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TIM/TAM Receptors: A Potential Biomarker for Predicting Sensitivity to Zika Virus-Induced Oncolysis in Non-Small Cell Lung CancersSomasekar, Shankari 01 January 2024 (has links) (PDF)
Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) constitute 80-85% of lung cancers and are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The most common cause is prolonged smoking. Current treatment options for NSCLC include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy. Although these medications are effective in the short term, patients often face issues of drug resistance and debilitating side effects with prolonged use. Currently, the use of Zika virus (ZIKV) is being researched as a possible alternative treatment for cancer, which minimizes side effects and the risk of drug resistance. TIM/TAM proteins are identified as the putative ZIKV receptors on the surface of human cells that mediate viral entry through apoptotic mimicry. Once engulfed, the virus can hijack the host cell’s machinery to replicate and propagate the infection. Previous research has shown the potential of using Zika virus as an oncolytic agent in glioblastoma and neuroblastoma cell lines. The success of Zika-induced oncolysis in these cancers opens doors for expanding into other cancers, including NSCLC. Infection of six diverse NSCLC cell lines with ZIKV revealed that three cell lines were sensitive to ZIKV-induced oncolysis while the remaining were resistant. Transcriptome data analysis of TIM/TAM and CD24 mRNA expression levels were compared between ZIKV-sensitive and resistant cell lines, revealing AXL and TIM-1 as potential players in increasing or decreasing ZIKV infection. High AXL (TAM) expression correlated with increased sensitivity to ZIKV, while high TIM-1 (TIM) expression correlated with increased resistance. Experiments with AXL silencing in ZIKV-sensitive cell lines provided evidence of the role of AXL in increasing ZIKV sensitivity. Although further studies with TIM-1 must be done to determine its role in conferring resistance, AXL and TIM-1 have the potential to be biomarkers in predicting tumor sensitivity to ZIKV-induced oncolytic therapy.
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Reversing Cancer Cell Fate: Driving Therapeutic Differentiation of Hepatoblastoma to Functional Hepatocyte-Like CellsSmith, Jordan L. 20 March 2020 (has links)
Background & Aims: Despite advances in surgical care and chemotherapeutic regimens, the five-year survival rate for Stage IV Hepatoblastoma (HB), the predominant pediatric liver tumor, remains at 27%. YAP1 and β-Catenin co-activation occurs in 80% of children’s HB; however, a lack of conditional genetic models precludes exploration of tumor maintenance and therapeutic targets. Thus, the clinical need for a targeted therapy remains unmet. Given the predominance of YAP1 and β-catenin activation in children’s tumors, I sought to evaluate YAP1 as a therapeutic target in HB.
Approach & Results: Herein, I engineered the first conditional murine model of HB using hydrodynamic injection to deliver transposon plasmids encoding inducible YAP1S127A, constitutive β-CateninDelN90, and a luciferase reporter to murine liver. Tumor regression was evaluated using in vivo bioluminescent imaging, and tumor landscape characterized using RNA sequencing, ATAC sequencing and DNA foot-printing. Here I show that YAP1 withdrawal in mice mediates >90% tumor regression with survival for 230+ days. Mechanistically, YAP1 withdrawal promotes apoptosis in a subset of tumor cells and in remaining cells induces a cell fate switch driving therapeutic differentiation of HB tumors into Ki-67 negative “hbHep cells.” hbHep cells have hepatocyte-like morphology and partially restored mature hepatocyte gene expression. YAP1 withdrawal drives formation of hbHeps by modulating liver differentiation transcription factor (TF) occupancy. Indeed, tumor-derived hbHeps, consistent with their reprogrammed transcriptional landscape, regain partial hepatocyte function and can rescue liver damage in mice.
Conclusions: YAP1 withdrawal, without modulation of oncogenic β-Catenin, significantly regresses hepatoblastoma, providing the first in vivo data to support YAP1 as a therapeutic target for HB. Modulating YAP1 expression alone is sufficient to drive long-term regression in hepatoblastoma because it promotes cell death in a subset of tumor cells and modulates transcription factor occupancy to reverse the fate of residual tumor cells to mimic functional hepatocytes.
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