Esteller, M, Merkel, A
Experimental and Bioinformatic Approaches to Studying DNA Methylation in Cancer
Cancers 2022, 14(2), 349; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14020349 11 Ene 2022, . DNA methylation is an essential epigenetic mark. Alterations of normal DNA methylation are a defining feature of cancer. Here, we review experimental and bioinformatic approaches to showcase the breadth and depth of information that this epigenetic mark provides for cancer research. First, we describe classical approaches for interrogating bulk DNA from cell populations as well as more recently developed approaches for single cells and multi-Omics. Second, we focus on the computational analysis from primary data processing to the identification of unique methylation signatures. Additionally, we discuss challenges such as sparse data and cellular heterogeneity.
Fernández-Serrano M, Winkler R, Santos JC, Le Pannérer MM, Buschbeck M, Roué G
Histone Modifications and Their Targeting in Lymphoid Malignancies.
Int J Mol Sci 27 Dic 2021, 23 (1) . Epub 27 Dic 2021In a wide range of lymphoid neoplasms, the process of malignant transformation is associated with somatic mutations in B cells that affect the epigenetic machinery. Consequential alterations in histone modifications contribute to disease-specific changes in the transcriptional program. Affected genes commonly play important roles in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis-inducing signal transduction, and DNA damage response, thus facilitating the emergence of malignant traits that impair immune surveillance and favor the emergence of different B-cell lymphoma subtypes. In the last two decades, the field has made a major effort to develop therapies that target these epigenetic alterations. In this review, we discuss which epigenetic alterations occur in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Furthermore, we aim to present in a close to comprehensive manner the current state-of-the-art in the preclinical and clinical development of epigenetic drugs. We focus on therapeutic strategies interfering with histone methylation and acetylation as these are most advanced in being deployed from the bench-to-bedside and have the greatest potential to improve the prognosis of lymphoma patients.
Más informaciónOscar Molina, Alex Bataller, Namitha Thampi, Jordi Ribera, Isabel Granada, Pablo Velasco, José Luis Fuster, Pablo Menéndez
Near-Haploidy and Low-Hypodiploidy in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: When Less Is Too Much
Cancers 2022, 14(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14010032 22 Dic 2021, . Hypodiploidy with less than 40 chromosomes is a rare genetic abnormality in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). This condition can be classified based on modal chromosome number as low-hypodiploidy (30–39 chromosomes) and near-haploidy (24–29 chromosomes), with unique cytogenetic and mutational landscapes. Hypodiploid B-ALL with <40 chromosomes has an extremely poor outcome, with 5-year overall survival rates below 50% and 20% in childhood and adult B-ALL, respectively. Accordingly, this genetic feature represents an adverse prognostic factor in B-ALL and is associated with early relapse and therapy refractoriness. Notably, half of all patients with hypodiploid B-ALL with < 40 chromosomes cases ultimately exhibit chromosome doubling of the hypodiploid clone, resulting in clones with 50–78 chromosomes. Doubled clones are often the major clones at diagnosis, leading to “masked hypodiploidy”, which is clinically challenging as patients can be erroneously classified as hyperdiploid B-ALL. Here, we summarize the main cytogenetic and molecular features of hypodiploid B-ALL subtypes, and provide a brief overview of the diagnostic methods, standard-of-care treatments and overall clinical outcome. Finally, we discuss molecular mechanisms that may underlie the origin and leukemogenic impact of hypodiploidy and may open new therapeutic avenues to improve survival rates in these patients.
Iva Guberovic, Sarah Hurtado-Bagès, Ciro Rivera-Casas, Gunnar Knobloch, Roberto Malinverni, Vanesa Valero, Michelle M. Leger, Jesús García, Jerome Basquin, Marta Gómez de Cedrón, Marta Frigolé-Vivas, Manjinder S. Cheema, Ainhoa Pérez, Juan Ausió, Ana Ramírez de Molina, Xavier Salvatella, Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo, Jose M. Eirin-Lopez, Andreas G. Ladurner, Marcus Buschbeck
Evolution of a histone variant involved in compartmental regulation of NAD metabolism
Nat Struct Mol Biol 28, 1009–1019 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-021-00692-5 9 Dic 2021, . NAD metabolism is essential for all forms of life. Compartmental regulation of NAD+ consumption, especially between the nucleus and the mitochondria, is required for energy homeostasis. However, how compartmental regulation evolved remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the evolution of the macrodomain-containing histone variant macroH2A1.1, an integral chromatin component that limits nuclear NAD+ consumption by inhibiting poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 in vertebrate cells. We found that macroH2A originated in premetazoan protists. The crystal structure of the macroH2A macrodomain from the protist Capsaspora owczarzaki allowed us to identify highly conserved principles of ligand binding and pinpoint key residue substitutions, selected for during the evolution of the vertebrate stem lineage. Metabolic characterization of the Capsaspora lifecycle suggested that the metabolic function of macroH2A was associated with nonproliferative stages. Taken together, we provide insight into the evolution of a chromatin element involved in compartmental NAD regulation, relevant for understanding its metabolism and potential therapeutic applications.
Ribeiro ML, Reyes-Garau D, Vinyoles M, Profitos-Peleja N, Santos JC, Armengol M, Fernández-Serrano M, Sedo Mor A, Bech-Serra JJ, Blecua P, Musulen E, De La Torre C, Miskin HP, Esteller M, Bosch F, Menéndez P, Normant E, Roué G
Antitumor activity of the novel BTK inhibitor TG-1701 is associated with disruption of Ikaros signaling in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Clin Cancer Res 2 Dic 2021, . Epub 22 Sep 2021Purpose: Despite the remarkable activity of BTK inhibitors (BTKi) in relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), no clinically-relevant biomarker has been associated to these agents so far. The relevance of phosphoproteomic profiling for the early identification of BTKi responders remains underexplored.
Experimental design: A set of six clinical samples from an ongoing phase 1 trial dosing chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with TG-1701, a novel irreversible and highly specific BTKi, were characterized by phosphoproteomic and RNA-seq analysis. The activity of TG-1701 was evaluated in a panel of eleven B-NHL cell lines and mouse xenografts, including two NFκB- and BTKC481S-driven BTKi resistant models. Biomarker validation and signal transduction analysis were conducted through real-time PCR, western blot, immunostaining and gene knock-out (KO) experiments.
Results: A non-supervised, phosphoproteomic-based clustering did match the early clinical outcomes of CLL patients and separated a group of "early-responders" from a group of "late-responders". This clustering was based on a selected list of 96 phosphosites with Ikaros-pSer442/445 as a potential biomarker for TG-1701 efficacy. TG-1701 treatment was further shown to blunt Ikaros gene signature, including YES1 and MYC, in early-responder patients as well as in BTKi-sensitive B-NHL cell lines and xenografts. In contrast, Ikaros nuclear activity and signaling remained unaffected by the drug in vitro and in vivo, in late-responder patients and in BTKC481S, BTKKO and non-canonical NFκB models.
Conclusions: These data validate phosphoproteomic as a valuable tool for the early detection of response to BTK inhibition in the clinic, and for the determination of drug mechanism of action.
Más información
