A p53 super-tumor suppressor reveals a tumor suppressive p53-Ptpn14-Yap axis in pancreatic cancer
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ABSTRACT: The p53 transcription factor is a critical barrier to pancreatic cancer progression. To unravel mechanisms of p53-mediated tumor suppression, we analyzed pancreatic cancer predisposition in mice expressing p53 transactivation domain (TAD) mutants. Surprisingly, we observed that p53 TAD2 mutant behaves as a “super-tumor suppressor”, with an enhanced capacity to suppress pancreatic cancer and to activate a subset of novel p53 target genes. One such gene, Ptpn14, is a direct p53-inducible gene encoding a negative regulator of the Yap oncoprotein. To determine the effects of p53 deficiency on Yap target gene expression in pre-malignant mouse pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) lesions, we sorted the CD133-positive ductal epithelial cells that make up the PanINs and used these cells for RNA-sequencing analysis. This analysis revealed that a Yap signature is induced upon p53 deficiency, suggesting that p53 loss promotes the induction of a Yap transcriptional program.
Project description:Half of all human cancers lose p53 function by missense mutations, with an unknown fraction of these containing p53 in a self-aggregated, amyloid-like state. Here we show that a cell-penetrating peptide, ReACp53, designed to inhibit p53 amyloid formation, rescues p53 function in cancer cell lines and in organoids derived from high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOC), an aggressive cancer characterized by ubiquitous p53 mutations. Rescued p53 behaves similarly to its wild-type counterpart in regulating target genes, reducing cell proliferation and increasing cell death. Intraperitoneal administration decreases tumor proliferation and shrinks xenografts in vivo. Our data show the effectiveness of targeting a specific aggregation defect of p53 and its potential applicability to HGSOCs. Vehicle vs. ReACp53 treatment in 4 different samples: 2 cell lines (MCF7 w/ WT p53 as negative control and OVCAR3 w/ R248Q p53) and 2 clinical specimens (primary cells from patient #8 w/ WT p53 as negative control and primary cells from patient #1 w/ R248Q p53)
Project description:Half of all human cancers lose p53 function by missense mutations, with an unknown fraction of these containing p53 in a self-aggregated, amyloid-like state. Here we show that a cell-penetrating peptide, ReACp53, designed to inhibit p53 amyloid formation, rescues p53 function in cancer cell lines and in organoids derived from high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOC), an aggressive cancer characterized by ubiquitous p53 mutations. Rescued p53 behaves similarly to its wild-type counterpart in regulating target genes, reducing cell proliferation and increasing cell death. Intraperitoneal administration decreases tumor proliferation and shrinks xenografts in vivo. Our data show the effectiveness of targeting a specific aggregation defect of p53 and its potential applicability to HGSOCs.
Project description:The occurrence of TP53 mutations in late-stage PanINs has led to the idea that p53 acts to suppress malignant transformation of PanINs to PDAC. However, the cellular basis for p53 action during PDAC development has not been explored in detail. Here, we leverage a hyperactive p53 variant – p5353,54 – which we previously showed is a more robust PDAC suppressor than wild-type p53, to elucidate how p53 acts at the cellular level to dampen PDAC development. We find that p5353,54 both limits ADM accumulation and suppresses PanIN cell proliferation and does so more effectively than wild-type p53. We find further that p53 enhances chromatin accessibility at sites controlled by acinar cell identity transcription factors. These findings reveal that p53 acts at multiple stages to suppress PDAC, both by limiting metaplastic transformation of acini and by dampening KRAS signaling in PanINs, thus providing key new understanding of p53 function in PDAC.
Project description:The tumor suppressor p53 is mutated in the majority of human cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)1,2. Wild-type p53 accumulates in response to cellular stress and acts to regulate the expression of genes that influence cell fate and constrain tumorigenesis2. p53 also can modulate cellular metabolism3, though it remains unclear how the metabolic effects of p53 influence tumor suppression or whether the metabolic consequences of p53 loss play a role in disease maintenance. Here, we show that restoring endogenous p53 function in cancer cells derived from a mouse model of PDAC driven by oncogenic Kras and a regulatable p53 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) rewires glucose and glutamine metabolism to support the accumulation of the metabolite alpha-ketoglutarate, an obligate substrate for several enzymes that regulate chromatin methylation. p53 restoration induces transcriptional programs characteristic of pre-neoplastic differentiation, an effect that can be partially recapitulated by addition of cell permeable alpha-ketoglutarate. Consequently, enforcing alpha-ketoglutarate accumulation in p53 deficient cells by inhibiting expression of oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (Ogdh), the enzyme that consumes alpha-ketoglutarate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, reduces tumor-initiating capacity and promotes tumor differentiation in vivo. In both mouse and human pancreatic cancer, decreasing levels of the alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent chromatin modification 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) marks progression from prenoplastic to de-differentiated malignant lesions. p53 restoration or Ogdh suppression promotes accumulation of 5hmC specifically in differentiated tumor cells in vivo. Together, these results nominate alpha-ketoglutarate as an effector of p53-mediated tumor suppression that promotes pre-neoplastic differentiation and suppresses malignant progression.
Project description:Heterogeneous sub-populations of cancer cells exist within pancreatic tumors and shape the local stroma. Recent studies have provided evidence that subtypes of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) also coexist within pancreatic cancer tissues and can both promote and restrain disease progression. Here, we interrogate how cancer cells harboring distinct alterations in p53 (loss or gain-of-function) manipulate CAFs using matched CAFs and cancer cells isolated from the low metastatic KPflC (p53 null) and highly metastatic KPC (gain-of-function p53 mutant) mouse models of pancreatic cancer. We reveal the existence of a p53-driven hierarchy, where cancer cells with a gain-of-function (GOF) mutant p53 educate a dominant population of CAFs that drive the establishment of a pro-metastatic environment for GOF and null p53 cancer cells alike. We also demonstrate that CAFs educated by null p53 cancer cells may be reprogrammed by either GOF mutant p53 cells or their CAFs. Using proteomic characterization of CAF secretomes combined with CRISPR-Cas9 based editing identified perlecan as a key component of this pro-metastatic and resistant environment. Lastly, using longitudinal intravital imaging with a CDK1 FRET reporter and titanium windows, we observe that these dominant CAFs delay cancer cell response to gemcitabine/Abraxane in both GOF and null p53 cancer cells. We also reveal that depletion of perlecan in the stroma combined with chemotherapy prolongs mouse survival, supporting it as a potential novel target for development of anti-stromal therapies in pancreatic cancer.
Project description:We utilized genetically engineered mouse models that do and do not express mutant p53 to identify gain of function mechanisms in pancreatic cancer. Human pancreatic cancer (PDAC) patient derived xenografts with high and low p53 levels underwent transcriptional profiling
Project description:Maintenance of immunological homeostasis between tolerance and autoimmunity is essential for the prevention of human diseases ranging from autoimmune disease to cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that p53 can mitigate phagocytosis-induced adjuvanticity thereby promoting immunological tolerance following programmed cell death. Here we identify Inhibitor of Apoptosis Stimulating p53 Protein (iASPP), a negative regulator of p53 transcriptional activity, as a regulator of immunological tolerance. iASPP-deficiency promoted lung adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, while iASPP-deficient mice were less susceptible to autoimmune disease. Immune responses to iASPP-deficient tumors exhibited hallmarks of immunosuppression, including activated regulatory T cells and exhausted CD8+ T cells. Interestingly, iASPP-deficient tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells, CD4+, and gd T cells expressed elevated levels of PD-1H, a recently identified transcriptional target of p53 that promotes tolerogenic phagocytosis. Identification of an iASPP/p53 axis of immune homeostasis provides a therapeutic opportunity for both autoimmune disease and cancer.
Project description:Maintenance of immunological homeostasis between tolerance and autoimmunity is essential for the prevention of human diseases ranging from autoimmune disease to cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that p53 can mitigate phagocytosis-induced adjuvanticity thereby promoting immunological tolerance following programmed cell death. Here we identify Inhibitor of Apoptosis Stimulating p53 Protein (iASPP), a negative regulator of p53 transcriptional activity, as a regulator of immunological tolerance. iASPP-deficiency promoted lung adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, while iASPP-deficient mice were less susceptible to autoimmune disease. Immune responses to iASPP-deficient tumors exhibited hallmarks of immunosuppression, including activated regulatory T cells and exhausted CD8+ T cells. Interestingly, iASPP-deficient tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells, CD4+, and γδ T cells expressed elevated levels of PD-1H, a recently identified transcriptional target of p53 that promotes tolerogenic phagocytosis. Identification of an iASPP/p53 axis of immune homeostasis provides a therapeutic opportunity for both autoimmune disease and cancer.
Project description:Purpose: Mutations in TP53 induce autoantibody immune responses in a subset of cancer patients, which have been proposed as biomarkers for early detection. Here, we investigate the association of p53 specific autoantibodies with multiple tumor subtypes and determine the association with p53 mutation status and epitope specificity. Experimental Design: IgG p53 autoantibodies (p53-AAb), were quantified in 412 serum saples using a programmable ELISA assay from patients with serous ovarian, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and breast cancer. To determine if patients generated mutation specific autoantibodies we designed a panel of the most relevant 51 p53 point mutant proteins, to be displayed on custom programmable protein microarrays. To determine the epitope specificity we displayed 12 overlapping tiling fragments and 38 N- and C-terminal deletions spanning the length of the wild-type p53 proteins. Results: We detected p53-AAb with sensitivities of 58.8% (ovarian), 22% (pancreatic), 32% (triple negative breast cancer), and 10.2% (HER2+ breast cancer) at 94% specificity. Sera with p53-AAb contained broadly-reactive autoantibodies to 51 displayed p53 mutant proteins, demonstrating a polyclonal response to common epitopes. All p53-AAb displayed broad polyclonal immune response to both continuous and discontinuous epitopes at the N- and C-terminus as well as the DNA binding domain. Conclusion and clinical relevance: In this comprehensive analysis, mutations in tumor p53 induce strong, polyclonal autoantibodies with broadly reactive epitope specificity. The immunoreactivity was compared between 60 pancreactic ductal adenocarcinoma cases and 63 benign pancreatic disease controls against 52 unique mutant p53 and 379 human proteins that were printed on microscope slides. [Contributor] Arizona State University