Project description:Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) has been associated with cancer cell heterogeneity, plasticity and metastasis. It has been the subject of several modeling effort. This logical model of the EMT cellular network aims to assess microenvironmental signals controlling cancer-associated phenotypes amid the EMT continuum. Its outcomes relate to the qualitative degrees of cell adhesions by adherent junctions and focal adhesions, two features affected during EMT. Model attractors recover epithelial, mesenchymal and hybrid phenotypes, and simulations show that hybrid phenotypes may arise through independent molecular paths, involving stringent extrinsic signals.
Of particular interest, model predictions and their experimental validations indicated that: 1) ECM stiffening is a prerequisite for cells overactivating FAK-SRC to upregulate SNAIL1 and acquire a mesenchymal phenotype, and 2) FAK-SRC inhibition of cell-cell contacts through the Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphates kappa leads to the acquisition of a full mesenchymal rather than a hybrid phenotype.
Project description:Prostate cancer is the second most occurring cancer in men worldwide, and with the advances made with screening for prostate-specific antigen, it has been prone to early diagnosis and over-treatment. To better understand the mechanisms of tumorigenesis and possible treatment responses, we developed a mathematical model of prostate cancer which considers the major signalling pathways known to be deregulated. The model includes pathways such as androgen receptor, MAPK, Wnt, NFkB, PI3K/AKT, MAPK, mTOR, SHH, the cell cycle, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), apoptosis and DNA damage pathways. The final model accounts for 133 nodes and 449 edges. We applied a methodology to personalise this Boolean model to molecular data to reflect the heterogeneity and specific response to perturbations of cancer patients, using TCGA and GDSC datasets.
Project description:This model is based on:
Computational Modeling of the Crosstalk Between Macrophage Polarization and Tumor Cell Plasticity in the Tumor Microenvironment.
Abstract:
Tumor microenvironments contain multiple cell types interacting among one another via different signaling pathways. Furthermore, both cancer cells and different immune cells can display phenotypic plasticity in response to these communicating signals, thereby leading to complex spatiotemporal patterns that can impact therapeutic response. Here, we investigate the crosstalk between cancer cells and macrophages in a tumor microenvironment through in silico (computational) co-culture models. In particular, we investigate how macrophages of different polarization (M1 vs. M2) can interact with epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity of cancer cells, and conversely, how cancer cells exhibiting different phenotypes (epithelial vs. mesenchymal) can influence the polarization of macrophages. Based on interactions documented in the literature, an interaction network of cancer cells and macrophages is constructed. The steady states of the network are then analyzed. Various interactions were removed or added into the constructed-network to test the functions of those interactions. Also, parameters in the mathematical models were varied to explore their effects on the steady states of the network. In general, the interactions between cancer cells and macrophages can give rise to multiple stable steady-states for a given set of parameters and each steady state is stable against perturbations. Importantly, we show that the system can often reach one type of stable steady states where cancer cells go extinct. Our results may help inform efficient therapeutic strategies.
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) represent the cornerstone for treatment of patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Despite a favorable response for a subset of patients, others experience primary progressive disease highlighting the need to precisely understand plasticity of cancer cells and their crosstalk with the microenvironment to better predict therapeutic response and personalize treatment. Single-cell RNA sequencing of ccRCC at different disease stages and normal adjacent tissue (NAT) from patients identified 46 cell populations, including 5 tumor subpopulations, characterized by distinct transcriptional signatures representing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition gradient and a novel inflamed state. Deconvolution of the tumor and microenvironment signatures in public datasets and in data from the BIONIKK clinical trial (NCT02960906) revealed a strong correlation between mesenchymal-like ccRCC cells and myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (myCAFs), which are both enriched in metastases and correlate with poor patient survival. Spatial transcriptomics and multiplex immune staining uncovered spatial proximity of mesenchymal-like ccRCC cells and myCAFs at the tumor-NAT interface. Moreover, enrichment in myCAFs was associated with primary resistance to ICI therapy in the BIONIKK clinical trial. This data highlights the epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity of ccRCC cancer cells and their relationship with myCAFs, a critical component of the microenvironment associated with poor outcome and ICI resistance.
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) represent the cornerstone for treatment of patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Despite a favorable response for a subset of patients, others experience primary progressive disease highlighting the need to precisely understand plasticity of cancer cells and their crosstalk with the microenvironment to better predict therapeutic response and personalize treatment. Single-cell RNA sequencing of ccRCC at different disease stages and normal adjacent tissue (NAT) from patients identified 46 cell populations, including 5 tumor subpopulations, characterized by distinct transcriptional signatures representing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition gradient and a novel inflamed state. Deconvolution of the tumor and microenvironment signatures in public datasets and in data from the BIONIKK clinical trial (NCT02960906) revealed a strong correlation between mesenchymal-like ccRCC cells and myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (myCAFs), which are both enriched in metastases and correlate with poor patient survival. Spatial transcriptomics and multiplex immune staining uncovered spatial proximity of mesenchymal-like ccRCC cells and myCAFs at the tumor-NAT interface. Moreover, enrichment in myCAFs was associated with primary resistance to ICI therapy in the BIONIKK clinical trial. This data highlights the epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity of ccRCC cancer cells and their relationship with myCAFs, a critical component of the microenvironment associated with poor outcome and ICI resistance.
Project description:Potent therapeutic inhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) in prostate adenocarcinoma can lead to the emergence of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), a phenomenon associated with enhanced cell plasticity. Here, we show that microRNA-194 (miR-194) is a regulator of epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation. In clinical prostate cancer samples, miR-194 expression and activity were elevated in NEPC and inversely correlated with AR signalling. Over-expression of miR-194 facilitated the emergence of neuroendocrine features in prostate cancer cells, a process mediated by its ability to directly target a suite of genes involved in cell plasticity. One such target gene was FOXA1, which encodes a transcription factor with a vital role in maintaining the prostate epithelial lineage. Importantly, a miR-194 inhibitor blocked epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation and inhibited the growth of cell lines and patient-derived organoids possessing neuroendocrine features. Overall, our study reveals a post-transcriptional mechanism regulating the plasticity of prostate cancer cells and provides a rationale for targeting miR-194 in NEPC.
Project description:Potent therapeutic inhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) in prostate adenocarcinoma can lead to the emergence of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), a phenomenon associated with enhanced cell plasticity. Here, we show that microRNA-194 (miR-194) is a regulator of epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation. In clinical prostate cancer samples, miR-194 expression and activity were elevated in NEPC and inversely correlated with AR signalling. Over-expression of miR-194 facilitated the emergence of neuroendocrine features in prostate cancer cells, a process mediated by its ability to directly target a suite of genes involved in cell plasticity. One such target gene was FOXA1, which encodes a transcription factor with a vital role in maintaining the prostate epithelial lineage. Importantly, a miR-194 inhibitor blocked epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation and inhibited the growth of cell lines and patient-derived organoids possessing neuroendocrine features. Overall, our study reveals a post-transcriptional mechanism regulating the plasticity of prostate cancer cells and provides a rationale for targeting miR-194 in NEPC.
Project description:Potent therapeutic inhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) in prostate adenocarcinoma can lead to the emergence of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), a phenomenon associated with enhanced cell plasticity. Here, we show that microRNA-194 (miR-194) is a regulator of epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation. In clinical prostate cancer samples, miR-194 expression and activity were elevated in NEPC and inversely correlated with AR signalling. Over-expression of miR-194 facilitated the emergence of neuroendocrine features in prostate cancer cells, a process mediated by its ability to directly target a suite of genes involved in cell plasticity. One such target gene was FOXA1, which encodes a transcription factor with a vital role in maintaining the prostate epithelial lineage. Importantly, a miR-194 inhibitor blocked epithelial-neuroendocrine transdifferentiation and inhibited the growth of cell lines and patient-derived organoids possessing neuroendocrine features. Overall, our study reveals a post-transcriptional mechanism regulating the plasticity of prostate cancer cells and provides a rationale for targeting miR-194 in NEPC.
Project description:Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cells play relevant roles in metastasis and drug resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa). Conditioned-media from Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts from two patients with aggressive PCa induce EMT, reversible DNA methylation and transcriptional variations in androgen independent PC3, but not in androgen dependent LN-CaP cells. Focal CpG islands hyper-methylation associated to transcriptional repression of epithelial markers occurs together with widespread hypo-methylation, including promoters of EMT and stemness regulating genes resulting in their transcriptional activation. Remarkably, DNA methylation and transcription patterns are entirely reverted upon exposure to serum-free medium (mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition). DNMT3A is required for de novo methylation and silencing of CDH1 and GRHL2, the ZEB1 direct repressor, while its knock-down prevents EMT entry. These unprecedented results highlight that CAF-released factors induce reversible DNA methylation patterns required for transcriptional variations essential for EMT and stemness in androgen independent PCa cells, suggesting that similar plasticity might occur in tumour microenvironment. This submission contains data and metadata from the methylation profiling by array of PC-3 cells treated with conditioned media from Human prostate fibroblasts (HPFs) and cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs).