TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic inactivation of the Fanconi anemia gene FANCC identified in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HuH-7 confers sensitivity towards DNA-interstrand crosslinking agents
AU - Palagyi, Andreas
AU - Neveling, Kornelia
AU - Plinninger, Ursula
AU - Ziesch, Andreas
AU - Targosz, Bianca Sabrina
AU - Denk, Gerald U.
AU - Ochs, Stephanie
AU - Rizzani, Antonia
AU - Meier, Daniel
AU - Thasler, Wolfgang E.
AU - Hanenberg, Helmut
AU - De Toni, Enrico N.
AU - Bassermann, Florian
AU - Schäfer, Claus
AU - Göke, Burkhard
AU - Schindler, Detlev
AU - Gallmeier, Eike
N1 - Funding Information:
Tissue samples were obtained and experimental procedures were performed according to the guidelines of the charitable state controlled foundation HTCR, with the informed patient's consent [78]. We kindly acknowledge expert technical assistance with flow cytometry by Richard Friedl, Würzburg. This work was supported by grants to EG (DFG Ga762/3-1, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Förderprogramm für Forschung und Lehre, Friedrich-Baur-Foundation, K.L. Weigand Fund) and to EDT (DFG To605/2-1).
PY - 2010/5/28
Y1 - 2010/5/28
N2 - Background: Inactivation of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway through defects in one of 13 FA genes occurs at low frequency in various solid cancer entities among the general population. As FA pathway inactivation confers a distinct hypersensitivity towards DNA interstrand-crosslinking (ICL)-agents, FA defects represent rational targets for individualized therapeutic strategies. Except for pancreatic cancer, however, the prevalence of FA defects in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors has not yet been systematically explored.Results: A panel of GI cancer cell lines was screened for FA pathway inactivation applying FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2/RAD51 nuclear focus formation and a newly identified FA pathway-deficient cell line was functionally characterized. The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) line HuH-7 was defective in FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2 nuclear focus formation but proficient in RAD51 focus formation. Gene complementation studies revealed that this proximal FA pathway inactivation was attributable to defective FANCC function in HuH-7 cells. Accordingly, a homozygous inactivating FANCC nonsense mutation (c.553C > T, p.R185X) was identified in HuH-7, resulting in partial transcriptional skipping of exon 6 and leading to the classic cellular FA hypersensitivity phenotype; HuH-7 cells exhibited a strongly reduced proliferation rate and a pronounced G2 cell cycle arrest at distinctly lower concentrations of ICL-agents than a panel of non-isogenic, FA pathway-proficient HCC cell lines. Upon retroviral transduction of HuH-7 cells with FANCC cDNA, FA pathway functions were restored and ICL-hypersensitivity abrogated. Analyses of 18 surgical HCC specimens yielded no further examples for genetic or epigenetic inactivation of FANCC, FANCF, or FANCG in HCC, suggesting a low prevalence of proximal FA pathway inactivation in this tumor type.Conclusions: As the majority of HCC are chemoresistant, assessment of FA pathway function in HCC could identify small subpopulations of patients expected to predictably benefit from individualized treatment protocols using ICL-agents.
AB - Background: Inactivation of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway through defects in one of 13 FA genes occurs at low frequency in various solid cancer entities among the general population. As FA pathway inactivation confers a distinct hypersensitivity towards DNA interstrand-crosslinking (ICL)-agents, FA defects represent rational targets for individualized therapeutic strategies. Except for pancreatic cancer, however, the prevalence of FA defects in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors has not yet been systematically explored.Results: A panel of GI cancer cell lines was screened for FA pathway inactivation applying FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2/RAD51 nuclear focus formation and a newly identified FA pathway-deficient cell line was functionally characterized. The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) line HuH-7 was defective in FANCD2 monoubiquitination and FANCD2 nuclear focus formation but proficient in RAD51 focus formation. Gene complementation studies revealed that this proximal FA pathway inactivation was attributable to defective FANCC function in HuH-7 cells. Accordingly, a homozygous inactivating FANCC nonsense mutation (c.553C > T, p.R185X) was identified in HuH-7, resulting in partial transcriptional skipping of exon 6 and leading to the classic cellular FA hypersensitivity phenotype; HuH-7 cells exhibited a strongly reduced proliferation rate and a pronounced G2 cell cycle arrest at distinctly lower concentrations of ICL-agents than a panel of non-isogenic, FA pathway-proficient HCC cell lines. Upon retroviral transduction of HuH-7 cells with FANCC cDNA, FA pathway functions were restored and ICL-hypersensitivity abrogated. Analyses of 18 surgical HCC specimens yielded no further examples for genetic or epigenetic inactivation of FANCC, FANCF, or FANCG in HCC, suggesting a low prevalence of proximal FA pathway inactivation in this tumor type.Conclusions: As the majority of HCC are chemoresistant, assessment of FA pathway function in HCC could identify small subpopulations of patients expected to predictably benefit from individualized treatment protocols using ICL-agents.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952685261&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1476-4598-9-127
DO - 10.1186/1476-4598-9-127
M3 - Article
C2 - 20509860
AN - SCOPUS:77952685261
SN - 1476-4598
VL - 9
JO - Molecular Cancer
JF - Molecular Cancer
M1 - 127
ER -
