Project description:Gene expression profile of lung tumor tissues from EML4-ALK transgenic mouse (generous gift from Prof. H. Mano, Univ. of Tokyo) compared with lung normal tissues
Project description:We demonstrate that EML4-ALK siRNAs significantly reduced cell viability in EML4-ALK postive lung cancer cell lines,while overexpression of EML4-ALK increased cell viability in HEK293 cells in vitro. The aim of this study was to analyze the EML4-ALK regulated gene expression in lung cancer.
Project description:Background: Chromosomal inversions involving anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and echinoderm microtubule associated protein like 4 (EML4) generate a fusion protein EML4-ALK in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The understanding of EML4-ALK function can be improved by a functional study using normal human cells. Methods: Here we for the first time conduct such study to examine the effects of EML4-ALK on cell proliferation, cellular senescence, DNA damage, gene expression profiles and transformed phenotypes. Results: The lentiviral expression of EML4-ALK in mortal, normal human fibroblasts caused, through its constitutive ALK kinase activity, an early induction of cellular senescence with accumulated DNA damage, upregulation of p16INK4A and p21WAF1, and senescence-associated -galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity. In contrast, when EML4-ALK was expressed in normal human fibroblasts transduced with telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), which is activated in the vast majority of NSCLC, the cells showed accelerated proliferation and acquired anchorage-independent growth ability in soft-agar medium, without accumulated DNA damage, chromosome aberration, nor p53 mutation. EML4-ALK induced the phosphorylation of STAT3 in both mortal and hTERT-transduced cells, but RNA sequencing analysis suggested that the different signaling pathways contributed to the different phenotypic outcomes in these cells. While EML4-ALK also induced anchorage-independent growth in hTERT-immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells in vitro, the expression of EML4-ALK alone did not cause detectable in vivo tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice. Conclusions: Our data indicate that the expression of hTERT is critical for EML4-ALK to manifest its in vitro transforming activity in human cells. This study provides the isogenic pairs of human cells with and without EML4-ALK expression.
Project description:Precision oncology has revolutionized the treatment of ALK-positive lung cancer with targeted therapies. However, refractory tumors with compound mutations or diverse resistance mechanisms remain an unmet clinical need. In this study, we established mouse tumor-derived cell models representing the most common EML4-ALK variants in human lung adenocarcinomas and characterized their proteomic profiles. We demonstrated that Eml4-Alk variant 3 confers a worse response to ALK inhibitors, suggesting its role in promoting resistance. In addition, proteomic analysis of brigatinib-treated cells revealed the upregulation of SRC kinase, which is frequently activated in cancer. Co-targeting of ALK and SRC showed remarkable inhibitory effects on both ALK-driven murine tumor growth and ALK-patient-derived cells. This death mechanism is attributed to the profound perturbation of the (phospho)proteomic landscape, together with a synergistic suppressive effect on the mTOR pathway. Taken together, our study identifies the inhibition of ALK and SRC cells and may offer a promising strategy to overcome resistance mechanisms and improve clinical outcomes in ALK-positive lung cancer patients.
Project description:Precision oncology has revolutionized the treatment of ALK-positive lung cancer with targeted therapies. However, refractory tumors with compound mutations or diverse resistance mechanisms remain an unmet clinical need. In this study, we established mouse tumor-derived cell models representing the most common EML4-ALK variants in human lung adenocarcinomas and characterized their proteomic profiles. We demonstrated that Eml4-Alk variant 3 confers a worse response to ALK inhibitors, suggesting its role in promoting resistance. In addition, proteomic analysis of brigatinib-treated cells revealed the upregulation of SRC kinase, which is frequently activated in cancer. Co-targeting of ALK and SRC showed remarkable inhibitory effects on both ALK-driven murine tumor growth and ALK-patient-derived cells. This death mechanism is attributed to the profound perturbation of the (phospho)proteomic landscape, together with a synergistic suppressive effect on the mTOR pathway. Taken together, our study identifies the inhibition of ALK and SRC cells and may offer a promising strategy to overcome resistance mechanisms and improve clinical outcomes in ALK-positive lung cancer patients.
Project description:First line treatment for EML4-ALK fusion-positive lung cancer patient is the use of an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), such as alectinib. While most patients initially respond to this therapy, many patients often develop relapse, and efficacious therapies for patients with relapse disease are limited. To study EML4-ALK fusion-positive lung cancer, novel murine lung cancer cell lines were generated from C57BL/6 mice using an intratracheally injected Adeno-virus that contains Cas9 and guide RNAs for the EML4-ALK translocation, which leads to the development of lung tumors. Cell lines were derived from these tumors. In an effort to better understand how cells respond to alectinib, we treated EML4-ALK-positive murine cell lines (EA1, EA2, and EA3 cells) in vitro for 1-7 days with either 100nM alectinib or DMSO-control. At each time point, RNA was isolated from each condition. RNA was submitted to RNA-seq. Differential analysis on the RNA-seq data was performed to determine and track gene changes over time between control and treated cells. These data will allow us to better develop novel therapeutics to use in conjunction with alectinib when treating EML4-ALK fusion-positive patients.
Project description:We demonstrate that STAT3 and STAT6 significantly activated after IL4 treatment in EML4-ALK postive lung cancer cell lines The aim of this study was to explore whether IL4 could activate the JAK2-STAT pathway in EML4-ALK-positive cells.
Project description:A subset of lung adenocarcinomas is driven by the EML4-ALK translocation. Despite excellent initial responses in patients, acquired resistance to ALK inhibitors occurs. Exploring these mechanisms of resistance, we found that EML4-ALK cells resistant to ALK inhibitors are remarkably sensitive to THZ1, alvocidib or dinaciclib. These compounds robustly induce apoptosis through transcriptional inhibition and downregulation of anti-apoptotic genes. In conclusion, this study shows that THZ1, alvocidib or dinaciclib could be a therapeutic option for a subset of patients with acquired resistance to first, second and third-generation ALK inhibitors.
Project description:A subset of lung adenocarcinomas is driven by the EML4-ALK translocation. Despite excellent initial responses in patients, acquired resistance to ALK inhibitors occurs. Exploring these mechanisms of resistance, we found that EML4-ALK cells resistant to ALK inhibitors are remarkably sensitive to THZ1, alvocidib or dinaciclib. These compounds robustly induce apoptosis through transcriptional inhibition and downregulation of anti-apoptotic genes. In conclusion, this study shows that THZ1, alvocidib or dinaciclib could be a therapeutic option for a subset of patients with acquired resistance to first, second and third-generation ALK inhibitors.
Project description:Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion variants in non-small-cell-lung cancer (NSCLC) consist of numerous dimerising fusion partners, with the most common being EML4. Clinical data suggests that the degree of treatment benefit in response to ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) differs among the variant present in the patient tumor. Therefore, a better understanding the oncogenic signaling networks driven by different ALK-fusion variants is important. Here, we developed highly controlled doxycycline-inducible cell models bearing four different ALK fusion proteins, namely EML4-ALK-V1, EML4-ALK-V3, KIF5B-ALK, and TFG-ALK, in the context of non-tumorigenic NL20 human bronchial epithelial cells. These were complimented by patient-derived NSCLC cell lines harboring either EML4-ALK-V1 or EML4-ALK-V3 fusions. RNAseq and phosphoproteomics analysis were employed to identify dysregulated genes and hyper/hypo-phosphorylated proteins associated with ALK fusion expression. Among ALK fusion induced responses, we noted a robust inflammatory signature that included up-regulation of the Serpin B4 serine protease inhibitor in both NL20-inducible cell models and ALK-positive NSCLC patient-derived cell lines. We show that STAT3 is a major transcriptional regulator of SERPINB4 downstream of ALK fusions, along with NF-B and AP1. The upregulation of SERPINB4 promotes survival of ALK fusion expressing cells and inhibits natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In conclusion, our study reveals a novel ALK downstream survival axis that regulates Serpin B4 expression and identifies a molecular target that has potential for therapeutic impact targeting the immune response together with ALK TKIs in NSCLC.