Gain-of-Function Effects of Mutant p53 Explored Using a Three-Dimensional Culture Model of Breast Cancer

p53 is the most frequent target for mutation in human tumors and mutation at this locus is a common and early event in breast carcinogenesis. Breast tumors with mutated p53 often contain abundant levels of this mutant protein, which has been postulated to actively contribute to tumorigenesis by acquiring pro-oncogenic ("gain-of-function") properties. To elucidate how mutant p53 might contribute to mammary carcinogenesis, we employed a three-dimensional (3D) culture model of breast cancer. When placed in a laminin-rich extracellular matrix, non-malignant mammary epithelial cells form structures highly reminiscent for many aspects of acinar structures found in vivo. On the other hand, breast cancer cells, when placed in the same environment, form highly disorganized and sometimes invasive structures. Modulation of critical oncogenic signaling pathways has been shown to phenotypically revert breast cancer cells to a more acinar-like morphology. We examined the role of mutant p53 in this context by generating stable, regulatable p53 shRNA derivatives of mammary carcinoma cell lines to deplete endogenous mutant p53. We demonstrated that, depending on the cellular context, mutant p53 depletion is sufficient to significantly reduce invasion or in some cases actually induce a phenotypic reversion to more acinar-like structures in breast cancer cells grown in 3D culture. Additionally, using stable overexpression of a panel of tumor-derived p53 mutants in non-malignant mammary epithelial cells, we found that mutant p53 is sufficient to disrupt normal acinar morphogenesis. Genome-wide expression analysis identified the mevalonate pathway as significantly upregulated by mutant p53. Statins and sterol biosynthesis intermediates revealed that this pathway is both necessary and sufficient for the phenotypic effects of mutant p53 on mammary tissue architecture. We then showed that mutant p53 associates with sterol gene promoters at least partly via SREBP transcription factors. Finally, p53 mutation correlates with highly expressed mevalonate pathway genes in human breast tumors and elevated expression of the mevalonate pathway correlates with a poor prognosis in breast cancer. We also queried a number of pathways/proteins that had previously been implicated in breast cancer and shown to be sufficient to bring about a phenotypic reversion in 3D culture to search for additional mechanisms by which mutant p53 might contribute to mammary carcinogenesis. Using this approach, we identified integrin β4 as a novel target of mutant p53 in breast cancer cells and demonstrated that stable knockdown of integrin β4 is sufficient to dramatically reduce invasive processes in breast cancer cells grown in 3D culture. We also show that mutant p53 associates with the promoter of ITGB4, the gene encoding integrin β4. Finally, we demonstrated that inhibition of NF-κB, a downstream mediator of integrin β 4 signaling, can mimic the phenotypic effects of mutant p53 depletion. These findings contribute to our understanding of breast carcinogenesis and may offer novel prognostic indicators and therapeutic targets for tumors bearing mutations in p53

Quantitative Analysis of the DNA Methylation Sensitivity of Transcription Factor Complexes

Although DNA modifications play an important role in gene regulation, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We developed EpiSELEX-seq to probe the sensitivity of transcription factor binding to DNA modification in vitro using massively parallel sequencing. Feature-based modeling quantifies the effect of cytosine methylation (5mC) on binding free energy in a position-specific manner. Application to the human bZIP proteins ATF4 and C/EBPβ and three different Pbx-Hox complexes shows that 5mCpG can both increase and decrease affinity, depending on where the modification occurs within the protein-DNA interface. The TF paralogs tested vary in their methylation sensitivity, for which we provide a structural rationale. We show that 5mCpG can also enhance in vitro p53 binding and provide evidence for increased in vivo p53 occupancy at methylated binding sites, correlating with primed enhancer histone marks. Our results establish a powerful strategy for dissecting the epigenomic modulation of protein-DNA interactions and their role in gene regulation

Accurate and sensitive quantification of protein-DNA binding affinity

Transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression by binding to genomic DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Mutations in TF binding sites are increasingly found to be associated with human disease, yet we currently lack robust methods to predict these sites. Here, we developed a versatile maximum likelihood framework named No Read Left Behind (NRLB) that infers a biophysical model of protein-DNA recognition across the full affinity range from a library of in vitro selected DNA binding sites. NRLB predicts human Max homodimer binding in near-perfect agreement with existing low-throughput measurements. It can capture the specificity of the p53 tetramer and distinguish multiple binding modes within a single sample. Additionally, we confirm that newly identified low-affinity enhancer binding sites are functional in vivo, and that their contribution to gene expression matches their predicted affinity. Our results establish a powerful paradigm for identifying protein binding sites and interpreting gene regulatory sequences in eukaryotic genomes

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Is Associated with Altered Immune Cell Infiltration and an Anti-Tumorigenic Microenvironment in Resected Pancreatic Cancer

PURPOSE: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is increasingly administered to patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), yet its impact on the tumor immune microenvironment is incompletely understood. DESIGN: We employed quantitative, spatially resolved multiplex immunofluorescence and digital image analysis to identify T-cell subpopulations, macrophage polarization states, and myeloid cell subpopulations in a multi-institution cohort of up-front resected primary tumors (n = 299) and in a comparative set of resected tumors after FOLFIRINOX-based neoadjuvant therapy (n = 36) or up-front surgery (n = 30). Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate associations between the immune microenvironment and patient outcomes. RESULTS: In the multi-institutional resection cohort, immune cells exhibited substantial heterogeneity across patient tumors and were located predominantly in stromal regions. Unsupervised clustering using immune cell densities identified four main patterns of immune cell infiltration. One pattern, seen in 20% of tumors and characterized by abundant T cells (T cell-rich) and a paucity of immunosuppressive granulocytes and macrophages, was associated with improved patient survival. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a higher CD8:CD4 ratio, greater M1:M2-polarized macrophage ratio, and reduced CD15+ARG1+ immunosuppressive granulocyte density. Within neoadjuvant-treated tumors, 72% showed a T cell-rich pattern with low immunosuppressive granulocytes and macrophages. M1-polarized macrophages were located closer to tumor cells after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and colocalization of M1-polarized macrophages and tumor cells was associated with greater tumor pathologic response and improved patient survival. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFIRINOX shifts the PDAC immune microenvironment toward an anti-tumorigenic state associated with improved patient survival

Evasion of anti-growth signaling: a key step in tumorigenesis and potential target for treatment and prophylaxis by natural compounds

The evasion of anti-growth signaling is an important characteristic of cancer cells. In order to continue to proliferate, cancer cells must somehow uncouple themselves from the many signals that exist to slow down cell growth. Here, we define the anti-growth signaling process, and review several important pathways involved in growth signaling: p53, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), retinoblastoma protein (Rb), Hippo, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), AT-rich interactive domain 1A (ARID1A), Notch, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), and Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) pathways. Aberrations in these processes in cancer cells involve mutations and thus the suppression of genes that prevent growth, as well as mutation and activation of genes involved in driving cell growth. Using these pathways as examples, we prioritize molecular targets that might be leveraged to promote anti-growth signaling in cancer cells. Interestingly, naturally-occurring phytochemicals found in human diets (either singly or as mixtures) may promote anti-growth signaling, and do so without the potentially adverse effects associated with synthetic chemicals. We review examples of naturally-occurring phytochemicals that may be applied to prevent cancer by antagonizing growth signaling, and propose one phytochemical for each pathway. These are: epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for the Rb pathway, luteolin for p53, curcumin for PTEN, porphyrins for Hippo, genistein for GDF15, resveratrol for ARID1A, withaferin A for Notch and diguelin for the IGF1-receptor pathway. The coordination of anti-growth signaling and natural compound studies will provide insight into the future application of these compounds in the clinical setting

Emerging Role of Targeted Therapy in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

The aggressive biology of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), along with its limited sensitivity to many systemic therapies, presents a major challenge in the management of patients with metastatic PDAC. Over the past decade, the incorporation of combinatorial cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens has improved patient outcomes. Despite these advances, resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy inevitably occurs, and there is a great need for effective therapies. A major focus of research has been to identify molecularly defined subpopulations of patients with PDAC who may benefit from targeted therapies that are matched to their molecular profile. Recent successes include the demonstration of the efficacy of maintenance PARP inhibition in PDAC tumors harboring deleterious BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 alterations. In addition, while therapeutic targeting of KRAS was long thought to be infeasible, emerging data on the efficacy of KRAS G12C inhibitors have increased optimism about next-generation KRAS-directed therapies in PDAC. Meanwhile, KRAS wild-type PDAC encompasses a unique molecular subpopulation of PDAC that is enriched for targetable genetic alterations, such as oncogenic BRAF alterations, mismatch repair deficiency, and FGFR2, ALK, NTRK, ROS1, NRG1, and RET rearrangements. As more molecularly targeted therapies are developed, precision medicine has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of patients with metastatic PDAC

Conventional type I dendritic cells maintain a reservoir of proliferative tumor-antigen specific TCF-1+ CD8+ T cells in tumor-draining lymph nodes

In tumors, a subset of CD8+ T cells expressing the transcription factor TCF-1 drives the response to immune checkpoint blockade. We examined the mechanisms that maintain these cells in an autochthonous model of lung adenocarcinoma. Longitudinal sampling and single-cell sequencing of tumor-antigen specific TCF-1+ CD8+ T cells revealed that while intratumoral TCF-1+ CD8+ T cells acquired dysfunctional features and decreased in number as tumors progressed, TCF-1+ CD8+ T cell frequency in the tumor draining LN (dLN) remained stable. Two discrete intratumoral TCF-1+ CD8+ T cell subsets developed over time-a proliferative SlamF6+ subset and a non-cycling SlamF6- subset. Blocking dLN egress decreased the frequency of intratumoral SlamF6+ TCF-1+ CD8+ T cells. Conventional type I dendritic cell (cDC1) in dLN decreased in number with tumor progression, and Flt3L+anti-CD40 treatment recovered SlamF6+ T cell frequencies and decreased tumor burden. Thus, cDC1s in tumor dLN maintain a reservoir of TCF-1+ CD8+ T cells and their decrease contributes to failed anti-tumor immunity

The CD155/TIGIT axis promotes and maintains immune evasion in neoantigen-expressing pancreatic cancer

The CD155/TIGIT axis can be co-opted during immune evasion in chronic viral infections and cancer. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal malignancy, and immune-based strategies to combat this disease have been largely unsuccessful to date. We corroborate prior reports that a substantial portion of PDAC harbors predicted high-affinity MHC class I-restricted neoepitopes and extend these findings to advanced/metastatic disease. Using multiple preclinical models of neoantigen-expressing PDAC, we demonstrate that intratumoral neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cells adopt multiple states of dysfunction, resembling those in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of PDAC patients. Mechanistically, genetic and/or pharmacologic modulation of the CD155/TIGIT axis was sufficient to promote immune evasion in autochthonous neoantigen-expressing PDAC. Finally, we demonstrate that the CD155/TIGIT axis is critical in maintaining immune evasion in PDAC and uncover a combination immunotherapy (TIGIT/PD-1 co-blockade plus CD40 agonism) that elicits profound anti-tumor responses in preclinical models, now poised for clinical evaluation