There is a pressing need to identify therapeutic targets in tumors with low mutation rates such as the malignant pediatric brain tumor medulloblastoma. To address this challenge, we quantitatively profiled global proteomes and phospho-proteomes of 45 medulloblastoma samples. Integrated analyses revealed that tumors with similar RNA expression vary extensively at the post-transcriptional and post-translational levels. We identified distinct pathways associated with two subsets of SHH tumors, and found post-translational modifications of MYC that are associated with poor outcomes in group 3 tumors. We found kinases associated with subtypes and showed that inhibiting PRKDC sensitizes MYC-driven cells to radiation. Our study shows that proteomics enables a more comprehensive, functional readout, providing a foundation for future therapeutic strategies.

The transcription factor c-MYC is stabilized and activated by phosphorylation at serine 62 (S62) in breast cancer. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a critical negative regulator of c-MYC through its ability to dephosphorylate S62. By inactivating c-MYC and other key signaling pathways, PP2A plays an important tumor suppressor function. Two endogenous inhibitors of PP2A, I2PP2A, Inhibitor-2 of PP2A (SET oncoprotein) and cancerous inhibitor of PP2A (CIP2A), inactivate PP2A and are overexpressed in several tumor types. Here we show that SET is overexpressed in about 50-60% and CIP2A in about 90% of breast cancers. Knockdown of SET or CIP2A reduces the tumorigenic potential of breast cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Treatment of breast cancer cells in vitro or in vivo with OP449, a novel SET antagonist, also decreases the tumorigenic potential of breast cancer cells and induces apoptosis. We show that this is, at least in part, due to decreased S62 phosphorylation of c-MYC and reduced c-MYC activity and target gene expression. Because of the ubiquitous expression and tumor suppressor activity of PP2A in cells, as well as the critical role of c-MYC in human cancer, we propose that activation of PP2A (here accomplished through antagonizing endogenous inhibitors) could be a novel antitumor strategy to posttranslationally target c-MYC in breast cancer.breast cancer therapy | phosphatase activator T he c-MYC (MYC) oncoprotein is overexpressed in human breast cancer and this is associated with poor clinical outcome (1, 2). Expression of MYC is regulated at multiple levels, including protein stability, which is increased in several cancer types (1,3,4). MYC stability is regulated in part by sequential and interdependent phosphorylation at two conserved residues, threonine 58 (T58) and serine 62 (S62) (5). MYC is phosphorylated at S62 (pS62) through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway or cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activation in response to growth signals and this modification increases its stability and oncogenic activity (5-8). When growth signals cease, GSK3, in a manner dependent upon prior phosphorylation at S62, phosphorylates T58 (pT58) (5, 6). T58 phosphorylation facilitates protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-mediated dephosphorylation of pS62 and recruitment of the E3 ubiquitin ligase SCF Fbw7 to initiate proteasomal destruction of MYC (9, 10). This process is facilitated by AXIN1, which helps nucleate a destruction complex for MYC at target gene promoters (11, 12). Our previous work has shown that MYC stability is increased in breast cancers and that this correlates with high pS62-and low pT58-MYC (4).PP2A is a ubiquitously expressed, heterotrimeric serinethreonine (S/T) phosphatase that mediates 30-50% of cellular S/T phosphatase activity (13). Target specificity of PP2A is directed by a variable regulatory (B) subunit, and we have shown that B56α is the isoform that directs PP2A to MYC (9, 13). Human cell transformation requires inhibition of PP2A activity and, in an siRNA screen, B56α, ...

cThe Myc oncoprotein is considered a master regulator of gene transcription by virtue of its ability to modulate the expression of a large percentage of all genes. However, mechanisms that direct Myc's recruitment to DNA and target gene selection to elicit specific cellular functions have not been well elucidated. Here, we report that the Pin1 prolyl isomerase enhances recruitment of serine 62-phosphorylated Myc and its coactivators to select promoters during gene activation, followed by promoting Myc's release associated with its degradation. This facilitates Myc's activation of genes involved in cell growth and metabolism, resulting in enhanced proproliferative activity, even while controlling Myc levels. In cancer cells with impaired Myc degradation, Pin1 still enhances Myc DNA binding, although it no longer facilitates Myc degradation. Thus, we find that Pin1 and Myc are cooverexpressed in cancer, and this drives a gene expression pattern that we show is enriched in poor-outcome breast cancer subtypes. This study provides new insight into mechanisms regulating Myc DNA binding and oncogenic activity, it reveals a novel role for Pin1 in the regulation of transcription factors, and it elucidates a mechanism that can contribute to oncogenic cooperation between Pin1 and Myc.

Expression of the c-Myc proto-oncoprotein is tightly regulated in normal cells. Phosphorylation at two conserved residues, threonine58 (T58) and serine62 (S62), regulates c-Myc protein stability. In cancer cells, c-Myc can become aberrantly stabilized associated with altered T58 and S62 phosphorylation. A complex signalling cascade involving GSK3b kinase, the Pin1 prolyl isomerase, and the PP2A-B56a phosphatase controls phosphorylation at these sites. We report here a novel role for the tumour suppressor scaffold protein Axin1 in facilitating the formation of a degradation complex for c-Myc containing GSK3b, Pin1, and PP2A-B56a. Although knockdown of Axin1 decreases the association of c-Myc with these proteins, reduces T58 and enhances S62 phosphorylation, and increases c-Myc stability, acute expression of Axin1 reduces c-Myc levels and suppresses c-Myc transcriptional activity. Moreover, the regulation of c-Myc by Axin1 is impaired in several tested cancer cell lines with known stabilization of c-Myc or loss of Axin1. This study provides critical insight into the regulation of c-Myc expression, how this can be disrupted in three cancer types, and adds to our knowledge of the tumour suppressor activity of Axin1.

Summary1. A wide range of spatially explicit simulation models have been developed to forecast landscape dynamics, including models for projecting changes in both vegetation and land use. While these models have generally been developed as separate applications, each with a separate purpose and audience, they share many common features.2. We present a general framework, called a state-and-transition simulation model (STSM), which captures a number of these common features, accompanied by a software product, called ST-Sim, to build and run such models. The STSM method divides a landscape into a set of discrete spatial units and simulates the discrete state of each cell forward as a discrete-time-inhomogeneous stochastic process. The method differs from a spatially interacting Markov chain in several important ways, including the ability to add discrete counters such as age and time-since-transition as state variables, to specify one-step transition rates as either probabilities or target areas, and to represent multiple types of transitions between pairs of states. 3. We demonstrate the STSM method using a model of land-use/land-cover (LULC) change for the state of Hawai'i, USA. Processes represented in this example include expansion/contraction of agricultural lands, urbanization, wildfire, shrub encroachment into grassland and harvest of tree plantations; the model also projects shifts in moisture zones due to climate change. Key model output includes projections of the future spatial and temporal distribution of LULC classes and moisture zones across the landscape over the next 50 years. 4. State-and-transition simulation models can be applied to a wide range of landscapes, including questions of both land-use change and vegetation dynamics. Because the method is inherently stochastic, it is well suited for characterizing uncertainty in model projections. When combined with the ST-Sim software, STSMs offer a simple yet powerful means for developing a wide range of models of landscape dynamics.

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that is usually diagnosed in the advanced stages when few effective therapies are available. Given the aggressive clinical course of this disease and lack of good treatment options, the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of pancreatic cancer is of the upmost importance. Several pathways shown to contribute to pancreatic cancer progression are negatively regulated by the tumor suppressor, protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Here, the endogenous inhibitors of PP2A, SET (also known as I2PP2A) and Cancerous Inhibitor of PP2A (CIP2A), were shown to be overexpressed in human pancreatic cancer, contributing to decreased PP2A activity, and overexpression and stabilization of the oncoprotein c-Myc, a key PP2A target. Knockdown of SET or CIP2A increases PP2A activity, increases c-Myc degradation, and decreases the tumorigenic potential of pancreatic cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, treatment with a novel SET inhibitor, OP449, pharmacologically recapitulates the phenotypes and significantly reduces proliferation and tumorigenic potential of several pancreatic cancer cell lines, with an accompanying attenuation of cell growth and survival signaling. Furthermore, primary cells from pancreatic cancer patients were sensitive to OP449 treatment, indicating that PP2A regulated pathways are highly relevant to this deadly disease.

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High expression of the oncoprotein Myc has been linked to poor outcome in human tumors. Although MYC gene amplification and translocations have been observed, this can explain Myc overexpression in only a subset of human tumors. Myc expression is in part controlled by its protein stability, which can be regulated by phosphorylation at threonine 58 (T58) and serine 62 (S62). We now report that Myc protein stability is increased in a number of breast cancer cell lines and this correlates with increased phosphorylation at S62 and decreased phosphorylation at T58. Moreover, we find this same shift in phosphorylation in primary breast cancers. The signaling cascade that controls phosphorylation at T58 and S62 is coordinated by the scaffold protein Axin1. We therefore examined Axin1 in breast cancer and report decreased AXIN1 expression and a shift in the ratio of expression of two naturally occurring AXIN1 splice variants. We demonstrate that this contributes to increased Myc protein stability, altered phosphorylation at S62 and T58, and increased oncogenic activity of Myc in breast cancer. Thus, our results reveal an important mode of Myc activation in human breast cancer and a mechanism contributing to Myc deregulation involving unique insight into inactivation of the Axin1 tumor suppressor in breast cancer.T he c-Myc (Myc) oncoprotein is a pleiotropic transcription factor involved in controlling many cellular functions, including cell proliferation, cell growth, and cell differentiation, as well as pathways that regulate genome stability and cell death (1-5). High levels of Myc expression occur in a wide variety of human tumors, and animal models exhibit Myc-induced tumorigenesis in many tissues (6-8). These tumors are often dependent on continued high expression of Myc and withdrawal of Myc can induce tumor regression (8, 9), highlighting the importance of understanding how Myc expression is regulated. In breast cancer, Myc protein is reported to be overexpressed in approximately 50% to 100% of breast tumors depending on the study, whereas only approximately 16% show Myc gene amplification and 22% show increased mRNA expression (6, 10-13). Mechanisms for high Myc expression in human breast tumors lacking gene amplification or elevated mRNA expression have not been reported.Cells have evolved an elegant signaling pathway to help regulate turnover of Myc so that Myc protein levels are kept low when not needed (1,14). In this pathway, sequential and interdependent phosphorylation events on Myc at serine 62 (S62) and threonine 58 (T58) influence Myc stability. Initial phosphorylation of S62 by ERK or CDK kinases in response to mitogen signaling transiently increases Myc stability, whereas subsequent phosphorylation of T58 by GSK3β triggers dephosphorylation of S62 by protein phosphatase 2A-B56α (PP2A-B56α), ubiquitination by the SCF-Fbw7 E3 ligase, and proteasomal degradation (15, 16). Burkitt lymphoma-derived Myc mutations usually occur at or around T58, generally resulting in loss of T58 phosphorylation, elevated S...