Project description:We investigated how misactivation of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway causes medulloblastoma, and found that Hh signaling induces its transcriptional effector GLI2 to bind the Cdk6 promoter, activate gene expression, and drive uncontrolled cell proliferation. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of CDK6 repressed the growth of Hh-associated medulloblastoma and prolonged survival in vivo through inhibition of cell proliferation. These findings suggest that CDK6 antagonists may be effective therapies for Hh-associated cancers in humans.
Project description:Medulloblastoma is a malignant childhood brain tumour comprising four discrete subgroups. To identify mutations that drive medulloblastoma we sequenced the entire genomes of 37 tumours and matched normal blood. One hundred and thirty-six genes harbouring somatic mutations in this discovery set were sequenced in an additional 56 medulloblastomas. Recurrent mutations were detected in 41 genes not yet implicated in medulloblastoma: several target distinct components of the epigenetic machinery in different disease subgroups, e.g., regulators of H3K27 and H3K4 trimethylation in subgroup-3 and 4 (e.g., KDM6A and ZMYM3), and CTNNB1-associated chromatin remodellers in WNT-subgroup tumours (e.g., SMARCA4 and CREBBP). Modelling of mutations in mouse lower rhombic lip progenitors that generate WNT-subgroup tumours, identified genes that maintain this cell lineage (DDX3X) as well as mutated genes that initiate (CDH1) or cooperate (PIK3CA) in tumourigenesis. These data provide important new insights into the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma subgroups and highlight targets for therapeutic development. A total of 76 pediatric medulloblastoma samples were analyzed, representing 4 expression classes
Project description:Mutations in Hedgehog (Hh) pathway genes, leading to constitutive activation of Smoothened (Smo), occur in sporadic medulloblastoma, the most common brain cancer in children. Antagonists of Smo induce tumor regression in mouse models of medulloblastoma and hold great promise for targeted therapy for this tumor. However, acquired resistance has emerged as one of the major challenges of targeted cancer therapy. Here, we describe novel mechanisms of acquired resistance to Smo antagonists in medulloblastoma. NVP-LDE225, a potent and selective Smo antagonist, inhibits Hh signaling and induces tumor regressions in allograft models of medulloblastoma that are driven by mutations of Patched (Ptch), a tumor suppressor in the Hh pathway. However, after long-term treatment, evidence of acquired resistance was observed. Genome-wide profiling of resistant tumors revealed distinct mechanisms to evade the inhibitory effects of Smo antagonists. Chromosomal amplification of Gli2, a downstream effector of Hh signaling, reactivated Hh signaling and restored tumor growth. Analysis of pathway gene-expression signatures selectively deregulated in resistant tumors identified increased phosphoinosite-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling as another potential resistance mechanism. Probing the functional relevance of increased PI3K signaling, we showed that the combination of NVP-LDE225 with the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 markedly delayed the development of resistance. Our findings have important clinical implications for future treatment strategies in medulloblastoma. mRNA profiling: RNA was prepared from tumours from vehicle or NVP-LDE225 treated nude mice allografted with medulloblastoma tumors derived from Ptch+/-p53-/- transgenic mouse and hybridized on Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 RNA expression array. The dosage terminology (BID & QD) reflects the dosing schedule, where BID = twice a day, QD = once a day. aCGH: DNA was prepared from tumors from vehicle or NVP-LDE225 treated nude mice allografted with medulloblastoma tumors derived from Ptch+/-p53-/- transgenic mouse and hybridized on Agilent mouse CGH 244K Array.
Project description:Mutations in Hedgehog (Hh) pathway genes, leading to constitutive activation of Smoothened (Smo), occur in sporadic medulloblastoma, the most common brain cancer in children. Antagonists of Smo induce tumor regression in mouse models of medulloblastoma and hold great promise for targeted therapy for this tumor. However, acquired resistance has emerged as one of the major challenges of targeted cancer therapy. Here, we describe novel mechanisms of acquired resistance to Smo antagonists in medulloblastoma. NVP-LDE225, a potent and selective Smo antagonist, inhibits Hh signaling and induces tumor regressions in allograft models of medulloblastoma that are driven by mutations of Patched (Ptch), a tumor suppressor in the Hh pathway. However, after long-term treatment, evidence of acquired resistance was observed. Genome-wide profiling of resistant tumors revealed distinct mechanisms to evade the inhibitory effects of Smo antagonists. Chromosomal amplification of Gli2, a downstream effector of Hh signaling, reactivated Hh signaling and restored tumor growth. Analysis of pathway gene-expression signatures selectively deregulated in resistant tumors identified increased phosphoinosite-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling as another potential resistance mechanism. Probing the functional relevance of increased PI3K signaling, we showed that the combination of NVP-LDE225 with the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 markedly delayed the development of resistance. Our findings have important clinical implications for future treatment strategies in medulloblastoma.
Project description:Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis of many cancers, including medulloblastoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). In this study, using neonatally irradiated Ptch1+/- mice as a model of Hh-dependent tumors, we investigated the in vivo effects of MK-4101, a novel SMO antagonist, for treatment of medulloblastoma and BCC. Results clearly demonstrate a robust antitumor activity of MK-4101, achieved through the inhibition of proliferation and induction of extensive apoptosis in tumor cells. Of note, beside antitumor activity on transplanted tumors, MK-4101 was highly efficacious against primary medulloblastoma and BCC developing in the cerebellum and skin of Ptch1+/- mice. By identifying the changes induced by MK-4101 in gene expression profiles in tumors, we also elucidate the mechanism of action of this novel, orally administrable compound. MK-4101 targets the Hh pathway in the tumor cells, showing the maximum inhibitory effect on Gli1 activity. MK-4101 also induced deregulation of cell cycle and block of DNA replication in tumors. Members of the IGF and Wnt signaling pathways , were among the most highly deregulated genes by MK-4101, suggesting that the interplay among Hh, IGF and Wnt is crucial in Hh-dependent tumorigenesis. Altogether, the results of this preclinical study support a therapeutic opportunity for MK-4101 in the treatment of Hh-driven cancers, also providing useful information for combination therapy with drugs targeting pathways cooperating with Hh oncogenic activity. Gene expression data was generated (in replicates) from Medulloblastoma allografts collected at various time points and following low (40mpk) or high (80 mpk) or vehicle single dose (QD) or mutiple dose (BID) treatment with a SHH pathway inhibitor.
Project description:Alternative pre-mRNA splicing critically contributes to the generation of protein variety in a tissue- and development-specific manner. Alterations in the normal pathways of alternative splicing (AS) have been associated with the growth and maintenance of several tumour types, and have been indicated as candidate bio-markers of tumour progression, metastasis and patient survival. In this study we applied genome-wide exon array technology to investigate AS events that may distinguish between human medulloblastoma and normal cerebellum. We initially investigated gene-level expression profiles to identify samples expressing gene signatures characteristic of previously described MB molecular subgroups. 3 medulloblastomas significantly over-expressed genes typically belonging to the Shh signalling pathway or associated with a granule cell progenitor status and were therefore classified as Shh-activated tumours (MB1). The remaining tumour samples were grouped together as medulloblastoma subset 2 (MB2). We then applied the Splicing Index algorithm and identified 1260 unique genes containing at least one candidate exon whose inclusion rate differed between different sample subgroups. Following the analysis of candidate event expression plots and gene structure annotation, we selected 14 examples of differential splicing of cassette exons and successfully validated 11 of them by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in a selection of the initial sample-set and subsequently in an independent set of 10 normal cerebellum and 20 medulloblastoma samples. Through the analysis of AS pathway in in vitro cultures of cerebellar granule cell progenitors (the putative cell of origin of least a subset of medulloblastomas), we showed that medulloblastoma-associated AS patterns could be indicative of a normal cerebellar undifferentiated phenotype and suggested that activation of oncogenic pathways during the development of the cerebellum may lead to a failure of neuronal differentiation also through the disruption of AS programs.
Project description:Medulloblastoma is a malignant childhood brain tumour comprising four discrete subgroups. To identify mutations that drive medulloblastoma we sequenced the entire genomes of 37 tumours and matched normal blood. One hundred and thirty-six genes harbouring somatic mutations in this discovery set were sequenced in an additional 56 medulloblastomas. Recurrent mutations were detected in 41 genes not yet implicated in medulloblastoma: several target distinct components of the epigenetic machinery in different disease subgroups, e.g., regulators of H3K27 and H3K4 trimethylation in subgroup-3 and 4 (e.g., KDM6A and ZMYM3), and CTNNB1-associated chromatin remodellers in WNT-subgroup tumours (e.g., SMARCA4 and CREBBP). Modelling of mutations in mouse lower rhombic lip progenitors that generate WNT-subgroup tumours, identified genes that maintain this cell lineage (DDX3X) as well as mutated genes that initiate (CDH1) or cooperate (PIK3CA) in tumourigenesis. These data provide important new insights into the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma subgroups and highlight targets for therapeutic development.
Project description:Dysregulatio of Hh signaling has been shown to be involved in the formation of human medulloblastoma. We generated a mouse model (CAGGS-CreER;R26-SmoM2) of Hh related tumors. We used microarray to profile gene expression in Hh induced mouse medulloblastoma and identified distinct classes of up-regulated or down-regulated genes during Hh dependent tumorigenesis . Experiment Overall Design: Medulloblastoma samples and adjacent wild type cerebellar tissue from CAGGS-CreER;R26-SmoM2 mice were isolated for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:Dysregulatio of Hh signaling has been shown to be involved in the formation of human medulloblastoma. We generated a mouse model (CAGGS-CreER;R26-SmoM2) of Hh related tumors. We used microarray to profile gene expression in Hh induced mouse medulloblastoma and identified distinct classes of up-regulated or down-regulated genes during Hh dependent tumorigenesis . Keywords: Tumor vs wild type tissue
Project description:Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis of many cancers, including medulloblastoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). In this study, using neonatally irradiated Ptch1+/- mice as a model of Hh-dependent tumors, we investigated the in vivo effects of MK-4101, a novel SMO antagonist, for treatment of medulloblastoma and BCC. Results clearly demonstrate a robust antitumor activity of MK-4101, achieved through the inhibition of proliferation and induction of extensive apoptosis in tumor cells. Of note, beside antitumor activity on transplanted tumors, MK-4101 was highly efficacious against primary medulloblastoma and BCC developing in the cerebellum and skin of Ptch1+/- mice. By identifying the changes induced by MK-4101 in gene expression profiles in tumors, we also elucidate the mechanism of action of this novel, orally administrable compound. MK-4101 targets the Hh pathway in the tumor cells, showing the maximum inhibitory effect on Gli1 activity. MK-4101 also induced deregulation of cell cycle and block of DNA replication in tumors. Members of the IGF and Wnt signaling pathways , were among the most highly deregulated genes by MK-4101, suggesting that the interplay among Hh, IGF and Wnt is crucial in Hh-dependent tumorigenesis. Altogether, the results of this preclinical study support a therapeutic opportunity for MK-4101 in the treatment of Hh-driven cancers, also providing useful information for combination therapy with drugs targeting pathways cooperating with Hh oncogenic activity.