Project description:The aberrant expression of squamous lineage markers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has been correlated with poor clinical outcomes. However, the functional role of this putative trans-differentiation event in PDA pathogenesis remains unclear. Here, we show that expression of the transcription factor TP63 (ΔN isoform) is sufficient to install and sustain the enhancer landscape and transcriptional signature of the squamous lineage in human PDA cells. In addition, we demonstrate that TP63-driven enhancer reprogramming promotes aggressive tumor phenotypes, including enhanced cell motility and invasion and an accelerated growth of primary PDA tumors and metastases in vivo. Conversely, we provide evidence that squamous PDA remains addicted to TP63 to sustain the growth of primary tumors and metastases. Taken together, our study validates the functional significance of squamous trans-differentiation in PDA, and reveals TP63-based reprogramming of PDA cells as an experimental tool for investigating vulnerabilities linked to this cell fate transition.
Project description:The aberrant expression of squamous lineage markers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has been correlated with poor clinical outcomes. However, the functional role of this putative trans-differentiation event in PDA pathogenesis remains unclear. Here, we show that expression of the transcription factor TP63 (ΔN isoform) is sufficient to install and sustain the enhancer landscape and transcriptional signature of the squamous lineage in human PDA cells. In addition, we demonstrate that TP63-driven enhancer reprogramming promotes aggressive tumor phenotypes, including enhanced cell motility and invasion and an accelerated growth of primary PDA tumors and metastases in vivo. Conversely, we provide evidence that squamous PDA remains addicted to TP63 to sustain the growth of primary tumors and metastases. Taken together, our study validates the functional significance of squamous trans-differentiation in PDA, and reveals TP63-based reprogramming of PDA cells as an experimental tool for investigating vulnerabilities linked to this cell fate transition.
Project description:Aberrant activation of embryonic signaling pathways is frequent in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) making developmental regulators therapeutically attractive. Here, we demonstrate diverse functions for PDX1, a transcription factor indispensable for pancreas development, in the progression from normal exocrine cells to metastatic PDA. We identify a critical role for PDX1 in maintaining acinar cell identity, thus resisting the formation of PanIN-derived PDA. Upon neoplastic transformation, the role of PDX1 changes from tumor suppressive to oncogenic. Interestingly, subsets of malignant cells lose PDX1 expression while undergoing EMT and PDX1 loss is associated with poor outcome. This stage-specific functionality arises from profound shifts in PDX1 chromatin occupancy from acinar cells to PDA. In summary, we report distinct roles of PDX1 at different stages of PDA, suggesting that therapeutic approaches against this potential target need to account for its changing functions at different stages of carcinogenesis. These findings provide insight into the complexity of PDA pathogenesis and advocate a rigorous investigation of therapeutically tractable targets at distinct phases of PDA development and progression.
Project description:Aberrant activation of embryonic signaling pathways is frequent in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) making developmental regulators therapeutically attractive. Here, we demonstrate diverse functions for PDX1, a transcription factor indispensable for pancreas development, in the progression from normal exocrine cells to metastatic PDA. We identify a critical role for PDX1 in maintaining acinar cell identity, thus resisting the formation of PanIN-derived PDA. Upon neoplastic transformation, the role of PDX1 changes from tumor suppressive to oncogenic. Interestingly, subsets of malignant cells lose PDX1 expression while undergoing EMT and PDX1 loss is associated with poor outcome. This stage-specific functionality arises from profound shifts in PDX1 chromatin occupancy from acinar cells to PDA. In summary, we report distinct roles of PDX1 at different stages of PDA, suggesting that therapeutic approaches against this potential target need to account for its changing functions at different stages of carcinogenesis. These findings provide insight into the complexity of PDA pathogenesis and advocate a rigorous investigation of therapeutically tractable targets at distinct phases of PDA development and progression.
Project description:Aberrant activation of embryonic signaling pathways is frequent in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) making developmental regulators therapeutically attractive. Here, we demonstrate diverse functions for PDX1, a transcription factor indispensable for pancreas development, in the progression from normal exocrine cells to metastatic PDA. We identify a critical role for PDX1 in maintaining acinar cell identity, thus resisting the formation of PanIN-derived PDA. Upon neoplastic transformation, the role of PDX1 changes from tumor suppressive to oncogenic. Interestingly, subsets of malignant cells lose PDX1 expression while undergoing EMT and PDX1 loss is associated with poor outcome. This stage-specific functionality arises from profound shifts in PDX1 chromatin occupancy from acinar cells to PDA. In summary, we report distinct roles of PDX1 at different stages of PDA, suggesting that therapeutic approaches against this potential target need to account for its changing functions at different stages of carcinogenesis. These findings provide insight into the complexity of PDA pathogenesis and advocate a rigorous investigation of therapeutically tractable targets at distinct phases of PDA development and progression.
Project description:Although KRAS mutation is a hallmark of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), mutated KRAS remains an intractable pharmacological target. Consequently, an understanding of the RAS effector pathway(s) required for PDA maintenance is critical for improved strategies to treat this disease. Here we demonstrate that expression of BRAFV600E, but not PIK3CAH1047R, in the mouse pancreas led to PanIn lesions. Moreover, concomitant expression of BRAFV600E and TP53R270H resulted in lethal PDA. A large panel of PDA cell line panel was deployed to derive genomic classifiers of MEK inhibitor sensitivity. This classifier correctly predicted survival benefit in two novel in vivo syngeneic, orthotopic models of PDA. Consequently, we conclude that RAF?MEK?ERK signaling is central to the initiation, progression and maintenance of PDA and propose predictive biomarkers of response to MEK inhibition. These data further emphasize the value of leveraging multiple experimental systems to prioritize pathways for intervention in human PDA. RNA was extracted from human PDA cell line samples and hybridized on Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0 microarrays. The CEL files were processed using R based Bioconductor and normalized values were obtained using RMA. RNA was extracted from mouse PDA cell lines and hybridized on Affymetrix Mouse 430a 2.0 microarrays. The CEL files were processed using R based Bioconductor and normalized values were obtained using RMA.
Project description:Lineage plasticity is a prominent feature of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells, which can occur via deregulation of lineage-specifying transcription factors. Here, we show that the zinc finger protein ZBED2 is aberrantly expressed in PDA and regulates tumor cell identity in this disease. Unexpectedly, our epigenomic experiments reveal that ZBED2 is a sequence-specific transcriptional repressor of interferon-stimulated genes, which occurs through antagonism of Interferon Regulatory Factor 1 (IRF1)-mediated transcriptional activation at co-occupied promoter elements. Consequently, ZBED2 attenuates the transcriptional output and growth arrest phenotypes downstream of interferon signaling in multiple PDA cell line models. We also found that ZBED2 is preferentially expressed in the squamous molecular subtype of human PDA, in association with inferior patient survival outcomes. Consistent with this observation, we show that ZBED2 can repress the pancreatic progenitor transcriptional program, enhance motility, and promote invasion in PDA cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that high ZBED2 expression is acquired during PDA progression to suppress the interferon response pathway and to promote lineage plasticity in this disease.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the most lethal human malignancies, owing in part to its propensity for metastasis. Here, we used an organoid culture system to investigate how transcription and the enhancer landscape become altered during each stage of PDA progression. This approach revealed that the metastatic transition is accompanied by massive, and recurrent alterations in enhancer activity. We implicate the transcription factors FOXA1 and GATA5 as drivers of enhancer activation in this system, a mechanism that we show renders PDA cells more invasive and less anchorage-dependent for growth in vitro, as well as more metastatic in vivo. FOXA1 and GATA5 were found to activate a foregut endoderm transcriptional program in PDA cells, without altering genes associated with the epithelial-to- mesenchymal transition. Collectively, our study implicates FOXA1/GATA5 upregulation, enhancer reprogramming, and a novel retrograde developmental transition in PDA progression and metastasis.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the most lethal human malignancies, owing in part to its propensity for metastasis. Here, we used an organoid culture system to investigate how transcription and the enhancer landscape become altered during each stage of PDA progression. This approach revealed that the metastatic transition is accompanied by massive, and recurrent alterations in enhancer activity. We implicate the transcription factors FOXA1 and GATA5 as drivers of enhancer activation in this system, a mechanism that we show renders PDA cells more invasive and less anchorage-dependent for growth in vitro, as well as more metastatic in vivo. FOXA1 and GATA5 were found to activate a foregut endoderm transcriptional program in PDA cells, without altering genes associated with the epithelial-to- mesenchymal transition. Collectively, our study implicates FOXA1/GATA5 upregulation, enhancer reprogramming, and a novel retrograde developmental transition in PDA progression and metastasis.
Project description:Cancer cells utilize epigenetic alterations to acquire autonomous capabilities for tumor maintenance. Here, we show that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells hijack super-enhancers (SEs) to activate the EVI1 gene with its tumor-intrinsic program. We demonstrate that SE is the vital cis-acting element to maintain aberrant EVI1 transcription in PDA cells. Related to disease progression and inferior survival outcomes in human PDA, functional experiments further show that EVI1 upregulation is the cause of aggressive tumor phenotypes. In particular, EVI1 mediates the resistance to anchorage-independent growth and enhanced motility in vitro, with efficient tumor propagation in vivo. EVI1-dependent activation of gene expression program attributes to these phenotypes, by which EVI1 drives the stepwise configuration of the active enhancer chromatin. In sum, our findings support the promise that EVI1 is a crucial driver of oncogenic transcription program in PDA cells. Further, we emphasize the instructive role of epigenetic aberrancy in establishing PDA tumorigenesis.