title: A Novel Small Molecule Activator of Nuclear Receptor SHP Inhibits HCC Cell Migration via Suppressing Ccl2.
abstract: Small heterodimer partner (SHP, NR0B2) is a nuclear orphan receptor without endogenous ligands. Due to its crucial inhibitory role in liver cancer, it is of importance to identify small molecule agonists of SHP. As such, we initiated a probe discovery effort to identify compounds capable of modulating SHP function. First, we performed binding assays using small molecule microarrays (SMM) and discovered 5-(diethylsulfamoyl)-3-hydroxynaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid (DSHN) as a novel activator of SHP. DSHN transcriptionally activated Shp mRNA, but also stabilized the SHP protein by preventing its ubiquitination and degradation. Second, we identified Ccl2 as a new SHP target gene by RNA-seq. We showed that activation of SHP by DSHN repressed Ccl2 expression and secretion by inhibiting p65 activation of CCL2 promoter activity, as demonstrated in vivo in Shp-/-mice and in vitro in HCC cells with SHP overexpression and knockdown. Third, we elucidated a strong inhibitory effect of SHP and DSHN on HCC cell migration and invasion by antagonizing the effect of CCL2. Lastly, by interrogating a publicly available database to retrieve SHP expression profiles from multiple types of human cancers, we established a negative association of SHP expression with human cancer metastasis and patient survival. In summary, the discovery of a novel small molecule activator of SHP provides a therapeutic perspective for future translational and preclinical studies to inhibit HCC metastasis by blocking Ccl2 signaling. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(10); 2294-301. ©2016 AACR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Neurobiology and The Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut. Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Angela N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Neurobiology and The Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut. Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut. Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Digestive Diseases, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. li.wang@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D055808:Drug Discovery; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011379:Prognosis; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; C099713:nuclear receptor subfamily 0, group B, member 2