ACVR1C/SMAD2 signaling promotes invasion and growth in retinoblastoma.

ABSTRACT: Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular cancer in children. While the primary tumor can often be treated by local or systemic chemotherapy, metastatic dissemination is generally resistant to therapy and remains a leading cause of pediatric cancer death in much of the world. In order to identify new therapeutic targets in aggressive tumors, we sequenced RNA transcripts in five snap frozen retinoblastomas which invaded the optic nerve and five which did not. A three-fold increase was noted in mRNA levels of ACVR1C/ALK7, a type I receptor of the TGF-β family, in invasive retinoblastomas, while downregulation of DACT2 and LEFTY2, negative modulators of the ACVR1C signaling, was observed in most invasive tumors. A two- to three-fold increase in ACVR1C mRNA was also found in invasive WERI

SUBMITTER: Asnaghi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6430693 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature