Project description:GD2 is a disialoganglioside that is highly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, but nearly half of patients relapse and little is known about mechanisms of resistance to anti-GD2. Neuroblastomas harbor intrinsic transcriptional plasticity by co-opting divergent lineage-specific developmental programs between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states. We found that reduced GD2 expression was significantly correlated with the adrenergic cell state in neuroblastoma and that an Adrenergic-to-Mesenchymal Transition (AMT) conferred downregulation of GD2 and resistance to anti-GD2 antibody. Induced reprogramming of adrenergic cells with the master AMT regulator PRRX1 was sufficient to promote transcriptional rewiring in isogenic models and downregulate GD2 expression. Mechanistically, low-GD2 expressing cell lines demonstrate significantly reduced expression of the ganglioside synthesis enzyme ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase), resulting in a bottlenecking of GD2 synthesis. Primary neuroblastoma tumors enriched for mesenchymal features show demonstrably lower GD3 synthase expression as compared to adrenergic tumors. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 resulted in epigenetic rewiring of mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells and re-expression of ST8SIA1, restoring surface expression of GD2 and sensitivity to an anti-GD2 antibody. These data identify developmental lineage as a key determinant of sensitivity to anti-GD2 based immunotherapies and credential EZH2 inhibitors for clinical testing in combination with anti-GD2 antibody to enhance outcomes for children with neuroblastoma.
Project description:GD2 is a disialoganglioside that is highly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, but nearly half of patients relapse and little is known about mechanisms of resistance to anti-GD2. Neuroblastomas harbor intrinsic transcriptional plasticity by co-opting divergent lineage-specific developmental programs between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states. We found that reduced GD2 expression was significantly correlated with the adrenergic cell state in neuroblastoma and that an Adrenergic-to-Mesenchymal Transition (AMT) conferred downregulation of GD2 and resistance to anti-GD2 antibody. Induced reprogramming of adrenergic cells with the master AMT regulator PRRX1 was sufficient to promote transcriptional rewiring in isogenic models and downregulate GD2 expression. Mechanistically, low-GD2 expressing cell lines demonstrate significantly reduced expression of the ganglioside synthesis enzyme ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase), resulting in a bottlenecking of GD2 synthesis. Primary neuroblastoma tumors enriched for mesenchymal features show demonstrably lower GD3 synthase expression as compared to adrenergic tumors. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 resulted in epigenetic rewiring of mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells and re-expression of ST8SIA1, restoring surface expression of GD2 and sensitivity to an anti-GD2 antibody. These data identify developmental lineage as a key determinant of sensitivity to anti-GD2 based immunotherapies and credential EZH2 inhibitors for clinical testing in combination with anti-GD2 antibody to enhance outcomes for children with neuroblastoma.
Project description:GD2 is a disialoganglioside that is highly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, but nearly half of patients relapse and little is known about mechanisms of resistance to anti-GD2. Neuroblastomas harbor intrinsic transcriptional plasticity by co-opting divergent lineage-specific developmental programs between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states. We found that reduced GD2 expression was significantly correlated with the adrenergic cell state in neuroblastoma and that an Adrenergic-to-Mesenchymal Transition (AMT) conferred downregulation of GD2 and resistance to anti-GD2 antibody. Induced reprogramming of adrenergic cells with the master AMT regulator PRRX1 was sufficient to promote transcriptional rewiring in isogenic models and downregulate GD2 expression. Mechanistically, low-GD2 expressing cell lines demonstrate significantly reduced expression of the ganglioside synthesis enzyme ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase), resulting in a bottlenecking of GD2 synthesis. Primary neuroblastoma tumors enriched for mesenchymal features show demonstrably lower GD3 synthase expression as compared to adrenergic tumors. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 resulted in epigenetic rewiring of mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells and re-expression of ST8SIA1, restoring surface expression of GD2 and sensitivity to an anti-GD2 antibody. These data identify developmental lineage as a key determinant of sensitivity to anti-GD2 based immunotherapies and credential EZH2 inhibitors for clinical testing in combination with anti-GD2 antibody to enhance outcomes for children with neuroblastoma.
Project description:GD2 is a disialoganglioside that is highly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, but nearly half of patients relapse and little is known about mechanisms of resistance to anti-GD2. Neuroblastomas harbor intrinsic transcriptional plasticity by co-opting divergent lineage-specific developmental programs between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states. We found that reduced GD2 expression was significantly correlated with the adrenergic cell state in neuroblastoma and that an Adrenergic-to-Mesenchymal Transition (AMT) conferred downregulation of GD2 and resistance to anti-GD2 antibody. Induced reprogramming of adrenergic cells with the master AMT regulator PRRX1 was sufficient to promote transcriptional rewiring in isogenic models and downregulate GD2 expression. Mechanistically, low-GD2 expressing cell lines demonstrate significantly reduced expression of the ganglioside synthesis enzyme ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase), resulting in a bottlenecking of GD2 synthesis. Primary neuroblastoma tumors enriched for mesenchymal features show demonstrably lower GD3 synthase expression as compared to adrenergic tumors. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 resulted in epigenetic rewiring of mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells and re-expression of ST8SIA1, restoring surface expression of GD2 and sensitivity to an anti-GD2 antibody. These data identify developmental lineage as a key determinant of sensitivity to anti-GD2 based immunotherapies and credential EZH2 inhibitors for clinical testing in combination with anti-GD2 antibody to enhance outcomes for children with neuroblastoma.
Project description:GD2 is a disialoganglioside that is highly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibodies has revolutionized the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, but nearly half of patients relapse and little is known about mechanisms of resistance to anti-GD2. Neuroblastomas harbor intrinsic transcriptional plasticity by co-opting divergent lineage-specific developmental programs between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states. We found that reduced GD2 expression was significantly correlated with the adrenergic cell state in neuroblastoma and that an Adrenergic-to-Mesenchymal Transition (AMT) conferred downregulation of GD2 and resistance to anti-GD2 antibody. Induced reprogramming of adrenergic cells with the master AMT regulator PRRX1 was sufficient to promote transcriptional rewiring in isogenic models and downregulate GD2 expression. Mechanistically, low-GD2 expressing cell lines demonstrate significantly reduced expression of the ganglioside synthesis enzyme ST8SIA1 (GD3 synthase), resulting in a bottlenecking of GD2 synthesis. Primary neuroblastoma tumors enriched for mesenchymal features show demonstrably lower GD3 synthase expression as compared to adrenergic tumors. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 resulted in epigenetic rewiring of mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells and re-expression of ST8SIA1, restoring surface expression of GD2 and sensitivity to an anti-GD2 antibody. These data identify developmental lineage as a key determinant of sensitivity to anti-GD2 based immunotherapies and credential EZH2 inhibitors for clinical testing in combination with anti-GD2 antibody to enhance outcomes for children with neuroblastoma.
Project description:Two cell identities, noradrenergic and mesenchymal, have been characterized in neuroblastoma cell lines according to their epigenetic landscapes relying on specific circuitries of transcription factors. Yet, their relationship and relative contribution in patient tumors remain poorly defined. Our results now document spontaneous plasticity in several neuroblastoma models between noradrenergic and mesenchymal tumor states and show that this plasticity is reversible and relies on epigenetic reprogramming. We demonstrate that an in vivo microenvironment provides a powerful pressure towards a noradrenergic identity for these models. Interestingly, single-cell RNA-seq analyses of 18 tumor biopsies and 15 PDX models revealed that tumor cells systematically exhibit a noradrenergic identity. Yet, our data highlight a population of noradrenergic tumor cells with mesenchymal features, demonstrating that the plasticity described in cellular models between both identities is relevant in neuroblastoma patients. Our work also emphasizes that both external cues of the environment and intrinsic factors influence plasticity and cell identity in neuroblastoma.
Project description:Androgen receptor- (AR-) indifference is a mechanism of resistance to hormonal therapy in prostate cancer (PC). Here we demonstrate that ONECUT2 (OC2) activates resistance through multiple drivers associated with adenocarcinoma, stem-like and neuroendocrine (NE) variants. Direct OC2 gene targets include the glucocorticoid receptor (GR; NR3C1) and the NE splicing factor SRRM4, which are key drivers of lineage plasticity. Thus, OC2, despite its previously described NEPC driver function, can indirectly activate a portion of the AR cistrome through epigenetic activation of GR. Mechanisms by which OC2 regulates gene expression include promoter binding, enhancement of genome-wide chromatin accessibility, and super-enhancer reprogramming. Pharmacologic inhibition of OC2 suppresses lineage plasticity reprogramming induced by the AR signaling inhibitor enzalutamide. These results demonstrate that OC2 activation promotes a range of drug resistance mechanisms associated with treatment-emergent lineage variation in PC and support enhanced efforts to therapeutically target OC2 as a means of suppressing treatment-resistant disease.