Blocking CDK7-mediated NOTCH1-cMYC Signaling Attenuates Cancer Stem Cell Activity in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Background: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is an aggressive solid cancer in humans with few treatment options. Recent studies suggest that aberrant gene transcription could contribute to aggressive ATC progression. To test this hypothesis, we assessed if blocking cyclin-dependent protein 7 (CDK7) activity could impede ATC progression through attenuation of cancer stem cell (CSC) activity.

Methods: We treated cell lines isolated from human ATC (THJ-11T and -16T) and xenograft mice induced by these cells with the CDK7 inhibitor THZ1. Through integrative transcriptome analyses we found that the NOTCH1-cMYC signaling axis was a potential target of CDK7 inhibition in ATC. To determine the regulatory action of NOTCH1-cMYC signaling in CSC maintenance we evaluated the effect of a selective NOTCH1 inhibitor, crenigacestat, on CSC capacities in ATC.

Results: THZ1 markedly inhibited proliferation of ATC cells and xenograft tumor growth by blocking cell-cycle progression and inducing apoptosis. NOTCH1 was sensitive to suppressive transcription mediated by CDK7 inhibition and was highly enriched in tumorspheres from ATC cells. Treatment of ATC cells with either crenigacestat or THZ1 blocked formation of tumorspheres, decreased aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and suppressed in vivo initiation and growth of tumors induced by ATC cells, indicating that NOTCH1 was a critical regulator of CSC activity in ATC. Further, we demonstrated that cMYC was a downstream target of NOTCH1 signaling that collaboratively maintained CSC activity in ATC. Notably, genomic analysis showed that low CDK7 expression contributed to longer disease-free survival of thyroid cancer patients.

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