Neuroblastoma, an embryonal tumor of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, accounts for approximately 15% of all deaths due to childhood cancer1. High-risk neuroblastomas, prevalent in the majority of patients, are rapidly progressive; even with intensive myeloablative chemotherapy, relapse is common and almost uniformly fatal2,3. Here we report the detection of previously unknown mutations in the ALK gene, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, in 8% of primary neuroblastomas. Five non-synonymous sequence variations were identified in the kinase domain of ALK, of which three were somatic and two were germline. The most frequent mutation, F1174L, was also identified in three different neuroblastoma cell lines. ALK cDNAs encoding the F1174L and R1275Q variants, but not the wild-type ALK cDNA, transformed IL-3-dependent murine hematopoietic Ba/F3 cells to cytokine-independent growth. Ba/F3 cells expressing these mutations were sensitive to a small-molecule inhibitor of ALK, TAE6844. Furthermore, two human neuroblastoma cell lines harboring the F1174L mutation were sensitive to the inhibitor. Cytotoxicity was associated with increased levels of apoptosis as measured by TUNEL-labeling. shRNA-mediated knockdown of ALK expression in neuroblastoma cell lines with the F1174L mutation also resulted in apoptosis and impaired cell proliferation. Thus, activating alleles of the ALK receptor tyrosine kinase are present in primary neuroblastoma tumors and in established neuroblastoma cell lines, and confer sensitivity to ALK inhibition with small molecules, providing a molecular rationale for targeted therapy of this disease.
c-MYC (MYC) overexpression or hyperactivation is one of the most common drivers of human cancer. Despite intensive study, the MYC oncogene remains recalcitrant to therapeutic inhibition. MYC is a transcription factor, and many of its pro-tumorigenic functions have been attributed to its ability to regulate gene expression programs1–3. Notably, oncogenic MYC activation has also been shown to increase total RNA and protein production in many tissue and disease contexts4–7. While such increases in RNA and protein production may endow cancer cells with pro-tumor hallmarks, this elevation in synthesis may also generate new or heightened burden on MYC-driven cancer cells to properly process these macromolecules8. Herein, we discover the spliceosome as a new target of oncogenic stress in MYC-driven cancers. We identify BUD31 as a MYC-synthetic lethal gene, and demonstrate that BUD31 is a component of the core spliceosome required for its assembly and catalytic activity. Core spliceosomal factors (SF3B1, U2AF1, and others) associated with BUD31 are also required to tolerate oncogenic MYC. Notably, MYC hyperactivation induces an increase in total pre-mRNA synthesis, suggesting an increased burden on the core spliceosome to process pre-mRNA. In contrast to normal cells, partial inhibition of the spliceosome in MYC-hyperactivated cells leads to global intron retention, widespread defects in pre-mRNA maturation, and deregulation of many essential cell processes. Importantly, genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of the spliceosome in vivo impairs survival, tumorigenicity, and metastatic proclivity of MYC-dependent breast cancers. Collectively, these data suggest that oncogenic MYC confers a collateral stress on splicing and that components of the spliceosome may be therapeutic entry points for aggressive MYC-driven cancers.
Pulmonary toxicology studies in rats demonstrate that nanoparticles administered to the lung are more toxic than larger, fine-sized particles of similar chemistry at identical mass concentrations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute lung toxicity in rats of intratracheally instilled pigment-grade TiO2 particles (rutile-type particle size = approximately 300 nm) versus nanoscale TiO2 rods (anatase = 200 nm x 35 nm) or nanoscale TiO2 dots (anatase = approximately 10 nm) compared with a positive control particle type, quartz. Groups of rats were instilled with doses of 1 or 5 mg/kg of the various particle types in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Subsequently, the lungs of PBS- and particle-exposed rats were assessed using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid biomarkers, cell proliferation methods, and by the histopathological evaluation of lung tissue at 24 h, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postinstillation exposure. Exposures to nanoscale TiO2 rods or nanoscale TiO2 dots produced transient inflammatory and cell injury effects at 24 h postexposure (pe) and were not different from the pulmonary effects of larger sized TiO2 particle exposures. In contrast, pulmonary exposures to quartz particles in rats produced a dose-dependent lung inflammatory response characterized by neutrophils and foamy lipid-containing alveolar macrophage accumulation as well as evidence of early lung tissue thickening consistent with the development of pulmonary fibrosis. The results described herein provide the first example of nanoscale particle types which are not more cytotoxic or inflammogenic to the lung compared to larger sized particles of similar composition. Furthermore, these findings run counter to the postulation that surface area is a major factor associated with the pulmonary toxicity of nanoscale particle types.
Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) commonly retain wild-type but functionally inactive p53, which is repressed by an unknown dominant mechanism. To help reveal this mechanism, we screened a diverse chemical library for small molecules capable of restoring p53-dependent transactivation in RCC cells carrying a p53-responsive reporter. Among the compounds isolated were derivatives of 9-aminoacridine (9AA), including the antimalaria drug quinacrine, which strongly induced p53 function in RCC and other types of cancer cells. Induction of p53 by these compounds does not involve genotoxic stress and is mediated by suppression of NF-B activity. In contrast to agents that target I B kinase 2, 9AA and quinacrine can effectively suppress both basal and inducible activities of NF-B, representing inhibitors of a previously undescribed type that convert NF-B from a transactivator into a transrepressor, leading to accumulation of inactive nuclear complexes with unphosphorylated Ser-536 in the p65͞RelA subunit. p53 function in RCC can be restored by ectopic expression of a superrepressor of I B as effectively as by 9AA-derived compounds. These findings suggest that the complete or partial repression of p53 observed in many tumors can be the result of constitutive activation of NF-B. The results demonstrate, in principle, the possibility to kill cancer cells selectively through simultaneous inhibition of NF-B and activation of p53 by a single small molecule and suggest anticancer applications for the well known antimalaria drug quinacrine.anticancer treatment ͉ apoptosis ͉ chemical library ͉ quinacrine T he protein p53 controls genetic stability and reduces the risk of cancer through induction of growth arrest or apoptosis in response to DNA damage or deregulation of proto-oncogenes (1). The efficacy of p53 as a tumor-preventing factor is reflected by the high frequency of p53 loss, in at least 50% of human tumors, due to inactivating mutations (2). Understanding the mechanisms of functional inactivation of wild-type p53 in human tumors, for example, by overexpression of natural antagonists of p53, Mdm2, or the viral protein E6, helps to define prospective targets for treating cancer by restoring p53 function (3).We have recently shown that renal cell carcinomas (RCC), the most frequent and least curable type of kidney cancer, maintain wild-type but functionally inactive p53 (4). The mechanism of p53 repression in RCC is dominant, and therefore ''druggable,'' and different from that of all reported cases of p53 repression in tumors, suggesting the existence of an as-yet-unknown molecular target for restoring p53 function in cancer. As an approach to finding such factor(s), we have isolated a set of compounds that can restore p53 function in RCC and strongly activate p53 in many other types of cancer cells. Among the most effective compounds from this set were derivatives of 9-aminoacridine (9AA), including an old-known antimalaria drug quinacrine (QC). Analysis of the molecular mechanisms of action of 9AA and QC showed that p53 activat...
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