Радиосенсибилизация опухолевых стволовых клеток аденокарциномы молочной железы человека линии MCF-7 с помощью никлозамида

Methylation of Cancer-Stem-Cell-Associated Wnt Target Genes Predicts Poor Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer Patients

The human colorectal epithelium is maintained by multipotent stem cells that give rise to absorptive, mucous, and endocrine lineages. Recent evidence suggests that human colorectal cancers are likewise maintained by a minority population of so-called cancer stem cells. We have previously established a human colorectal cancer cell line with multipotent characteristics (HRA-19) and developed a serum-free medium that induces endocrine, mucous and absorptive lineage commitment by HRA-19 cells in vitro. In this study, we investigate the role of the β1 integrin family of cell surface extracellular matrix receptors in multilineage differentiation by these multipotent human colorectal cancer cells. We show that endocrine and mucous lineage commitment is blocked in the presence of function-blocking antibodies to β1 integrin. Function-blocking antibodies to α2 integrin also blocked both HRA-19 endocrine lineage commitment and enterocytic differentiation by Caco-2 human colon cancer cells; both effects being abrogated by the MEK inhibitor, PD98059, suggesting a role for ERK signaling in α2-mediated regulation of colorectal cancer cell differentiation. To further explore the role of α2 integrin in multilineage differentiation, we established multipotent cells expressing high levels of wild-type α2 integrin or a non-signaling chimeric α2 integrin. Overexpression of wild-type α2 integrin in HRA-19 cells significantly enhanced endocrine and mucous lineage commitment, while cells expressing the non-signaling chimeric α2 integrin had negligible ability for either endocrine or mucous lineage commitment. This study indicates that the collagen receptor α2β1 integrin is a regulator of cell fate in human multipotent colorectal cancer cells.

Metastatic disease and recurrence have been hypothesized to result from residual cancer stem cells (CSCs), also referred to as tumor-initiating cells, which evade initial treatment. CSCs are thought to have the ability to recapitulate the heterogeneity of the parental tumor, to self-renew, and to maintain their self-renewing potential over long periods of time. Therapeutic targeting of the CSC population, in addition to differentiated malignant cells, may be critical for the successful treatment and elimination residual disease in human cancer. Hyperthermia has been used as an adjuvant treatment in which body tissue is exposed to high temperatures (up to 45 °C) in combination with radiation or chemotherapy. In this study, we test the hypothesis that a major effect of hyperthermia is to weaken or reduce the CSC population, resulting in reduced invasive metastatic potential. A pulmonary metastasis model was used, where tumor cells are administered to a mouse by i.v injection. 4 × 105 cells/mouse will yield between 50 and 250 pulmonary nodules visible on the lung surface. The tumor nodules can be easily visualized by bioluminescence imaging (BLI). For effects of hyperthermia on metastatic potential, a mouse melanoma (B16F10-Luc.) model was used. Thermal treatment consisted of immersing the cells in a heated water bath with temperature maintained for 25 min at 37 °C or 43 °C. After thermal treatment, viable control or heat treated (HT) cells were injected into the mice via tail vein and BLI used to determine the metastatic disease in the lungs. MDA-MB 231-Luc. breast cancer cells were administrated after HT. Primary tumor volume and lung metastasis were measured by BLI. For comparison, MM 231 and B16 cells were analyzed via FACS following the same regimen of sham or heat treating using the combination CD44+/CD133+ markers to separate and count the CSC population. In the control, metastatic disease resulted in a faintly observed signal in 3 days, and a clearly observed signal in 6 days from the lungs. In contrast, the HT group had no signal at either time point. HT cells similarly showed an initial loss of BLI signal due to denaturation of luciferase, however, this was completely recovered within 4 days. Overall viability was not significantly altered by HT. FACS analysis of the MM 231 cells showed a 52.2 % reduction in CD44 and 29.6 % reduction in CD133 expression compared to controls, from 55.2 % of the total to 26.4 % in CD44 and from 49.2 % of the total to 34.6 % in CD133. B16 cells showed a 32.1 % reduction in CD44 expression, but they showed similar CD133. Both B16 and MM 231 tumor model showed significant changes in tumor growth with HT. The tumor volume of HT group was smaller than control and metastatic disease was also significantly reduced in the HT. These results suggest that hyperthermia may be capable of selectively injuring CSCs thereby reducing the incidence of metastatic disease formation. However, hyperthermia has only minimal impact on overall cancer cell survival numbers, and, due to its limited application in time and space, has no effect on CSCs already seeded or in circulation unless whole-body treatment is possible. These facts may explain hyperthermia's limited clinical efficacy, but also point towards a strategy for leveraging CSC thermal sensitivity to improve outcomes as an adjuvant therapy. Further studies are needed to establish appropriate methods and timing of treatment. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B170. Citation Format: Yoo-Shin Kim, Tae Hoon Lee, Brian E. O'Neill. Non-lethal heat treatment of cells results in reduction in cancer stem cell fraction and metastatic potential. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B170.

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a key role in tumor initiation, progression, and resistance to conventional therapies. These cells possess the ability to self-renew and differentiate, contributing to tumor heterogeneity and recurrence. Preclinical data indicate that targeting cancer stem cell-specific pathways could lead to more effective treatments and prevent relapse, thereby improving outcomes. However, there is limited clinical data to support this, in part due to the challenges of measuring CSCs in the clinical setting. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) data in combination with stemness gene expression signatures were investigated as a novel approach to detect and assess changes in CSC numbers in response to treatment. Methods: Single-cell RNAseq datasets from two clinical trials were interrogated – OPPORTUNE, a window-of-opportunity trial evaluating anastrozole vs anastrozole plus pictilisib (PI3K inhibitor) in 75 patients with ER+ HER2- early breast cancer, and FELINE, a neoadjuvant trial which compared letrozole plus placebo with letrozole plus ribociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) in 120 patients with ER+ HER2- early breast cancer. The primary endpoint for OPPORTUNE was the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation as measured by Ki67. The primary endpoint for FELINE was the rate of preoperative endocrine prognostic index (PEPI) score 0 after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy. Thirty-four patients from the FELINE study had available scRNAseq data for analysis; this number was 62 patients for the OPPORTUNE study. Stemness gene expression signatures with published evidence of selectivity for breast CSCs were identified from the literature and their utility in detecting CSCs compared in the datasets. Subsequently, changes in CSC fraction with treatment was assessed. Results: Eight different stemness gene signatures were identified from the published literature. Among these, four (Kim_myc, benporath_es2, Bhattacharya_hESC, and Shats_consensus) exhibited selective expression in a minority of tumor cells, with the Shats consensus signature demonstrating the highest specificity to tumor cells over non-malignant cells. Utilizing a Gaussian mixture model, we estimated that approximately 4.5% of cells within a tumor are likely stem cells. In the OPPORTUNE study, higher stemness scores were observed in luminal B compared to luminal A tumors, but there was no association with PIK3CA mutation status. Changes to Ki67 were inversely associated with the CSC fraction – tumors with higher stemness scores were less likely to achieve a complete cell cycle arrest versus endocrine-sensitive tumors. Similarly, in the FELINE trial, non-responders in the letrozole arm showed a trend towards elevated stemness scores. Conclusion: The use of stemness gene expression signatures in scRNAseq data is a feasible method to assess changes in putative CSC fraction with treatment in breast cancer. Increased stemness scores were associated with more aggressive subtypes and resistance to treatment. Citation Format: Peter Hall,Alejandro Chibly, Peter Schmid, Sarah E Pinder, Arnie Purushotham, Alastair Thompson, Steven Gendreau. Evaluation of breast cancer stem cell gene expression signatures in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) data from the OPPORTUNE and FELINE trials, and the association with treatment resistance [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2024; 2024 Dec 10-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2025;31(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PS13-01.

The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis proposes that only the CSCs within a tumor possess the ability to self-renew and to generate new tumors. Under this model, CSCs are presumed responsible for cellular invasion and metastasis, as well as the recurrence of cancers following chemotherapy. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), cells which are CD44 positive and lineage negative (CD44+/Lin-) have been shown to possess properties of CSCs. These cells form tumors in NOD/SCID mice at a much greater efficiency compared to CD44-/Lin- cells, and express the proto-oncogene BMI-1. More recently, it has been shown in pancreatic cancer that a distinct subpopulation of CSCs expressing the chemokine receptor CXCR4 is essential for tumor metastasis. Here we demonstrate the existence of a highly invasive CXCR4+ subpopulation in HNSCC cancer stem cells and elucidate the pathways through which this subpopulation could be regulated. For this study putative CSC cultures derived from primary HNSCC tissue were used from which CXCR4-expressing subpopulations were isolated. A matrigel invasion assay revealed that the CXCR4+ fraction of CSCs was significantly more invasive compared to the CXCR4- fraction. We also surveyed the mRNA expression of these two fractions by qRT-PCR, and found that expression of the proteinases MMP2 and MMP9 was markedly higher in CXCR4+ cells. Interestingly, treatment with nicotine increased the expression of CXCR4 and its ligand SDF-1 in the parental CSC culture, suggesting a possible mechanism by which CXCR4 could be regulated within the CSC population. Nicotine, a major component of tobacco, is known to have proliferative, anti-apoptotic, and angiogenic effects, and has been shown to promote epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in a variety of human cancers. Mortality from HNSCC remains high due primarily to cancer invasion of vital structures and development of distant metastases. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms by which CXCR4 confers an invasive and metastatic CSC phenotype. In addition, the observed effects of nicotine could provide novel insights towards the regulation of the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis in HNSCC, for which tobacco use has been identified as the leading risk factor. Continued efforts in mapping the molecular mechanisms surrounding CXCR4-mediated invasion and metastasis of CSCs could lead to new and effective treatment strategies for HNSCC. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4262.

The inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP) are key regulators of anti-apoptotic and pro-survival signaling pathways. Overexpression of IAPs occurs in various cancers and has been associated with tumor progression and resistance to treatment. IAP antagonists activate the E3 ligase function of cIAP1 and stimulate rapid autoubiquitylation and proteosomal degradation of both cIAP1 and cIAP2. Elimination of these proteins leads to a switch in TNFα signalling from being pro-survival to being pro-apoptotic. However, a strong pro-apoptotic effect from cIAP loss cannot be achieved without sustained antagonism of XIAP-mediated caspase inhibition. Therefore, a best in class profile for IAP antagonists requires potent dual antagonism of cIAP1 and XIAP. Astex has used fragment based-drug discovery to develop a second generation of IAP antagonists, which are non-peptidomimetic and do not contain an alanine as a warhead. This series has the ability not only to efficiently degrade cIAP1 but also to potently antagonize XIAP, delivering a dual cIAP1/XIAP inhibitory profile which is not apparent in the first generation of IAP antagonists based on an alanine warhead. Here, we report the structural understanding of the unique molecular profile of the series together with the enhanced activity of these compounds in melanoma cancer stem cells (CSC). CSC populations are more resistant to apoptosis than the bulk cell population and they have been associated with resistance to cancer therapy, relapse and cancer progressions. Blockade of the apoptotic pathway by up-regulation of anti-apoptotic factors has been implicated in conferring resistance in CSC fractions and increased XIAP expression has also been reported in these cells. We have analysed the CD133+ population of three melanoma cell lines (SK-MEL-2, SK-MEL-5 and SK-MEL-28) and measured activation of caspase-3 (NucView™ cell staining) after treatment with IAP antagonists in presence of TNFα. Our potent dual cIAP1/XIAP antagonists (XIAP EC50 <= 5 nM in cells) have a significantly enhanced apoptosis-inducing capacity (p<0.05), on the CSC fraction in all three cell lines, compared to alanine-containing cIAP1 selective antagonists, with reduced XIAP potency (XIAP EC50 > 35 nM in cells). The enhanced XIAP potency of our compounds is overriding the resistance in CSC subpopulations, highlighting the importance of dual antagonism in promoting efficient induction of apoptosis. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):A55. Citation Format: Gianni Chessari, Maria Ahn, Keisha Hearn, Christopher N. Johnson, Jon Lewis, Neil Thompson, George Ward, Pamela Williams. Potent, dual cIAP1/XIAP antagonists induce apoptosis in a melanoma stem cell population. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A55.

Background: We previously reported that small molecule ONC201 induces mitochondrial structural and functional damage, leading to death in breast cancer cells. Subsequent studies demonstrated that ONC201 and the related analogs TR compounds are agonists of mitochondrial caseinolytic protease P (ClpP), an essential protein for maintenance of mitochondrial protein homeostasis. Recent studies have shown that cancer stem cells (CSCs) preferentially use mitochondrial oxidative metabolism for energy production. Here, we report that ClpP agonists inhibit breast CSCs by unique mechanisms targeting pathways vital to maintain CSC function. Methods: ONC201 and other ClpP agonists (TR-57, 65), other mitochondria-targeting drugs, such as oligomycin, metformin, CPI-613 were used. MDA-MB231 cell line was used as a primary in vitro model system. CLPP knockout (KO) cells were generated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Seahorse XF analyzer was used for cellular respiration analysis. Luminescence-based assays were used for cell viability and metabolism assays. Protein expression was examined by Western blotting. Aldefluor assay and SORE6 (OCT4/SOX2 response element)-reporter gene were used to monitor CSC fraction. Mammosphere formation assay was used to evaluate CSC function in vitro. In vivo limiting dilution analysis was used to evaluate tumor initiation capability of cells injected into mammary fat pad of athymic nude female mice. Results: Seahorse XF analyzer showed that mammospheres are more dependent on OxPhos than glycolysis compared with cells grown in 2D, supporting the hypothesis that breast CSCs rely on OxPhos. ClpP agonists reduced the CSC fraction in both Aldefluor and SORE6 reporter assays. ClpP agonists inhibited mammosphere formation in CLPP WT, but not in CLPP KO cells, demonstrating the on-target effects on CSC function. In in vivo assays, tumor formation was significantly (p<0.001) inhibited in the ClpP agonist-treated group compared with the control group, and the effect was CLPP-dependent. Altogether, these findings support that ClpP agonists inhibit CSC in breast cancers. We found that ClpP agonists downregulate multiple pathways and proteins critical for CSC maintenance including mevalonate pathway, HIF1a, EPAS1, YAP, and Myc. We also observed that other mitochondria targeting drugs such as oligomycin, metformin downregulate these signaling pathways and proteins to some extent. Importantly, however, ClpP agonists showed significantly greater impact in mammosphere formation and cell growth assays, compared with other mitochondria-targeting drugs. Further studies revealed that ClpP agonists uniquely deplete NAD+/NADH and promote reactive oxygen species, both of which are shown as key factors to maintain pluripotency of stem cells. Moreover, ClpP agonists uniquely inhibited enzymes involved with glutamine catabolism and proline biosynthesis, vital to amino acids and nucleotide synthesis. Conclusion: ClpP agonists inhibit cell growth and tumor initiation in breast cancer cells by targeting multiple pathways essential to maintain CSC function. Citation Format: Yoshimi E. Greer, Lidia Hernandez, Donna Voeller, Raj Chari, Binwu Tang, Christina M. Annunziata, Sam Gilbert, Lalage Wakefield, Edwin Iwanowicz, Lee M. Graves, Stanley Lipkowitz. Mitochondrial matrix protease ClpP agonists suppress breast cancer stem cell function by downregulating multiple stem cell regulatory mechanisms [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC Virtual International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2021 Oct 7-10. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2021;20(12 Suppl):Abstract nr P127.

BackgroundThe role of the immune system in tumor progression has been a subject for discussion for many decades. Numerous studies suggest that a low immune response might be beneficial, if not necessary, for tumor growth, and only a strong immune response can counter tumor growth and thus inhibit progression.MethodsWe implement a cellular automaton model previously described that captures the dynamical interactions between the cancer stem and non-stem cell populations of a tumor through a process of self-metastasis. By overlaying on this model the diffusion of immune reactants into the tumor from a peripheral source to target cells, we simulate the process of immune-system-induced cell kill on tumor progression.ResultsA low cytotoxic immune reaction continuously kills cancer cells and, although at a low rate, thereby causes the liberation of space-constrained cancer stem cells to drive self-metastatic progression and continued tumor growth. With increasing immune system strength, however, tumor growth peaks, and then eventually falls below the intrinsic tumor sizes observed without an immune response. With this increasing immune response the number and proportion of cancer stem cells monotonically increases, implicating an additional unexpected consequence, that of cancer stem cell selection, to the immune response.ConclusionsCancer stem cells and immune cytotoxicity alone are sufficient to explain the three-step “immunoediting” concept – the modulation of tumor growth through inhibition, selection and promotion.

Although the poly adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib is known to have potent antitumor activity in BRCA-related breast cancer cells, a limited number of preclinical and clinical studies have shown antitumor activity of olaparib in non-BRCA-related breast cancer. We investigated antitumor activity of olaparib in breast cancer cell lines derived from patients with nonfamilial sporadic breast cancer. Effects of olaparib alone or in combination with five different chemotherapeutic agents on cell growth, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and proportion of cancer stem cells using the mammosphere assay and CD44/CD24/ESA cell surface marker assay were investigated in a panel of six sporadic breast cancer cell lines. Extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation was also investigated to elucidate action mechanisms of olaparib. Olaparib inhibited the growth of two estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer cell lines and two ER-negative and HER2-negative breast cancer cell lines (50% growth inhibitory concentrations 1.3-3.0 μM) associated with G2/M accumulation and induction of apoptosis. In contrast, two HER2-positive cell lines were resistant to olaparib. Interestingly, olaparib significantly decreased the proportion of putative cancer stem cells in either sensitive or resistant cell lines. In addition, olaparib increased expression of p-ERK. Combined treatments of olaparib with a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor U0126 completely suppressed expression of p-ERK. These treatments also inhibited the G2/M accumulation and apoptosis induction by olaparib. Among five chemotherapeutic agents commonly used for breast cancer treatment, only an irinotecan metabolite SN38 showed additive antitumor activity with olaparib. Importantly, the combined treatment enhanced the increase in G2/M accumulation and apoptosis induction as well as a decrease in the proportion of cancer stem cells. This study has indicated for the first time that the PARP inhibitor olaparib has substantial antitumor and anticancer stem cell activity in breast cancer cell lines of nonfamilial origin. Upregulation of p-ERK might explain, at least in part, antitumor and anticancer stem cell activity of olaparib. Combined treatment of olaparib with irinotecan might be effective in treatment of non-BRCA-related breast cancer.

The cancer stem cell hypothesis posits that cancers contain a subset of neoplastic cells that propagate and maintain tumors through sustained self-renewal and potent tumorigenecity. Recent excitement has been generated by a number of reports that have demonstrated the existence of cancer stem cells in several types of brain tumors. Brain cancer stem cells - also called tumor initiating cells or tumor propagating cells - share features with normal neural stem cells but do not necessarily originate from stem cells. Although most cancers have only a small fraction of cancer stem cells, these tumor cells have been shown in laboratory studies to contribute to therapeutic resistance, formation of new blood vessels to supply the tumor, and tumor spread. As malignant brain tumors rank among the deadliest of all neurologic diseases, the identification of new cellular targets may have profound implications in neuro-oncology. Novel drugs that target stem cell pathways active in brain tumors have been efficacious against cancer stem cells suggesting that anti-cancer stem cell therapies may advance brain tumor therapy. The cancer stem cell hypothesis may have several implications for other neurologic diseases as caution must be exercised in activating stem cell maintenance pathways in cellular therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The ability for a small fraction of cells to determine the overall course of a disease may also inform new paradigms of disease that may translate into improved patient outcomes.

Spectrins are ubiquitous scaffolding components of the membrane skeleton that organize and stabilize microdomains on both the plasma membrane and the intracellular organelles. By way of their numerous interactions with diverse protein families, they are implicated in various cellular functions. Using small interfering RNA strategy in the WM-266 cell line derived from human melanoma, we found that alphaII-spectrin deficiency is associated with a defect in cell proliferation, which is related to a cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase (first gap phase), as evaluated by DNA analysis and Rb phosphorylation. These observations coincided with elevated expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21Cip. Concomitantly, spectrin loss impaired cell adhesion and spreading. These cell adhesion defects were associated with modifications of the actin cytoskeleton, such as loss of stress fibers, alterations of focal adhesions, and modified expression of some integrins. Our results provide novel insights into spectrin functions by demonstrating the involvement of alphaII-spectrin in cell cycle regulation and actin organization.

Purpose:To explore the aggressive recurrence and radioresistence of GBM with a dual compartment tumor survival mathematical model based on intrinsic tumor heterogeneity, cancer stem cells (CSC) and differentiated cancer cells (DCC).Methods:The repopulation and differentiation responses to radiotherapy of a solid tumor were simulated using an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE). To obtain the tumor radiobiological parameters, we assumed that a tumor consists of two subpopulations, each with its distinctive linear quadratic parameters. The dual compartment cell survival model was constructed as SF(D)=F × exp(‐α1 D‐β1D2) + (1‐F) × exp(‐α2D‐β2D2) for a single fraction of treatment, with F as the fraction of CSC, and α and β describing the radiological properties of each population. Robust least square fitting was performed on clonogenic survival data from one GBM (U373MG) and one NSCLC (H460) cell line. The fit parameters were then used in the ODE model to predict treatment outcome of various treatment schemes.Results:The fit parameters from GBM cell survival data were (F, α1, β1, α2, β2)=(0.0396, 0.0801, 0.0006, 0.1363, 0.0279), exhibiting two populations with distinctive radiological properties, CSC more radioresistant than DCC. The GBM cell line exhibited significantly poorer tumor control than its single compartment model prediction and NSCLC, which responded well to hypofrationation. The increased radioresistance was due to rapid regrowth of the DCC compartment triggered by its depletion while maintaining a viable CSC population. The rapid regrowth can be reduced by treating dose fractions ≤ 2 Gy with a prolonged treatment period.Conclusion:The interaction between a radioresistant CSC compartment and DCC compartment can explain the poor clinical outcome of GBM after radiotherapy despite dose escalation and hypofractionation attempts. Lower dose fractions result in better treatment outcome but still eventually recurs. Dose escalation beyond 100 Gy and/or differentiation therapy will be vital in achieving GBM tumor control.

Introduction: Studying clonogenic behavior of tumor cells in the context of physiologically relevant ECM offers the potential to explore signaling processes which more closely approximate the in vivo microenvironment. This approach is valuable for identification and dissection of the key molecular signaling of cancer cells to test targeted drugs. 3D cell cultures have been recognized as the method of choice for the physiologically relevant modeling of many aspects of malignant cell behavior ex vivo. Kenny et al., 2007 identified that morphologies of breast cancer cell lines in 3D assays correlate with their gene expression profiles and protein expression patterns reflecting the underlying distinct morphologies which were associated with tumor cell invasiveness and metastases-associated phenotypes. Study of the molecular characteristics and clinical significance of CSC in the context of prognostic relevance as well as the understanding the scope of therapeutically targeting CSC within distinct tumor cell populations have revealed that CD44+ cell-specific genes represents SC markers and correlated with decreased patient survival (Fillmore and Kuperwasser, 2008). Hypothesis: Since 3D clonogenic growth of epithelial tumor cells represents the most appropriate model in vitro, we hypothesized that there is a functional association between phenotypic 3D clonogenic growth and cancer stem cells (CSC) proportion. Methods: To study the role of CSCs in the 3D clonogenic growth of tumor cells we have used BC and ovarian cell lines.The cells were challenged to form 3D colonies in matrigel and cells were recovered from the 3D colonies after de-gelling using PBS-EDTA buffer. Relative distribution of CD24+, CD44+, CD24- and CD44- expression in cells were determined by flow cytometry (Accuri C6) following recovery of the cells from the colony and compared to cells grown in 2D. We have tested the effect of a rational combination of pan-PI3K pathway inhibitor, GDC-0941 or isoform-specific inhibitors along with AI, trastuzumab, or HRD inhibitors (PARP) in ER+/PIK3CA mutated, HER2+/PIK3CA mutated or PTEN-null TNBC cells. Results: CD44/CD24 expression level changes between 2D and 3D growth was characterized in individual cell lines. Overall 3D growth led to a reduction in CD44 levels. Rational drug combinations blocked proliferative signals and enhanced apoptosis (cleaved caspase3) as demonstrated by WB, AnnexinV staining, proliferation (Incucyte). The mechanistic details of the effect of this combination on the CD44H/CD24L stem cell populations are being worked out, the results of which will be presented in the meeting. Significance: Our study reports a methodological breakthrough to determine CD24L/CD44H CSC fraction from live cells following 3D clonogenic transformation. Citation Format: Jennifer H. Carlson, Nandini Dey, Pradip De, Lori Friedman, Casey Williams, Brian Leyland-Jones. Identifying a functional correlation between cancer stem cells and 3D clonogenic growth: testing rational combinations of PI3K pathway inhibitors in subtype-specific BC. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3303.

Targeting the Hedgehog and Notch Signaling Pathways

BackgroundBmi1 is an integral component of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) and is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple cancers. It also plays a key role in the functioning of endogenous stem cells and cancer stem cells. Previous work implicated a role for cancer stem cells in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. We hypothesized that Bmi1 plays an integral role in enhancing pancreatic tumorigenicity and the function of cancer stem cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.MethodsWe measured endogenous Bmi1 levels in primary human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs) and normal pancreas by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The function of Bmi1 in pancreatic cancer was assessed by alteration of Bmi1 expression in several cell model systems by measuring cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, in vitro invasion, chemotherapy resistance, and in vivo growth and metastasis in an orthotopic model of pancreatic cancer. We also assessed the cancer stem cell frequency, tumorsphere formation, and in vivo growth of human pancreatic cancer xenografts after Bmi1 silencing.ResultsBmi1 was overexpressed in human PanINs, pancreatic cancers, and in several pancreatic cancer cell lines. Overexpression of Bmi1 in MiaPaCa2 cells resulted in increased proliferation, in vitro invasion, larger in vivo tumors, more metastases, and gemcitabine resistance while opposite results were seen when Bmi1 was silenced in Panc-1 cells. Bmi1 was overexpressed in the cancer stem cell compartment of primary human pancreatic cancer xenografts. Pancreatic tumorspheres also demonstrated high levels of Bmi1. Silencing of Bmi1 inhibited secondary and tertiary tumorsphere formation, decreased primary pancreatic xenograft growth, and lowered the proportion of cancer stem cells in the xenograft tissue.ConclusionsOur results implicate Bmi1 in the invasiveness and growth of pancreatic cancer and demonstrate its key role in the regulation of pancreatic cancer stem cells.