Anti-Amphiregulin (full length) polyclonal antibody

Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is characterized by in-frame fusion of DnaJ heat shock protein family (Hsp40) member B1 (DNAJB1) with protein kinase cAMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha (PRKACA) and by dense desmoplasia. Surgery is the only effective treatment because mechanisms supporting tumor survival are unknown. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize a patient-derived FLC xenograft model and identify therapeutic targets. Human FLC cells segregated into four discrete clusters that all expressed the oncogene Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1). The two communities most enriched with cells coexpressing FLC markers [CD68, A-kinase anchoring protein 12 (AKAP12), cytokeratin 7, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM), and carbamoyl palmitate synthase-1] also had the most cells expressing YAP1 and its pro-proliferative target genes (AREG and CCND1), suggesting these were proliferative FLC cell clusters. The other two clusters were enriched with cells expressing profibrotic YAP1 target genes, ACTA2, ELN, and C0L1A1, indicating these were fibrogenic FLC cells. All clusters expressed the YAP1 target gene and mesothelial progenitor marker mesothelin, and many mesothelin-positive cells coexpressed albumin. Trajectory analysis predicted that the four FLC communities were derived from a single cell type transitioning among phenotypic states. After establishing a novel FLC cell line that harbored the DNAJB1-PRKACA fusion, YAP1 was inhibited, which significantly reduced expression of known YAP1 target genes as well as cell growth and migration. Thus, both FLC epithelial and stromal cells appear to arise from DNAJB1-PRKACA fusion in a YAP1-dependent liver mesothelial progenitor, identifying YAP1 as a target for FLC therapy.

iRhoms are closely related to rhomboid intramembrane proteases but lack catalytic activity. In mammals iRhoms are known to regulate the trafficking of TACE, the protease that cleaves the membrane bound inflammatory cytokine TNF. We have mapped a spontaneously occurring mouse mutation with a loss of hair phenotype, curly bare (cub), to the Rhbdf2 locus, which encodes the iRhom2 protein. The cub deletion removes the first 268 amino acids of the iRhom2 protein but is not a loss of function. We have also identified a previously reported suppressor of cub, called Mcub (modifier of curly bare), and find it to be a loss of function allele of the amphiregulin gene (Areg). Amphiregulin is an activating ligand of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that, like TNF, is released by TACE. Our results therefore imply a regulatory link between iRhoms and EGFR signalling in mammals. We have tested the model that the cub mutation leads to iRhom2 hyperactivity and consequently excess TACE processing of amphiregulin and elevated EGFR signalling. Our results do not support this hypothesis: we find that, compared to wild-type cells, cub mutant embryonic fibroblasts release less amphiregulin, and that the cub mutant form of iRhom2 is less able than wild type to bind to TACE and promote its maturation.