AUTHOR=Dong Xiaoming , Zhang Qin , Hao Jinglan , Xie Qianwen , Xu Binbing , Zhang Peng , Lu Haicheng , Huang Qilai , Yang Tielin , Wei Gong-Hong , Na Rong , Gao Ping 

TITLE=Large Multicohort Study Reveals a Prostate Cancer Susceptibility Allele at 5p15 Regulating TERT via Androgen Signaling-Orchestrated Chromatin Binding of E2F1 and MYC

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.754206

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.754206

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>Aberrant telomerase reverse transcriptase (<italic>TERT</italic>) expression is crucial for tumor survival and cancer cells escaping apoptosis. Multiple TERT-locus variants at 5p15 have been discovered in association with cancer risk, yet the underlying mechanisms and clinical impacts remain unclear. Here, our association studies showed that the <italic>TERT</italic> promoter variant rs2853669 confers a risk of prostate cancer (PCa) in different ethnic groups. Further functional investigation revealed that the allele-specific binding of MYC and E2F1 at <italic>TERT</italic> promoter variant rs2853669 associates with elevated level of <italic>TERT</italic> in PCa. Mechanistically, androgen stimulations promoted the binding of MYC to allele T of rs2853669, thereby activating <italic>TERT</italic>, whereas hormone deprivations enhanced E2F1 binding at allele C of rs2853669, thus upregulating <italic>TERT</italic> expression. Notably, E2F1 could cooperate with AR signaling to regulate <italic>MYC</italic> expression. Clinical data demonstrated synergistic effects of <italic>MYC</italic>/<italic>E2F1/TERT</italic> expression or with the TT and CC genotype of rs2853669 on PCa prognosis and severity. Strikingly, single-nucleotide editing assays showed that the CC genotype of rs2853669 obviously promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the development of castration-resistant PCa (CRPC), confirmed by unbiased global transcriptome profiling. Our findings thus provided compelling evidence for understanding the roles of noncoding variations coordinated with androgen signaling and oncogenic transcription factors in mis-regulating <italic>TERT</italic> expression and driving PCa.</p>