Project description:We aimed to analyze the effects of Wnt-1 overexpression on the mRNA expression profile of human melanoma in a mouse xenograft model and correlated the results with then presence or absence of lymphangiogenesis and metastasis. Affymetrix gene expression analysis revealed activation of canonical and non-canonical targets genes in response to Wnt-1 as compared with controls. In regard to lymphangiogenic factors, the amount of VEGF-C was the single best marker to correlate with the amount of lymph-angiogenesis. mRNA expression array of human melanoma orthotopically grown in SCID mice. Comparison includes mRNA expression profile of two melanoma cell-lines (A375 and M24met) stably overexpressing control vector or Wnt-1 treated with or without CsA. Comparison #1 comprised Wnt-1 versus control in A375 and M24met melanoma, respectively. Comparison #2 comprised Wnt-1 + Cyclosporine A (CsA) versus Wnt-1 without CsA.
Project description:hMSC overexpressing activated or inactivated Wnt co-receptor LRP5 exhibit opposite phenotypes in osteogenesis and adipogenesis. To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms, we compared gene expression profiles upon Wnt3a stimulation and aimed at those genes functionally involved in determination of differentiation fate of hMSC.
Project description:Melanoma is a highly aggressive cancer with increasing incidence rates and a poor survival, particularly in patients with AJCC stage IV and advanced stage III. Deregulation of NF-kB is linked to different pathological states, including melanoma. To identify the involvement of NF-kB pathway regulation in melanoma progression, we manipulated NF-kB pathway activation and profiled gene expression using RNA-sequencing. mRNA profiles of IM-0223 cells overexpressing KPC1 (KPC1) or control (V0) generated by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500.
Project description:DNA methylation at the 5-position of cytosine (5-mC) is a key epigenetic mark critical for varius biological and pathological processes. 5-mC can be converted to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) by the Ten-Eleven Translocation (TET) family of DNA hydroxylases. Here we report that "loss of 5-hmC" is an epigenetic hallmark of melanoma with diagonostic and prognostic implications. Genome-wide mapping of 5-hmC in nevi and melanomas for the first time revealed loss of 5-hmC landscape in the melanoma epigenome. Downregulation of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) and TET family enzymes proved to be one of the mechanisms underlying the loss of 5-hmC during melanoma development, and rebuilding the 5-hmC landscape in the melanoma epigenome by reintroducing active TET2 or IDH2 suppressed melanoma growth and increased tumor-free survival. Thus, our study establishes that "loss of 5-hmC" is a new epigenetic hallmark of melanoma and links IDH and TET family enzymes-mediated 5-hmC putative tumor suppressor pathway to the suppression of melanoma progression. Determine the genome-wide distribution of 5mC and 5hmC in benign nevus tissue, melanoma tissue, A2058 MOCK cells (overexpressing empty vector), A2058 TET2 cells (overexpressing wild type human TET), and A2058 TET2M cells (overexpressing mutant human TET).
Project description:We used a mass spectrometry-coupled lentiviral ‘CD-tagging’ mutagenesis approach to identify genes that activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Human A375 melanoma cells containing a β-catenin-driven GFP (green fluorescent protein) transcriptional reporter were transduced with CDBF lentivirus. When integrated near an expressed and spliced gene, the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter of the CDBF vector drives constitutive BFP (blue fluorescence protein) expression and by virtue of the splice donor (SD) sequence, an overexpressed FLAG-tagged fusion of the targeted gene. Depending on where within the gene locus the CDBP vector integrates, the resulting overexpressed gene product may be full length or amino-terminal trunctated. Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) was used to isolate BFP+/GFP+ (Wnt active) or BFP+/GFP- (Wnt inactive) A375 cells. We reasoned that if successful, FLAG epitope tag immunopurification and mass spectrometry-based identification of the overexpressed fusion proteins would be cheaper, faster and provide more information than traditional PCR-based detection. Five FLAG immunopurification followed by a series of high salt washes, on-bead tryptic digestion and shotgun mass spectrometry (MS) identified 20 high-confidence proteins specific to Wnt-active cells. The high-salt washes removed associated proteins from the FLAG-tagged bait proteins. The FOXP1 transcription factor ranked as the top screen hit, as determined by spectral count abundance and the CompPASS WD-score.
Project description:Canonical Wnt signaling plays an important role in development and disease, regulating transcription of target genes and stabilizing many proteins phosphorylated by Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3). We observed that the MiT family of transcription factors, which includes the melanoma oncogene MITF and the lysosomal master regulator TFEB, had the highest phylogenetic conservation of three consecutive putative GSK3 phosphorylation sites in animal proteomes. This prompted us to examine the relationship between MITF, endolysosomal biogenesis and Wnt signaling. Here we report that MITF expression levels correlated with the expression of a large subset of lysosomal genes in melanoma cell lines. MITF expression in the Tetracycline-inducible C32 melanoma model caused a marked increase in vesicular structures, and increased expression of late endosomal proteins such as Rab7, LAMP1, and CD63. These late endosomes were not functional lysosomes as they were less active in proteolysis, yet were able to concentrate Axin1, phospho-LRP6, phospho-β-Catenin, and GSK3 in the presence of Wnt ligands. This relocalization significantly enhanced Wnt signaling by increasing the number of multivesicular bodies (MVBs) into which the Wnt signalosome/destruction complex becomes localized upon Wnt signaling. We also show that the MITF protein was stabilized by Wnt signaling, through the novel C-terminal GSK3 phosphorylations identified here. MITF stabilization caused an increase in MVB biosynthesis, which in turn increased Wnt signaling, generating a positive feed-back loop that may function during the proliferative stages of melanoma. The results underscore the importance of misregulated endolysosomal biogenesis in Wnt signaling and cancer. Expression of selected Lysosomal genes and CLEAR element plus MITF were compared in 51 melanoma cell lines to a mixed reference pool containing equal amounts of 47 melanoma cell lines.