Context-Dependent Impact of RAS Oncogene Expression on Cellular Reprogramming to Pluripotency

Induction of pluripotency in somatic cells with defined genetic factors has been successfully used to investigate the mechanisms of disease initiation and progression. Cellular reprogramming and oncogenic transformation share common features; both involve undergoing a dramatic change in cell identit...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ferreirós, Alba, Pedrosa, Pablo, Silva-Alvarez, S. da, Triana-Martínez, F., Vilas, Jéssica M., Picallos-Rabina, Pilar, González, Patricia, Gómez, María, Li, Han, García-Caballero, Tomás, González-Barcia, M., Vidal, Anxo, Collado, Manuel
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/345261
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/345261
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Ras
Oncogenes
Cell reprogramming
iPSC
Cell plasticity
Description
Summary:Induction of pluripotency in somatic cells with defined genetic factors has been successfully used to investigate the mechanisms of disease initiation and progression. Cellular reprogramming and oncogenic transformation share common features; both involve undergoing a dramatic change in cell identity, and immortalization is a key step for cancer progression that enhances reprogramming. However, there are very few examples of complete successful reprogramming of tumor cells. Here we address the effect of expressing an active oncogene, RAS, on the process of reprogramming and found that, while combined expression with reprogramming factors enhanced dedifferentiation, expression within the context of neoplastic transformation impaired reprogramming. RAS induces expression changes that promote loss of cell identity and acquisition of stemness in a paracrine manner and these changes result in reprogramming when combined with reprogramming factors. When cells carry cooperating oncogenic defects, RAS drives cells into an incompatible cellular fate of malignancy.