Involvement of MBD4 inactivation in mismatch repair-deficient tumorigenesis

The DNA glycosylase gene MBD4 safeguards genomic stability at CpG sites and is frequently mutated at coding poly-A tracks in mismatch repair (MMR)-defective colorectal tumors (CRC). Mbd4 biallelic inactivation in mice provided conflicting results as to its role in tumorigenesis. Thus, it is unclear whether MBD4 alterations are only secondary to MMR defects without functional consequences or can contribute to the mutator phenotype. We investigated MBD4 variants in a large series of hereditary/familial and sporadic CRC cases. Whereas MBD4 frameshifts were only detected in tumors, missense variants were found in both normal and tumor DNA. In CRC with double-MBD4/MMR and single-MBD4 variants, transition mutation frequency was increased, indicating that MBD4 defects may affect the mutational landscape independently of MMR defect. Mbd4-deficient mice showed reduced survival when combined with Mlh1−/− genotype. Taken together, these data suggest that MBD4 inactivation may contribute to tumorigenesis, acting as a modifier of MMR-deficient cancer phenotype

Proprotein Convertase Inhibition Results in Decreased Ski Proliferation, Tumorigenesis, and Metastasis

AbstractPACE4 is a proprotein convertase (PC) responsible for cleaving and activating proteins that contribute to enhance tumor progression. PACE4 overexpression significantly increased the susceptibility to carcinogenesis, leading to enhanced tumor cell proliferation and premature degradation of the basement membrane. In the present study, we sought to evaluate a novel approach to retard skin tumor progression based on the inhibition of PACE4. We used decanoyl-RVKR-chloromethylketone (CMK), a small-molecule PC inhibitor, for in vitro and in vivo experiments. We found that CMK-dependent blockage of PACE4 activity in skin squamous cell carcinoma cell lines resulted in impaired insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor maturation, diminished its intrinsic tyrosine dnase activity, and decreased tumor cell proliferation. Two-stage skin chemical carcinogenesis experiments, together with topical applications of CMK, demonstrated that this PC inhibitor markedly reduced tumor incidence, tumor multiplicity, and metastasis, pointing to a significant delay in tumor progression in wild-type and PACE4 transgenic mice. These results identify PACE4, together with other PCs, as suitable targets to slow down or block tumor progression, suggesting that PC inhibition is a potential approach for therapy for solid tumors

Hypoxia activates the cyclooxygenase-2–prostaglandin E synthase axis

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), in particular HIF-1α, have been implicated in tumor biology. However, HIF target genes in the esophageal tumor microenvironment remain elusive. Gene expression profiling was performed upon hypoxia-exposed non-transformed immortalized human esophageal epithelial cells, EPC2-hTERT, and comparing with a gene signature of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In addition to known HIF-1α target genes such as carbonic anhydrase 9, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, prostaglandin E synthase (PTGES) was identified as a novel target gene among the commonly upregulated genes in ESCC as well as the cells exposed to hypoxia. The PTGES induction was augmented upon stabilization of HIF-1α by hypoxia or cobalt chloride under normoxic conditions and suppressed by dominant-negative HIF-1α. Whereas PTGES messenger RNA (mRNA) was negatively regulated by normoxia, PTGES protein remained stable upon reoxygenation. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) biosynthesis was documented in transformed human esophageal cells by ectopic expression of PTGES as well as RNA interference directed against PTGES. Moreover, hypoxia stimulated PGE2 production in a HIF-1α-dependent manner. In ESCC, PTGES was overexpressed frequently at the mRNA and protein levels. Finally, COX-2 and PTGES were colocalized in primary tumors along with HIF-1α and IGFBP3. Activation of the COX-2–PTGES axis in primary tumors was further corroborated by concomitant upregulation of interleukin-1β and downregulation of hydroxylprostaglandin dehydrogenase. Thus, PTGES is a novel HIF-1α target gene, involved in prostaglandin E biosynthesis in the esophageal tumor hypoxic microenvironment, and this has implications in diverse tumors types, especially of squamous origin