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HNF1A recruits KDM6A to activate differentiated acinar cell programs that suppress pancreatic cancer.

ABSTRACT: Defects in transcriptional regulators of pancreatic exocrine differentiation have been implicated in pancreatic tumorigenesis, but the molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. The locus encoding the transcription factor HNF1A harbors susceptibility variants for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), while KDM6A, encoding Lysine-specific demethylase 6A, carries somatic mutations in PDAC. Here, we show that pancreas-specific Hnf1a null mutant transcriptomes phenocopy those of Kdm6a mutations, and both defects synergize with Kras^G12D to cause PDAC with sarcomatoid features. We combine genetic, epigenomic, and biochemical studies to show that HNF1A recruits KDM6A to genomic binding sites in pancreatic acinar cells. This remodels the acinar enhancer landscape, activates differentiated acinar cell programs, and indirectly suppresses oncogenic and epithelial-mesenchymal transition genes. We also identify a subset of non-classical PDAC samples that exhibit the HNF1A/KDM6A-deficient molecular phenotype. These findings provide direct genetic evidence that HNF1A deficiency promotes PDAC. They also connect the tumor-suppressive role of KDM6A deficiency with a cell-specific molecular mechanism that underlies PDAC subtype definition.

SUBMITTER: Kalisz M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7196917 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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HNF1A recruits KDM6A to activate differentiated acinar cell programs that suppress pancreatic cancer.

Kalisz Mark M Bernardo Edgar E Beucher Anthony A Maestro Miguel Angel MA Del Pozo Natalia N Millán Irene I Haeberle Lena L Schlensog Martin M Safi Sami Alexander SA Knoefel Wolfram Trudo WT Grau Vanessa V de Vas Matías M Shpargel Karl B KB Vaquero Eva E Magnuson Terry T Ortega Sagrario S Esposito Irene I Real Francisco X FX Ferrer Jorge J

The EMBO journal 20200310 9

Defects in transcriptional regulators of pancreatic exocrine differentiation have been implicated in pancreatic tumorigenesis, but the molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. The locus encoding the transcription factor HNF1A harbors susceptibility variants for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), while KDM6A, encoding Lysine-specific demethylase 6A, carries somatic mutations in PDAC. Here, we show that pancreas-specific Hnf1a null mutant transcriptomes phenocopy those of Kdm6a mutations, ...[more]

PMID: 32154941

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Project description:Aims/hypothesisIndividuals with longstanding and recent-onset type 1 diabetes have a smaller pancreas. Since beta cells represent a very small portion of the pancreas, the loss of pancreas volume in diabetes is primarily due to the loss of pancreatic exocrine mass. However, the structural changes in the exocrine pancreas in diabetes are not well understood.MethodsTo characterise the pancreatic endocrine and exocrine compartments in diabetes, we studied pancreases from adult donors with type 1 diabetes compared with similarly aged donors without diabetes. Islet cell mass, islet morphometry, exocrine mass, acinar cell size and number and pancreas fibrosis were assessed by immunohistochemical staining. To better understand possible mechanisms of altered pancreas size, we measured pancreas size in three mouse models of insulin deficiency.ResultsPancreases from donors with type 1 diabetes were approximately 45% smaller than those from donors without diabetes (47.4 ± 2.6 vs 85.7 ± 3.7 g), independent of diabetes duration or age of onset. Diabetic donor pancreases had decreased beta cell mass (0.061 ± 0.025 vs 0.94 ± 0.21 g) and reduced total exocrine mass (42.0 ± 4.9 vs 96.1 ± 6.5 g). Diabetic acinar cells were similar in size but fewer in number compared with those in pancreases from non-diabetic donors (63.7 ± 8.1 × 109 vs 121.6 ± 12.2 × 109 cells/pancreas), likely accounting for the difference in pancreas size. Within the type 1 diabetes exocrine tissue, there was a greater degree of fibrosis. The pancreases in three mouse models of insulin deficiency were similar in size to those in control mice.Conclusions/interpretationPancreases from donors with type 1 diabetes are smaller than normal donor pancreases because exocrine cells are fewer in number rather than smaller in size; these changes occur early in the disease process. Our mouse data suggest that decreased pancreas size in type 1 diabetes is not directly caused by insulin deficiency, but the precise mechanism responsible remains unclear.

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HNF1A recruits KDM6A to activate differentiated acinar cell programs that suppress pancreatic cancer.

Publications

HNF1A recruits KDM6A to activate differentiated acinar cell programs that suppress pancreatic cancer.

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