Authors' Affiliations: Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medicine, Anatomy and Cell Biology; and Shands Cancer Center, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.
Cancer Res. 2014 Feb 1;74(3):775-86. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-1400. Epub 2013 Nov 18.
hSETD1A is a member of the trithorax (TrxG) family of histone methyltransferases (HMT) that methylate H3K4 at promoters of active genes. Although misregulation of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) family proteins has been associated with acute leukemia, the role of hSETD1A in cancer remains unknown. In this study, we report that hSETD1A and its associated H3K4me3 are upregulated in human colorectal cancer cells and patient samples. Depletion of hSETD1A inhibits colorectal cancer cell growth, colony formation, and tumor engraftment. Genome-wide expression profiling of colorectal cancer cells reveals that approximately 50% of Wnt/β-catenin target genes are affected by the hSETD1A knockdown. We further demonstrate that hSETD1A is recruited to promoters of those Wnt signaling target genes through its interaction with β-catenin, a master regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway. The recruitment of the hSETD1A HMT complex confers promoter-associated H3K4me3 that leads to assembly of transcription preinitiation complex and transcriptional activation. Furthermore, the expression levels of hSETD1A are positively correlated with H3K4me3 enrichment at the promoters of Wnt/β-catenin target genes and the aberrant activation of these genes in human colorectal cancer. These results provide new biologic and mechanistic insights into the cooperative role of hSETD1A and β-catenin in regulation of Wnt target genes as well as in colorectal cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo.
hSETD1A 是三结构域蛋白(TrxG)家族的组蛋白甲基转移酶(HMT)成员,可在活性基因的启动子处甲基化 H3K4。虽然混合谱系白血病(MLL)家族蛋白的失调与急性白血病有关,但 hSETD1A 在癌症中的作用尚不清楚。在这项研究中,我们报告 hSETD1A 及其相关的 H3K4me3 在人结直肠癌细胞和患者样本中上调。hSETD1A 的耗竭抑制结直肠癌细胞的生长、集落形成和肿瘤植入。结直肠癌细胞的全基因组表达谱分析显示,大约 50%的 Wnt/β-catenin 靶基因受 hSETD1A 敲低的影响。我们进一步证明 hSETD1A 通过与 Wnt 信号通路的主调控因子 β-catenin 相互作用,被招募到这些 Wnt 信号靶基因的启动子上。hSETD1A HMT 复合物的募集赋予启动子相关的 H3K4me3,导致转录起始前复合物的组装和转录激活。此外,hSETD1A 的表达水平与 Wnt/β-catenin 靶基因启动子上 H3K4me3 的富集以及这些基因在人结直肠癌中的异常激活呈正相关。这些结果为 hSETD1A 和 β-catenin 在调节 Wnt 靶基因以及体外和体内结直肠癌细胞生长中的协同作用提供了新的生物学和机制见解。