Project description:Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis and adverse clinical outcomes among all breast cancer subtypes as there is no available targeted therapy. Overexpression of Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) has been shown to correlate with TNBC's poor prognosis, but the contribution of EZH2 catalytic (H3K27me3) versus non-catalytic EZH2 (NC-EZH2) function in TNBC progression remains elusive. We reveal that selective hyper-activation of functional EZH2 (H3K27me3) over NC-EZH2 alters TNBC metastatic landscape and fosters its peritoneal metastasis, particularly splenic. Instead of H3K27me3-mediated repression of gene expression; here, it promotes KRT14 transcription by attenuating binding of repressor Sp1 to its promoter. Further, KRT14 loss significantly reduces TNBC migration, invasion, and peritoneal metastasis. Consistently, human TNBC metastasis displays positive correlation between H3K27me3 and KRT14 levels. Finally, EZH2 knockdown or H3K27me3 inhibition by EPZ6438 reduces TNBC peritoneal metastasis. Altogether, our preclinical findings suggest a rationale for targeting TNBC with EZH2 inhibitors.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) frequently metastasizes into the peritoneum, which contributes to poor prognosis. Metastatic spreading is promoted by cancer cell plasticity, yet its regulation by the microenvironment is incompletely understood. Here, we show that the presence of hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein-1 (HAPLN1) in the extracellular matrix enhances tumor cell plasticity and PDAC metastasis. Bioinformatic analysis showed that HAPLN1 expression is enriched in the basal PDAC subtype and associated with worse overall patient survival. In a mouse model for peritoneal carcinomatosis, HAPLN1-induced immunomodulation favored a more permissive microenvironment, which accelerated the peritoneal spread of tumor cells. Mechanistically, HAPLN1, via upregulation of tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2), promoted TNF-mediated upregulation of Hyaluronan (HA) production, facilitating EMT, stemness, invasion and immunomodulation. Extracellular HAPLN1 modified cancer cells and fibroblasts, rendering them more immunomodulatory. As such, we identified HAPLN1 as a prognostic marker and as a driver for peritoneal metastasis in PDAC.
Project description:Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most prevalent tumor worldwide, and ranks third in cancer-related deaths globally. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play significant role in the progression and metastasis in gastric cancer (GC), however, the molecular mechanism are largely elusive. We aim to identify up-regulated lncRNA in gastric cancer peritoneal metastasis and study their function in promoting tumor progression and metastasis.
Project description:Gastric cancer (GC) constitutes a significant cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with metastatic patterns including hematogenous, peritoneal, and ovarian routes. Although GC gene expression patterns have been extensively researched, the metastasis-specific gene expression landscape remains largely unexplored. This study undertook a whole transcriptome sequencing analysis of 66 paired primary and metastatic (hematogenous, peritoneal, or ovarian) GC tumors from 14 patients, leading to the identification of 122 unique metastasis-specific epithelial-mesenchymal transition (msEMT) genes. These genes demonstrated varying expression patterns depending on the metastatic route, suggesting route-specific molecular mechanisms in GC metastasis. High expression of msEMT genes in primary tumors was associated with more frequent CDH1 mutations, the genomically stable subtype, and poor prognosis in The Cancer Genome Atlas GC cohort. This association was further corroborated by poor prognosis and high predictive performance for peritoneal or ovarian recurrence in two independent cohorts (GSE66229; n=300, GSE84437; n=433). Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of primary tumors (GSE167297) and four independent ascites samples from GC patients revealed that msEMT genes were predominantly expressed in diverse fibroblast sub-populations, rather than cancer cells. This study illuminates the route-specific mechanisms and underlines the significance of msEMT genes and cancer-associated fibroblasts in GC metastasis, highlighting potential directions for future research.
Project description:Peritoneal metastasis (PM) has a suppressive tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), which limits the effects of immunotherapy. This study aims to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of intraperitoneal administration of IL-33 on PM-associated TIME. Immunocompetent mice were used to investigate the role of IL-33 in development of abdominal dissemination and host outcome. Murine (m) and human (h) gastric cancer cells were tested for their response to IL-33 by qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence. Survival was significantly prolonged in patients with high Il-33 mRNA expression. Intraperitoneal administration of IL-33 could induce the celiac inflammatory environment, activate immunologic effector cells and reverse the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which delayed tumor progression and peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer. Mechanistically, IL-33 could induce M2 polarization by activating p38-GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3) signaling pathway. IL-33 combined with anti-CSF1R or p38 inhibitor to regulate tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) showed synergistic anti-tumor effect. Intraperitoneal administration of IL-33 inducing local inflammatory milieu provided a novel approach for the treatment of metastatic peritoneal malignancies, which combined with TAMs reprogramming to reshape TIME could achieve better treatment efficacy.
Project description:Peritoneum is the second most common site of metastasis in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Peritoneal colonization is impaired in PDAC cells with knock-out (KO) of the cancer surface antigen mesothelin (MSLN) or by introducing Y318A mutation in MSLN to prevent binding to mucin-16 (MUC-16). MSLN has a membrane-bound form but is also shed to release soluble MSLN (sMSLN). Their individual roles in peritoneal metastasis are unknown. Here, a C-terminal truncated MSLN mutant (∆591) incapable of cell membrane insertion but proficient in secretion was engineered. Expression of ∆591 MSLN failed to rescue peritoneal metastasis in MSLN KO cells and inhibited peritoneal colonization when overexpressed in WT PDAC cells. Exposing PDAC cells to conditioned medium (CM) containing excess sMSLN impaired cancer cell clustering in vitro and in peritoneal fluid in vivo, while CM containing only Y318A sMSLN did not. These data demonstrate that interaction of membrane-bound MSLN with MUC-16 promotes cell clustering that is critical for efficient peritoneal metastasis. However, peritoneal colonization by MSLN KO cells was rescued by expression of ∆591 mutant MSLN bearing Y318A mutation, suggesting that sMSLN also has a MUC-16-independent role in peritoneal spread. Alterations in inflammatory signaling pathways occurred following KO cell exposure to CM containing sMSLN, and CM from cancer cells with intact peritoneal metastasis provoked increased KO cell secretion of IL-1α. While excess sMSLN inhibits cell clustering and peritoneal colonization, sMSLN may also promote PDAC peritoneal metastasis independent of MUC-16.