The PRC2 molecule EED is a target of epigenetic therapy for neuroblastoma

  • Eur J Cell Biol. 2022 Jun-Aug;101(3):151238. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2022.151238.
Dilibaerguli Shaliman  1 ,  Hisanori Takenobu  2 ,  Ryuichi P Sugino  2 ,  Miki Ohira  2 ,  Takehiko Kamijo  3
Affiliations
  • 1. Research Institute for Clinical Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama, Japan; Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology, Department of Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan.
  • 2. Research Institute for Clinical Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama, Japan.
  • 3. Research Institute for Clinical Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama, Japan; Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology, Department of Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 35636260 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2022.151238
Abstract

Epigenetic modifications by polycomb repressive complex (PRC) molecules appear to play a role in the tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of neuroblastoma (NB). Embryonic ectoderm development (EED) is a member of the PRC2 complex that binds to the H3K27me3 MARK deposited by EZH2 via propagation on adjacent nucleosomes. We herein investigated the molecular roles of EED in MYCN-amplified NB cells using EED-knockdown (KD) shRNAs, EED-knockout sgRNAs, and the EED small molecule inhibitor EED226. The suppression of EED markedly inhibited NB cell proliferation and flat and soft agar colony formation. A transcriptome analysis using microarrays of EED-KD NB cells indicated the de-repression of cell cycle-regulated and differentiation-related genes. The results of a GSEA analysis suggested that inhibitory cell cycle-regulated gene sets were markedly up-regulated. Furthermore, an epigenetic treatment with the EED inhibitor EED226 and the HDAC inhibitors valproic acid/SAHA effectively suppressed NB cell proliferation and colony formation. This combined epigenetic treatment up-regulated cell cycle-regulated and differentiation-related genes. The ChIP Sequencing analysis of histone codes and PRC molecules suggested an epigenetic background for the de-repression of down-regulated genes in MYCN-amplified/PRC2 up-regulated NB.

Keywords
EED; Histone code; Neuroblastoma; Polycomb.
Products