Title | N-Myc-mediated epigenetic reprogramming drives lineage plasticity in advanced prostate cancer. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2019 |
Authors | Berger A, Brady NJ, Bareja R, Robinson B, Conteduca V, Augello MA, Puca L, Ahmed A, Dardenne E, Lu X, Hwang I, Bagadion AM, Sboner A, Elemento O, Paik J, Yu J, Barbieri CE, Dephoure N, Beltran H, Rickman DS |
Journal | J Clin Invest |
Volume | 129 |
Issue | 9 |
Pagination | 3924-3940 |
Date Published | 2019 07 01 |
ISSN | 1558-8238 |
Keywords | Animals, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Lineage, Cell Plasticity, DNA, Epigenesis, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Humans, Male, Mice, Mice, Transgenic, N-Myc Proto-Oncogene Protein, Neoplasm Transplantation, Prostatic Neoplasms, Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant, Receptors, Androgen, Signal Transduction, Transcriptome |
Abstract | Despite recent therapeutic advances, prostate cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death. A subset of castration resistant prostate cancers become androgen receptor (AR) signaling-independent and develop neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) features through lineage plasticity. These NEPC tumors, associated with aggressive disease and poor prognosis, are driven, in part, by aberrant expression of N-Myc, through mechanisms that remain unclear. Integrative analysis of the N-Myc transcriptome, cistrome and interactome using in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo models (including patient-derived organoids) identified a lineage switch towards a neural identity associated with epigenetic reprogramming. N-Myc and known AR-co-factors (e.g., FOXA1 and HOXB13) overlapped, independently of AR, at genomic loci implicated in neural lineage specification. Moreover, histone marks specifically associated with lineage-defining genes were reprogrammed by N-Myc. We also demonstrated that the N-Myc-induced molecular program accurately classifies our cohort of patients with advanced prostate cancer. Finally, we revealed the potential for EZH2 inhibition to reverse the N-Myc-induced suppression of epithelial lineage genes. Altogether, our data provide insights on how N-Myc regulates lineage plasticity and epigenetic reprogramming associated with lineage-specification. The N-Myc signature we defined could also help predict the evolution of prostate cancer and thus better guide the choice of future therapeutic strategies. |
DOI | 10.1172/JCI127961 |
Alternate Journal | J. Clin. Invest. |
PubMed ID | 31260412 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC6715370 |
Grant List | K08 CA187417 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States R37 CA215040 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States R01 AG048284 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R01 CA230913 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States P50 CA211024 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States T32 CA203702 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States |