Project description:Cancer progression is associated with alterations of epigenetic regulators such as histone-lysine demethylases 4 (KDM4)2-5. During breast cancer therapy, classical treatments fail to address resistant cancer stem cell populations6-10. Here, we identified a novel KDM4 inhibitor (KDM4(i)) with unique preclinical characteristics. KDM4(i) is a highly potent pan KDM4 inhibitor that specifically blocks the demethylase activity of KDM4A, B, C, and D but not that of the other members of the KDM family. We validated the KDM4(i) anti-tumoral properties under conditions recapitulating patient tumors. Therefore, we established a method to isolate and grow triple-negative breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) from individual patient tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Limiting dilution orthotopic xenografts of these BCSCs faithfully regenerate original patient tumor histology and gene expression. KDM4(i) blocks proliferation, sphere formation and xenograft tumor growth of BCSCs. Importantly, KDM4(i) abrogates expression of EGFR, a driver of therapy-resistant triple-negative breast tumor cells11, via inhibition of the KDM4A demethylase activity. Taken together, we present a unique BCSC culture system as a basis for therapeutic compound identification and demonstrate that KDM4 inhibition is a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.
Project description:HepG2-NTCP cells were cultured in 1% oxygen or treated with a KDM4 inhibitor, QC6352, for 72 hours. RNA was extracted and the impact of treatment on the cellular transcriptome was investigated by RNA-sequencing.
Project description:Here we established two tumor tissue-derived long-term-cultured breast cancer stem cells (BCSC). RNA extraction and microarray analysis total RNA from BCSC treating with G1, G15, or control (Ctrl) for 48 hr were extracted using Trizol Reagent. Important significant differences of cDNA genes were identified. (The G1-treated group was designed as \\"12\\", the control group was \\"11\\" (raw data: 11 and 12; processed data: BCSC-G1). Similarly, the G15-treated study group was defined as \\"14\\", the control group was \\"13\\" (raw data: 13 and 14; processed data: BCSC-G15).
Project description:Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), being both aggressive and highly lethal, poses a significant challenge in terms of treatment. Its heterogeneity and lack of hormone receptors or HER2 expression further restrict the availability of targeted therapy. Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), known to fuel TNBC malignancy, are now being exploited as the vulnerability for TNBC treatment. Here, we dissected the transcriptome of BCSCs and identified Kinesin Family Member 20A (KIF20A) as an essential gene for BCSC survival and TNBC tumorigenesis. Depletion or pharmacologic inhibition of KIF20A impairs BCSC viability, tumor initiation and development in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, KIF20A regulates BCSC stemness through modulating the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway in mitochondria, which is repressed by a member of the SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complex, SMARCA4. Therapeutically, treatment with a KIF20A inhibitor sensitizes TNBC xenograft tumors to standard-of-care chemotherapy. Our study highlights the significance of targeting KIF20A to exploit BCSC vulnerabilities in TNBC.
Project description:The KDM4/JMJD2 are H3K9- and H3K36- specific demethylases, which are considered promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring MLL-translocations. Here, we investigate the long-term effects of depleting KDM4 activity on normal hematopoiesis to probe potential side effects of continuous inhibition of these enzymes. Utilizing conditional Kdm4a/Kdm4b/Kdm4c triple-knockout mice we show that KDM4 activity is required for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) maintenance in vivo. The knockout of the KDM4 demethylases leads to accumulation of H3K9me3 on transcription start sites and the corresponding downregulation of expression of several genes in hematopoietic stem cells. We show that two of these genes, Taf1b and Nom1, are essential for the maintenance of hematopoietic cells. Taken together, our results show that the KDM4 demethylases are required for the expression of genes essential for the long-term maintenance of normal hematopoiesis.
Project description:To investigate the effects of the KDM4 inhibitor QC6352 on embryonic renal tumor cells, we treated WiT49 anaplastic Wilms tumor cells and tumor-forming HEK293 human embryonic kidney cells with 25 nM QC6352 for 72 hours