Proteasome inhibitors have been proven to be effective anticancer compounds in many tumor models, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In this study, we found that the proteasome inhibitor Velcade (PS-341/bortezomib) caused GBM cell death while simultaneously activating the PI3K/Akt pathway. Therefore, we sought to investigate if the PI3K inhibitor ZSTK474 would enhance the effectiveness of Velcade in anticancer therapy. Two GBM cell lines were used to detect the effects of Velcade and ZSTK474 alone or in combination in vitro. The combination of Velcade and ZSTK474 synergistically inhibited the proliferation of GBM cell lines. Cell apoptosis was increased when exposed to Velcade and ZSTK474 in combination as shown by Annexin V analysis. Treatment with both drugs led to downregulation of the p-Akt, p-4EBP1 and p-mTOR proteins as determined by western blot analysis. The anticancer ability of Velcade for glioblastoma multiforme was, therefore, enhanced by combination with the PI3K pathway inhibitor ZSTK474 in glioblastoma multiforme.

Dual-specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) is a member of dual-specificity kinase family, which could phosphorylate both Ser/Thr and Tyr substrates. The role of DYRK2 in human cancer remains controversial. For example, overexpression of DYRK2 predicts a better survival in human non-small cell lung cancer. In contrast, amplification of DYRK2 gene occurs in esophageal/lung adenocarcinoma, implying the role of DYRK2 as a potential oncogene. However, its clinical role in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been explored. In this study, we analyzed the expression of DYRK2 from Oncomine database and found that DYRK2 level is lower in primary or metastatic CRC compared to adjacent normal colon tissue or non-metastatic CRC, respectively, in 6 colorectal carcinoma data sets. The correlation between DYRK2 expression and clinical outcome in 181 CRC patients was also investigated by real-time PCR and IHC. DYRK2 expression was significantly down-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues compared with adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Functional studies confirmed that DYRK2 inhibited cell invasion and migration in both HCT116 and SW480 cells and functioned as a tumor suppressor in CRC cells. Furthermore, the lower DYRK2 levels were correlated with tumor sites (P = 0.023), advanced clinical stages (P = 0.006) and shorter survival in the advanced clinical stages. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that DYRK2 expression was an independent prognostic factor (P < 0.001). Taking all, we concluded that DYRK2 a novel prognostic biomarker of human colorectal cancer.

The bromodomain-containing protein 7 (BRD7) is a tumour suppressor protein with critical roles in cell cycle transition and transcriptional regulation. Whether BRD7 is regulated by post-translational modifications remains poorly understood. Here, we find that chemotherapy-induced DNA damage leads to the rapid degradation of BRD7 in various cancer cell lines. PARP-1 binds and poly(ADP)ribosylates BRD7, which enhances its ubiquitination and degradation through the PAR-binding E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF146. Moreover, the PARP1 inhibitor Olaparib significantly enhances the sensitivity of BRD7-positive cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs, while it has little effect on cells with low BRD7 expression. Taken together, our findings show that PARP1 induces the degradation of BRD7 resulting in cancer cell resistance to DNA-damaging agents. BRD7 might thus serve as potential biomarker in clinical trial for the prediction of synergistic effects between chemotherapeutic drugs and PARP inhibitors.

Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is essential for genome integrity, and is accompanied by transcriptional repression at the DSB regions. However, the mechanisms how DNA repair induces transcriptional inhibition remain elusive. Here, it is identified that BRD7 participates in DNA damage response (DDR) and is recruited to the damaged chromatin via ATM signaling. Mechanistically, BRD7 joins the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation (NuRD) complex at the damaged DNA and recruits E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF168 to the DSBs. Furthermore, ATM-mediated BRD7 phosphorylation is required for recruitment of the PRC2 complex, NuRD complex, DSB sensor complex MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN), and RNF168 to the active transcription sites at DSBs, resulting in transcriptional repression and DNA repair. Moreover, BRD7 deficiency sensitizes cancer cells to PARP inhibition. Collectively, BRD7 is crucial for DNA repair and DDR-mediated transcription repression, which may serve as a therapeutic target. The findings identify the missing link between DNA repair and transcription regulation that maintains genome integrity.

As the second most common malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents, Ewing sarcoma is initiated and exacerbated by a chimeric oncoprotein, most commonly, EWS-FLI1. In this study, we apply epigenomic analysis to characterize the transcription dysregulation in this cancer, focusing on the investigation of super-enhancer and its associated transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. We demonstrate that super-enhancer-associated transcripts are significantly enriched in EWS-FLI1 target genes, contribute to the aberrant transcriptional network of the disease, and mediate the exceptional sensitivity of Ewing sarcoma to transcriptional inhibition. Through integrative analysis, we identify MEIS1 as a super-enhancer-driven oncogene, which co-operates with EWS-FLI1 in transcriptional regulation, and plays a key pro-survival role in Ewing sarcoma. Moreover, APCDD1, another super-enhancer-associated gene, acting as a downstream target of both MEIS1 and EWS-FLI1, is also characterized as a novel tumor-promoting factor in this malignancy. These data delineate super-enhancer-mediated transcriptional deregulation in Ewing sarcoma, and uncover numerous candidate oncogenes which can be exploited for further understanding of the molecular pathogenesis for this disease.