Selective targeting of TBXT with DARPins identifies regulatory networks and therapeutic vulnerabilities in chordoma.

ABSTRACT: The embryonic transcription factor TBXT (brachyury) drives chordoma, a spinal neoplasm without effective drug therapies. TBXT's regulatory network is poorly understood, and strategies to disrupt its activity for therapeutic purposes are lacking. We developed designed ankyrin repeat proteins that block TBXT-DNA binding (T-DARPins). In chordoma cells, T-DARPins reduced cell cycle progression, spheroid formation, and tumor growth in mice and induced signs of senescence and differentiation. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses identified gene networks involved in cell cycle regulation, embryonic cell identity, and interferon response and revealed features of regulome components, such as susceptibility to pharmacologic inhibition and the fine-tuning of TBXT downstream effectors through IGFBP3.

SUBMITTER: Umbaugh CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12407079 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature