Role of EMT in the DNA damage response, double-strand break repair pathway choice and its implications in cancer treatment.

Numerous epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) characteristics have now been demonstrated to participate in tumor development. Indeed, EMT is involved in invasion, acquisition of stem cell properties, and therapy-associated resistance of cancer cells. Together, these mechanisms offer advantages in adapting to changes in the tumor microenvironment. However, recent findings have shown that EMT-associated transcription factors (EMT-TFs) may also be involved in DNA repair. A better understanding of the coordination between the DNA repair pathways and the role played by some EMT-TFs in the DNA damage response (DDR) should pave the way for new treatments targeting tumor-specific molecular vulnerabilities, which result in selective destruction of cancer cells. Here we review recent advances, providing novel insights into the role of EMT in the DDR and repair pathways, with a particular focus on the influence of EMT on cellular sensitivity to damage, as well as the implications of these relationships for improving the efficacy of cancer treatments.

Heterogeneity and dynamic of EMT through the plasticity of ribosome and mRNA translation.

Growing evidence exposes translation and its translational machinery as key players in establishing and maintaining physiological and pathological biological processes. Examining translation may not only provide new biological insight but also identify novel innovative therapeutic targets in several fields of biology, including that of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is currently considered as a dynamic and reversible transdifferentiation process sustaining the transition from an epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype, known to be mainly driven by transcriptional reprogramming. However, it seems that the characterization of EMT plasticity is challenging, relying exclusively on transcriptomic and epigenetic approaches. Indeed, heterogeneity in EMT programs was reported to depend on the biological context. Here, by reviewing the involvement of translational control, translational machinery and ribosome biogenesis characterizing the different types of EMT, from embryonic and adult physiological to pathological contexts, we discuss the added value of integrating translational control and its machinery to depict the heterogeneity and dynamics of EMT programs.

Opposite Roles for ZEB1 and TMEJ in the Regulation of Breast Cancer Genome Stability.

Breast cancer cells frequently acquire mutations in faithful DNA repair genes, as exemplified by BRCA-deficiency. Moreover, overexpression of an inaccurate DNA repair pathway may also be at the origin of the genetic instability arising during the course of cancer progression. The specific gain in expression of POLQ, encoding the error-prone DNA polymerase Theta (POLθ) involved in theta-mediated end joining (TMEJ), is associated with a characteristic mutational signature. To gain insight into the mechanistic regulation of POLQ expression, this review briefly presents recent findings on the regulation of POLQ in the claudin-low breast tumor subtype, specifically expressing transcription factors involved in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) such as ZEB1 and displaying a paucity in genomic abnormality.

EMT Transcription Factor ZEB1 Represses the Mutagenic POLθ-Mediated End-Joining Pathway in Breast Cancers.

A characteristic of cancer development is the acquisition of genomic instability, which results from the inaccurate repair of DNA damage. Among double-strand break repair mechanisms induced by oncogenic stress, the highly mutagenic theta-mediated end-joining (TMEJ) pathway, which requires DNA polymerase theta (POLθ) encoded by the POLQ gene, has been shown to be overexpressed in several human cancers. However, little is known regarding the regulatory mechanisms of TMEJ and the consequence of its dysregulation. In this study, we combined a bioinformatics approach exploring both Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated depletion of the zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) in claudin-low tumor cells or forced expression of ZEB1 in basal-like tumor cells, two triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes, to demonstrate that ZEB1 represses POLQ expression. ZEB1, a master epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-inducing transcription factor, interacted directly with the POLQ promoter. Moreover, downregulation of POLQ by ZEB1 fostered micronuclei formation in TNBC tumor cell lines. Consequently, ZEB1 expression prevented TMEJ activity, with a major impact on genome integrity. In conclusion, we showed that ZEB1 directly inhibits the expression of POLQ and, therefore, TMEJ activity, controlling both stability and integrity of breast cancer cell genomes. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings uncover an original mechanism of TMEJ regulation, highlighting ZEB1 as a key player in genome stability during cancer progression via its repression of POLQ.See related commentary by Carvajal-Maldonado and Wood, p. 1441.

Quantifying local malignant adaptation in tissue-specific evolutionary trajectories by harnessing cancer's repeatability at the genetic level.

Cancer is a potentially lethal disease, in which patients with nearly identical genetic backgrounds can develop a similar pathology through distinct combinations of genetic alterations. We aimed to reconstruct the evolutionary process underlying tumour initiation, using the combination of convergence and discrepancies observed across 2,742 cancer genomes from nine tumour types. We developed a framework using the repeatability of cancer development to score the local malignant adaptation (LMA) of genetic clones, as their potential to malignantly progress and invade their environment of origin. Using this framework, we found that premalignant skin and colorectal lesions appeared specifically adapted to their local environment, yet insufficiently for full cancerous transformation. We found that metastatic clones were more adapted to the site of origin than to the invaded tissue, suggesting that genetics may be more important for local progression than for the invasion of distant organs. In addition, we used network analyses to investigate evolutionary properties at the system-level, highlighting that different dynamics of malignant progression can be modelled by such a framework in tumour-type-specific fashion. We find that occurrence-based methods can be used to specifically recapitulate the process of cancer initiation and progression, as well as to evaluate the adaptation of genetic clones to given environments. The repeatability observed in the evolution of most tumour types could therefore be harnessed to better predict the trajectories likely to be taken by tumours and preneoplastic lesions in the future.

Integrated analysis highlights APC11 protein expression as a likely new independent predictive marker for colorectal cancer.

After a diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), approximately 50% of patients will present distant metastasis. Although significant progress has been made in treatments, most of them will die from the disease. We investigated the predictive and prognostic potential of APC11, the catalytic subunit of APC/C, which has never been examined in the context of CRC. The expression of APC11 was assessed in CRC cell lines, in tissue microarrays (TMAs) and in public datasets. Overexpression of APC11 mRNA was associated with chromosomal instability, lymphovascular invasion and residual tumor. Regression models accounting for the effects of well-known protein markers highlighted association of APC11 protein expression with residual tumor (odds ratio: OR = 6.51; 95% confidence intervals: CI = 1.54-27.59; P = 0.012) and metastasis at diagnosis (OR = 3.87; 95% CI = 1.20-2.45; P = 0.024). Overexpression of APC11 protein was also associated with worse distant relapse-free survival (hazard ratio: HR = 2.60; 95% CI = 1.26-5.37; P = 0.01) and worse overall survival (HR = 2.69; 95% CI = 1.31-5.51; P = 0.007). APC11 overexpression in primary CRC thus represents a potentially novel theranostic marker of metastatic CRC.

A stemness-related ZEB1-MSRB3 axis governs cellular pliancy and breast cancer genome stability.

Chromosomal instability (CIN), a feature of most adult neoplasms from their early stages onward, is a driver of tumorigenesis. However, several malignancy subtypes, including some triple-negative breast cancers, display a paucity of genomic aberrations, thus suggesting that tumor development may occur in the absence of CIN. Here we show that the differentiation status of normal human mammary epithelial cells dictates cell behavior after an oncogenic event and predetermines the genetic routes toward malignancy. Whereas oncogene induction in differentiated cells induces massive DNA damage, mammary stem cells are resistant, owing to a preemptive program driven by the transcription factor ZEB1 and the methionine sulfoxide reductase MSRB3. The prevention of oncogene-induced DNA damage precludes induction of the oncosuppressive p53-dependent DNA-damage response, thereby increasing stem cells' intrinsic susceptibility to malignant transformation. In accord with this model, a subclass of breast neoplasms exhibit unique pathological features, including high ZEB1 expression, a low frequency of TP53 mutations and low CIN.

[Cancer cell plasticity and metastatic dissemination]. / Plasticité des cellules cancéreuses et dissémination métastatique.

Metastatic dissemination consists of a sequence of events resulting in the invasion by cancer cells of tissues located away from the primary tumour. This process is highly inefficient, since each event represents an obstacle that only a limited number of cells can overcome. However, two biological phenomena intrinsically linked with tumour development facilitate the dissemination of cancer cells throughout the body and promote the formation of metastases, namely the genetic diversity of cancer cells within a given tumour, which arises from their genetic instability and from successive clonal expansions, and cellular plasticity conveyed to the cells by micro-environmental signals. Genetic diversity increases the probability of selecting cells that are intrinsically resistant to biological and physical constraints encountered during metastatic dissemination, whereas cellular plasticity provides cells with the capacity to adapt to stressful conditions and to changes in the microenvironment. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition, an embryonic trans-differentiation process frequently reactivated during tumour development, plays an important role in that context by endowing tumor cells with a unique capacity of motility, survival and adaptability to the novel environments and stresses encountered during the invasion-metastasis cascade.

TIF1γ Suppresses Tumor Progression by Regulating Mitotic Checkpoints and Chromosomal Stability.

The transcription accessory factor TIF1γ/TRIM33/RFG7/PTC7/Ectodermin functions as a tumor suppressor that promotes development and cellular differentiation. However, its precise function in cancer has been elusive. In the present study, we report that TIF1γ inactivation causes cells to accumulate chromosomal defects, a hallmark of cancer, due to attenuations in the spindle assembly checkpoint and the post-mitotic checkpoint. TIF1γ deficiency also caused a loss of contact growth inhibition and increased anchorage-independent growth in vitro and in vivo. Clinically, reduced TIF1γ expression in human tumors correlated with an increased rate of genomic rearrangements. Overall, our work indicates that TIF1γ exerts its tumor-suppressive functions in part by promoting chromosomal stability.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition transcription factors and miRNAs: "Plastic surgeons" of breast cancer.

Growing evidence suggests that breast cancer cell plasticity arises due to a partial reactivation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) programs in order to give cells pluripotency, leading to a stemness-like phenotype. A complete EMT would be a dead end program that would render cells unable to fully metastasize to distant organs. Evoking the EMT-mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) cascade promotes successful colonization of distal target tissues. It is unlikely that direct reprogramming or trans-differentiation without passing through a pluripotent stage would be the preferred mechanism during tumor progression. This review focuses on key EMT transcriptional regulators, EMT-transcription factors involved in EMT (TFs) and the miRNA pathway, which are deregulated in breast cancer, and discusses their implications in cancer cell plasticity. Cross-regulation between EMT-TFs and miRNAs, where miRNAs act as co-repressors or co-activators, appears to be a pivotal mechanism for breast cancer cells to acquire a stem cell-like state, which is implicated both in breast metastases and tumor recurrence. As a master regulator of miRNA biogenesis, the ribonuclease type III endonuclease Dicer plays a central role in EMT-TFs/miRNAs regulating networks. All these EMT-MET key regulators represent valuable new prognostic and predictive markers for breast cancer as well as promising new targets for drug-resistant breast cancers.

Contribution of cell culture, RNA extraction, and reverse transcription to the measurement error in quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-based gene expression quantification.

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) instruments are known to be reliable. However, many authors have underlined the poor reliability of the procedures that precede the measurement of gene expression--cell culture, RNA extraction, and reverse transcription. Here we quantified the measurement errors due to each step and estimated the correction that would accrue from replicating any of those steps. We measured the relative expression of the APC-11 gene (the catalytic anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome subunit suspected to be involved in breast cancer) with step replication in 18 breast cancer cell lines. The final qPCR step was found to be reproducible (standard deviation [SD]=0.26). In comparison with the between-cell-line variability (SD=1.7), the variability due to the previous steps (cell culture, RNA extraction, and reverse transcription) was on the same order of magnitude (SD=1.2-2.0). Misclassification rates were used to assess the impact of replicating each manual procedure. The misclassification rates improved with replication of cell culture, RNA extraction, and reverse transcription (90.0, 60.9, and 61.1% decreases, respectively). The results point out a high error level in the quantification of gene expression, and these errors may stem from all steps of the procedure. The best correction would accrue from replicating cell culture.

[Tumour genomics: an unstable landscape]. / Génomique tumorale: l'image d'un paysage instable.

Oncogenesis and tumour progression are caused by the progressive accumulation of genetic and epigenetic abnormalities in pre-cancerous and cancerous cells, conferring increased capabilities of proliferation and survival. Recent technological advances, including the development of CGH arrays and high-throughput sequencing, have made it possible to map the genetic landscape of human cancers. Molecular characterisation studies have provided key insights into the disease mechanisms that can be used for the design of tailored therapies and have led to the identification of specific biomarkers for guiding patient management. Nevertheless, the genetic instability of cancer cells and the consecutive intra-tumoral heterogeneity remain critical constraints in the context of the emergence of targeted therapies.

BTG2, its family and its tutor.

The human BTG2 gene is one of five members of a newly identified family of antiproliferative genes. BTG2 was first described as an immediate early gene whose expression is induced in response to mitogenic as well as differentiative and antiproliferative factors. More recently, we have shown that BTG2 expression is also induced in response to genotoxic stress through a p53-dependent mechanism. Experimental overexpression of the BTG2 gene in NIH3T3 and PC12 cells leads to a partial inhibition of cell proliferation. BTG2 protein physically interacts with Caf1 protein, an element of a general transcription complex, and with PRMT1, a protein-arginine N-methyl transferase. We speculate on the role of BTG2 as a modulator of the intracellular signal transduction cascade.

Alterations of anaphase-promoting complex genes in human colon cancer cells.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of cell cycle regulators is a major element of the cell cycle control. The anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) is a large multisubunit ubiquitin-protein ligase required for the ubiquitination and degradation of G1 and mitotic checkpoint regulators. APC/C-dependent proteolysis regulates cyclin levels in G1, and triggers the separation of sister chromatids at the metaphase-anaphase transition and the destruction of mitotic cyclins at the end of mitosis. Furthermore, it was recently shown that APC/C regulates the degradation of crucial regulators of signal transduction pathways. We report here gene alterations in several components of this complex in human colon cancer cells, including APC6/CDC16 and APC8/CDC23 which are known to be key function elements. The experimental expression of a truncation mutant of APC8/CDC23 subunit (CDC23DeltaTPR) leads to abnormal levels of APC/C targets such as cyclin B1 and disturbs the cell cycle progression of colon epithelial cells through mitosis. Overall, these data support the hypothesis of a deleterious role of these mutations during colorectal carcinogenesis.

The human BTG2/TIS21/PC3 gene: genomic structure, transcriptional regulation and evaluation as a candidate tumor suppressor gene.

BTG2/TIS21/PC3 protein is involved in the regulation of G1/S transition of the cell cycle by inhibiting pRb function, suggesting that BTG2/TIS21/PC3 regulation is critical for normal cell growth and proliferation. To understand the regulatory mechanisms for the expression of BTG2/TIS21/PC3 we cloned the human gene. Potential binding sites for several transcription factors were identified in the 5'-flanking region of the gene. Transient expression assays with BTG2/TIS21/PC3 promoter deletions and electrophoretic mobility shift analysis identified a major wild-type p53 response element located -74 to -122 relative to the start codon. This genomic fragment was sufficient to constitute a promoter element in the presence of p53. The BTG2/TIS21/PC3 gene is an antiproliferative gene which maps within a chromosomal segment (1q32) frequently altered in breast adenocarcinomas. However, no mutations of BTG2/TIS21/PC3 were detected in breast cancer cells, suggesting that the inactivation of this gene is not a frequent genetic event during breast carcinogenesis.