Heike Peterziel

Genomic and Expression Profiling of Glioblastoma Stem Cell-Like Spheroid Cultures Identifies Novel Tumor-Relevant Genes Associated with Survival

Purpose: Glioblastoma spheroid cultures are enriched in tumor stem-like cells and therefore may be more representative of the respective primary tumors than conventional monolayer cultures. We exploited the glioma spheroid culture model to find novel tumor-relevant genes. Experimental Design: We carried out array-based comparative genomic hybridization of spheroid cultures derived from 20 glioblastomas. Microarray-based gene expression analysis was applied to determine genes with differential expression compared with normal brain tissue and to nonneoplastic brain spheroids in glioma spheroid cultures. The protein expression levels of three candidates were determined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays and correlated with clinical outcome. Functional analysis of PDPN was done. Results: Genomic changes in spheroid cultures closely resembled those detected in primary tumors of the corresponding patients. In contrast, genomic changes in serum-grown monolayer cultures established from the same patients did not match well with the respective primary tumors. Microarray-based gene expression analysis of glioblastoma spheroid cultures identified a set of novel candidate genes being upregulated or downregulated relative to normal brain. Quantitative real-time PCR analyses of 8 selected candidate genes in 20 clinical glioblastoma samples validated the microarray findings. Immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays revealed that expression of AJAP1, EMP3, and PDPN was significantly associated with overall survival of astrocytic glioma patients. Invasive capacity and RhoA activity were decreased in PDPN-silenced spheroids. Conclusion: We identified a set of novel candidate genes that likely play a role in glioblastoma pathogenesis and implicate AJAP1, EMP3, and PDPN as molecular markers associated with the clinical outcome of glioma patients. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(21):6541–50)

Transforming growth factor β2 is released from PC12 cells via the regulated pathway of secretion

Transforming growth factor beta2 (TGF-beta2), a prototypic member of a large superfamily of multifunctional cytokines, is expressed by neurons and glial cells. Its subcellular compartmentalization and release from neurons, however, are largely unknown. Here we show that TGF-beta2 colocalizes with the trans-Golgi network marker TGN38 and a marker molecule for secretory granules, chromogranin B (CgB), in PC12 cells. Similarly, primary hippocampal neurons show colocalization of TGN38 and TGF-beta2. A substantial amount of endogenous as well as transfected TGF-beta2 in PC12 cells comigrates with CgB on an equilibrium gradient, suggesting costorage in secretory granules. TGF-beta biological activity peaks in identical fractions. Depolarization of PC12 cells with high potassium triggers colocalization of CgB and TGF-beta2 at the cell surface, suggesting their regulated corelease from secretory granules. High potassium also liberates biologically active TGF-beta from PC12 cells and primary neurons. Our results indicate that a substantial portion of TGF-beta2 is secreted by the regulated secretory pathway in PC12 cells and hippocampal neurons.

Expression of podoplanin in human astrocytic brain tumors is controlled by the PI3K-AKT-AP-1 signaling pathway and promoter methylation

Recently, we found strong overexpression of the mucin-type glycoprotein podoplanin (PDPN) in human astrocytic brain tumors, specifically in primary glioblastoma multiforme (GB). In the current study, we show an inverse correlation between PDPN expression and PTEN levels in primary human GB and glioma cell lines, and we report elevated PDPN protein levels in the subventricular zone of brain tissue sections of PTEN-deficient mice. In human glioma cells lacking functional PTEN, reintroduction of wild-type PTEN, inhibition of the PTEN downstream target protein kinase B/AKT, or interference with transcription factor AP-1 function resulted in efficient downregulation of PDPN expression. In addition, we observed hypoxia-dependent PDPN transcriptional control and demonstrated that PDPN expression is subject to negative transcriptional regulation by promoter methylation in human GB and in glioma cell lines. Treatment of PTEN-negative glioma cells with demethylating agents induced expression of PDPN. Together, our findings show that increased PDPN expression in human GB is caused by loss of PTEN function and activation of the PI3K-AKT-AP-1 signaling pathway, accompanied by epigenetic regulation of PDPN promoter activity. Silencing of PDPN expression leads to reduced proliferation and migration of glioma cells, suggesting a functional role of PDPN in glioma progression and malignancy. Thus, specific targeting of PDPN expression and/or function could be a promising strategy for the treatment of patients with primary GB.

Specificity in the crosstalk of TGFβ/GDNF family members is determined by distinct GFR alpha receptors

Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NRTN) are neurotrophic factors for parasympathetic neurons including ciliary ganglion (CG) neurons. Recently, we have shown that survival and signaling mediated by GDNF in CG neurons essentially requires transforming growth factor β (TGFβ). We have provided evidence that TGFβ regulates the availability of the glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)‐anchored GDNF receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1) by promoting the recruitment of the receptor to the plasma membrane. We report now that in addition to GDNF, NRTN, but not persephin (PSPN) or artemin (ARTN), is able to promote survival of CG neurons. Interestingly, in contrast to GDNF, NRTN is not dependent on cooperation with TGFβ, but efficiently promotes neuronal survival and intracellular signaling in the absence of TGFβ. Additional treatment with TGFβ does not further increase the NRTN response. Both NRTN and GDNF exclusively bind to and activate their cognate receptors, GFRα2 and GFRα1, respectively, as shown by the use of receptor‐specific neutralizing antibodies. Immunocytochemical staining for the two receptors on the surface of CG neurons reveals that, in contrast to the effect on GFRα1, TGFβ is not required for recruitment of GFRα2 to the plasma membrane. Moreover, binding of radioactively labeled GDNF but not NRTN is increased upon treatment of CG neurons with TGFβ. Disruption of TGFβ signaling does interfere with GDNF‐, but not NRTN‐mediated signaling and survival. We propose a model taking into account data from GFRα1 crystallization and ontogenetic development of the CG that may explain the differences in TGFβ‐dependence of GDNF and NRTN.

Expression and putative functions of GDF-15, a member of the TGF-β superfamily, in human glioma and glioblastoma cell lines

Recent studies have demonstrated growth-inhibiting effects of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) on different cancer cell lines invitro and on tumor growth in vivo. Here, we present data concerning expression of GDF-15 in glioblastoma. We found low levels of GDF-15 transcripts in primary glioblastoma. Thus, GDF-15 expression might be exploited as a useful indicator for distinguishing primary from other glial derived tumors. In contrast to the documented proapoptotic and anti-tumorigenic activities of GDF-15 in several cancer cell lines, our data suggest that GDF-15 does not decrease proliferation of glioblastoma cell lines, while its effects on invasiveness are not consistent.

F-spondin regulates neuronal survival through activation of disabled-1 in the chicken ciliary ganglion

The extracellular membrane-associated protein F-spondin has been implicated in cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion and plays an important role in axonal pathfinding. We report here that F-spondin is expressed in non-neuronal cells in the embryonic chicken ciliary ganglion (CG) and robustly promotes survival of cultured CG neurons. Using deletion constructs of F-spondin we found that the amino-terminal Reelin/Spondin domain cooperates with thrombospondin type 1 repeat (TSR) 6, a functional TGFβ-activation domain. In ovo treatment with blocking antibodies raised against the Reelin/Spondin domain or the TSR-domains caused increased apoptosis of CG neurons during the phase of programmed cell death and loss of about 30% of the neurons compared to controls. The Reelin/Spondin domain receptor - APP and its downstream signalling molecule disabled-1 are expressed in CG neurons. F-spondin induced rapid phosphorylation of disabled-1. Moreover, both blocking the central APP domain and interference with disabled-1 signalling disrupted the survival promoting effect of F-spondin. Taken together, our data suggest that F-spondin can promote neuron survival by a mechanism involving the Reelin/Spondin and the TSR domains.

Three-dimensional tumor cell growth stimulates autophagic flux and recapitulates chemotherapy resistance

Current preclinical models in tumor biology are limited in their ability to recapitulate relevant (patho-) physiological processes, including autophagy. Three-dimensional (3D) growth cultures have frequently been proposed to overcome the lack of correlation between two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell cultures and human tumors in preclinical drug testing. Besides 3D growth, it is also advantageous to simulate shear stress, compound flux and removal of metabolites, e.g., via bioreactor systems, through which culture medium is constantly pumped at a flow rate reflecting physiological conditions. Here we show that both static 3D growth and 3D growth within a bioreactor system modulate key hallmarks of cancer cells, including proliferation and cell death as well as macroautophagy, a recycling pathway often activated by highly proliferative tumors to cope with metabolic stress. The autophagy-related gene expression profiles of 2D-grown cells are substantially different from those of 3D-grown cells and tumor tissue. Autophagy-controlling transcription factors, such as TFEB and FOXO3, are upregulated in tumors, and 3D-grown cells have increased expression compared with cells grown in 2D conditions. Three-dimensional cultures depleted of the autophagy mediators BECN1, ATG5 or ATG7 or the transcription factor FOXO3, are more sensitive to cytotoxic treatment. Accordingly, combining cytotoxic treatment with compounds affecting late autophagic flux, such as chloroquine, renders the 3D-grown cells more susceptible to therapy. Altogether, 3D cultures are a valuable tool to study drug response of tumor cells, as these models more closely mimic tumor (patho-)physiology, including the upregulation of tumor relevant pathways, such as autophagy.

An advanced glioma cell invasion assay based on organotypic brain slice cultures

BackgroundThe poor prognosis for glioblastoma patients is caused by the diffuse infiltrative growth pattern of the tumor. Therefore, the molecular and cellular processes underlying cell migration continue to be a major focus of glioblastoma research. Emerging evidence supports the concept that the tumor microenvironment has a profound influence on the functional properties of tumor cells. Accordingly, substantial effort must be devoted to move from traditional two-dimensional migration assays to three-dimensional systems that more faithfully recapitulate the complex in vivo tumor microenvironment.MethodsIn order to mimic the tumor microenvironment of adult gliomas, we used adult organotypic brain slices as an invasion matrix for implanted, fluorescently labeled tumor spheroids. Cell invasion was imaged by confocal or epi-fluorescence microscopy and quantified by determining the average cumulative sprout length per spheroid. The tumor microenvironment was manipulated by treatment of the slice with small molecule inhibitors or using different genetically engineered mouse models as donors.ResultsBoth epi-fluorescence and confocal microscopy were applied to precisely quantify cell invasion in this ex vivo approach. Usage of a red-emitting membrane dye in addition to tissue clearing drastically improved epi-fluorescence imaging. Preparation of brain slices from of a genetically engineered mouse with a loss of a specific cell surface protein resulted in significantly impaired tumor cell invasion. Furthermore, jasplakinolide treatment of either tumor cells or brain slice significantly reduced tumor cell invasion.ConclusionWe present an optimized invasion assay that closely reflects in vivo invasion by the implantation of glioma cells into organotypic adult brain slice cultures with a preserved cytoarchitecture. The diversity of applications including manipulation of the tumor cells as well as the microenvironment, permits the investigation of rate limiting factors of cell migration in a reliable context. This model will be a valuable tool for the discovery of the molecular mechanisms underlying glioma cell invasion and, ultimately, the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Dual role of HDAC10 in lysosomal exocytosis and DNA repair promotes neuroblastoma chemoresistance

Drug resistance is a leading cause for treatment failure in many cancers, including neuroblastoma, the most common solid extracranial childhood malignancy. Previous studies from our lab indicate that histone deacetylase 10 (HDAC10) is important for the homeostasis of lysosomes, i.e. acidic vesicular organelles involved in the degradation of various biomolecules. Here, we show that depleting or inhibiting HDAC10 results in accumulation of lysosomes in chemotherapy-resistant neuroblastoma cell lines, as well as in the intracellular accumulation of the weakly basic chemotherapeutic doxorubicin within lysosomes. Interference with HDAC10 does not block doxorubicin efflux from cells via P-glycoprotein inhibition, but rather via inhibition of lysosomal exocytosis. In particular, intracellular doxorubicin does not remain trapped in lysosomes but also accumulates in the nucleus, where it promotes neuroblastoma cell death. Our data suggest that lysosomal exocytosis under doxorubicin treatment is important for cell survival and that inhibition of HDAC10 further induces DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), providing additional mechanisms that sensitize neuroblastoma cells to doxorubicin. Taken together, we demonstrate that HDAC10 inhibition in combination with doxorubicin kills neuroblastoma, but not non-malignant cells, both by impeding drug efflux and enhancing DNA damage, providing a novel opportunity to target chemotherapy resistance.

A kinome-wide RNAi screen identifies ALK as a target to sensitize neuroblastoma cells for HDAC8-inhibitor treatment

The prognosis of advanced stage neuroblastoma patients remains poor and, despite intensive therapy, the 5-year survival rate remains less than 50%. We previously identified histone deacetylase (HDAC) 8 as an indicator of poor clinical outcome and a selective drug target for differentiation therapy in vitro and in vivo. Here, we performed kinome-wide RNAi screening to identify genes that are synthetically lethal with HDAC8 inhibitors. These experiments identified the neuroblastoma predisposition gene ALK as a candidate gene. Accordingly, the combination of the ALK/MET inhibitor crizotinib and selective HDAC8 inhibitors (3–6 µM PCI-34051 or 10 µM 20a) efficiently killed neuroblastoma cell lines carrying wildtype ALK (SK-N-BE(2)-C, IMR5/75), amplified ALK (NB-1), and those carrying the activating ALK F1174L mutation (Kelly), and, in cells carrying the activating R1275Q mutation (LAN-5), combination treatment decreased viable cell count. The effective dose of crizotinib in neuroblastoma cell lines ranged from 0.05 µM (ALK-amplified) to 0.8 µM (wildtype ALK). The combinatorial inhibition of ALK and HDAC8 also decreased tumor growth in an in vivo zebrafish xenograft model. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that the mRNA expression level of HDAC8 was significantly correlated with that of ALK in two independent patient cohorts, the Academic Medical Center cohort (n = 88) and the German Neuroblastoma Trial cohort (n = 649), and co-expression of both target genes identified patients with very poor outcome. Mechanistically, HDAC8 and ALK converge at the level of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling and their downstream survival pathways, such as ERK signaling. Combination treatment of HDAC8 inhibitor with crizotinib efficiently blocked the activation of growth receptor survival signaling and shifted the cell cycle arrest and differentiation phenotype toward effective cell death of neuroblastoma cell lines, including sensitization of resistant models, but not of normal cells. These findings reveal combined targeting of ALK and HDAC8 as a novel strategy for the treatment of neuroblastoma.