Pooled genetic screens to identify vulnerabilities in TERT-promoter-mutant glioblastoma.
Pooled genetic screens represent a powerful approach to identify vulnerabilities in cancer. Here we used pooled CRISPR/Cas9-based approaches to identify vulnerabilities associated with telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations (TPMs) found in >80% of glioblastomas. We first developed a platform to detect perturbations that cause long-term growth defects in a TPM-mutated glioblastoma cell line. However, we could not detect dependencies on either TERT itself or on an E-twenty six transcription (ETS) factor known to activate TPMs. To explore this finding, we cataloged TPM status for 441 cell lines and correlated this with genome-wide screening data. We found that TPM status was not associated with differential dependency on TERT, but that E-twenty six (ETS) transcription factors represent key dependencies in both TPM+ and TPM- lines. Further, we found that TPMs are associated with expression of gene programs regulated by a wide array of ETS-factors in both cell lines and primary glioblastoma tissues. This work contributes a unique TPM cell line reagent, establishes TPM status for many deeply-profiled cell lines, and catalogs TPM-associated vulnerabilities. The results highlight challenges in executing genetic screens to detect TPM-specific vulnerabilities, and suggest redundancy in the genetic network that regulates TPM function with therapeutic implications.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Transcription Factors
- Telomerase
- Promoter Regions, Genetic
- Oncology & Carcinogenesis
- Mutation
- Humans
- Glioblastoma
- Gene Regulatory Networks
- Cell Line, Tumor
- 3211 Oncology and carcinogenesis
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Transcription Factors
- Telomerase
- Promoter Regions, Genetic
- Oncology & Carcinogenesis
- Mutation
- Humans
- Glioblastoma
- Gene Regulatory Networks
- Cell Line, Tumor
- 3211 Oncology and carcinogenesis