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Selective inhibition of esophageal cancer cells by combination of HDAC inhibitors and Azacytidine.

ABSTRACT: Esophageal cancers are highly aggressive tumors with poor prognosis despite some recent advances in surgical and radiochemotherapy treatment options. This study addressed the feasibility of drugs targeting epigenetic modifiers in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells. We tested inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) by SAHA, MS-275, and FK228, inhibition of DNA methyltransferases by Azacytidine (AZA) and Decitabine (DAC), and the effect of combination treatment using both types of drugs. The drug targets, HDAC1/2/3 and DNMT1, were expressed in normal esophageal epithelium and tumor cells of ESCC or EAC tissue specimens, as well as in non-neoplastic esophageal epithelial (Het-1A), ESCC (OE21, Kyse-270, Kyse-410), and EAC (OE33, SK-GT-4) cell lines. In vitro, HDAC activity, histone acetylation, and p21 expression were similarly affected in non-neoplastic, ESCC, and EAC cell lines post inhibitor treatment. Combined MS-275/AZA treatment, however, selectively targeted esophageal cancer cell lines by inducing DNA damage, cell viability loss, and apoptosis, and by decreasing cell migration. Non-neoplastic Het-1A cells were protected against HDACi (MS-275)/AZA treatment. RNA transcriptome analyses post MS-275 and/or AZA treatment identified novel regulated candidate genes (up: BCL6, Hes2; down: FAIM, MLKL), which were specifically associated with the treatment responses of esophageal cancer cells. In summary, combined HDACi/AZA treatment is efficient and selective for the targeting of esophageal cancer cells, despite similar target expression of normal and esophageal cancer epithelium, in vitro and in human esophageal carcinomas. The precise mechanisms of action of treatment responses involve novel candidate genes regulated by HDACi/AZA in esophageal cancer cells. Together, targeting of epigenetic modifiers in esophageal cancers may represent a potential future therapeutic approach.

SUBMITTER: Ahrens TD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4623041 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Selective inhibition of esophageal cancer cells by combination of HDAC inhibitors and Azacytidine.

Ahrens Theresa D TD Timme Sylvia S Hoeppner Jens J Ostendorp Jenny J Hembach Sina S Follo Marie M Hopt Ulrich T UT Werner Martin M Busch Hauke H Boerries Melanie M Lassmann Silke S

Epigenetics 20150101 5

Esophageal cancers are highly aggressive tumors with poor prognosis despite some recent advances in surgical and radiochemotherapy treatment options. This study addressed the feasibility of drugs targeting epigenetic modifiers in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells. We tested inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) by SAHA, MS-275, and FK228, inhibition of DNA methyltransferases by Azacytidine (AZA) and Decitabine (DAC), and the effect of combin ...[more]

PMID: 25923331

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Project description:Esophageal cancers (ECs) are highly aggressive tumors with poor prognosis and few treatment options. This study investigated the possibility of treating esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells by inhibitors of broad and specific histone deacetylases (HDACi; SAHA, MS-275, FK228) and/or of DNMT (Azacytidine, AZA). Drug targets (HDAC1,2,3 and DNMT1) were present in non-neoplastic (HET-1A), ESCC (OE21) and EAC (OE33) cell lines. All cell lines responded to HDACi by reduced HDAC activity and increased histone acetylation as well as to AZA by up-regulation of p21. Expression of drug targets remained largely unaffected by HDACi and AZA treatment. Importantly, cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle dynamics and DNA damage were only affected by HDACi and/or AZA in ESCC and EAC, but not the non-neoplastic cells. This was specifically seen for the combination of MS-275 and AZA, leading to enhanced cancer cell selectivity and drug efficiency. By transcriptome analyses of MS-275, AZA and MS-275/AZA treated cells, known (e.g. p21) as well as novel regulated genes significantly associated with the cellular effects post HDACi and/or AZA treatment in ESCC and EAC cells were identified. Finally, human EC tissue specimens frequently expressed the actionable drug targets HDAC1/2/3 and DNMT1. In summary, a combined HDACi (MS-275)/AZA treatment is cancer cell selective and efficient in vitro. Since the majority of ECs express the drug targets in situ, this paves the way for further investigations of HDACi/AZA treatment in esophageal cancer cells and their translation into a clinico-pathological setting. To elucidate the transcriptome response to HDAC inhibitors of normal esophageal cells and esophageal tumor cells, total RNA was isolated from non-neoplastic esophageal epithelial cells (Het1A cells) a well as from two esophageal tumor cell lines (OE21 and OE33), respectively. Cells were treated with either MS-275, Azacytidine (AZA) or in combination of both. DMSO treatment was used as control in each case. Total RNA was isolated from cells 24 h after treatment and experiments were performed in biological triplicates.

Project description:The identification of recurrent somatic mutations in genes encoding epigenetic enzymes has provided a strong rationale for the development of compounds that target the epigenome for the treatment of cancer. This notion is supported by biochemical studies demonstrating aberrant recruitment of epigenetic enzymes such as histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone methyltransferases to promoter regions through association with oncogenic fusion proteins such as PML-RARα and AML1-ETO. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) are potent inducers of tumor cell apoptosis; however, it remains unclear why tumor cells are more sensitive to HDACi-induced cell death than normal cells. Herein, we assessed the biological and molecular responses of isogenic normal and transformed cells to the FDA-approved HDACi vorinostat and romidepsin. Both HDACi selectively killed cells of diverse tissue origin that had been transformed through the serial introduction of different oncogenes. Time-course microarray expression profiling revealed that normal and transformed cells transcriptionally responded to vorinostat treatment. Over 4200 genes responded differently to vorinostat in normal and transformed cells and gene ontology and pathway analyses identified a tumor-cell-selective pro-apoptotic gene-expression signature that consisted of BCL2 family genes. In particular, HDACi induced tumor-cell-selective upregulation of the pro-apoptotic gene BMF and downregulation of the pro-survival gene BCL2A1 encoding BFL-1. Maintenance of BFL-1 levels in transformed cells through forced expression conferred vorinostat resistance, indicating that specific and selective engagement of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway underlies the tumor-cell-selective apoptotic activities of these agents. The ability of HDACi to affect the growth and survival of tumor cells whilst leaving normal cells relatively unharmed is fundamental to their successful clinical application. This study provides new insight into the transcriptional effects of HDACi in human donor-matched normal and transformed cells, and implicates specific molecules and pathways in the tumor-selective cytotoxic activity of these compounds.

Project description:The identification of recurrent somatic mutations in genes encoding epigenetic enzymes, coupled with biochemical studies demonstrating aberrant recruitment of epigenetic enzymes such as histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone methyltransferases (HMTs) to promoter regions through association with oncogenic fusion proteins such as PML-RARM-NM-1 and AML1-ETO has provided a strong rationale for the development compounds that target the epigenome for the treatment of cancer. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) are potent inducers of tumor cell apoptosis but it remains unclear why tumor cells are selectively sensitive to HDACi-induced cell death. Herein we assessed the biological and molecular responses of normal and transformed cells to the FDA-approved HDACi vorinostat. Both HDACi selectively killed cells of diverse tissue origin that had been transformed through the serial introduction of different oncogenes. Time course microarray expression profiling revealed that normal and transformed cells transcriptionally responded to vorinostat treatment. Over 4200 genes responded differently to vorinostat in normal and transformed cells and gene ontology and pathway analyses identified a tumor-cell-selective pro-apoptotic gene-expression signature that consisted of BCL2 family genes. In particular, HDACi induced tumor cell-selective upregulation of the pro-apoptotic gene BMF and downregulation of the pro-survival gene BCL2A1 encoding BFL-1. Maintenance of BFL-1 levels in transformed cells through forced expression conferred vorinostat resistance indicating that specific and selective engagement of the intrinsic apoptosis pathways underlies the tumor cell-selective apoptotic activities of these agents. The ability of HDACi to affect the growth and survival of tumor cells whilst leaving normal cells relatively unharmed is fundamental to their successful clinical application. This study provides new insight into the transcriptional effects of HDACi in human donor-matched normal and transformed cells, and identifies molecules and pathways that could underpin the tumor-selective cytotoxic activity of these compounds. Whole genome expression profiling was performed for vorinostat-treated samples and control samples (DMSO vehicle control). Fourteen samples were included in this study. Each sample has three biological replicates, making forty-two arrays in total.

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Selective inhibition of esophageal cancer cells by combination of HDAC inhibitors and Azacytidine.

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Selective inhibition of esophageal cancer cells by combination of HDAC inhibitors and Azacytidine.

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