Alteration of ribosome function upon 5-fluorouracil treatment favours cancer cell drug-tolerance
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ABSTRACT: Partial response to chemotherapy leads to disease resurgence. Upon treatment, a subpopulation of cancer cells, called drug-tolerant persistent cells, displays a transitory drug tolerance that lead to treatment resistance. Though drug-tolerance mechanisms remain poorly known, they have been linked to non-genomic processes, including epigenetics, stemness and dormancy. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), the most widely used chemotherapy in cancer treatment, is associated with resistance. While prescribed as an inhibitor of DNA replication, 5-FU alters all RNA pathways. Here, we show that 5-FU treatment leads to the unexpected production of fluorinated ribosomes, exhibiting altered mRNA translation. 5-FU is incorporated into ribosomal RNAs of mature ribosomes in cancer cell lines, colorectal xenografts, and human tumors. Fluorinated ribosomes appear to be functional, yet, they display a selective translational activity towards mRNAs according to the nature of their 5'-untranslated region. As a result, we found that sustained translation of IGF-1R mRNA, which codes for one of the most potent cell survival effectors, promoted the survival of 5-FU-treated colorectal cancer cells. Altogether, our results demonstrate that "man-made" fluorinated ribosomes favour the drug-tolerant cellular phenotype by promoting translation of survival genes. This could be exploited for developing novel combined therapies. By unraveling translation regulation as a novel gene expression mechanism helping cells to survive a drug-challenge, our study extends the spectrum of molecular mechanisms driving drug-tolerance.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE178839 | GEO | 2021/06/25
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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