Homeostatic iron regulatory protein drives glioblastoma growth via tumor cell-intrinsic and sex-specific responses
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PROVIDER: S-EPMC10794878 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:We propose a mechanism for tumor growth emphasizing the role of homeostatic regulation and tissue stability. We show that competition between surface and bulk effects leads to the existence of a critical size that must be overcome by metastases to reach macroscopic sizes. This property can qualitatively explain the observed size distributions of metastases, while size-independent growth rates cannot account for clinical and experimental data. In addition, it potentially explains the observed preferential growth of metastases on tissue surfaces and membranes such as the pleural and peritoneal layers, suggests a mechanism underlying the seed and soil hypothesis introduced by Stephen Paget in 1889, and yields realistic values for metastatic inefficiency. We propose a number of key experiments to test these concepts. The homeostatic pressure as introduced in this work could constitute a quantitative, experimentally accessible measure for the metastatic potential of early malignant growths.
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Project description:Sex differences in glioblastoma (GBM) incidence and outcome are well recognized, and emerging evidence suggests that these extend to genetic/epigenetic and cellular differences, including immune responses. However, the mechanisms driving immunologic sex differences are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that T cells play a critical role in driving GBM sex differences. Male mice exhibited accelerated tumor growth, with decreased frequency and increased exhaustion of CD8+ T cells in the tumor. Furthermore, a higher frequency of progenitor exhausted T cells was found in males, with improved responsiveness to anti-PD-1 treatment. Moreover, increased T-cell exhaustion was observed in male GBM patients. Bone marrow chimera and adoptive transfer models indicated that T cell-mediated tumor control was predominantly regulated in a cell-intrinsic manner, partially mediated by the X chromosome inactivation escape gene Kdm6a. These findings demonstrate that sex-biased predetermined behavior of T cells is critical for inducing sex differences in GBM progression and immunotherapy response.SignificanceImmunotherapies in patients with GBM have been unsuccessful due to a variety of factors, including the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in GBM. This study demonstrates that sex-biased T-cell behaviors are predominantly intrinsically regulated, further suggesting sex-specific approaches can be leveraged to potentially improve the therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapy in GBM. See related commentary by Alspach, p. 1966. This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 1949.
| S-EPMC10481130 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBiological sex is an important risk factor for glioblastoma (GBM), with males having a higher incidence and poorer prognosis. The mechanisms for this sex bias are thought to be both tumor intrinsic and tumor extrinsic. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), key post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, have been previously linked to sex differences in various cell types and diseases, but their role in the sex bias of GBM remains unknown.MethodsWe leveraged previously published paired miRNA and mRNA sequencing of 39 GBM patients (22 male, 17 female) to identify sex-biased miRNAs. We further interrogated a separate single-cell RNA sequencing dataset of 110 GBM patients to examine whether differences in miRNA target gene expression were tumor cell intrinsic or tumor cell extrinsic. Results were validated in a panel of patient-derived cell models.ResultsWe identified 10 sex-biased miRNAs (adjusted < 0.1), of which 3 were more highly expressed in males and 7 more highly expressed in females. Of these, miR-644a was higher in females, and increased expression of miR-644a target genes was significantly associated with decreased overall survival (HR 1.3, p = 0.02). Furthermore, analysis of an independent single-cell RNA sequencing dataset confirmed sex-specific expression of miR-644a target genes in tumor cells (p < 10-15). Among patient derived models, miR-644a was expressed a median of 4.8-fold higher in females compared to males.ConclusionsOur findings implicate miR-644a as a candidate tumor cell-intrinsic regulator of sex-biased gene expression in GBM.
| S-EPMC10979950 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBiological sex is an important risk factor for glioblastoma (GBM), with males having a higher incidence and poorer prognosis. The mechanisms for this sex bias are thought to be both tumor intrinsic and tumor extrinsic. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), key posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression, have been previously linked to sex differences in various cell types and diseases, but their role in the sex bias of GBM remains unknown.MethodsWe leveraged previously published paired miRNA and mRNA sequencing of 39 GBM patients (22 male, 17 female) to identify sex-biased miRNAs. We further interrogated a separate single-cell RNA-sequencing dataset of 110 GBM patients to examine whether differences in miRNA target gene expression were tumor cell-intrinsic or tumor cell extrinsic. Results were validated in a panel of patient-derived cell models.ResultsWe identified 10 sex-biased miRNAs (p adjusted < .1), of which 3 were more highly expressed in males and 7 more highly expressed in females. Of these, miR-644a was higher in females, and increased expression of miR-644a target genes was significantly associated with decreased overall survival (HR 1.3, P = .02). Furthermore, analysis of an independent single-cell RNA-sequencing dataset confirmed sex-specific expression of miR-644a target genes in tumor cells (P < 10-15). Among patient-derived models, miR-644a was expressed a median of 4.8-fold higher in females compared to males.ConclusionsOur findings implicate miR-644a as a candidate tumor cell-intrinsic regulator of sex-biased gene expression in GBM.
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Project description:Sex can be an important determinant of cancer phenotype, and exploring sex-biased tumor biology holds promise for identifying novel therapeutic targets and new approaches to cancer treatment. In an established isogenic murine model of glioblastoma (GBM), we discovered correlated transcriptome-wide sex differences in gene expression, H3K27ac marks, large Brd4-bound enhancer usage, and Brd4 localization to Myc and p53 genomic binding sites. These sex-biased gene expression patterns were also evident in human glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). These observations led us to hypothesize that Brd4-bound enhancers might underlie sex differences in stem cell function and tumorigenicity in GBM. We found that male and female GBM cells exhibited sex-specific responses to pharmacological or genetic inhibition of Brd4. Brd4 knockdown or pharmacologic inhibition decreased male GBM cell clonogenicity and in vivo tumorigenesis while increasing both in female GBM cells. These results were validated in male and female patient-derived GBM cell lines. Furthermore, analysis of the Cancer Therapeutic Response Portal of human GBM samples segregated by sex revealed that male GBM cells are significantly more sensitive to BET (bromodomain and extraterminal) inhibitors than are female cells. Thus, Brd4 activity is revealed to drive sex differences in stem cell and tumorigenic phenotypes, which can be abrogated by sex-specific responses to BET inhibition. This has important implications for the clinical evaluation and use of BET inhibitors.
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Project description:Tremendous strides have been made in improving patients' survival from cancer with one glaring exception: brain cancer. Glioblastoma is the most common, aggressive and highly malignant type of primary brain tumor. The average overall survival remains less than 1 year. Notably, cancer patients with obesity and diabetes have worse outcomes and accelerated progression of glioblastoma. The root cause of this accelerated progression has been hypothesized to involve the insulin signaling pathway. However, while the process of invasive glioblastoma progression has been extensively studied macroscopically, it has not yet been well characterized with regards to intracellular insulin signaling. In this study we connect for the first time microscale insulin signaling activity with macroscale glioblastoma growth through the use of computational modeling. Results of the model suggest a novel observation: feedback from IGFBP2 to HIF1α is integral to the sustained growth of glioblastoma. Our study suggests that downstream signaling from IGFI to HIF1α, which has been the target of many insulin signaling drugs in clinical trials, plays a smaller role in overall tumor growth. These predictions strongly suggest redirecting the focus of glioma drug candidates on controlling the feedback between IGFBP2 and HIF1α.
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Project description:Several recent studies have demonstrated that innate immune NK cells exhibit memory-like properties with enhanced nonspecific and specific recall responses. Cytokine activation alone of murine NK cells induces the differentiation of memory-like cells that are more likely to produce IFN-γ, a key NK cell cytokine important for activation of the immune response. Using an adoptive cotransfer system, we first show that cytokine-induced memory-like responses are NK intrinsic. However, engraftment of donor NK cells in NK-competent hosts is poor because of homeostatic control mechanisms. Therefore, we used alymphoid Rag- and common γ-chain-deficient mice as recipients and observed homeostatic expansion of cotransferred cytokine-activated and control donor NK cells. Despite proliferation of all cells, NK cells derived from those cells originally activated by cytokines retained an intrinsic enhanced capacity to produce IFN-γ when restimulated in vitro with cytokines or target cells. These NK cell memory-like responses persisted for at least 4 wk in alymphoid hosts and 12 wk in NK-competent hosts. These findings indicate that memory-like NK cells can readily self-renew and maintain enhanced function in a lymphopenic host for at least a month.
| S-EPMC3633638 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Efforts to identify and target glioblastoma (GBM) drivers have primarily focused on receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Clinical benefits, however, have been elusive. Here, we identify an SRY-related box 2 (SOX2) transcriptional regulatory network that is independent of upstream RTKs and capable of driving glioma-initiating cells. We identified oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2 (OLIG2) and zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), which are frequently co-expressed irrespective of driver mutations, as potential SOX2 targets. In murine glioma models, we show that different combinations of tumor suppressor and oncogene mutations can activate Sox2, Olig2, and Zeb1 expression. We demonstrate that ectopic co-expression of the three transcription factors can transform tumor-suppressor-deficient astrocytes into glioma-initiating cells in the absence of an upstream RTK oncogene. Finally, we demonstrate that the transcriptional inhibitor mithramycin downregulates SOX2 and its target genes, resulting in markedly reduced proliferation of GBM cells in vivo.
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Project description:BackgroundSex is recognized as a significant determinant of outcome among glioblastoma patients, but the relative prognostic importance of glioblastoma features has not been thoroughly explored for sex differences.MethodsCombining multi-modal MR images, biomathematical models, and patient clinical information, this investigation assesses which pretreatment variables have a sex-specific impact on the survival of glioblastoma patients (299 males and 195 females).ResultsAmong males, tumor (T1Gd) radius was a predictor of overall survival (HR = 1.027, p = 0.044). Among females, higher tumor cell net invasion rate was a significant detriment to overall survival (HR = 1.011, p < 0.001). Female extreme survivors had significantly smaller tumors (T1Gd) (p = 0.010 t-test), but tumor size was not correlated with female overall survival (p = 0.955 CPH). Both male and female extreme survivors had significantly lower tumor cell net proliferation rates than other patients (M p = 0.004, F p = 0.001, t-test).ConclusionDespite similar distributions of the MR imaging parameters between males and females, there was a sex-specific difference in how these parameters related to outcomes.
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Project description:The hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/MET signaling pathway has been proposed to be involved in the resistance to radiotherapy of glioblastoma via proinvasive and DNA damage response pathways.Here we assessed the role of the MET pathway in the response to radiotherapy in vitro and in vivo in syngeneic mouse glioma models. We find that the murine glioma cell lines GL-261, SMA-497, SMA-540 and SMA-560 express HGF and its receptor MET and respond to exogenous HGF with MET phosphorylation. Glioma cell viability or proliferation are unaffected by genetic or pharmacological MET inhibition using tepotinib or CRISPR/Cas9-engineered Met gene knockout and MET inhibition fails to sensitize glioma cells to irradiation in vitro. In contrast, the combination of tepotinib with radiotherapy prolongs survival of orthotopic SMA-560 or GL-261 glioma-bearing mice compared with radiotherapy or tepotinib treatment alone. Synergy is lost when such experiments are conducted in immunodeficient Rag1-/- mice, and, importantly, also when Met gene expression is disrupted in the tumor cells. Combination therapy suppresses a set of pro-inflammatory mediators including matrix metalloproteases that are upregulated by radiotherapy alone and that have been linked to poor outcome in glioblastoma. Several of these mediators are positively regulated by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, and pSMAD2 levels as a surrogate marker of TGF-β pathway activity are suppressed by combination treatment. We conclude that synergistic suppression of experimental syngeneic glioma growth by irradiation and MET inhibition requires MET expression in the tumor as well as an intact immune system. Clinical evaluation of this combined strategy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma is warranted.
| S-EPMC10009975 | biostudies-literature