Project description:We identified the BCL6 protooncogene as a critical downstream effector of FoxO3A in self-renewal signaling of CML-initiating cells. BCL6 represses Arf and p53 in CML cells and is required for leukemia stem cell maintenance, colony formation and initiation of leukemia in transplant recipients. Importantly, peptide inhibition of BCL6 in human CML cells compromises colony formation and leukemia-initiation in xenotransplanted mouse recipients. These findings identify peptide-inhibition of BCL6 as a novel strategy to eradicate leukemia-initiating cells in CML. Identification of BCL6 binding sites in human CML cell line JURL-MK1
Project description:E. coli K-12 BW25113 mutant strain yncC expression in biofilm cells relative to E. coli wild-type strain expression in biofilm cells. All samples were cultured in LB with glasswool at 37C for 15 hours and E. coli K-12 MG1655 mutant yncC colony cells vs wild type colony cells in LB plates 15h 37C. Quorum-sensing signal autoinducer 2 (AI-2) stimulates Escherichia coli biofilm formation through the motility regulator MqsR that induces expression of the putative transcription factor encoded by yncC. Here we show YncC increases biofilm formation by decreasing mucoidy (corroborated by decreased exopolysaccharide production and increased sensitivity to bacteriophage P1 infection). Differential gene expression and gel shift assays demonstrated that YncC is a repressor of the predicted periplasmic protein-encoding gene ybiM which was corroborated by the isogenic yncC ybiM double mutation which repressed the yncC phenotypes (biofilm formation, mucoidy, and bacteriophage resistance). Through nickel-enrichment microarrays and additional gel shift assays, we found that the putative transcription factor B3023 (directly upstream of mqsR) binds the yncC promoter. Overexpressing MqsR, AI-2 import regulators LsrR/LsrK, and AI-2 exporter TqsA induced yncC transcription whereas the AI-2 synthase LuxS and B3023 repressed yncC. MqsR has a toxic effect on E. coli bacterial growth which is partially reduced by the b3023 mutation. Therefore, AI-2 quorum-sensing control of biofilm formation is mediated through regulator MqsR that induces expression of the transcription factor YncC which serves to inhibit the expression of periplasmic YbiM; this inhibition of YbiM prevents it from overexpressing exopolysaccharide (causing mucoidy) and prevents YbiM from inhibiting biofilm formation. Keywords: biofilm gene expression and colony gene expression
Project description:We identified the BCL6 protooncogene as a critical downstream effector of FoxO3A in self-renewal signaling of CML-initiating cells. BCL6 represses Arf and p53 in CML cells and is required for leukemia stem cell maintenance, colony formation and initiation of leukemia in transplant recipients. Importantly, peptide inhibition of BCL6 in human CML cells compromises colony formation and leukemia-initiation in xenotransplanted mouse recipients. These findings identify peptide-inhibition of BCL6 as a novel strategy to eradicate leukemia-initiating cells in CML.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease with limited effective treatment options, potentiating the importance of uncovering novel drug targets. Here, we target Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor 3 (CPSF3), the 3’ endonuclease that catalyzes mRNA cleavage during polyadenylation and histone mRNA processing. We find that CPSF3 is highly expressed in PDAC and is associated with poor prognosis. CPSF3 knockdown blocks PDAC cell proliferation and colony formation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Chemical inhibition of CPSF3 by the small molecule JTE-607 also attenuates PDAC cell proliferation and colony formation, while it has no effect on cell proliferation of non-transformed immortalized control pancreatic cells. Mechanistically, JTE-607 induces transcriptional read-through in replication-dependent histones, reduces core histone expression, destabilizes chromatin structure and arrests cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. Therefore, CPSF3 represents a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of PDAC.