1. β-catenin programs a tissue-specific epigenetic vulnerability in aggressive adrenocortical carcinoma
- Author
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Dipika R. Mohan, Kleiton S. Borges, Isabella Finco, Christopher R. LaPensee, Juilee Rege, April L. Solon, Donald W. Little, Tobias Else, Madson Q. Almeida, Derek Dang, James Haggerty-Skeans, April A. Apfelbaum, Michelle Vinco, Alda Wakamatsu, Beatriz MP Mariani, Larissa Amorin, Ana Claudia Latronico, Berenice B. Mendonca, Maria Claudia N. Zerbini, Elizabeth R. Lawlor, Ryoma Ohi, Richard J. Auchus, William E. Rainey, Suely K. N. Marie, Thomas J. Giordano, Sriram Venneti, Maria Candida B. V. Fragoso, David T. Breault, Antonio Marcondes Lerario, and Gary D. Hammer
- Abstract
Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare cancer in which tissue-specific differentiation is paradoxically associated with dismal outcomes. The differentiated ACC subtype CIMP-high is prevalent, incurable, and routinely fatal. CIMP-high ACC possess abnormal DNA methylation and frequent β-catenin activating mutations. Here, we demonstrate that ACC differentiation is maintained by a balance between nuclear, tissue-specific β-catenin-containing complexes and the epigenome. On chromatin, β-catenin binds master adrenal transcription factor SF1 and hijacks the adrenocortical super-enhancer landscape to maintain differentiation. Off chromatin, β-catenin binds histone methyltransferase EZH2, which is redistributed by the CIMP-high DNA methylation signature. SF1/β-catenin and EZH2/β-catenin complexes exist in normal adrenals and are selected for through all phases of ACC evolution. Pharmacologic EZH2 inhibition in CIMP-high ACC favors EZH2/β-catenin assembly and purges SF1/β-catenin from chromatin, erasing differentiation and restraining cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. Our studies illustrate how tissue-specific programs shape oncogene selection, surreptitiously encoding targetable therapeutic vulnerabilities.
- Published
- 2022
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