Developmental chromatin programs determine oncogenic competence in melanoma.

Publication Type Academic Article
Authors Baggiolini A, Callahan S, Montal E, Weiss J, Trieu T, Tagore M, Tischfield S, Walsh R, Suresh S, Fan Y, Campbell N, Perlee S, Saurat N, Hunter M, Simon-Vermot T, Huang T, Ma Y, Hollmann T, Tickoo S, Taylor B, Khurana E, Koche R, Studer L, White R
Journal Science
Volume 373
Issue 6559
Pagination eabc1048
Date Published 09/03/2021
ISSN 1095-9203
Keywords Carcinogenesis, Chromatin, Melanoma, Neural Crest
Abstract Oncogenes only transform cells under certain cellular contexts, a phenomenon called oncogenic competence. Using a combination of a human pluripotent stem cell–derived cancer model along with zebrafish transgenesis, we demonstrate that the transforming ability of BRAFV600E along with additional mutations depends on the intrinsic transcriptional program present in the cell of origin. In both systems, melanocytes are less responsive to mutations, whereas both neural crest and melanoblast populations are readily transformed. Profiling reveals that progenitors have higher expression of chromatin-modifying enzymes such as ATAD2, a melanoma competence factor that forms a complex with SOX10 and allows for expression of downstream oncogenic and neural crest programs. These data suggest that oncogenic competence is mediated by regulation of developmental chromatin factors, which then allow for proper response to those oncogenes.
DOI 10.1126/science.abc1048
PubMed ID 34516843
PubMed Central ID PMC9440978
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