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HNF4G and FOXA1 are context-specific drivers of pancreatic cancer progression

ABSTRACT: Despite recent advances in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC), clinical outcome remains poor. Previous evidence linked the pioneer transcription factor FOXA1 as a mediator of new regulatory elements that drive tumour progression in models of late-stage disease. Given the critical role of FOXA1 as a pioneer factor for nuclear receptor (NR) transcription factors (TF) in breast and prostate cancer (Estrogen Receptor and Androgen Receptor), we hypothesised that FOXA1 might function with a NR in PDAC (1) (2). Using RIME, our unbiased approach for discovering endogenous protein complexes, we identified HNF4A and HNF4G as reproducible, FOXA1-associated proteins, a finding that was validated in clinical samples of PDAC. Using complex and diverse PDAC models, we show that gene transcription in the classical subtype of pancreatic cancer is regulated by FOXA1/GATA5/6 and HNF4G. We show that HNF4G drives primary disease, in part by recruiting the methyltransferase PRMT1 to regulatory regions. In primary tumour context, HNF4G is the dominant protein and the presence of HNF4G masks FOXA1 activity, resulting in FOXA1 being present, but functionally redundant in primary disease. During transition to metastasis however, HNF4G expression decreases, which unmasks FOXA1 activity, where it becomes transcriptionally active and a subsequent driver of metastasis. We provide new molecular insight into the key TFs in PDAC and the stage-specific activity of these proteins.

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ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

SUBMITTER: Evangelia Papachristou

LAB HEAD: Jason S. Carroll

PROVIDER: PXD045980 | Pride | 2025-08-13

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Project description:FOXA1 is a pioneer factor that is important in hormone dependent cancer cells to stabilise nuclear receptors, such as estrogen receptor (ER) to chromatin. FOXA1 binds to enhancers regions that are enriched in H3K4mono- and dimethylation (H3K4me1, H3K4me2) histone marks and evidence suggests that these marks are requisite events for FOXA1 to associate with enhancers to initate subsequent gene expression events. However, exogenous expression of FOXA1 has been shown to induce H3K4me1 and H3K4me2 signal at enhancer elements and the order of events and the functional importance of these events is not clear. We performed a FOXA1 Rapid Immunoprecipitation Mass Spectrometry of Endogenous Proteins (RIME) screen in ERα-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells in order to identify FOXA1 interacting partners and we found histone-lysine N-methyltransferase (MLL3) as the top FOXA1 interacting protein. MLL3 is typically thought to induce H3K4me3 at promoter regions, but recent findings suggest it may contribute to H3K4me1 deposition, in line with our observation that MLL3 associates with an enhancer specific protein. We performed MLL3 ChIP-seq in breast cancer cells and unexpectedly found that MLL3 binds mostly at non-promoter regions enhancers, in contrast to the prevailing hypothesis. MLL3 was shown to occupy regions marked by FOXA1 occupancy and as expected, H3K4me1 and H3K4me2. MLL3 binding was dependent on FOXA1, indicating that FOXA1 recruits MLL3 to chromatin. Motif analysis and subsequent genomic mapping revealed a role for Grainy head like protein-2 (GRHL2) which was shown to co-occupy regions of the chromatin with MLL3. Regions occupied by all three factors, namely FOXA1, MLL3 and GRHL2, were most enriched in H3K4me1. MLL3 silencing decreased H3K4me1 at enhancer elements, but had no appreciable impact on H3K4me3 at enhancer elements. We identify a complex relationship between FOXA1, MLL3 and H3K4me1 at enhancers in breast cancer and propose a mechanism whereby the pioneer factor FOXA1 can interact with a chromatin modifier MLL3, recruiting it to chromatin to facilitate the deposition of H3K4me1 histone marks, subsequently demarcating active enhancer elements.

			Action	DRS
	Lumos_Aspc1_GATA6.msf	Msf
	Lumos_Aspc1_GATA6.raw	Raw
	QE_FOXA1_T3M4.msf	Msf
	QE_FOXA1_T3M4.raw	Raw
	QE_HFP_ASPC_IGG.raw	Raw

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HNF4G and FOXA1 are context-specific drivers of pancreatic cancer progression

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