BAF complex maintains glioma stem cells in pediatric H3K27M-glioma [scRNA-seq]
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are uniformly fatal pediatric central nervous system cancers, refractory to standard of care therapeutic modalities. The primary genetic drivers are a set of recurrent amino acid substitutions in genes encoding histone H3 (H3.3 and H3.1, K27M), which are currently undruggable. These H3K27M oncohistones perturb normal chromatin architecture, resulting in an aberrant epigenetic landscape, which we interrogated here for epigenetic dependencies using a CRISPR screen in patient-derived H3K27M-glioma neurospheres. We show that H3K27M-glioma cells are dependent on core components of the mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex for maintaining glioma stem cells in a cycling, oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC)-like state. Genetic perturbation of the BAF catalytic subunit SMARCA4 (BRG1), as well as pharmacological suppression opposes proliferation, promotes differentiation, and improves overall survival of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. In summary, we demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of BAF complex has translational potential for children with H3K27M-gliomas.
Project description:Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are uniformly fatal pediatric central nervous system cancers, refractory to standard of care therapeutic modalities. The primary genetic drivers are a set of recurrent amino acid substitutions in genes encoding histone H3 (H3.3 and H3.1, K27M), which are currently undruggable. These H3K27M oncohistones perturb normal chromatin architecture, resulting in an aberrant epigenetic landscape, which we interrogated here for epigenetic dependencies using a CRISPR screen in patient-derived H3K27M-glioma neurospheres. We show that H3K27M-glioma cells are dependent on core components of the mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex for maintaining glioma stem cells in a cycling, oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC)-like state. Genetic perturbation of the BAF catalytic subunit SMARCA4 (BRG1), as well as pharmacological suppression opposes proliferation, promotes differentiation, and improves overall survival of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. In summary, we demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of BAF complex has translational potential for children with H3K27M-gliomas.
Project description:Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are uniformly fatal pediatric central nervous system cancers, refractory to standard of care therapeutic modalities. The primary genetic drivers are a set of recurrent amino acid substitutions in genes encoding histone H3 (H3.3 and H3.1, K27M), which are currently undruggable. These H3K27M oncohistones perturb normal chromatin architecture, resulting in an aberrant epigenetic landscape, which we interrogated here for epigenetic dependencies using a CRISPR screen in patient-derived H3K27M-glioma neurospheres. We show that H3K27M-glioma cells are dependent on core components of the mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex for maintaining glioma stem cells in a cycling, oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC)-like state. Genetic perturbation of the BAF catalytic subunit SMARCA4 (BRG1), as well as pharmacological suppression opposes proliferation, promotes differentiation, and improves overall survival of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. In summary, we demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of BAF complex has translational potential for children with H3K27M-gliomas.
Project description:Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are uniformly fatal pediatric central nervous system cancers, refractory to standard of care therapeutic modalities. The primary genetic drivers are a set of recurrent amino acid substitutions in genes encoding histone H3 (H3.3 and H3.1, K27M), which are currently undruggable. These H3K27M oncohistones perturb normal chromatin architecture, resulting in an aberrant epigenetic landscape, which we interrogated here for epigenetic dependencies using a CRISPR screen in patient-derived H3K27M-glioma neurospheres. We show that H3K27M-glioma cells are dependent on core components of the mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex for maintaining glioma stem cells in a cycling, oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC)-like state. Genetic perturbation of the BAF catalytic subunit SMARCA4 (BRG1), as well as pharmacological suppression opposes proliferation, promotes differentiation, and improves overall survival of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. In summary, we demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of BAF complex has translational potential for children with H3K27M-gliomas.
Project description:The H3K27M oncogenic histone (oncohistone) mutation drives ~80% of incurable childhood brain tumors known as diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs). The major molecular feature of H3K27M mutant DMGs is a global loss of H3K27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3), a phenotype conserved in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Here we perform unbiased genome-wide suppressor screens in C. elegans expressing H3K27M, and isolate 20 suppressors, all of which at least partially restore H3K27me3. 19/20 suppressor mutations map to the same histone H3.3 gene in which the K27M mutation was originally introduced. Most of these create single amino acid substitutions between residues R26-Y54, which do not disrupt oncohistone expression. Rather, they are predicted to impair interactions with the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) and are functionally conserved in human cells. Further, we mapped a single extragenic H3K27M suppressor to ubc-20, an E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme, whose loss rescued H3K27me3 to nearly 50% wild-type levels despite continued oncohistone expression and chromatin incorporation. We demonstrate that ubc-20 is the major enzyme responsible for generating di-ubiquitinated histone H2B. Our study provides in vivo support for existing models of PRC2 inhibition via direct oncohistone contact, and suggests that the effects of H3K27M may be modulated by H2B ubiquitination.
Project description:A methionine substitution at lysine 27 on histone H3 variants (H3K27M) characterizes ~80% of diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) and inhibits PRC2 in a dominant negative fashion. Yet, the mechanisms for this inhibition and abnormal epigenomic landscape have not been resolved. Using quantitative proteomics, we discovered that robust PRC2 inhibition requires levels of H3K27M greatly exceeding those of PRC2, seen in DIPG. While PRC2 inhibition requires interaction with H3K27M, we found this interaction on chromatin is transient with PRC2 largely being released from H3K27M. Unexpectedly, inhibition persisted even after PRC2 dissociated from H3K27M-chromatin suggesting a lasting impact on PRC2. Furthermore, allosterically activated PRC2 is particularly sensitive to K27M leading to a failure to spread H3K27me3 at distinct foci. In turn, levels of Polycomb antagonists such as H3K36me2 are elevated suggesting a more global, downstream effect on the epigenome. Together, these findings reveal the conditions required for H3K27M-mediated PRC2 inhibition and reconcile seemingly paradoxical effects of H3K27M on PRC2 recruitment and activity.