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Histone variant macroH2A1 rewires carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of hepatocellular carcinoma cells towards cancer stem cells

ABSTRACT: We recently described the phenotype of HepG2 and Huh-7 hepatocellular carcinoma cells deleted for histone variant macroH2A1, which acquire cancer stem cell phenotype (Lo Re O et al., Hepatology 2017, PMID: 28913935). We found that short hairpin RNA-mediated macroH2A1 knockdown induces acquisition of CSC-like features, including the growth of significantly larger and less differentiated tumors when injected into nude mice. MacroH2A1-depleted HCC cells also exhibited reduced proliferation, resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, and stem-like metabolic changes consistent with enhanced hypoxic responses and increased glycolysis. As macroH2A1 is a potent transcriptional modifier we asked how KD of this histone variant might affect patterns of gene expression, and whether we could identify potential mechanistic links to the observed in vitro and in vivo HCC phenotypes. We obtained and validated an RNA-Seq dataset (Borghesan M et al., Cancer Res 2016, PMID: 26772755; Lo Re O et al., Hepatology 2017, PMID: 28913935), to conduct an unbiased comparison of the transcriptional profiles of HepG2 macroH2A1 KD cells and controls. Using a cut-off of 2 fold change, assessment of differentially expressed genes for macroH2A1 KD versus CTL showed no transcriptional overlap between the different HepG2 cell lines. Considering all differentially-expressed genes, there was significant enrichment (–log(p-value) > 1.3) in several functions and pathways that regulate pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE117459 | GEO | 2018/07/21

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:We recently described the phenotype of HepG2 and Huh-7, hepatocellular carcinoma cells, knocked down for histone variant macroH2A1. Both cell lines acquire a cancer stem cell phenotype (Lo Re O et al., Hepatology 2017, PMID: 28913935; Lo Re O et al., Epigenetics 2018, PMID: 30165787). We found that short hairpin RNA-mediated macroH2A1 knockdown induced acquisition of CSC-like features, including the growth of significantly larger and less differentiated tumors when injected into nude mice. MacroH2A1-depleted HCC cells also exhibited reduced proliferation, resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, and stem-like metabolic changes consistent with enhanced hypoxic responses and increased glycolytic pathways. As macroH2A1 is a potent transcriptional modifier we asked how KD of this histone variant might affect patterns of gene expression, and whether we could identify potential mechanistic links to the observed in vitro and in vivo HCC phenotypes. Here we used RNA-Seq to gain deep mechanistic insight into the distinct functions of macroH2A1 KD and conditioned medium (CM)-exposed Huh-7 cells. Heatmap analysis of the differentially expressed genes between the three groups revealed a similar transcriptomic profile between KD and CM, compared to the control condition. Genes were considered differentially expressed between groups if their expression values significantly differed by >2 fold. Statistical differences in gene expression were assessed by the ANOVA test. Correction for multiple test was achieved by the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. The significance threshold was set to 0.05. Using a cut-off of 2 fold change, assessment of differentially expressed genes for Huh-7 macroH2A1 KD or Huh-7 CM KD versus CTL showed no transcriptional overlap between the different Huh-7 cell lines. 783 and 987 genes were instead significantly differentially-expressed in macroH2A1 KD or CM KD versus control cells, respectively. Interestingly, the significantly enriched transcripts over-represented in KD and CM-exposed cells compared to control cells were implicated in a number of functions and diseases that were also shared between CM versus control comparisons. Specifically, Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) identified categories of cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, lipid metabolism, cell-to-cell signaling, nucleic acid metabolism, cell death & survival and others, in common between KD versus CTL and CM versus CTL. These data support a paracrine modulation of gene expression by macroH2A1 KD in HCC cells.

Project description:CD47 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is ubiquitously expressed in different organs and tissues (Barclay and Van den Berg 2014; Liu, et al. 2017). In the human immune system, CD47 interacts with some integrins, two counter-receptor signal regulator protein (SIRP) family members, and the secreted thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) (Barclay and Van den Berg 2014; Gao, et al. 2016; Kaur, et al. 2013; Oldenborg, et al. 2000). CD47 has two established roles in the immune system. The CD47-SIRPα interaction was identified as a critical innate immune checkpoint, which delivers an antiphagocytic signal to macrophages and inhibits neutrophil cytotoxicity (Martínez- Sanz, et al. 2021). Its interaction with inhibitory SIRPα is a physiological anti-phagocytic “don’t eat me” signal on circulating red blood cells that is co-opted by cancer cells (Matlung, et al. 2017). Many malignant cells overexpress CD47 (Betancur, et al. 2017; Chao, et al. 2011; Jaiswal, et al. 2009; Majeti, et al. 2009; Oronsky, et al. 2020; Petrova, et al. 2017). CD47/SIRPα-targeted therapeutics have been developed to overcome this immune checkpoint for cancer treatment (Kaur, et al. 2020; Matlung, et al. 2017). Secondly, engagement of CD47 on T cells by TSP1 regulates their differentiation and survival (Grimbert, et al. 2006; Lamy, et al. 2007) and inhibits T cell receptor signaling and antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) (Kaur, et al. 2014; Li, et al. 2002; Liu, et al. 2015; Miller, et al. 2013; Soto-Pantoja, et al. 2014; Weng, et al. 2014). TSP1/CD47 signaling has similar inhibitory functions to limit NK cell activation (Kim, et al. 2008; Nath, et al. 2018; Nath, et al. 2019; Schwartz, et al. 2019) and IL1β production by macrophages (Stein, et al. 2016). CD47 is therefore a checkpoint that regulates both innate and adaptive immunity. The recent understanding of CD47 antagonism associated with increased antigen presentation by DCs (Liu, et al. 2016) and natural killer cell cytotoxicity (Nath, et al. 2019) contributes to the heightened interest in CD47 as a therapeutic target (Kaur, et al. 2020).

Project description:Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), also known as bone morphogenetic protein 11 (BMP11) is a member of the Growth differentiation factors (GDFs), a subfamily of proteins belonging to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) superfamily (Katoh and Katoh 2006). ). In the past 7-8 years, several high profile studies, showed that systemic restoration of GDF11 levels reverses age-related phenotypes and rejuvenated heart and skeletal muscle in aged mice (Loffredo, Steinhauser et al. 2013, Sinha, Jang et al. 2014), improves insulin sensitivity via restoring pancreatic β-cell function in diabetic mice (Li, Li et al. 2017), and increases proliferation of brain capillary endothelial cells thereby improving the vascular and neurogenic rejuvenation in the brain of aged mice (Katsimpardi, Litterman et al. 2014, Finkenzeller, Stark et al. 2015, Zhang, Guo et al. 2018). Nonetheless, the possible rejuvenation effect of GDF11 was questioned over past years by several other studies. These reports doubted the age-associated decrease of circulating GDF11 level and related phenotypes in the muscle, the heart and the brain (Egerman, Cadena et al. 2015, Rodgers and Eldridge 2015); moreover, restoration of GDF11 levels in old mice had no positive effect on heart structure or function (Smith, Zhang et al. 2015). Increase of GDF11 levels had deleterious effects on aging skeletal muscle regeneration (Egerman, Cadena et al. 2015), suggesting also that supraphysiological levels could lead to cachexia (Hammers, Merscham-Banda et al. 2017). In the field of liver diseases, GDF11 was shown to exhibit tumor suppressive properties in HCC cells (Zhang, Pan et al. 2018, Gerardo-Ramírez, Lazzarini-Lechuga et al. 2019) and to worsen hepatocellular injury and liver regeneration after liver ischemia reperfusion injury (Liu, Dong et al. 2018). From these controverted studies, it is clear that the systemic effects of GDF11 in health and disease are not yet clearly and fully delineated. The aim of the present study was to specifically characterize the role of GDF11 in lipid metabolism and in the progression of the NAFLD disease spectrum, which is currently unknown. We thus aimed at investigating the potential effect of GDF11 on lipid droplet formation in human hepatocytes. Our data strongly suggest that GDF11 supplementation exacerbates, both in presence or absence of FFA, lipid droplet accumulation in two hepatic cell models (HepG2 and Hep3B) by impinging on ALK5/SMAD2/3 dependent signaling pathway.

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Histone variant macroH2A1 rewires carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of hepatocellular carcinoma cells towards cancer stem cells

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