GNL3

Gene Summary

Gene:GNL3; G protein nucleolar 3
Aliases: NS, E2IG3, NNP47, C77032
Location:3p21.1
Summary:The protein encoded by this gene may interact with p53 and may be involved in tumorigenesis. The encoded protein also appears to be important for stem cell proliferation. This protein is found in both the nucleus and nucleolus. Three transcript variants encoding two different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2010]
Databases:OMIM, HGNC, Ensembl, GeneCard, Gene
Protein:guanine nucleotide-binding protein-like 3
Source:NCBIAccessed: 01 September, 2019

Ontology:

What does this gene/protein do?
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Cancer Overview

Research Indicators

Publications Per Year (1994-2019)
Graph generated 02 September 2019 using data from PubMed using criteria.

Literature Analysis

Mouse over the terms for more detail; many indicate links which you can click for dedicated pages about the topic.

Tag cloud generated 01 September, 2019 using data from PubMed, MeSH and CancerIndex

Specific Cancers (6)

Data table showing topics related to specific cancers and associated disorders. Scope includes mutations and abnormal protein expression.

Note: list is not exhaustive. Number of papers are based on searches of PubMed (click on topic title for arbitrary criteria used).

Latest Publications: GNL3 (cancer-related)

Fischer K, Al-Sawaf O, Bahlo J, et al.
Venetoclax and Obinutuzumab in Patients with CLL and Coexisting Conditions.
N Engl J Med. 2019; 380(23):2225-2236 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND: The BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax has shown activity in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but its efficacy in combination with other agents in patients with CLL and coexisting conditions is not known.
METHODS: In this open-label, phase 3 trial, we investigated fixed-duration treatment with venetoclax and obinutuzumab in patients with previously untreated CLL and coexisting conditions. Patients with a score of greater than 6 on the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (scores range from 0 to 56, with higher scores indicating more impaired function of organ systems) or a calculated creatinine clearance of less than 70 ml per minute were randomly assigned to receive venetoclax-obinutuzumab or chlorambucil-obinutuzumab. The primary end point was investigator-assessed progression-free survival. The safety of each regimen was also evaluated.
RESULTS: In total, 432 patients (median age, 72 years; median Cumulative Illness Rating Scale score, 8; median creatinine clearance, 66.4 ml per minute) underwent randomization, with 216 assigned to each group. After a median follow-up of 28.1 months, 30 primary end-point events (disease progression or death) had occurred in the venetoclax-obinutuzumab group and 77 had occurred in the chlorambucil-obinutuzumab group (hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23 to 0.53; P<0.001). The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the percentage of patients with progression-free survival at 24 months was significantly higher in the venetoclax-obinutuzumab group than in the chlorambucil-obinutuzumab group: 88.2% (95% CI, 83.7 to 92.6) as compared with 64.1% (95% CI, 57.4 to 70.8). This benefit was also observed in patients with
CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with untreated CLL and coexisting conditions, venetoclax-obinutuzumab was associated with longer progression-free survival than chlorambucil-obinutuzumab. (Funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche and AbbVie; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02242942.).

Kesarwani P, Prabhu A, Kant S, Chinnaiyan P
Metabolic remodeling contributes towards an immune-suppressive phenotype in glioblastoma.
Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2019; 68(7):1107-1120 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive tumors. Numerous studies in the field of immunotherapy have focused their efforts on identifying various pathways linked with tumor-induced immunosuppression. Recent research has demonstrated that metabolic reprogramming in a tumor can contribute towards immune tolerance. To begin to understand the interface between metabolic remodeling and the immune-suppressive state in GBM, we performed a focused, integrative analysis coupling metabolomics with gene-expression profiling in patient-derived GBM (n = 80) and compared them to low-grade astrocytoma (LGA; n = 28). Metabolic intermediates of tryptophan, arginine, prostaglandin, and adenosine emerged as immuno-metabolic nodes in GBM specific to the mesenchymal and classical molecular subtypes of GBM. Integrative analyses emphasized the importance of downstream metabolism of several of these metabolic pathways in GBM. Using CIBERSORT to analyze immune components from the transcriptional profiles of individual tumors, we demonstrated that tryptophan and adenosine metabolism resulted in an accumulation of Tregs and M2 macrophages, respectively, and was recapitulated in mouse models. Furthermore, we extended these findings to preclinical models to determine their potential utility in defining the biologic and/or immunologic consequences of the identified metabolic programs. Collectively, through integrative analysis, we uncovered multifaceted ways by which metabolic reprogramming may contribute towards immune tolerance in GBM, providing the framework for further investigations designed to determine the specific immunologic consequence of these metabolic programs and their therapeutic potential.

Qin CJ, Bu PL, Zhang Q, et al.
ZNF281 Regulates Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion in Colorectal Cancer through Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling.
Cell Physiol Biochem. 2019; 52(6):1503-1516 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Zinc Finger Protein 281 (ZNF281) was recently identified as a novel oncogene in several human carcinomas. However, the clinical significance of ZNF281 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and the molecular mechanisms by which ZNF281 promotes the growth and metastasis of CRC remain unknown.
METHODS: ZNF281 expression in CRC tissues was assessed, and the outcomes were analyzed to determine the clinical importance of ZNF281 expression. Cell Transwell assays and a wound healing assay were performed to assess the effects of ZNF281 on CRC cell migration and invasion in vitro. Western blotting was applied to analyze the potential mechanisms.
RESULTS: ZNF281 mRNA and protein levels were significantly increased in CRC tissues compared with normal colon tissues, and high ZNF281 expression was associated with advanced T stage, N stage, TNM stage and differentiation. Therefore, ZNF281 expression might be an independent prognostic indicator in CRC patients. Moreover, knockdown of ZNF281 expression suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that ZNF281 plays a critical role in the progression and metastasis of CRC and could represent a potential therapeutic target for CRC.

Chapman EM, Lant B, Ohashi Y, et al.
A conserved CCM complex promotes apoptosis non-autonomously by regulating zinc homeostasis.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):1791 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
Apoptotic death of cells damaged by genotoxic stress requires regulatory input from surrounding tissues. The C. elegans scaffold protein KRI-1, ortholog of mammalian KRIT1/CCM1, permits DNA damage-induced apoptosis of cells in the germline by an unknown cell non-autonomous mechanism. We reveal that KRI-1 exists in a complex with CCM-2 in the intestine to negatively regulate the ERK-5/MAPK pathway. This allows the KLF-3 transcription factor to facilitate expression of the SLC39 zinc transporter gene zipt-2.3, which functions to sequester zinc in the intestine. Ablation of KRI-1 results in reduced zinc sequestration in the intestine, inhibition of IR-induced MPK-1/ERK1 activation, and apoptosis in the germline. Zinc localization is also perturbed in the vasculature of krit1

Yang W, Liu H, Duan B, et al.
Three novel genetic variants in NRF2 signaling pathway genes are associated with pancreatic cancer risk.
Cancer Sci. 2019; 110(6):2022-2032 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
Pancreatic cancer (PanC) is one of the most lethal solid malignancies, and metastatic PanC is often present at the time of diagnosis. Although several high- and low-penetrance genes have been implicated in PanC, their roles in carcinogenesis remain only partially elucidated. Because the nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor2 (NRF2) signaling pathway is involved in human cancers, we hypothesize that genetic variants in NRF2 pathway genes are associated with PanC risk. To test this hypothesis, we assessed associations between 31 583 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in 164 NRF2-related genes and PanC risk using three published genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets, which included 8474 cases and 6944 controls of European descent. We also carried out expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis to assess the genotype-phenotype correlation of the identified significant SNP using publicly available data in the 1000 Genomes Project. We found that three novel SNP (ie, rs3124761, rs17458086 and rs1630747) were significantly associated with PanC risk (P = 5.17 × 10

Tejero R, Huang Y, Katsyv I, et al.
Gene signatures of quiescent glioblastoma cells reveal mesenchymal shift and interactions with niche microenvironment.
EBioMedicine. 2019; 42:252-269 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma (GBM), a highly malignant brain tumor, invariably recurs after therapy. Quiescent GBM cells represent a potential source of tumor recurrence, but little is known about their molecular underpinnings.
METHODS: Patient-derived GBM cells were engineered by CRISPR/Cas9-assisted knock-in of an inducible histone2B-GFP (iH2B-GFP) reporter to track cell division history. We utilized an in vitro 3D GBM organoid approach to isolate live quiescent GBM (qGBM) cells and their proliferative counterparts (pGBM) to compare stem cell properties and therapy resistance. Gene expression programs of qGBM and pGBM cells were analyzed by RNA-Seq and NanoString platforms.
FINDINGS: H2B-GFP-retaining qGBM cells exhibited comparable self-renewal capacity but higher therapy resistance relative to pGBM. Quiescent GBM cells expressed distinct gene programs that affect cell cycle control, metabolic adaptation, and extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions. Transcriptome analysis also revealed a mesenchymal shift in qGBM cells of both proneural and mesenchymal GBM subtypes. Bioinformatic analyses and functional assays in GBM organoids established hypoxia and TGFβ signaling as potential niche factors that promote quiescence in GBM. Finally, network co-expression analysis of TCGA glioma patient data identified gene modules that are enriched for qGBM signatures and also associated with survival rate.
INTERPRETATION: Our in vitro study in 3D GBM organoids supports the presence of a quiescent cell population that displays self-renewal capacity, high therapy resistance, and mesenchymal gene signatures. It also sheds light on how GBM cells may acquire and maintain quiescence through ECM organization and interaction with niche factors such as TGFβ and hypoxia. Our findings provide a starting point for developing strategies to tackle the quiescent population of GBM. FUND: National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Tatiana S, Marta J, Monika M, Pavel V
Noonan syndrome from a fetopathologist perspective.
Cesk Patol. 2019; 55(1):48-52 [PubMed] Related Publications
We present our experience with four cases of fetal autopsies with abnormal prenatal ultrasound findings and suspicion of Noonan syndrome. These were fetuses from the 17th to the 24th age of gestation (GA). In all cases, prenatal ultrasound examination recorded increased nuchal translucency (NT) and presence of lymphatic neck sacs. Some fetuses showed signs of fetal hydrops and polyhydramnion was found. Similar signs and congenital developmental defects were confirmed in the autopsy examination. These were primarily signs of developing fetal hydrops with increased nuchal edema, in some cases up to the character of cystic hygroma, pleural and abdominal effusions, congenital heart and kidney defects, skeletal defects and facial dysmorphism. A karyotype was examined in all cases without chromosome aneuploidy. The diagnosis of NS was confimed by subsequent genetic analysis of causal gene mutations (mainly PTPN11, KRAS, RAF 1,). Our cases demonstrate a wide range of signs of prenatal presentation of this syndrome. Because of wide differential diagnosis, summarizing prenatal ultrasound findings, autopsy examination and molecular genetic testing is essential.

Quan M, Liu S, Zhou L, et al.
Hepatitis C virus nonstructural 5A protein inhibits the starvation‑induced apoptosis of hepatoblastoma cells by increasing Beclin 1 expression.
Oncol Rep. 2019; 41(5):3051-3059 [PubMed] Related Publications
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) modulates cellular apoptosis, which is involved in the occurrence and development of liver cancer. The mechanisms of apoptosis inhibition by NS5A in liver cancer cells remains unclear. Beclin 1, which functions upstream of autophagosome formation, is upregulated by NS5A. Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process, has a crucial role in tumor initiation and progression. Autophagy was blocked by inhibitors 3‑methyladenine and chloroquine, or via knockdown of Beclin 1. Flow cytometric analysis and western blotting were used to detect apoptosis. It was found that inhibition of autophagy attenuated the NS5A‑mediated apoptosis inhibition of HepG2 cells. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Beclin 1 expression by NS5A was involved in the negative regulation of starvation‑induced liver cancer apoptosis, which was accompanied by reduced p53 and apoptosis regulator Bax expression, as well as decreased caspase‑3/-7 activation. Therefore, inhibition of autophagy may be promising therapeutic strategy in the treatment of HCV‑associated liver cancer.

Wang Z, Sun H, Provaznik J, et al.
Pancreatic cancer-initiating cell exosome message transfer into noncancer-initiating cells: the importance of CD44v6 in reprogramming.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 38(1):132 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Cancer-initiating cell (CIC) exosomes (CIC-TEX) are suggested reprogramming Non-CIC. Mode of message transfer and engagement of CIC-markers being disputed, we elaborated the impact of CD44v6 and Tspan8 on the response of Non-CIC.
METHODS: Non-metastasizing CD44v6- and Tspan8-knockdown (kd) pancreatic cancer cells served as Non-CIC. CIC-TEX coculture-induced changes were evaluated by deep-sequencing and functional assays. Tumor progression was surveyed during in vivo CIC-TEX treatment.
RESULTS: Deep-sequencing of CIC-TEX-cocultured CD44v6kd-Non-CIC revealed pronounced mRNA changes in signaling, transport, transcription and translation; altered miRNA affected metabolism, signaling and transcription. CIC-TEX coculture-induced changes in Tspan8kd-Non-CIC mostly relied on CIC-TEX-Tspan8 being required for targeting. CIC-TEX transfer supported apoptosis resistance and significantly promoted epithelial mesenchymal transition, migration, invasion and (lymph)angiogenesis of the kd Non-CIC in vitro and in vivo, deep-sequencing allowing individual mRNA and miRNA assignment to altered functions. Importantly, CIC-TEX act as a hub, initiated by CD44v6-dependent RTK, GPCR and integrin activation and involving CD44v6-assisted transcription and RNA processing. Accordingly, a kinase inhibitor hampered CIC-TEX-fostered tumor progression, which was backed by an anti-Tspan8 blockade of CIC-TEX binding.
CONCLUSIONS: This in depth report on the in vitro and in vivo impact of CIC-TEX on CD44v6kd and Tspan8kd Non-CIC unravels hub CIC-TEX activity, highlighting a prominent contribution of the CIC-markers CD44v6 to signaling cascade activation, transcription, translation and miRNA processing in Non-CIC and of Tspan8 to CIC-TEX targeting. Blocking CIC-TEX binding/uptake and uptake-initiated target cell activation significantly mitigated the deleterious CIC-TEX impact on CD44v6kd and Tspan8kd Non-CIC.

Gao C, Yao H, Liu H, et al.
TM4SF1 is a potential target for anti-invasion and metastasis in ovarian cancer.
BMC Cancer. 2019; 19(1):237 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Patients with ovarian cancer commonly have a poor prognosis, owing to its invasiveness and distant metastasis. Studies have found TM4SF1 participates in regulating tumor cell invasion and migration. Therefore, it is expected to become a target for anti-invasion and metastasis in ovarian cancer.
METHODS: The expression of TM4SF1 in normal ovarian epithelial tissues, benign ovarian tumor tissues, primary foci of epithelial ovarian cancer and the matched lymph mode metastatic foci was detected using immunohistochemistry to analyze its association with prognosis. The expression of TM4SF1 in HO8910PM, SKOV3 was inhibited using RNAi, and the growth, proliferation, migration, invasion abilities of HO8910PM and SKOV3 cells and the growth of xenograft tumors in nude mice were examined.
RESULTS: (1) The positive expression rate of TM4SF1 protein in epithelial ovarian cancer tissues (90.90%) was higher than that in benign ovarian tumor tissues (65.22%) and normal ovarian epithelial tissues (31.25%), and both differences were significant (P < 0.05). The expression of TM4SF1 protein was positive in all metastatic lymph node foci and matched primary foci (100%). (2) The level of TM4SF1 protein expression was positively correlated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and histological grade. However, The positive TM4SF1 protein expression was not an independent factor of prognosis (P > 0.05). (3) Silencing TM4SF1 expression did not affect growth, proliferation, or cell cycle distribution but inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of HO8910PM and SKOV3 cells. Silencing TM4SF1 expression inhibited the growth of xenograft tumors in nude mice.
CONCLUSION: TM4SF1 is a potential target for anti-invasion and metastasis in ovarian cancer.

Ly P, Brunner SF, Shoshani O, et al.
Chromosome segregation errors generate a diverse spectrum of simple and complex genomic rearrangements.
Nat Genet. 2019; 51(4):705-715 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 04/09/2019 Related Publications
Cancer genomes are frequently characterized by numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities. Here we integrated a centromere-specific inactivation approach with selection for a conditionally essential gene, a strategy termed CEN-SELECT, to systematically interrogate the structural landscape of mis-segregated chromosomes. We show that single-chromosome mis-segregation into a micronucleus can directly trigger a broad spectrum of genomic rearrangement types. Cytogenetic profiling revealed that mis-segregated chromosomes exhibit 120-fold-higher susceptibility to developing seven major categories of structural aberrations, including translocations, insertions, deletions, and complex reassembly through chromothripsis coupled to classical non-homologous end joining. Whole-genome sequencing of clonally propagated rearrangements identified random patterns of clustered breakpoints with copy-number alterations resulting in interspersed gene deletions and extrachromosomal DNA amplification events. We conclude that individual chromosome segregation errors during mitotic cell division are sufficient to drive extensive structural variations that recapitulate genomic features commonly associated with human disease.

Hoeman CM, Cordero FJ, Hu G, et al.
ACVR1 R206H cooperates with H3.1K27M in promoting diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma pathogenesis.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):1023 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 04/09/2019 Related Publications
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is an incurable pediatric brain tumor, with approximately 25% of DIPGs harboring activating ACVR1 mutations that commonly co-associate with H3.1K27M mutations. Here we show that in vitro expression of ACVR1 R206H with and without H3.1K27M upregulates mesenchymal markers and activates Stat3 signaling. In vivo expression of ACVR1 R206H or G328V with H3.1K27M and p53 deletion induces glioma-like lesions but is not sufficient for full gliomagenesis. However, in combination with PDGFA signaling, ACVR1 R206H and H3.1K27M significantly decrease survival and increase tumor incidence. Treatment of ACVR1 R206H mutant DIPGs with exogenous Noggin or the ACVR1 inhibitor LDN212854 significantly prolongs survival, with human ACVR1 mutant DIPG cell lines also being sensitive to LDN212854 treatment. Together, our results demonstrate that ACVR1 R206H and H3.1K27M promote tumor initiation, accelerate gliomagenesis, promote a mesenchymal profile partly due to Stat3 activation, and identify LDN212854 as a promising compound to treat DIPG.

Sami MM, Hachim MY, Hachim IY, et al.
Nucleostemin expression in breast cancer is a marker of more aggressive phenotype and unfavorable patients' outcome: A STROBE-compliant article.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019; 98(9):e14744 [PubMed] Related Publications
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are postulated to play significant role in the pathogenesis, progression as well as drug resistance of breast cancer. Nucleostemin (NS) is thought to be a key molecule for stemness, and the clinical impact of NS immunoreactivity in breast cancer can indicate its actual role and future therapeutic potentials.The current study is an observational study with an attempt to evaluate the correlation between NS expression (protein and gene expression levels) and different clinicopathological attributes of invasive breast cancer. For that reason, we investigated NS immunohistochemistry expression on commercial tissue microarray (TMA) of 102 patients and 51 archival specimens from patients admitted to Saqr Hospital, Ras Al Khaimah and diagnosed in Al Baraha Hospital, Dubai, UAE. In addition, the association between NS (GNL3) gene expression and different prognostic parameters as well as patient outcome was also evaluated using 2 large publicly available databases.Interestingly, we found NS expression to be associated with less differentiated and more advance stage. In addition, NS expression was significantly higher in larger size (P = .001) and LN-positive tumors (P = .007). Notably, NS expression was significantly correlated to P53 positive (P = .037) status. Furthermore, NS was found to be more expressed in the highly aggressive breast cancer subtypes including human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. Moreover, our results also showed that high GNL3 gene expression to be associated with poor patient outcome and higher chances of tumor recurrence.Our results highlight NS expression as a marker of aggressive phenotype and poor outcome and indicate its possible use as a potential target for CSC-associated breast cancer management.

Shah A, Melhuish TA, Fox TE, et al.
TGIF transcription factors repress acetyl CoA metabolic gene expression and promote intestinal tumor growth.
Genes Dev. 2019; 33(7-8):388-402 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/10/2019 Related Publications
Tgif1 (thymine-guanine-interacting factor 1) and Tgif2 repress gene expression by binding directly to DNA or interacting with transforming growth factor (TGF) β-responsive SMADs. Tgifs are essential for embryogenesis and may function in tumor progression. By analyzing both gain and loss of Tgif function in a well-established mouse model of intestinal cancer, we show that Tgifs promote adenoma growth in the context of mutant

Levitin HM, Yuan J, Cheng YL, et al.
Mol Syst Biol. 2019; 15(2):e8557 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/10/2019 Related Publications
Common approaches to gene signature discovery in single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) depend upon predefined structures like clusters or pseudo-temporal order, require prior normalization, or do not account for the sparsity of single-cell data. We present single-cell hierarchical Poisson factorization (scHPF), a Bayesian factorization method that adapts hierarchical Poisson factorization (Gopalan

Hu Z, Zhou J, Jiang J, et al.
Genomic characterization of genes encoding histone acetylation modulator proteins identifies therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):733 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/10/2019 Related Publications
A growing emphasis in anticancer drug discovery efforts has been on targeting histone acetylation modulators. Here we comprehensively analyze the genomic alterations of the genes encoding histone acetylation modulator proteins (HAMPs) in the Cancer Genome Atlas cohort and observe that HAMPs have a high frequency of focal copy number alterations and recurrent mutations, whereas transcript fusions of HAMPs are relatively rare genomic events in common adult cancers. Collectively, 86.3% (63/73) of HAMPs have recurrent alterations in at least 1 cancer type and 16 HAMPs, including 9 understudied HAMPs, are identified as putative therapeutic targets across multiple cancer types. For example, the recurrent focal amplification of BRD9 is observed in 9 cancer types and genetic depletion of BRD9 inhibits tumor growth. Our systematic genomic analysis of HAMPs across a large-scale cancer specimen cohort may facilitate the identification and prioritization of potential drug targets and selection of suitable patients for precision treatment.

Pal R, Xiong Y, Sardiello M
Abnormal glycogen storage in tuberous sclerosis complex caused by impairment of mTORC1-dependent and -independent signaling pathways.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019; 116(8):2977-2986 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/10/2019 Related Publications
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant syndrome that causes tumor formation in multiple organs. TSC is caused by inactivating mutations in the genes encoding TSC1/2, negative regulators of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). Diminished TSC function is associated with excess glycogen storage, but the causative mechanism is unknown. By studying human and mouse cells with defective or absent TSC2, we show that complete loss of TSC2 causes an increase in glycogen synthesis through mTORC1 hyperactivation and subsequent inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β), a negative regulator of glycogen synthesis. Specific TSC2 pathogenic mutations, however, result in elevated glycogen levels with no changes in mTORC1 or GSK3β activities. We identify mTORC1-independent lysosomal depletion and impairment of autophagy as the driving causes underlying abnormal glycogen storage in TSC irrespective of the underlying mutation. The defective autophagic degradation of glycogen is associated with abnormal ubiquitination and degradation of essential proteins of the autophagy-lysosome pathway, such as LC3 and lysosomal associated membrane protein 1 and 2 (LAMP1/2) and is restored by the combined use of mTORC1 and Akt pharmacological inhibitors. In complementation to current models that place mTORC1 as the central therapeutic target for TSC pathogenesis, our findings identify mTORC1-independent pathways that are dysregulated in TSC and that should therefore be taken into account in the development of a therapeutic treatment.

Kallay L, Keskin H, Ross A, et al.
Modulating native GABA
J Neurooncol. 2019; 142(3):411-422 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/10/2019 Related Publications
PURPOSE: Pediatric brain cancer medulloblastoma (MB) standard-of-care results in numerous comorbidities. MB is comprised of distinct molecular subgroups. Group 3 molecular subgroup patients have the highest relapse rates and after standard-of-care have a 20% survival. Group 3 tumors have high expression of GABRA5, which codes for the α5 subunit of the γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA
METHODS: We performed analysis of GABR and MYC expression in MB tumors and used molecular, cell biological, and whole-cell electrophysiology approaches to establish presence of a functional 'druggable' GABA
RESULTS: Analysis of expression of 763 MB tumors reveals that group 3 tumors share high subgroup-specific and correlative expression of GABR genes, which code for GABA
CONCLUSION: GABRA5 expression can serve as a diagnostic biomarker for group 3 tumors, while α5-GABA

Chou CK, Huang HW, Yang CF, et al.
Reduced camptothecin sensitivity of estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cells following exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is associated with DNA methylation changes.
Environ Toxicol. 2019; 34(4):401-414 [PubMed] Related Publications
Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) has been considered as an estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) agonist due to its ability to interact with ERα and promote the cell proliferation of ERα-positive breast cancer cells. The impact of DEHP on the chemical therapy in breast cancer is little known. Two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 (ERα-dependent) and MDA-MB-231 (ERα-independent) were examined. We found that DEHP impaired the effectiveness of camptothecin (CPT) and alleviated the CPT-induced formation of reactive oxygen species in ERα-positive MCF-7 cells, but not in ERα-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. DEHP also significantly protected MCF-7 cells against the genotoxicity of CPT. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling revealed that after 48 hours of exposure to 100 μM DEHP, MCF-7 cells exhibited a significant change in their DNA methylation pattern, including hypermethylation of 700 genes and hypomethylation of 221 genes. The impaired therapeutic response to CPT in DEHP-exposed MCF-7 cells is probably mediated by epigenetic changes, especially through Wnt/β-catenin signaling. A zebrafish xenograft model confirmed the disruptive effect of DEHP on CPT-induced anti-growth of MCF-7 cells. In summary, DEHP exposure induces acquired CPT-resistance in breast cancer cells and epigenetic changes associated with Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation are probably depending on an ER-positive status.

Wu M, Miska J, Xiao T, et al.
Race influences survival in glioblastoma patients with KPS ≥ 80 and associates with genetic markers of retinoic acid metabolism.
J Neurooncol. 2019; 142(2):375-384 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
PURPOSE: To study whether the clinical outcome and molecular biology of gliomas in African-American patients fundamentally differ from those occurring in Whites.
METHODS: The clinical information and molecular profiles (including gene expression array, non-silent somatic mutation, DNA methylation and protein expression) were downloaded from The Cancer genome atlas (TCGA). Electronic medical records were abstracted from Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse (NMEDW) for analysis as well. Grade II-IV Glioma patients were all included.
RESULTS: 931 Whites and 64 African-American glioma patients from TCGA were analyzed. African-American with Karnofsky performance score (KPS) ≥ 80 have significantly lower risk of death than similar white Grade IV Glioblastoma (GBM) patients [HR (95% CI) = 0.47 (0.23, 0.98), P = 0.0444, C-index = 0.68]. Therefore, we further compared gene expression profiles between African-American GBM patients and Whites with KPS ≥ 80. Extrapolation of genes significantly associated with increased African-American patient survival revealed a set of 13 genes with a possible role in this association, including elevated expression of genes previously identified as increased in African-American breast and colon cancer patients (e.g. CRYBB2). Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis revealed retinoic acid (RA) metabolism as a pathway significantly upregulated in African-American GBM patients who survive longer than Whites (Z-score = - 2.10, Adjusted P-value = 0.0449).
CONCLUSIONS: African Americans have prolonged survival with glioma which is influenced only by initial KPS score. Genes previously associated with both racial disparities in cancer and pathways associated with RA metabolism may play an important role in glioma etiology. In the future exploration of these genes and pathways may inform novel therapies for this incurable disease.

Bhaskaran V, Nowicki MO, Idriss M, et al.
The functional synergism of microRNA clustering provides therapeutically relevant epigenetic interference in glioblastoma.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):442 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
MicroRNA deregulation is a consistent feature of glioblastoma, yet the biological effect of each single gene is generally modest, and therapeutically negligible. Here we describe a module of microRNAs, constituted by miR-124, miR-128 and miR-137, which are co-expressed during neuronal differentiation and simultaneously lost in gliomagenesis. Each one of these miRs targets several transcriptional regulators, including the oncogenic chromatin repressors EZH2, BMI1 and LSD1, which are functionally interdependent and involved in glioblastoma recurrence after therapeutic chemoradiation. Synchronizing the expression of these three microRNAs in a gene therapy approach displays significant anticancer synergism, abrogates this epigenetic-mediated, multi-protein tumor survival mechanism and results in a 5-fold increase in survival when combined with chemotherapy in murine glioblastoma models. These transgenic microRNA clusters display intercellular propagation in vivo, via extracellular vesicles, extending their biological effect throughout the whole tumor. Our results support the rationale and feasibility of combinatorial microRNA strategies for anticancer therapies.

Zhao Y, Huang W, Kim TM, et al.
MicroRNA-29a activates a multi-component growth and invasion program in glioblastoma.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 38(1):36 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor characterized by rapid growth, diffuse invasion and therapeutic resistance. We recently used microRNA expression profiles to subclassify glioblastoma into five genetically and clinically distinct subclasses, and showed that microRNAs both define and contribute to the phenotypes of these subclasses. Here we show that miR-29a activates a multi-faceted growth and invasion program that promotes glioblastoma aggressiveness.
METHODS: microRNA expression profiles from 197 glioblastomas were analyzed to identify the candidate miRNAs that are correlated to glioblastoma aggressiveness. The candidate miRNA, miR-29a, was further studied in vitro and in vivo.
RESULTS: Members of the miR-29 subfamily display increased expression in the two glioblastoma subclasses with the worst prognoses (astrocytic and neural). We observed that miR-29a is among the microRNAs that are most positively-correlated with PTEN copy number in glioblastoma, and that miR-29a promotes glioblastoma growth and invasion in part by targeting PTEN. In PTEN-deficient glioblastoma cells, however, miR-29a nevertheless activates AKT by downregulating the metastasis suppressor, EphB3. In addition, miR-29a robustly promotes invasion in PTEN-deficient glioblastoma cells by repressing translation of the Sox4 transcription factor, and this upregulates the invasion-promoting protein, HIC5. Indeed, we identified Sox4 as the most anti-correlated predicted target of miR-29a in glioblastoma. Importantly, inhibition of endogenous miR-29a decreases glioblastoma growth and invasion in vitro and in vivo, and increased miR-29a expression in glioblastoma specimens correlates with decreased patient survival.
CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these data identify miR-29a as a master regulator of glioblastoma growth and invasion.

Hovinga KE, McCrea HJ, Brennan C, et al.
EGFR amplification and classical subtype are associated with a poor response to bevacizumab in recurrent glioblastoma.
J Neurooncol. 2019; 142(2):337-345 [PubMed] Related Publications
PURPOSE: The highly vascular malignant brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) appears to be an ideal target for anti-angiogenic therapy; however, clinical trials to date suggest the VEGF antibody bevacizumab affects only progression-free survival. Here we analyze a group of patients with GBM who received bevacizumab treatment at recurrence and are stratified according to tumor molecular and genomic profile (TCGA classification), with the goal of identifying molecular predictors of the response to bevacizumab.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with a diagnosis of glioblastoma who were treated with bevacizumab in the recurrent setting at our hospital, from 2006 to 2014. Treatment was discontinued by the treating neuro-oncologists, based on clinical and radiographic criteria. Pre- and post-treatment imaging and genomic subtype were available on 80 patients. We analyzed time on bevacizumab and time to progression. EGFR gene amplification was determined by FISH.
RESULTS: Patients with classical tumors had a significantly shorter time on bevacizumab than mesenchymal, and proneural patients (2.7 vs. 5.1 vs. 6.4 and 6.0 months respectively, p = 0.011). Classical subtype and EGFR gene amplification were significantly associated with a shorter time to progression both in univariate (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively) and multivariate analysis (both p = 0.010).
CONCLUSION: EGFR gene amplification and classical subtype by TCGA analysis are associated with significantly shorter time to progression for patients with recurrent GBM when treated with bevacizumab. These findings can have a significant impact on decision-making and should be further validated prospectively.

Miller AM, Shah RH, Pentsova EI, et al.
Tracking tumour evolution in glioma through liquid biopsies of cerebrospinal fluid.
Nature. 2019; 565(7741):654-658 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
Diffuse gliomas are the most common malignant brain tumours in adults and include glioblastomas and World Health Organization (WHO) grade II and grade III tumours (sometimes referred to as lower-grade gliomas). Genetic tumour profiling is used to classify disease and guide therapy

Lee C, Rudneva VA, Erkek S, et al.
Lsd1 as a therapeutic target in Gfi1-activated medulloblastoma.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):332 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
Drugs that modify the epigenome are powerful tools for treating cancer, but these drugs often have pleiotropic effects, and identifying patients who will benefit from them remains a major clinical challenge. Here we show that medulloblastomas driven by the transcription factor Gfi1 are exquisitely dependent on the enzyme lysine demethylase 1 (Kdm1a/Lsd1). We demonstrate that Lsd1 physically associates with Gfi1, and that these proteins cooperate to inhibit genes involved in neuronal commitment and differentiation. We also show that Lsd1 is essential for Gfi1-mediated transformation: Gfi1 proteins that cannot recruit Lsd1 are unable to drive tumorigenesis, and genetic ablation of Lsd1 markedly impairs tumor growth in vivo. Finally, pharmacological inhibitors of Lsd1 potently inhibit growth of Gfi1-driven tumors. These studies provide important insight into the mechanisms by which Gfi1 contributes to tumorigenesis, and identify Lsd1 inhibitors as promising therapeutic agents for Gfi1-driven medulloblastoma.

Zhang X, Yin X, Zhang H, et al.
Differential expression of TIM-3 between primary and metastatic sites in renal cell carcinoma.
BMC Cancer. 2019; 19(1):49 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Due to the significant heterogeneity of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), immune checkpoints may express differently between primary and metastatic tumor. We aimed to evaluate the differential expression of TIM-3 between the primary and metastatic sites of RCC.
METHODS: Cases of RCC with metastases resected or biopsied at West China Hospital between January 2009 and November 2016 were included. Clinicopathological parameters were retrospectively extracted. SPPS 22.0, GraphPad Prism 6 and R statistical software were applied for data analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 163 cases were included. Immunohistochemical results showed that the overall detection rate of TIM-3 was 56.4% (92/163). The detection rate of TIM-3 in the primary (53.0%, 44/83) was numerically higher than that of the metastasis (42.6%,79/174). Although the concordance rate of TIM-3 between the primary and metastasis was as high as 66.3% (55/83) in the paired cohort, a significant statistically difference of TIM-3 expression between the primary and metastasis was observed (χ2 = 4.664, p = 0.002), with a poor consistency (Kappa = 0.331, p = 0.002). Subsequent survival analysis suggested that TIM-3 expression either in the primary or metastatic tumor was associated with longer progression-free survival (PFS) (HR: 0.67, 95% CI 0.45-0.99, P = 0.02) and overall survival (OS) (HR: 0.52, 95% CI 0.33-0.82, P < 0.001). The expressions of TIM-3 in the primary, metastatic tumors and patients treated with targeted agents all played as favorable factors for PFS and OS. Further multivariate analysis showed that, in the whole cohort, TIM-3 expression in metastatic tumor increased the predicted accuracy (PA) of the whole model of PFS from 74.7 to 75.6% (P = 0.02). For OS, the PA of whole model was increased from 78.1 to 81.1% by adding TIM-3 expression in the metastasis (P = 0.005). The same trends were also observed in paired patients and patients treated with targeted agents. In conclusion, the expression difference between the primary and metastatic tumor of TIM-3 was significant. Biopsy or resection of the metastases may provide a more accurate biological information for clinician's decision-making and the patient's prognosis. What's more, the role of TIM-3 in the RCC still remains controversy, further study are needed to verify the conclusion.

Hung PF, Hong TM, Chang CC, et al.
Hypoxia-induced Slug SUMOylation enhances lung cancer metastasis.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 38(1):5 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/04/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: The Slug-E-cadherin axis plays a critical role in non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) where aberrant upregulation of Slug promotes cancer metastasis. Now, the post-translational modifications of Slug and their regulation mechanisms still remain unclear in lung cancer. Hence, exploring the protein linkage map of Slug is of great interest for investigating the scenario of how Slug protein is regulated in lung cancer metastasis.
METHODS: The Slug associated proteins, Ubc9 and SUMO-1, were identified using yeast two-hybrid screening; and in vitro SUMOylation assays combined with immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting were performed to explore the detail events and regulations of Slug SUMOylation. The functional effects of SUMOylation on Slug proteins were examined by EMSA, reporter assay, ChIP assay, RT-PCR, migration and invasion assays in vitro, tail vein metastatic analysis in vivo, and also evaluated the association with clinical outcome of NSCLC patients.
RESULTS: Slug protein could interact with Ubc9 and SUMO-1 and be SUMOylated in cells. Amino acids 130-212 and 33-129 of Slug are responsible for its binding to Ubc9 and protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS)y, respectively. SUMOylation could enhance the transcriptional repression activity of Slug via recruiting more HDAC1, resulting in reduced expression of downstream Slug target genes and enhanced lung cancer metastasis. In addition, hypoxia could increase Slug SUMOylation through attenuating the interactions of Slug with SENP1 and SENP2. Finally, high expression Slug and Ubc9 levels were associated with poor overall survival among NSCLC patients.
CONCLUSIONS: Ubc9/PIASy-mediated Slug SUMOylation and subsequent HDAC1 recruitment may play a crucial role in hypoxia-induced lung cancer progression, and these processes may serve as therapeutic targets for NSCLC.

Chou AC, Aslanian A, Sun H, Hunter T
An internal ribosome entry site in the coding region of tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2 drives alternative translation start.
J Biol Chem. 2019; 294(8):2665-2677 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 22/02/2020 Related Publications
Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2 (TDP2) is a multifunctional protein that has been implicated in a myriad of cellular pathways. Although most well-known for its phosphodiesterase activity removing stalled topoisomerase 2 from DNA, TDP2 has also been shown to interact with both survival and apoptotic mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascades. Moreover, it facilitates enterovirus replication and has been genetically linked to neurological disorders ranging from Parkinson's disease to dyslexia. To accurately evaluate TDP2 as a therapeutic target, we need to understand how TDP2 performs such a wide diversity of functions. Here, we use cancer cell lines modified with CRISPR/Cas9 or stably-expressed

Stathias V, Jermakowicz AM, Maloof ME, et al.
Drug and disease signature integration identifies synergistic combinations in glioblastoma.
Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):5315 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 22/02/2020 Related Publications
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary adult brain tumor. Despite extensive efforts, the median survival for GBM patients is approximately 14 months. GBM therapy could benefit greatly from patient-specific targeted therapies that maximize treatment efficacy. Here we report a platform termed SynergySeq to identify drug combinations for the treatment of GBM by integrating information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS). We identify differentially expressed genes in GBM samples and devise a consensus gene expression signature for each compound using LINCS L1000 transcriptional profiling data. The SynergySeq platform computes disease discordance and drug concordance to identify combinations of FDA-approved drugs that induce a synergistic response in GBM. Collectively, our studies demonstrate that combining disease-specific gene expression signatures with LINCS small molecule perturbagen-response signatures can identify preclinical combinations for GBM, which can potentially be tested in humans.

Dumitrache LC, Shimada M, Downing SM, et al.
Apurinic endonuclease-1 preserves neural genome integrity to maintain homeostasis and thermoregulation and prevent brain tumors.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018; 115(52):E12285-E12294 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 22/02/2020 Related Publications
Frequent oxidative modification of the neural genome is a by-product of the high oxygen consumption of the nervous system. Rapid correction of oxidative DNA lesions is essential, as genome stability is a paramount determinant of neural homeostasis. Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1; also known as "APEX1" or "REF1") is a key enzyme for the repair of oxidative DNA damage, although the specific role(s) for this enzyme in the development and maintenance of the nervous system is largely unknown. Here, using conditional inactivation of murine

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