scholarly journals Adaptive post-transcriptional reprogramming of metabolism limits response to targeted therapy in BRAFV600 melanoma

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorey K Smith ◽  
Tiffany Parmenter ◽  
Margarete Kleinschmidt ◽  
Eric P Kusnadi ◽  
Jian Kang ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite the success of therapies targeting oncogenes in cancer, clinical outcomes are limited by a residual disease that results in relapse. This residual disease is characterized by drug-induced adaptation, that in melanoma includes altered metabolism. Here, we examined how targeted therapy reprograms metabolism in BRAF-mutant melanoma cells using a genome-wide RNAi screen and global gene expression profiling. This systematic approach revealed post-transcriptional regulation of metabolism following BRAF inhibition, involving selective mRNA transport and translation. As proof of concept we demonstrate the RNA binding kinase UHMK1 interacts with mRNAs that encode metabolic proteins and selectively controls their transport and translation during adaptation to BRAF targeted therapy. Inactivation of UHMK1 improves metabolic response to BRAF targeted therapy and delays resistance to BRAF and MEK combination therapy in vivo. Our data support a model wherein post-transcriptional gene expression pathways regulate metabolic adaptation underpinning targeted therapy response and suggest inactivation of these pathways may delay disease relapse.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2746
Author(s):  
Dimitri Shcherbakov ◽  
Reda Juskeviciene ◽  
Adrián Cortés Sanchón ◽  
Margarita Brilkova ◽  
Hubert Rehrauer ◽  
...  

Mitochondrial misreading, conferred by mutation V338Y in mitoribosomal protein Mrps5, in-vivo is associated with a subtle neurological phenotype. Brain mitochondria of homozygous knock-in mutant Mrps5V338Y/V338Y mice show decreased oxygen consumption and reduced ATP levels. Using a combination of unbiased RNA-Seq with untargeted metabolomics, we here demonstrate a concerted response, which alleviates the impaired functionality of OXPHOS complexes in Mrps5 mutant mice. This concerted response mitigates the age-associated decline in mitochondrial gene expression and compensates for impaired respiration by transcriptional upregulation of OXPHOS components together with anaplerotic replenishment of the TCA cycle (pyruvate, 2-ketoglutarate).


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Mrinmoyee Majumder ◽  
Viswanathan Palanisamy

Control of gene expression is critical in shaping the pro-and eukaryotic organisms’ genotype and phenotype. The gene expression regulatory pathways solely rely on protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid interactions, which determine the fate of the nucleic acids. RNA–protein interactions play a significant role in co- and post-transcriptional regulation to control gene expression. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are a diverse group of macromolecules that bind to RNA and play an essential role in RNA biology by regulating pre-mRNA processing, maturation, nuclear transport, stability, and translation. Hence, the studies aimed at investigating RNA–protein interactions are essential to advance our knowledge in gene expression patterns associated with health and disease. Here we discuss the long-established and current technologies that are widely used to study RNA–protein interactions in vivo. We also present the advantages and disadvantages of each method discussed in the review.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Davis ◽  
Michelle Sargent ◽  
Jianjian Shi ◽  
Lei Wei ◽  
Maurice S Swanson ◽  
...  

Rationale: During the cardiac injury response fibroblasts differentiate into myofibroblasts, a cell type that enhances extracellular matrix production and facilitates ventricular remodeling. To better understand the molecular mechanisms whereby myofibroblasts are generated in the heart we performed a genome-wide screen with 18,000 cDNAs, which identified the RNA-binding protein muscleblind-like splicing regulator 1 (MBNL1), suggesting a novel association between mRNA alternative splicing and the regulation of myofibroblast differentiation. Objective: To determine the mechanism whereby MBNL1 regulates myofibroblast differentiation and the cardiac fibrotic response. Methods and Results: Confirming the results from our genome wide screen, adenoviral-mediated overexpression of MBNL1 promoted transformation of rat cardiac fibroblasts and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) into myofibroblasts, similar to the level of conversion obtained by the profibrotic agonist transforming growth factor β (TGFβ). Antithetically, Mbnl1 -/- MEFs were refractory to TGFβ-induced myofibroblast differentiation. MBNL1 expression is induced in transforming fibroblasts in response to TGFβ and angiotensin II. These results were extended in vivo by analysis of dermal wound healing, a process dependent on myofibroblast differentiation and their proper activity. By day 6 control mice had achieved 82% skin wound closure compared with only 40% in Mbnl1 -/- mice. Moreover, Mbnl1 -/- mice had reduced survival following myocardial infarction injury due to defective fibrotic scar formation and healing. High throughput RNA sequencing (RNAseq) and RNA immunoprecipitation revealed that MBNL1 directly regulates the alternative splicing of transcripts for myofibroblast signaling factors and cytoskeletal-assembly elements. Functional analysis of these factors as mediators of MBNL1 activity is also described here. Conclusions: Collectively, our data suggest that MBNL1 coordinates myofibroblast transformation by directly mediating the alternative splicing of an array of mRNAs encoding differentiation-specific signaling transcripts, which then alter the fibroblast proteome for myofibroblast structure and function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (11) ◽  
pp. 6145-6155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianbo Chen ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Bin Wu ◽  
Olga A. Nikolaitchik ◽  
Preeti R. Mohan ◽  
...  

HIV-1 full-length RNA (HIV-1 RNA) plays a central role in viral replication, serving as a template for Gag/Gag-Pol translation and as a genome for the progeny virion. To gain a better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of HIV-1 replication, we adapted a recently described system to visualize and track translation from individual HIV-1 RNA molecules in living cells. We found that, on average, half of the cytoplasmic HIV-1 RNAs are being actively translated at a given time. Furthermore, translating and nontranslating RNAs are well mixed in the cytoplasm; thus, Gag biogenesis occurs throughout the cytoplasm without being constrained to particular subcellular locations. Gag is an RNA binding protein that selects and packages HIV-1 RNA during virus assembly. A long-standing question in HIV-1 gene expression is whether Gag modulates HIV-1 RNA translation. We observed that despite its RNA-binding ability, Gag expression does not alter the proportion of translating HIV-1 RNA. Using single-molecule tracking, we found that both translating and nontranslating RNAs exhibit dynamic cytoplasmic movement and can reach the plasma membrane, the major HIV-1 assembly site. However, Gag selectively packages nontranslating RNA into the assembly complex. These studies illustrate that although HIV-1 RNA serves two functions, as a translation template and as a viral genome, individual RNA molecules carry out only one function at a time. These studies shed light on previously unknown aspects of HIV-1 gene expression and regulation.


Leukemia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1266-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauri Deb ◽  
Bettina Wingelhofer ◽  
Fabio M. R. Amaral ◽  
Alba Maiques-Diaz ◽  
John A. Chadwick ◽  
...  

AbstractThe histone demethylase lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1 or KDM1A) has emerged as a candidate therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML); tranylcypromine-derivative inhibitors induce loss of clonogenic activity and promote differentiation, in particular in the MLL-translocated molecular subtype of AML. In AML, the use of drugs in combination often delivers superior clinical activity. To identify genes and cellular pathways that collaborate with LSD1 to maintain the leukaemic phenotype, and which could be targeted by combination therapies, we performed a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 dropout screen. We identified multiple components of the amino acid sensing arm of mTORC1 signalling—RRAGA, MLST8, WDR24 and LAMTOR2—as cellular sensitizers to LSD1 inhibition. Knockdown of mTORC1 components, or mTORC1 pharmacologic inhibition, in combination with LSD1 inhibition enhanced differentiation in both cell line and primary cell settings, in vitro and in vivo, and substantially reduced the frequency of clonogenic primary human AML cells in a modelled minimal residual disease setting. Synergistic upregulation of a set of transcription factor genes associated with terminal monocytic lineage differentiation was observed. Thus, dual mTORC1 and LSD1 inhibition represents a candidate combination approach for enhanced differentiation in MLL-translocated AML which could be evaluated in early phase clinical trials.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 2712-2727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber J. Zimmerman ◽  
Alexander K. Hafez ◽  
Stephen K. Amoah ◽  
Brian A. Rodriguez ◽  
Michela Dell’Orco ◽  
...  

Abstract Although circular RNAs (circRNAs) are enriched in the mammalian brain, very little is known about their potential involvement in brain function and psychiatric disease. Here, we show that circHomer1a, a neuronal-enriched circRNA abundantly expressed in the frontal cortex, derived from Homer protein homolog 1 (HOMER1), is significantly reduced in both the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neuronal cultures from patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). Moreover, alterations in circHomer1a were positively associated with the age of onset of SCZ in both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). No correlations between the age of onset of SCZ and linear HOMER1 mRNA were observed, whose expression was mostly unaltered in BD and SCZ postmortem brain. Using in vivo circRNA-specific knockdown of circHomer1a in mouse PFC, we show that it modulates the expression of numerous alternative mRNA transcripts from genes involved in synaptic plasticity and psychiatric disease. Intriguingly, in vivo circHomer1a knockdown in mouse OFC resulted in specific deficits in OFC-mediated cognitive flexibility. Lastly, we demonstrate that the neuronal RNA-binding protein HuD binds to circHomer1a and can influence its synaptic expression in the frontal cortex. Collectively, our data uncover a novel psychiatric disease-associated circRNA that regulates synaptic gene expression and cognitive flexibility.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Heise ◽  
Julia van der Felden ◽  
Sandra Kern ◽  
Mario Malcher ◽  
Stefan Brückner ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the TEA transcription factor Tec1 is known to regulate target genes together with a second transcription factor, Ste12. Tec1-Ste12 complexes can activate transcription through Tec1 binding sites (TCSs), which can be further combined with Ste12 binding sites (PREs) for cooperative DNA binding. However, previous studies have hinted that Tec1 might regulate transcription also without Ste12. Here, we show that in vivo, physiological amounts of Tec1 are sufficient to stimulate TCS-mediated gene expression and transcription of the FLO11 gene in the absence of Ste12. In vitro, Tec1 is able to bind TCS elements with high affinity and specificity without Ste12. Furthermore, Tec1 contains a C-terminal transcriptional activation domain that confers Ste12-independent activation of TCS-regulated gene expression. On a genome-wide scale, we identified 302 Tec1 target genes that constitute two distinct classes. A first class of 254 genes is regulated by Tec1 in a Ste12-dependent manner and is enriched for genes that are bound by Tec1 and Ste12 in vivo. In contrast, a second class of 48 genes can be regulated by Tec1 independently of Ste12 and is enriched for genes that are bound by the stress transcription factors Yap6, Nrg1, Cin5, Skn7, Hsf1, and Msn4. Finally, we find that combinatorial control by Tec1-Ste12 complexes stabilizes Tec1 against degradation. Our study suggests that Tec1 is able to regulate TCS-mediated gene expression by Ste12-dependent and Ste12-independent mechanisms that enable promoter-specific transcriptional control.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 1959-1959
Author(s):  
Meyling H. Cheok ◽  
Cong Ding ◽  
Wenjian Yang ◽  
Somas Das ◽  
Dario Campana ◽  
...  

Abstract Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children is a paradigm of disseminated cancer that is curable with chemotherapy, yet current treatment fails to cure about 20% of patients, for reasons that remain unknown. In a genome-wide assessment of in vivo treatment-induced changes in gene expression in ALL cells using the Affymetrix U95A and U133A oligonucleotide microarray, we found that patients who eventually relapsed did not up-regulate expression of the pro-apoptotic beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB2) in their ALL cells after initial treatment with methotrexate and mercaptopurine. After treatment we observed a 5-fold lower level of ADRB2 gene expression in leukemia cells of patients who ultimately relapsed. We found a common genetic polymorphism in the ADRB2 promoter that was significantly linked to high-dose methotrexate induced up-regulation in ADRB2 gene expression in ALL cells. Moreover, the ADRB2 promoter haplotype was significantly linked to poor early treatment response in ALL cells from 242 children (i.e., probability of event-free survival at two years, p=0.0275 stratified by risk groups). These findings have revealed a germline polymorphism that is linked to the early antileukemic effects of ALL chemotherapy and provide new insights into genetic determinants of ALL treatment efficacy.


Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (11) ◽  
pp. 4109-4115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Wuchter ◽  
Velia Ruppert ◽  
Martin Schrappe ◽  
Bernd Dörken ◽  
Wolf-Dieter Ludwig ◽  
...  

Within childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), patients with a cortical (CD1a+) immunophenotype have been identified as a subgroup with favorable outcome in the acute lymphoblastic leukemia–Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (ALL-BFM), Cooperative study group for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (COALL) and Pediatric Oncology Group studies. We investigated in leukemic samples of children with T-ALL (n = 81) whether the different in vivo therapy response could be linked to differential in vitro susceptibility to apoptotic cell death. The extent of dexamethasone- as well as doxorubicin-induced apoptosis, detected by annexin V staining, positively correlated with the expression levels of CD1a (Spearman correlation coefficient, rs = 0.3 and 0.4, respectively; P < .01). When compared to cortical T-ALL, mature (CD1a− , surface CD3+) T-ALL were significantly more resistant to doxorubicin, and immature, pro–/pre–T-ALL were more resistant to both drugs (P < .05). Apoptosis-related parameters (Bax, Bcl-2, CD95, and CD95-induced apoptosis) did not account for differential susceptibility to drug-induced apoptosis. By contrast, an interleukin 7–induced rescue of leukemic cells from spontaneous apoptosis, recently proposed to reflect distinct developmental stages and apoptotic programs in T-ALL, was highly associated with susceptibility to dexamethasone- but not doxorubicin-induced apoptosis (P < .001 versus P = .08). Analysis of clinical data showed that in vitro susceptibility to dexamethasone (but not to doxorubicin) closely correlated with early in vivo therapy response characterized by percentages of blast cells in bone marrow on day 15 (rs = −0.46, P = .001). Taken together, the in vitro assessment of drug-induced apoptosis revealed maturation-dependent differences within childhood T-ALL. The enhanced sensitivity to both drugs in cortical T-ALL might account for the better in vivo treatment response of this prognostically favorable T-ALL subgroup.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona O’Neill ◽  
Stephen F Madden ◽  
Martin Clynes ◽  
John Crown ◽  
Padraig Doolan ◽  
...  

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