Project description:We performed p53 ChIP-seq analysis of Nutlin-treated HCT116 cells to identify high-confident p53 regulated targets. And we performed ChIP-seq using an anti-p53 antibody in HCT116 cells treated with control or iASPP RNAi to identify iASPP regulated p53 targets.
Project description:Chromatin regulators have become highly attractive targets for cancer therapy, yet many of these regulators are expressed in a broad range of healthy cells and contribute generally to gene expression. An important conundrum has thus emerged: how can inhibition of a general regulator of gene expression produce selective effects at specific oncogenes? Here we investigate how inhibition of the transcriptional coactivator BRD4 (Bromodomain containing 4) leads to selective inhibition of disease-critical oncogenes in a highly malignant blood cancer, multiple myeloma (MM). We found that BRD4 generally occupies the promoter elements of active genes together with the Mediator coactivator, but remarkably high levels of these two coactivator proteins were associated with a small set of exceptionally large enhancers. These super-enhancers are associated with genes that feature prominently in MM biology, including the MYC oncogene. Treatment of MM tumor cells with the BET-bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 led to preferential loss of BRD4 at super-enhancers and consequent transcription elongation defects that preferentially impact genes with super-enhancers, including the c-MYC oncogene. Super-enhancers were found at key oncogenic drivers in many other tumor cells. Thus, super-enhancers can regulate oncogenic drivers in tumor cells, which in some cells can be preferentially disrupted by BRD4 inhibition, which in turn contributes to the selective transcriptional effects observed at these oncogenes. These observations have implications for the discovery of novel cancer therapeutics directed at components of super-enhancers in diverse tumor types. ChIP-Seq for chromatin regulators and RNA Polymerase II in multiple myeloma, glioblastoma multiforme, and small cell lung cancer
Project description:Chromatin regulators have become highly attractive targets for cancer therapy, yet many of these regulators are expressed in a broad range of healthy cells and contribute generally to gene expression. An important conundrum has thus emerged: how can inhibition of a general regulator of gene expression produce selective effects at specific oncogenes? Here we investigate how inhibition of the transcriptional coactivator BRD4 (Bromodomain containing 4) leads to selective inhibition of disease-critical oncogenes in a highly malignant blood cancer, multiple myeloma (MM). We found that BRD4 generally occupies the promoter elements of active genes together with the Mediator coactivator, but remarkably high levels of these two coactivator proteins were associated with a small set of exceptionally large enhancers. These super-enhancers are associated with genes that feature prominently in MM biology, including the MYC oncogene. Treatment of MM tumor cells with the BET-bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 led to preferential loss of BRD4 at super-enhancers and consequent transcription elongation defects that preferentially impact genes with super-enhancers, including the c-MYC oncogene. Super-enhancers were found at key oncogenic drivers in many other tumor cells. Thus, super-enhancers can regulate oncogenic drivers in tumor cells, which in some cells can be preferentially disrupted by BRD4 inhibition, which in turn contributes to the selective transcriptional effects observed at these oncogenes. These observations have implications for the discovery of novel cancer therapeutics directed at components of super-enhancers in diverse tumor types. Gene expression profiling in multiple myeloma cells after BET-Bromodomain inhibition with JQ1
Project description:Histone modifications regulate chromatin-dependent processes, yet the mechanisms by which they contribute to specific outcomes remain unclear. H3K4me3 is a prominent histone mark that is associated with active genes and promotes transcription through interactions with effector proteins that include initiation factor TFIID. We demonstrate that H3K4me3-TAF3 interactions direct global TFIID recruitment to active genes, some of which are p53 targets. Further analyses show that (i) H3K4me3 enhances p53-dependent transcription by stimulating preinitiation complex (PIC) formation; (ii) H3K4me3, through TAF3 interactions, can act either independently or cooperatively with the TATA box to direct PIC formation and transcription; and (iii) H3K4me3-TAF3/TFIID interactions regulate gene-selective functions of p53 in response to genotoxic stress. Our findings indicate a mechanism by which H3K4me3 directs PIC assembly for the rapid induction of specific p53 target genes Examination of TAF3, RNAPII, and H3K4me3 distribution in HCT116 cells.
Project description:Here we describe broad anti-proliferative activity of potent, selective, reversible inhibitors of protein arginine methyltransferase5 (PRMT5) including GSK3326595 in human cancer cell lines representing both hematologic and solid malignancies. Interestingly, PRMT5 inhibition activated the p53 pathway via the induction of alternative splicing of MDM4. The MDM4 isoforms witch and subsequent p53 activation are critical determinants of the response to PRMT5 inhibition suggesting that the integrity of the p53-MDM4 regulatory axis defines a subset of patients that could benefit from treatment with GSK3326595.
Project description:Increasing evidence indicates oncogenes and tumor suppressors not only influence cell fitness but can also control the immunophenotype of cells. Here, we examined how 34 commonly mutated genes in colorectal cancer (CRC) may influence the expression of 8 key immunomodulatory proteins. To do this, we employed a functional genomics approach utilizing Pro-Code/CRISPR libraries for high-dimensional analysis. We introduced a library of 102 Pro-Code/gRNA combinations, targeting each of the 34 genes, in CT26 cells, a CRC cell model, and measured the expression of each of the immunomodulatory proteins by CyTOF mass cytometry. Notably, cells carrying a Pro-Code/CRISPR targeting the Trp53 lost expression of the immune co-stimulatory molecule CD80. Validation confirmed that Trp53 knockout resulted in the loss of CD80 and that activation of P53, through DNA damage or stabilization, resulted in CD80 upregulation. P53 ChIP-seq identified the CD80 promoter as a direct target of P53. CD80 regulation by P53 was identified in other cells, including normal epithelial cells and macrophages. Functionally, CD80 reduction caused by P53 loss led to a reduced capacity for CRC to prime antigen-specific T cells. These studies establish CD80, a canonical co-stimulatory molecule, as a direct target of the tumor suppressor and DNA damage response gene, P53.
Project description:CDK4 inhibitors have reached clinical approval for cancer therapy. In parallel, the p53 antagonist Mdm2 remains an attractive target for anti-cancer therapy, including numerous clinical studies. The genes encoding Mdm2 and CDK4 are frequently co-amplified in human malignancies, most notably in liposarcomas, suggesting their combined targeting for therapy. Here we show, however, that small compounds that inhibit Mdm2 and CDK4 antagonize each other rather than synergize in their cytotoxicity towards sarcoma cells. CDK4 inhibition attenuates the induction of p53-responsive genes upon Mdm2 inhibition, and similar results were obtained when depleting Mdm2 and/or CDK4 with siRNA. CDK4 inhibitors also interfered with p53 activity in response to DNA damage. CDK4 inhibition did not reduce p53 binding or histone acetylation to promoters, but rather attenuated the subsequent recruitment of RNA polymerase II. The complexes of p53 and Mdm2, as well as CDK4 and Cyclin D1, physically associated with each other. Upon combined inhibition of Mdm2 and CDK4/6, the interaction of this complex was impaired. Thus, the CDK4-Cyclin D1 complex plays a key role in enabling the transcription of p53 target genes. Taken together, our results raise caution regarding the combination of CDK4 inhibitors with Mdm2 antagonists or conventional DNA-damaging chemotherapeutics in the clinics. Moreover, they suggest a hitherto unknown role for CDK4-cyclin D1 complex in sustaining p53 activity, possibly focusing p53-mediated transcription on actively proliferating cells.
Project description:The control of p53 protein stability is critical to its tumor suppressor functions. The CREB Binding Protein (CBP) transcriptional coactivator co-operates with MDM2 to maintain normally low physiologic p53 levels in cells via an exclusively cytoplasmic ‘E4’ polyubiquitination activity. Utilizing mass spectrometry to identify nuclear and cytoplasmic CBP interacting proteins that regulate compartmentalized CBP E4 activity, we identified Deleted in Breast Cancer 1 (DBC1) as a stoichiometric CBP-interacting protein that negatively regulates CBP–dependent p53 polyubiquitination, stabilizes p53, and augments p53-dependent apoptosis. TCGA analysis demonstrated that solid tumors often retain wild type p53 alleles in conjunction with DBC1 loss, supporting the hypothesis that DBC1 is selected for disruption during carcinogenesis as a surrogate for p53 functional loss. As DBC1 maintains p53 stability in the nucleus where p53 exerts its tumor suppressive transcriptional function, replacement of DBC1 functionality in DBC1-deleted tumors might also enhance p53 function and chemosensitivity for therapeutic benefit.
Project description:In ribosomopathies, perturbed expression of ribosome components leads to tissue-specific phenotypes. What accounts for such tissue-selective manifestations as a result of mutations in the ribosome, a ubiquitous cellular machine, has remained a mystery. Combining mouse genetics and in vivo ribosome profiling, we observe limb patterning phenotypes in ribosomal protein (RP) haploinsufficient embryos and uncover selective translational changes of transcripts controlling limb development. Surprisingly, both loss of p53, which is activated by RP haploinsufficiency, and augmented protein synthesis rescue these phenotypes. These findings are explained by the identification that p53 functions as a master regulator of protein synthesis, at least in part, through transcriptional activation of 4E-BP1. 4E-BP1, a key translational regulator, in turn, facilitates selective changes in the translatome downstream of p53, and thereby explains how RP haploinsufficiency may elicit specificity to gene expression. These results provide an integrative model to understand how in vivo tissue-specific phenotypes emerge in ribosomopathies.