Physical Poster + E-Poster Presentation 34th Lorne Cancer Conference 2022

The role of Mediator kinase in regulating intestinal homeostasis and colorectal cancer (#259)

Danxi Zhu 1 2 , Marius Dannappel 1 , Hui Kheng Chua 1 , Claire Sun 1 , Monica Suehiro 1 , Ron Firestein 1
  1. Centre for Cancer Research, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Molecular Translation Science, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Science, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Mediator kinase Cyclin Dependent Kinase 8 (CDK8), a ubiquitously expressed transcriptional member of the CDK family, plays a pivotal role in transcriptional regulation and colorectal cancer (CRC) tumorigenesis. CDK8 is located at a region of recurrent copy number gain in a substantial fraction of CRC cases and regulates β-catenin activity as an oncogene. CDK19, a paralog of CDK8, shares nearly identical cyclin binding and kinase domains but diverges at the C-terminal tail, exists in a mutually exclusive manner in Mediator. As hyperactivation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a hallmark of CRC, it highlights the potential of CDK8/19 as therapeutic targets in CRC treatments. While some studies showed CDK8/19 knockdown have tumor suppressive capabilities, there were also researches reporting toxicity of the CDK8/19 inhibitors. Therefore, there is a critical need to understand the role of CDK8/19 in regulating intestinal homeostasis and how they contribute to intestinal tumorigenesis. In order to understand the mechanisms, we utilized a series of genetically engineered mouse models as well as derived organoid models. Our study showed CDK8/19 knockout is dispensable for the adult intestine. We identified CDK8/19 as critical regulators of intestinal secretory lineage differentiation through regulating Atoh1 related enhancers. However, CDK8/19 knockout in a mouse model with Apc deletion showed accelerated tumorigenesis with mechanisms need to be further characterized. Together, these results identified CDK8/19 as novel regulators in intestinal secretory lineage differentiation. However, further studies are needed to understand the oncogenic or tumor-suppressive roles of CDK8/19 in different stages of CRC before clinical application.