Project description:An effective long-term inhibition of multiple DNA repair signals is required to design a novel and effective therapeutic for glioblastoma (GBM), a highly DNA repair ‘addicted’ cancer. AsiDNA, a double-strand DNA break (DSB) mimetic, is an innovative approach that shuts down the entire DNA repair system in cancer cells by sequestering DSB repair factors. We showed that inhibition of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) dislodges repair factors from sites of DNA damage. We therefore tested whether AsiDNA and pan HDAC inhibitor Belinostat combination can impart a chromatin-based long-term DNA damage and impair DNA repair in GBM cells. In order to understand the long-term effects of AsiDNA on DNA repair, we treated U87 cells with AsiDNA for 6 days followed by 6 days recovery from the drug. We used this protocol to create long-term AsiDNA treated cells (LTAU87) according to the clinical trial protocol. We performed RNA-Seq with LTAU87 cells and MTU87 (mock treated U87; control) in the presence and absence of belinostat.
Project description:An effective long-term inhibition of multiple DNA repair signals is required to design a novel and effective therapeutic for glioblastoma (GBM), a highly DNA repair ‘addicted’ cancer. AsiDNA, a double-strand DNA break (DSB) mimetic, is an innovative approach that shuts down the entire DNA repair system in cancer cells by sequestering DSB repair factors. We showed that inhibition of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) dislodges repair factors from sites of DNA damage. We therefore tested whether AsiDNA and pan HDAC inhibitor Belinostat combination can impart a chromatin-based long-term DNA damage and impair DNA repair in GBM cells. We performed mass spectrometry with chromatin isolated from AsiDNA and Belinostat and found that Belinostat reduces histone H1.2 levels. To this end, we assessed whether AsiDNA and Belinostat alter histone H1.2 occupancy genome-wide. In order to understand the long-term effects of AsiDNA on DNA repair, we treated U87 cells with AsiDNA for 6 days followed by 6 days recovery from the drug. We used this protocol to create long-term AsiDNA treated cells (LTAU87) according to the clinical trial protocol. We performed H1.2 ChIP-Seq with LTAU87 cells and MTU87 (mock treated U87; control) in the presence and absence of belinostat in order to address whether they alter the global chromatin structure.
Project description:An effective long-term inhibition of multiple DNA repair signals is required to design a novel and effective therapeutic for glioblastoma (GBM), a highly DNA repair ‘addicted’ cancer. AsiDNA, a double-strand DNA break (DSB) mimetic, is an innovative approach that shuts down the entire DNA repair system in cancer cells by sequestering DSB repair factors. We showed that inhibition of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) dislodges repair factors from sites of DNA damage. We therefore tested whether AsiDNA and pan HDAC inhibitor Belinostat combination can impart a chromatin-based long-term DNA damage and impair DNA repair in GBM cells. We performed mass spectrometry with chromatin isolated from AsiDNA and Belinostat and found that Belinostat reduces histone H1.2 levels. To this end, we assessed whether AsiDNA and Belinostat alter histone H1.2 occupancy genome-wide. In order to understand the long-term effects of AsiDNA on DNA repair, we treated U87 cells with AsiDNA for 6 days followed by 6 days recovery from the drug. We used this protocol to create long-term AsiDNA treated cells (LTAU87) according to the clinical trial protocol. We performed NicE-seq with LTAU87 cells and MTU87 (mock treated U87; control) in the presence or absence of belinostat treatment in order to address whether they alter the global chromatin structure.
Project description:Glucocorticoid resistance (GCR), i.e. unresponsiveness to the beneficial anti-inflammatory activities of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), poses a serious problem in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. One possible solution to try and overcome GCR, is to identify molecules that prevent or revert GCR by hyper-stimulating the biological activity of the GR. To this purpose, we screened for compounds that potentiate the dexamethasone (Dex)-induced transcriptional activity of GR. To monitor GR transcriptional activity, the screen was performed using the lung epithelial cell line A549 in which a glucocorticoid responsive element (GRE) coupled to a luciferase reporter gene construct was stably integrated. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) such as Vorinostat and Belinostat are two broad-spectrum HDACi that strongly increased the Dex-induced luciferase expression in our screening system. In sharp contrast herewith, results from a genome-wide transcriptome analysis of Dex-induced transcripts using RNAseq, revealed that Belinostat impairs the ability of GR to transactivate target genes. The stimulatory effect of Belinostat in the luciferase screen further depends on the nature of the reporter construct. In conclusion, a profound discrepancy was observed between HDACi effects on two different synthetic promoter-luciferase reporter systems. The favorable effect of HDACi on gene expression should be evaluated with care, when considering them as potential therapeutic agents.
Project description:Transcriptome analysis revealed a major change in gene expression with a large excess of genes down regulated in 3 independent AsiDNA-treated “evolved” populations as compared to three independent not-treated “naïve” populations The Achilles heel of anticancer treatments is intrinsic or acquired resistance. Among many targeted therapies, the DNA repair inhibitors show limited efficacy due to rapid emergence of resistance. We examined evolution of cancer cells and tumors treated with AsiDNA, a new DNA repair inhibitor targeting all DNA break repair pathways. Effects of AsiDNA or Olaparib were analyzed in various cell lines. Frequency of AsiDNA- and olaparib-resistant clones was measured after 2 weeks of continuous treatment in KBM7 haploid cells. Cell survivals were also measured after one to six cycles of 1-week treatment and 1-week recovery in MDA-MB-231 and NCI-H446. Transcriptomes of cell populations recovering from cyclic treatments or mock treatment were compared. MDAMB- 231 xenografted models were treated with three cycles of AsiDNA to monitor the effects of treatment on tumor growth and transcriptional modifications. No resistant clones were selected after AsiDNA treatment (frequency b 3x10−8) in treatment conditions that generate resistance to olaparib at a frequency of 7.2x10−7 resistant clones per treated cell. Cyclic treatments promote cumulative sensitivity characterized by a higher mortality of cells having undergone previous treatment cycles. This sensitization was stable, and transcriptome analysis revealed a major gene downregulation with a specific overrepresentation of genes coding for targets of DNA-PK. Such changes were also detected in tumor models which showed impaired growth after cycles of AsiDNA treatment.
Project description:U87 xenograft tumors treated with scrambled siRNA (Tas_73, Tas_78) or siRNA against VDAC1 (Tas_57, Tas_61) We used microarrays to detail the global effect of siRNA against VDAC1 on subcotenous xenograft U87 cells tumors
Project description:Treatment with carborane bearing amino acid on U87 cells showed cytostatic effect followed by cell death. We used microarrays to investigate the effect of the carborane bearing amino acid on U87 cell gene expression profile and explore the mechanism.
Project description:U87 cell lines were stable transfected with C19ORF63 (Human hematopoietic peptide secreted-1 - HSS1). HSS1 is a truly novel protein defining a new class of secreted factors. U87 cell line overexpressing HSS1 greatly reduced their proliferation rate compared to mock-transfected cells. Microarray analysis was used to detail gene expression underlying the anti-proliferative and anti-tumorigenic effect of HSS1 in U87 cells. Exponentially growing U87 cells at growth curve day 5 were harvested for total RNA extraction and hybridization on Affimetrix microarrays. Three groups of samples were evaluated in triplicates: U87 wild-type, U87 -pcDNA3.1 mock-transfected, U87-pcDNA-HSS1. Cells were stable transfected with pcDNA3.1 empty vector or hHSS1. hHSS1-expressing cells and control cells were at confluence 40-80% when harvested. Trypan blue analysis of the number of viable cells showed a significant anti-proliferative effect in U87 cells expressing hHSS1 as compared to the control cells.