Inhibition of the H3K9 methyltransferase G9A attenuates oncogenicity and activates the hypoxia signaling pathway

PLoS One. 2017 Nov 16;12(11):e0188051. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188051. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Epigenetic mechanisms play important roles in the regulation of tumorigenesis, and hypoxia-induced epigenetic changes may be critical for the adaptation of cancer cells to the hypoxic microenvironment of solid tumors. Previously, we showed that loss-of-function of the hypoxia-regulated H3K9 methyltransferase G9A attenuates tumor growth. However, the mechanisms by which blockade of G9A leads to a tumor suppressive effect remain poorly understood. We show that G9A is highly expressed in breast cancer and is associated with poor patient prognosis, where it may function as a potent oncogenic driver. In agreement with this, G9A inhibition by the small molecule inhibitor, BIX-01294, leads to increased cell death and impaired cell migration, cell cycle and anchorage-independent growth. Interestingly, whole transcriptome analysis revealed that genes involved in diverse cancer cell functions become hypoxia-responsive upon G9A inhibition. This was accompanied by the upregulation of the hypoxia inducible factors HIF1α and HIF2α during BIX-01294 treatment even in normoxia that may facilitate the tumor suppressive effects of BIX-01294. HIF inhibition was able to reverse some of the transcriptional changes induced by BIX-01294 in hypoxia, indicating that the HIFs may be important drivers of these derepressed target genes. Therefore, we show that G9A is a key mediator of oncogenic processes in breast cancer cells and G9A inhibition by BIX-01294 can successfully attenuate oncogenicity even in hypoxia.

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Azepines / pharmacology
  • Cell Cycle
  • Cell Hypoxia*
  • Cell Movement
  • Cell Proliferation
  • HeLa Cells
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Humans
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / metabolism
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Methylation
  • Neoplasms / enzymology
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Oncogenes*
  • Prognosis
  • Quinazolines / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction*

Substances

  • Azepines
  • BIX 01294
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit
  • Quinazolines
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase

Grants and funding

Funded by National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) Pilot Grant (NR13NMR134OM, H.K., L.P. and K.L.L.); National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Clinician Scientist – Individual Research Grant (CS-IRG) (NMRC/CIRG/1389/2014, S.J. and L.P.); the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore and the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Research Centres of Excellence initiative (R-713-005-014-271, J.C.H., Q.Y.P., H.K., L.P. and K.L.L.; R-713-010-189-112, H.Y.); Ministry of Education, Singapore AcRF Tier 2 (MOE2015-T2-2-126, L.N.A., E.K.C); Cancer Science Institute of Singapore RCE Main Grant (E.K.C.); the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (JP16K07099 and JP16H01319, J.U.); the Swedish Research Council (L.P.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.