Mutations in tumor suppressor genes Vhl and Rassf1a cause DNA damage, chromosomal instability and induce gene expression changes characteristic of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

RASSF1A is frequently biallelically inactivated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) due to loss of chromosome 3p and promoter hypermethylation. Here we investigated the cellular and molecular consequences of single and combined deletion of the Rassf1a and Vhl tumor suppressor genes to model the common ccRCC genotype of combined loss of function of RASSF1A and VHL. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts and in primary kidney epithelial cells, double deletion of Rassf1a and Vhl caused chromosomal segregation defects and increased formation of micronuclei, demonstrating that pVHL and RASSF1A function to maintain genomic integrity.

Integrated Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Modified Nucleosides for Biomarker Discovery in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for ~75% of kidney cancers. The biallelic inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene () is the truncal driver mutation of most cases of ccRCC. Cancer cells are metabolically reprogrammed and excrete modified nucleosides in larger amounts due to their increased RNA turnover.

Therapeutic Effects of Inhibition of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Signaling in HIF-2α Inhibitor-Resistant Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Specific inhibitors of HIF-2α have recently been approved for the treatment of ccRCC in VHL disease patients and have shown encouraging results in clinical trials for metastatic sporadic ccRCC. However, not all patients respond to therapy and pre-clinical and clinical studies indicate that intrinsic as well as acquired resistance mechanisms to HIF-2α inhibitors are likely to represent upcoming clinical challenges. It would be desirable to have additional therapeutic options for the treatment of HIF-2α inhibitor resistant ccRCCs.

Sensitivity and Resistance of Oncogenic RAS-Driven Tumors to Dual MEK and ERK Inhibition.

Oncogenic mutations in family genes arise frequently in metastatic human cancers. Here we developed new mouse and cellular models of oncogenic Hras-driven undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma metastasis and of Kras-driven pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma metastasis. Through analyses of these cells and of human oncogenic KRAS-, NRAS- and BRAF-driven cancer cell lines we identified that resistance to single MEK inhibitor and ERK inhibitor treatments arise rapidly but combination therapy completely blocks the emergence of resistance.

HIF-1α and HIF-2α differently regulate tumour development and inflammation of clear cell renal cell carcinoma in mice.

Mutational inactivation of VHL is the earliest genetic event in the majority of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC), leading to accumulation of the HIF-1α and HIF-2α transcription factors. While correlative studies of human ccRCC and functional studies using human ccRCC cell lines have implicated HIF-1α as an inhibitor and HIF-2α as a promoter of aggressive tumour behaviours, their roles in tumour onset have not been functionally addressed. Herein we show using an autochthonous ccRCC model that Hif1a is essential for tumour formation whereas Hif2a deletion has only minor effects on tumour initiation and growth.

Evidence of renal angiomyolipoma neoplastic stem cells arising from renal epithelial cells.

Renal angiomyolipomas (AML) contain an admixture of clonal tumour cells with features of several different mesenchymal lineages, implying the existence of an unidentified AML neoplastic stem cell. Biallelic inactivation of TSC2 or TSC1 is believed to represent the driving event in these tumours. Here we show that TSC2 knockdown transforms senescence-resistant cultured mouse and human renal epithelial cells into neoplastic stem cells that serially propagate renal AML-like tumours in mice.

Cdk4 functions in multiple cell types to control Drosophila intestinal stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

The proliferation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and differentiation of enteroblasts to form mature enteroendocrine cells and enterocytes in the Drosophila intestinal epithelium must be tightly regulated to maintain homeostasis. We show that genetic modulation of CyclinD/Cdk4 activity or mTOR-dependent signalling cell-autonomously regulates enterocyte growth, which influences ISC proliferation and enteroblast differentiation. Increased enterocyte growth results in higher numbers of ISCs and defective enterocyte growth reduces ISC abundance and proliferation in the midgut.

Formation of Renal Cysts and Tumors in Vhl/Trp53-Deficient Mice Requires HIF1α and HIF2α.

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is inactivated in the majority of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC), but genetic ablation of Vhl alone in mouse models is insufficient to recapitulate human tumorigenesis. One function of pVHL is to regulate the stability of the hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF), which become constitutively activated in the absence of pVHL. In established ccRCC, HIF1α has been implicated as a renal tumor suppressor, whereas HIF2α is considered an oncoprotein.