Similar Datasets
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE315241 | GEO
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE315644 | GEO
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE315670 | GEO
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE317073 | GEO
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE315242 | GEO
Project description:The transition from benign to malignant growth is a pivotal yet poorly understood step in cancer progression that marks the shift from a pathologically inert condition to a clinically lethal disease. Here, we integrate lineage tracing, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to visualize the molecular, cellular and tissue-level events that promote or restrain malignancy during the tumor initiation in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We identify a discrete progenitor-like population of KRAS-mutant cells that co-activates oncogenic and tumor-suppressive programs—including p53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4—engaging senescence-like responses and remodeling their microenvironment, ultimately assembling a niche that mirrors invasive PDAC. Even brief KRAS inhibition in the epithelial compartment depletes progenitor-like cells and dismantles their niche, substantially delaying cancer initiation. Conversely, p53 suppression enables progenitor cell expansion, epithelial–mesenchymal reprogramming, and immune-privileged niche formation. These findings position the progenitor-like state as the convergence point of cancer-driving mutations, plasticity, and tissue remodeling—revealing a critical window for intercepting malignancy at its origin.
2026-03-18 | GSE313305 | GEO
Project description:Tumor progression is classically viewed as the Darwinian evolution of subclones that sequentially acquire genetic mutations and autonomously overproliferate. However, growing evidence suggests that tumor microenvironment and subclone heterogeneity contribute to non-autonomous tumor progression. Recent Drosophila studies revealed a common mechanism by which clones of genetically altered cells trigger non-autonomous overgrowth. Such "oncogenic niche cells" (ONCs) do not overgrow but instead stimulate neighbor overgrowth and metastasis. Establishment of ONCs depends on competition and cooperation between heterogeneous cell populations. This review characterizes diverse ONCs identified in Drosophila and describes the genetic basis of non-autonomous tumor progression. Similar mechanisms may contribute to mammalian cancer progression and recurrence.
| S-EPMC4714670 | biostudies-other
Project description:Cancer development is a multistep process, driven by a series of genetic and environmental alterations, that endows cells with a set of hallmark traits required for tumorigenesis. It is broadly accepted that growth signal autonomy, the first hallmark of malignancies, can be acquired through multiple genetic mutations that activate an array of complex, cancer-specific growth circuits [Hanahan D, Weinberg RA (2000) The hallmarks of cancer. Cell 100:57-70; Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW (2004) Cancer genes and the pathways they control. Nat Med 10:789-799]. The superfluous nature of these pathways is thought to severely limit therapeutic approaches targeting tumor proliferation, and it has been suggested that this strategy be abandoned in favor of inhibiting more systemic hallmarks, including angiogenesis (Ellis LM, Hicklin DJ (2008) VEGF-targeted therapy: Mechanisms of anti-tumor activity. Nat Rev Cancer 8:579-591; Stommel JM, et al. (2007) Coactivation of receptor tyrosine kinases affects the response of tumor cells to targeted therapies. Science 318:287-290; Kerbel R, Folkman J (2002) Clinical translation of angiogenesis inhibitors. Nat Rev Cancer 2:727-739; Kaiser J (2008) Cancer genetics: A detailed genetic portrait of the deadliest human cancers. Science 321:1280-1281]. Here, we report the unexpected observation that genetically diverse cancers converge at a common and obligatory growth axis instigated by HIF-2alpha, an element of the oxygen-sensing machinery. Inhibition of HIF-2alpha prevents the in vivo growth and tumorigenesis of highly aggressive glioblastoma, colorectal, and non-small-cell lung carcinomas and the in vitro autonomous proliferation of several others, regardless of their mutational status and tissue of origin. The concomitant deactivation of select receptor tyrosine kinases, including the EGFR and IGF1R, as well as downstream ERK/Akt signaling, suggests that HIF-2alpha exerts its proliferative effects by endorsing these major pathways. Consistently, silencing these receptors phenocopies the loss of HIF-2alpha oncogenic activity, abrogating the serum-independent growth of human cancer cells in culture. Based on these data, we propose an alternative to the predominant view that cancers exploit independent autonomous growth pathways and reveal HIF-2alpha as a potentially universal culprit in promoting the persistent proliferation of neoplastic cells.
| S-EPMC2795516 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Life on Earth has evolved in a form suitable for the gravitational force of 1 × g. Although the pivotal role of gravity in gene expression has been revealed by multiomics approaches in space-flown samples and astronauts, the molecular details of how mammalian cells harness gravity have remained unclear. Here, we show that mitochondria utilize gravity to activate protein synthesis within the organelle. Genome-wide ribosome profiling unveiled reduced mitochondrial translation in mammalian cells and Caenorhabditis elegans under microgravity in the International Space Station and under simulated microgravity in the 3D-clinostat on the ground. In addition, we found that cell adhesion through laminin–integrin interaction, which is attenuated by microgravity, and the downstream FAK, RAC1, PAK1, BAD, and Bcl-2 family proteins relay the signals for mitochondrial protein synthesis. Consistent with the role of integrin as a mechanosensor, we observed the decrease in mitochondrial translation by minimization of mechanical stress in mouse skeletal muscle. Our work provides mechanistic insights into how cells convert gravitational and mechanical forces into translation in an energy-producing organelle.
2025-12-28 | GSE222998 | GEO
Project description:The transcriptional co-activator YAP1 oncogene is the downstream effector of the Hippo pathway, which regulates tissue homeostasis, organ size, regeneration, and tumorigenesis. Multiple cancers are dependent on sustained expression of YAP1 for cell proliferation, survival, and tumorigenesis, but the molecular basis of this oncogene dependency is not well understood. To identify genes that can functionally substitute for YAP1, we performed a genome-scale genetic rescue screen in YAP1-dependent colon cancer cells expressing an inducible YAP1-specific shRNA. We found that the transcription factor PRDM14 rescued cell proliferation and tumorigenesis upon YAP1 suppression in YAP1-dependent cells, xenografts, and colon cancer organoids. YAP1 and PRDM14 individually activated the transcription of calmodulin 2 (CALM2) and a glucose transporter SLC2A1 upon YAP1 suppression, and CALM2 or SLC2A1 expression was required for the rescue of YAP1 suppression. Together, these findings implicate PRDM14-mediated transcriptional upregulation of CALM2 and SLC2A1 as key components of oncogenic YAP1 signaling and dependency.
| S-EPMC8827663 | biostudies-literature