1. Inhibiting stromal Class I HDACs curbs pancreatic cancer progression.
- Author
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Liang, Gaoyang, Oh, Tae, Hah, Nasun, Tiriac, Hervé, Shi, Yu, Truitt, Morgan, Antal, Corina, Atkins, Annette, Li, Yuwenbin, Fraser, Cory, Ng, Serina, Pinto, Antonio, Nelson, Dylan, Estepa, Gabriela, Bashi, Senada, Banayo, Ester, Dai, Yang, Liddle, Christopher, Yu, Ruth, Hunter, Tony, Engle, Dannielle, Han, Haiyong, Von Hoff, Daniel, Downes, Michael, and Evans, Ronald
- Subjects
Animals ,Mice ,Cell Line ,Tumor ,Pancreatic Neoplasms ,Pancreas ,Carcinoma ,Pancreatic Ductal ,Fibroblasts ,Carcinogenesis ,Tumor Microenvironment - Abstract
Oncogenic lesions in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) hijack the epigenetic machinery in stromal components to establish a desmoplastic and therapeutic resistant tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we identify Class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) as key epigenetic factors facilitating the induction of pro-desmoplastic and pro-tumorigenic transcriptional programs in pancreatic stromal fibroblasts. Mechanistically, HDAC-mediated changes in chromatin architecture enable the activation of pro-desmoplastic programs directed by serum response factor (SRF) and forkhead box M1 (FOXM1). HDACs also coordinate fibroblast pro-inflammatory programs inducing leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) expression, supporting paracrine pro-tumorigenic crosstalk. HDAC depletion in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and treatment with the HDAC inhibitor entinostat (Ent) in PDAC mouse models reduce stromal activation and curb tumor progression. Notably, HDAC inhibition (HDACi) enriches a lipogenic fibroblast subpopulation, a potential precursor for myofibroblasts in the PDAC stroma. Overall, our study reveals the stromal targeting potential of HDACi, highlighting the utility of this epigenetic modulating approach in PDAC therapeutics.
- Published
- 2023