Project description:DNA-dependent protein kinase catalitic subunit (DNA-PK) is associated with aggressive disease. DNA-PK plays a role in transcriptional regulation of cancer-relevent pathways but it is not well understood. This study uses transcriptomic analyses to understand the transcriptional role of DNA-PK in castration resistent prostate cancer (CRPC) upon DNA-PK inhibition
Project description:Epigenetic gene silencing by aberrant DNA methylation is one of the important mechanisms leading to the loss of key cellular pathways in tumorigenesis. We have previously reported that IRX4 (Iroquois homeobox 4) was highly downregulated by promoter hypermethylation in pancreatic cancer cell lines as well as in resected primary pancreatic cancers. Based on these data, we have constructed a tetracycline-inducible IRX4 expressing system using pancreatic cancer cell lines PK-1 and PK-9. IRX4 induction significantly suppressed cell growth and caused apoptosis in both PK-1 and PK-9. Because IRX4 is a sequence-specific transcription factor, we tried to analyze IRX4 downstream events by performing microarray analyses using IRX4 inducible PK-1 cells with or without tetracycline. We found that IRX4 induction upregulated several genes that had tumor suppressive functions such as PRDM1, CRYAB, and IL32, and downregulated several genes that had oncogenic functions such as PTCH1, CD36, TFAP2C, and MUC4. These results suggest that DNA methylation-mediated silencing of IRX4 may contribute to pancreatic tumorigenesis through aberrant transcriptional regulation of cancer-related genes.
Project description:DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination is confined to the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle partly due to 53BP1 antagonizing DNA end resection in G1 phase and non-cycling quiescent (G0) cells where DSBs must be repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Unexpectedly, we uncovered extensive MRE11- and CtIP-dependent DNA end resection at DSBs in G0 mammalian cells. A whole genome CRISPR/Cas9 screen revealed the DNA-dependent kinase (DNA-PK) complex as a key factor in promoting DNA end resection in G0 cells. In agreement, depletion of FBXL12, which promotes ubiquitylation and removal of the KU70/KU80 subunits of DNA-PK from DSBs, promotes even more extensive resection in G0 cells. In contrast, a requirement for DNA-PK in promoting DNA end resection in cycling cells at the G1 or G2 phase cells was not observed. Our findings establish that DNA-PK uniquely promotes DNA end resection in G0, but not in G1 or G2 phase cells, and has important implications for DNA DSB repair in quiescent cells.
Project description:DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination is confined to the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle partly due to 53BP1 antagonizing DNA end resection in G1 phase and non-cycling quiescent (G0) cells where DSBs must be repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Unexpectedly, we uncovered extensive MRE11- and CtIP-dependent DNA end resection at DSBs in G0 mammalian cells. A whole genome CRISPR/Cas9 screen revealed the DNA-dependent kinase (DNA-PK) complex as a key factor in promoting DNA end resection in G0 cells. In agreement, depletion of FBXL12, which promotes ubiquitylation and removal of the KU70/KU80 subunits of DNA-PK from DSBs, promotes even more extensive resection in G0 cells. In contrast, a requirement for DNA-PK in promoting DNA end resection in cycling cells at the G1 or G2 phase cells was not observed. Our findings establish that DNA-PK uniquely promotes DNA end resection in G0, but not in G1 or G2 phase cells, and has important implications for DNA DSB repair in quiescent cells.
Project description:We used RNA-seq to investigate the functional role of CSFV NS4A in PK-15 cells.we used RNA-seq to investigate the functional role of CSFV NS4A in PK-15 cells.
Project description:Objective Cancer cells convert more glucose into lactate than healthy cells, what results in their growth advantage. Pyruvate kinase (PK) is a key rate limiting enzyme in this process, what makes it a promising potential therapeutic target. However, currently it is still unclear what consequences the inhibition of PK has on cellular processes. Here, we systematically investigate the consequences of PK depletion for gene expression, histone modifications and metabolism. Methods Epigenetic, transcriptional and metabolic targets were analysed in different cellular and animal models with stable knockdown or knockout of PK. Results Depleting PK activity reduces the glycolytic flux and causes accumulation of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Such metabolic perturbation results in stimulation of the activity of a heterodimeric pair of transcription factors MondoA and MLX but not in a major reprogramming of the global H3K9ac and H3K4me3 histone modification landscape. The MondoA:MLX heterodimer upregulates expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) – a tumour suppressor with multifaceted anticancer activity. This effect of TXNIP upregulation extends beyond immortalised cancer cell lines and is applicable to multiple cellular and animal models. Conclusions Our work shows that actions of often pro-tumorigenic PK and anti-tumorigenic TXNIP are tightly linked via a glycolytic intermediate. We suggest that PK depletion stimulates the activity of MondoA:MLX transcription factor heterodimers and subsequently, increases cellular TXNIP levels. TXNIP-mediated inhibition of thioredoxin (TXN) can reduce the ability of cells to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to the oxidative damage of cellular structures including DNA. These findings highlight an important regulatory axis affecting tumour suppression mechanisms and provide an attractive opportunity for combination cancer therapies targeting glycolytic activity and ROS-generating pathways