scholarly journals ETMM-08 METABOLIC REGULATION OF THE EPIGENOME DRIVES LETHAL INFANTILE EPENDYMOMA

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i15-i16
Author(s):  
Sachin Kumar ◽  
Antony Michealraj ◽  
Leo Kim ◽  
Jeremy Rich ◽  
Michael Taylor

Abstract Ependymomas are malignant glial tumours that occur throughout the central nervous system. Of the nine distinct molecular subgroups of ependymoma, Posterior Fossa A (PFA), is the most prevalent, occurring in the hindbrain of infants and young children. Lacking highly recurrent somatic mutations, PFAs are thought to be a largely epigenetically driven entity, defined by hypomethylation at the histone 3 lysine 27 residue. Previous transcriptional analysis of PFAs revealed an enrichment of hypoxia signaling genes. Thus, we hypothesized that hypoxic signaling, in combination with a unique metabolic milieu, drive PFA oncogenesis through epigenetic regulation. In this study, we identified that PFA cells control the availability of specific metabolites under hypoxic conditions, resulting in diminished H3K27 trimethylation and increased H3K27 acetylation in vitro and in vivo. Unique to PFA cells, transient exposure to ambient oxygen results in irreversible cellular toxicity. Furthermore, perturbation of key metabolic pathways is sufficient to inhibit growth of PFA primary cultures in vitro. PFA cells sequester s-adenosylmethionine while upregulating EZHIP, a polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) inhibitor, resulting in decreased H3K27 trimethylation. Furthermore, hypoxia fine-tunes the abundance of alpha-ketoglutarate and acetyl-CoA to fuel demethylase and acetyltransferase activity. Paradoxically, a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen identified the core components of PRC2 as uniquely essential in PFAs. Our findings suggest that PFAs thrive in a narrow “Goldilocks” zone, whereby they must maintain a unique epigenome and deviation to increased or decreased H3K27 trimethylation results in diminished cellular fitness. Previously, we showed that PFAs have a putative cell of origin arising in the first trimester of development. Using single-cell RNAseq and metabolomics, we demonstrate that PFAs resemble the natural metabolic-hypoxic milieu of normal development. Therefore, targeting metabolism and/or the epigenome presents a unique opportunity for rational therapy for infants with PFA ependymoma.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii318-iii318
Author(s):  
Sachin Kumar ◽  
Antony Michealraj ◽  
Leo Kim ◽  
Jeremy Rich ◽  
Michael Taylor

Abstract PFA ependymomas are a lethal glial malignancy of the hindbrain found in infants and toddlers. Lacking any highly recurrent somatic mutations, PFAs have been proposed to be a largely epigenetically driven entity, defined by hypomethylation at the histone 3 lysine 27 residue. Unfortunately, an almost complete lack of model systems has limited the discovery of novel PFA therapies. In this study, we have identified that the PFA hypoxic microenvironment controls the availability of specific metabolites, resulting in diminished H3K27 trimethylation and increased H3K27 acetylation in vitro and in vivo. Unique to PFA cells, transient exposure to ambient oxygen results in irreversible cellular toxicity. Furthermore, perturbation of key metabolic pathways is sufficient to inhibit growth of PFA primary cultures in vitro. Although PFA tumors exhibit a low basal level of H3K27me3, inhibition of H3K27 methylation paradoxically demonstrates significant and specific activity against PFA. Thus, we propose a “Goldilocks Model” of metabolic-epigenetic regulation in PFA ependymoma, whereby increased or decreased H3K27 trimethylation results in cell death. Mapping of PFA ependymoma tumours suggests a cell of origin arising in the first trimester of human development where there is a known hypoxic microenvironment. Therefore, targeting metabolism and/or the epigenome presents a unique opportunity for rational therapy for infants with PFA ependymoma.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Dowling ◽  
Remsha Afzal ◽  
Linden J. Gearing ◽  
Mariana P. Cervantes-Silva ◽  
Stephanie Annett ◽  
...  

AbstractMitochondria are important regulators of macrophage polarisation. Here, we show that arginase-2 (Arg2) is a microRNA-155 (miR-155) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) regulated protein localized at the mitochondria in inflammatory macrophages, and is critical for IL-10-induced modulation of mitochondrial dynamics and oxidative respiration. Mechanistically, the catalytic activity and presence of Arg2 at the mitochondria is crucial for oxidative phosphorylation. We further show that Arg2 mediates this process by increasing the activity of complex II (succinate dehydrogenase). Moreover, Arg2 is essential for IL-10-mediated downregulation of the inflammatory mediators succinate, hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and IL-1β in vitro. Accordingly, HIF-1α and IL-1β are highly expressed in an LPS-induced in vivo model of acute inflammation using Arg2−/− mice. These findings shed light on a new arm of IL-10-mediated metabolic regulation, working to resolve the inflammatory status of the cell.


1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Francesca Mattioli ◽  
Marianna Angiola ◽  
Laura Fazzuoli ◽  
Francesco Razzetta ◽  
Antonietta Martelli

Although primary cultures of human thyroid cells are used for endocrinological and toxicological studies, until now no attention has been paid toward verifying whether the hormonal conditions to which the gland was exposed in vivo prior to surgery could influence in vitro responses. Our findings suggest that the hormonal situation in vivo cannot be used as a predictive indicator of triiodothyronine and thyroxine release and/or S-phase frequency in vitro, either with or without the addition of bovine thyrotropin.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1408
Author(s):  
Magali Van den Kerkhof ◽  
Philippe Leprohon ◽  
Dorien Mabille ◽  
Sarah Hendrickx ◽  
Lindsay B. Tulloch ◽  
...  

Current treatment options for visceral leishmaniasis have several drawbacks, and clinicians are confronted with an increasing number of treatment failures. To overcome this, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has invested in the development of novel antileishmanial leads, including a very promising class of oxaboroles. The mode of action/resistance of this series to Leishmania is still unknown and may be important for its further development and implementation. Repeated in vivo drug exposure and an in vitro selection procedure on both extracellular promastigote and intracellular amastigote stages were both unable to select for resistance. The use of specific inhibitors for ABC-transporters could not demonstrate the putative involvement of efflux pumps. Selection experiments and inhibitor studies, therefore, suggest that resistance to oxaboroles may not emerge readily in the field. The selection of a genome-wide cosmid library coupled to next-generation sequencing (Cos-seq) was used to identify resistance determinants and putative targets. This resulted in the identification of a highly enriched cosmid, harboring genes of chromosome 2 that confer a subtly increased resistance to the oxaboroles tested. Moderately enriched cosmids encompassing a region of chromosome 34 contained the cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (cpsf) gene, encoding the molecular target of several related benzoxaboroles in other organisms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii19-ii19
Author(s):  
Anca Mihalas ◽  
Heather Feldman ◽  
Anoop Patel ◽  
Patrick Paddison

Abstract Current standard of care therapy for glioblastoma (GBM) includes cytoreduction followed by ablative therapies that target rapidly dividing cell types. However, the presence of quiescent-like/G0 states, therefore, represents a natural reservoir of tumor cells that are resistant to current treatments. Quiescence or G0 phase is a reversible state of “stasis” cells enter in response to developmental or environmental cues. To gain insight into how glioblastoma cells might regulate G0-like states, we performed a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in patient-derived GBM stem-like cells (GSCs) harboring a G0-reporter to identify genes that when inhibited trap GSCs in G0-like states. Among the top screen hits were members of the Tip60/KAT5 histone acetyltransferase complex, which targets both histones (e.g., H4) and non-histone proteins for acetylation. NuA4 functions as a transcriptional activator, whose activities are coordinated with MYC in certain contexts, and also participates in DNA double-strand break repair by facilitating chromatin opening. However, currently little is known about the roles for NuA4 complex in GBM biology. Through modeling KAT5 function in GSC in vitro cultures and in vivo tumors, we find that KAT5 inhibition causes cells to arrest in a G0-like state with high p27 levels, G1-phase DNA content, low protein synthesis rates, low rRNA rates, lower metabolic rate, suppression of cell cycle gene expression, and low histone H4 acetylation. Interestingly, partial inhibition of KAT5 activity slows highly aggressive tumor growth, while increasing p27hi H4-aclow populations. Remarkably, we that low grade gliomas have significantly higher H4-aclow subpopulations and generally lower H4-ac levels than aggressive grade IV tumors. Taken together, our results suggest that NuA4/KAT5 activity may play a key role in quiescence ingress/egress in glioma and that targeting its activity in high grade tumors may effectively “down grade” them, thus, increase patient survival.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dezhong Wang ◽  
Yuan Yin ◽  
Shuyi Wang ◽  
Tianyang Zhao ◽  
Fanghua Gong ◽  
...  

AbstractAs a classically known mitogen, fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) has been found to exert other pleiotropic functions such as metabolic regulation and myocardial protection. Here, we show that serum levels of FGF1 were decreased and positively correlated with fraction shortening in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients, indicating that FGF1 is a potential therapeutic target for DCM. We found that treatment with a FGF1 variant (FGF1∆HBS) with reduced proliferative potency prevented diabetes-induced cardiac injury and remodeling and restored cardiac function. RNA-Seq results obtained from the cardiac tissues of db/db mice showed significant increase in the expression levels of anti-oxidative genes and decrease of Nur77 by FGF1∆HBS treatment. Both in vivo and in vitro studies indicate that FGF1∆HBS exerted these beneficial effects by markedly reducing mitochondrial fragmentation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cytochrome c leakage and enhancing mitochondrial respiration rate and β-oxidation in a 5’ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/Nur77-dependent manner, all of which were not observed in the AMPK null mice. The favorable metabolic activity and reduced proliferative properties of FGF1∆HBS testify to its promising potential for use in the treatment of DCM and other metabolic disorders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii295-iii295
Author(s):  
Mikaela Nevin ◽  
Janine Gallego ◽  
Xiaohua Song ◽  
Qiang Jiang ◽  
Alan Underhill ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND The identification of H3.3/H3.1K27M in most DIPG has changed our understanding of this disease. H3K27M mutations usually demonstrate global loss of H3K27 trimethylation (me3) with gain of H3K27 acetylation (ac). Single cell RNAseq has identified the putative cell of origin as oligodendroglial progenitor cells (OPC). The distalless gene family is necessary for the differentiation and tangential migration of committed neural progenitors to become GABAergic interneurons. Dlx1/Dlx2 double knockout (DKO) cells from the ganglionic eminences (GE) transplanted into a wild-type environment become oligodendrocytes. RESULTS We identified DLX2 occupancy of early (Olig2, Nkx2.2) and late (Myt1, Plp1) genes required for OPC differentiation in vivo and confirmed direct DLX2 protein-promoter DNA binding in vitro. Co-expression of Dlx2 with target sequences reduced reporter gene expression in vitro. There was increased expression of OLIG2, NKX2.2 and PLP-1 expression in vivo, consistent with de-repression in the absence of Dlx1/Dlx2 function. Transient over-expression of a Dlx2-GFP construct into murine DIPG cells from a GEMM that develops DIPG resulted in significant increases in expression of Gad isoforms with concomitant decreases in Olig2 and Nkx2.2. Dlx2-transfected mDIPG cells also demonstrated reduced migration, invasion and colony formation in vitro. Of significance, there was global restoration of H3K27me3 with corresponding loss of H3K27ac expression in transfected cells compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS DLX2 promotes GABAergic differentiation and migration while concomitantly repressing OPC differentiation in vivo. Developmental reprogramming of mDIPG cells by DLX2 demonstrates the potential role for directed differentiation strategies towards improving patient outcomes for this devastating pediatric cancer.


1996 ◽  
Vol 313 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Françoise LEVAVASSEUR ◽  
Jocelyne LIÉTARD ◽  
Kohei OGAWA ◽  
Nathalie THÉRET ◽  
Peter D. BURBELO ◽  
...  

Laminin γ1 chain is present in all basement membranes and is expressed at high levels in various diseases, such as hepatic fibrosis. We have identified cis- and trans-acting elements involved in the regulation of this gene in normal rat liver, as well as in hepatocyte primary cultures and hepatoma cell lines. Northern-blot analyses showed that laminin γ1 mRNA was barely detectable in freshly isolated hepatocytes and expressed at high levels in hepatocyte primary cultures, as early as 4 h after liver dissociation. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide treatment in vivo and in vitro indicated that laminin γ1 overexpression in cultured hepatocytes was under the control of transcriptional mechanisms. Transfection of deletion mutants of the 5´ flanking region of murine LAMC1 gene in hepatoma cells that constitutively express laminin γ1 indicated that regulatory elements were located between -594 bp and -94 bp. This segment included GC- and CTC-containing motifs. Gel-shift analyses showed that two complexes were resolved with different affinity for the CTC sequence depending on the location of the GC box. The pattern of complex formation with nuclear factors from freshly isolated and cultured hepatocytes was different from that obtained with total liver and similar to that with hepatoma cells. Southwestern analysis indicated that several polypeptides bound the CTC-rich sequence. Affinity chromatography demonstrated that a Mr 60000 polypeptide was a major protein binding to the CTC motif. This polypeptide is probably involved in the transcriptional activation of various proto-oncogenes and extracellular matrix genes that are expressed at high levels in both hepatoma cells and early hepatocyte cultures.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (43) ◽  
pp. E6669-E6678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Gregory ◽  
Angelo D’Alessandro ◽  
Francesca Alvarez-Calderon ◽  
Jihye Kim ◽  
Travis Nemkov ◽  
...  

Activating mutations in FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) are common in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and drive leukemic cell growth and survival. Although FLT3 inhibitors have shown considerable promise for the treatment of AML, they ultimately fail to achieve long-term remissions as monotherapy. To identify genetic targets that can sensitize AML cells to killing by FLT3 inhibitors, we performed a genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi)-based screen that identified ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) as being synthetic lethal with FLT3 inhibitor therapy. We found that inactivating ATM or its downstream effector glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) sensitizes AML cells to FLT3 inhibitor induced apoptosis. Examination of the cellular metabolome showed that FLT3 inhibition by itself causes profound alterations in central carbon metabolism, resulting in impaired production of the antioxidant factor glutathione, which was further impaired by ATM or G6PD inactivation. Moreover, FLT3 inhibition elicited severe mitochondrial oxidative stress that is causative in apoptosis and is exacerbated by ATM/G6PD inhibition. The use of an agent that intensifies mitochondrial oxidative stress in combination with a FLT3 inhibitor augmented elimination of AML cells in vitro and in vivo, revealing a therapeutic strategy for the improved treatment of FLT3 mutated AML.


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