The Histone Methyltransferase DOT1L Is a Functional Component of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Signaling in Ovarian Cancer Cells.

ABSTRACT: Although a large fraction of high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancers (OCs) expresses Estrogen Receptor alpha (ER?), anti-estrogen-based therapies are still not widely used against these tumors due to a lack of sufficient evidence. The histone methyltransferase Disruptor of telomeric silencing-1-like (DOT1L), which is a modulator of ER? transcriptional activity in breast cancer, controls chromatin functions involved in tumor initiation and progression and has been proposed as a prognostic OC biomarker. As molecular and clinico-pathological data from TCGA suggest a correlation between ER? and DOT1L expression and OC prognosis, the presence and significance of ER?/DOT1L association was investigated in chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant ER+ OC cells. RNA sequencing before and after inhibition of these factors showed that their activity is implicated in OC cell proliferation and that they functionally cooperate with each other to control the transcription of genes involved in key cancer cell features, such as the cell cycle, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), drug metabolism, and cell-to-cell signaling, as well as expression of the ER? gene itself. Together with evidence from loss-of-function genetic screens showing that ER? and DOT1L behave as core fitness factors in OC cells, these results suggest that combined inhibition of their activity might be effective against ER?-expressing, chemotherapy-resistant ovarian tumors.

SUBMITTER: Salvati A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6895927 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature