Project description:Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a deadly disease with rising incidence and few treatment options. Recently, aberrant Notch signaling was reported in iCCA carcinogenesis. Specifically, altered expression and/or activation of the receptors Notch1/2 suggests a role for Notch pathway overactivation during iCCA formation and progression. In this study, we examined the effects of Notch inhibition by γ-secretase inhibitor, LY3039478 in human iCCA cell lines and in an excellent patient derived-xenograft (PDX) model. Expression of several Notch pathway components, including NICD, Hes1, and DLL4, were reduced after GSI treatment. Moreover, LY3039478 inhibits cell migration and invasion while in GSI-treated mice, tumor growth was delayed compared to vehicle and chemotherapy. These results support the notion that Notch inhibition by GSI may reduce in vivo tumorigenesis. In addition, GSI reduces in PDX model VEGFA and MMP13 involved in capillary tube formation and tumor progression. Here, we therefore show a link between the efficacy of Notch inhibition and the tumor microenvironment through LY3039478 that slows tumor progression compared to control mice blocking angiogenesis via MMP13 downregulation. We used microarray technology to understand the molecular mechanisms affected by LY3039478. Cholangiocarcinoma PDX model was employed in this analysis.
Project description:As genomic analysis technology has advanced, it has become possible to sub-classify intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) at the histological or molecular level. However, there are no truly representative models of ICC subtypes for use in studying developmental differences, carcinogenesis, and personalized drug response. Here, we sought to verify recent suggested two subgroup of ICC in organoids model, compare the characteristics between LD and SD type of ICC, and find the type-specific gene expression profile and targetable pathway as a therapeutic target. ICC organoids from 16 patients pathologically diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma were prepared according to a previously established organoid culture protocol. ICC patients were subclassified into small-duct (SD) type and large-duct (LD) type according to histological characteristics and S100P, N-cadherin, and CD56 expression. ICC organoids were successfully established within one month and exhibited a morphology similar to that of their matching primary cancer. LD- and SD-type organoids exhibited histologic phenotypes and staining patterns characteristic of the corresponding ICC subtypes. ICC organoids showed high concordance of somatic mutations with primary tumors. Unsupervised principal component analysis clustering effectively separated each type of ICC. Differential gene expression revealed significant enrichment on KRAS, TGFβ and ERBB2 signaling pathways in LD-type compared with SD-type ICC (P<0.05). Gene set enrichment analysis further demonstrated that the cholangiocarcinoma class 2 signature, defined by Andersen et al., was significantly enriched in the LD-type (enrichment score=2.19, P<0.001). A protein-protein interaction network analysis identified ZNF217 as a significant hub protein (odds ratio=4.96, P=0.0105). We successfully performed prospective modeling of histological subtype specification using patient-derived ICC organoids. Moreover, gene expression profiling of ICC organoids enabled identification of type-specific targetable pathways.
Project description:Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an adenocarcinoma of the hepatobiliary system showing an alarming rise in incidence and mortality with unsatisfactory treatment options. Claudin-1 (CLDN1) is a transmembrane protein expressed in tight junctions and exposed on the cell surface in liver fibrosis and cancer. Using single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) and spatial transcriptomics of CCA patient tissues, we show that CLDN1 expression is highly upregulated in cancer cells and is associated with stemness and cell fate. Gain-of-function studies in CCA orthotopic in vivo mouse models showed decreased survival and enhanced tumor growth, unraveling a functional role of CLDN1 as an oncogenic driver. Targeting exposed CLDN1 using highly specific CLDN1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) robustly inhibited tumor growth across CCA CDX and PDX mouse models and patient-derived CCA organoids including tumors with medium or low CLDN1 expression. Moreover, antibody treatment markedly inhibited tumor cell migration, invasion, and extrahepatic metastasis. Mechanistically, targeting exposed CLDN1 on CCA tumors inhibited Notch1, FAK/SRC, and Hippo-YAP signaling, resulting in decreased cancer cell stemness, EMT and extracellular matrix remodeling. In conclusion, these results uncover CLDN1 as a previously undiscovered CCA driver and therapeutic target, paving the way for the clinical development of CLDN1 mAbs to improve the dismal outcome of patients with advanced CCA.
Project description:Analysis of gene expression in cholangiocarcinoma patients. Please download the supplementary file GSE89748_CCA_batch02_illumina_Gene_expression_noNorm_noBKGD.txt.gz (link below) to obtain gene expression matrix with sample IDs used in the publication.
Project description:Analysis of gene expression in cholangiocarcinoma patients. Please download the supplementary file GSE89747_CCA_batch01_illumina_Gene_expression_noNorm_noBKGD.txt.gz (link below) to obtain gene expression matrix with sample IDs used in the publication.