Tomás-Daza L, Rovirosa L, López-Martí P, Nieto-Aliseda A, Serra F, Planas-Riverola A, Molina O, McDonald R, Ghevaert C, Cuatrecasas E, Costa D, Camós M, Bueno C, Menéndez P, Valencia A, Javierre BM
Low input capture Hi-C (liCHi-C) identifies promoter-enhancer interactions at high-resolution.
Nature Commununications 17 Jan 2023, 14 (1) 268. Epub 17 Jan 2023Long-range interactions between regulatory elements and promoters are key in gene transcriptional control; however, their study requires large amounts of starting material, which is not compatible with clinical scenarios nor the study of rare cell populations. Here we introduce low input capture Hi-C (liCHi-C) as a cost-effective, flexible method to map and robustly compare promoter interactomes at high resolution. As proof of its broad applicability, we implement liCHi-C to study normal and malignant human hematopoietic hierarchy in clinical samples. We demonstrate that the dynamic promoter architecture identifies developmental trajectories and orchestrates transcriptional transitions during cell-state commitment. Moreover, liCHi-C enables the identification of disease-relevant cell types, genes and pathways potentially deregulated by non-coding alterations at distal regulatory elements. Finally, we show that liCHi-C can be harnessed to uncover genome-wide structural variants, resolve their breakpoints and infer their pathogenic effects. Collectively, our optimized liCHi-C method expands the study of 3D chromatin organization to unique, low-abundance cell populations, and offers an opportunity to uncover factors and regulatory networks involved in disease pathogenesis.
More informationGarcía-Hernández V, Arambilet D, Guillén Y, Lobo-Jarne T, Maqueda M, Gekas C, González J, Iglesias A, Vega-García N, Sentís I, Trincado JL, Márquez-López I, Heyn H, Camós M, Espinosa L, Bigas A
β-Catenin activity induces an RNA biosynthesis program promoting therapy resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
EMBO Molecular Medecine 4 Jan 2023, e16554. Epub 4 Jan 2023Understanding the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the appearance of chemotherapy resistant cell populations is necessary to improve cancer treatment. We have now investigated the role of β-catenin/CTNNB1 in the evolution of T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) patients and its involvement in therapy resistance. We have identified a specific gene signature that is directly regulated by β-catenin, TCF/LEF factors and ZBTB33/Kaiso in T-ALL cell lines, which is highly and significantly represented in five out of six refractory patients from a cohort of 40 children with T-ALL. By subsequent refinement of this gene signature, we found that a subset of β-catenin target genes involved with RNA-processing function are sufficient to segregate T-ALL refractory patients in three independent cohorts. We demonstrate the implication of β-catenin in RNA and protein synthesis in T-ALL and provide in vitro and in vivo experimental evidence that β-catenin is crucial for the cellular response to chemotherapy, mainly in the cellular recovery phase after treatment. We propose that combination treatments involving chemotherapy plus β-catenin inhibitors will enhance chemotherapy response and prevent disease relapse in T-ALL patients.
More informationMartins-Ferreira R, Leal B, Chaves J, Ciudad L, Samões R, Martins da Silva A, Pinho Costa P, Ballestar E
Circulating cell-free DNA methylation mirrors alterations in cerebral patterns in epilepsy.
Clin Epigenetics 28 Dec 2022, 14 (1) 188. Epub 28 Dec 2022Background
DNA methylation profiling of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has rapidly become a promising strategy for biomarker identification and development. The cell-type-specific nature of DNA methylation patterns and the direct relationship between cfDNA and apoptosis can potentially be used non-invasively to predict local alterations. In addition, direct detection of altered DNA methylation patterns performs well as a biomarker. In a previous study, we demonstrated marked DNA methylation alterations in brain tissue from patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS).
Results
We performed DNA methylation profiling in cfDNA isolated from the serum of MTLE patients and healthy controls using BeadChip arrays followed by systematic bioinformatic analysis including deconvolution analysis and integration with DNase accessibility data sets. Differential cfDNA methylation analysis showed an overrepresentation of gene ontology terms and transcription factors related to central nervous system function and regulation. Deconvolution analysis of the DNA methylation data sets ruled out the possibility that the observed differences were due to changes in the proportional contribution of cortical neurons in cfDNA. Moreover, we found no overrepresentation of neuron- or glia-specific patterns in the described cfDNA methylation patterns. However, the MTLE–HS cfDNA methylation patterns featured a significant overrepresentation of the epileptic DNA methylation alterations previously observed in the hippocampus.
Conclusions
Our results support the use of cfDNA methylation profiling as a rational approach to seeking non-invasive and reproducible epilepsy biomarkers.
More informationVeronica Davalos, Manel Esteller
Cancer epigenetics in clinical practice
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 13 Dec 2022, . Epub 13 Dec 2022Cancer development is driven by the accumulation of alterations affecting the structure and function of the genome. Whereas genetic changes disrupt the DNA sequence, epigenetic alterations contribute to the acquisition of hallmark tumor capabilities by regulating gene expression programs that promote tumorigenesis. Shifts in DNA methylation and histone mark patterns, the two main epigenetic modifications, orchestrate tumor progression and metastasis. These cancer-specific events have been exploited as useful tools for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment choice to aid clinical decision making. Moreover, the reversibility of epigenetic modifications, in contrast to the irreversibility of genetic changes, has made the epigenetic machinery an attractive target for drug development. This review summarizes the most advanced applications of epigenetic biomarkers and epigenetic drugs in the clinical setting, highlighting commercially available DNA methylation-based assays and epigenetic drugs already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Jiménez-Reinoso A, Tirado N, Martinez-Moreno A, Díaz VM, García-Peydró M, Hangiu O, Díez-Alonso L, Albitre Á, Penela P, Toribio ML, Menéndez P, Álvarez-Vallina L, Sánchez Martínez D
Efficient preclinical treatment of cortical T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with T lymphocytes secreting anti-CD1a T cell engagers.
J Immunother Cancer Dec 2022, 10 (12) . Background: The dismal clinical outcome of relapsed/refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) highlights the need for innovative targeted therapies. Although chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells have revolutionized the treatment of B cell malignancies, their clinical implementation in T-ALL is in its infancy. CD1a represents a safe target for cortical T-ALL (coT-ALL) patients, and fratricide-resistant CD1a-directed CAR T cells have been preclinically validated as an immunotherapeutic strategy for R/R coT-ALL. Nonetheless, T-ALL relapses are commonly very aggressive and hyperleukocytic, posing a challenge to recover sufficient non-leukemic effector T cells from leukapheresis in R/R T-ALL patients.
Methods: We carried out a comprehensive study using robust in vitro and in vivo assays comparing the efficacy of engineered T cells either expressing a second-generation CD1a-CAR or secreting CD1a x CD3 T cell-engaging Antibodies (CD1a-STAb).
Results: We show that CD1a-T cell engagers bind to cell surface expressed CD1a and CD3 and induce specific T cell activation. Recruitment of bystander T cells endows CD1a-STAbs with an enhanced in vitro cytotoxicity than CD1a-CAR T cells at lower effector:target ratios. CD1a-STAb T cells are as effective as CD1a-CAR T cells in cutting-edge in vivo T-ALL patient-derived xenograft models.
Conclusions: Our data suggest that CD1a-STAb T cells could be an alternative to CD1a-CAR T cells in coT-ALL patients with aggressive and hyperleukocytic relapses with limited numbers of non-leukemic effector T cells.
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