Project description:Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising agent in selectively killing tumor cells. However, TRAIL monotherapy is not especially successful due to the fact that many cancer cells are resistant to TRAIL. Chemotherapeutic agents, such as doxorubicin have been shown to act synergistically with TRAIL on cancer cells, but the exact mechanisms of actions are poorly understood. In this study we performed high-throughput siRNA screening and genome-wide gene expression profiling on doxorubicin treated U1690 cells to explore novel mechanisms underlying doxorubicin-TRAIL synergy. The screening and expression profiling results were integrated and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) was identified to be a potential candidate. DHODH is rate-limiting enzyme in the pyrimidine synthesis pathway, and its expression was downregulated by doxorubicin and silencing of DHODH sensitized U1690 cells to TRAIL. Inhibition of DHODH activity by brequinar dramatically increased the sensitivity of U1690 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, and was accompanied by downregulation of cFLIPL and mitochondrial depolarization. However, the expressions of DR4 and 5 were not changed in response to brequinar treatment in contrast to doxorubicin. In addition, uridine, an end product of the pyrimidine synthesis pathway was able to rescue the sensitization effects initialized by both brequinar and doxorubicin. Furthermore, other cancer cell lines, LNCaP, MCF-7 and HT-29 were also shown to be sensitized to TRAIL by brequinar. Taken together, our findings have identified a novel drug, brequinar, to be potentially utilized in TRAIL combinatorial cancer therapy and highlighted for the first time the importance of DHODH and pyrimidine pathway in mediating TRAIL sensitization in cancer cells. Total RNA obtained from small cell lung cancer U1690 cells either treated with DMSO control or 1 M-BM-5M doxorubicin for 12 or 24h.
Project description:Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising agent in selectively killing tumor cells. However, TRAIL monotherapy has not been successful as many cancer cells are resistant to TRAIL. Chemotherapeutic agents, such as doxorubicin have been shown to act synergistically with TRAIL, but the exact mechanisms of actions are poorly understood. In this study, we performed high-throughput small interfering RNA screening and genome-wide gene expression profiling on doxorubicin-treated U1690 cells to explore novel mechanisms underlying doxorubicin-TRAIL synergy. The screening and expression profiling results were integrated and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) was identified as a potential candidate. DHODH is the rate-limiting enzyme in the pyrimidine synthesis pathway, and its expression was downregulated by doxorubicin. We demonstrated that silencing of DHODH or inhibition of DHODH activity by brequinar dramatically increased the sensitivity of U1690 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis both in 2D and 3D cultures, and was accompanied by downregulation of c-FLIPL as well as by mitochondrial depolarization. In addition, uridine, an end product of the pyrimidine synthesis pathway was able to rescue the sensitization effects initiated by both brequinar and doxorubicin. Furthermore, several other cancer cell lines, LNCaP, MCF-7 and HT-29 were also shown to be sensitized to TRAIL by brequinar. Taken together, our findings have identified a novel protein target and its inhibitor, brequinar, as a potential agent in TRAIL-based combinatorial cancer therapy and highlighted for the first time the importance of mitochondrial DHODH enzyme and pyrimidine pathway in mediating TRAIL sensitization in cancer cells.
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed the therapeutic landscape in oncology; however, ICIs are effective in subsets of patients. A major limitation of their efficacy is tumor-driven immune suppression, and one key mechanism is the ‘biogenesis’ of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). A fundamental gap in MDSC biology is the dearth of approaches that target their biogenesis. We hypothesized that targeting MDSC biogenesis will mitigate MDSC burden and bolster responses to ICIs. We focused on a class of agents, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitors, recently found to restore terminal differentiation of leukemic myeloid progenitors and is in clinical trials of AML. One such DHODH inhibitor is brequinar. Using preclinical models of mammary cancer that elicit robust MDSC responses, we demonstrated that brequinar suppressed MDSC biogenesis, enhancing the antitumor and anti-metastatic activity of PD-1-based ICI therapy. In this single-cell RNA transcriptomics study, we sought to determine the impact of brequinar treatment of tumor-bearing mice on altering gene expression in bone marrow myeloid progenitors. Thus, this cutting-edge molecular approach enabled us to test the hypothesis that brequinar acted in the bone marrow at a qualitative level to mitigate MDSC biogenesis.
Project description:Despite intensive therapy, children with high-risk neuroblastoma are at risk of treatment failure. We applied a multi-omic system approach to evaluate metabolic vulnerabilities in human neuroblastoma. We combined metabolomics, CRISPR screening and transcriptomic data across >700 solid tumor cell lines and identified dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), a critical enzyme in pyrimidine synthesis, as a potential treatment target. Of note, DHODH inhibition is currently under clinical investigation in patients with hematologic malignancies. In neuroblastoma, DHODH expression was identified as an independent risk factor for aggressive disease, and high DHODH levels correlated to worse overall and event-free survival. A subset of tumors with the highest DHODH expression was associated with a dismal prognosis, with a 5-year survival of <10%. In xenograft and transgenic neuroblastoma mouse models treated with the DHODH inhibitor brequinar, tumor growth was dramatically reduced, and survival was extended. Furthermore, brequinar treatment was shown to reduce the expression of MYC targets in three different neuroblastoma models in vivo. A combination of brequinar and temozolomide was curative in the majority of transgenic TH-MYCN neuroblastoma mice, indicating a highly active clinical combination therapy. Overall, DHODH inhibition combined with temozolomide has therapeutic potential in neuroblastoma and we propose this combination for clinical testing.
Project description:Despite intensive therapy, children with high-risk neuroblastoma are at risk of treatment failure. We applied a multi-omic system approach to evaluate metabolic vulnerabilities in human neuroblastoma. We combined metabolomics, CRISPR screening and transcriptomic data across >700 solid tumor cell lines and identified dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), a critical enzyme in pyrimidine synthesis, as a potential treatment target. Of note, DHODH inhibition is currently under clinical investigation in patients with hematologic malignancies. In neuroblastoma, DHODH expression was identified as an independent risk factor for aggressive disease, and high DHODH levels correlated to worse overall and event-free survival. A subset of tumors with the highest DHODH expression was associated with a dismal prognosis, with a 5-year survival of <10%. In xenograft and transgenic neuroblastoma mouse models treated with the DHODH inhibitor brequinar, tumor growth was dramatically reduced, and survival was extended. Furthermore, brequinar treatment was shown to reduce the expression of MYC targets in three different neuroblastoma models in vivo. A combination of brequinar and temozolomide was curative in the majority of transgenic TH-MYCN neuroblastoma mice, indicating a highly active clinical combination therapy. Overall, DHODH inhibition combined with temozolomide has therapeutic potential in neuroblastoma and we propose this combination for clinical testing.
Project description:Oncogenic KRAS induces metabolic rewiring in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) characterized, in part, by dependency on de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. Pharmacologic inhibition of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an enzyme in the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway, delays pancreatic tumor growth; however, limited monotherapy efficacy suggests that compensatory pathways may drive resistance. Here, we use an integrated metabolomic, proteomic and in vitro and in vivo DHODH inhibitor-anchored genetic screening approach to identify compensatory pathways to DHODH inhibition (DHODHi) and targets for combination therapy strategies. We demonstrate that DHODHi alters the apoptotic regulatory proteome thereby enhancing sensitivity to inhibitors of the anti-apoptotic BCL2L1 (BCL-XL) protein. Co-targeting DHODH and BCL-XL synergistically induces apoptosis in PDAC cells and patient-derived organoids. The combination of DHODH inhibition with Brequinar and BCL-XL degradation by DT2216, a proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC), significantly inhibits PDAC tumor growth. These data define mechanisms of adaptation to DHODHi and support combination therapy targeting BCL-XL in PDAC.
Project description:We aim to gain insight into the changes of gene expression induced by ASLAN003, a novel, potent Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase (DHODH) Inhibitor
Project description:The cellular processes that govern tumor resistance to immunotherapy remain poorly understood. To gain insight into these processes, we perform a genome-scale CRISPR activation screen for genes that enable human melanoma cells to evade cytotoxic T cell killing. Overexpression of four top candidate genes (CD274 (PD-L1), MCL1, JUNB, and B3GNT2) confer resistance in diverse cancer cell types and mouse xenografts. By investigating the resistance mechanisms, we find that MCL1 and JUNB modulate the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. JUNB encodes a transcription factor that downregulates FasL and TRAIL receptors, upregulates the MCL1 relative BCL2A1, and activates the NF-B pathway. B3GNT2 encodes a poly-N-acetyllactosamine synthase that targets >10 ligands and receptors to disrupt interactions between tumor and T cells and reduce T cell activation. Inhibition of candidate genes sensitize tumor models to T cell cytotoxicity. Our results demonstrate that systematic gain-of-function screening can elucidate resistance pathways and identify potential targets for cancer immunotherapy.