CAMK2A supported tumor initiating cells of lung adenocarcinoma by upregulating SOX2 through EZH2 phosphorylation
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
Authors: Wang, Si-Qi; Liu, Jing; Qin, Jing; Zhu, Yun; Tin, Vicky Pui-Chi; Yam, Judy Wai Ping; Wong, Maria Pik; Xiao, Zhi-Jie
Abstract
Tumor initiating cells (TIC) of lung cancer are mainly induced by stress-related plasticity. Calcium/Calmodulin dependent protein kinase II alpha (CAMK2A) is a key calcium signaling molecule activated by exogenous and endogenous stimuli with effects on multiple cell functions but little is known about its role on TIC. In human lung adenocarcinomas (AD), CAMK2A was aberrantly activated in a proportion of cases and was an independent risk factor predicting shorter survivals. Functionally, CAMK2A enhanced TIC phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. CAMK2A regulated SOX2 expression by reducing H3K27me3 and EZH2 occupancy at SOX2 regulatory regions, leading to its epigenetic de-repression with functional consequences. Further, CAMK2A caused kinase-dependent phosphorylation of EZH2 at T487 with suppression of EZH2 activity. Together, the data demonstrated the CAMK2A-EZH2-SOX2 axis on TIC regulation. This study provided phenotypic and mechanistic evidence for the TIC supportive role of CAMK2A, implicating a novel predictive and therapeutic target for lung cancer.
A systems medicine approach for finding target proteins affecting treatment outcomes in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma
PLOS ONE
Authors: Ajorloo, Faezeh; Vaezi, Mohammad; Saadat, Alireza; Safaee, Seyed Reza; Gharib, Behrouz; Ghanei, Mostafa; Siadat, Seyed Davar; Vaziri, Farzam; Fateh, Abolfazl; Pazhouhandeh, Mehrdad; Vaziri, Behrouz; Moazemi, Reza; Mahboudi, Fereidoun; Jamnani, Fatemeh Rahimi
Abstract
Autoantibody profiling with a systems medicine approach can help identify critical dysregulated signaling pathways (SPs) in cancers. In this way, immunoglobulins G (IgG) purified from the serum samples of 92 healthy controls, 10 pre-treated (PR) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients, and 20 NHL patients who underwent chemotherapy (PS) were screened with a phage-displayed random peptide library. Protein-protein interaction networks of the PR and PS groups were analyzed and visualized by Gephi. The results indicated AXIN2, SENP2, TOP2A, FZD6, NLK, HDAC2, HDAC1, and EHMT2, in addition to CAMK2A, PLCG1, PLCG2, GRM5, GRIN2B, GRIN2D, CACNA2D3, and SPTAN1 as hubs in 11 and 7 modules of PR and PS networks, respectively. PR-and PS-specific hubs were evaluated in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Reactome databases. The PR-specific hubs were involved in Wnt SP, signaling by Notch1 in cancer, telomere maintenance, and transcriptional misregulation. In contrast, glutamate receptor SP, Fc receptor-related pathways, growth factors-related SPs, and Wnt SP were statistically significant enriched pathways, based on the pathway analysis of PS hubs. The results revealed that the most PR-specific proteins were associated with events involved in tumor development, while chemotherapy in the PS group was associated with side effects of drugs and/or cancer recurrence. As the findings demonstrated, PR-and PS-specific proteins in this study can be promising therapeutic targets in future studies.