2. Academic Validation
  3. Selective inhibition of cancer cell self-renewal through a Quisinostat-histone H1.0 axis

Selective inhibition of cancer cell self-renewal through a Quisinostat-histone H1.0 axis

  • Nat Commun. 2020 Apr 14;11(1):1792. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15615-z.
Cristina Morales Torres 1,  Mary Y Wu 2,  Sebastijan Hobor 3,  Elanor N Wainwright 1,  Matthew J Martin 4,  Harshil Patel 5,  William Grey 6,  Eva Grönroos 3,  Steven Howell 7,  Joana Carvalho 8,  Ambrosius P Snijders 7,  Michael Bustin 9,  Dominique Bonnet 6,  Paul D Smith 4,  Charles Swanton 3 10,  Michael Howell 2,  Paola Scaffidi 11 12
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 2 High-Throughput Screening, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 3 Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 4 Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, CB2 0RE, UK.
  • 5 Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 6 Haematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 7 Proteomics, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 8 Experimental Histopathology, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
  • 9 Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
  • 10 Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
  • 11 Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK. Paola.Scaffidi@crick.ac.uk.
  • 12 UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6DD, UK. Paola.Scaffidi@crick.ac.uk.
PMID: 32286289 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15615-z
Abstract

Continuous Cancer growth is driven by subsets of self-renewing malignant cells. Targeting of uncontrolled self-renewal through inhibition of stem cell-related signaling pathways has proven challenging. Here, we show that Cancer cells can be selectively deprived of self-renewal ability by interfering with their epigenetic state. Re-expression of histone H1.0, a tumor-suppressive factor that inhibits Cancer cell self-renewal in many Cancer types, can be broadly induced by the clinically well-tolerated compound Quisinostat. Through H1.0, Quisinostat inhibits Cancer cell self-renewal and halts tumor maintenance without affecting normal stem cell function. Quisinostat also hinders expansion of cells surviving targeted therapy, independently of the Cancer types and the resistance mechanism, and inhibits disease relapse in mouse models of lung Cancer. Our results identify H1.0 as a major mediator of Quisinostat's antitumor effect and suggest that sequential administration of targeted therapy and Quisinostat may be a broadly applicable strategy to induce a prolonged response in patients.

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