SMAD4 suppresses WNt-driven dedifferentiation and oncogenesis in the differentiated gut epithelium

Ansu O. Perekatt, Pooja P. Shah, Shannon Cheung, Nidhi Jariwala, Alex Wu, Vishal Gandhi, Namit Kumar, Qiang Feng, Neeket Patel, Lei Chen, Shilpy Joshi, Anbo Zhou, M. Mark Taketo, Jinchuan Xing, Eileen White, Nan Gao, Michael L. Gatza, Michael P. Verzi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

The cell of origin of colon cancer is typically thought to be the resident somatic stem cells, which are immortal and escape the continual cellular turnover characteristic of the intestinal epithelium. However, recent studies have identified certain conditions in which differentiated cells can acquire stem-like properties and give rise to tumors. Defining the origins of tumors will inform cancer prevention efforts as well as cancer therapies, as cancers with distinct origins often respond differently to treatments. We report here a new condition in which tumors arise from the differentiated intestinal epithelium. Inactivation of the differentiation-promoting transcription factor SMAD4 in the intestinal epithelium was surprisingly well tolerated in the short term. However, after several months, adenomas developed with characteristics of activated WNT signaling. Simultaneous loss of SMAD4 and activation of the WNT pathway led to dedifferentiation and rapid adenoma formation in differentiated tissue. Transcriptional profiling revealed acquisition of stem cell characteristics, and colabeling indicated that cells expressing differentiated enterocyte markers entered the cell cycle and reexpressed stem cell genes upon simultaneous loss of SMAD4 and activation of the WNT pathway. These results indicate that SMAD4 functions to maintain differentiated enterocytes in the presence of oncogenic WNT signaling, thus preventing dedifferentiation and tumor formation in the differentiated intestinal epithelium.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4878-4890
Number of pages13
JournalCancer Research
Volume78
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2018

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