The histone code reader PHD finger protein 7 controls sex-linked disparities in gene expression and malignancy in Drosophila

• Published in: Science advances Vol. 5; no. 8; p. eaaw7965
• Main Authors: Molnar, Cristina, Heinen, Jan Peter, Reina, Jose, Llamazares, Salud, Palumbo, Emilio, Breschi, Alessandra, Gay, Marina, Villarreal, Laura, Vilaseca, Marta, Pollarolo, Giulia, Gonzalez, Cayetano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 01.08.2019; American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Brain Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Female; Gene Expression - genetics; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation - genetics; Histone Code - genetics; Homeodomain Proteins - genetics; Male; Protein Kinases - genetics; SciAdv r-articles; Sex Factors
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw7965

The notable male predominance across many human cancer types remains unexplained. Here, we show that l(3)mbt brain tumors are more invasive and develop as malignant neoplasms more often in males than in females. By quantitative proteomics, we have identified a signature of proteins that are differentially expressed between male and female tumor samples. Prominent among them is the conserved chromatin reader PHD finger protein 7 (Phf7). We show that depletion reduces sex-dependent differences in gene expression and suppresses the enhanced malignant traits of male tumors. Our results identify potential regulators of sex-linked tumor dimorphism and show that these genes may serve as targets to suppress sex-linked malignant traits.