Despite recent therapeutic advances, prostate cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death. A subset of castration-resistant prostate cancers become androgen receptor (AR) signaling independent and develop neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) features through lineage plasticity. These NEPC tumors, associated with aggressive disease and poor prognosis, are driven, in part, by aberrant expression of N-Myc, through mechanisms that remain unclear. Integrative analysis of the N-Myc transcriptome, cistrome, and interactome using in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo models (including patient-derived organoids) identified a lineage switch towards a neural identity associated with epigenetic reprogramming. N-Myc and known AR cofactors (e.g., FOXA1 and HOXB13) overlapped, independently of AR, at genomic loci implicated in neural lineage specification. Moreover, histone marks specifically associated with lineage-defining genes were reprogrammed by N-Myc. We also demonstrated that the N-Myc–induced molecular program accurately classifies our cohort of patients with advanced prostate cancer. Finally, we revealed the potential for enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) inhibition to reverse the N-Myc–induced suppression of epithelial lineage genes. Altogether, our data provide insights into how N-Myc regulates lineage plasticity and epigenetic reprogramming associated with lineage specification. The N-Myc signature we defined could also help predict the evolution of prostate cancer and thus better guide the choice of future therapeutic strategies.

Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) is a widely used method to observe retinal layers and follow pathological events in human. Recently, this technique has been adapted for animal imaging. This non-invasive technology brings a cross-sectional visualization of the retina, which permits to observe precisely each layer. There is a clear expansion of the use of this imaging modality in rodents, thus, a precise characterization of the different outer retinal layers observed by SD-OCT is now necessary to make the most of this technology. The identification of the inner strata until the outer nuclear layer has already been clearly established, while the attribution of the layers observed by SD-OCT to the structures corresponding to photoreceptors segments and retinal pigment epithelium is much more questionable. To progress in the understanding of experimental SD-OCT imaging, we developed a method for averaging SD-OCT data to generate a mean image allowing to better delineate layers in the retina of pigmented and albino strains of mice and rats. It allowed us to locate precisely the interface between photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium and to identify unambiguously four layers corresponding to the inner and outer parts of photoreceptors segments. We show that the thickness of the various layers can be measured as accurately in vivo on SD-OCT images, than post-mortem by a morphometric analysis of histological sections. We applied SD-OCT to different models and demonstrated that it allows analysis of focal or diffuse retinal pathological processes such as mutation-dependant damages or light-driven modification of photoreceptors. Moreover, we report a new method of combined use of SD-OCT and integration to quantify laser-induced choroidal neovascularization. In conclusion, we clearly demonstrated that SD-OCT represents a valuable tool for imaging the rodent retina that is at least as accurate as histology, non-invasive and allows longitudinal follow-up of the same animal.

Significance: The Notch signaling cascade is deregulated by oncogenic lesions in human cancers and has therefore become an attractive therapeutic target. Inhibitory monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule γ-secretase inhibitors have been developed to target the pathway at the most proximal point of the cascade. Major hurdles to the therapeutic application of these Notch inhibitors have been prevalent dose-limiting toxicities in the intestine. Here we report identification and preclinical validation of a small molecule (CB-103) that inhibits the pathway at the level of the Notch transcription complex without causing intestinal toxicity. Its properties and mechanism of action provide CB-103 with a more favorable therapeutic index than other types of Notch targeting agents, a feature that is currently being tested in cancer patients.

The promising clinical results obtained for ocular gene therapy in recent years have paved the way for gene supplementation to treat recessively inherited forms of retinal degeneration. The situation is more complex for dominant mutations, as the toxic mutant gene product must be removed. We used spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing as a strategy for repairing the transcript of the rhodopsin gene, the gene most frequently mutated in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. We tested 17 different molecules targeting the pre-mRNA intron 1, by transient transfection of HEK-293T cells, with subsequent trans-splicing quantification at the transcript level. We found that the targeting of some parts of the intron promoted trans-splicing more efficiently than the targeting of other areas, and that trans-splicing rate could be increased by modifying the replacement sequence. We then developed cell lines stably expressing the rhodopsin gene, for the assessment of phenotypic criteria relevant to the pathogenesis of retinitis pigmentosa. Using this model, we showed that trans-splicing restored the correct localization of the protein to the plasma membrane. Finally, we tested our best candidate by AAV gene transfer in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa that expresses a mutant allele of the human rhodopsin gene, and demonstrated the feasibility of trans-splicing in vivo. This work paves the way for trans-splicing gene therapy to treat retinitis pigmentosa due to rhodopsin gene mutation and, more generally, for the treatment of genetic diseases with dominant transmission.

Spliceosome‐mediated RNA trans‐splicing, or SMaRT, is a promising strategy to design innovative gene therapy solutions for currently intractable genetic diseases. SMaRT relies on the correction of mutations at the post‐transcriptional level by modifying the mRNA sequence. To achieve this, an exogenous RNA is introduced into the target cell, usually by means of gene transfer, to induce a splice event in trans between the exogenous RNA and the target endogenous pre‐mRNA. This produces a chimeric mRNA composed partly of exons of the latter, and partly of exons of the former, encoding a sequence free of mutations. The principal challenge of SMaRT technology is to achieve a reaction as complete as possible, i.e., resulting in 100% repairing of the endogenous mRNA target. The proof of concept of SMaRT feasibility has already been established in several models of genetic diseases caused by recessive mutations. In such cases, in fact, the repair of only a portion of the mutant mRNA pool may be sufficient to obtain a significant therapeutic effect. However in the case of dominant mutations, the target cell must be freed from the majority of mutant mRNA copies, requiring a highly efficient trans‐splicing reaction. This likely explains why only a few examples of SMaRT approaches targeting dominant mutations are reported in the literature. In this review, we explain in details the mechanism of trans‐splicing, review the different strategies that are under evaluation to lead to efficient trans‐splicing, and discuss the advantages and limitations of SMaRT. WIREs RNA 2016, 7:487–498. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1347This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > Splicing Mechanisms RNA Processing > RNA Editing and Modification