1 Characterization of Wwox Expression and Function in Canine
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Characterization of Wwox Expression and Function in Canine Mast Cell Tumors and Malignant Mast Cell Lines THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Rebecca Lynn Makii Graduate Program in Comparative and Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University 2020 Master’s Examination Committee Joelle Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, Advisor Eric Green, DVM, DACVR Ryan Jennings, DVM, PhD, DACVP 1 Copyrighted by Rebecca Lynn Makii 2020 2 Abstract Mast cell tumors (MCT) are the most common skin tumor in dogs with behavior varying from benign to aggressive, metastatic disease. While activating mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase KIT (c-KIT) have been identified in up to 30% of high-grade MCTs, the genetic alterations driving tumorigenesis in the 70% of MCTs that do not possess c-KIT mutations remains unclear. The WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) tumor suppressor gene is frequently lost or attenuated in many human cancers and cancer cell lines and data suggest that loss of WWOX impedes DNA damage response (DDR) and repair leading to genomic instability. The purpose of this study was to characterize WWOX expression in spontaneous canine mast MCTs and mastocytoma cell lines and begin to define the functional consequences of WWOX inactivation on mast cell viability and clonogenic survival in response to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) damaging agents. qRT-PCR and Western blotting showed that WWOX is decreased in MC lines and primary MCTs compared to bone marrow-cultured MCs, suggesting that loss of WWOX is a frequent event in this disease. WWOX expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in paired normal dermal MCs (N = 15), low-grade MCTs (N = 14), and high-grade MCTs (N = 5) and demonstrated that there is decreased percent of cells staining for Wwox in high-grade MCTs. To better define the functional consequences of WWOX loss on MC behavior, MCs transduced with control or WWOX ii lentiviral or sh-RNAs targeting WWOX were treated with ionizing radiation, and cell survival and viability were assessed by clonogenicity and MTT assays. Overexpression of WWox in the BR MC line did not alter DDR or cell viability; however, further decreasing expression of WWOX in the C2 MC line conferred a survival advantage post- irradiation. Lastly, we demonstrate validation of tissue specific WWOX knockout a mouse model to better understand the role of WWOX in normal mast cells. These findings provide insight into the functions of WWOX in MCs with the ultimate goal of identifying novel targets for therapeutic intervention. iii Dedication In loving memory of Patricia & Chester Berlin and Mildred & Melvin Makii Dedicated to my parents, Michael and Christine Makii and my siblings, Jason Makii, Justin Makii, and Amanda Fee, for their constant love, support, and encouragement throughout the years. To my nieces and nephews: I hope you fall in love with science just as much as I have. iv Acknowledgments I would like to begin by expressing my sincerest gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Joelle Fenger, for her patience, guidance, support, and encouragement through both my graduate and veterinary programs. Your willingness to take me in as a “lost” graduate student developed into an invaluable opportunity to learn how to ask questions, think critically, and gain confidence within the field of comparative medicine. The efforts of this work would not have been possible without the friendship, technical support, and morale encouragement of current and former laboratory members, Dr. Justin Breitbach, Hanna Cook, Feng Xu, and Darian Louke. I would additionally like to thank Wessel Dirksen and Dr. Tom Rosol for providing me with foundational laboratory training during my graduate programming. I am also appreciative of the guidance and technical assistance from my thesis committee, Drs. Eric Green and Ryan Jennings. Your expertise and guidance in this project has provided me with greater insight into both radiation oncology and pathology and an admiration for the collaborative nature of the veterinary profession. Additional technical help for this project was provided through Dr. Sue Knoblaugh, Chelssie Breece, and David Hart from the Comparative Pathology and Mouse Phenotyping Shared Resource, Dr. Chris Premanandan and Jenny Bolon from the Applied Pathology Services, Dr. Noopur Desai, Dr. Jillian Walz, and Nicole Pasternak of v the Integrated Oncology Service, Dr. Holly Borghese of the Blue Buffalo Clinical Trials Office Tissue Bank, and Alex Cornwell of the Analytical Cytometry Shared Resource. Each of you played an instrumental role in ensuring the completion of this project through your technical expertise, encouragement, and troubleshooting. To my veterinary classmates (particularly Lindsay Courtney, Leah Giralico, Megan Goodnight, Kelsey Bick, Sarah Bek Komnenovich, Kristen Behrens, Jessica Battyanyi, and Andrea Bessler), the fourth floor of VMAB, and the pathology and oncology residents that I have befriended in my graduate studies, thank you for the camaraderie, support, and friendship over the years. I sincerely cannot wait to see the exciting pathways each one of us take as we embark further into our careers. Finally, with the most gratitude, I would like to thank my biggest supporter, Michael Kemp, my dearest friends (Serena Nayee, Abby McClaine, Akul Yajnik, Andy Goldfarb, Megan Huber, Brady Schoeffler and Emily Selio), and my family (the Makiis, the Fees, the Kemps, and the Martins) for their encouragement, understanding, patience, and love. You all mean more to me than you know. vi Vita 2012 ………………………………………………………..Mount de Sales Academy 2016 ………………………………………………………..B.S. Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Ohio State University 2016 – present ……………………………………………..M.S./D.V.M. candidate The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Comparative Veterinary Medicine vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... v Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1. Literature Review .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 The WW-Domain Containing Oxidoreductase (WWOX) Gene ................................ 1 1.2 In Vivo Functions of WWOX ..................................................................................... 3 1.3 WWOX Dysregulation in Cancer ............................................................................. 5 1.4 WWOX Functions in DNA Damage Repair and Genomic Stability ........................ 8 1.5 Canine Mast Cell Tumors ....................................................................................... 10 1.6 Summary ................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 2: Characterizing the Role of WWOX in Canine Mast Cell Tumors and Cell Lines .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Abstract ................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 16 viii 2.3 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................ 20 2.3.1 Tumor microarray construction and immunohistochemistry ........................... 20 2.3.2 Cell lines and reagents ..................................................................................... 21 2.3.3 RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, and qRT- PCR ............................................ 22 2.3.4 Immunoblotting ................................................................................................ 23 2.3.5 Recombinant stem cell factor co-culture ......................................................... 24 2.3.6 WWOX and shWWOX lentivirus infection .................................................... 24 2.3.8 Assessment of cell viability and cell proliferation ........................................... 26 2.3.9 Clonogenic survival assay ................................................................................ 27 2.3.11 Generation of CPA3-Cre;WWOXfl/fl transgenic mouse model ..................... 27 2.3.13 Statistics ......................................................................................................... 28 2.4 Results ..................................................................................................................... 28 2.4.1 Wwox expression is frequently decreased in primary canine MCTs and canine MC lines .................................................................................................................... 28 2.4.2 Loss of