Project description:Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are important for tumor initiation and promotion. CSL, a transcriptional repressor and Notch mediator, suppresses CAF activation. Like CSL, ATF3, a stress-responsive transcriptional repressor, is down-modulated in skin cancer stromal cells, and Atf3 knockout mice develop aggressive chemically induced skin tumors with enhanced CAF activation. Even at low basal levels, ATF3 converges with CSL in global chromatin control, binding to few genomic sites at a large distance from target genes. Consistent with this mode of regulation, deletion of one such site 2 Mb upstream of IL6 induces expression of the gene. Observed changes are of translational significance, as bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) inhibitors, unlinking activated chromatin from basic transcription, counteract the effects of ATF3 or CSL loss on global gene expression and suppress CAF tumor-promoting properties in an in vivo model of squamous cancer-stromal cell expansion. Thus, ATF3 converges with CSL in negative control of CAF activation with epigenetic changes amenable to cancer- and stroma-focused intervention.
Project description:Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in initiating and promoting epithelial cancers. The specific chromatin modifications involved in CAF activation remain to be elucidated. CSL, a constitutive transcriptional repressor and mediator of canonical Notch signaling, functions as a direct negative regulator of CAF effector genes and suppresses cancer/stromal cell expansion. We find that ATF3, a key stress responsive transcriptional repressor up-regulated in the acute UVA response of skin fibroblasts, is down-modulated in stromal cells of premalignant skin SCC lesions similarly to CSL. Increased ATF3 expression counteracts the consequences of compromised CSL, binding to a large set of overlapping target genes. At low basal levels, ATF3 converges with CSL in negative control of CAF activation, binding to a very small number of genomic loci that encompass mostly non-coding RNAs and pseudogenes. Silencing of ATF3 results in chromatin modifications and Pol II recruitment to many loci to which ATF3 does not bind, which are similarly affected by CSL silencing. The observed changes are of functional significance, as Bet inhibitors, which unlink activated chromatin from the basic transcription apparatus, have opposite effects of ATF3 or CSL silencing on all tested CAF effector genes. They exert a similar impact on clinically-derived CAFs both in vitro and upon topical in vivo treatment. Thus, ATF3 converges with CSL in global chromatin control of CAF activation with their loss eliciting epigenetic changes amenable to cancer and stroma-focused intervention.
Project description:Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in initiating and promoting epithelial cancers. The specific chromatin modifications involved in CAF activation remain to be elucidated. CSL, a constitutive transcriptional repressor and mediator of canonical Notch signaling, functions as a direct negative regulator of CAF effector genes and suppresses cancer/stromal cell expansion. We find that ATF3, a key stress responsive transcriptional repressor up-regulated in the acute UVA response of skin fibroblasts, is down-modulated in stromal cells of premalignant skin SCC lesions similarly to CSL. Increased ATF3 expression counteracts the consequences of compromised CSL, binding to a large set of overlapping target genes. At low basal levels, ATF3 converges with CSL in negative control of CAF activation, binding to a very small number of genomic loci that encompass mostly non-coding RNAs and pseudogenes. Silencing of ATF3 results in chromatin modifications and Pol II recruitment to many loci to which ATF3 does not bind, which are similarly affected by CSL silencing. The observed changes are of functional significance, as Bet inhibitors, which unlink activated chromatin from the basic transcription apparatus, have opposite effects of ATF3 or CSL silencing on all tested CAF effector genes. They exert a similar impact on clinically-derived CAFs both in vitro and upon topical in vivo treatment. Thus, ATF3 converges with CSL in global chromatin control of CAF activation with their loss eliciting epigenetic changes amenable to cancer and stroma-focused intervention.
Project description:Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in initiating and promoting epithelial cancers. The specific chromatin modifications involved in CAF activation remain to be elucidated. CSL, a constitutive transcriptional repressor and mediator of canonical Notch signaling, functions as a direct negative regulator of CAF effector genes and suppresses cancer/stromal cell expansion. We find that ATF3, a key stress responsive transcriptional repressor up-regulated in the acute UVA response of skin fibroblasts, is down-modulated in stromal cells of premalignant skin SCC lesions similarly to CSL. Increased ATF3 expression counteracts the consequences of compromised CSL, binding to a large set of overlapping target genes. At low basal levels, ATF3 converges with CSL in negative control of CAF activation, binding to a very small number of genomic loci that encompass mostly non-coding RNAs and pseudogenes. Silencing of ATF3 results in chromatin modifications and Pol II recruitment to many loci to which ATF3 does not bind, which are similarly affected by CSL silencing. The observed changes are of functional significance, as Bet inhibitors, which unlink activated chromatin from the basic transcription apparatus, have opposite effects of ATF3 or CSL silencing on all tested CAF effector genes. They exert a similar impact on clinically-derived CAFs both in vitro and upon topical in vivo treatment. Thus, ATF3 converges with CSL in global chromatin control of CAF activation with their loss eliciting epigenetic changes amenable to cancer and stroma-focused intervention.
Project description:The connection between signaling pathways activating cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) remains to be determined. Metabolic alterations linked to autophagy have also been implicated in CAF activation. CSL/RBPJ, a transcriptional repressor that mediates Notch signaling, suppresses the gene expression program(s), leading to stromal senescence and CAF activation. Deregulated GLI signaling can also contribute to CAF conversion. Here, we report that compromised CSL function depends on GLI activation for conversion of human dermal fibroblasts into CAFs, separately from cellular senescence. Decreased CSL upregulates the expression of the ULK3 kinase, which binds and activates GLI2. Increased ULK3 also induces autophagy, which is unlinked from GLI and CAF activation. ULK3 upregulation occurs in the CAFs of several tumor types, and ULK3 silencing suppresses the tumor-enhancing properties of these cells. Thus, ULK3 links two key signaling pathways involved in CAF conversion and is an attractive target for stroma-focused anti-cancer intervention.