cation exchange-hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (WCX-HILIC) for on-line liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis to separate and analyze the proteoforms of histone H4. This procedure provides enhanced separation of proteoforms, including positional isomers, and simplifies downstream data analysis. We use ultrahigh mass accuracy and resolution Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer to unambiguously distinguish between acetylation and tri-methylation (∆m = 0.036 Da). In total, we identify and quantify 233 proteoforms of histone H4 in two breast cancer cell lines. We observe significant increases in S1 phosphorylation during mitosis, implicating an important role in mitotic chromatin condensation. A decrease of K20 unmodified proteoforms is observed as the cell cycle progresses, corresponding to an increase of K20 mono- and di-methylation. Acetylation at K5, K8, K12, and K16 declines as cells traverse from S phase to mitosis, suggesting cell cycle-dependence and an important role during chromatin replication and condensation. These new insights into the epigenetics of the cell cycle may provide new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.

The Hippo Pathway Kinases LATS1/2 Suppress Cancer Immunity

Poorly immunogenic tumor cells evade host immunity and grow even in the presence of an intact immune system, but the complex mechanisms regulating tumor immunogenicity have not been elucidated. Here, we discovered an unexpected role of the Hippo pathway in suppressing anti-tumor immunity. We demonstrate that, in three different murine syngeneic tumor models (B16, SCC7, and 4T1), loss of the Hippo pathway kinases LATS1/2 (large tumor suppressor 1 and 2) in tumor cells inhibits tumor growth. Tumor regression by LATS1/2 deletion requires adaptive immune responses, and LATS1/2 deficiency enhances tumor vaccine efficacy. Mechanistically, LATS1/2-null tumor cells secrete nucleic-acid-rich extracellular vesicles, which induce a type I interferon response via the Toll-like receptors-MYD88/TRIF pathway. LATS1/2 deletion in tumors thus improves tumor immunogenicity, leading to tumor destruction by enhancing anti-tumor immune responses. Our observations uncover a key role of the Hippo pathway in modulating tumor immunogenicity and demonstrate a proof of concept for targeting LATS1/2 in cancer immunotherapy.

Proof-of-Concept Workflow for Establishing Reference Intervals of Human Urine Proteome for Monitoring Physiological and Pathological Changes

Urine as a true non-invasive sampling source holds great potential for biomarker discovery. While approximately 2000 proteins can be detected by mass spectrometry in urine from healthy people, the amount of these proteins vary considerably. A systematic evaluation of a large number of samples is needed to determine the range of the variations. Current biomarker studies often measure limited number of urine samples in the discovery phase, which makes it difficult to determine whether proteins differentially expressed between control and disease groups represent actual difference, or are just physiological variations among the individuals, leads to failures in the validation phase with the increased sample numbers. Here, we report a streamlined workflow with capacity of measuring 8 urine proteomes per day at the coverage of >1500 proteins. With this workflow, we evaluated variations in 497 urine proteomes from 167 healthy donors, establishing reference intervals (RIs) that covered urine protein variations. We demonstrated that RIs could be used to monitor physiological changes by detecting transient outlier proteins. Furthermore, we provided a RIs-based algorithm for biomarker discovery and validation to screen for diseases such as cancer. This study provided a proof-of-principle workflow for the use of urine proteome for health monitoring and disease screening.

High-resolution three-dimensional structural microscopy by single-angle Bragg ptychography

Coherent X-ray microscopy by phase retrieval of Bragg diffraction intensities enables lattice distortions within a crystal to be imaged at nanometre-scale spatial resolutions in three dimensions. While this capability can be used to resolve structure-property relationships at the nanoscale under working conditions, strict data measurement requirements can limit the application of current approaches. Here, we introduce an efficient method of imaging three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale lattice behaviour and strain fields in crystalline materials with a methodology that we call 3D Bragg projection ptychography (3DBPP). This method enables 3D image reconstruction of a crystal volume from a series of two-dimensional X-ray Bragg coherent intensity diffraction patterns measured at a single incident beam angle. Structural information about the sample is encoded along two reciprocal-space directions normal to the Bragg diffracted exit beam, and along the third dimension in real space by the scanning beam. We present our approach with an analytical derivation, a numerical demonstration, and an experimental reconstruction of lattice distortions in a component of a nanoelectronic prototype device.

Structure of a pentameric virion-associated fiber with a potential role in Orsay virus entry to host cells

Despite the wide use of Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, the first virus naturally infecting this organism was not discovered until six years ago. The Orsay virus and its related nematode viruses have a positive-sense RNA genome, encoding three proteins: CP, RdRP, and a novel δ protein that shares no homology with any other proteins. δ can be expressed either as a free δ or a CP-δ fusion protein by ribosomal frameshift, but the structure and function of both δ and CP-δ remain unknown. Using a combination of electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography, computational and biophysical analyses, here we show that the Orsay δ protein forms a ~420-Å long, pentameric fiber with an N-terminal α-helical bundle, a β-stranded filament in the middle, and a C-terminal head domain. The pentameric nature of the δ fiber has been independently confirmed by both mass spectrometry and analytical ultracentrifugation. Recombinant Orsay capsid containing CP-δ shows protruding long fibers with globular heads at the distal end. Mutant viruses with disrupted CP-δ fibers were generated by organism-based reverse genetics. These viruses were found to be either non-viable or with poor infectivity according to phenotypic and qRT-PCR analyses. Furthermore, addition of purified δ proteins to worm culture greatly reduced Orsay infectivity in a sequence-specific manner. Based on the structure resemblance between the Orsay CP-δ fiber and the fibers from reovirus and adenovirus, we propose that CP-δ functions as a cell attachment protein to mediate Orsay entry into worm intestine cells.

Efficient modeling of Bragg coherent x-ray nanobeam diffraction

X-ray Bragg diffraction experiments that utilize tightly focused coherent beams produce complicated Bragg diffraction patterns that depend on scattering geometry, characteristics of the sample, and properties of the x-ray focusing optic. Here, we use a Fourier-transform-based method of modeling the 2D intensity distribution of a Bragg peak and apply it to the case of thin films illuminated with a Fresnel zone plate in three different Bragg scattering geometries. The calculations agree well with experimental coherent diffraction patterns, demonstrating that nanodiffraction patterns can be modeled at nonsymmetric Bragg conditions with this approach--a capability critical for advancing nanofocused x-ray diffraction microscopy.

Imaging local polarization in ferroelectric thin films by coherent x-ray Bragg projection ptychography

We used x-ray Bragg projection ptychography (BPP) to map spatial variations of ferroelectric polarization in thin film PbTiO3, which exhibited a striped nanoscale domain pattern on a high-miscut (001) SrTiO3 substrate. By converting the reconstructed BPP phase image to picometer-scale ionic displacements in the polar unit cell, a quantitative polarization map was made that was consistent with other characterization. The spatial resolution of 5.7 nm demonstrated here establishes BPP as an important tool for nanoscale ferroelectric domain imaging, especially in complex environments accessible with hard x rays.

Quantitative nanoscale imaging of lattice distortions in epitaxial semiconductor heterostructures using nanofocused X-ray Bragg projection ptychography

We imaged nanoscale lattice strain in a multilayer semiconductor device prototype with a new X-ray technique, nanofocused Bragg projection ptychography. Applying this technique to the epitaxial stressor layer of a SiGe-on-SOI structure, we measured the internal lattice behavior in a targeted region of a single device and demonstrated that its internal strain profile consisted of two competing lattice distortions. These results provide the strongest nondestructive test to date of continuum modeling predictions of nanoscale strain distributions.