Oncogenic enhancers prime quiescent metastatic cells to escape NK immune surveillance by eliciting transcriptional memory

Metastasis arises from disseminated tumour cells (DTCs) that are characterized by intrinsic phenotypic plasticity and the capability of seeding to secondary organs. DTCs can remain latent for years before giving rise to symptomatic overt metastasis. In this context, DTCs fluctuate between a quiescen...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Michelatti, Daniela, Beyes, Sven, Bernardis, Chiara, Negri, Maria Luce, Morelli, Leonardo, García Bediaga, Naiara, Poli, Vittoria, Fagnocchi, Luca, Lago, Sara, D’Annunzio, Sarah, Cona, Nicole, Gaspardo, Ilaria, Bianchi, Aurora, Jovetic, Jovana, Gianesello, Matteo, Turdo, Alice, D’Accardo, Caterina, Gaggianesi, Miriam, Dori, Martina, Forcato, Mattia, Crispatzu, Giuliano, Rada-Iglesias, Álvaro, Sosa, María Soledad, Timmers, H. T. Marc, Bicciato, Silvio, Todaro, Matilde, Tiberi, Luca, Zippo, Alessio
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2024
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositório:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/364561
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/364561
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Cell-cycle exit
Chromatin
Metastasis
Transcriptional regulatory elements
Descrição
Resumo:Metastasis arises from disseminated tumour cells (DTCs) that are characterized by intrinsic phenotypic plasticity and the capability of seeding to secondary organs. DTCs can remain latent for years before giving rise to symptomatic overt metastasis. In this context, DTCs fluctuate between a quiescent and proliferative state in response to systemic and microenvironmental signals including immune-mediated surveillance. Despite its relevance, how intrinsic mechanisms sustain DTCs plasticity has not been addressed. By interrogating the epigenetic state of metastatic cells, we find that tumour progression is coupled with the activation of oncogenic enhancers that are organized in variable interconnected chromatin domains. This spatial chromatin context leads to the activation of a robust transcriptional response upon repeated exposure to retinoic acid (RA). We show that this adaptive mechanism sustains the quiescence of DTCs through the activation of the master regulator SOX9. Finally, we determine that RA-stimulated transcriptional memory increases the fitness of metastatic cells by supporting the escape of quiescent DTCs from NK-mediated immune surveillance. Overall, these findings highlight the contribution of oncogenic enhancers in establishing transcriptional memories as an adaptive mechanism to reinforce cancer dormancy and immune escape, thus amenable for therapeutic intervention.