Malignant genome reprogramming by ATAD2

Unscheduled expression of critical cellular regulators could be central to malignant genome reprogramming and tumor establishment. One such factor appears to be ATAD2, a remarkably conserved protein normally predominantly expressed in germ cells but almost systematically over-expressed in a variety of unrelated cancers. The presence of a bromodomain adjacent to an AAA type ATPase domain, points to ATAD2 as a factor preliminarily acting on chromatin structure and function. Accordingly, ATAD2 has been shown to cooperate with a series of transcription factors and chromatin modifiers to regulate specific set of genes.

Here we discuss our knowledge on ATAD2 to evaluate its role as a cancer driver and its value as a new anti-cancer target.

Upon its activation, ATAD2 through its interaction with defined transcription factors, initiates a loop of transcriptional stimulation of target genes, including ATAD2 itself, leading to enhanced cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis in an ATAD2-dependent manner. Approaches aiming at neutralizing ATAD2 activity in cancer, including the use of small molecule inhibitors of its two "druggable" domains, AAA ATPase and bromodomain, could become part of a promising anti-cancer strategy.