Project description:Lineage selective transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of tumorigenesis, but their biological functions are often context dependent and their epigenetic mechanisms of action undefined. In this study, we uncover a conditional role for the endodermal and pulmonary specifying TF GATA6 during the initiation and progression of Kras mutant lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Inhibition of Gata6 in genetically engineered mouse models dampens the proliferation and increases the differentiation of LUAD tumors. These effects are influenced in part by the epithelial cell type that is targeted for transformation. In lung cancer cells derived from surfactant protein C expressing progenitors, we identify multiple genomic loci that are bound by GATA6. Moreover, suppression of Gata6 in these cells significantly alters chromatin accessibility, particularly at distal enhancer elements. Analogous to its paradoxical activity in the developing lungs, GATA6 expression fluctuates during different stages of LUAD progression and can control diverse lineage gene expression networks associated with cell proliferation, alveolar specification, BMP signaling, and epithelial plasticity. These findings demonstrate how GATA6 can broadly modulate the epigenome of lung tumor cells, which in turn may potentiate its divergent functions during cancer progression
Project description:Lineage selective transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of tumorigenesis, but their biological functions are often context dependent and their epigenetic mechanisms of action undefined. In this study, we uncover a conditional role for the endodermal and pulmonary specifying TF GATA6 during the initiation and progression of Kras mutant lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Inhibition of Gata6 in genetically engineered mouse models dampens the proliferation and increases the differentiation of LUAD tumors. These effects are influenced in part by the epithelial cell type that is targeted for transformation. In lung cancer cells derived from surfactant protein C expressing progenitors, we identify multiple genomic loci that are bound by GATA6. Moreover, suppression of Gata6 in these cells significantly alters chromatin accessibility, particularly at distal enhancer elements. Analogous to its paradoxical activity in the developing lungs, GATA6 expression fluctuates during different stages of LUAD progression and can control diverse lineage gene expression networks associated with cell proliferation, alveolar specification, BMP signaling, and epithelial plasticity. These findings demonstrate how GATA6 can broadly modulate the epigenome of lung tumor cells, which in turn may potentiate its divergent functions during cancer progression
Project description:Lineage selective transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of tumorigenesis, but their biological functions are often context dependent and their epigenetic mechanisms of action undefined. In this study, we uncover a conditional role for the endodermal and pulmonary specifying TF GATA6 during the initiation and progression of Kras mutant lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Inhibition of Gata6 in genetically engineered mouse models dampens the proliferation and increases the differentiation of LUAD tumors. These effects are influenced in part by the epithelial cell type that is targeted for transformation. In lung cancer cells derived from surfactant protein C expressing progenitors, we identify multiple genomic loci that are bound by GATA6. Moreover, suppression of Gata6 in these cells significantly alters chromatin accessibility, particularly at distal enhancer elements. Analogous to its paradoxical activity in the developing lungs, GATA6 expression fluctuates during different stages of LUAD progression and can control diverse lineage gene expression networks associated with cell proliferation, alveolar specification, BMP signaling, and epithelial plasticity. These findings demonstrate how GATA6 can broadly modulate the epigenome of lung tumor cells, which in turn may potentiate its divergent functions during cancer progression
