SUMMARY The roles of inflammatory cytokines and the immune response in cancer remain paradoxical. In the case of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), there is undisputed evidence indicating both protumor and antitumor activities. Recent work in Drosophila indicated that a TNF-dependent mechanism eliminates cells deficient for the polarity tumor suppressors dlg or scrib. In this study, however, we show that in tumors deficient for scrib that also expressed the Ras oncoprotein, the TNF signal was diverted into a protumor signal that enhanced tumor growth through larval arrest and stimulated invasive migration. In this case, TNF promoted malignancy and was detrimental to host survival. TNF was expressed at high levels by tumor-associated hemocytes recruited from the circulation. The expression of TNF by hemocytes was both necessary and sufficient to trigger TNF signaling in tumor cells. Our evidence suggests that tumors can evolve into malignancy through oncogenic Ras activation and the hijacking of TNF signaling.

High tumor burden is associated with increased levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines that influence the pathophysiology of the tumor and its environment. The cellular and molecular events mediating the organismal response to a growing tumor are poorly understood. Here, we report a bidirectional crosstalk between epithelial tumors and the fat body-a peripheral immune tissue-in Drosophila. Tumors trigger a systemic immune response through activation of Eiger/TNF signaling, which leads to Toll pathway upregulation in adipocytes. Reciprocally, Toll elicits a non-tissue-autonomous program in adipocytes, which drives tumor cell death. Hemocytes play a critical role in this system by producing the ligands Spätzle and Eiger, which are required for Toll activation in the fat body and tumor cell death. Altogether, our results provide a paradigm for a long-range tumor suppression function of adipocytes in Drosophila, which may represent an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in the organismal response to solid tumors.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a lethal primary brain tumor characterized by treatment resistance and inevitable tumor recurrence, both of which are driven by a subpopulation of GBM cancer stem-like cells (GSC) with tumorigenic and self-renewal properties. Despite having broad implications for understanding GSC phenotype, the determinants of upregulated DNA-damage response (DDR) and subsequent radiation resistance in GSC are unknown and represent a significant barrier to developing effective GBM treatments. In this study, we show that constitutive DDR activation and radiation resistance are driven by high levels of DNA replication stress (RS). CD133 GSC exhibited reduced DNA replication velocity and a higher frequency of stalled replication forks than CD133 non-GSC ; immunofluorescence studies confirmed these observations in a panel of orthotopic xenografts and human GBM specimens. Exposure of non-GSC to low-level exogenous RS generated radiation resistance, confirming RS as a novel determinant of radiation resistance in tumor cells. GSC exhibited DNA double-strand breaks, which colocalized with "replication factories" and RNA: DNA hybrids. GSC also demonstrated increased expression of long neural genes (>1 Mbp) containing common fragile sites, supporting the hypothesis that replication/transcription collisions are the likely cause of RS in GSC. Targeting RS by combined inhibition of ATR and PARP (CAiPi) provided GSC-specific cytotoxicity and complete abrogation of GSC radiation resistance These data identify RS as a cancer stem cell-specific target with significant clinical potential. These findings shed new light on cancer stem cell biology and reveal novel therapeutics with the potential to improve clinical outcomes by overcoming inherent radioresistance in GBM. .

Resistance to radiotherapy in glioblastoma (GBM) is an important clinical problem and several authors have attributed this to a subpopulation of GBM cancer stem cells (CSCs) which may be responsible for tumour recurrence following treatment. It is hypothesised that GBM CSCs exhibit upregulated DNA damage responses and are resistant to radiation but the current literature is conflicting. We investigated radioresistance of primary GBM cells grown in stem cell conditions (CSC) compared to paired differentiated tumour cell populations and explored the radiosensitising effects of the ATM inhibitor KU-55933. We report that GBM CSCs are radioresistant compared to paired differentiated tumour cells as measured by clonogenic assay. GBM CSC's display upregulated phosphorylated DNA damage response proteins and enhanced activation of the G2/M checkpoint following irradiation and repair DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) more efficiently than their differentiated tumour cell counterparts following radiation. Inhibition of ATM kinase by KU-55933 produced potent radiosensitisation of GBM CSCs (sensitiser enhancement ratios 2.6-3.5) and effectively abrogated the enhanced DSB repair proficiency observed in GBM CSCs at 24 h post irradiation. G2/M checkpoint activation was reduced but not abolished by KU-55933 in GBM CSCs. ATM kinase inhibition overcomes radioresistance of GBM CSCs and, in combination with conventional therapy, has potential to improve outcomes for patients with GBM.

SummaryBackgroundEnteroendocrine cells populate gastrointestinal tissues and are known to translate local cues into systemic responses through the release of hormones into the bloodstream.ResultsHere we report a novel function of enteroendocrine cells acting as local regulators of intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation through modulation of the mesenchymal stem cell niche in the Drosophila midgut. This paracrine signaling acts to constrain ISC proliferation within the epithelial compartment. Mechanistically, midgut enteroendocrine cells secrete the neuroendocrine hormone Bursicon, which acts—beyond its known roles in development—as a paracrine factor on the visceral muscle (VM). Bursicon binding to its receptor, DLGR2, the ortholog of mammalian leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptors (LGR4-6), represses the production of the VM-derived EGF-like growth factor Vein through activation of cAMP.ConclusionsWe therefore identify a novel paradigm in the regulation of ISC quiescence involving the conserved ligand/receptor Bursicon/DLGR2 and a previously unrecognized tissue-intrinsic role of enteroendocrine cells.