bims-tucedo Biomed News
on Tumor cell dormancy
Issue of 2021‒05‒30
twenty-five papers selected by
Isabel Puig Borreil
Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology
  1. A novel CXCR4 antagonist counteracts paradoxical generation of cisplatin-induced pro-metastatic niches in lung cancer.
  2. Phenotypic plasticity underlies local invasion and distant metastasis in colon cancer.
  3. EYA2 suppresses the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via SOCS3-mediated blockade of JAK/STAT signaling.
  4. Pancreatic cancer intrinsic PI3Kα activity accelerates metastasis and rewires macrophage component.
  5. Nanoparticle-mediated convection-enhanced delivery of a DNA intercalator to gliomas circumvents temozolomide resistance.
  6. Dynamic BH3 profiling method for rapid identification of active therapy in BH3 mimetics resistant xenograft mouse models.
  7. Contacts with macrophages promote an aggressive nanomechanical phenotype of circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer.
  8. Contractility, focal adhesion orientation, and stress fiber orientation drive cancer cell polarity and migration along wavy ECM substrates.
  9. Single cell characterization of the immune microenvironment of melanoma brain and leptomeningeal metastases.
  10. LSD1 and aberrant DNA methylation mediate persistence of enteroendocrine progenitors that support BRAF mutant colorectal cancer.
  11. Epigenetic induction of mitochondrial fission is required for maintenance of liver cancer initiating cells.
  12. Tumor resistance to ferroptosis driven by Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase-1 (SCD1) in cancer cells and Fatty Acid Biding Protein-4 (FABP4) in tumor microenvironment promote tumor recurrence.
  13. In vivo genome-wide CRISPR screen reveals breast cancer vulnerabilities and synergistic mTOR/Hippo targeted combination therapy.
  14. HYAL4-V1/Chondroitinase (Chase) Drives Gemcitabine Resistance and Predicts Chemotherapy Failure in Patients with Bladder Cancer.
  15. Breast cancer dormancy: need for clinically relevant models to address current gaps in knowledge.
  16. Studying PAR-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling to Tackle PARPi Resistance.
  17. Cell-free DNA captures tumor heterogeneity and driver alterations in rapid autopsies with pre-treated metastatic cancer.
  18. A new KSRP-binding compound suppresses distant metastasis of colorectal cancer by targeting the oncogenic KITENIN complex.
  19. Netrin-4 regulates stiffness and metastasis.
  20. Hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase blockade reverses prostate cancer drug resistance in xenograft models by glucocorticoid inactivation.
  21. Hunger Brings Down the Tumor Fort.
  22. Transcriptome Analysis Predicts Treatment Response.
  23. ULK1 Inhibition Restores Antigen Presentation in LKB1-Mutant Lung Cancer.
  24. A Murine Bone Metastasis Model Using Caudal Artery Injection and Bioluminescence Imaging.
  25. Breast cancer has a new metabolic Achilles' heel.
  1. Mol Ther. 2021 May 20. pii: S1525-0016(21)00266-5. [Epub ahead of print]
    A novel CXCR4 antagonist counteracts paradoxical generation of cisplatin-induced pro-metastatic niches in lung cancer.
    Giulia Bertolini, Valeria Cancila, Massimo Milione, Giuseppe Lo Russo, Orazio Fortunato, Nadia Zaffaroni, Monica Tortoreto, Giovanni Centonze, Claudia Chiodoni, Federica Facchinetti, Giuliana Pollaci, Giulia Taiè, Francesca Giovinazzo, Massimo Moro, Chiara Camisaschi, Alessandro De Toma, Crescenzo D'Alterio, Ugo Pastorino, Claudio Tripodo, Stefania Scala, Gabriella Sozzi, Luca Roz.
      Platinum-based chemotherapy remains widely used in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) despite experimental evidence of its potential to induce long-term detrimental effects, including the promotion of pro-metastatic microenvironments. Here, we investigated the interconnected pathways underlying the promotion of cisplatin-induced metastases. In tumor-free mice, cisplatin treatment resulted in an expansion in the bone-marrow of CCR2+CXCR4+Ly6Chigh inflammatory monocytes (IM) and an increase in lung levels of stromal SDF-1, the CXCR4 ligand. In experimental lung metastasis assays, cisplatin-induced IM promoted the extravasation of tumor cells and the expansion of CD133+CXCR4+ metastasis initiating cells (MICs). Peptide R, a novel CXCR4 inhibitor designed as an SDF-1 mimetic peptide, prevented cisplatin-induced IM expansion, their recruitment into the lungs and the promotion of metastasis. At the primary tumor site, cisplatin treatment reduced tumor size while simultaneously inducing tumor release of SDF-1, MICs expansion and recruitment of pro-invasive CXCR4+ macrophages. Co-recruitment of MICs and CCR2+CXCR4+ IM to distant SDF-1-enriched sites also promoted spontaneous metastases that were prevented by CXCR4 blockade. In clinical specimens from NSCLC patients SDF-1 levels were found to be higher in platinum-treated samples and related to a worse clinical outcome. Our findings reveal that activation of the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis specifically mediates the pro-metastatic effects of cisplatin and suggest CXCR4 blockade as a possible novel combination strategy to control metastatic disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.05.014
  2. Elife. 2021 May 26. pii: e61461. [Epub ahead of print]10
    Phenotypic plasticity underlies local invasion and distant metastasis in colon cancer.
    Andrea Sacchetti, Miriam Teeuwssen, Mathijs Verhagen, Rosalie Joosten, Tong Xu, Roberto Stabile, Berdine van der Steen, Martin M Watson, Alem Gusinac, Won Kyu Kim, Inge Ubink, Harmen Jg Van de Werken, Arianna Fumagalli, Madelon Paauwe, Jacco Van Rheenen, Owen J Sansom, Onno Kranenburg, Riccardo Fodde.
      Phenotypic plasticity represents the most relevant hallmark of the carcinoma cell as it bestows it with the capacity of transiently altering its morphologic and functional features while en route to the metastatic site. However, the study of phenotypic plasticity is hindered by the rarity of these events within primary lesions and by the lack of experimental models. Here, we identified a subpopulation of phenotypic plastic colon cancer cells: EpCAMlo cells are motile, invasive, chemo-resistant, and highly metastatic. EpCAMlo bulk and single-cell RNAseq analysis indicated 1. enhanced Wnt/b-catenin signaling, 2. a broad spectrum of degrees of EMT activation including hybrid E/M states (partial EMT) with highly plastic features, and 3. high correlation with the CMS4 subtype, accounting for colon cancer cases with poor prognosis and a pronounced stromal component. Of note, a signature of genes specifically expressed in EpCAMlo cancer cells is highly predictive of overall survival in tumors other than CMS4, thus highlighting the relevance of quasi-mesenchymal tumor cells across the spectrum of colon cancers. Enhanced Wnt and the downstream EMT activation represent key events in eliciting phenotypic plasticity along the invasive front of primary colon carcinomas. Distinct sets of epithelial and mesenchymal genes define transcriptional trajectories through which state transitions arise. pEMT cells, often earmarked by the extracellular matrix glycoprotein SPARC together with nuclear ZEB1 and b-catenin along the invasive front of primary colon carcinomas, are predicted to represent the origin of these (de)differentiation routes through biologically-distinct cellular states, and to underlie the phenotypic plasticity of colon cancer cells.
    Keywords:  cancer biology; human
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.61461
  3. Mol Cancer. 2021 May 27. 20(1): 79
    EYA2 suppresses the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via SOCS3-mediated blockade of JAK/STAT signaling.
    Ze-Kun Liu, Can Li, Ren-Yu Zhang, Ding Wei, Yu-Kui Shang, Yu-Le Yong, Ling-Min Kong, Nai-Shan Zheng, Ke Liu, Meng Lu, Man Liu, Cai-Xia Hu, Xiao-Zhen Yang, Zhi-Nan Chen, Huijie Bian.
      BACKGROUND: Somatic mutations are involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, but the genetic mechanism associated to hepatocarcinogenesis remains poorly understood. We report that Eyes absent homolog 2 (EYA2) suppresses the HCC progression, while EYA2(A510E) mutation identified by exome sequencing attenuates the tumor-inhibiting effect of EYA2.METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing was performed on six pairs of human HCC primary tumors and matched adjacent tissues. Focusing on EYA2, expression level of EYA2 in human HCC samples was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Loss- and gain-of-function studies, hepatocyte-specific deletion of EYA2 (Eya2-/-) in mice and RNA sequencing analysis were used to explore the functional effect and mechanism of EYA2 on HCC cell growth and metastasis. EYA2 methylation status was evaluated using Sequenom MassARRAY and publicly available data analysis.
    RESULTS: A new somatic mutation p.Ala510Glu of EYA2 was identified in HCC tissues. The expression of EYA2 was down-regulated in HCC and associated with tumor size (P = 0.001), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage (P = 0.016) and tumor differentiation (P = 0.048). High level of EYA2 was correlated with a favorable prognosis in HCC patients (P = 0.003). Results from loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments suggested that knockdown of EYA2 enhanced, while overexpression of EYA2 attenuated, the proliferation, clone formation, invasion, and migration of HCC cells in vitro. Delivery of EYA2 gene had a therapeutic effect on inhibition of orthotopic liver tumor in nude mice. However, EYA2(A510E) mutation led to protein degradation by unfolded protein response, thus weakening the inhibitory function of EYA2. Hepatocyte-specific deletion of EYA2 in mice dramatically promoted diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC development. EYA2 was also down-regulated in HCC by aberrant CpG methylation. Mechanically, EYA2 combined with DACH1 to transcriptionally regulate SOCS3 expression, thus suppressing the progression of HCC via SOCS3-mediated blockade of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.
    CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we identified and validated EYA2 as a tumor suppressor gene in HCC, providing a new insight into HCC pathogenesis.
    Keywords:  Eyes absent homolog 2; JAK/STAT signaling pathway; Somatic mutation; Tumor suppressor gene; Unfolded protein response; Whole-exome sequencing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-021-01377-9
  4. EMBO Mol Med. 2021 May 25. e13502
    Pancreatic cancer intrinsic PI3Kα activity accelerates metastasis and rewires macrophage component.
    Benoit Thibault, Fernanda Ramos-Delgado, Elvire Pons-Tostivint, Nicole Therville, Celia Cintas, Silvia Arcucci, Stephanie Cassant-Sourdy, Gabriela Reyes-Castellanos, Marie Tosolini, Amelie V Villard, Coralie Cayron, Romain Baer, Justine Bertrand-Michel, Delphine Pagan, Dina Ferreira Da Mota, Hongkai Yan, Chiara Falcomatà, Fabrice Muscari, Barbara Bournet, Jean-Pierre Delord, Ezra Aksoy, Alice Carrier, Pierre Cordelier, Dieter Saur, Celine Basset, Julie Guillermet-Guibert.
      Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients frequently suffer from undetected micro-metastatic disease. This clinical situation would greatly benefit from additional investigation. Therefore, we set out to identify key signalling events that drive metastatic evolution from the pancreas. We searched for a gene signature that discriminate localised PDAC from confirmed metastatic PDAC and devised a preclinical protocol using circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as an early biomarker of micro-metastatic disease to validate the identification of key signalling events. An unbiased approach identified, amongst actionable markers of disease progression, the PI3K pathway and a distinctive PI3Kα activation signature as predictive of PDAC aggressiveness and prognosis. Pharmacological or tumour-restricted genetic PI3Kα-selective inhibition prevented macro-metastatic evolution by hindering tumoural cell migratory behaviour independently of genetic alterations. We found that PI3Kα inhibition altered the quantity and the species composition of the produced lipid second messenger PIP3 , with a selective decrease of C36:2 PI-3,4,5-P3 . Tumoural PI3Kα inactivation prevented the accumulation of pro-tumoural CD206-positive macrophages in the tumour-adjacent tissue. Tumour cell-intrinsic PI3Kα promotes pro-metastatic features that could be pharmacologically targeted to delay macro-metastatic evolution.
    Keywords:  PI3K isoforms; pancreatic cancer; phosphoinositide; targeted therapy; tumour-stroma dialog
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15252/emmm.202013502
  5. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 May 27.
    Nanoparticle-mediated convection-enhanced delivery of a DNA intercalator to gliomas circumvents temozolomide resistance.
    Yongheng Wang, Yuhang Jiang, Dengshuai Wei, Priya Singh, Yingjie Yu, Teresa Lee, Lingpu Zhang, Hanna K Mandl, Alexandra S Piotrowski-Daspit, Xinyuan Chen, Fan Li, Xing Li, Yiyu Cheng, Alexander Josowitz, Fan Yang, Yao Zhao, Fuyi Wang, Zhenwen Zhao, Anita Huttner, Ranjit S Bindra, Haihua Xiao, W Mark Saltzman.
      In patients with glioblastoma, resistance to the chemotherapeutic temozolomide (TMZ) limits any survival benefits conferred by the drug. Here we show that the convection-enhanced delivery of nanoparticles containing disulfide bonds (which are cleaved in the reductive environment of the tumour) and encapsulating an oxaliplatin prodrug and a cationic DNA intercalator inhibit the growth of TMZ-resistant cells from patient-derived xenografts, and hinder the progression of TMZ-resistant human glioblastoma tumours in mice without causing any detectable toxicity. Genome-wide RNA profiling and metabolomic analyses of a glioma cell line treated with the cationic intercalator or with TMZ showed substantial differences in the signalling and metabolic pathways altered by each drug. Our findings suggest that the combination of anticancer drugs with distinct mechanisms of action with selective drug release and convection-enhanced delivery may represent a translational strategy for the treatment of TMZ-resistant gliomas.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00728-7
  6. STAR Protoc. 2021 Jun 18. 2(2): 100461
    Dynamic BH3 profiling method for rapid identification of active therapy in BH3 mimetics resistant xenograft mouse models.
    Elyse A Olesinski, Shruti Bhatt.
      The clinical effectiveness of BH3 mimetics therapy is limited by the inevitable emergence of acquired resistance. We present a protocol to model in vivo acquired resistance to BH3 mimetics in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models of acute myeloid leukemia. Using resistant PDXs as a valuable model, we next introduce a protocol for dynamic BH3 profiling (DBP) method. DBP allows functional identification of effective drug therapies based on measurements of drug-induced apoptosis signaling to overcome in vivo BH3 mimetics resistance. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Bhatt et al. (2020).
    Keywords:  Cancer; Cell isolation; Flow Cytometry/Mass Cytometry; Model Organisms
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100461
  7. Cancer Res. 2021 May 27. pii: canres.3595.2020. [Epub ahead of print]
    Contacts with macrophages promote an aggressive nanomechanical phenotype of circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer.
    Pawel A Osmulski, Alessandra Cunsolo, Meizhen Chen, Yusheng Qian, Chun-Lin Lin, Chia-Nung Hung, Devalingam Mahalingam, Nameer B Kirma, Chun-Liang Chen, Josephine A Taverna, Michael A Liss, Ian M Thompson, Tim H-M Huang, Maria E Gaczynska.
      Aggressive tumors of epithelial origin shed cells that intravasate and become circulating tumor cells (CTC). The CTCs that are able to survive the stresses encountered in the bloodstream can then seed metastases. We demonstrated previously that CTCs isolated from the blood of prostate cancer patients display specific nanomechanical phenotypes characteristic of cell endurance and invasiveness and patient sensitivity to androgen deprivation therapy. Here we report that patient-isolated CTCs are nanomechanically distinct from cells randomly shed from the tumor, with high adhesion as the most distinguishing biophysical marker. CTCs uniquely co-isolated with macrophage-like cells bearing the markers of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM). The presence of these immune cells was indicative of a survival-promoting phenotype of "mechanical fitness" in CTCs based on high softness and high adhesion as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Correlations between enumeration of macrophages and mechanical fitness of CTCs were strong in patients before the start of hormonal therapy. Single-cell proteomic analysis and nanomechanical phenotyping of tumor cell-macrophage co-cultures revealed that macrophages promoted epithelial (E) -mesenchymal (M) plasticity in prostate cancer cells manifesting in their mechanical fitness. The resulting softness and adhesiveness of the mechanically fit CTCs confer resistance to shear stress and enable protective cell clustering. These findings suggest that selected tumor cells are coached by TAMs and accompanied by them to acquire intermediate E/M status, thereby facilitating survival during the critical early stage leading to metastasis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3595
  8. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jun 01. pii: e2021135118. [Epub ahead of print]118(22):
    Contractility, focal adhesion orientation, and stress fiber orientation drive cancer cell polarity and migration along wavy ECM substrates.
    Robert S Fischer, Xiaoyu Sun, Michelle A Baird, Matt J Hourwitz, Bo Ri Seo, Ana M Pasapera, Shalin B Mehta, Wolfgang Losert, Claudia Fischbach, John T Fourkas, Clare M Waterman.
      Contact guidance is a powerful topographical cue that induces persistent directional cell migration. Healthy tissue stroma is characterized by a meshwork of wavy extracellular matrix (ECM) fiber bundles, whereas metastasis-prone stroma exhibit less wavy, more linear fibers. The latter topography correlates with poor prognosis, whereas more wavy bundles correlate with benign tumors. We designed nanotopographic ECM-coated substrates that mimic collagen fibril waveforms seen in tumors and healthy tissues to determine how these nanotopographies may regulate cancer cell polarization and migration machineries. Cell polarization and directional migration were inhibited by fibril-like wave substrates above a threshold amplitude. Although polarity signals and actin nucleation factors were required for polarization and migration on low-amplitude wave substrates, they did not localize to cell leading edges. Instead, these factors localized to wave peaks, creating multiple "cryptic leading edges" within cells. On high-amplitude wave substrates, retrograde flow from large cryptic leading edges depolarized stress fibers and focal adhesions and inhibited cell migration. On low-amplitude wave substrates, actomyosin contractility overrode the small cryptic leading edges and drove stress fiber and focal adhesion orientation along the wave axis to mediate directional migration. Cancer cells of different intrinsic contractility depolarized at different wave amplitudes, and cell polarization response to wavy substrates could be tuned by manipulating contractility. We propose that ECM fibril waveforms with sufficiently high amplitude around tumors may serve as "cell polarization barriers," decreasing directional migration of tumor cells, which could be overcome by up-regulation of tumor cell contractility.
    Keywords:  cancer; contractility; polarization; topography; tumor ECM
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2021135118
  9. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 May 25. pii: clincanres.CCR-21-1694-E.2021. [Epub ahead of print]
    Single cell characterization of the immune microenvironment of melanoma brain and leptomeningeal metastases.
    Inna Smalley, Zhihua Chen, Manali S Phadke, Jiannong Li, Xiaoqing Yu, Clayton Wyatt, Brittany Evernden, Jane L Messina, Amod Sarnaik, Vernon K Sondak, Chaomei Zhang, Vincent Law, Nam Tran, Arnold Etame, Robert J B Macaulay, Zeynep Eroglu, Peter A Forsyth, Paulo C Rodriguez, Y Ann Chen, Keiran S M Smalley.
      PURPOSE: Melanoma brain metastases (MBM) and leptomeningeal metastases (LMM) are two different manifestations of melanoma CNS metastasis. Here, we used single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) to define the immune landscape of MBM, LMM and melanoma skin metastases.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) was undertaken on 43 patient specimens; including 8 skin metastases, 14 MBM and 19 serial LMM specimens. Detailed cell type curation was performed, the immune landscapes mapped and key results validated by IHC and flow cytometry. Association analyses were undertaken to identify immune cell subsets correlated with overall survival.
    RESULTS: The LMM microenvironment was characterized by an immune-suppressed T-cell landscape distinct from that of brain and skin metastases. An LMM patient with long-term survival demonstrated an immune repertoire distinct from that of poor survivors and more similar to normal CSF. Upon response to PD-1 therapy, this extreme responder showed increased levels of T-cells and dendritic cells in their CSF, whereas poor survivors showed little improvement in their T-cell responses. In MBM patients, therapy led to increased immune infiltrate, with similar T-cell transcriptional diversity noted between skin metastases and MBM. A correlation analysis across the entire immune landscape identified the presence of a rare population of dendritic cells (DC3s) that was associated with increased overall survival and positivelyregulated the immune environment through modulation of activated T-cells and MHC expression.
    CONCLUSION: Our study provides the first atlas of two distinct sites of melanoma CNS metastases and defines the immune cell landscape that underlies the biology of this devastating disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-1694
  10. Cancer Res. 2021 May 25. pii: canres.3562.2020. [Epub ahead of print]
    LSD1 and aberrant DNA methylation mediate persistence of enteroendocrine progenitors that support BRAF mutant colorectal cancer.
    Samuel A Miller, Robert A Policastro, Shruthi Sriramkumar, Tim Lai, Thomas D Huntington, Christopher A Ladaika, Daeho Kim, Chunhai Hao, Gabriel E Zentner, Heather M O'Hagan.
      Despite the connection of secretory cells, including goblet and enteroendocrine (EEC) cells, to distinct mucus-containing colorectal cancer (CRC) histological subtypes, their role in CRC progression has been underexplored. Here, our analysis of TCGA and single-cell RNA-seq data demonstrates that EEC progenitor cells are enriched in BRAF mutant CRC patient tumors, cell lines, and patient-derived organoids. In BRAF mutant CRC, EEC progenitors were blocked from differentiating further by DNA methylation and silencing of NEUROD1, a key gene required for differentiation of intermediate EECs. Mechanistically, secretory cells and the factors they secrete, such as Trefoil factor 3, promoted colony formation and activation of cell survival pathways in the entire cell population. LSD1 was identified as a critical regulator of secretory cell specification in vitro and in a colon orthotopic xenograft model, where LSD1 loss blocks formation of EEC progenitors and reduces tumor growth and metastasis. These findings reveal an important role for EEC progenitors in supporting CRC.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3562
  11. Cancer Res. 2021 May 28. pii: canres.0436.2021. [Epub ahead of print]
    Epigenetic induction of mitochondrial fission is required for maintenance of liver cancer initiating cells.
    Miaoling Tang, Meisongzhu Yang, Geyan Wu, Shuang Mo, Xingui Wu, Shuxia Zhang, Ruyuan Yu, Yameng Hu, Yingru Xu, Ziwen Li, Xinyi Liao, Jun Li, Libing Song.
      Mitochondrial dynamics play vital roles in the tumorigenicity and malignancy of various types of cancers by promoting the tumor-initiating potential of cancer cells, suggesting that targeting crucial factors that drive mitochondrial dynamics may lead to promising anticancer therapies. In the current study, we report that overexpression of mitochondrial fission factor (MFF), which is upregulated significantly in liver cancer initiating cells (LCIC), promotes mitochondrial fission and enhances stemness and tumor-initiating capability in non-LCICs. MFF-induced mitochondrial fission evoked mitophagy and asymmetric stem cell division and promoted a metabolic shift from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis that decreased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which prevented ROS-mediated degradation of the pluripotency transcription factor OCT4. CRISPR affinity purification in situ of regulatory elements (CAPTURE) showed that T-Box transcription factor 19 (TBX19), which is overexpressed uniquely in LCICs compared to non-LCICs and liver progenitor cells, forms a complex with PRMT1 on the MFF promoter in LCICs, eliciting epigenetic histone H4R3me2a/H3K9ac-mediated transactivation of MFF. Targeting PRMT1 using furamidine, a selective pharmacological inhibitor, suppressed TBX19-induced mitochondrial fission, leading to a profound loss of self-renewal potential and tumor-initiating capacity of LCICs. These findings unveil a novel mechanism underlying mitochondrial fission-mediated cancer stemness and suggest that regulation of mitochondrial fission via inhibition of PRMT1 may be an attractive therapeutic option for liver cancer treatment.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-0436
  12. Redox Biol. 2021 Jul;pii: S2213-2317(21)00164-6. [Epub ahead of print]43 102006
    Tumor resistance to ferroptosis driven by Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase-1 (SCD1) in cancer cells and Fatty Acid Biding Protein-4 (FABP4) in tumor microenvironment promote tumor recurrence.
    Géraldine Luis, Adrien Godfroid, Shin Nishiumi, Jonathan Cimino, Silvia Blacher, Erik Maquoi, Coline Wery, Alice Collignon, Rémi Longuespée, Laetitia Montero-Ruiz, Isabelle Dassoul, Naima Maloujahmoum, Charles Pottier, Gabriel Mazzucchelli, Edwin Depauw, Akeila Bellahcène, Masaru Yoshida, Agnès Noel, Nor Eddine Sounni.
      PROBLEM: Tumor recurrence is a major clinical issue that represents the principal cause of cancer-related deaths, with few targetable common pathways. Mechanisms by which residual tumors persist and progress under a continuous shift between hypoxia-reoxygenation after neoadjuvent-therapy are unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of lipid metabolism and tumor redox balance in tumor recurrence.METHODS: Lipidomics, proteomics and mass spectrometry imaging approaches where applied to mouse tumor models of recurrence. Genetic and pharmacological inhibitions of lipid mediators in tumors were used in vivo and in functional assays in vitro.
    RESULTS: We found that stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) expressed by cancer cells and fatty acid binding protein-4 (FABP4) produced by tumor endothelial cells (TECs) and adipocytes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are essential for tumor relapse in response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and chemotherapy. SCD1 and FABP4 were also found upregulated in recurrent human breast cancer samples and correlated with worse prognosis of cancer patients with different types of tumors. Mechanistically, SCD1 leads to fatty acid (FA) desaturation and FABP4 derived from TEM enhances lipid droplet (LD) in cancer cells, which cooperatively protect from oxidative stress-induced ferroptosis. We revealed that lipid mobilization and desaturation elicit tumor intrinsic antioxidant and anti-ferroptotic resources for survival and regrowth in a harsh TME. Inhibition of lipid transport from TME by FABP4 inhibitor reduced tumor regrowth and by genetic - or by pharmacological - targeting SCD1 in vivo, tumor regrowth was abolished completely.
    CONCLUSION: This finding unveils that it is worth taking advantage of tumor lipid addiction, as a tumor vulnerability to design novel treatment strategy to prevent cancer recurrence.
    Keywords:  Drug-resistance; Hypoxia; Lipid metabolism; ROS-ferroptosis; Reoxygenation; Tumor-microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2021.102006
  13. Nat Commun. 2021 May 24. 12(1): 3055
    In vivo genome-wide CRISPR screen reveals breast cancer vulnerabilities and synergistic mTOR/Hippo targeted combination therapy.
    Meiou Dai, Gang Yan, Ni Wang, Girija Daliah, Ashlin M Edick, Sophie Poulet, Julien Boudreault, Suhad Ali, Sergio A Burgos, Jean-Jacques Lebrun.
      Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients exhibit poor survival outcomes and lack effective targeted therapies. Using unbiased in vivo genome-wide CRISPR screening, we interrogated cancer vulnerabilities in TNBC and identified an interplay between oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways. This study reveals tumor regulatory functions for essential components of the mTOR and Hippo pathways in TNBC. Using in vitro drug matrix synergy models and in vivo patient-derived xenografts, we further establish the therapeutic relevance of our findings and show that pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1/2 and oncoprotein YAP efficiently reduces tumorigenesis in TNBC. At the molecular level, we find that while verteporfin-induced YAP inhibition leads to apoptosis, torin1-mediated mTORC1/2 inhibition promotes macropinocytosis. Torin1-induced macropinocytosis further facilitates verteporfin uptake, thereby greatly enhancing its pro-apoptotic effects in cancer cells. Overall, our study underscores the power and robustness of in vivo CRISPR genome-wide screens in identifying clinically relevant and innovative therapeutic modalities in cancer.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23316-4
  14. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 May 24. pii: clincanres.0422.2021. [Epub ahead of print]
    HYAL4-V1/Chondroitinase (Chase) Drives Gemcitabine Resistance and Predicts Chemotherapy Failure in Patients with Bladder Cancer.
    Sarrah L Hasanali, Daley S Morera, Ronny R Racine, Martin Hennig, Santu Ghosh, Luis E Lopez, Marie C Hupe, Diogo O Escudero, Jiaojiao Wang, Huabin Zhu, Semih Sarcan, Ijeoma Azih, Michael Zhou, Andre R Jordan, Martha K Terris, Markus A Kuczyk, Axel S Merseburger, Vinata B Lokeshwar.
      PURPOSE: Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy regimens are first-line for several advanced cancers. Due to better tolerability, Gemcitabine+Cisplatin is a preferred neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and/or palliative chemotherapy regimen for advanced bladder cancer (BC). Nevertheless, predicting treatment failure and overcoming resistance remain as unmet clinical needs. We discovered that splice variant (V1) of HYAL-4 is a first-in-class eukaryotic chondroitinase (Chase), and CD44 is its major substrate. V1 is upregulated in BC and drives a malignant phenotype. In this study, we investigated whether V1 drives chemotherapy resistance.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: V1 expression was measured in muscle-invasive BC (MIBC) specimens by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. HYAL-4 wild-type (Wt) and V1 were stably expressed or silenced in normal urothelial and three BC cell lines. Transfectants were analyzed for chemoresistance and associated mechanism in preclinical models.
    RESULTS: V1 levels in MIBC specimens of patients who developed metastasis, predicted response to Gemcitabine+Cisplatin adjuvant/salvage treatment and disease-specific mortality. V1-expressing bladder cells were resistant to Gemcitabine but not to Cisplatin. V1 expression neither affected Gemcitabine influx nor the drug-efflux transporters. Instead, V1 increased Gemcitabine metabolism and subsequent efflux of difluorodeoxyuridine, by upregulating cytidine deaminase (CDA) expression through increased CD44-JAK2/STAT3 signaling. CDA inhibitor Tetrahydrouridine re-sensitized V1-expressing cells to Gemcitabine. While Gemcitabine (25-50-mg/kg) inhibited BC xenograft growth, V1-expressing tumors were resistant. Low-dose combination of Gemcitabine and Tetrahydrouridine abrogated the growth of V1 tumors with minimal toxicity.
    CONCLUSION: V1/Chase drives Gemcitabine resistance and potentially predicts Gemcitabine+Cisplatin failure. CDA inhibition re-sensitizes V1-expressing tumors to Gemcitabine. Since several chemotherapy regimens include Gemcitabine, our study could have broad significance.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-0422
  15. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 May 28. 7(1): 66
    Breast cancer dormancy: need for clinically relevant models to address current gaps in knowledge.
    Grace G Bushnell, Abhijeet P Deshmukh, Petra den Hollander, Ming Luo, Rama Soundararajan, Dongya Jia, Herbert Levine, Sendurai A Mani, Max S Wicha.
      Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the USA. Although advances in treatment over the past several decades have significantly improved the outlook for this disease, most women who are diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive disease remain at risk of metastatic relapse for the remainder of their life. The cellular source of late relapse in these patients is thought to be disseminated tumor cells that reactivate after a long period of dormancy. The biology of these dormant cells and their natural history over a patient's lifetime is largely unclear. We posit that research on tumor dormancy has been significantly limited by the lack of clinically relevant models. This review will discuss existing dormancy models, gaps in biological understanding, and propose criteria for future models to enhance their clinical relevance.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-021-00269-x
  16. Trends Mol Med. 2021 May 21. pii: S1471-4914(21)00119-2. [Epub ahead of print]
    Studying PAR-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling to Tackle PARPi Resistance.
    Christina Andronikou, Sven Rottenberg.
      Histone eviction and chromatin relaxation are important processes for efficient DNA repair. Poly(ADP) ribose (PAR) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a key mediator of this process, and disruption of PARP1 activity has a direct impact on chromatin structure. PARP inhibitors (PARPis) have been established as a treatment for BRCA1- or BRCA2-deficient tumors. Unfortunately, PARPi resistance occurs in many patients and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear how chromatin remodelers and histone chaperones compensate for the loss of the PARylation signal. In this Opinion article, we summarize currently known mechanisms of PARPi resistance. We discuss how the study of PARP1-mediated chromatin remodeling may help in further understanding PARPi resistance and finding new therapeutic approaches to overcome it.
    Keywords:  DNA damage response; PARP inhibition; chromatin remodeling; drug resistance; poly(ADP) ribosylation polymerase
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2021.04.010
  17. Nat Commun. 2021 May 27. 12(1): 3199
    Cell-free DNA captures tumor heterogeneity and driver alterations in rapid autopsies with pre-treated metastatic cancer.
    Bernard Pereira, Christopher T Chen, Lipika Goyal, Charlotte Walmsley, Christopher J Pinto, Islam Baiev, Read Allen, Laura Henderson, Supriya Saha, Stephanie Reyes, Martin S Taylor, Donna M Fitzgerald, Maida Williams Broudo, Avinash Sahu, Xin Gao, Wendy Winckler, A Rose Brannon, Jeffrey A Engelman, Rebecca Leary, James R Stone, Catarina D Campbell, Dejan Juric.
      In patients with metastatic cancer, spatial heterogeneity of somatic alterations may lead to incomplete assessment of a cancer's mutational profile when analyzing a single tumor biopsy. In this study, we perform sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and distinct metastatic tissue samples from ten rapid autopsy cases with pre-treated metastatic cancer. We show that levels of heterogeneity in genetic biomarkers vary between patients but that gene expression signatures representative of the tumor microenvironment are more consistent. Across nine patients with plasma samples available, we are able to detect 62/62 truncal and 47/121 non-truncal point mutations in cfDNA. We observe that mutation clonality in cfDNA is correlated with the number of metastatic lesions in which the mutation is detected and use this result to derive a clonality threshold to classify truncal and non-truncal driver alterations with reasonable specificity. In contrast, mutation truncality is more often incorrectly assigned when studying single tissue samples. Our results demonstrate the utility of a single cfDNA sample relative to that of single tissue samples when treating patients with metastatic cancer.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23394-4
  18. Mol Cancer. 2021 May 26. 20(1): 78
    A new KSRP-binding compound suppresses distant metastasis of colorectal cancer by targeting the oncogenic KITENIN complex.
    Jeong A Bae, Woo Kyun Bae, Sung Jin Kim, Yoo-Seung Ko, Keon Young Kim, So-Yeon Park, Young Hyun Yu, Eun Ae Kim, Ik Joo Chung, Hangun Kim, Hyung-Ho Ha, Kyung Keun Kim.
      BACKGROUND: Distant metastasis is the major cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Previously, we identified KITENIN as a metastasis-enhancing gene and suggested that the oncogenic KITENIN complex is involved in metastatic dissemination of KITENIN-overexpressing CRC cells. Here, we attempted to find substances targeting the KITENIN complex and test their ability to suppress distant metastasis of CRC.METHODS: We screened a small-molecule compound library to find candidate substances suppressing the KITENIN complex in CRC cells. We selected a candidate compound and examined its effects on the KITENIN complex and distant metastasis through in vitro assays, a molecular docking model, and in vivo tumor models.
    RESULTS: Among several compounds, we identified DKC1125 (Disintegrator of KITENIN Complex #1125) as the best candidate. DKC1125 specifically suppressed KITENIN gain of function. After binding KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KSRP), DKC1125 degraded KITENIN and Dvl2 by recruiting RACK1 and miRNA-124, leading to the disintegration of the functional KITENIN-KSRP-RACK1-Dvl2 complex. A computer docking model suggested that DKC1125 specifically interacted with the binding pocket of the fourth KH-domain of KSRP. KITENIN-overexpressing CRC cells deregulated certain microRNAs and were resistant to 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and cetuximab. DKC1125 restored sensitivity to these drugs by normalizing expression of the deregulated microRNAs, including miRNA-124. DKC1125 effectively suppressed colorectal liver metastasis in a mouse model. Interestingly, the combination of DKC1125 with 5-fluorouracil suppressed metastasis more effectively than either drug alone.
    CONCLUSION: DKC1125 targets the KITENIN complex and could therefore be used as a novel therapeutic to suppress liver metastasis in CRC expressing high levels of KITENIN.
    Keywords:  Colorectal cancer; KITENIN complex; KSRP; Metastasis; microRNA
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-021-01368-w
  19. Nat Mater. 2021 Jun;20(6): 722-723
    Netrin-4 regulates stiffness and metastasis.
    Patrick Mehlen, Laurent Fattet.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01012-4
  20. Sci Transl Med. 2021 May 26. pii: eabe8226. [Epub ahead of print]13(595):
    Hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase blockade reverses prostate cancer drug resistance in xenograft models by glucocorticoid inactivation.
    Jianneng Li, Michael Berk, Mohammad Alyamani, Navin Sabharwal, Christopher Goins, Joseph Alvarado, Mehdi Baratchian, Ziqi Zhu, Shaun Stauffer, Eric A Klein, Nima Sharifi.
      Prostate cancer resistance to next-generation hormonal treatment with enzalutamide is a major problem and eventuates into disease lethality. Biologically active glucocorticoids that stimulate glucocorticoid receptor (GR) have an 11β-OH moiety, and resistant tumors exhibit loss of 11β-HSD2, the oxidative (11β-OH → 11-keto) enzyme that normally inactivates glucocorticoids, allowing elevated tumor glucocorticoids to drive resistance by stimulating GR. Here, we show that up-regulation of hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PD) protein occurs in prostate cancer tissues of men treated with enzalutamide, human-derived cell lines, and patient-derived prostate tissues treated ex vivo with enzalutamide. Genetically silencing H6PD blocks NADPH generation, which inhibits the usual reductive directionality of 11β-HSD1, to effectively replace 11β-HSD2 function in human-derived cell line models, suppress the concentration of biologically active glucocorticoids in prostate cancer, and reverse enzalutamide resistance in mouse xenograft models. Similarly, pharmacologic blockade of H6PD with rucaparib normalizes tumor glucocorticoid metabolism in human cell lines and reinstates responsiveness to enzalutamide in mouse xenograft models. Our data show that blockade of H6PD, which is essential for glucocorticoid synthesis in humans, normalizes glucocorticoid metabolism and reverses enzalutamide resistance in mouse xenograft models. We credential H6PD as a pharmacologic vulnerability for treatment of next-generation androgen receptor antagonist-resistant prostate cancer by depleting tumor glucocorticoids.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abe8226
  21. Trends Cell Biol. 2021 May 22. pii: S0962-8924(21)00097-0. [Epub ahead of print]
    Hunger Brings Down the Tumor Fort.
    Anastasia-Maria Zavitsanou, Thales Papagiannakopoulos.
      In a recent article published in Molecular Cell, Dai et al. demonstrate that energy stress induced by a ketogenic diet or fasting can enhance checkpoint blockade therapy. Energy stress promotes lysosome-mediated degradation of the immunoinhibitory ligand programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL1) and upregulation of tumor interferon (IFN) responses.
    Keywords:  AMPK; PDL1; immunotherapy; ketogenic diet
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2021.05.005
  22. Cancer Discov. 2021 May 28.
    Transcriptome Analysis Predicts Treatment Response.
      Researchers used transcriptome analysis to predict patients' responses to treatments with 80% accuracy on average. The procedure relies on identifying pairs of interacting genes that are lethal to cells when both are inactivated or that enable tumors to evade treatments. The scientists showed that their approach accurately predicts patient responses to targeted therapies and checkpoint inhibitors for a variety of cancers.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-NB2021-0350
  23. Cancer Discov. 2021 May 28.
    ULK1 Inhibition Restores Antigen Presentation in LKB1-Mutant Lung Cancer.
      Inhibiting the autophagy regulator ULK1 enhanced response to anti-PD-1 in LKB1-mutant lung tumors.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-RW2021-076
  24. Methods Mol Biol. 2021 ;2274 37-42
    A Murine Bone Metastasis Model Using Caudal Artery Injection and Bioluminescence Imaging.
    Takahiro Kuchimaru, Shinae Kizaka-Kondoh.
      The current standard murine model of bone metastasis by using intracardiac injection (IC) has some limitations despite the great utility of this model. This fact emphasizes the need for a new murine model to accelerate basic research of bone metastasis. The present protocol provides instructions on caudal artery (CA) injection that is an easy-to-use method to reliably construct a murine bone metastasis model with a variety type of cancer cell lines. Bioluminescence imaging visualized that cancer cells injected via the caudal artery in the tail were efficiently delivered to a hind limb bone, where it is a common site affected with bone metastasis in mice. CA injection rarely causes stress-induced acute death in mice and enables us to inject a large number of cancer cells, thereby greatly increasing the frequency of bone metastasis in hind limb bones. Importantly, CA injection is technically as easy as tail vein injection and causes no lethal stress, indicating that it is a model that also contributes to animal welfare. CA injection model, therefore, could represent a powerful tool for many researchers to study molecular mechanisms of bone metastasis in mice.
    Keywords:  Bioluminescence imaging; Bone metastasis; Caudal artery injection; Intracardiac injection; Murine model
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1258-3_4
  25. Nat Metab. 2021 May;3(5): 590-592
    Breast cancer has a new metabolic Achilles' heel.
    Tatiana Alfonso-Pérez, Gabriel Baonza, Fernando Martin-Belmonte.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00394-8
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