Abstract MIP-060: EPIGENETIC DYSREGULATION OF A HISTONE MARK REVEALS A METABOLIC VULNERABILITY IN OVARIAN CANCER

Abstract High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is frequently complicated by the inevitable development of therapeutic resistance, and thus remains an incurable disease. Recent insights supporting the fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) as the tissue of origin and serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs) as the precursor lesion for the majority of HGSOCs provide a necessary context to study the mechanisms that drive the development and progression of HGSOC. Understanding these key molecular processes is essential to inform the development of next generation therapies. In this study we investigated the role of the ubiquitin ligase RNF20 and histone H2B monoubiquitylation (H2Bub1) in serous tumorigenesis. H2Bub1, catalyzed largely by RNF20, is an epigenetic mark with tumor suppressor properties. Conversely, the loss of RNF20/H2Bub1 has been linked with cancer progression. By analyzing the TCGA data we found that heterozygous loss of RNF20 defines the majority of HGSOC tumors. Our IHC results show that H2Bub1 is lost or downregulated in a large proportion of STICs and invasive HGSOC tumors, implicating RNF20/H2Bub1 loss as an early event in serous ovarian cancer tumorigenesis. Functionally, we demonstrated that shRNA-mediated RNF20 knockdown, with concomitant H2Bub1 downregulation, was sufficient to increase cell migration and clonogenic growth of immortalized tubal epithelial cells as well as cells derived from invasive HGSOC. Subsequent proteomic profiling (RPPA), of RNF20/H2Bub1-depleted cells revealed pronounced changes in the steady-state levels of a number of metabolic and signaling pathways. In particular, two of the top differentially expressed proteins were glutaminase (GLS) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLUD1/2), key enzymes in the glutamine metabolism pathway. These changes are predicted to result in elevated levels of glutamate that can fuel the TCA cycle, amino acid biogenesis, and/or glutathione production. We hypothesize that loss of RNF20/H2Bub1 rewires glutamine metabolism in cancer cells and leads to an increase in transamination and glutathione production which fuels the progression of HGSOC. In conclusion, our study identifies that loss of H2Bub1 is an early epigenetic event in HGSOC progression, which rewires glutamine metabolism and may represent a unique therapeutic vulnerability. Citation Format: Jagmohan Hood, Marián Novak, Emily MacDuffie, Jenny Lester, Vinita Parkash, Gordon B. Mills, Beth Y. Karlan, Moshe Oren, and Ronny Drapkin. EPIGENETIC DYSREGULATION OF A HISTONE MARK REVEALS A METABOLIC VULNERABILITY IN OVARIAN CANCER [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium; Sep 12-13, 2016; Seattle, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2017;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr MIP-060.