Project description:Approved drugs are invaluable tools to study biochemical pathways and further characterization of these compounds may lead to repurposing of single drugs or combinations. Here, we describe a collection of 308 small molecules representing the diversity of structures and molecular targets of all FDA-approved chemical entities. The CeMM Library of Unique Drugs (CLOUD) covers prodrugs and active forms at pharmacologically relevant concentrations and is ideally suited for combinatorial studies. We screened pairwise combinations of CLOUD drugs for impairment of cancer cell viability and discovered the synergistic interaction between flutamide and phenprocoumon (PPC). The combination of these two drugs modulates the stability of the androgen receptor (AR) and resensitizes AR mutant prostate cancer cells to flutamide. Mechanistically, we show that the AR is a substrate for γ-carboxylation, a post-translational modification inhibited by PPC. Collectively, our data suggest that PPC might be repurposed to tackle resistance to antiandrogens in prostate cancer patients.
Project description:Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetic cause of childhood obesity, is characterized by intellectual disabilities and sleep abnormalities. PWS-causing deletions include a neuronal long, non-coding RNA (lncRNA) processed into small nucleolar RNAs and a spliced lncRNA,116HG. We show that 116HG forms a subnuclear RNA cloud that co-purifies with the transcriptional activator RBBP5 and active metabolic genes, remains tethered to the site of its transcription and increases in size in postnatal neurons. Snord116del mice lacking 116HG exhibited increased energy expenditure corresponding to dysregulation of diurnally expressed Mtor and circadian genes Clock, Cry1, and Per2. Genomic and metabolic analyses demonstrate altered diurnal energy regulation in the Snord116del mouse cortex and link the loss of 116HG to the energy imbalance observed in PWS.
Project description:Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetic cause of childhood obesity, is characterized by intellectual disabilities and sleep abnormalities. PWS-causing deletions include a neuronal long, non-coding RNA (lncRNA) processed into small nucleolar RNAs and a spliced lncRNA,116HG. We show that 116HG forms a subnuclear RNA cloud that co-purifies with the transcriptional activator RBBP5 and active metabolic genes, remains tethered to the site of its transcription and increases in size in postnatal neurons. Snord116del mice lacking 116HG exhibited increased energy expenditure corresponding to dysregulation of diurnally expressed Mtor and circadian genes Clock, Cry1, and Per2. Genomic and metabolic analyses demonstrate altered diurnal energy regulation in the Snord116del mouse cortex and link the loss of 116HG to the energy imbalance observed in PWS. Examination of lncRNA binding sites by ChIRP-seq using an oligo-based purification method from WT and Snord116del (+/-) mouse brain with specific and nonspecific control oligos. Transcript abundance levels by RNA-seq analysis of 3 adult WT and 2 adult Snord116del (+/-) mouse brain cortices at Zt+6 and 2 adult WT and 2 adult Snord116del (+/-) mouse brain cortices at Zt+16.
Project description:Top-down proteomics has emerged as a powerful strategy to characterize proteins in biological systems. Nevertheless, the analysis of endogenous membrane proteins is challenging due to their low solubility, low abundance, and the complexity of the membrane subproteome. Here, we report a simple, effective enrichment and separation strategy for top-down proteomics of endogenous membrane proteins enabled by cloud-point enrichment and multidimensional liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS). The cloud point extraction efficiently enriched membrane proteins using a single extraction, eliminating the need for time-consuming ultracentrifugation steps. Subsequently, size-exclusion chromatography with an MS-compatible mobile phase was used to fractionate intact proteins (6-115 kDa). Fractions were separated further by reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with MS for protein characterization. We applied this method to human embryonic kidney cells and cardiac tissue, enabling the identification of 188 and 124 endogenous integral membrane proteins respectively, some with as many as 19 transmembrane domains.