Browsing by Subject "MYC"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    HOXB7 is an ERα cofactor in the activation of HER2 and multiple ER target genes leading to endocrine resistance
    (American Association for Cancer Research, 2015-09) Jin, Kideok; Park, Sunju; Teo, Wei Wen; Korangath, Preethi; Cho, Sean Soonweng; Yoshida, Takahiro; Győrffy, Balázs; Goswami, Chirayu Pankaj; Nakshatri, Harikrishna; Cruz, Leigh-Ann; Zhou, Weiqiang; Ji, Hongkai; Su, Ying; Ekram, Muhammad; Wu, Zhengsheng; Zhu, Tao; Polyak, Kornelia; Sukumar, Saraswati; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Why breast cancers become resistant to tamoxifen despite continued expression of the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and what factors are responsible for high HER2 expression in these tumors remains an enigma. HOXB7 ChIP analysis followed by validation showed that HOXB7 physically interacts with ERα, and that the HOXB7-ERα complex enhances transcription of many ERα target genes including HER2. Investigating strategies for controlling HOXB7, our studies revealed that MYC, stabilized via phosphorylation mediated by EGFR-HER2 signaling, inhibits transcription of miRNA-196a, a HOXB7 repressor. This leads to increased expression of HOXB7, ER-target genes and HER2. Repressing MYC using small molecule inhibitors reverses these events, and causes regression of breast cancer xenografts. The MYC-HOXB7-HER2 signaling pathway is eminently targetable in endocrine-resistant breast cancer.
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    Profiling molecular regulators of recurrence in chemorefractory triple-negative breast cancers
    (BioMed Central, 2019-08-05) Hancock, Bradley A.; Chen, Yu-Hsiang; Solzak, Jeffrey P.; Ahmad, Mufti N.; Wedge, David C.; Brinza, Dumitru; Scafe, Charles; Veitch, James; Gottimukkala, Rajesh; Short, Walt; Atale, Rutuja V.; Ivan, Mircea; Badve, Sunil S.; Schneider, Bryan P.; Lu, Xiongbin; Miller, Kathy D.; Radovich, Milan; Surgery, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: Approximately two thirds of patients with localized triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) harbor residual disease (RD) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and have a high risk-of-recurrence. Targeted therapeutic development for TNBC is of primary significance as no targeted therapies are clinically indicated for this aggressive subset. In view of this, we conducted a comprehensive molecular analysis and correlated molecular features of chemorefractory RD tumors with recurrence for the purpose of guiding downstream therapeutic development. METHODS: We assembled DNA and RNA sequencing data from RD tumors as well as pre-operative biopsies, lymphocytic infiltrate, and survival data as part of a molecular correlative to a phase II post-neoadjuvant clinical trial. Matched somatic mutation, gene expression, and lymphocytic infiltrate were assessed before and after chemotherapy to understand how tumors evolve during chemotherapy. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were conducted categorizing cancers with TP53 mutations by the degree of loss as well as by the copy number of a locus of 18q corresponding to the SMAD2, SMAD4, and SMAD7 genes. RESULTS: Analysis of matched somatic genomes pre-/post-NAC revealed chaotic acquisition of copy gains and losses including amplification of prominent oncogenes. In contrast, significant gains in deleterious point mutations and insertion/deletions were not observed. No trends between clonal evolution and recurrence were identified. Gene expression data from paired biopsies revealed enrichment of actionable regulators of stem cell-like behavior and depletion of immune signaling, which was corroborated by total lymphocytic infiltrate, but was not associated with recurrence. Novel characterization of TP53 mutation revealed prognostically relevant subgroups, which were linked to MYC-driven transcriptional amplification. Finally, somatic gains in 18q were associated with poor prognosis, likely driven by putative upregulation of TGFß signaling through the signal transducer SMAD2. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude TNBCs are dynamic during chemotherapy, demonstrating complex plasticity in subclonal diversity, stem-like qualities, and immune depletion, but somatic alterations of TP53/MYC and TGFß signaling in RD samples are prominent drivers of recurrence, representing high-yield targets for additional interrogation.
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    Systems Biology Approach Identifies Prognostic Signatures of Poor Overall Survival and Guides the Prioritization of Novel BET-CHK1 Combination Therapy for Osteosarcoma
    (MDPI, 2020-08-26) Pandya, Pankita H.; Cheng, Lijun; Saadatzadeh, M. Reza; Bijangi-Vishehsaraei, Khadijeh; Tang, Shan; Sinn, Anthony L.; Trowbridge, Melissa A.; Coy, Kathryn L.; Bailey, Barbara J.; Young, Courtney N.; Ding, Jixin; Dobrota, Erika A.; Dyer, Savannah; Elmi, Adily; Thompson, Quinton; Barghi, Farinaz; Shultz, Jeremiah; Albright, Eric A.; Shannon, Harlan E.; Murray, Mary E.; Marshall, Mark S.; Ferguson, Michael J.; Bertrand, Todd E.; Wurtz, L. Daniel; Batra, Sandeep; Li, Lang; Renbarger, Jamie L.; Pollok, Karen E.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Osteosarcoma (OS) patients exhibit poor overall survival, partly due to copy number variations (CNVs) resulting in dysregulated gene expression and therapeutic resistance. To identify actionable prognostic signatures of poor overall survival, we employed a systems biology approach using public databases to integrate CNVs, gene expression, and survival outcomes in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult OS patients. Chromosome 8 was a hotspot for poor prognostic signatures. The MYC-RAD21 copy number gain (8q24) correlated with increased gene expression and poor overall survival in 90% of the patients (n = 85). MYC and RAD21 play a role in replication-stress, which is a therapeutically actionable network. We prioritized replication-stress regulators, bromodomain and extra-terminal proteins (BETs), and CHK1, in order to test the hypothesis that the inhibition of BET + CHK1 in MYC-RAD21+ pediatric OS models would be efficacious and safe. We demonstrate that MYC-RAD21+ pediatric OS cell lines were sensitive to the inhibition of BET (BETi) and CHK1 (CHK1i) at clinically achievable concentrations. While the potentiation of CHK1i-mediated effects by BETi was BET-BRD4-dependent, MYC expression was BET-BRD4-independent. In MYC-RAD21+ pediatric OS xenografts, BETi + CHK1i significantly decreased tumor growth, increased survival, and was well tolerated. Therefore, targeting replication stress is a promising strategy to pursue as a therapeutic option for this devastating disease.