Biology subjects

Basseville, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Basseville, A..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Combined HDAC and eIF4A inhibition: A novel epigenetic therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma-(PDAC) needs innovative approaches due to its 12% 5-year survival despite current therapies. We show marked sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cells to the combination of a novel eIF4A inhibitor, des-methyl pateamine A (DMPatA), and a histone deacetylase inhibitor, romidepsin, inducing epigenetic reprogramming as an innovative therapeutic strategy. Exploring the mechanistic activity of this combination showed that with a short duration of romidepsin at low doses, robust acetylation persisted up to 48h with the combination, while histone acetylation rapidly faded with monotherapy. This represents an unexpected mechanism of action against PDAC cells that triggers transcriptional overload, metabolic stress, and augmented DNA damage. Structurally different class I HDAC inhibitors exhibit the same hyperacetylation patterns when co-administered with DMPatA, suggesting a class effect. We show efficacy of this combination regimen against tumor growth in a MIA PaCa-2 xenograft model of PDAC with persistent hyperacetylation confirmed in tumor samples. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a significant clinical challenge, could benefit from the latent potential of epigenetic therapies like HDAC inhibitors-(HDIs), typically limited to hematological malignancies. Our study shows that a synergistic low dose combination of HDIs with an eIF4A-inhibitor in pancreatic cancer models results in marked pre-clinical efficacy, offering a promising new treatment strategy.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2022

BCL-xL antagonizes the deleterious effects of KRAS on mitochondrial scaffolding

In addition to its canonical role as a regulator of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization, BCL-xL exerts diverse non canonical functions contributing to cancer cell aggressiveness. In particular it regulates KRAS intracellular activation levels. We herein explored the mechanistic basis for this effect by a spatially restricted biotin-labelling proteomic approach designed to characterize proteins whose proximity to KRAS, used as a bait, is BCL-xL dependant. BCL-xL loss relocalizes KRAS to the vicinity of mitochondrial proteins. Proximal proteins include the mitochondrial scaffold prohibitin 2 (PHB2), which also interacts with BCL-xL and the downregulation of which prevents BCL-xL sensitive effects of KRAS induced contacts between mitochondria and endosomes, and mitochondrial mass decrease. These results argue that BCL-xL prevents a negative feedback regulation of KRAS canonical signaling by KRAS interference with mitochondrial quality control.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Histone deacetylase inhibitor induces acetyl-CoA depletion leading to lethal metabolic stress in RAS-pathway activated cells

RAS-mutant cancers are among the most refractory to treatment. Apart from new G12C genotype targeted therapies, strategies to kill RAS-mutant cells by directly targeting RAS or its downstream effectors have been mostly unsuccessful, mainly due to pathway redundancy and heterogeneities in RAS-induced phenotypes. Here we identified a RAS-phenotype that can be targeted by the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) romidepsin. We showed that the hyperacetylation induced by romidepsin depleted acetyl-CoA, the cell donor substrate for acetylation, and led to metabolic stress and death in KRAS-activated cells. Elastic net analysis on transcriptomics from a 608-cell panel confirmed that HDACi sensitivity was linked to a difference in profiles in two pathways involved in acetyl-CoA metabolism. The analysis of a clinical dataset confirmed that perturbation of the two acetyl-CoA pathways were correlated with HDACi sensitivity in patients treated with belinostat. Our analysis suggests the potential utility of a RAS-associated acetyl-CoA phenotype to sharpen treatment choices for RAS-activated tumors.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Targeting of MCL-1 in breast cancer associated fibroblasts reverses their myofibroblastic phenotype and pro-invasive properties

Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF) are a major cellular component of epithelial tumors. In breast cancers in particular these stromal cells have numerous tumorigenic effects in part due to their acquisition of a myofibroblastic phenotype. Breast CAFs (bCAFS) typically express MCL-1. We show here that targeting this regulator of mitochondrial integrity using a specific BH-3 mimetic promotes fragmentation of these organelles without inducing cell death. MCL-1 antagonism in primary bCAFs directly derived from human samples mitigates myofibroblastic features and decreases expression of genes involved in actomyosin organization and contractility, associated with a cytoplasmic retention of the transcriptional regulator, Yes-Associated Protein (YAP). Such treatment decreases bCAFs ability to promote cancer cells invasion in 3D co-culture assays. These effects are counteracted by an inhibitor of the mitochondrial fission protein DRP-1, which interacts with MCL-1 upon BH3 mimetic treatment. Our findings underscore the usefulness of targeting MCL-1 in breast cancer ecosystems, not only to favor death of cancer cells but also to counteract the tumorigenic activation of fibroblasts with which they co-evolve. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

cancer biology↗