Project description:Metastasis formation is the major cause for cancer-related deaths and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study we describe spontaneous metastasis xenograft mouse models of human neuroblastoma used for unbiased identification of metastasis-related proteins by applying an infrared laser (IR) for sampling primary tumor and metastatic tissues, followed by mass spectrometric proteome analysis. IR aerosol samples were obtained from ovarian and liver metastases, which were indicated by bioluminescence imaging (BLI), and matched subcutaneous primary tumors. Corresponding histology proved the human origin of metastatic lesions. Ovarian metastases were commonly larger than liver metastases indicating differential outgrowth capacities. Among ~1,700 proteins identified at each of the three sites, 89 proteins were differentially regulated in ovarian metastases while 290 proteins were regulated in liver metastases. There was an overlap of 26 and 10 proteins up- and down-regulated at both metastatic sites, respectively, most of which were so far not related to metastasis such as LYPLA2, ACTL8, EIF4B, LGALS7, GFAP, and ELAVL4. Moreover, we established in vitro sublines from primary tumor and metastases and demonstrate differences in cellular protrusions, migratory/invasive potential and glycosylation. Summarized, this work identified several novel putative drivers of metastasis formation that are tempting candidates for future functional studies.
Project description:Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and lung adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer. Genomic studies of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) have advanced our understanding of the disease's biology and accelerated targeted therapy. However, the proteomic characteristics of LUAD are still insufficiently understood. Prognosis for lung cancer patients remains poor and is strongly related to the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis. Therefore, our study focuses on metastasis formation in LUAD. We performed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) on a total of 40 FFPE samples and compared proteomic profiles of primary tumors to those of matched distant metastases. Using differential expression analysis and unsupervised clustering we identified candidate proteins playing a role in metastatic spread. Selected proteins were validated by immunoblotting. Our findings give a better understanding of tumor progression and metastasis formation in LUAD and might help to develop biomarker specific therapy.
Project description:To further understand the molecule changes between primary and distant metastasis of HER2+ breast tumor, we have profiled RNA expression in those two groups.
Project description:This study will perform single-cell RNA sequencing on primary tumor tissues (T) and matched adjacent non-tumor tissues (N) from six colorectal cancer patients, along with paired liver metastatic lesions (M) from three of these patients, to construct an integrated single-cell atlas spanning primary tumors, adjacent normal tissues, and distant metastases. This multi-region, patient-matched design enables systematic dissection of cellular heterogeneity, dynamic immune responses, and key molecular mechanisms driving metastasis in colorectal cancer.
Project description:<p>Brain metastases are the most frequently occurring intracranial tumors in adults. Median survival after the diagnosis of a brain metastasis is in the order of a few months. Despite its large burden of disease and devastating clinical sequelae, we continue to have a limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving brain metastasis. We subjected 86 trios consisting of primary tumor, brain metastasis, and matched normal tissue to whole exome sequencing (WES). To analyze the data, we developed novel computational tools to perform an integrative analysis of somatic single nucleotide variants (SSNVs) and somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs). This analysis allowed us to estimate the clonal architecture of the primary and metastatic samples of each patient, and to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree relating all of the subclones.</p>
Project description:We searched for three NSCLC patients with brain metastases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. After obtaining informed consent, the lung cancer brain metastasis surgical specimens and lung carcinoma in situ puncture specimens were collected from the three patients. The histopathological characteristics were examined using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. We searched for three pairs of differentially expressed RNAs in brain metastasis tissues and lung carcinoma in situ tissues by ceRNA microarray.
Project description:Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers due to its high metastasis rate in liver. However, little is known about the molecular features of hepatic metastases due to difficulty in obtaining fresh tissues and low tumor cellularity. Methods and Results: We conducted RNA sequencing for synchronous surgically resected PTs and the paired HMs from 14 hepatic oligometastatic PDACs and experimentally validated our findings in specimens from 35 of such cases. The comprehensive analysis of gene expressions showed largely similarity between PTs and HMs. However, hepatic metastases also showed unique characteristics, such as stronger abilities of proliferation, downregulation of EMT activity and metabolic rewiring. More interesting, altered tumor microenvironments were observed in hepatic metastases, especially higher proportion of tumor infiltrating M2 macrophage and upregulation of complement cascade. Further experiments demonstrate that expression of C1q increased continuously from normal to PTs to HMs, C1q was mainly produced from M2 macrophage, and C1q promoted migration and invasion of PDAC cells. Conclusion: Taken together, we found potential factors that contribute to different stages of PDAC metastasis. Our study broadens the understandings of molecular mechanisms driving PDAC metastasis.