A BET Bromodomain Inhibitor Suppresses Adiposity-Associated Malignant Transformation

It has been estimated that 20% of cancers are caused by obesity (1). Apart from having excess adipose tissue, data suggest that body fat distribution is another indicator of adiposity and cancer risk. Individuals that store proportionally more fat around their visceral organs (abdominal adiposity) than on their thighs and hips, as measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) or waist circumference (WC), are at a higher risk for colon, premenopausal breast, endometrial, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers (2–7).

Epidemiological and clinical data demonstrating a positive association between VAT and cancer are strengthened by animal data. Animal models have linked visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice to skin and colon cancers by showing a reduction in tumors with the surgical removal of VAT (8, 9). We demonstrated that VAT removal (lipectomy) in HFD-fed mice inhibited ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced formation of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC) by 75% to 80% when compared with sham-operated control mice (9). HFD-fed lipectomized mice had little to no VAT but had more subcutaneous (underneath the skin) adipose tissue (SAT), less serum proinflammatory cytokines, and a lower proliferation index in the skin compared with HFD-fed sham-operated animals (9). Notably, the compensatory increase in SAT did not replace the promoting effect of VAT on tumor formation, suggesting that factors released from VAT promoted tumor formation. The molecular changes in the skin that drive the differences in proliferation and tumor formation between the animals with differential adipose tissue distribution are unknown.

In a recent publication, we demonstrated that FGF2 is one of the key factors released from VAT that enhances skin epithelial cell transformation (10). Circulating FGF2 from VAT was positively associated with UVB-induced tumor formation in HFD-fed mice (10). Knocking out FGFR-1, the receptor for FGF2, in skin epithelial cells inhibited VAT- and FGF2-induced c-Myc expression and growth in soft agar, a marker for tumorigenicity (10). A c-Myc inhibitor significantly attenuated the effect of VAT on skin epithelial cells (10). These data suggest FGF2 stimulation of FGFR-1 and downstream c-Myc activation as a previously unappreciated link between VAT and cell transformation.

c-Myc is the target of a diverse set of regulators including bromodomain and extraterminal domains (BET) proteins. BET proteins act as epigenetic readers mediating protein–protein interactions including the recruitment protein complexes that drive transcriptional activation (11). One BET protein, bromodomain-containing 4 (BRD4), recruits p-TEFb, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 9, and cyclin T and regulates the transcription of genes responsible for cell-cycle progression, proliferation, and apoptosis, including c-Myc (12). Until the development of bromodomain (BET) inhibitors, it was difficult to pharmacologically target c-Myc because of the diverse mechanisms driving its aberrant expression and complexities involved with protein–DNA interactions (13). BET inhibitors are thought to suppress progression of hematologic cancers by inhibiting c-Myc; however, BET inhibitors are also efficacious in cancers that do not upregulate c-Myc such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (14–18). Therefore, several small molecules with high potency and specificity toward BET proteins have been developed as chemotherapeutics (19–21). One of the most advanced BET inhibitors, I-BET-762 (I-BET, also known as GSK525762) is selective for BRD4 and is in clinical trials for the treatment of human nuclear protein in testis (NUT) midline carcinoma (22) and other cancers, including breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.

BET proteins are also implicated in the epigenetic regulation of inflammation (23, 24). Excess adiposity resulting in increased inflammation has been strongly implicated in obesity–cancer connection (25, 26). Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibitors of BET proteins are preventive for VAT-enhanced transformation. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the inhibitory activity of I-BET on VAT-enhanced cell transformation of nontumorigenic but transformation-capable JB6 P⁺ (epidermal), MCF-10A (human mammary epithelial), and NMuMG (mouse mammary epithelial) cells. The mouse Balb/c epidermal, JB6 P⁺ cell line is a well-characterized, in vitro model for neoplastic transformation for tumor promoters (27–38). JB6 P⁺, MCF-10A, and NMuMG cells are initiated but nontumorigenic (they fail to form tumors when injected into immunocompromised mice; refs. 39, 40). We measured cell transformation using the soft-agar assay, in which only transformed cells can grow to form colonies in an anchorage-independent manner (39). We found that c-Myc is part of the core transcriptional program by which VAT enhances neoplastic transformation in skin and breast epithelial cells, and this activity can be inhibited with I-BET.

JB6 P⁺ cells (mouse skin epithelial cells) were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. Cells were grown in MEM (Invitrogen) supplemented with 5% FBS and antibiotics. NMuMG cells were received as a kind gift from Dr. Richard Schwartz (MSU) and were grown in DMEM (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% FBS and antibiotics. MCF-10A cells (Human mammary epithelial cells) were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. Cells were grown in DMEM/F-12 with 5% horse serum and supplements. HaCaT cells (human keratinocyte cells) were obtained as a gift from Dr. Animesh A Sinha (University of Buffalo, NY) and were grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS and antibiotics. Pharmacologic inhibitor against I-BET-762 obtained from J-Star Research Inc. c-Myc overexpression (OE/pS62) plasmids were obtained as a gift from Dr. Rosalie Sears (Oregon Health and Science University).

Antibodies: c-Myc for Western blot (Cell Signaling Technology; #5605), c-Myc for immunofluorescence (Cell Signaling Technology; #13987), Brd4 (Abcam; #ab75898), NF-κB (Cell Signaling Technology; #8242), Ki67 (Cell Signaling Technology; #9129), PCNA (Santa Cruz Biotechnology; # SC-56), Actin (Sigma #A5060), Anti-Rabbit 2nd Ab (Li-Cor; #926-32213), Anti-Mouse 2nd Ab (Li-Cor #926-32212). Anti-mouse CF 488A (Sigma-Aldrich; #SAB4600387), anti-rabbit CFL 555 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology; #sc-362271), and anti-CD31 antibody (Abcam; #ab28346).

Healthy inbred SKH1-E mice (Charles River Laboratories, 6/8 weeks) were kept at environmentally controlled conditions in polypropylene cages and allowed free drinking water and basal diet ad libitum. All animal protocols were approved by the IACUC at MSU. Animals were kept either on LFD containing 10 kcal of fat (D11012202) or HFD containing 60 kcal of fat (60% kcal form corn oil D11012204, Research Diets, Inc.). At the end of the experiment, mice were humanely sacrificed using carbon dioxide and blood and adipose tissue samples were collected. For the lipectomy study, SKH1-E mice (8 weeks, n = 20) were kept on either an LFD or HFD for 2 weeks prior to lipectomy. Skin samples were collected and used for immunohistochemistry (IHC). For the in vivo tumorigenicity study, nude mice (8 weeks, n = 8) were subcutaneously injected with JB6 P⁺ cells (0.5 × 10⁶/0.2 mL/mouse) in the right flank. The following day, FGF2 (200 μg/kg) was injected i.p. once per day for the next 7 days. Mice were orally gavaged with I-BET (15 mg/kg b.w.) or vehicle (0.5% DMSO and 5% Tween 20 in 0.9% saline) once per day for 14 days. Twenty-four hours following the first dose of I-BET, cells were injected. Tumor volumes were assessed by investigators blinded to the experimental groups. Mice were sacrificed 14 days after injection.

Colony formation assays were performed in 24-well plates with either JB6 P⁺, NMuMG, MCF-10A cells (750 cells/well) in 0.300 mL of 0.3% soft agar with or without fat tissue filtrate (FTF), FGF2 and I-BET on top of a 0.35 mL base layer of 0.5% agar. Cells in plate were allowed to settle for 30 minutes and cultured for up to 2 weeks (JB6 P⁺ and MCF 10A cells) or 5 weeks (NMuMG cells). At the end of the incubation period, cells were stained with 0.01% crystal violet, and colonies were counted manually under the microscope.

One hundred micrograms of (mouse and human) adipose tissue was gently homogenized in an equal volume of serum-free MEM on ice for 30 seconds using Tissue Ruptor (Qiagen) on medium speed. Homogenates were filtered through hanging 15 mm wide 0.4-μm filter insert (Millicell, cat# MCHT06H48) into a 6-well plate previously filled with 400 μL serum-free MEM and incubated on a rocker at room temperature for 1 hour to allow small molecules and proteins to diffuse into the medium while removing lipids and macromolecules. After incubation filtrates were centrifuged at 4,500 rpm for 5 minutes, and the supernatant was collected and filtered through 0.4-μm syringe filter (Millipore) and protein concentrations were quantified using BCA assay. Concentration (200 μg/mL) of mouse fat tissue filtrates (MFTF) and 150 μg/mL concentration of human fat tissue filtrates (HuFTF) were used for respective experiments.

For analysis of I-BET–induced inhibition of malignant transformation, I-BET were added directly into the top layers of soft agar containing cells and MFTF/HuFTF/FGF2. At the end of the incubation period, cells were fixed by 70% ethanol and stained with 0.01% crystal violet, and colonies were counted manually under microscope.

Cells (2 × 10⁵) were plated in 35-mm diameter plates and allowed to grow for 24 hours before treatment. The cells were treated with either MFTF (at 300 μg/mL dose) or HuFTF (at 200 μg/mL dose) for indicated period. After treatment, cells were harvested, washed, and lysed in RIPA buffer pH 7.4, supplemented with protease and phosphatase inhibitors. Proteins were separated by 12% SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Membranes were blocked with either 5% nonfat milk solution or 4% BSA and then incubated with the appropriate primary antibody for overnight at 4°C, followed by 1-hour incubation with fluorochrome-tagged secondary antibody. Bands were visualized by LI-COR Odyssey classic image scanner.

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded fat tissue sections from mice were deparaffinized and incubated with antigen retrieval buffer for 1 minute at 95°C. Sections were blocked in 4% BSA for 1 hour at room temperature and then incubated with primary monoclonal antibody (anti-Ki67/anti-PCNA/TUNEL) antibody (1:100) overnight at 4°C, followed by secondary anti-mouse antibody labeled with HRP. After brief washing, slides were stained for 30 seconds using 3,3-diaminobenzidine as substrate. Nuclei were stained with hematoxylin (Harris) for 30 seconds. Images were acquired with a Nikon digital camera attached on an Olympus microscope at 400× magnification. For fluorescence imaging of skin, tissue sections were incubated with anti-rabbit (red) and anti-mouse (green; 1:200 dilution) secondary antibody for 1 hour at room temperature in dark. Cells were washed twice with PBS and slides were mounted with cover glass by DAPI and anti-fade conjugated mounting reagent. Photographs were taken at 40× magnification on “Olympus Fluoview SV 1000” confocal microscope.

Cells were fixed in 4% formaldehyde for 15 minutes and permeabilized with 0.2% PBS-T for 10 minutes, blocked with 4% BSA for 1 hour. Cells were incubated overnight at 4°C with primary anti–c-Myc antibody (1:300 dilution). After 3 washes (5 minutes each) with PBS cells were incubated with anti-rabbit (red) and anti-mouse (green; 1:200 dilution) secondary antibody for 1 hour at room temperature in dark. Cells were washed twice with PBS, and coverslips were mounted on the slides by DAPI and anti-fade conjugated mounting reagent. Photographs were taken at 40× magnification on Olympus Fluoview SV 1000 confocal microscope.

JB6 P⁺ cells were treated with MFTF and/or I-BET. Cells were harvested and RNA was isolated from cells using Qiagen RNeasy mini kit. For reverse transcription (RT), 400 ng of total RNA was used as template, and expressions of c-Myc, NF-κB, Kif5β, Cdx3, and Cdk7 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Primer sequences are enlisted in Table 1. TaqMan Reverse Transcription Reagents (Applied Biosystems; #N8080234) were used to convert RNA into cDNA. cDNA was used for the qPCR. qPCR were performed using SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems; #4309155) gene expression assay kits in ABI-7500 fast real-time qPCR machine.

All mice used in this study received humane care that adheres to principles stated in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH publication, 1996 edition), and the protocol was approved by the IACUC and Animal Care Program of Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

The Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Institutional Review Board approved the protocol “Determining the Impact of Human Fat on Cancer Development” on October 16, 2015. Informed consent was obtained from candidates before undergoing gynecologic surgery. Intra-abdominal visceral (omental and parametrial) adipose tissue were obtained, and samples were deidentified to investigators at Michigan State University.

All animal experiments were performed using at least 8 mice or three technical replicates in three independent experiments. Data are presented as mean ± SD. ANOVA was used to compare among groups followed by the Tukey test for multiple comparisons. For all statistical tests, the 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001 level of confidence was accepted for statistical significance.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Our previous studies demonstrated that VAT removal in HFD-fed mice inhibited UVB-induced formation of NMSCs by 75% to 80% when compared with sham-operated control mice (9). Histologic data revealed a higher proliferation index in normal epidermis in animals that were abdominally obese, compared with animals that were subcutaneously obese (9). To understand this mechanism of enhanced proliferation and reduced apoptosis by visceral adiposity, in epidermal areas away from the tumors, we measured levels c-Myc and NF-κB, two transcription factors known to be involved in cell growth and carcinogenesis. Immunofluorescence microscopy with skin samples from HFD-fed mice indicated that lipectomy (removal of VAT) decreased the percentage of c-Myc–positive cells in precancerous epidermis by 85% (P < 0.05; Fig. 1A). The c-Myc expression was mainly nuclear. Lipectomy showed no effect on p65-positive cells or the nuclear localization of p65 (Fig. 1B). The majority of p65 in precancerous epidermis was located in the cytoplasm (Fig. 1B).

To determine if factors released from VAT induced c-Myc in vitro, we used a VAT-conditioned media to evaluate the effects on c-Myc expression. HaCaT, immortalized human keratinocytes, and JB6 P⁺ cells were treated with a filtered conditioned medium derived from the visceral (parametrial or epididymal) adipose tissue of mice fed an HFD (MFTF) or VAT from obese (BMI>30) humans (HuFTF). HaCaT and JB6 P⁺ cells stimulated with MFTF or HuFTF for 8 hours showed increased c-Myc nuclear protein expression (Fig. 2A–D). c-Myc induction was prevented by the pretreatment with I-BET-762 (I-BET), an inhibitor of BRD4, an epigenetic reader that regulates c-Myc transcription (Fig. 2E). Because c-Myc is stimulated by VAT, we hypothesized that inhibiting c-Myc with I-BET would also prevent the effects of VAT on early-stage carcinogenesis. Analogous with the in vivo data, HuFTF had no effect on NF-κB (p65, Rel A) nuclear localization in JB6 P⁺ cells (Supplementary Fig. S1).

We previously published that MFTF stimulates nontumorigenic mouse epidermal JB6 P⁺ cells to grow in soft agar (39). Prior to FTF stimulation, we treated JB6 P⁺ cells with I-BET. I-BET dose-dependently attenuated the number of JB6 P⁺ cells transformed by MFTF (Fig. 3A). I-BET (0.5 μmol/L) had no effect on growth in soft agar, whereas I-BET at 1 and 1.5 μmol/L doses attenuated growth by 47% and 57%. Figure 3B demonstrates that I-BET attenuated HuFTF-stimulated growth in soft agar by 39%. These data suggest that FTF-stimulated neoplastic transformation of skin epithelial cells is partially dependent on BRD4 activity.

To assess BRD4 activity following MFTF stimulation, the expression of BRD4 regulated genes was measured by real-time PCR. MFTF significantly induced c-Myc (6 hours), NF-κB (6 hours), Kif5B (6 hours), and Cdk7 (30 minutes) in JB6 P⁺ cells (Fig. 4A). Cdx3 was not significantly induced at either 30 minutes or 6 hours. Pretreatment with I-BET significantly attenuated the induction of all BRD4-regulated genes tested (Fig. 4A). In addition to BRD4 genes being induced with VAT, treatment with MFTF for 8 hours induced BRD4 and c-Myc protein expression in JB6 P⁺ cells (Fig. 4B and C). These data suggest that BRD4 activity is associated with MFTF-enhanced transformation.

To determine c-Myc is important for cellular transformation in JB6 P⁺ cells, c-Myc protein was overexpressed with the transfection of a c-Myc plasmid or a c-Myc phosphomutant, Myc^S62 plasmid. In addition to having greater stability, the pS62 form of c-Myc demonstrates more oncogenic activity (41–44). Transfection of either plasmid significantly enhanced JB6 P⁺ cell growth in soft agar (Fig. 4D). Transfection with a c-Myc plasmid induced enhanced growth in soft agar by 535% and transfection with a c-Myc phosphomutant enhanced growth in soft agar by 329% (Fig. 4D). To determine the relative contribution of c-Myc for the efficacy of I-BET against transformation, c-Myc–overexpressing JB6 P⁺ cells were treated with I-BET (1 μmol/L). I-BET treated c-Myc–overexpressing cells demonstrated significantly enhanced colony formation compared with the empty vector control (Fig. 4E). However, I-BET treatment reduced the number of c-Myc–overexpressing clones growing in soft agar by 20% (Fig. 4E). These data suggest that the efficacy of I-BET against transformation in MFTF-treated wild-type JB6 P⁺ cells may partially c-Myc dependent.

Our data suggest that FTF-stimulated skin epithelial cell transformation is dependent on BRD4 activity; however, how generalizable these results are to other cells is unknown. To test this we determined the effect of FTF and I-BET on two nontumorigenic mammary epithelial cell lines, MCF-10A and NMuMG cells. Epidemiologic evidence implicates obesity in increasing only postmenopausal breast cancer risk. However, a few studies have demonstrated that visceral adiposity may be a risk factor for both pre- and postmenopausal breast cancers (45–47). In premenopausal breast cancer, when adjusted for weight or BMI, women with the smallest waist-to-hip ratios have a 37% lower risk (2). I-BET dose-dependently inhibited the number of MCF-10A cells (Fig. 5A) and NMuMG cells (Fig. 5B) transformed by FTF. I-BET at 0.5, 1, and 1.5 μmol/L doses attenuated MFTF-stimulated growth by 33%, 44%, and 67% and HuFTF-stimulated growth by 43% (1.5 μm) in MCF-10A cells (Fig. 5A). I-BET at 0.5, 1, and 1.5 μmol/L doses attenuated HuFTF-stimulated growth by 52%, 64%, and 73% in NMuMG cells. To determine if factors released from VAT induced c-Myc in these mammary epithelial cell lines, we treated MCF-10A and NMuMG cells with MFTF or HuFTF for 8 hours and demonstrated an induction in c-Myc protein that was prevented by the pretreatment of I-BET (Fig. 5C and D). These data suggest that FTF-stimulated neoplastic transformation of mammary epithelial cells is partially dependent on BRD4 activity.

FGF2 is a critical factor from VAT that stimulates epithelial cell transformation (10). I-BET significantly attenuated anchorage-independent growth of JB6 P⁺ cells treated with increasing concentrations of FGF2 (Fig. 6A). I-BET attenuated FGF2-induced c-Myc nuclear expression (Fig. 6B). Because our previous study demonstrated that JB6 P⁺ cells proliferate and form carcinomas in immunocompromised mice injected in vivo with FGF2 (10), we used this model to test the efficacy of I-BET for attenuating tumor growth in vivo. After 2 weeks of I-BET treatment, FGF2-induced tumors were significantly smaller in volume (Fig. 6C–E), showed fewer proliferating cells (Fig. 6F–H), and were anemic on observation (Fig. 6E). Tumors in the vehicle-treated mice were significantly larger (Fig. 6D) showed mitotic plates and dividing cells (Fig. 6F) and demonstrated nuclear Ki67 staining (Fig. 6G). PCNA staining demonstrated significantly more proliferating cells in the vehicle group compared with the animals that received I-BET (Fig. 6H; quantitation Supplementary Fig. S3). TUNEL staining demonstrated that I-BET treatment had no effect on the number of apoptotic cells; therefore, the difference in tumor size between groups is reflective of the increased proliferation in vehicle-treated animals. Cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) staining of the epithelial cells demonstrated that tumors in the vehicle-treated mice had more blood vessels of higher caliber and the presence of swollen blood vessels compared the tumors of I-BET–treated mice (Fig. 6I). The larger swollen blood vessels were absent in the I-BET–treated mice. These data demonstrate efficacy of I-BET in vivo for attenuating angiogenesis and FGF-2–induced tumorigenesis.

Clinical studies have indicated that bromodomain inhibitors have considerable potential as therapeutic agents for cancer; however, their chemopreventive activity is unknown. Herein, we investigated the inhibitory activity of the BRD4 inhibitor, I-BET, on VAT- and FGF2-stimulated transformation in vitro and FGF2-stimulated tumor formation in vivo. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of I-BET in the prevention of malignant transformation by VAT. The second goal was to evaluate if the mechanism of prevention involved inhibiting BRD4-dependent c-Myc transcription. The central finding of this study was that c-Myc is part of the core transcriptional program by which VAT enhances neoplastic transformation in epithelial cells, and this activity can be inhibited with I-BET.

Obesity is a recognized risk factor for developing cancer. However, the mechanism by which obesity influences early-stage carcinogenesis is not well understood. Epidemiologic evidence implicates VAT in increasing cancer risk in several target tissues (5, 8, 45–51). However, there is conflicting evidence with regard to obesity and NMSC. A few studies have shown that obesity is inversely associated with NMSC (52, 53) while a positive association between obesity and NMSC has also been described (54, 55). The positive association is only observed in parts of the world with low UVR exposure: impact of higher UVR may overshadow the less significant effects of obesity (54). The epidemiologic studies are confounded because obese individuals spend less time in the sun (53). Adding to the complexity, HFD, which can increase VAT, increase NMSCs (56, 57). Therefore, further studies are needed to further understand the relationship between adiposity and skin cancer risk.

Our previous studies demonstrated that VAT removal in HFD-fed mice inhibited UVB-induced formation of NMSCs by 75% to 80% when compared with sham-operated control mice (9). Histologic data revealed a higher proliferation index in normal epidermis in animals that were abdominally obese, compared with animals that were subcutaneously obese (9). The mechanisms that contributed to this increased proliferation were unknown. Based upon our previously published protein array data demonstrating an elevation in proinflammatory cytokines, proangiogenic factors, and growth factors in viscerally obese mice, we hypothesized that both NF-κB and c-Myc activity are induced in the epidermis and contribute to the increase proliferation index. We found an increased nuclear localization of c-Myc in normal epidermis in animals that were abdominally obese (sham-operated), compared with animals that were subcutaneously obese (lipectomized). There was no difference in NF-κB protein expression between the two groups (Fig. 1A and B). Furthermore, in vitro, VAT increased p65 mRNA but failed to increase protein expression or induce nuclear localization. Therefore, we prioritized studying the c-Myc expression in response to VAT. This c-Myc signature in the skin of abdominally obese mice may contribute to the differences that are observed in tumorigenesis between animals that store fat viscerally compared with animals that store fat subcutaneously.

c-Myc expression is deregulated in 50% of cancers (58) and contributes to the pathogenesis as it plays a critical role in a wide range of functions including proliferation, transformation, metabolism, and the apoptotic response (59–61). In normal skin, depending on the model studied, the strength and duration of activity, and the time course of observation, c-Myc has been shown to both stimulate proliferation and terminal differentiation of epidermal cells (62–65). c-Myc amplification has been found in 50% of squamous cell carcinomas arising in patients who have undergone long-term immunosuppression following organ transplantation (66). Although others have demonstrated a relationship between EGF activity and c-Myc induction in JB6 P⁺ cell transformation (29), our study is the first to show that overexpression of c-Myc in an initiated epidermal cell is sufficient to drive cell transformation (Fig. 4D).

The novelty of our study lies in discovering the relationship between VAT and c-Myc expression. How having excess adipose tissue could influence c-Myc expression is unknown. One study exists that suggests a link between obesity-associated tumors and c-Myc expression. In a mouse model of gastric cancer, c-Myc expression was nuclear and significantly higher in the tumors of obese mice compared with lean mice; however, it was not determined which adipose tissue depots were specific for tumor growth (67). Our previously published data demonstrate that FGF2 released from VAT signals through FGFR-1 to induce c-Myc in JB6 P⁺ cells (10). c-Myc was not induced by VAT in cells that lack FGFR-1, suggesting that c-Myc is a critical downstream mediator of FGFR-1 activation (10). Moreover, a c-Myc inhibitor that blocks the c-Myc-MAX (myc-associated factor X) interaction prevented MFTF-transforming activity (10). Historically, it has been difficult to pharmacologically target c-Myc because of diverse mechanisms driving its aberrant expression and the difficulties of interfering with protein–DNA interactions (68). Epigenetic strategies in the form of bromodomain inhibitors now exist to interfere with c-Myc expression at the transcriptional level (13). Our study is novel in its evaluation of the efficacy of I-BET in preventing carcinogenesis by inhibiting VAT-enhanced cell transformation. Zhang and colleagues recently described that the BRD4 inhibitor JQ1 blocks phorbol ester-stimulated transformation (69), suggesting that BET proteins are critical for the onset of tumorigenesis. BRD4 plays important role in transcriptional activation of various genes besides c-Myc. We demonstrate that BRD4 protein is induced with VAT and show that several BRD4 regulated genes (c-Myc, NF-κB, Kif5B, and Cdk7) are also induced. Whether these genes are drivers of transformation or simply bystanders is unclear and this will be investigated in future studies. However, the overexpression of c-Myc alone was sufficient to stimulate growth in soft agar, suggesting that c-Myc as a critical component of VAT-enhanced transformation. However, I-BET reduced growth in soft agar of c-Myc–overexpressing cells by 20%, suggesting that I-BET has both c-Myc–dependent and –independent activities.

We also demonstrate that the effects of I-BET on cell transformation may not be specific to skin, but may have an effect in other tissues. I-BET attenuated the transforming activity of HuFTF in two human mammary epithelial cells, NMuMG and MCF-10A. This diminishing growth in soft agar was associated with a downregulation in c-Myc protein expression (Fig. 4B and Fig. 5C).

Considerable evidence demonstrates that diet changes can affect obesity and cancer outcomes (70). However, due to weight loss challenges, there is a dire need for mechanism-based strategies to help viscerally obese individuals avoid cancer. Our work suggests that factors released from VAT enhance c-Myc activity in nontumorigenic cells leading to the malignant transformation. Therefore, strategies in the form of bromodomain inhibitors are an attractive therapeutic approach to prevent visceral adiposity-associated epithelial cancers.

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Conception and design: D. Chakraborty, K.T. Liby, J.J. Bernard

Development of methodology: D. Chakraborty, V. Benham, V. Jdanov, B. Bullard, J.J. Bernard

Acquisition of data (provided animals, acquired and managed patients, provided facilities, etc.): D. Chakraborty, V. Jdanov, B. Bullard, A.S. Leal, J.J. Bernard

Analysis and interpretation of data (e.g., statistical analysis, biostatistics, computational analysis): D. Chakraborty, A.S. Leal, K.T. Liby, J.J. Bernard

Writing, review, and/or revision of the manuscript: D. Chakraborty, V. Benham, K.T. Liby, J.J. Bernard

Administrative, technical, or material support (i.e., reporting or organizing data, constructing databases): V. Benham, J.J. Bernard

Study supervision: J.J. Bernard

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grant R00 CA177868 (J.J. Bernard) and Michigan State University start-up funds and a grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (K.T. Liby). We acknowledge the MSU Investigative HistoPathology Laboratory, Amy S. Porter, HT (ASCP) QIHC, and Kathleen A. Joseph. This work was also supported by the NIEHS training grant ES007255.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.