Search

Supplementary Figure from The Role of ARID1A in the Nonestrogenic Modulation of IGF-1 Signaling

Supplementary Table from The Role of ARID1A in the Nonestrogenic Modulation of IGF-1 Signaling

Gaining pharmacologic access to the potential of ARID1A, a tumor suppressor protein, to mediate transcriptional control over cancer gene expression is an unresolved challenge. Retinoid X receptor ligands are pleiotropic, incompletely understood tools that regulate breast epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. We found that low-dose bexarotene (Bex) combined with the nonselective beta-blocker carvedilol (Carv) reduces proliferation of MCF10DCIS.com cells and markedly suppresses ARID1A levels. Similarly, Carv synergized with Bex in MCF-7 cells to suppress cell growth. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis revealed that under nonestrogenic conditions Bex + Carv alters the concerted genomic distribution of the chromatin remodeler ARID1A and acetylated histone H3K27, at sites related to insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling. Several distinct sites of ARID1A enrichment were identified in the IGF-1 receptor and IRS1 genes, associated with a suppression of both proteins. The knock-down of ARID1A increased IGF-1R levels, prevented IGF-1R and IRS1 suppression upon Bex + Carv, and stimulated proliferation. In vitro IGF-1 receptor neutralizing antibody suppressed cell growth, while elevated IGF-1R or IRS1 expression was associated with poor survival of patients with ER-negative breast cancer. Our study demonstrates direct impact of ARID1A redistribution on the expression and growth regulation of IGF-1-related genes, induced by repurposed clinical drugs under nonestrogenic conditions.This study underscores the possibility of the pharmacologic modulation of the ARID1A factor to downregulate protumorigenic IGF-1 activity in patients with postmenopausal breast cancer undergoing aromatase inhibitor treatment.

The degree of intrinsic and interpatient phenotypic heterogeneity and its role in tumor evolution is poorly understood. Phenotypic drifts can be transmitted via inheritable transcriptional programs. Cell-type specific transcription is maintained through the activation of epigenetically defined regulatory regions including promoters and enhancers. Here we have annotated the epigenome of 47 primary and metastatic estrogen-receptor (ERα)-positive breast cancer clinical specimens and inferred phenotypic heterogeneity from the regulatory landscape, identifying key regulatory elements commonly shared across patients. Shared regions contain a unique set of regulatory information including the motif for transcription factor YY1. We identify YY1 as a critical determinant of ERα transcriptional activity promoting tumor growth in most luminal patients. YY1 also contributes to the expression of genes mediating resistance to endocrine treatment. Finally, we used H3K27ac levels at active enhancer elements as a surrogate of intra-tumor phenotypic heterogeneity to track the expansion and contraction of phenotypic subpopulations throughout breast cancer progression. By tracking the clonality of SLC9A3R1-positive cells, a bona fide YY1-ERα-regulated gene, we show that endocrine therapies select for phenotypic clones under-represented at diagnosis. Collectively, our data show that epigenetic mechanisms significantly contribute to phenotypic heterogeneity and evolution in systemically treated breast cancer patients.

This abstract was withdrawn by the authors.

Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) is a member of the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily, but its ligand has not yet been identified. Little is known about the role of the COUP-TFII nuclear receptor in cancer cells. In this study, we mapped the cistrome of COUP-TFII in three different cancer cells, namely breast cancer cells (MCF-7), myelogenous leukaemia cells (K562) and liver cancer cells (HepG2) using publicly available ChIP-seq data. Our results show that COUP-TFII co-localises with master transcription factors (TFs) in a cell-specific manner such as estrogen receptor alpha in MCF-7, hepatocyte nuclear factor alpha in HepG2, and GATA-binding factor in K562, while the shared, non-specific COUP-TFII binding sites are co-occupied by CTCF. We identified chromatin environments for these COUP-TFII and master TF co-bound sites together with COUP-TFII and CTCF co-bound sites. Our results show that COUP-TFII and master TF co-bound sites are marked with active enhancer specific histone modifications (H3K27ac and H3K4me1), while COUP-TFII and CTCF co-bound sites reveal active promoter specific histone marks (H3K27ac and H3K4me3). These results describe the genomic context and role of COUP-TFII in the cell-type specific transcriptional programs. Furthermore, we report that the VEGFA gene regulated by shared COUP-TFII and CTCF co-bound regulatory elements is involved in long-range looping in a cell-type-independent manner. These findings provide a genomic insight into the regulation and angiogenic role of COUP-TFII.

Nuclear Receptors are ligand-activated transcription factors that translate information about the lipid environment into specific genetic programs, a property that renders them good candidates to be mediators of rapid adaptation changes of a species. Lipid-based morphogens, endocrine hormones, fatty acids and xenobiotics might act through this class of transcription factors making them regulators able to fine-tune physiological processes. Here we review the basic concepts and current knowledge on the process whereby small molecules act through nuclear receptors and contribute to transgenerational changes. Several molecules shown to cause transgenerational changes like phthalates, BPA, nicotine, tributylin bind and activate nuclear receptors like ERs, androgen receptors, glucocorticoid receptors or PPARγ. A specific subset of observations involving nuclear receptors has focused on the effects of environmental stress or maternal behaviour on the development of transgenerational traits. While these effects do not involve environmental ligands, they change the expression levels of Estrogen and glucocorticoid receptors of the second generation and consequently initiate an altered genetic program in the second generation. In this review we summarize the available literature about the role of nuclear receptors in transgenerational inheritance.