SMARCA4/Brg1 Coordinates Genetic and Epigenetic Networks Underlying Shh-type Medulloblastoma Development [gene expression]
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Medulloblastoma could be classified into four subtypes: Wnt, Shh, Group 3, and Group 4. Subtypes of medulloblastoma have distinct epigenetic properties. We report that a chromatin regulator SMARCA4/Brg1 controls a transcriptional program that specifically required for Shh-type medulloblastoma identity and proliferation. We show that Brg1 deletion significantly inhibited tumor formation and progression in a mouse medulloblastoma model. Genomic experiments indicate that Brg1 specifically coordinates with key transcription factors including Gli1, Atoh1, and REST to regulate the expression of both oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Shh-type medulloblastoma displays distinct H3K27me3 properties. We demonstrate that Brg1 modulates activities of H3K27me3 modifiers to regulate expression of medulloblastoma genes. Brg1 is important for the growth of a human medulloblastoma cell line and Brg1-regulated pathways are conserved in human Shh-type medulloblastoma. This study reveals a novel epigenetic mechanism that controls medulloblastoma development and provides a rationale for developing subtype-specific treatment strategies.
Project description:Medulloblastoma could be classified into four subtypes: Wnt, Shh, Group 3, and Group 4. Subtypes of medulloblastoma have distinct epigenetic properties. We report that a chromatin regulator SMARCA4/Brg1 controls a transcriptional program that specifically required for Shh-type medulloblastoma identity and proliferation. We show that Brg1 deletion significantly inhibited tumor formation and progression in a mouse medulloblastoma model. Genomic experiments indicate that Brg1 specifically coordinates with key transcription factors including Gli1, Atoh1, and REST to regulate the expression of both oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Shh-type medulloblastoma displays distinct H3K27me3 properties. We demonstrate that Brg1 modulates activities of H3K27me3 modifiers to regulate expression of medulloblastoma genes. Brg1 is important for the growth of a human medulloblastoma cell line and Brg1-regulated pathways are conserved in human Shh-type medulloblastoma. This study reveals a novel epigenetic mechanism that controls medulloblastoma development and provides a rationale for developing subtype-specific treatment strategies.
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue. Purpose: To known the gene expression profile of Medulloblastoma which drived by Gnas mutation Methods: mRNAs isolated from the cerebellum of control and Gnas mutants Results:Upregulation of Shh Signaling components in tumors Conclusions: The deletion of Gnas in hGFAP and Olig1 possitive cells result in substantial upregulation of shh signaling and formation of Medulloblastoma cerebellum mRNA profiles of 3 60-day old wild type (Ctrl) and 8 Olig1Cre driven Gsa conditional knockout or 8 hGFAPCre driven conditional knockout mice were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina Hiseq2000
Project description:A series of mouse models designed to mimic pediatric medulloblastoma types in humans were tested by microarray and compared to published human medulloblastoma data Myc-type tumors [dka201-203] were generated by orthotopic injection of Myc-infected cerebellar cells from Cdkn2c-/-, Trp53-/-, Atoh1-GFP mice into the cerebral cortex of immunocompromised nude mice. For Shh-type medulloblastomas [dka204-206], spontaneous medulloblastomas from [Cdkn2c-/-; Trp53Fl/Fl; Nestin-Cre] (Uziel et al.,2005 Genes Dev) were used. FACS-sorted GFP-positive [dka220-222] and GFP-negative [dka211, 212 and 219] populations were obtained from postnatal day 6 Cdkn2c-/-, Trp53-/-, Atoh1-GFP cerebella. Myc-type secondary tumors [dka223-225] were generated by orthotopic transplantation of cultured sphere cells from Myc-type primary tumors.
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue. Transgenic medulloblastoma mouse models were analyzed by Affymetrix Mouse Gene 1.1 ST Array in order to determine their molecular subgroup. Tumors extracted from hGFAP:GnasCKO and Oligo1:GnasCKO transgenic mice were analyzed in 8 replicates each, together with normal mouse cerebellum.
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue. We isolated genomic DNAs from the cerebellum of adult wildtype mice and tumor tissue from individual GFAP-Gnas or Olig1-Gnas mutants and performed the Copy number variation analysis.
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue.
Project description:Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor. MB is a cerebellar tumor that occurs mostly in children between the ages of 3-7 years but also in adults. Human MBs are classified into four subgroups: Wingless (WNT), Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), Group 3 (G3) and G4, each of which with distinct molecular signatures. SHH MBs with MYCN amplification and TP53 mutations and G3 MBs characterized by C-MYC (MYC) overexpression in ~17% of cases from gene amplification with stem like properties, are the most aggressive and least curable with current therapeutic regimen. Using an orthotopic transplant approach, we found that enforced expression of MYCN in cerebellar granule neural progenitors (CGNPs) from 5-7 days old Trp53-null mice induced SHH MBs after transfer in the cortices or cerebella of naive recipient mice. In contrast, overexpression of MYC induced G3 MBs. Because MYCN and MYC bind to the same E-box DNA sequences, we hypothesized that the difference between MYC and MYCN-induced gene expression and tumor identity might be due to their interaction with different partners in CGNPs. In this study, we investigated the role of the Myc interacting zinc finger protein 1 (MIZ1). We found that MIZ1 binds with higher affinity to MYC than to MYCN and that MIZ1 and MYC co-occupy thousands of promoters in G3 MB. Remarkably, enforced expression of a MYC mutant (MYCV394D) that no longer binds to MIZ1 in Trp53-null CGNPs or expression of wild type MYC in CGNPs that lack functional Miz1 resulted in massive changes of the resulting tumorâ??s transcriptional program. Tumors differed from both SHH and G3 medulloblastoma and had a later time of onset compared to MYC-driven G3 medulloblastoma. Our data demonstrate that interaction of MYC with MIZ1 is required for the development of G3 medulloblastoma. ChIP-Seq experiments for Miz1, c-Myc and NMyc from murine medulloblastoma material. Either sorted tumor cells (Miz1 and c-Myc) or spheres from tumor cells (Miz1 and NMyc) were used. Input-samples were sequenced as controls. RNA-Seq from G3 medulloblastomas after restoration of Atoh1 expression.
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue. Purpose: To known the gene expression profile of Medulloblastoma which drived by Gnas mutation Methods: mRNAs isolated from the cerebellum of control and Gnas mutants Results:Upregulation of Shh Signaling components in tumors Conclusions: The deletion of Gnas in hGFAP and Olig1 possitive cells result in substantial upregulation of shh signaling and formation of Medulloblastoma
Project description:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is highly heterogeneous with distinct molecular subtypes and cellular origins. Although current treatments improve survival rates, patients suffer severe treatment-related side effects and often relapse of tumors carrying resistance mutations, underscoring an urgent need for alternative targeted therapies. Currently, the genetic alterations underlying this disease are not fully understood. Here we identify GNAS, encoding the G-protein Gs-alpha, as a potent tumor suppressor gene in medulloblastoma. GNAS specifically defines a subset of aggressive Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-group medulloblastomas. Gnas loss-of-function in distinct lineage progenitors of the developing hindbrain suffices to initiate medulloblastoma. We find that Gs-alpha is highly enriched at primary cilia of granule neuron precursors and suppresses Shh signaling not only by regulating classic cAMP-dependent pathway but also controlling ciliary trafficking of Smoothened. Concurrent cAMP elevation and Smoothened inhibition robustly arrests tumor cell growth in Gnas mutants. We further reveal oligodendrocyte progenitors as a novel cellular origin for anatomically-distinct Shh-associated medulloblastomas. Together, we identify a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of Gs-alpha in medulloblastoma partially mediated through inhibiting Shh signaling, and uncover Gs-alpha as a molecular link across disparate cells of origin among Shh-group medulloblastomas, pointing to G- protein modulation as a potential therapeutic avenue. Transgenic medulloblastoma mouse models were analyzed by Affymetrix Mouse Gene 1.1 ST Array in order to determine their molecular subgroup.
Project description:DDX3X is frequently mutated in the WNT and SHH subtypes of medulloblastoma Ð the commonest malignant childhood brain tumor. But whether DDX3X functions as a medulloblastoma oncogene or tumor suppressor gene is not known. Here we show that Ddx3x regulates hindbrain patterning and development by controlling Hox gene expression and cell stress signaling. In mice predisposed to Wnt or Shh-medulloblastoma Ddx3x sensed oncogenic stress and suppressed tumor formation. WNT and SHH-medulloblastomas normally arise only in the lower and upper rhombic lips respectively. Deletion of Ddx3x relived this lineage restriction enabling both medulloblastoma subtypes to arise in either germinal zone. Thus DDX3X is a medulloblastoma tumor suppressor that regulates hindbrain development and restricts the competence of cell lineages to form medulloblastoma subtypes.