Brain as a paradigm of organ growth: Hedgehog-Gli signaling in neural stem cells and brain tumors

The Hedgehog-Gli (Hh-Gli) signaling pathway is essential for numerous events during the development of many animal cell types and organs. In particular, it controls neural cell precursor proliferation in dorsal brain structures and regulates the number of neural stem cells in distinct embryonic, perinatal, and adult niches, such as the developing neocortex, the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle of the forebrain, and the hippocampus. We have proposed that Hh-Gli signaling regulates dorsal brain growth during ontogeny and that its differential regulation underlays evolutionary change in the morphology (size and shape) of dorsal brain structures. It is also critically involved in sporadic brain tumorigenesis--as well as several other human cancer--suggesting that tumors derive from stem cells or progenitors maintaining an inappropriate active Hh-Gli pathway. Importantly, we and others have demonstrated that human sporadic tumors from the brain and other organs require sustained HH-GLI signaling for sustained growth and survival. Modulating HH-GLI signaling thus represents a novel rational avenue to treat, on one hand, brain degeneration and injury by inducing controlled HH-GLI-mediated regeneration and growth, and on the other hand, to combat cancer by blocking its abnormal activity in tumor cells.     

Combination of Cyclopamine and Tamoxifen Promotes Survival and Migration of MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells – Interaction of Hedgehog-Gli and Estrogen Receptor Signaling Pathways

Hedgehog-Gli (Hh-Gli) signaling pathway is one of the new molecular targets found upregulated in breast tumors. Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling has a key role in the development of hormone-dependent breast cancer. We aimed to investigate the effects of inhibiting both pathways simultaneously on breast cancer cell survival and the potential interactions between these two signaling pathways. ER-positive MCF-7 cells show decreased viability after treatment with cyclopamine, a Hh-Gli pathway inhibitor, as well as after tamoxifen (an ERα inhibitor) treatment. Simultaneous treatment with cyclopamine and tamoxifen on the other hand, causes short-term survival of cells, and increased migration. We found upregulated Hh-Gli signaling under these conditions and protein profiling revealed increased expression of proteins involved in cell proliferation and migration. Therefore, even though Hh-Gli signaling seems to be a good potential target for breast cancer therapy, caution must be advised, especially when combining therapies. In addition, we also show a potential direct interaction between the Shh protein and ERα in MCF-7 cells. Our data suggest that the Shh protein is able to activate ERα independently of the canonical Hh-Gli signaling pathway. Therefore, this may present an additional boost for ER-positive cells that express Shh, even in the absence of estrogen.     

HEDGEHOG-GLI1 signaling regulates human glioma growth, cancer stem cell self-renewal, and tumorigenicity

Cancer stem cells are rare tumor cells characterized by their ability to self-renew and to induce tumorigenesis. They are present in gliomas and may be responsible for the lethality of these incurable brain tumors. In the most aggressive and invasive type, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an average of about one year spans the period between detection and death [1]. The resistence of gliomas to current therapies may be related to the existence of cancer stem cells [2-6]. We find that human gliomas display a stemness signature and demonstrate that HEDGEHOG (HH)-GLI signaling regulates the expression of stemness genes in and the self-renewal of CD133(+) glioma cancer stem cells. HH-GLI signaling is also required for sustained glioma growth and survival. It displays additive and synergistic effects with temozolomide (TMZ), the current chemotherapeutic agent of choice. TMZ, however, does not block glioma stem cell self-renewal. Finally, interference of HH-GLI signaling with cyclopamine or through lentiviral-mediated silencing demonstrates that the tumorigenicity of human gliomas in mice requires an active pathway. Our results reveal the essential role of HH-GLI signaling in controlling the behavior of human glioma cancer stem cells and offer new therapeutic possibilities.     

Hedgehog pathway activity is required for the lethality and intestinal phenotypes of mice with hyperactive Wnt signaling

Several lines of evidence point to the central role of WNT signaling in the initiation of intestinal tumorigenesis, most often due to loss of APC, a negative regulator of the WNT-βCATENIN/TCF pathway. Modeling human colon cancers in mice through loss of Apc has shown that inappropriate activation of Wnt signaling is sufficient to induce adenoma formation. More recent analyses have also demonstrated a key role for HEDGEHOG-GLI (HH-GLI) signaling in human colon cancers. However, how the WNT and HH pathways interact during intestinal development, homeostasis and cancer is not clear. Marker analyses suggest predominant paracrine signaling from rare Shh producing cells in the crypt’s bottom to adjacent Gli1⁺ mesenchymal cells in normal adult mice. Using conditional KO models, we show that inhibition of the function of the critical Hh mediator Smoothened (Smo) rescues the lethality and intestinal phenotypes of loss of Apc. The results uncover an essential role of the Hh pathway in tumors induced by hyperactive Wnt signaling, suggest the action of the Hh pathway in parallel or downstream of Wnt signaling, and validate this model for its use in preclinical work testing Hh pathway antagonists.     

Implications of hedgehog signaling antagonists for cancer therapy

The hedgehog (Hh) pathway, initially discovered in Drosophila by two Nobel laureates, Dr. Eric Wieschaus and Dr. Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, is a major regulator for cell differentiation, tissue polarity and cell proliferation. Studies from many laboratories, including ours, reveal activation of this pathway in most basal cell carcinomas and in approximately 30% of extracutaneous human cancers, including medulloblastomas, gastrointestinal, lung, breast and prostate cancers. Thus, it is believed that targeted inhibition of Hh signaling may be effective in treating and preventing many types of human cancers. Even more exciting is the discovery and synthesis of specific signaling antagonists for the Hh pathway, which have significant clinical implications in novel cancer therapeutics. This review discusses the major advances in the current understanding of Hh signaling activation in different types of human cancers, the molecular basis of Hh signaling activation, the major antagonists for Hh signaling inhibition and their potential clinical application in human cancer therapy.     

Primary Cilia Are Lost in Preinvasive and Invasive Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide. Little is known about the role of primary cilia in preinvasive and invasive prostate cancer. However, reduced cilia expression has been observed in human cancers including pancreatic cancer, renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and melanoma. The aim of this study was to characterize primary cilia expression in preinvasive and invasive human prostate cancer, and to investigate the correlation between primary cilia and the Wnt signaling pathway. Human prostate tissues representative of stages of prostate cancer formation (normal prostate, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and invasive prostate cancer (including perineural invasion)) were stained for ciliary proteins. The frequency of primary cilia was determined. A decrease in the percentage of ciliated cells in PIN, invasive cancer and perineural invasion lesions was observed when compared to normal. Cilia lengths were also measured to indirectly test functionality. Cilia were shorter in PIN, cancer, and perineural invasion lesions, suggesting dysfunction. Primary cilia have been shown to suppress the Wnt pathway. Increased Wnt signaling has been implicated in prostate cancer. Therefore, we investigated a correlation between loss of primary cilia and increased Wnt signaling in normal prostate and in preinvasive and invasive prostate cancer. To investigate Wnt signaling in our cohort, serial tissue sections were stained for β-catenin as a measure of Wnt signaling. Nuclear β-catenin was analyzed and Wnt signaling was found to be higher in un-ciliated cells in the normal prostate, PIN, a subset of invasive cancers, and perineural invasion. Our results suggest that cilia normally function to suppress the Wnt signaling pathway in epithelial cells and that cilia loss may play a role in increased Wnt signaling in some prostate cancers. These results suggest that cilia are dysfunctional in human prostate cancer, and increase Wnt signaling occurs in a subset of cancers.     

The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in Wilms tumors and prostate cancers

Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is constitutively increased in several major classes of tumors arising from the urogenital tract. In this review we focus on this pathway mainly in Wilms tumors and prostate carcinomas, followed by a brief discussion of its potential role in other types of urological tumors. Molecular studies in these types of cancers have highlighted novel components upstream and downstream of this central oncogenic pathway. Beta-catenin gain-of-function mutations are strongly linked to WT1 loss-of-function mutations in syndromic Wilms tumors, and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling increases androgen receptor mRNA expression and blocks apoptosis in prostate cancers. Novel downstream target genes activated by Wnt/beta-catenin signaling are emerging from expression profiling in genetically defined classes of Wilms tumors, and similar analyses are expected to reveal additional downstream genes of this pathway specific to prostate cancers. The identities of these genes will likely suggest new targeted therapies for urological malignancies.     

Regulation of androgen receptor signaling by PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) tumor suppressor through distinct mechanisms in prostate cancer cells

Defects in the PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) tumor suppressor gene have been found in many human cancers including breast and prostate. Here we show that PTEN suppresses androgen receptor (AR) activity via a phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase/Akt-independent pathway in the early passage numbers prostate cancer LNCaP cells. We provide the direct links between PTEN and androgen/AR signaling by demonstrating that AR directly interacts with PTEN. The interaction between PTEN and AR inhibits the AR nuclear translocation and promotes the AR protein degradation that result in the suppression of AR transactivation and induction of apoptosis. The minimum interaction peptide within AR (amino acids 483-651) disrupts the interaction of PTEN with AR and reduces the PTEN effect on AR transactivation and apoptosis. Genetic approaches using PTEN-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) further demonstrate that both AR expression and AR activity were much higher in PTEN-null MEFs than wild-type MEFs, and reintroducing PTEN into PTEN-null MEFs dramatically reduced AR protein levels and AR activity. Interestingly, we also found that PTEN could suppress AR activity via the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase/Akt-dependent pathway in the higher passage number LNCaP cells, because restoration of Akt activity blocks the effect of PTEN on AR activity. Together, these contrasting PTEN effects on AR activity in the same prostate cancer cell line with different passage numbers suggest that PTEN, via distinct mechanisms, differentially regulates AR in various stages of prostate cancers.     

Injury-induced BMP signaling negatively regulates Drosophila midgut homeostasis

Although much is known about injury-induced signals that increase rates of Drosophila melanogaster midgut intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation, it is largely unknown how ISC activity returns to quiescence after injury. In this paper, we show that the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway has dual functions during midgut homeostasis. Constitutive BMP signaling pathway activation in the middle midgut mediated regional specification by promoting copper cell differentiation. In the anterior and posterior midgut, injury-induced BMP signaling acted autonomously in ISCs to limit proliferation and stem cell number after injury. Loss of BMP signaling pathway members in the midgut epithelium or loss of the BMP signaling ligand decapentaplegic from visceral muscle resulted in phenotypes similar to those described for juvenile polyposis syndrome, a human intestinal tumor caused by mutations in BMP signaling pathway components. Our data establish a new link between injury and hyperplasia and may provide insight into how BMP signaling mutations drive formation of human intestinal cancers.     

Activation of Notch pathway is linked with epithelial-mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer cells

Notch signaling has been reported to play an essential role in tumorigenesis. Several studies have suggested that Notch receptors could be oncoproteins or tumor suppressors in different types of human cancers. Emerging evidence has suggested that Notch pathway regulates cell growth, apoptosis, cell cycle, and metastasis. In the current study, we explore whether Notch-1 could regulate the cell invasion and migration as well as EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) in prostate cancer cells. We found that overexpression of Notch-1 enhanced cell migration and invasion in PC-3 cells. However, downregulation of Notch-1 retarded cell migration and invasion in prostate cancer cells. Importantly, we observed that overexpression of Notch-1 led to EMT in PC-3 cells. Notably, we found that EMT-type cells are associated with EMT markers change and cancer stem cell phenotype. Taken together, we concluded that downregulation of Notch-1 could be a promising approach for inhibition of invasion in prostate cancer cells, which could be useful for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.     

Aberrant fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling in bladder and other cancers

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are potent mitogens, morphogens, and inducers of angiogenesis, and FGF signaling governs the genesis of diverse tissues and organs from the earliest stages. With such fundamental embryonic and homeostatic roles, it follows that aberrant FGF signaling underlies a variety of diseases. Pathological modifications to FGF expression are known to cause salivary gland aplasia and autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets, while mutations in FGF receptors (FGFRs) result in a range of skeletal dysplasias. Anomalous FGF signaling is also associated with cancer development and progression. Examples include the overexpression of FGF2 and FGF6 in prostate cancer, and FGF8 overexpression in breast and prostate cancers. Alterations in FGF signaling regulators also impact tumorigenesis, which is exemplified by the down-regulation of Sprouty 1, a negative regulator of FGF signaling, in prostate cancer. In addition, several FGFRs are mutated in human cancers (including FGFR2 in gastric cancer and FGFR3 in bladder cancer). We recently identified intriguing alterations in the FGF pathway in a novel model of bladder carcinoma that consists of a parental cell line (TSU-Pr1/T24) and two sublines with increasing metastatic potential (TSU-Pr1-B1 and TSU-Pr1-B2), which were derived successively through in vivo cycling. It was found that the increasingly metastatic sublines (TSU-Pr1-B1 and TSU-Pr1-B2) had undergone a mesenchymal to epithelial transition. FGFR2IIIc expression, which is normally expressed in mesenchymal cells, was increased in the epithelial-like TSU-Pr1-B1 and TSU-Pr1-B2 sublines and FGFR2 knock-down was associated with the reversion of cells from an epithelial to a mesenchymal phenotype. These observations suggest that modified FGF pathway signaling should be considered when studying other cancer types.     

In vivo inhibition of endogenous brain tumors through systemic interference of Hedgehog signaling in mice

The full spectrum of developmental potential includes normal as well as abnormal and disease states. We therefore subscribe to the idea that tumors derive from the operation of paradevelopmental programs that yield consistent and recognizable morphologies. Work in frogs and mice shows that Hedgehog (Hh)-Gli signaling controls stem cell lineages and that its deregulation leads to tumor formation. Moreover, human tumor cells require sustained Hh-Gli signaling for proliferation as cyclopamine, an alkaloid of the lily Veratrum californicum that blocks the Hh pathway, inhibits the growth of different tumor cells in vitro as well as in subcutaneous xenografts. However, the evidence that systemic treatment is an effective anti-cancer therapy is missing. Here we have used Ptc1(+/-); p53(-/-) mice which develop medulloblastoma to test the ability of cyclopamine to inhibit endogenous tumor growth in vivo after tumor initiation through intraperitoneal delivery, which avoids the brain damage associated with direct injection. We find that systemic cyclopamine administration improves the health of Ptc1(+/-);p53(-/-) animals. Analyses of the cerebella of cyclopamine-treated animals show a severe reduction in tumor size and a large decrease in the number of Ptc1-expressing cells, as a readout of cells with an active Hu-Gli pathway, as well as an impairment of their proliferative capacity, always in comparison with vehicle treated mice. Our data demonstrate that systemic treatment with cyclopamine inhibits tumor growth in the brain supporting its therapeutical value for human HH-dependent tumors. They also demonstrate that even the complete loss of the well-known tumor suppressor p53 does not render the tumor independent of Hh pathway function.     

The role of microRNAs involved in PI3-kinase signaling pathway in colorectal cancer

In recent decades, cancer has been one of the most important concerns of the human community, which affects human life from many different ways, such as breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, and other cancers. Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the world that has recently been introduced as the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. microRNAs have a very crucial role in tumorgenesis and prevention of cancer, which plays a significant role with influencing various factors through different signaling pathways. Phosphoinositide 3 (PI3)-kinase/AKT is one of the most important signaling pathways involved in the control and growth of tumor in colorectal cancer, through important proteins of this pathway, such as PTEN and AKT, that they can perform specific influence on this process. Our effort in this study is to collect microRNAs that act as tumor suppressors and oncomirs in this cancer through PI3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway.     

Hedgehog beyond medulloblastoma and basal cell carcinoma

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is of central importance during embryo development in metazoans and governs a diverse array of processes including cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue patterning. In normal adult physiology, the pathway is implicated in stem cell maintenance, tissue repair and regeneration. However, the pathway's darker side is its involvement in several types of human cancer, to which it confers growth promoting and/or survival capabilities to the cancer cell to varying degrees, and by different mechanisms. The Hh pathway is firmly linked to the etiology of basal cell carcinoma and to at least a subset of medulloblastoma. There is increasing evidence that other sporadic cancers, including those in pancreas, prostate, lung, and breast, could also be dependent on Hh pathway activity. In this review, we provide an overview of the pathway's role in various tumor types, where much of the framework for Hh-dependent malignancies has been elucidated in experimental mouse models. We discuss three different signal transduction models for the pathway's involvement in cancer: i) ligand-independent signaling, ii) ligand-dependent autocrine/juxtacrine signaling, and iii) ligand-dependent paracrine signaling. These different modes of signaling may have implications for future therapeutic interventions aimed at inhibiting the pathway during disease. In addition, crosstalk with other pathways, and indications of non-canonical Hh signaling in cancer cells may further cause complications, or perhaps possibilities, in the treatment regimen. Finally, we review the rapid progress and promising results in the development of small-molecule inhibitors of the Hh pathway.     

Notch signaling is required for normal prostatic epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation

Notch pathway is crucial for stem/progenitor cell maintenance, growth and differentiation in a variety of tissues. Using a transgenic cell ablation approach, we found in our previous study that cells expressing Notch1 are crucial for prostate early development and re-growth. Here, we further define the role of Notch signaling in regulating prostatic epithelial cell growth and differentiation using biochemical and genetic approaches in ex vivo or in vivo systems. Treatment of developing prostate grown in culture with inhibitors of gamma-secretase/presenilin, which is required for Notch cleavage and activation, caused a robust increase in proliferation of epithelial cells co-expressing cytokeratin 8 and 14, lack of luminal/basal layer segregation and dramatically reduced branching morphogenesis. Using conditional Notch1 gene deletion mouse models, we found that inactivation of Notch1 signaling resulted in profound prostatic alterations, including increased tufting, bridging and enhanced epithelial proliferation. Cells within these lesions co-expressed both luminal and basal cell markers, a feature of prostatic epithelial cells in predifferentiation developmental stages. Microarray analysis revealed that the gene expression in a number of genetic networks was altered following Notch1 gene deletion in prostate. Furthermore, expression of Notch1 and its effector Hey-1 gene in human prostate adenocarcinomas were found significantly down-regulated compared to normal control tissues. Taken together, these data suggest that Notch signaling is critical for normal cell proliferation and differentiation in the prostate, and deregulation of this pathway may facilitate prostatic tumorigenesis.