5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target

Abstract Metachronous liver metastases (MLM) are characterised by high incidence and high mortality in clinical colorectal cancer treatment. Currently traditional clinical methods cannot effectively predict and prevent the occurrence of metachronous liver metastasis in colorectal cancer. Based on 5h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nuo Xu, Zhaoya Gao, Deyan Wu, Hangyu Chen, Zijian Zhang, Lei Zhang, Yuchen Wang, Xuyang Lu, Xu Yao, Xuelan Liu, Yi‐You Huang, Meiying Qiu, Sen Wang, Jinqiang Liang, Can Mao, Feng Zhang, Huimin Xu, Yujiao Wang, Xian Li, Zhexin Chen, Dandan Huang, Jingyi Shi, Wensheng Huang, Fuming Lei, Zeruo Yang, Long Chen, Chuan He, Haichuan Zhu, Hai‐Bin Luo, Jin Gu, Jian Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:Clinical and Translational Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.70189
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850188692509949952
author Nuo Xu
Zhaoya Gao
Deyan Wu
Hangyu Chen
Zijian Zhang
Lei Zhang
Yuchen Wang
Xuyang Lu
Xu Yao
Xuelan Liu
Yi‐You Huang
Meiying Qiu
Sen Wang
Jinqiang Liang
Can Mao
Feng Zhang
Huimin Xu
Yujiao Wang
Xian Li
Zhexin Chen
Dandan Huang
Jingyi Shi
Wensheng Huang
Fuming Lei
Zeruo Yang
Long Chen
Chuan He
Haichuan Zhu
Hai‐Bin Luo
Jin Gu
Jian Lin
author_facet Nuo Xu
Zhaoya Gao
Deyan Wu
Hangyu Chen
Zijian Zhang
Lei Zhang
Yuchen Wang
Xuyang Lu
Xu Yao
Xuelan Liu
Yi‐You Huang
Meiying Qiu
Sen Wang
Jinqiang Liang
Can Mao
Feng Zhang
Huimin Xu
Yujiao Wang
Xian Li
Zhexin Chen
Dandan Huang
Jingyi Shi
Wensheng Huang
Fuming Lei
Zeruo Yang
Long Chen
Chuan He
Haichuan Zhu
Hai‐Bin Luo
Jin Gu
Jian Lin
author_sort Nuo Xu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Metachronous liver metastases (MLM) are characterised by high incidence and high mortality in clinical colorectal cancer treatment. Currently traditional clinical methods cannot effectively predict and prevent the occurrence of metachronous liver metastasis in colorectal cancer. Based on 5hmC‐Seal analysis of blood and tissue samples, this study found that portal venous blood was more relevant to tumour gDNA than peripheral blood. We performed a novel epigenetic liquid biopsy strategy using the 10 5hmC epigenetic alterations, to accurately distinguish MLM patients from patients without metastases. Among these epigenetic alterations, phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4D) was highly increased in MLM patients and correlated with poor survival. Moreover, our studies demonstrated that PDE4D was a key metastasis‐driven target for drug development. Interfering with the function of PDE4D significantly repressed liver metastases. Similarly, roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) therapy, also inhibits liver metastases. Further studies indicate that blocking the function of PDE4D can affect CRC invasion through the HIF‐1α‐CCN2 pathway. To develop a more efficient PDE4 inhibitor and reduce the occurrence of adverse events, we also designed several new compounds based on 2‐arylbenzofurans and discovered lead L11 with potent affinity for PDE4D and significant suppression of liver metastases. In this work, our study provides a promising strategy for predicting metachronous liver metastasis and discovers L11 as a potential repurposed drug for inhibiting liver metastasis, which have the potential to benefit patients with CRC in the future. Key points 5hmC epigenetic markers derived from portal venous blood could accurately predict metachronous metastasis of colorectal cancer. PDE4D was a key metastasis‐driven target that promoted metachronous metastasis via the HIF‐1α‐CCN2 pathway. The newly synthesised compound L11 could specifically inhibit PDE4D and abolish metachronous metastasis of colorectal cancer without obvious toxic side effects.
format Article
id doaj-art-fa3b84c42c7c49a0b740ea40aaa256d5
institution OA Journals
issn 2001-1326
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Clinical and Translational Medicine
spelling doaj-art-fa3b84c42c7c49a0b740ea40aaa256d52025-08-20T02:15:50ZengWileyClinical and Translational Medicine2001-13262025-02-01152n/an/a10.1002/ctm2.701895‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic targetNuo Xu0Zhaoya Gao1Deyan Wu2Hangyu Chen3Zijian Zhang4Lei Zhang5Yuchen Wang6Xuyang Lu7Xu Yao8Xuelan Liu9Yi‐You Huang10Meiying Qiu11Sen Wang12Jinqiang Liang13Can Mao14Feng Zhang15Huimin Xu16Yujiao Wang17Xian Li18Zhexin Chen19Dandan Huang20Jingyi Shi21Wensheng Huang22Fuming Lei23Zeruo Yang24Long Chen25Chuan He26Haichuan Zhu27Hai‐Bin Luo28Jin Gu29Jian Lin30Department of Pharmacy Peking University Third Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery Peking University Shougang Hospital Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy Peking University Third Hospital Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaNatural Medicine Institute of Zhejiang YangShengTang Co. Ltd. Hangzhou ChinaNatural Medicine Institute of Zhejiang YangShengTang Co. Ltd. Hangzhou ChinaNatural Medicine Institute of Zhejiang YangShengTang Co. Ltd. Hangzhou ChinaNatural Medicine Institute of Zhejiang YangShengTang Co. Ltd. Hangzhou ChinaNatural Medicine Institute of Zhejiang YangShengTang Co. Ltd. Hangzhou ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaCenter for Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer and Inflammatory Diseases Peking University Health Science Center Beijing ChinaKey laboratory of Carcinogenesis & Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery III Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing ChinaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery Peking University Shougang Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery Peking University Shougang Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy Peking University Third Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy Peking University Third Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Chemistry Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Howard Hughes Medical Institute The University of Chicago Chicago Illinois USAInstitute of Biology and Medicine College of Life and Health Sciences Wuhan University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hainan University Haikou Hainan ChinaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery Peking University Shougang Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy Peking University Third Hospital Beijing ChinaAbstract Metachronous liver metastases (MLM) are characterised by high incidence and high mortality in clinical colorectal cancer treatment. Currently traditional clinical methods cannot effectively predict and prevent the occurrence of metachronous liver metastasis in colorectal cancer. Based on 5hmC‐Seal analysis of blood and tissue samples, this study found that portal venous blood was more relevant to tumour gDNA than peripheral blood. We performed a novel epigenetic liquid biopsy strategy using the 10 5hmC epigenetic alterations, to accurately distinguish MLM patients from patients without metastases. Among these epigenetic alterations, phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4D) was highly increased in MLM patients and correlated with poor survival. Moreover, our studies demonstrated that PDE4D was a key metastasis‐driven target for drug development. Interfering with the function of PDE4D significantly repressed liver metastases. Similarly, roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) therapy, also inhibits liver metastases. Further studies indicate that blocking the function of PDE4D can affect CRC invasion through the HIF‐1α‐CCN2 pathway. To develop a more efficient PDE4 inhibitor and reduce the occurrence of adverse events, we also designed several new compounds based on 2‐arylbenzofurans and discovered lead L11 with potent affinity for PDE4D and significant suppression of liver metastases. In this work, our study provides a promising strategy for predicting metachronous liver metastasis and discovers L11 as a potential repurposed drug for inhibiting liver metastasis, which have the potential to benefit patients with CRC in the future. Key points 5hmC epigenetic markers derived from portal venous blood could accurately predict metachronous metastasis of colorectal cancer. PDE4D was a key metastasis‐driven target that promoted metachronous metastasis via the HIF‐1α‐CCN2 pathway. The newly synthesised compound L11 could specifically inhibit PDE4D and abolish metachronous metastasis of colorectal cancer without obvious toxic side effects.https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.701895hmC‐SealColorectal cancerMetachronous liver metastasesPDE4D
spellingShingle Nuo Xu
Zhaoya Gao
Deyan Wu
Hangyu Chen
Zijian Zhang
Lei Zhang
Yuchen Wang
Xuyang Lu
Xu Yao
Xuelan Liu
Yi‐You Huang
Meiying Qiu
Sen Wang
Jinqiang Liang
Can Mao
Feng Zhang
Huimin Xu
Yujiao Wang
Xian Li
Zhexin Chen
Dandan Huang
Jingyi Shi
Wensheng Huang
Fuming Lei
Zeruo Yang
Long Chen
Chuan He
Haichuan Zhu
Hai‐Bin Luo
Jin Gu
Jian Lin
5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
Clinical and Translational Medicine
5hmC‐Seal
Colorectal cancer
Metachronous liver metastases
PDE4D
title 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
title_full 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
title_fullStr 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
title_full_unstemmed 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
title_short 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
title_sort 5 hydroxymethylcytosine features of portal venous blood predict metachronous liver metastases of colorectal cancer and reveal phosphodiesterase 4 as a therapeutic target
topic 5hmC‐Seal
Colorectal cancer
Metachronous liver metastases
PDE4D
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.70189
work_keys_str_mv AT nuoxu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT zhaoyagao 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT deyanwu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT hangyuchen 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT zijianzhang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT leizhang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT yuchenwang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT xuyanglu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT xuyao 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT xuelanliu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT yiyouhuang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT meiyingqiu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT senwang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT jinqiangliang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT canmao 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT fengzhang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT huiminxu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT yujiaowang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT xianli 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT zhexinchen 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT dandanhuang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT jingyishi 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT wenshenghuang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT fuminglei 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT zeruoyang 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT longchen 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT chuanhe 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT haichuanzhu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT haibinluo 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT jingu 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget
AT jianlin 5hydroxymethylcytosinefeaturesofportalvenousbloodpredictmetachronouslivermetastasesofcolorectalcancerandrevealphosphodiesterase4asatherapeutictarget