Xiangao Huang

Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, NY, USA

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Publications (6)50.43 Total impact

  • Article: Induction of prolonged early G 1 arrest by CDK4/CDK6 inhibition reprograms lymphoma cells for durable PI3Kδ inhibition through PIK3IP1.
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    ABSTRACT: Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling is constitutive in most human cancers. Selective inhibition of PI3Kδ (p110δ) by GS-1101 has emerged as a promising therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and indolent lymphomas. In aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas such as mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), however, efficacy has been observed, but the extent and duration of tumor control is modest. To determine if tumor killing by GS-1101 is cell cycle-dependent, we show in primary MCL cells by whole-transcriptome sequencing that, despite aberrant expression and recurrent mutations in Cyclin D1, mutations are rare in coding regions of CDK4, RB1 and other genes that control G 1-S cell cycle progression or PI3K/AKT signaling. PI3Kδ is the predominant PI3K catalytic subunit expressed, and inhibition by GS-1101 transiently inhibits AKT phosphorylation but not proliferation in MCL cells. Induction of prolonged early G 1-arrest (pG1) by selective inhibition of CDK4/CDK6 with PD 0332991 amplifies and sustains PI3Kδ inhibition, which leads to robust apoptosis. Accordingly, inhibition of PI3Kδ induces apoptosis of primary MCL tumor cells once they have ceased to cycle ex vivo, and this killing is enhanced by PD 0332991 inhibition of CDK4/CDK6. PIK3IP1, a negative PI3K regulator, appears to mediate pG1 sensitization to PI3K inhibition; it is markedly reduced in MCL tumor cells compared with normal peripheral B cells, profoundly induced in pG1 and required for pG1 sensitization to GS-1101. Thus, the magnitude and duration of PI3K inhibition and tumor killing by GS-1101 is pG1-dependent, suggesting induction of pG1 by CDK4/CDK6 inhibition as a strategy to sensitize proliferating lymphoma cells to PI3K inhibition.
    Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) 05/2013; 12(12). · 5.36 Impact Factor
  • Article: Prolonged early G(1) arrest by selective CDK4/CDK6 inhibition sensitizes myeloma cells to cytotoxic killing through cell cycle-coupled loss of IRF4.
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    ABSTRACT: Dysregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) and CDK6 by gain of function or loss of inhibition is common in human cancer, including multiple myeloma, but success in targeting CDK with broad-spectrum inhibitors has been modest. By selective and reversible inhibition of CDK4/CDK6, we have developed a strategy to both inhibit proliferation and enhance cytotoxic killing of cancer cells. We show that induction of prolonged early-G(1) arrest (pG1) by CDK4/CDK6 inhibition halts gene expression in early-G(1) and prevents expression of genes programmed for other cell-cycle phases. Removal of the early-G(1) block leads to S-phase synchronization (pG1-S) but fails to completely restore scheduled gene expression. Consequently, the IRF4 protein required to protect myeloma cells from apoptosis is markedly reduced in pG1 and further in pG1-S in response to cytotoxic agents, such as the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. The coordinated loss of IRF4 and gain of Bim sensitize myeloma tumor cells to bortezomib-induced apoptosis in pG1 in the absence of Noxa and more profoundly in pG1-S in cooperation with Noxa in vitro. Induction of pG1 and pG1-S by reversible CDK4/CDK6 inhibition further augments tumor-specific bortezomib killing in myeloma xenografts. Reversible inhibition of CDK4/CDK6 in sequential combination therapy thus represents a novel mechanism-based cancer therapy.
    Blood 06/2012; 120(5):1095-106. · 9.90 Impact Factor
  • Article: MAGE-A inhibits apoptosis in proliferating myeloma cells through repression of Bax and maintenance of survivin.
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    ABSTRACT: The type I Melanoma Antigen GEnes (MAGEs) are commonly expressed in cancers, fueling speculation that they may be therapeutic targets with oncogenic potential. They form complexes with RING domain proteins that have E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and promote p53 degradation. MAGE-A3 was detected in tumor specimens from patients with multiple myeloma and its expression correlated with higher frequencies of Ki-67(+) malignant cells. In this report, we examine the mechanistic role of MAGE-A in promoting survival of proliferating multiple myeloma cells. The impact of MAGE-A3 expression on survival and proliferation in vivo was examined by immunohistochemical analysis in an independent set of tumor specimens segregated into two groups: newly diagnosed, untreated patients and patients who had relapsed after chemotherapy. The mechanisms of MAGE-A3 activity were investigated in vitro by silencing its expression by short hairpin RNA interference in myeloma cell lines and primary cells and assessing the resultant effects on proliferation and apoptosis. MAGE-A3 was detected in a significantly higher percentage of relapsed patients compared with newly diagnosed, establishing a novel correlation with progression of disease. Silencing of MAGE-A showed that it was dispensable for cell cycling, but was required for survival of proliferating myeloma cells. Loss of MAGE-A led to apoptosis mediated by p53-dependent activation of proapoptotic Bax expression and by reduction of survivin expression through both p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms. These data support a role for MAGE-A in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple myeloma by inhibiting apoptosis in proliferating myeloma cells through two novel mechanisms.
    Clinical Cancer Research 06/2011; 17(13):4309-19. · 7.74 Impact Factor
  • Article: Noxa mediates p18INK4c cell-cycle control of homeostasis in B cells and plasma cell precursors.
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    ABSTRACT: Inhibition of Cdk4/Cdk6 by p18(INK4c) (p18) is pivotal for generation of noncycling immunoglobulin (Ig)-secreting plasma cells (PCs). In the absence of p18, CD138(+) plasmacytoid cells continue to cycle and turnover rapidly, suggesting that p18 controls PC homeostasis. We now show that p18 selectively acts in a rare population of rapidly cycling CD138(hi)/B220(hi) intermediate PCs (iPCs). While retaining certain B-cell signatures, iPCs are poised to differentiate to end-stage PCs although the majority undergo apoptosis. p18 is dispensable for the development of the PC transcriptional circuitry, and Blimp-1 and Bcl-6 are expressed fully and mutually exclusively in individual iPCs. However, a minor proportion of iPCs express both, and they are preferentially protected by p18 or Bcl-xL overexpression, consistent with expansion of the iPC pool by Bcl-xL overexpression, or loss of proapoptotic Bim or Noxa. Expression of Noxa is induced during B-cell activation, peaks in iPCs, and selectively repressed by p18. It is required to promote apoptosis of cycling B cells, especially in the absence of p18. These findings define the first physiologic function for Noxa and suggest that by repressing Noxa, induction of G₁ arrest by p18 bypasses a homeostatic cell-cycle checkpoint in iPCs for PC differentiation.
    Blood 02/2011; 117(7):2179-88. · 9.90 Impact Factor
  • Article: A novel therapeutic combination using PD 0332991 and bortezomib: study in the 5T33MM myeloma model.
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    ABSTRACT: Multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable partly because no effective cell cycle-based therapy has been available to both control tumor cell proliferation and synergize with cytotoxic killing. PD 0332991 is an orally active small molecule that potently and specifically inhibits Cdk4 and Cdk6. It has been shown to induce rapid G(1) cell cycle arrest in primary human myeloma cells and suppress tumor growth in xenograft models. To improve therapeutic targeting of myeloma progression, we combined tumor suppression by PD 0332991 with cytotoxic killing by bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor widely used in myeloma treatment, in the immunocompetent 5T33MM myeloma model. We show that 5T33MM tumor cells proliferate aggressively in vivo due to expression of cyclin D2, elevation of Cdk4, and impaired p27(Kip1) expression, despite inhibition of Cdk4/6 by p18(INK4c) and the maintenance of a normal plasma cell transcription program. PD 0332991 potently inhibits Cdk4/6-specific phosphorylation of Rb and cell cycle progression through G(1) in aggressively proliferating primary 5T33MM cells, in vivo and ex vivo. This leads to tumor suppression and a significant improvement in survival. Moreover, induction of G(1) arrest by PD 0332991 sensitizes 5T33MM tumor cells to killing by bortezomib. Inhibition of Cdk4/6 by PD 0332991, therefore, effectively controls myeloma tumor expansion and sensitizes tumor cells to bortezomib killing in the presence of an intact immune system, thereby representing a novel and promising cell cycle-based combination therapy.
    Cancer Research 07/2008; 68(14):5519-23. · 7.86 Impact Factor
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    Article: Homeostatic cell-cycle control by BLyS: Induction of cell-cycle entry but not G1/S transition in opposition to p18INK4c and p27Kip1.
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    ABSTRACT: Cell-cycle entry is critical for homeostatic control in physiologic response of higher organisms but is not well understood. The antibody response begins with induction of naive mature B cells, which are naturally arrested in G(0)/G(1) phase of the cell cycle, to enter the cell cycle in response to antigen and cytokine. BLyS (BAFF), a cytokine essential for mature B cell development and survival, is thought to act mainly by attenuation of apoptosis. Here, we show that BLyS alone induces cell-cycle entry and early G(1) cell-cycle progression, but not S-phase entry, in opposition to the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p18(INK4c). Independent of its survival function, BLyS enhances the synthesis of cyclin D2, in part through activation of NF-kappaB, as well as CDK4 and retinoblastoma protein phosphorylation. By convergent activation of the same cell-cycle regulators in opposition to p18(INK4c), B cell receptor signaling induces cell-cycle entry and G(1) progression in synergy with BLyS, but also DNA replication. The failure of BLyS to induce S-phase cell-cycle entry lies in its inability to increase cyclin E and reduce p27(Kip1) expression. Antagonistic cell-cycle regulation by BLyS and p18(INK4c) is functionally linked to apoptotic control and conserved from B cell activation in vitro to antibody response in vivo, further indicating a physiologic role in homeostasis.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 01/2005; 101(51):17789-94. · 9.68 Impact Factor

Institutions

  • 2005–2012
    • Weill Cornell Medical College
      • Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
      New York City, NY, USA
  • 2008
    • Free University of Brussels
      Brussels, BRU, Belgium