Activating K-Ras mutations occurs frequently in pancreatic cancers and is implicated in their development. Cancer-initiating events, such as oncogenic Ras activation, lead to the induction of ...cellular senescence, a tumor suppressor response. During senescence, the decreased levels of KDM4A lysine demethylase contribute to p53 activation, however, the mechanism by which KDM4A is downregulated is unknown. We show that miR-137 targets KDM4A mRNA during Ras-induced senescence and activates both p53 and retinoblastoma (pRb) tumor suppressor pathways. Restoring the KDM4A expression contributed to bypass of miR-137-induced senescence and inhibition of endogenous miR-137 with an miRNA sponge-compromised Ras-induced senescence. miR-137 levels are significantly reduced in human pancreatic tumors, consistent with previous studies revealing a defective senescence response in this cancer type. Restoration of miR-137 expression inhibited proliferation and promoted senescence of pancreatic cancer cells. These results suggest that modulating levels of miR-137 may be important for triggering tumor suppressor networks in pancreatic cancer.
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•miR-137 triggers the p53 and p16INK4A tumor suppressor pathways•KDM4A is a target of miR-137 during Ras-induced senescence•Loss of miR-137 contributes to the bypass of Ras-induced senescence•Restoration of miR-137 expression induces senescence in pancreatic cancer cells
Depletion of KDM4A in response to Ras is a key event mediating Ras-induced senescence in normal cells. Neault et al. show that Ras-induced miR-137 targets KDM4A and activates downstream p53 and p16INK4A tumor suppressor pathways to promote cell-cycle arrest and senescence.
Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) is characterized by permanent growth arrest and the acquisition of a secretory, pro-inflammatory state. Increasingly, OIS is viewed as an important barrier to ...tumorgenesis. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about the metabolic changes that accompany and therefore may contribute to OIS. Here, we have performed a metabolomic and bioenergetic analysis of Ras-induced senescence. Profiling approximately 300 different intracellular metabolites reveals that cells that have undergone OIS develop a unique metabolic signature that differs markedly from cells undergoing replicative senescence. A number of lipid metabolites appear uniquely increased in OIS cells, including a marked increase in the level of certain intracellular long chain fatty acids. Functional studies reveal that this alteration in the metabolome reflects substantial changes in overall lipid metabolism. In particular, Ras-induced senescent cells manifest a decline in lipid synthesis and a significant increase in fatty acid oxidation. Increased fatty acid oxidation results in an unexpectedly high rate of basal oxygen consumption in cells that have undergone OIS. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1, the rate-limiting step in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, restores a pre-senescent metabolic rate and, surprisingly, selectively inhibits the secretory, pro-inflammatory state that accompanies OIS. Thus, Ras-induced senescent cells demonstrate profound alterations in their metabolic and bioenergetic profiles, particularly with regards to the levels, synthesis and oxidation of free fatty acids. Furthermore, the inflammatory phenotype that accompanies OIS appears to be related to these underlying changes in cellular metabolism.
Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a process in which organelles termed autophagosomes deliver cytoplasmic constituents to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy has a major role in ...cellular homeostasis and has been implicated in various forms of human disease. The role of autophagy in cancer seems to be complex, with reports indicating both pro-tumorigenic and tumour-suppressive roles. Here we show, in a humanized genetically-modified mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), that autophagy's role in tumour development is intrinsically connected to the status of the tumour suppressor p53. Mice with pancreases containing an activated oncogenic allele of Kras (also called Ki-Ras)--the most common mutational event in PDAC--develop a small number of pre-cancerous lesions that stochastically develop into PDAC over time. However, mice also lacking the essential autophagy genes Atg5 or Atg7 accumulate low-grade, pre-malignant pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia lesions, but progression to high-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias and PDAC is blocked. In marked contrast, in mice containing oncogenic Kras and lacking p53, loss of autophagy no longer blocks tumour progression, but actually accelerates tumour onset, with metabolic analysis revealing enhanced glucose uptake and enrichment of anabolic pathways, which can fuel tumour growth. These findings provide considerable insight into the role of autophagy in cancer and have important implications for autophagy inhibition in cancer therapy. In this regard, we also show that treatment of mice with the autophagy inhibitor hydroxychloroquine, which is currently being used in several clinical trials, significantly accelerates tumour formation in mice containing oncogenic Kras but lacking p53.
In the recent years, a large number of molecular alterations in thyroid cancer has been discovered and characterized. Some of these markers may have significant diagnostic utility, can be used for ...tumor prognostication, and serve as potential therapeutic targets. The diagnostic utility of these markers is of particular importance in thyroid fine-needle aspiration samples. Some molecular markers, such as BRAF, offer help in risk stratification and can be potentially used to optimize surgical and postsurgical management of patients with thyroid cancer. This review discusses major molecular alterations known to occur in thyroid cancer, focusing on those markers that have been extensively characterized, carry clinical significance, and are being introduced into pathology practice.
Activating Ras mutations can induce either proliferation or senescence depending on the cellular context. To determine whether Ras activation has context-dependent effects in the mammary gland, we ...generated doxycycline-inducible transgenic mice that permit Ras activation to be titrated. Low levels of Ras activation - similar to those found in non-transformed mouse tissues expressing endogenous oncogenic Kras2 - stimulate cellular proliferation and mammary epithelial hyperplasias. In contrast, high levels of Ras activation - similar to those found in tumours bearing endogenous Kras2 mutations - induce cellular senescence that is Ink4a-Arf- dependent and irreversible following Ras downregulation. Chronic low-level Ras induction results in tumour formation, but only after the spontaneous upregulation of activated Ras and evasion of senescence checkpoints. Thus, high-level, but not low-level, Ras activation activates tumour suppressor pathways and triggers an irreversible senescent growth arrest in vivo. We suggest a three-stage model for Ras-induced tumorigenesis consisting of an initial activating Ras mutation, overexpression of the activated Ras allele and, finally, evasion of p53-Ink4a-Arf-dependent senescence checkpoints.
Trifluridine (FTD) is a key component of the novel oral antitumor drug TAS-102, which consists of FTD and a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor. Like 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd), a deoxynucleoside ...form of 5-fluorouracil metabolite, FTD is sequentially phosphorylated and not only inhibits thymidylate synthase activity, but is also incorporated into DNA. Although TAS-102 was effective for the treatment of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer in clinical trials, the mechanism of FTD-induced cytotoxicity is not completely understood. Here, we show that FTD as well as FdUrd induce transient phosphorylation of Chk1 at Ser345, and that this is followed by accumulation of p53 and p21 proteins in p53-proficient human cancer cell lines. In particular, FTD induced p53-dependent sustained arrest at G2 phase, which was associated with a proteasome-dependent decrease in the Cyclin B1 protein level and the suppression of CCNB1 and CDK1 gene expression. In addition, a p53-dependent increase in p21 protein was associated with an FTD-induced decrease in Cyclin B1 protein. Although numerous ssDNA and dsDNA breaks were induced by FdUrd, few DNA strand breaks were detected in FTD-treated HCT-116 cells despite massive FTD misincorporation into genomic DNA, suggesting that the antiproliferative effect of FTD is not due to the induction of DNA strand breaks. These distinctive effects of FTD provide insights into the cellular mechanism underlying its antitumor effect and may explain the clinical efficacy of TAS-102.
Among cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the commonest worldwide, and its incidence is increasing around the world. A lot of evidence underlines that natural substances usually consumed in ...the diet can have an important role in the prevention of cancer. In this study we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the antiproliferative activity of Citrus bergamia (bergamot) juice (BJ) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.
HepG2 cells were exposed to BJ and then cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, apoptosis and NF-κB nuclear translocation were evaluated.
Here we present results demonstrating that BJ reduced the growth rate of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, by a mechanism involving the activation of apoptotic machinery via both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Moreover, BJ increased expression of P53 and P21 proteins that may be responsible for the HepG2 cell cycle arrest in G2 phase. In addition, BJ reduced NF-κB nuclear translocation.
Our data demonstrate the ability of BJ in reducing the growth of HepG2 cells, revealing its mechanism of action and suggesting a promising role as anticancer drugs.
The conversion of a normal cell to a cancer cell occurs in several steps and typically involves the activation of oncogenes and the inactivation of tumour suppressor and pro-apoptotic genes. In many ...instances, inactivation of genes critical for cancer development occurs by epigenetic silencing, often involving hypermethylation of CpG-rich promoter regions. It remains to be determined whether silencing occurs by random acquisition of epigenetic marks that confer a selective growth advantage or through a specific pathway initiated by an oncogene. Here we perform a genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen in K-ras-transformed NIH 3T3 cells and identify 28 genes required for Ras-mediated epigenetic silencing of the pro-apoptotic Fas gene. At least nine of these RESEs (Ras epigenetic silencing effectors), including the DNA methyltransferase DNMT1, are directly associated with specific regions of the Fas promoter in K-ras-transformed NIH 3T3 cells but not in untransformed NIH 3T3 cells. RNAi-mediated knockdown of any of the 28 RESEs results in failure to recruit DNMT1 to the Fas promoter, loss of Fas promoter hypermethylation, and derepression of Fas expression. Analysis of five other epigenetically repressed genes indicates that Ras directs the silencing of multiple unrelated genes through a largely common pathway. Last, we show that nine RESEs are required for anchorage-independent growth and tumorigenicity of K-ras-transformed NIH 3T3 cells; these nine genes have not previously been implicated in transformation by Ras. Our results show that Ras-mediated epigenetic silencing occurs through a specific, complex, pathway involving components that are required for maintenance of a fully transformed phenotype.
Oncogenic activation of RAS is associated with the acquisition of a unique set of metabolic dependencies that contribute to tumour cell fitness. Cells that express oncogenic RAS are able to ...internalize and degrade extracellular protein via a fluid-phase uptake mechanism termed macropinocytosis
. There is increasing recognition of the role of this RAS-dependent process in the generation of free amino acids that can be used to support tumour cell growth under nutrient-limiting conditions
. However, little is known about the molecular steps that mediate the induction of macropinocytosis by oncogenic RAS. Here we identify vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) as an essential regulator of RAS-induced macropinocytosis. Oncogenic RAS promotes the translocation of V-ATPase from intracellular membranes to the plasma membrane via a pathway that requires the activation of protein kinase A by a bicarbonate-dependent soluble adenylate cyclase. Accumulation of V-ATPase at the plasma membrane is necessary for the cholesterol-dependent plasma-membrane association of RAC1, a prerequisite for the stimulation of membrane ruffling and macropinocytosis. These observations establish a link between V-ATPase trafficking and nutrient supply by macropinocytosis that could be exploited to curtail the metabolic adaptation capacity of RAS-mutant tumour cells.
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