Pan-cancer pervasive upregulation of 3' UTR splicing drives tumourigenesis.

Most mammalian genes generate messenger RNAs with variable untranslated regions (UTRs) that are important post-transcriptional regulators. In cancer, shortening at 3' UTR ends via alternative polyadenylation can activate oncogenes. However, internal 3' UTR splicing remains poorly understood as splicing studies have traditionally focused on protein-coding alterations. Here we systematically map the pan-cancer landscape of 3' UTR splicing and present this in SpUR ( http://www.cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/spur/home/ ). 3' UTR splicing is widespread, upregulated in cancers, correlated with poor prognosis and more prevalent in oncogenes. We show that antisense oligonucleotide-mediated inhibition of 3' UTR splicing efficiently reduces oncogene expression and impedes tumour progression. Notably, CTNNB1 3' UTR splicing is the most consistently dysregulated event across cancers. We validate its upregulation in hepatocellular carcinoma and colon adenocarcinoma, and show that the spliced 3' UTR variant is the predominant contributor to its oncogenic functions. Overall, our study highlights the importance of 3' UTR splicing in cancer and may launch new avenues for RNA-based anti-cancer therapeutics.

Synergism between curdlan and GM-CSF confers a strong inflammatory signature to dendritic cells.

A simultaneous engagement of different pathogen recognition receptors provides a tailor-made adaptive immunity for an efficient defense against distinct pathogens. For example, cross-talk of TLR and C-type lectin signaling effectively shapes distinct gene expression patterns by integrating the signals at the level of NF-κB. In this study, we extend this principle to a strong synergism between the dectin-1 agonist curdlan and an inflammatory growth factor, GM-CSF. Both together act in synergy in inducing a strong inflammatory signature that converts immature dendritic cells (DCs) to potent effector DCs. A variety of cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-2, and IL-12p70), costimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, CD40, and CD70), chemokines (CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CCL12, CCL17), as well as receptors and molecules involved in fugal recognition and immunity such as Mincle, dectin-1, dectin-2, and pentraxin 3 are strongly upregulated in DC treated simultaneously with curdlan and GM-CSF. The synergistic effect of both stimuli resulted in strong IκBα phosphorylation, its rapid degradation, and enhanced nuclear translocation of all NF-κB subunits. We further identified MAPK ERK as one possible integration site of both signals, because its phosphorylation was clearly augmented when curdlan was coapplied with GM-CSF. Our data demonstrate that the immunomodulatory activity of curdlan requires an additional signal provided by GM-CSF to successfully initiate a robust ß-glucan-specific cytokine and chemokine response. The integration of both signals clearly prime and tailor a more effective innate and adaptive response against invading microbes and fungi.