RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Epigenomic profiling discovers trans-lineage SOX2 partnerships driving tumor heterogeneity in lung squamous cell carcinoma
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 646034
DO 10.1101/646034
A1 Takashi Sato
A1 Seungyeul Yoo
A1 Ranran Kong
A1 Maya Fridrikh
A1 Abhilasha Sinha
A1 Prashanth Chandramani-Shivalingappa
A1 Ayushi Patel
A1 Osamu Nagano
A1 Takashi Masuko
A1 Mary Beth Beasley
A1 Charles A. Powell
A1 Jun Zhu
A1 Hideo Watanabe
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/12/646034.abstract
AB Molecular characterization of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), a major subtype of lung cancer, has not sufficiently improved its non-stratified treatment strategies over decades. Accumulating evidence suggests that lineage-specific transcriptional regulators control differentiation states during cancer evolution, and underlie their distinct biological behaviors. In this study, by investigating the super-enhancer landscape of LUSC, we identified a previously undescribed ‘neural’ subtype defined by Sox2 and a neural lineage factor Brn2, as well as the classical LUSC subtype defined by Sox2 and its classical squamous partner p63. Robust protein-protein interaction and genomic co-occupancy of Sox2 and Brn2, in place for p63 in the classical LUSC, indicated their transcriptional cooperation imparting this unique lineage state in the ‘neural’ LUSC. Forced expression of p63 downregulated Brn2 in the ‘neural’ LUSC cells and invoked the classical LUSC lineage with more squamous/epithelial features, which were accompanied by increased activities of ErbB/Akt and MAPK-ERK pathways suggesting differential dependency. Collectively, our data demonstrate heterogeneous cell lineage states of LUSC featured by Sox2 cooperation with Brn2 or p63, for which distinct therapeutic approaches may be warranted.