DNA METHYLATION AS A KEY PLAYER IN INFLAMMATION-MEDIATED COLON TUMORIGENESIS

Abstract

A causal link between chronic inflammation and tumorigenesis is now well established in the literature with a great deal of supporting evidences from genetic, epigenetic, pharmacological and epidemiological perspectives. In particular, inflammatory bowel diseases represent an important risk factor for colon cancer development. Moreover, it seems that even sporadic colon cancers that do not develop as a complication of chronic colitis are also driven by inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms behind inflammation-mediated colon tumorigenesis have remained largely unknown. Colitis associated cancer development is thought to be multifaceted due to a combination of genetic and epigenetic aberrations. Recently, epigenetic alterations -particularly aberrant DNA methylation- have gained great attention in cancer biology and have been observed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammation-associated tumors; especially in colitis-associated cancer. IRF8, a key transcription factor originally identified in myeloid cells, has been reported to play a crucial role in myeloid cells differentiation and immune response regulation. IRF8 deficiency is associated with deregulation of myeloid cell differentiation and accumulation of immature myeloid subsets phenotypically and functionally resemble MDSCs (Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells). IRF8 is thought to function as a tumor suppressor and was found to be silenced in different types of cancers including colon cancer. Myeloid derived-IRF8 has been extensively studied. However, the role of epithelial-derived IRF8 in colon inflammation and colon cancer initiation remains a point to be addressed. In this study, we generated conditional Irf8cKO mice in which IRF8 is specifically deleted in colon epithelium. Irf8cKO mice exhibit a more aggressive pattern of colitis associated cancer with higher tumor incidence and severe loss of body weight. Additionally, we provide evidence that chronic inflammation promotes the accumulation and infiltration of CD11b+Gr1+ MDSCs, which plentifully secrete IL10 in colon tissue. IL10 then induces STAT3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation to bind to Dnmt1 and Dnmt3b promoters to upregulate their expression, leading to DNA hyper-methylation at the Irf8 promoter to silence IRF8 expression in colonic epithelial cells and promote colon tumorigenesis. Collectively, our data pinpoint the MDSC-IL10-STAT3-DNMT3b-IRF8 axis as a novel bridge between chronic inflammation and colon cancer formation.