Anaplastic Transformation Model in Thyroid Cancer Revealed by Single Cell Lineage and Fate Analysis
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ABSTRACT: The deadliest anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) often transforms from indolent differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), however the complex intra-tumor transformation process is poorly understood. We investigated an anaplastic transformation model by dissecting both cell lineage and cell fate transitions using single cell transcriptomes and genetic alterations data of patients with different subtypes of thyroid cancer. The resulting model started from stress-responsive DTC cells to inflammatory ATC cells, to mitotic defective ATC cells and extended all the way to mesenchymal ATC cells. In parallel with tumor cell evolution, macrophages shifted from anti-tumor to tumor-promoting states and T cells reprogrammed from cytotoxic to exhausted states. Further, our analysis identified two important milestones: 1) diploid stage, where ATC cells were commonly diploids with non-RAS mutations and inflammatory phenotypes. 2) aneuploid stage, where ATC cells gained aneuploidy with frequent RAS mutations and mesenchymal phenotypes leading to the extreme lethal stage of ATC progression.
Project description:The E3 SUMO ligase PIAS2 is expressed at high levels in differentiated papillary thyroid carcinomas but at low levels in anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATC), an undifferentiated cancer with very high mortality. Double-stranded RNA–directed RNA interference (dsRNAi) targeting the PIAS2 isoform beta (PIAS2b) inhibits growth of ATC cell lines and patient primary cultures in vitro and orthotopic patient-derived xenografts (oPDX) in vivo, but not of thyroid cell lines or non-anaplastic primary thyroid cultures (differentiated carcinoma, benign lesions, or normal). PIAS2b-dsRNAi also has an anti-cancer effect on other anaplastic human cancers (pancreas, lung, and gastric). Mechanistically, PIAS2b is required for proper mitotic spindle and centrosome assembly, and it is a dosage-sensitive protein in ATC. Strikingly, PIAS2b-dsRNAi induces mitotic catastrophe at prophase. High-throughput proteomics revealed the proteasome (PSMC5) and spindle cytoskeleton as direct targets of PIAS2b SUMOylation at mitotic initiation. PIAS2b-dsRNAi is a promising therapy for ATC and other aggressive anaplastic cancers.
Project description:Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) has among the worst prognosis of any solid malignancy. The low incidence of the disease has in part precluded systematic clinical trials and tissue collection, and there has been little progress in developing effective therapies. BRAF and TP53 mutations co-occur in a high proportion of ATC, particularly those associated with a precursor papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In order to develop an adult-onset model of BRAF-mutant anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, we generated a novel thyroid-specific CreER transgenic mouse. We utilize a Cre-regulated BrafV600E mouse and a conditional Trp53 allelic series to demonstrate that p53 constrains progression from papillary to anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Gene expression and immunohistochemical analyses of murine tumors identified the cardinal features of human ATC including loss of differentiation, local invasion, distant metastasis and rapid lethality. We employed small animal ultrasound imaging to monitor autochthonous tumors, and show that treatment with the selective BRAF inhibitor PLX4720 improved survival, but did not lead to tumor regression or suppress signaling through the MAPK pathway. Combination of PLX4720 and the MEK inhibitor PD0325901 more completely suppressed MAPK pathway activation in mouse and human ATC cell lines, and improved the structural response and survival of ATC-bearing animals. This model expands the limited repertoire of autochthonous models of clinically aggressive thyroid cancer, and these data suggest that small molecule MAPK pathway inhibitors hold clinical promise in the treatment of advanced thyroid carcinoma. Total RNA from five murine papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) tumors and five murine anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) tumors was analyzed.
Project description:Currently there is a lack of effective therapies which result in long-term durable response for patients presenting with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), a very rare and lethal variant of thyroid cancer. ATC is resistant to chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapies currently available. In an effort to identify novel tumor-specific therapeutic targets, we performed high throughput gene array analysis screening numerous patient ATC tumor tissues, and compared their gene expression levels to matched and unmatched normal thyroid tissue samples.
Project description:Currently there is a lack of effective therapies which result in long-term durable response for patients presenting with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), a very rare and lethal variant of thyroid cancer. ATC is resistant to chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapies currently available. In an effort to identify novel tumor-specific therapeutic targets, we performed high throughput gene array analysis screening numerous patient ATC tumor tissues, and compared their gene expression levels to matched and unmatched normal thyroid tissue samples. RNA was extracted from flash frozen patient tumor and normal samples. Gene array analysis was performed, and resulting expression levels were compared between normal and tumor samples.
Project description:Currently there is a lack of effective therapies which result in long-term durable response for patients presenting with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), a very rare and lethal variant of thyroid cancer. ATC is resistant to chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapies currently available. In an effort to identify novel tumor-specific therapeutic targets, we performed high throughput gene array analysis screening numerous ATC cell lines, and compared their gene expression levels to normal thyroid cell lines.
Project description:A comparison of profiles of normal thryoid tissue (NT), papillary thyroid carcinoma tissue (PTC) and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma tissue (ATC) was carried out to identify expression patterns specifically associated with analplastic thyroid carcinoma Keywords: Expression profile survey of normal tissue and tumor subtypes
Project description:Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the most lethal subtype of thyroid cancer, with high invasive and metastatic potential, not responding to conventional treatments. Its aggressiveness may be influenced by macrophages, which are abundant cells in the tumor microenvironment. To investigate the role of macrophages in ATC aggressiveness, indirect co-cultures were established between ATC cell lines and THP-1-derived macrophages. Macrophages significantly increased both the migration and invasion of T235 cells (p < 0.01; p < 0.01), contrasting with a decrease in C3948 (p < 0.001; p < 0.05), with mild effects in T238 migration (p < 0.01) and C643 invasion (p < 0.05). Flow cytometry showed upregulation of CD80 (pro-inflammatory, anti-tumoral) and downregulation of CD163 (anti-inflammatory, pro-tumoral) in macrophages from co-culture with T235 (p < 0.05) and C3948 (p < 0.05), respectively. Accordingly, we found an upregulation of secreted pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g., GM-CSF, IL-1α; p < 0.05) in C3948–macrophage co-cultures. Proteomic analysis showed the upregulation of SPRY4, an inhibitor of the MAPK pathway, in C3948 cells from co-culture. SPRY4 silencing promoted cancer cell invasion, reverting the reduced invasion of C3948 caused by macrophages. Our findings support that macrophages play a role in ATC cell aggressiveness. SPRY4 is a possible modulator of macrophage–ATC cell communication, with a tumor suppressor role relevant for therapeutic purposes.
Project description:We profiled the gene expression of 11 anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATC), 49 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) and 45 normal thyroids (N) We hibridized a series of anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATC) and papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) onto Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 arrays. ATCs were obtained from different hospitals in France and Belgium. Paired RNA samples of PTCs and non-tumoral thyroid tissues were obtained from Ukraine via the Chernobyl Tissue Bank (www.chernobyltissuebank.com). Diagnoses were confirmed by the members of the International Pathology Panel of the Chernobyl Tissue Bank.
Project description:Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, and often derives from pre-existing well-differentiated tumors. We have engineered the first mouse model of ATC by combining in the mouse thyroid follicular cells two molecular hallmarks of human ATC: activation of PI3K (via Pten deletion) and inactivation of p53. By 9 months of age, over 75% of the compound mutant mice develop aggressive, undifferentiated thyroid tumors that evolve from pre-existing follicular hyperplasia and carcinoma. These tumors display all the features of their human counterpart, including pleomorphism, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, aneuploidy, local invasion and distant metastases. We have performed expression profiling of thyroids from control, single mutants, compound mutants, follicular tumors from Pten-/- mice, and anaplastic tumors from Pten, p53-/- mice.
Project description:BACKGROUND. Poorly-differentiated (PDTC) and anaplastic (ATC) thyroid cancers are rare and frequently lethal tumors, which so far have not been subjected to comprehensive genetic characterization. METHODS. We performed next generation sequencing of 341 cancer genes in 117 PDTCs and ATCs, and a transcriptomic analysis of a representative subset of 37 tumors. Results were analyzed in the context of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) study of papillary thyroid cancers (PTC). RESULTS. ATCs have a greater mutation burden than PDTCs, and higher mutation frequency of TP53, TERT promoter, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway effectors, SWI/SNF subunits and histone methyltransferases. BRAF and RAS are the predominant drivers, and dictate remarkably distinct tropism for nodal vs. distant metastases in PDTC. RAS and BRAF sharply distinguish between PDTCs defined by the Turin (PDTC-Turin) vs. MSKCC (PDTC-MSK) criteria, respectively. Mutations of EIF1AX, a component of the translational preinitiation complex, are markedly enriched in PDTCs and ATCs, and have a striking pattern of co-occurrence with RAS. TERT promoter mutations are rare and subclonal in PTCs, whereas they are clonal and highly prevalent in advanced cancers. Application of the TCGA-derived BRAF-RAS score (a measure of MAPK transcriptional output) shows a preserved relationship with BRAF/RAS mutation in PDTCs, whereas ATCs are BRAF-like irrespective of driver mutation. CONCLUSIONS. These data support a model of tumorigenesis whereby PDTCs and ATCs arise from well-differentiated tumors through the accumulation of key additional genetic abnormalities, many of which have prognostic and possible therapeutic relevance. The widespread genomic disruptions in ATC compared to PDTC underscore their greater virulence and higher mortality. 37 tumor specimens, including 17 poorly-differentiated and 20 anaplastic thyroid cancers were expression-profiled with Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0 array