Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35331717›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of investigative dermatology2022

Merkel Cell Carcinoma Sensitivity to EZH2 Inhibition Is Mediated by SIX1 Derepression.

Ashley K Gartin, Thomas C Frost, Camille H Cushman, Brittaney A Leeper, Prafulla C Gokhale, James A DeCaprio

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of investigative dermatology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Diagnostic Utility and Clinicopathologic Associations of Histone H3 Lysine 27 Trimethylation (H3K27me3) Immunohistochemistry for Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2026
    Article
  2. Pharmacologic reversion of Merkel cell carcinoma via CBP/p300 inhibition.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ashley K GartinProgram in Virology, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Thomas C FrostProgram in Virology, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Camille H CushmanProgram in Virology, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Brittaney A LeeperExperimental Therapeutics Core, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Prafulla C GokhaleExperimental Therapeutics Core, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
James A DeCaprioProgram in Virology, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: james_decaprio@dfci.harvard.edu.
The Graduate Center, CUNY · USDana-Farber Cancer Institute · US

Funding

PROJECT 4: Interrogating PP2A Signaling in Human CancersP01CA203655 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI HAHN, WILLIAM C. · 2017 to 2021
$8.0M
The DREAM B-Myb-MuvB complex controls sensitivity to DNA replication activators and inhibitorsR35CA232128 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI DECAPRIO, JAMES A. · 2019 to 2025
$7.2M
MCV ST activates specific gene transcription by redirecting the activity of the Tip60/p400 complex.F31CA239345 · NCI · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI CUSHMAN, CAMILLE · 2019 to 2021
$111k
NCI NIH HHS F31 CA239345NCI NIH HHS P01 CA203655NCI NIH HHS R35 CA232128
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Polycomb repressive complex 2 has a critical role in the maintenance of bivalent promoters and is often perturbed in cancer, including neuroendocrine tumors. In this study, we investigated the susceptibility of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, to inhibitors of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 catalytic subunit EZH2. We show that a subset of MCC cell lines is sensitive to EZH2 inhibitor-induced cell viability loss. We find that inhibitor treatment of susceptible cells derepresses the Polycomb repressive complex 2 target SIX1, a transcription factor in the PAX-SIX-EYA-DACH network normally involved in inner ear hair cell development, and that PAX-SIX-EYA-DACH network transcription factors are critical contributors to EZH2 inhibitor-induced MCC cell viability loss. Furthermore, we show the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat slows the growth of MCC xenografts and derepresses SIX1 and its downstream inner ear transcriptional target MYO6 in vivo. We propose that EZH2 inhibition in MCC leads to SIX1 derepression with dysregulation of hearing-related transcriptional programs and growth inhibition. This study provides evidence that MCC tumors may be specifically susceptible to EZH2 inhibitors, while giving mechanistic insight into the transcriptional programs these inhibitors perturb in MCC, and potentially in other neuroendocrine cancers.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, Merkel CellSkin NeoplasmsCyclohexylaminesEnhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 ProteinHomeodomain ProteinsHumansPolycomb Repressive Complex 21,2-cyclohexanediamineCyclohexylaminesEnhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 ProteinEZH2 protein, humanHomeodomain ProteinsPolycomb Repressive Complex 2SIX1 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID35331717
PMCPMC9492898
OpenAlexW4220765725

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.