Based on reports on elevated cholesterol levels in cancer cells, strategies to lower cholesterol synthesis have been suggested as an antitumour strategy. However, cholesterol depletion has also been shown to induce tumour-promoting actions in tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs). We performed lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses of human lung cancer material. To assess whether the TAM phenotype is shaped by secreted factors produced by tumour cells, primary human monocyte-derived macrophages were polarized towards a TAM-like phenotype using tumour cell-conditioned medium. Lipidomic analysis of lung adenocarcinoma (n=29) and adjacent non-tumour tissues (n=22) revealed a significant accumulation of free cholesterol and cholesteryl esters within the tumour tissue. In contrast, cholesterol levels were reduced in TAMs isolated from lung adenocarcinoma tissues when compared with alveolar macrophages (AMs) obtained from adjacent non-tumour tissues. Bulk-RNA-Seq revealed that genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism were downregulated in TAMs, while cholesterol efflux transporters were upregulated. In vitro polarized TAM-like macrophages showed an attenuated lipogenic gene expression signature and exhibited lower cholesterol levels compared with non-polarized macrophages. A genome-wide comparison by bulk RNA-Seq confirmed a high similarity of ex vivo TAMs and in vitro TAM-like macrophages. Modulation of intracellular cholesterol levels by either starving, cholesterol depletion, or efflux transporter inhibition indicated that cholesterol distinctly shapes macrophage gene expression. Our data show an opposite dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis in tumour tissue vs. TAMs. Polarization of in vitro differentiated macrophages by tumour cell-conditioned medium recapitulates key features of ex vivo TAMs.

In many eukaryotes, RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) play key roles in the RNAi pathway. They have been implicated in the recognition and processing of aberrant transcripts triggering the process, and in amplification of the silencing response. We have tested the functions of RdRP genes from the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia in experimentally induced and endogenous mechanisms of gene silencing. In this organism, RNAi can be triggered either by high-copy, truncated transgenes or by directly feeding cells with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Surprisingly, dsRNA-induced silencing depends on the putatively functional RDR1 and RDR2 genes, which are required for the accumulation of both primary siRNAs and a distinct class of small RNAs suggestive of secondary siRNAs. In contrast, a third gene with a highly divergent catalytic domain, RDR3 , is required for siRNA accumulation when RNAi is triggered by truncated transgenes. Our data further implicate RDR3 in the accumulation of previously described endogenous siRNAs and in the regulation of the surface antigen gene family. While only one of these genes is normally expressed in any clonal cell line, the knockdown of RDR3 leads to co-expression of multiple antigens. These results provide evidence for a functional specialization of Paramecium RdRP genes in distinct RNAi pathways operating during vegetative growth.

In various organisms, an efficient RNAi response can be triggered by feeding cells with bacteria producing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) against an endogenous gene. However, the detailed mechanisms and natural functions of this pathway are not well understood in most cases. Here, we studied siRNA biogenesis from exogenous RNA and its genetic overlap with endogenous RNAi in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia by high-throughput sequencing. Using wild-type and mutant strains deficient for dsRNA feeding we found that high levels of primary siRNAs of both strands are processed from the ingested dsRNA trigger by the Dicer Dcr1, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases Rdr1 and Rdr2 and other factors. We further show that this induces the synthesis of secondary siRNAs spreading along the entire endogenous mRNA, demonstrating the occurrence of both 3′-to-5′ and 5′-to-3′ transitivity for the first time in the SAR clade of eukaryotes (Stramenopiles, Alveolates, Rhizaria). Secondary siRNAs depend on Rdr2 and show a strong antisense bias; they are produced at much lower levels than primary siRNAs and hardly contribute to RNAi efficiency. We further provide evidence that the Paramecium RNAi machinery also processes single-stranded RNAs from its bacterial food, broadening the possible natural functions of exogenously induced RNAi in this organism.