PUBLICATION

The NOTCH1/SNAIL1/MEF2C Pathway Regulates Growth and Self-Renewal in Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma

Authors
Ignatius, M.S., Hayes, M.N., Lobbardi, R., Chen, E.Y., McCarthy, K.M., Sreenivas, P., Motala, Z., Durbin, A.D., Molodtsov, A., Reeder, S., Jin, A., Sindiri, S., Beleyea, B.C., Bhere, D., Alexander, M.S., Shah, K., Keller, C., Linardic, C.M., Nielsen, P.G., Malkin, D., Khan, J., Langenau, D.M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-170615-2
Date
2017
Source
Cell Reports   19: 2304-2318 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Alexander, Matthew, Durbin, Adam, Hayes, Madeline, Ignatius, Myron, Langenau, David
Keywords
MEF2C, NOTCH1, SNAI1, de-differentiation, muscle, rhabdomyosarcoma, self-renewal, tumor propagating cells, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Receptor, Notch1/metabolism*
  • Xenopus Proteins/metabolism
  • Transcription Factors/metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Cell Differentiation/physiology
  • Zebrafish
  • Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal/metabolism*
  • Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal/pathology
  • Snail Family Transcription Factors/metabolism*
  • MEF2 Transcription Factors/metabolism*
(all 12)
PubMed
28614716 Full text @ Cell Rep.
Abstract
Tumor-propagating cells (TPCs) share self-renewal properties with normal stem cells and drive continued tumor growth. However, mechanisms regulating TPC self-renewal are largely unknown, especially in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS)-a common pediatric cancer of muscle. Here, we used a zebrafish transgenic model of ERMS to identify a role for intracellular NOTCH1 (ICN1) in increasing TPCs by 23-fold. ICN1 expanded TPCs by enabling the de-differentiation of zebrafish ERMS cells into self-renewing myf5+ TPCs, breaking the rigid differentiation hierarchies reported in normal muscle. ICN1 also had conserved roles in regulating human ERMS self-renewal and growth. Mechanistically, ICN1 upregulated expression of SNAIL1, a transcriptional repressor, to increase TPC number in human ERMS and to block muscle differentiation through suppressing MEF2C, a myogenic differentiation transcription factor. Our data implicate the NOTCH1/SNAI1/MEF2C signaling axis as a major determinant of TPC self-renewal and differentiation in ERMS, raising hope of therapeutically targeting this pathway in the future.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping
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Citation
Ignatius, M.S., Hayes, M.N., Lobbardi, R., Chen, E.Y., McCarthy, K.M., Sreenivas, P., Motala, Z., Durbin, A.D., Molodtsov, A., Reeder, S., Jin, A., Sindiri, S., Beleyea, B.C., Bhere, D., Alexander, M.S., Shah, K., Keller, C., Linardic, C.M., Nielsen, P.G., Malkin, D., Khan, J., Langenau, D.M. (2017) The NOTCH1/SNAIL1/MEF2C Pathway Regulates Growth and Self-Renewal in Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cell Reports. 19:2304-2318.