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Inhibition of Heat Shock Factor 1 Signaling Decreases Hepatoblastoma Growth via Induction of Apoptosis.

ABSTRACT: Although rare compared with adult liver cancers, hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver malignancy, and its incidence is increasing. Currently, the treatment includes surgical resection with or without chemotherapy, and in severe cases, liver transplantation in children. The effort to develop more targeted, HB-specific therapies has been stymied by the lack of fundamental knowledge about HB biology. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), a transcription factor, is a canonical inducer of heat shock proteins, which act as chaperone proteins to prevent or undo protein misfolding. Recent work has shown a role for HSF1 in cancer beyond the canonical heat shock response. The current study found increased HSF1 signaling in HB versus normal liver. It showed that less differentiated, more embryonic tumors had higher levels of HSF1 than more differentiated, more fetal-appearing tumors. Most strikingly, HSF1 expression levels correlated with mortality. This study used a mouse model of HB to test the effect of inhibiting HSF1 early in tumor development on cancer growth. HSF1 inhibition resulted in fewer and smaller tumors, suggesting HSF1 is needed for aggressive tumor growth. Moreover, HSF1 inhibition also increased apoptosis in tumor foci. These data suggest that HSF1 may be a viable pharmacologic target for HB treatment.

SUBMITTER: Hurley EH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9887635 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Inhibition of Heat Shock Factor 1 Signaling Decreases Hepatoblastoma Growth via Induction of Apoptosis.

Hurley Edward H EH Tao Junyan J Liu Silvia S Krutsenko Yekaterina Y Singh Sucha S Monga Satdarshan P SP

The American journal of pathology 20221103 2

Although rare compared with adult liver cancers, hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver malignancy, and its incidence is increasing. Currently, the treatment includes surgical resection with or without chemotherapy, and in severe cases, liver transplantation in children. The effort to develop more targeted, HB-specific therapies has been stymied by the lack of fundamental knowledge about HB biology. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), a transcription factor, is a canonical inducer of hea ...[more]

PMID: 36336065

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Project description:The heat shock response is a critical component of the inflammatory cascade that prevents misfolding of new proteins and regulates immune responses. Activation of clusters of differentiation (CD)4+ T cells causes an upregulation of heat shock transcription factor, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). We hypothesized that HSF1 promotes a pro-regulatory phenotype during inflammation. To validate this hypothesis, we interrogated cell-specific HSF1 knockout mice and HSF1 transgenic mice using in vitro and in vivo techniques. We determined that while HSF1 expression was induced by anti-CD3 stimulation alone, the combination of anti-CD3 and transforming growth factor β, a vital cytokine for regulatory T cell (Treg) development, resulted in increased activating phosphorylation of HSF1, leading to increased nuclear translocation and binding to heat shock response elements. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), we demonstrate the direct binding of HSF1 to foxp3 in isolated murine CD4+ T cells, which in turn coincided with induction of FoxP3 expression. We defined that conditional knockout of HSF1 decreased development and function of Tregs and overexpression of HSF1 led to increased expression of FoxP3 along with enhanced Treg suppressive function. Adoptive transfer of CD45RBHigh CD4 colitogenic T cells along with HSF1 transgenic CD25+ Tregs prevented intestinal inflammation when wild-type Tregs did not. Finally, overexpression of HSF1 provided enhanced barrier function and protection from murine ileitis. This study demonstrates that HSF1 promotes Treg development and function and may represent both a crucial step in the development of induced regulatory T cells and an exciting target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases with a regulatory T-cell component. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The heat shock response (HSR) is a canonical stress response triggered by a multitude of stressors, including inflammation. Evidence supports the role of the HSR in regulating inflammation, yet there is a paucity of data on its influence in T cells specifically. Gut homeostasis reflects a balance between regulatory clusters of differentiation (CD)4+ T cells and pro-inflammatory T-helper (Th)17 cells. We show that upon activation within T cells, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) translocates to the nucleus, and stimulates Treg-specific gene expression. HSF1 deficiency hinders Treg development and function and conversely, HSF1 overexpression enhances Treg development and function. While this work, focuses on HSF1 as a novel therapeutic target for intestinal inflammation, the findings have significance for a broad range of inflammatory conditions.

Dataset Information

Inhibition of Heat Shock Factor 1 Signaling Decreases Hepatoblastoma Growth via Induction of Apoptosis.

Publications

Inhibition of Heat Shock Factor 1 Signaling Decreases Hepatoblastoma Growth via Induction of Apoptosis.

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