Tan L, Duan X, Mutyala P, Zhou T, Amin S, Zhang T, Herbst B, Askan G, Itkin T, Xiang Z, Michelassi F, Lieberman MD, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Leach SD, Evans T, Chen S. A targetable pathway to eliminate TRA-1-60+/TRA-1-81+ chemoresistant cancer cells.
J Mol Cell Biol 2023;
15:mjad039. [PMID:
37327088 PMCID:
PMC10847630 DOI:
10.1093/jmcb/mjad039]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Chemoresistance is a primary cause of treatment failure in pancreatic cancer. Identifying cell surface markers specifically expressed in chemoresistant cancer cells (CCCs) could facilitate targeted therapies to overcome chemoresistance. We performed an antibody-based screen and found that TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81, two 'stemness' cell surface markers, are highly enriched in CCCs. Furthermore, TRA-1-60+/TRA-1-81+ cells are chemoresistant compared to TRA-1-60-/TRA-1-81- cells. Transcriptome profiling identified UGT1A10, shown to be both necessary and sufficient to maintain TRA-1-60/TRA-1-81 expression and chemoresistance. From a high-content chemical screen, we identified Cymarin, which downregulates UGT1A10, eliminates TRA-1-60/TRA-1-81 expression, and increases chemosensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, TRA-1-60/TRA-1-81 expression is highly specific in primary cancer tissue and positively correlated with chemoresistance and short survival, which highlights their potentiality for targeted therapy. Therefore, we discovered a novel CCC surface marker regulated by a pathway that promotes chemoresistance, as well as a leading drug candidate to target this pathway.
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