Taz As a Regulator of Mesenchymal Transformation and Clinical Aggressiveness in Gliomas
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The Texas Medical Center Library DigitalCommons@TMC The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Biomedical Sciences Dissertations and Theses Center UTHealth Graduate School of (Open Access) Biomedical Sciences 5-2012 TAZ AS A REGULATOR OF MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION AND CLINICAL AGGRESSIVENESS IN GLIOMAS Katrina Salazar Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations Part of the Medical Molecular Biology Commons, Medical Pathology Commons, Neoplasms Commons, Oncology Commons, and the Pathology Commons Recommended Citation Salazar, Katrina, "TAZ AS A REGULATOR OF MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION AND CLINICAL AGGRESSIVENESS IN GLIOMAS" (2012). The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dissertations and Theses (Open Access). 229. https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations/229 This Dissertation (PhD) is brought to you for free and open access by the The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at DigitalCommons@TMC. It has been accepted for inclusion in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dissertations and Theses (Open Access) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@TMC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TAZ AS A REGULATOR OF MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION AND CLINICAL AGGRESSIVENESS IN GLIOMAS by Katrina Lumen Salazar, B.S. APPROVED: ______________________________ Kenneth Aldape, M.D. Supervisory Professor ______________________________ Russell Broaddus, M.D./Ph.D. ______________________________ Daniel Cahill, M.D./Ph.D. ______________________________ Pierre McCrea, Ph.D. ______________________________ Erik Sulman, M.D/Ph.D. APPROVED: ____________________________ Dean, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston TAZ AS A REGULATOR OF MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION AND CLINICAL AGGRESSIVENESS IN GLIOMAS A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Katrina Lumen Salazar, B.S. Houston, Texas May 2012 COPYRIGHT iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Sonia Lumen Salazar (1946-2006), to whom I owe my ambition, my independent nature, and my interest in medicine. iv TAZ AS A REGULATOR OF MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION AND CLINICAL AGGRESSIVENESS IN GLIOMAS Publication No.________ Katrina Lumen Salazar, B.S. Supervisory Professor: Kenneth Aldape, M.D. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive, high grade brain tumor. Microarray studies have shown a subset of GBMs with a mesenchymal gene signature. This subset is associated with poor clinical outcome and resistance to treatment. To establish the molecular drivers of this mesenchymal transition, we correlated transcription factor expression to the mesenchymal signature and identified transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) to be highly associated with the mesenchymal shift. High TAZ expression correlated with worse clinical outcome and higher grade. These data led to the hypothesis that TAZ is critical to the mesenchymal transition and aggressive clinical behavior seen in GBM. We investigated the expression of TAZ, its binding partner TEAD, and the mesenchymal marker FN1 in human gliomas. Western analyses demonstrated increased expression of TAZ, TEAD4, and FN1 in GBM relative to lower grade gliomas. We also identified CpG islands in the TAZ promoter that are methylated in most lower grade gliomas, but not in GBMs. TAZ-methylated glioma stem cell (GSC) lines treated with a demethylation agent showed an increase in mRNA and protein TAZ expression; therefore, methylation may be another novel way TAZ is regulated since TAZ is epigenetically silenced in tumors with a better clinical outcome. v To further characterize the role of TAZ in gliomagenesis, we stably silenced or over- expressed TAZ in GSCs. Silencing of TAZ decreased invasion, self-renewal, mesenchymal protein expression, and tumor-initiating capacity. Over-expression of TAZ led to an increase in invasion, mesenchymal protein expression, mesenchymal differentiation, and tumor-initiating ability. These actions are dependent on TAZ interacting with TEAD since all these effects were abrogated with TAZ could not bind to TEAD. We also show that TAZ and TEAD directly bind to mesenchymal gene promoters. Thus, TAZ-TEAD interaction is critically important in the mesenchymal shift and in the aggressive clinical behavior of GBM. We identified TAZ as a regulator of the mesenchymal transition in gliomas. TAZ could be used as a biomarker to both estimate prognosis and stratify patients into clinically relevant subgroups. Since mesenchymal transition is correlated to tumor aggressiveness, strategies to target and inhibit TAZ-TEAD and the downstream gene targets may be warranted in alternative treatment. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT .............................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) ............................................................................................. 2 The mesenchymal signature and GBM ..................................................................................... 5 The Hippo Pathway ................................................................................................................... 8 TAZ, YAP, and TEAD ........................................................................................................... 11 EMT versus PMT .................................................................................................................... 22 Hypothesis and Significance ................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 2: METHODS .......................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS—SPECIFIC AIM 1 ........................................................................... 60 TAZ is associated with both the mesenchymal signature and GBM ...................................... 61 TAZ is essential for PMT and aggressive behavior in glioma stem cells (GSCs) .................. 75 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS—SPECIFIC AIM 2 ........................................................................... 88 The mesenchymal transition is controlled by TAZ interacting with TEAD ........................... 89 vii TAZ-TEAD directly binds the promoters of target genes to induce mesenchymal transition ............................................................................................................................................... 101 TAZ-TEAD interaction decreases survival and increases glioma grade in a mouse model . 110 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................... 118 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 119 Future Directions, Clinical Implications, and Conclusions .................................................. 123 CHAPTER 6: APPENDIX ....................................................................................................... 129 WT-YAP decreases survival and increases glioma grade in the RCAS/N-tva model .......... 130 TGF-β does not activate TAZ in GSCs ................................................................................. 133 GSCs cultured with CTGF show an increase in growth ....................................................... 138 TAZ-TEAD may recruit SATB1/2 to repress proneural genes ............................................ 140 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................... 142 VITA ......................................................................................................................................... 200 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: The Hippo pathway ....................................................................................................... 9 Figure 2: Kaplan-Meier analyses of patient survival in TCGA datasets .................................... 62 Figure 3: TAZ/WWTR1 expression versus mesenchymal metagene score ................................. 64 Figure 4: The Hippo pathway (simplified) ................................................................................. 65 Figure 5: Methylation status of WWTR1 and YAP1...................................................................