bims-cagime 2022-10-30 papers

bims-cagime

Biomed News

on Cancer, aging and metabolism

Issue of 2022–10–30
thirty-six papers selected by
Kıvanç Görgülü, Technical University of Munich

Autophagic perturbation caused by reduced lysosomal activity positively regulates cell competition.
The mechanisms and roles of selective autophagy in mammals.
Syngeneic Mouse Orthotopic Allografts to Model Pancreatic Cancer.
Common variability in oestrogen-related genes and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma risk in women.
LC3-dependent EV loading and secretion (LDELS) promotes TFRC (transferrin receptor) secretion via extracellular vesicles.
Acyl-CoA binding protein regulates nutrient-dependent autophagy.
Divergent regulation of basement membrane trafficking by human macrophages and cancer cells.
LAMC2 marks a tumor-initiating cell population with an aggressive signature in pancreatic cancer.
KDM6A Loss Recruits Tumor-Associated Neutrophils and Promotes Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation in Pancreatic Cancer.
Cell-specific bioorthogonal tagging of glycoproteins.
3D imaging analysis on an organoid-based platform guides personalized treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Systemic vaccination induces CD8+ T cells and remodels the tumor microenvironment.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
A method for the isolation and characterization of autophagic bodies from yeast provides a key tool to investigate cargos of autophagy.
Ribosome changes reprogram translation for chemosurvival in G0 leukemic cells.
Lipopolysaccharide-induced hypothalamic inflammation in cancer cachexia-anorexia is amplified by tumour-derived prostaglandin E2.
Digest it all: the lysosomal turnover of cytoplasmic aggregates.
CODA: quantitative 3D reconstruction of large tissues at cellular resolution.
Beyond autophagy: LC3-associated phagocytosis and endocytosis.
Fasting and cancer responses to therapy.
Dysregulation of cellular membrane homeostasis as a crucial modulator of cancer risk.
Phospholipid imbalance impairs autophagosome completion.
Spatially resolved epigenomic profiling of single cells in complex tissues.
Combining stem cell rejuvenation and senescence targeting to synergistically extend lifespan.
Metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors manifest elevated T cell infiltration.
PD-L1-directed PlGF/VEGF blockade synergizes with chemotherapy by targeting CD141+ cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer.
3D bioprinted cancer models: from basic biology to drug development.
Multi-omics characterization of autophagy-related molecular features for therapeutic targeting of autophagy.
Multiciliated cells use filopodia to probe tissue mechanics during epithelial integration in vivo.
Diet Quality and Pancreatic Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort.
Senescence rewires microenvironment sensing to facilitate anti-tumor immunity.
Molecular Markers of Pancreatic Cancer: A 10-Year Retrospective Review of Molecular Advances.
Phenotypic plasticity and genetic control in colorectal cancer evolution.
Novel cryo-tomography workflow reveals nanometer-scale responses of epithelial cells to matrix stiffness and dimensionality.
Ferroptosis inhibition by lysosome-dependent catabolism of extracellular protein.
Mitoguardin-2-mediated lipid transfer preserves mitochondrial morphology and lipid droplet formation.

Autophagy. 2022 Oct 26.

Autophagic perturbation caused by reduced lysosomal activity positively regulates cell competition.

Eilma Akter, Shunsuke Kon.

  Newly emerging transformed epithelial cells are recognized and apically removed by surrounding normal cells through a biological event termed "cell competition". However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this process. In a recent study, we describe that RASG12V/RasV12-transformed cells surrounded by normal cells exhibit decreased lysosomal activity accompanied with accumulation of autophagosomes. Restoration of low lysosomal activity or inhibition of autophagosome formation significantly antagonizes apical extrusion of RASG12V cells, suggesting that non-degradable autophagosomes are required for cell competition. Notably, analysis of a cell competition mouse model demonstrates that macroautophagy/autophagy-ablated RASG12V cells are less readily eliminated by cell competition, and remaining transformed cells destroy ductal integrity, leading to chronic pancreatitis. Thus, our findings illuminate a critical role for non-degradable autophagosomes in cell competition and reveal a homeostasis-preserving role of autophagy upon emergence of transformed cells.

Keywords:  cell competition; hindered autophagic flux; lysosomal dysfunction; non-degradable autophagosomes; pancreatic cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2022.2140559
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2022 Oct 27.

The mechanisms and roles of selective autophagy in mammals.

Jose Norberto S Vargas, Maho Hamasaki, Tsuyoshi Kawabata, Richard J Youle, Tamotsu Yoshimori.

Autophagy is a process that targets various intracellular elements for degradation. Autophagy can be non-selective - associated with the indiscriminate engulfment of cytosolic components - occurring in response to nutrient starvation and is commonly referred to as bulk autophagy. By contrast, selective autophagy degrades specific targets, such as damaged organelles (mitophagy, lysophagy, ER-phagy, ribophagy), aggregated proteins (aggrephagy) or invading bacteria (xenophagy), thereby being importantly involved in cellular quality control. Hence, not surprisingly, aberrant selective autophagy has been associated with various human pathologies, prominently including neurodegeneration and infection. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in understanding mechanisms governing selective cargo engulfment in mammals, including the identification of ubiquitin-dependent selective autophagy receptors such as p62, NBR1, OPTN and NDP52, which can bind cargo and ubiquitin simultaneously to initiate pathways leading to autophagy initiation and membrane recruitment. This progress opens the prospects for enhancing selective autophagy pathways to boost cellular quality control capabilities and alleviate pathology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-022-00542-2
J Vis Exp. 2022 Oct 04.

Syngeneic Mouse Orthotopic Allografts to Model Pancreatic Cancer.

Constantin Schmitt, Dieter Saur, Stefanie Bärthel, Chiara Falcomatà.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a very complex disease characterized by a heterogeneous tumor microenvironment made up of a diverse stroma, immune cells, vessels, nerves, and extracellular matrix components. Over the years, different mouse models of PDAC have been developed to address the challenges posed by its progression, metastatic potential, and phenotypic heterogeneity. Immunocompetent mouse orthotopic allografts of PDAC have shown good promise owing to their fast and reproducible tumor progression in comparison to genetically engineered mouse models. Moreover, combined with their ability to mimic the biological features observed in autochthonous PDAC, cell line-based orthotopic allograft mouse models enable large-scale in vivo experiments. Thus, these models are widely used in preclinical studies for rapid genotype-phenotype and drug-response analyses. The aim of this protocol is to provide a reproducible and robust approach to successfully inject primary mouse PDAC cell cultures into the pancreas of syngeneic recipient mice. In addition to the technical details, important information is given that must be considered before performing these experiments.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/64253
Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 27. 12(1): 18100

Common variability in oestrogen-related genes and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma risk in women.

Giulia Peduzzi, Livia Archibugi, Verena Katzke, Manuel Gentiluomo, Gabriele Capurso, Anna Caterina Milanetto, Maria Gazouli, Mara Goetz, Hermann Brenner, Roel C H Vermeulen, Renata Talar-Wojnarowska, Giuseppe Vanella, Francesca Tavano, Maurizio Lucchesi, Beatrice Mohelnikova-Duchonova, Xuechen Chen, Vytautas Kiudelis, Péter Hegyi, Martin Oliverius, Hannah Stocker, Caterina Stornello, Ludmila Vodickova, Pavel Souček, John P Neoptolemos, Sabrina Gloria Giulia Testoni, Luca Morelli, Rita T Lawlor, Daniela Basso, Jakob R Izbicki, Stefano Ermini, Juozas Kupcinskas, Raffaele Pezzilli, Ugo Boggi, Hanneke W M van Laarhoven, Andrea Szentesi, Bálint Erőss, Giovanni Capretti, Ben Schöttker, Jurgita Skieceviciene, Mateus Nóbrega Aoki, Casper H J van Eijck, Giulia Martina Cavestro, Federico Canzian, Daniele Campa.

The incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is different among males and females. This disparity cannot be fully explained by the difference in terms of exposure to known risk factors; therefore, the lower incidence in women could be attributed to sex-specific hormones. A two-phase association study was conducted in 12,387 female subjects (5436 PDAC cases and 6951 controls) to assess the effect on risk of developing PDAC of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 208 genes involved in oestrogen and pregnenolone biosynthesis and oestrogen-mediated signalling. In the discovery phase 14 polymorphisms showed a statistically significant association (P < 0.05). In the replication none of the findings were validated. In addition, a gene-based analysis was performed on the 208 selected genes. Four genes (NR5A2, MED1, NCOA2 and RUNX1) were associated with PDAC risk, but only NR5A2 showed an association (P = 4.08 × 10-5) below the Bonferroni-corrected threshold of statistical significance. In conclusion, despite differences in incidence between males and females, our study did not identify an effect of common polymorphisms in the oestrogen and pregnenolone pathways in relation to PDAC susceptibility. However, we validated the previously reported association between NR5A2 gene variants and PDAC risk.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22973-9
Autophagy. 2022 Oct 26.

LC3-dependent EV loading and secretion (LDELS) promotes TFRC (transferrin receptor) secretion via extracellular vesicles.

Jackson O Gardner, Andrew M Leidal, Tan A Nguyen, Jayanta Debnath.

  LC3-dependent EV loading and secretion (LDELS) is a secretory autophagy pathway in which the macroautophagy/autophagy machinery facilitates the packaging of cytosolic cargos, such as RNA-binding proteins, into extracellular vesicles (EVs) for secretion outside of the cell. Here, we identify TFRC (transferrin receptor), one of the first proteins found to be secreted via EVs, as a transmembrane cargo of the LDELS pathway. Similar to other LDELS targets, TFRC secretion via EVs genetically requires components of the MAP1LC3/LC3-conjugation machinery but is independent of other ATGs involved in classical autophagosome formation. Furthermore, the packaging and secretion of this transmembrane protein into EVs depends on multiple ESCRT pathway components and the small GTPase RAB27A. Based on these results, we propose that the LDELS pathway promotes TFRC incorporation into EVs and its secretion outside the cell.

Keywords:  ATG7; ATG8; LC3-conjugation; extracellular vesicles; secretory autophagy; transferrin receptor

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2022.2140557
Metabolism. 2022 Oct 21. pii: S0026-0495(22)00216-5. [Epub ahead of print] 155338

Acyl-CoA binding protein regulates nutrient-dependent autophagy.

Prajna Udupa, Abhishek Kumar, Rahul Parit, Debasish Kumar Ghosh.

   BACKGROUND: Homeostasis of autophagy under normal conditions and nutrient stress is maintained by adaptive activation of regulatory proteins. However, the protein-lipid crosstalk that modulates the switch from suppression to activation of autophagy initiation is largely unknown.
RESULTS: Here, we show that human diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI), also known as acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP), binds to phosphatidylethanolamine of the phagophore membrane under nutrient-rich growth conditions, leading to inhibition of LC3 lipidation and suppression of autophagy initiation. Specific residues, including the conserved tyrosine residues of DBI, interact with phosphatidylethanolamine to stabilize the later molecule in the acyl-CoA binding cavity of the protein. Under starvation, phosphorylation of serine-21 of DBI mediated by the AMP-activated protein kinase results in a drastic reduction in the affinity of the protein for phosphatidylethanolamine. The release of serine-21 phosphorylated DBI from the phagophore upon nutrient starvation restores the high LC3 lipidation flux and maturation of the phagophore to autophagosome.
CONCLUSION: DBI acts as a strategic barrier against overactivation of phagophore maturation under nutrient-rich conditions, while triggering autophagy under nutrient-deficient conditions.

Keywords:  Autophagy; Diazepam-binding inhibitor; Nutrient stress; Phosphorylation; Protein-lipid binding

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2022.155338
Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 27. 13(1): 6409

Divergent regulation of basement membrane trafficking by human macrophages and cancer cells.

Julian C Bahr, Xiao-Yan Li, Tamar Y Feinberg, Long Jiang, Stephen J Weiss.

Macrophages and cancer cells populations are posited to navigate basement membrane barriers by either mobilizing proteolytic enzymes or deploying mechanical forces. Nevertheless, the relative roles, or identity, of the proteinase -dependent or -independent mechanisms used by macrophages versus cancer cells to transmigrate basement membrane barriers harboring physiologically-relevant covalent crosslinks remains ill-defined. Herein, both macrophages and cancer cells are shown to mobilize membrane-anchored matrix metalloproteinases to proteolytically remodel native basement membranes isolated from murine tissues while infiltrating the underlying interstitial matrix ex vivo. In the absence of proteolytic activity, however, only macrophages deploy actomyosin-generated forces to transmigrate basement membrane pores, thereby providing the cells with proteinase-independent access to the interstitial matrix while simultaneously exerting global effects on the macrophage transcriptome. By contrast, cancer cell invasive activity is reliant on metalloproteinase activity and neither mechanical force nor changes in nuclear rigidity rescue basement membrane transmigration. These studies identify membrane-anchored matrix metalloproteinases as key proteolytic effectors of basement membrane remodeling by macrophages and cancer cells while also defining the divergent invasive strategies used by normal and neoplastic cells to traverse native tissue barriers.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34087-x
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Oct 26. 41(1): 315

LAMC2 marks a tumor-initiating cell population with an aggressive signature in pancreatic cancer.

Donatella Delle Cave, Silvia Buonaiuto, Bruno Sainz, Marco Fantuz, Maria Mangini, Alessandro Carrer, Annalisa Di Domenico, Tea Teresa Iavazzo, Gennaro Andolfi, Carme Cortina, Marta Sevillano, Christopher Heeschen, Vincenza Colonna, Marco Corona, Antonio Cucciardi, Martina Di Guida, Eduard Batlle, Annachiara De Luca, Enza Lonardo.

   BACKGROUND: Tumor-initiating cells (TIC), also known as cancer stem cells, are considered a specific subpopulation of cells necessary for cancer initiation and metastasis; however, the mechanisms by which they acquire metastatic traits are not well understood.
METHODS: LAMC2 transcriptional levels were evaluated using publicly available transcriptome data sets, and LAMC2 immunohistochemistry was performed using a tissue microarray composed of PDAC and normal pancreas tissues. Silencing and tracing of LAMC2 was performed using lentiviral shRNA constructs and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination, respectively. The contribution of LAMC2 to PDAC tumorigenicity was explored in vitro by tumor cell invasion, migration, sphere-forming and organoids assays, and in vivo by tumor growth and metastatic assays. mRNA sequencing was performed to identify key cellular pathways upregulated in LAMC2 expressing cells. Metastatic spreading induced by LAMC2- expressing cells was blocked by pharmacological inhibition of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling.
RESULTS: We report a LAMC2-expressing cell population, which is endowed with enhanced self-renewal capacity, and is sufficient for tumor initiation and differentiation, and drives metastasis. mRNA profiling of these cells indicates a prominent squamous signature, and differentially activated pathways critical for tumor growth and metastasis, including deregulation of the TGF-β signaling pathway. Treatment with Vactosertib, a new small molecule inhibitor of the TGF-β type I receptor (activin receptor-like kinase-5, ALK5), completely abrogated lung metastasis, primarily originating from LAMC2-expressing cells.
CONCLUSIONS: We have identified a highly metastatic subpopulation of TICs marked by LAMC2. Strategies aimed at targeting the LAMC2 population may be effective in reducing tumor aggressiveness in PDAC patients. Our results prompt further study of this TIC population in pancreatic cancer and exploration as a potential therapeutic target and/or biomarker.

Keywords:  Laminin γ2 (LAMC2); Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); TGF-β signaling; Tumor-initiating cells (TICs); Vactosertib

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-022-02516-w
Cancer Res. 2022 Oct 28. OF1-OF14

KDM6A Loss Recruits Tumor-Associated Neutrophils and Promotes Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation in Pancreatic Cancer.

Jing Yang, Lin Jin, Hong Sun Kim, Feng Tian, Zhujun Yi, Karan Bedi, Mats Ljungman, Marina Pasca di Magliano, Howard Crawford, Jiaqi Shi.

Lysine (K)-specific demethylase 6A (KDM6A) is a frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the impact of KDM6A loss on the PDAC tumor immune microenvironment is not known. This study used a genetically engineered, pancreas-specific Kdm6a knockout (KO) PDAC mouse model and human PDAC tissue samples to demonstrate that KDM6A loss correlates with increased tumor-associated neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) formation, which are known to contribute to PDAC progression. Genome-wide bromouridine sequencing analysis to evaluate nascent RNA synthesis showed that the expression of many chemotactic cytokines, especially CXC motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1), was upregulated in KDM6A KO PDAC cells. KDM6A-deficient PDAC cells secreted higher levels of CXCL1 protein, which in turn recruited neutrophils. Furthermore, in a syngeneic orthotopic mouse model, treatment with a CXCL1 neutralizing antibody blocked the chemotactic and NET-promoting properties of KDM6A-deficient PDAC cells and suppressed tumor growth, confirming CXCL1 as a key mediator of chemotaxis and PDAC growth driven by KDM6A loss. These findings shed light on how KDM6A regulates the tumor immune microenvironment and PDAC progression and suggests that the CXCL1-CXCR2 axis may be a candidate target in PDAC with KDM6A loss.
SIGNIFICANCE: KDM6A loss in pancreatic cancer cells alters the immune microenvironment by increasing CXCL1 secretion and neutrophil recruitment, providing a rationale for targeting the CXCL1-CXCR2 signaling axis in tumors with low KDM6A.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-0968
Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 25. 13(1): 6237

Cell-specific bioorthogonal tagging of glycoproteins.

Anna Cioce, Beatriz Calle, Tatiana Rizou, Sarah C Lowery, Victoria L Bridgeman, Keira E Mahoney, Andrea Marchesi, Ganka Bineva-Todd, Helen Flynn, Zhen Li, Omur Y Tastan, Chloe Roustan, Pablo Soro-Barrio, Mahmoud-Reza Rafiee, Acely Garza-Garcia, Aristotelis Antonopoulos, Thomas M Wood, Tessa Keenan, Peter Both, Kun Huang, Fabio Parmeggian, Ambrosius P Snijders, Mark Skehel, Svend Kjær, Martin A Fascione, Carolyn R Bertozzi, Stuart M Haslam, Sabine L Flitsch, Stacy A Malaker, Ilaria Malanchi, Benjamin Schumann.

Altered glycoprotein expression is an undisputed corollary of cancer development. Understanding these alterations is paramount but hampered by limitations underlying cellular model systems. For instance, the intricate interactions between tumour and host cannot be adequately recapitulated in monoculture of tumour-derived cell lines. More complex co-culture models usually rely on sorting procedures for proteome analyses and rarely capture the details of protein glycosylation. Here, we report a strategy termed Bio-Orthogonal Cell line-specific Tagging of Glycoproteins (BOCTAG). Cells are equipped by transfection with an artificial biosynthetic pathway that transforms bioorthogonally tagged sugars into the corresponding nucleotide-sugars. Only transfected cells incorporate bioorthogonal tags into glycoproteins in the presence of non-transfected cells. We employ BOCTAG as an imaging technique and to annotate cell-specific glycosylation sites in mass spectrometry-glycoproteomics. We demonstrate application in co-culture and mouse models, allowing for profiling of the glycoproteome as an important modulator of cellular function.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33854-0
J Clin Invest. 2022 Oct 25. pii: e151604. [Epub ahead of print]

3D imaging analysis on an organoid-based platform guides personalized treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Ya'an Kang, Jenying Deng, Jianhua Ling, Xinqun Li, Yi-Ju Chiang, Eugene J Koay, Huamin Wang, Jared K Burks, Paul J Chiao, Mark W Hurd, Manoop S Bhutani, Jeffrey H Lee, Brian R Weston, Anirban Maitra, Naruhiko Ikoma, Ching-Wei D Tzeng, Jeffrey E Lee, Ronald A DePinho, Robert A Wolff, Shubham Pant, Florencia McAllister, Matthew Hg Katz, Jason B Fleming, Michael P Kim.

   BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies with unpredictable responses to chemotherapy. Approaches to assay patient tumors before treatment and identify effective treatment regimens based on tumor sensitivities are lacking. We developed an organoid-based platform (OBP) to visually quantify patient derived organoid (PDO) responses to drug treatments and associated tumor-stromal modulation for personalized PDAC therapy.
METHODS: We retrospectively quantified apoptotic responses and tumor-stromal cell proportions in patient-derived organoids (PDOs) via 3D immunofluorescence imaging through annexin A5, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) levels. Simultaneously, an ex vivo organoid drug sensitivity assay (ODSA) was used to measure responses to standard of care (SOC) regimens. Differences between ODSA results and patient tumor responses were assessed by exact McNemar test.
RESULTS: Immunofluorescent signals, organoid growth curves, and Ki-67 levels were measured and authenticated through the OBP for up to 14 days. ODSA drug responses were not different from patient tumor responses as reflected by CA19-9 reductions following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.99). PDOs demonstrated unique apoptotic and tumor-stromal modulation profiles (P < 0.0001). α-SMA/CK-19 ratio levels > 1.0 were associated with improved outcomes (P = 0.0179), and longer parental patient survival by Kaplan-Meier analysis (P = 0.0046).
CONCLUSION: Heterogenous apoptotic drug responses and tumor-stromal modulation are present in PDOs after SOC chemotherapy. Ratios of α-SMA and CK-19 levels in PDOs are associated with patient survival and the OBP could aid in the selection of personalized therapies to improve the efficacy of systemic therapy in PDAC patients.

Keywords:  Cancer; Development

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI151604
Cell. 2022 Oct 20. pii: S0092-8674(22)01321-6. [Epub ahead of print]

Systemic vaccination induces CD8+ T cells and remodels the tumor microenvironment.

Faezzah Baharom, Ramiro A Ramirez-Valdez, Ahad Khalilnezhad, Shabnam Khalilnezhad, Marlon Dillon, Dalton Hermans, Sloane Fussell, Kennedy K S Tobin, Charles-Antoine Dutertre, Geoffrey M Lynn, Sören Müller, Florent Ginhoux, Andrew S Ishizuka, Robert A Seder.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines are designed to increase tumor-specific T cell immunity. However, suppressive mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment (TME) may limit T cell function. Here, we assessed how the route of vaccination alters intratumoral myeloid cells. Using a self-assembling nanoparticle vaccine that links tumor antigen peptides to a Toll-like receptor 7/8 agonist (SNP-7/8a), we treated tumor-bearing mice subcutaneously (SNP-SC) or intravenously (SNP-IV). Both routes generated antigen-specific CD8+ T cells that infiltrated tumors. However, only SNP-IV mediated tumor regression, dependent on systemic type I interferon at the time of boost. Single-cell RNA-sequencing revealed that intratumoral monocytes expressing an immunoregulatory gene signature (Chil3, Anxa2, Wfdc17) were reduced after SNP-IV boost. In humans, the Chil3+ monocyte gene signature is enriched in CD16- monocytes and associated with worse outcomes. Our results show that the generation of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells combined with remodeling of the TME is a promising approach for tumor immunotherapy.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.10.006
Cell Death Dis. 2022 Oct 25. 13(10): 897

Cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Tianyi Zhang, Yanxian Ren, Pengfei Yang, Jufang Wang, Heng Zhou.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer with a prominent extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and poor prognosis. High levels of ECM proteins derived from tumour cells reduce the efficacy of conventional cancer treatment paradigms and contribute to tumour progression and metastasis. As abundant tumour-promoting cells in the ECM, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are promising targets for novel anti-tumour interventions. Nonetheless, related clinical trials are hampered by the lack of specific markers and elusive differences between CAF subtypes. Here, we review the origins and functional diversity of CAFs and show how they create a tumour-promoting milieu, focusing on the crosstalk between CAFs, tumour cells, and immune cells in the tumour microenvironment. Furthermore, relevant clinical advances and potential therapeutic strategies relating to CAFs are discussed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-05351-1
J Biol Chem. 2022 Oct 25. pii: S0021-9258(22)01084-5. [Epub ahead of print] 102641

A method for the isolation and characterization of autophagic bodies from yeast provides a key tool to investigate cargos of autophagy.

Tomoko Kawamata, Shiho Makino, Yoko Kagohashi, Michiko Sasaki, Yoshinori Ohsumi.

  Autophagy is a major cellular degradation pathway that is highly conserved among eukaryotes. The identification of cargos captured by autophagosomes is critical to our understanding of the physiological significance of autophagy in cells, but these studies can be challenging because autophagosomes disintegrate easily. In the yeast S. cerevisiae, cells deficient in the vacuolar lipase Atg15 accumulate autophagic bodies (ABs) within the vacuole following the induction of autophagy. As ABs contain cytosolic components including proteins, RNAs, and lipids, their purification allows the identification of material targeted by autophagy for degradation. In this study, we demonstrate a method to purify intact ABs using isolated vacuoles from atg15Δ cells. Taking advantage of the size discrepancy between the vacuoles and ABs, the vacuolar membrane was disrupted by filtration to release ABs. Filtered vacuolar lysates were subjected to density gradient centrifugation to obtain AB fractions. Purified ABs retain membrane integrity and contain autophagic cargos. This technique offers a valuable tool for the identification of the cargos of autophagy, examination of autophagic cargo selectivity, and biochemical characterization of autophagosome membranes.

Keywords:  autophagic bodies; autophagy; degradation; starvation; yeast

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102641
Sci Adv. 2022 Oct 28. 8(43): eabo1304

Ribosome changes reprogram translation for chemosurvival in G0 leukemic cells.

Chandreyee Datta, Samuel S Truesdell, Keith Q Wu, Syed I A Bukhari, Harrison Ngue, Brienna Buchanan, Olivier Le Tonqueze, Sooncheol Lee, Swapna Kollu, Madeleine A Granovetter, Myriam Boukhali, Johannes Kreuzer, Maheen S Batool, Leonora Balaj, Wilhelm Haas, Shobha Vasudevan.

Quiescent leukemic cells survive chemotherapy, with translation changes. Our data reveal that FXR1, a protein amplified in several aggressive cancers, is elevated in quiescent and chemo-treated leukemic cells and promotes chemosurvival. This suggests undiscovered roles for this RNA- and ribosome-associated protein in chemosurvival. We find that FXR1 depletion reduces translation, with altered rRNAs, snoRNAs, and ribosomal proteins (RPs). FXR1 regulates factors that promote transcription and processing of ribosomal genes and snoRNAs. Ribosome changes in FXR1-overexpressing cells, including RPLP0/uL10 levels, activate eIF2α kinases. Accordingly, phospho-eIF2α increases, enabling selective translation of survival and immune regulators in FXR1-overexpressing cells. Overriding these genes or phospho-eIF2α with inhibitors reduces chemosurvival. Thus, elevated FXR1 in quiescent or chemo-treated leukemic cells alters ribosomes that trigger stress signals to redirect translation for chemosurvival.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo1304
J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2022 Oct 27.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced hypothalamic inflammation in cancer cachexia-anorexia is amplified by tumour-derived prostaglandin E2.

Xiaolin Li, Tosca Holtrop, Fleur A C Jansen, Brennan Olson, Pete Levasseur, Xinxia Zhu, Mieke Poland, Winni Schalwijk, Renger F Witkamp, Daniel L Marks, Klaske van Norren.

   BACKGROUND: Cachexia-anorexia syndrome is a complex metabolic condition characterized by skeletal muscle wasting, reduced food intake and prominent involvement of systemic and central inflammation. Here, the gut barrier function was investigated in pancreatic cancer-induced cachexia mouse models by relating intestinal permeability to the degree of cachexia. We further investigated the involvement of the gut-brain axis and the crosstalk between tumour, gut and hypothalamus in vitro.
METHODS: Two distinct mouse models of pancreatic cancer cachexia (KPC and 4662) were used. Intestinal inflammation and permeability were assessed through fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and hypothalamic and systemic inflammation through mRNA expression and plasma cytokines, respectively. To simulate the tumour-gut-brain crosstalk, hypothalamic (HypoE-N46) cells were incubated with cachexia-inducing tumour secretomes and LPS. A synthetic mimic of C26 secretome was produced based on its secreted inflammatory mediators. Each component of the mimic was systematically omitted to narrow down the key mediator(s) with an amplifying inflammation. To substantiate its contribution, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor was used.
RESULTS: In vivo experiments showed FITC-dextran was enhanced in the KPC group (362.3 vs. sham 111.4 ng/mL, P < 0.001). LPS was increased to 140.9 ng/mL in the KPC group, compared with sham and 4662 groups (115.8 and 115.8 ng/mL, P < 0.05). Hypothalamic inflammatory gene expression of Ccl2 was up-regulated in the KPC group (6.3 vs. sham 1, P < 0.0001, 4662 1.3, P < 0.001), which significantly correlated with LPS concentration (r = 0.4948, P = 0.0226). These data suggest that intestinal permeability is positively related to the cachexic degree. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was confirmed to be present in the plasma and PGE2 concentration (log10) in the KPC group was much higher than in 4662 group (1.85 and 0.56 ng/mL, P < 0.001), indicating a role for PGE2 in pancreatic cancer-induced cachexia. Parallel to in vivo findings, in vitro experiments revealed that the cachexia-inducing tumour secretomes (C26, LLC, KPC and 4662) amplified LPS-induced hypothalamic IL-6 secretion (419%, 321%, 294%, 160%). COX-2 inhibitor to the tumour cells reduced PGE2 content (from 105 to 102 pg/mL) in the secretomes and eliminated the amplified hypothalamic IL-6 production. Moreover, results could be reproduced by addition of PGE2 alone, indicating that the increased hypothalamic inflammation is directly related to the PGE2 from tumour.
CONCLUSIONS: PGE2 secreted by the tumour may play a role in amplifying the effects of bacteria-derived LPS on the inflammatory hypothalamic response. The cachexia-inducing potential of tumour mice models parallels the loss of intestinal barrier function. Tumour-derived PGE2 might play a key role in cancer-related cachexia-anorexia syndrome via tumour-gut-brain crosstalk.

Keywords:  Cachexia; Cancer; Gut-brain axis; Hypothalamic inflammation; Prostaglandin

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13093
Trends Biochem Sci. 2022 Oct 21. pii: S0968-0004(22)00271-7. [Epub ahead of print]

Digest it all: the lysosomal turnover of cytoplasmic aggregates.

Mario Mauthe, Harm H Kampinga, Mark S Hipp, Fulvio Reggiori.

  Aggrephagy describes the selective lysosomal transport and turnover of cytoplasmic protein aggregates by macro-autophagy. In this process, protein aggregates and conglomerates are polyubiquitinated and then sequestered by autophagosomes. Soluble selective autophagy receptors (SARs) are central to aggrephagy and physically bind to both ubiquitin and the autophagy machinery, thus linking the cargo to the forming autophagosomal membrane. Because the accumulation of protein aggregates is associated with cytotoxicity in several diseases, a better molecular understanding of aggrephagy might provide a conceptual framework to develop therapeutic strategies aimed at delaying the onset of these pathologies by preventing the buildup of potentially toxic aggregates. We review recent advances in our knowledge about the mechanism of aggrephagy.

Keywords:  cellular protein quality control; chaperone-mediated autophagy; macro-autophagy; micro-autophagy; p62 bodies; selective autophagy receptors

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2022.09.012
Nat Methods. 2022 Oct 24.

CODA: quantitative 3D reconstruction of large tissues at cellular resolution.

Ashley L Kiemen, Alicia M Braxton, Mia P Grahn, Kyu Sang Han, Jaanvi Mahesh Babu, Rebecca Reichel, Ann C Jiang, Bridgette Kim, Jocelyn Hsu, Falone Amoa, Sashank Reddy, Seung-Mo Hong, Toby C Cornish, Elizabeth D Thompson, Peng Huang, Laura D Wood, Ralph H Hruban, Denis Wirtz, Pei-Hsun Wu.

A central challenge in biology is obtaining high-content, high-resolution information while analyzing tissue samples at volumes relevant to disease progression. We address this here with CODA, a method to reconstruct exceptionally large (up to multicentimeter cubed) tissues at subcellular resolution using serially sectioned hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections. Here we demonstrate CODA's ability to reconstruct three-dimensional (3D) distinct microanatomical structures in pancreas, skin, lung and liver tissues. CODA allows creation of readily quantifiable tissue volumes amenable to biological research. As a testbed, we assess the microanatomy of the human pancreas during tumorigenesis within the branching pancreatic ductal system, labeling ten distinct structures to examine heterogeneity and structural transformation during neoplastic progression. We show that pancreatic precancerous lesions develop into distinct 3D morphological phenotypes and that pancreatic cancer tends to spread far from the bulk tumor along collagen fibers that are highly aligned to the 3D curves of ductal, lobular, vascular and neural structures. Thus, CODA establishes a means to transform broadly the structural study of human diseases through exploration of exhaustively labeled 3D microarchitecture.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01650-9
Sci Adv. 2022 Oct 28. 8(43): eabn1702

Beyond autophagy: LC3-associated phagocytosis and endocytosis.

Carolina Peña-Martinez, Alexis D Rickman, Bradlee L Heckmann.

Noncanonical functions of the autophagy machinery in pathways including LC3-associated phagocytosis and LC3-associated endocytosis have garnered increasing interest in both normal physiology and pathobiology. New discoveries over the past decade of noncanonical uses of the autophagy machinery in these distinct molecular mechanisms have led to robust investigation into the roles of single-membrane LC3 lipidation. Noncanonical autophagy pathways have now been implicated in the regulation of multiple processes ranging from debris clearance, cellular signaling, and immune regulation and inflammation. Accumulating evidence is demonstrating roles in a variety of disease states including host-pathogen responses, autoimmunity, cancer, and neurological and neurodegenerative pathologies. Here, we broadly summarize the differences in the mechanistic regulation between autophagy and LAP and LANDO and highlight some of the key roles of LAP and LANDO in innate immune function, inflammation, and disease pathology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn1702
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2022 ;pii: S1937-6448(22)00110-1. [Epub ahead of print]373 107-123

Fasting and cancer responses to therapy.

José Manuel Bravo-San Pedro, Federico Pietrocola.

  The therapeutic outcome of multiple anticancer regimens relies upon a fine balance between tumor intrinsic and host-related factors. In this context, qualitative changes in dietary composition as well as alterations in total calorie supply influence essential aspects of cancer biology, spanning from tumor initiation to metastatic spreading. On the one hand, circumstances of nutritional imbalance or excessive calorie intake promote oncogenesis, accelerate tumor progression, and hamper the efficacy of anticancer treatments. On the other hand, approaches based on bulk (e.g., fasting, fasting mimicking diets) or selective (e.g., amino acids) shortage of nutrients are currently in the spotlight for their ability to potentiate the effect of anticancer drugs. While the chemosensitizing effect of fasting has long been attributed to the overdemanding metabolic requirements of neoplastic cells, recent findings suggest that caloric restriction improves the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy by boosting anticancer immunosurveillance. Here, we provide a critical overview of current preclinical and clinical studies that address the impact of nutritional interventions on the response to cancer therapy, laying particular emphasis on fasting-related interventions.

Keywords:  Autophagy; Caloric restriction; Immunotherapy; Inflammation; Metabolism; Nutrition; Obesity

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.ircmb.2022.08.002
FEBS J. 2022 Oct 25.

Dysregulation of cellular membrane homeostasis as a crucial modulator of cancer risk.

Alfredo Erazo-Oliveras, Mónica Muñoz-Vega, Michael L Salinas, Xiaoli Wang, Robert S Chapkin.

  Cellular membranes serve as an epicenter combining extracellular and cytosolic components with membranous effectors, which together support numerous fundamental cellular signaling pathways that mediate biological responses. To execute their functions, membrane proteins, lipids and carbohydrates arrange, in a highly coordinated manner, into well-defined assemblies displaying diverse biological and biophysical characteristics that modulate several signaling events. The loss of membrane homeostasis can trigger oncogenic signaling. More recently, it has been documented that select membrane active dietaries (MADs) can reshape biological membranes and subsequently decrease cancer risk. In this review, we emphasize the significance of membrane domain structure, organization and their signaling functionalities as well as how loss of membrane homeostasis can steer aberrant signaling. Moreover, we describe in detail the complexities associated with the examination of these membrane domains and their association with cancer. Finally, we summarize the current literature on MADs and their effects on cellular membranes, including various mechanisms of dietary chemoprevention/interception and the functional links between nutritional bioactives, membrane homeostasis and cancer biology.

Keywords:  cancer therapy; chemoprevention; dietary bioactives; endomembranes; intracellular trafficking; lipid rafts; membrane order; nanoclusters; oncogenes; plasma membrane

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.16665
EMBO J. 2022 Oct 27. e110771

Phospholipid imbalance impairs autophagosome completion.

Alexandra Polyansky, Oren Shatz, Milana Fraiberg, Eyal Shimoni, Tali Dadosh, Muriel Mari, Fulvio M Reggiori, Chao Qin, Xianlin Han, Zvulun Elazar.

  Autophagy, a conserved eukaryotic intracellular catabolic pathway, maintains cell homeostasis by lysosomal degradation of cytosolic material engulfed in double membrane vesicles termed autophagosomes, which form upon sealing of single-membrane cisternae called phagophores. While the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in autophagosome biogenesis is well-studied, the roles of other phospholipids in autophagy remain rather obscure. Here we utilized budding yeast to study the contribution of phosphatidylcholine (PC) to autophagy. We reveal for the first time that genetic loss of PC biosynthesis via the CDP-DAG pathway leads to changes in lipid composition of autophagic membranes, specifically replacement of PC by phosphatidylserine (PS). This impairs closure of the autophagic membrane and autophagic flux. Consequently, we show that choline-dependent recovery of de novo PC biosynthesis via the CDP-choline pathway restores autophagosome formation and autophagic flux in PC-deficient cells. Our findings therefore implicate phospholipid metabolism in autophagosome biogenesis.

Keywords:  autophagosome biogenesis; autophagy; phagophore; phospholipids

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.2022110771
Cell. 2022 Oct 14. pii: S0092-8674(22)01254-5. [Epub ahead of print]

Spatially resolved epigenomic profiling of single cells in complex tissues.

Tian Lu, Cheen Euong Ang, Xiaowei Zhuang.

  The recent development of spatial omics methods has enabled single-cell profiling of the transcriptome and 3D genome organization with high spatial resolution. Expanding the repertoire of spatial omics tools, a spatially resolved single-cell epigenomics method will accelerate understanding of the spatial regulation of cell and tissue functions. Here, we report a method for spatially resolved epigenomic profiling of single cells using in situ tagmentation and transcription followed by multiplexed imaging. We demonstrated the ability to profile histone modifications marking active promoters, putative enhancers, and silent promoters in individual cells, and generated high-resolution spatial atlas of hundreds of active promoters and putative enhancers in embryonic and adult mouse brains. Our results suggested putative promoter-enhancer pairs and enhancer hubs regulating developmentally important genes. We envision this approach will be generally applicable to spatial profiling of epigenetic modifications and DNA-binding proteins, advancing our understanding of how gene expression is spatiotemporally regulated by the epigenome.

Keywords:  MERFISH; brain; development; enhancer; enhancer hub; enhancer-promoter interaction; epigenomic MERFISH; promoter; single-cell epigenomics; spatial epigenomic

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.035
Aging (Albany NY). 2022 Oct 25. 14(undefined):

Combining stem cell rejuvenation and senescence targeting to synergistically extend lifespan.

Prameet Kaur, Agimaa Otgonbaatar, Anupriya Ramamoorthy, Ellora Hui Zhen Chua, Nathan Harmston, Jan Gruber, Nicholas S Tolwinski.

  Why biological age is a major risk factor for many of the most important human diseases remains mysterious. We know that as organisms age, stem cell pools are exhausted while senescent cells progressively accumulate. Independently, induction of pluripotency via expression of Yamanaka factors (Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, c-Myc; OKSM) and clearance of senescent cells have each been shown to ameliorate cellular and physiological aspects of aging, suggesting that both processes are drivers of organismal aging. But stem cell exhaustion and cellular senescence likely interact in the etiology and progression of age-dependent diseases because both undermine tissue and organ homeostasis in different if not complementary ways. Here, we combine transient cellular reprogramming (stem cell rejuvenation) with targeted removal of senescent cells to test the hypothesis that simultaneously targeting both cell-fate based aging mechanisms will maximize life and health span benefits. We find that OKSM extends lifespan and show that both interventions protect the intestinal stem cell pool, lower inflammation, activate pro-stem cell signaling pathways, and synergistically improve health and lifespan. Our findings suggest that a combination therapy, simultaneously replacing lost stem cells and removing senescent cells, shows synergistic potential for anti-aging treatments. Our finding that transient expression of both is the most effective suggests that drug-based treatments in non-genetically tractable organisms will likely be the most translatable.

Keywords:  aging; senescence; stem cells

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204347
JCI Insight. 2022 Oct 27. pii: e160130. [Epub ahead of print]

Metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors manifest elevated T cell infiltration.

Jacques Greenberg, Jessica Limberg, Akanksha Verma, David Kim, Xiang Chen, Yeon J Lee, Maureen D Moore, Timothy M Ullmann, Jessica W Thiesmeyer, Zachary Loewenstein, Kevin J Chen, Caitlin E Egan, Dessislava Stefanova, Rohan Bareja, Rasa Zarnegar, Brendan M Finnerty, Theresa Scognamiglio, Yi-Chieh Nancy Du, Olivier Elemento, Thomas J Fahey Iii, Irene M Min.

  Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are malignancies arising from the islets of Langerhans. Therapeutic options are limited for the over 50% of patients who present with metastatic disease. We aimed to identify mechanisms to remodel the PNET tumor microenvironment (TME) to ultimately enhance susceptibility to immunotherapy. The TMEs of localized and metastatic PNETs were investigated using an approach that combines RNA-sequencing, cancer and T cell profiling, and pharmacologic perturbations. RNA-sequencing analysis indicated that the primary tumors of metastatic PNETs showed significant activation of inflammatory and immune-related pathways. We determined that metastatic PNETs featured increased numbers of tumor-infiltrating T cells compared to localized tumors. T cells isolated from both localized and metastatic PNETs showed evidence of recruitment and antigen-dependent activation, suggestive of an immune-permissive microenvironment. A computational analysis suggested that vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, may perturb the transcriptomic signature of metastatic PNETs. Treatment of PNET cell lines with vorinostat increased chemokine CCR5 expression by NF-κB activation. Vorinostat treatment of patient-derived metastatic PNET tissues augmented recruitment of autologous T cells, which was substantiated in a mouse model of PNET. Pharmacologic induction of chemokine expression may represent a promising approach for enhancing the immunogenicity of metastatic PNET TMEs.

Keywords:  Cancer; Cancer immunotherapy; Cellular immune response; Immunology; Therapeutics

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.160130
Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 22. 13(1): 6292

PD-L1-directed PlGF/VEGF blockade synergizes with chemotherapy by targeting CD141+ cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer.

Duk Ki Kim, Juhee Jeong, Dong Sun Lee, Do Young Hyeon, Geon Woo Park, Suwan Jeon, Kyung Bun Lee, Jin-Young Jang, Daehee Hwang, Ho Min Kim, Keehoon Jung.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a poor 5-year overall survival rate. Patients with PDAC display limited benefits after undergoing chemotherapy or immunotherapy modalities. Herein, we reveal that chemotherapy upregulates placental growth factor (PlGF), which directly activates cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) to induce fibrosis-associated collagen deposition in PDAC. Patients with poor prognosis have high PIGF/VEGF expression and an increased number of PIGF/VEGF receptor-expressing CAFs, associated with enhanced collagen deposition. We also develop a multi-paratopic VEGF decoy receptor (Ate-Grab) by fusing the single-chain Fv of atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) to VEGF-Grab to target PD-L1-expressing CAFs. Ate-Grab exerts anti-tumor and anti-fibrotic effects in PDAC models via the PD-L1-directed PlGF/VEGF blockade. Furthermore, Ate-Grab synergizes with gemcitabine by relieving desmoplasia. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies that a CD141+ CAF population is reduced upon Ate-Grab and gemcitabine combination treatment. Overall, our results elucidate the mechanism underlying chemotherapy-induced fibrosis in PDAC and highlight a combinatorial therapeutic strategy for desmoplastic cancers.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33991-6
Nat Rev Cancer. 2022 Oct 24.

3D bioprinted cancer models: from basic biology to drug development.

Lena Neufeld, Eilam Yeini, Sabina Pozzi, Ronit Satchi-Fainaro.

Effort invested in the development of new drugs often fails to be translated into meaningful clinical benefits for patients with cancer. The development of more effective anticancer therapeutics and accurate prediction of their clinical merit remain urgent unmet medical needs. As solid cancers have complex and heterogeneous structures composed of different cell types and extracellular matrices, three-dimensional (3D) cancer models hold great potential for advancing our understanding of cancer biology, which has been historically investigated in tumour cell cultures on rigid plastic plates. Advanced 3D bioprinted cancer models have the potential to revolutionize the way we discover therapeutic targets, develop new drugs and personalize anticancer therapies in an accurate, reproducible, clinically translatable and robust manner. These ex vivo cancer models are already replacing existing in vitro systems and could, in the future, diminish or even replace the use of animal models. Therefore, profound understanding of the differences in tumorigenesis between 2D, 3D and animal models of cancer is essential. This Review presents the state of the art of 3D bioprinted cancer modelling, focusing on the biological processes that underlie the molecular mechanisms involved in cancer progression and treatment response as well as on proteomic and genomic signatures.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-022-00514-w
Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 26. 13(1): 6345

Multi-omics characterization of autophagy-related molecular features for therapeutic targeting of autophagy.

Mei Luo, Lin Ye, Ruimin Chang, Youqiong Ye, Zhao Zhang, Chunjie Liu, Shengli Li, Ying Jing, Hang Ruan, Guanxiong Zhang, Yi He, Yaoming Liu, Yu Xue, Xiang Chen, An-Yuan Guo, Hong Liu, Leng Han.

Autophagy is a major contributor to anti-cancer therapy resistance. Many efforts have been made to understand and overcome autophagy-mediated therapy resistance, but these efforts have been unsuccessful in clinical applications. In this study, we establish an autophagy signature to estimate tumor autophagy status. We then classify approximately 10,000 tumor samples across 33 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas into autophagy score-high and autophagy score-low groups. We characterize the associations between multi-dimensional molecular features and tumor autophagy, and further analyse the effects of autophagy status on drug response. In contrast to the conventional view that the induction of autophagy serves as a key resistance mechanism during cancer therapy, our analysis reveals that autophagy induction may also sensitize cancer cells to anti-cancer drugs. We further experimentally validate this phenomenon for several anti-cancer drugs in vitro and in vivo, and reveal that autophagy inducers potentially sensitizes tumor cells to etoposide through downregulating the expression level of DDIT4. Our study provides a comprehensive landscape of molecular alterations associated with tumor autophagy and highlights an opportunity to leverage multi-omics analysis to utilize multiple drug sensitivity induced by autophagy.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33946-x
Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 28. 13(1): 6423

Multiciliated cells use filopodia to probe tissue mechanics during epithelial integration in vivo.

Guilherme Ventura, Aboutaleb Amiri, Raghavan Thiagarajan, Mari Tolonen, Amin Doostmohammadi, Jakub Sedzinski.

During embryonic development, regeneration, and homeostasis, cells have to migrate and physically integrate into the target tissues where they ultimately execute their function. While much is known about the biochemical pathways driving cell migration in vivo, we are only beginning to understand the mechanical interplay between migrating cells and their surrounding tissue. Here, we reveal that multiciliated cell precursors in the Xenopus embryo use filopodia to pull at the vertices of the overlying epithelial sheet. This pulling is effectively used to sense vertex stiffness and identify the preferred positions for cell integration into the tissue. Notably, we find that pulling forces equip multiciliated cells with the ability to remodel the epithelial junctions of the neighboring cells, enabling them to generate a permissive environment that facilitates integration. Our findings reveal the intricate physical crosstalk at the cell-tissue interface and uncover previously unknown functions for mechanical forces in orchestrating cell integration.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34165-0
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2022 Oct 28. pii: EPI-22-0564. [Epub ahead of print]

Diet Quality and Pancreatic Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort.

Heather Steel, Song-Yi Park, Tiffany Lim, Daniel O Stram, Carol J Boushey, James R Hébert, Loic Le Marchand, Anna H Wu, Veronica Wendy Setiawan.

BACKGROUND: Data on diet quality and pancreatic cancer are limited. We examined the relationship between diet quality, assessed by the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010), the alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED) score, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score and the energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII®), and pancreatic cancer incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort Study.
METHODS: Diet quality scores were calculated from a validated food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline. Cox models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, diabetes, family history of pancreatic cancer, physical activity, smoking variables, total energy intake, body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption. Stratified analyses by sex, race/ethnicity, smoking status and BMI were conducted.
RESULTS: Over an average follow-up of 19.3 years, 1,779 incident pancreatic cancer cases were identified among 177,313 participants (average age of 60.2 years at baseline, 1993-1996). Overall, we did not observe associations between the dietary pattern scores and pancreatic cancer (aMED: 0.98, 0.83-1.16; HEI-2015: 1.03, 0.88-1.21; AHEI-2010: 1.03, 0.88-1.20; DASH: 0.92, 0.79-1.08; E-DII: 1.05, 0.89-1.23). An inverse association was observed with DASH for ever smokers (HR: 0.75, 0.61-0.93), but not for non-smokers (HR: 1.05, 0.83-1.32).
CONCLUSION: The DASH diet showed an inverse association with pancreatic cancer among ever smokers, but does not show a protective association overall.
IMPACT: Modifiable measures are needed to reduce pancreatic cancer burden in these high-risk populations; our study adds to the discussion of the benefit of dietary changes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0564
Cancer Discov. 2022 Oct 27. pii: CD-22-0528. [Epub ahead of print]

Senescence rewires microenvironment sensing to facilitate anti-tumor immunity.

Hsuan-An Chen, Yu-Jui Ho, Riccardo Mezzadra, Jose M Adrover, Ryan Smolkin, Changyu Zhu, Katharina Woess, Nicholas Bernstein, Georgia Schmitt, Linda Fong, Wei Luan, Alexandra Wuest, Sha Tian, Xiang Li, Caroline Broderick, Ronald C Hendrickson, Mikala Egeblad, Zhenghao Chen, Direna Alonso-Curbelo, Scott W Lowe.

Cellular senescence involves a stable cell cycle arrest coupled to a secretory program that, in some instances, stimulates the immune clearance of senescent cells. Using an immune competent liver cancer model in which senescence triggers CD8 T cell-mediated tumor rejection, we show that senescence also remodels the cell surface proteome to alter how tumor cells sense environmental factors, as exemplified by Type II interferon (IFN-y). Compared to proliferating cells, senescent cells upregulate the IFN-y receptor, become hypersensitized to microenvironmental IFN-y, and more robustly induce the antigen presenting machinery--effects also recapitulated in human tumor cells undergoing therapy-induced senescence. Disruption of IFN-y sensing in senescent cells blunts their immune-mediated clearance without disabling the senescence state or its characteristic secretory program. Our results demonstrate that senescent cells have an enhanced ability to both send and receive environmental signals, and imply that each process is required for their effective immune surveillance.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-0528
Cureus. 2022 Sep;14(9): e29485

Molecular Markers of Pancreatic Cancer: A 10-Year Retrospective Review of Molecular Advances.

Boma E Jacks, Chinwendum U Ekpemiro, Adeyemi A Adeosun, Uchechukwu O Ogbonna, Faithful T Ogundiran, Funmilola Babalola, Nkemputaife P Onyechi, Olamide O Ajayi, Maureen G Boms, Adaugo N Nwanguma, Uduak A Udo, Okelue E Okobi, Evidence E Ohikhuai, Endurance O Evbayekha.

  Pancreatic cancer remains the third leading cause of death amongst men and women in the United States. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer maintains its reputation of being the most aggressive with a poor prognosis. One of the contributing factors to the high mortality of PDAC is the absence of biomarkers for early detection of disease and the complexity of tumor biology and genomics. In this review, we explored the current understanding of epigenetics and diagnostic biomarkers in PDAC and summarized recent advances in molecular biology. We discussed current guidelines on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, especially in high-risk individuals. We also reviewed studies that have touched on identifying biomarkers and the role they play in making early diagnosis although there are currently no screening tools for PDAC. We explored the recent understanding of epigenetic alterations of PDAC and the future implications for early detection and prognosis. In conclusion, the new and emerging advances in the detection and treatment of PDAC can lead to an improvement in the current outcome of PDAC.

Keywords:  biomarkers multiomics; epigenetics; molecular advances; pancreatic cancer; tumor markers

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.29485
Nature. 2022 Oct 26.

Phenotypic plasticity and genetic control in colorectal cancer evolution.

Jacob Househam, Timon Heide, George D Cresswell, Inmaculada Spiteri, Chris Kimberley, Luis Zapata, Claire Lynn, Chela James, Maximilian Mossner, Javier Fernandez-Mateos, Alessandro Vinceti, Ann-Marie Baker, Calum Gabbutt, Alison Berner, Melissa Schmidt, Bingjie Chen, Eszter Lakatos, Vinaya Gunasri, Daniel Nichol, Helena Costa, Miriam Mitchinson, Daniele Ramazzotti, Benjamin Werner, Francesco Iorio, Marnix Jansen, Giulio Caravagna, Chris P Barnes, Darryl Shibata, John Bridgewater, Manuel Rodriguez-Justo, Luca Magnani, Andrea Sottoriva, Trevor A Graham.

Genetic and epigenetic variation, together with transcriptional plasticity, contribute to intratumour heterogeneity1. The interplay of these biological processes and their respective contributions to tumour evolution remain unknown. Here we show that intratumour genetic ancestry only infrequently affects gene expression traits and subclonal evolution in colorectal cancer (CRC). Using spatially resolved paired whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing, we find that the majority of intratumour variation in gene expression is not strongly heritable but rather 'plastic'. Somatic expression quantitative trait loci analysis identified a number of putative genetic controls of expression by cis-acting coding and non-coding mutations, the majority of which were clonal within a tumour, alongside frequent structural alterations. Consistently, computational inference on the spatial patterning of tumour phylogenies finds that a considerable proportion of CRCs did not show evidence of subclonal selection, with only a subset of putative genetic drivers associated with subclone expansions. Spatial intermixing of clones is common, with some tumours growing exponentially and others only at the periphery. Together, our data suggest that most genetic intratumour variation in CRC has no major phenotypic consequence and that transcriptional plasticity is, instead, widespread within a tumour.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05311-x
Mol Biol Cell. 2022 Oct 26. mbcE22030092

Novel cryo-tomography workflow reveals nanometer-scale responses of epithelial cells to matrix stiffness and dimensionality.

Guido Gaietta, Fuiboon Kai, Mark F Swift, Valerie M Weaver, Niels Volkmann, Dorit Hanein.

Matrix stiffness and dimensionality were shown to be major determinants of cell behavior. However, a workflow for examining nanometer-scale responses of the associated molecular machinery is not available. Here, we describe a comprehensive, quantitative workflow that permits the analysis of cells responding to mechanical and dimensionality cues by cryogenic electron-tomography, in their native state at nanometer scale. Using this approach, we quantified distinct cytoskeletal nanoarchitectures and vesicle phenotypes induced in human mammary epithelial cells in response to stiffness and dimensionality of reconstituted basement membrane. Our workflow closely recapitulates the microenvironment associated with acinar morphogenesis and identified distinct differences in-situ at nanometer scale. Using drug treatment, we showed that molecular events and nanometer-scale rearrangements triggered by engagement of apical cell receptors with reconstituted basement membrane correspond to changes induced by reduction of cortical tension. Our approach is fully adaptable to any kind of stiffness regime, extracellular matrix composition, and drug treatment.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E22-03-0092
Cell Chem Biol. 2022 Oct 24. pii: S2451-9456(22)00360-9. [Epub ahead of print]

Ferroptosis inhibition by lysosome-dependent catabolism of extracellular protein.

David A Armenta, Nouf N Laqtom, Grace Alchemy, Wentao Dong, Danielle Morrow, Carson D Poltorack, David A Nathanson, Monther Abu-Remalieh, Scott J Dixon.

  Cancer cells need a steady supply of nutrients to evade cell death and proliferate. Depriving cancer cells of the amino acid cystine can trigger the non-apoptotic cell death process of ferroptosis. Here, we report that cancer cells can evade cystine deprivation-induced ferroptosis by uptake and catabolism of the cysteine-rich extracellular protein albumin. This protective mechanism is enhanced by mTORC1 inhibition and involves albumin degradation in the lysosome, predominantly by cathepsin B (CTSB). CTSB-dependent albumin breakdown followed by export of cystine from the lysosome via the transporter cystinosin fuels the synthesis of glutathione, which suppresses lethal lipid peroxidation. When cancer cells are grown under non-adherent conditions as spheroids, mTORC1 pathway activity is reduced, and albumin supplementation alone affords considerable protection against ferroptosis. These results identify the catabolism of extracellular protein within the lysosome as a mechanism that can inhibit ferroptosis in cancer cells.

Keywords:  ROS; albumin; cancer; cathepsin; cell death; cysteine; ferroptosis; glutathione; lysosome; mTOR

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.10.006
J Cell Biol. 2022 Dec 05. pii: e202207022. [Epub ahead of print]221(12):

Mitoguardin-2-mediated lipid transfer preserves mitochondrial morphology and lipid droplet formation.

Zhouping Hong, Jyoti Adlakha, Neng Wan, Emily Guinn, Fabian Giska, Kallol Gupta, Thomas J Melia, Karin M Reinisch.

Lipid transport proteins at membrane contacts, where organelles are closely apposed, are critical in redistributing lipids from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where they are made, to other cellular membranes. Such protein-mediated transfer is especially important for maintaining organelles disconnected from secretory pathways, like mitochondria. We identify mitoguardin-2, a mitochondrial protein at contacts with the ER and/or lipid droplets (LDs), as a lipid transporter. An x-ray structure shows that the C-terminal domain of mitoguardin-2 has a hydrophobic cavity that binds lipids. Mass spectrometry analysis reveals that both glycerophospholipids and free-fatty acids co-purify with mitoguardin-2 from cells, and that each mitoguardin-2 can accommodate up to two lipids. Mitoguardin-2 transfers glycerophospholipids between membranes in vitro, and this transport ability is required for roles both in mitochondrial and LD biology. While it is not established that protein-mediated transfer at contacts plays a role in LD metabolism, our findings raise the possibility that mitoguardin-2 functions in transporting fatty acids and glycerophospholipids at mitochondria-LD contacts.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202207022