Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE28948: TMPRSS2-ERG, HDACs and EZH2 are involved in an AR-centric transcriptional circuitry that calibrates androgenic response for prostate cancer progression (gene expression data) GSE28950: TMPRSS2-ERG, HDACs and EZH2 are involved in an AR-centric transcriptional circuitry that calibrates androgenic response for prostate cancer progression (ChIP-Seq data) GSE35540: TMPRSS2-ERG, HDACs and EZH2 are involved in an AR centric transcriptional circuitry that calibrates androgenic response for prostate cancer progression (gene expression after ERG KD) Refer to individual Series
Project description:Deregulation of the Androgen Receptor (AR) transcriptional network is a common hallmark in prostate cancers. To achieve its precise transcriptional role, AR needs to co-operate specifically with a plethora of cofactors. In prostate cancers, AR transcription collaborators are frequently aberrantly over-expressed, altering the AR signaling pathway to one that promotes oncogenesis. Recently, the prostate cancer recurrent fusion gene, ERG, was shown to promote tumor progression by acting as a repressor of AR signaling. However, the exact mechanics and the functional consequences associated with this crosstalk between ERG and AR still remains relatively unknown. Interestingly, through chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with massively parallel sequencing, we discover that ERG and other commonly over-expressed transcriptional co-repressors (HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3 and EZH2) are wired into an AR-centric transcriptional network via a spectrum of distal enhancers and/or proximal promoters. We show that ERG represses several AR target genes involved in epithelial differentiation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that suppression of the androgen-induced gene, Vinculin, by ERG and histone deacetylases increases cancer cell invasiveness. From our results, we propose that ERG, histone deactelyases and the histone methyltransferase, EZH2, could impede epithelial differentiation and contribute to prostate cancer progression, in part through modulating the transcriptional output of AR. Genome-wide binding analysis of AR, ERG, HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3 and EZH2 in VCaP with and without DHT (dihydrotestosterone) stimulation using ChIP-Seq. 15 samples including 1 control (input).
Project description:The TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion is the most frequent alteration observed in human prostate cancer but its role in disease progression is still debated. In this study, we uncovered a novel molecular mechanism promoting progression in ERG-fusion positive prostate cancer. We show that ERG is methylated by Enhancer of zest homolog 2 (EZH2) at a specific lysine residue (K362) located within the internal auto-inhibitory domain. Mechanistically, K362 mono- methylation prevents intra-domain interactions, favors DNA binding and promotes ERG transcriptional and oncogenic activity in cellular and mouse models. Consistently with the involvement in ERG oncogenesis, we found that K362 methylation was associated with disease progression in ERG transgenic mouse models and was enhanced by PTEN deficiency and AKT activation, which promoted EZH2 substrate switching from histone H3K27 to ERG. Conversely, EZH2 inhibition blocked ERG methylation along with ERG-induced transcriptional and phenotypic reprogramming in cell cultures and ERG/PTEN mice. We found that ERG and EZH2 co-occupy several genomic regions forming prevalently co-activating complexes. The network of ERG/EZH2 co-regulated target genes was enriched of functionally aggressive features and was associated preferentially with concomitant ERG gain and PTEN loss, castration-resistance and adverse clinical outcome in prostate cancer patients. Collectively, these findings identify ERG methylation as a novel post-translational modification sustaining disease progression in ERG-positive prostate cancers. Our data also provide an attractive rationale for developing molecularly targeted therapeutics to antagonize ERG oncogenic activity.
Project description:EZH2 is frequently over-expressed in aggressive and metastatic solid tumors, including castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We sought to determine EZH2-dependent gene expression programmes in prostate cancer progression, and found an intriguing functional switch of EZH2 from a repressor to an activator during CRPC development. We used microarrays to detail the global profiling of gene expression that are differentially regulated upon EZH2 depletion in two different prostate cancer cell lines. The androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell line LNCaP and the LNCaP-derived androgen-independent cell line LNCaP-abl (abl) were used for this study, as their transcription profiles strongly resemble that of clinical androgen-dependent and castration resistant prostate tumors, respectively. EZH2 was silenced by specific siRNAs in both cell lines, and total RNA was extracted and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:EZH2 is frequently over-expressed in aggressive and metastatic solid tumors, including castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We sought to determine EZH2-dependent gene expression programmes in prostate cancer progression, and found an intriguing functional switch of EZH2 from a repressor to an activator during CRPC development. We used microarrays to detail the global profiling of gene expression that are differentially regulated upon EZH2 depletion in two different prostate cancer cell lines.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.