Cell Reports

2019
Oberlick EM, Rees MG, Seashore-Ludlow B, Vazquez F, Nelson GM, Dharia NV, Weir BA, Tsherniak A, Ghandi M, Krill-Burger JM, Meyers RM, Wang X, Montgomery P, Root DE, Bieber JM, Radko S, Cheah JH, Hon S-YC, Shamji AF, Clemons PA, Park PJ, Dyer MA, Golub TR, Stegmaier K, Hahn WC, Stewart EA, Schreiber SL, Roberts CWM. Small-Molecule and CRISPR Screening Converge to Reveal Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Dependencies in Pediatric Rhabdoid Tumors. Cell Rep 2019;28(9):2331-2344.e8.Abstract
Cancer is often seen as a disease of mutations and chromosomal abnormalities. However, some cancers, including pediatric rhabdoid tumors (RTs), lack recurrent alterations targetable by current drugs and need alternative, informed therapeutic options. To nominate potential targets, we performed a high-throughput small-molecule screen complemented by a genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 gene-knockout screen in a large number of RT and control cell lines. These approaches converged to reveal several receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) as therapeutic targets, with RTK inhibition effective in suppressing RT cell growth in vitro and against a xenograft model in vivo. RT cell lines highly express and activate (phosphorylate) different RTKs, creating dependency without mutation or amplification. Downstream of RTK signaling, we identified PTPN11, encoding the pro-growth signaling protein SHP2, as a shared dependency across all RT cell lines. This study demonstrates that large-scale perturbational screening can uncover vulnerabilities in cancers with "quiet" genomes.
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2018
Zhang Y, Yang L, Kucherlapati M, Chen F, Hadjipanayis A, Pantazi A, Bristow CA, Lee EA, Mahadeshwar HS, Tang J, Zhang J, Seth S, Lee S, Ren X, Song X, Sun H, Seidman J, Luquette LJ, Xi R, Chin L, Protopopov A, Li W, Park PJ, Kucherlapati R, Creighton CJ. A Pan-Cancer Compendium of Genes Deregulated by Somatic Genomic Rearrangement across More Than 1,400 Cases. Cell Reports 2018;24(2):515-527.Abstract
A systematic cataloging of genes affected by genomic rearrangement, using multiple patient cohorts and cancer types, can provide insight into cancer-relevant alterations outside of exomes. By integrative analysis of whole-genome sequencing (predominantly low pass) and gene expression data from 1,448 cancers involving 18 histopathological types in The Cancer Genome Atlas, we identified hundreds of genes for which the nearby presence (within 100 kb) of a somatic structural variant (SV) breakpoint is associated with altered expression. While genomic rearrangements are associated with widespread copy-number alteration (CNA) patterns, approximately 1,100 genes-including overexpressed cancer driver genes (e.g., TERT, ERBB2, CDK12, CDK4) and underexpressed tumor suppressors (e.g., TP53, RB1, PTEN, STK11)-show SV-associated deregulation independent of CNA. SVs associated with the disruption of topologically associated domains, enhancer hijacking, or fusion transcripts are implicated in gene upregulation. For cancer-relevant pathways, SVs considerably expand our understanding of how genes are affected beyond point mutation or CNA.
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2016
Chen F, Zhang Y, Şenbabaoğlu Y, Ciriello G, Yang L, Reznik E, Shuch B, Micevic G, De Velasco G, Shinbrot E, Noble MS, Lu Y, Covington KR, Xi L, Drummond JA, Muzny D, Kang H, Lee J, Tamboli P, Reuter V, Shelley CS, Kaipparettu BA, Bottaro DP, Godwin AK, Gibbs RA, Getz G, Kucherlapati R, Park PJ, Sander C, Henske EP, Zhou JH, Kwiatkowski DJ, Ho TH, Choueiri TK, Hsieh JJ, Akbani R, Mills GB, Hakimi AA, Wheeler DA, Creighton CJ. Multilevel Genomics-Based Taxonomy of Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cell Rep 2016;Abstract

On the basis of multidimensional and comprehensive molecular characterization (including DNA methalylation and copy number, RNA, and protein expression), we classified 894 renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) of various histologic types into nine major genomic subtypes. Site of origin within the nephron was one major determinant in the classification, reflecting differences among clear cell, chromophobe, and papillary RCC. Widespread molecular changes associated with TFE3 gene fusion or chromatin modifier genes were present within a specific subtype and spanned multiple subtypes. Differences in patient survival and in alteration of specific pathways (including hypoxia, metabolism, MAP kinase, NRF2-ARE, Hippo, immune checkpoint, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR) could further distinguish the subtypes. Immune checkpoint markers and molecular signatures of T cell infiltrates were both highest in the subtype associated with aggressive clear cell RCC. Differences between the genomic subtypes suggest that therapeutic strategies could be tailored to each RCC disease subset.

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2013
Ferrari F, Plachetka A, Alekseyenko AA, Jung YL, Ozsolak F, Kharchenko PV, Park PJ, Kuroda MI. "Jump start and gain" model for dosage compensation in Drosophila based on direct sequencing of nascent transcripts. Cell Rep 2013;5(3):629-36.Abstract

Dosage compensation in Drosophila is mediated by the MSL complex, which increases male X-linked gene expression approximately 2-fold. The MSL complex preferentially binds the bodies of active genes on the male X, depositing H4K16ac with a 3' bias. Two models have been proposed for the influence of the MSL complex on transcription: one based on promoter recruitment of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), and a second featuring enhanced transcriptional elongation. Here, we utilize nascent RNA sequencing to document dosage compensation during transcriptional elongation. We also compare X and autosomes from published data on paused and elongating polymerase in order to assess the role of Pol II recruitment. Our results support a model for differentially regulated elongation, starting with release from 5' pausing and increasing through X-linked gene bodies. Our results highlight facilitated transcriptional elongation as a key mechanism for the coordinated regulation of a diverse set of genes.

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