Crosstalk between EZH2 and DNA methylation mediates neuroendocrine prostate cancer lineage plasticity.

TitleCrosstalk between EZH2 and DNA methylation mediates neuroendocrine prostate cancer lineage plasticity.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2026
AuthorsSingh R, Venkadakrishnan VBalaji, Imada E, Yamada Y, Brady NJ, Dunmore KE, Garner R, Booker MA, Hanratty B, Haffner MC, Tolstorukov MY, Marchionni L, Robinson BD, Rickman DS, Beltran H
JournalNat Commun
Volume17
Issue1
Date Published2026 Feb 21
ISSN2041-1723
KeywordsAnimals, Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Lineage, DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1, DNA Methylation, Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein, Epigenesis, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Histones, Humans, Male, Mice, N-Myc Proto-Oncogene Protein, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Prostatic Neoplasms, PTEN Phosphohydrolase, Retinoblastoma Binding Proteins, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
Abstract

Prostate cancer lineage plasticity is associated with changes in DNA methylation and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) activity. How these epigenetic programs functionally interact to modulate transcriptional reprogramming in neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is not well understood. In this study, we demonstrate that hypomethylated regions of DNA preferentially accumulate the repressive mark, H3K27me3. We established an NEPC mouse model with deletion of Ezh2 in the background of Pten and Rb1 loss plus human MYCN overexpression. Deletion or pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 in NEPC murine or patient-derived models leads to a genome-wide rewiring of DNA methylation, characterized by hypomethylation and upregulation of neuroendocrine-lineage genes along with hypermethylation and repression of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) targets. On the other hand, deletion of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) results in significant changes in H3K27me3 distribution, particularly affecting bivalent promoters bearing both H3K27me3 and active H3K4me3 marks. In NEPC models, neuroendocrine-lineage genes are repressed upon DNMT1 deletion associated with increased H3K27me3. Conversely, in prostate adenocarcinoma models, DNMT1 deletion leads to de-repression of neuroendocrine lineage genes with a loss of H3K27me3 marks. Our findings reveal a functional interplay between two repressive epigenetic machineries that mediates lineage plasticity in prostate cancer.

DOI10.1038/s41467-026-69308-0
Alternate JournalNat Commun
PubMed ID41720768
PubMed Central IDPMC13036044
Grant ListR37CA241486-01A1 / / U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) /
R01 CA274963 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
K22 CA269707 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
23YOUNG15 / / Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) /
R01 CA301637 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
W81XWH2210197 / / U.S. Department of Defense (United States Department of Defense) /
P50 CA211024 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States