Project description:We aimed to find gene signatures associated with different subgroups of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines defined by differences in detection of pro-apoptotic stress RNA from cultured cell lines was isolated the same day and used for subsequent expression profiling
Project description:Genomic and clinical analyses of major amplification events in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma Affymetrix SNP 50K XbaI chips were used to anaylyze 57 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma samples and selected cases were further analyzed using Affymetrix SNP 250K StyI chips
Project description:Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a mesenchymal malignancy phenocopying muscle and is among the leading causes of death from childhood cancer. Metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is the most aggressive subtype with an 8% five-year disease-free survival rate when a chromosomal fusion is present, and 40% five-year disease-free survival rate when negative for a fusion event. The underlying biology of PAX-fusion negative alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma remains largely unexplored and is exceedingly rare in Li-Fraumeni syndrome patients. Here, we present the case of an 11-year old male with fusion-negative alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma studied at end of life with a comprehensive functional genomics characterization, resulting in identification of potential therapeutic targets for broader investigation.
Project description:An adolescent patient presented with an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma made more unique by the presence of a germline RET mutation ordinarily associated with and a known driver of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) cancer. To better understand the role of this germline RET mutation in the genetics and phenotypic response of this unique alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, we performed DNA and RNA sequencing of the patients in addition to functional studies on patient-derived cultures and genetically similar similar cell models.
Project description:We aimed to find gene signatures associated with different subgroups of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines defined by differences in detection of pro-apoptotic stress
Project description:Despite advances in multi-modal treatment approaches, clinical outcomes of patients suffering from PAX3-FOXO1 fusion oncogene-expressing alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) remain dismal. Here we show that PAX3-FOXO1-expressing ARMS cells are sensitive to pharmacological ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related protein (ATR) inhibition. Expression of PAX3-FOXO1 in muscle progenitor cells is not only sufficient to increase sensitivity to ATR inhibition, but PAX3-FOXO1-expressing rhabdomyosarcoma cells also exhibit increased sensitivity to structurally diverse inhibitors of ATR. Mechanistically, ATR inhibition leads to replication stress exacerbation, decreased BRCA1 phosphorylation and reduced homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair pathway activity. Consequently, ATR inhibitor treatment increases sensitivity of ARMS cells to PARP1 inhibition in vitro, and combined treatment with ATR and PARP1 inhibitors induces complete regression of primary patient-derived ARMS xenografts in vivo. Lastly, a genome-wide CRISPR activation screen (CRISPRa) in combination with transcriptional analyses of ATR inhibitor resistant ARMS cells identifies the RAS-MAPK pathway and its targets, the FOS gene family, as inducers of resistance to ATR inhibition. Our findings provide a rationale for upcoming biomarker-driven clinical trials of ATR inhibitors in patients suffering from ARMS.
Project description:Frozen skeletal muscle, tumor adjacent skeletal muscle, Endothelial Rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) and Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) samples were profiled on Illumina bead array. Total RNA from primary resected samples were profiled to allow comparison of 1) normal skeletal muscle tissue with RMS samples and 2) ARMS with ERMS tumors.