Profiling of midbrain from mice s.c. injected with 4T-1 mammary carcinoma cells vs. PBS

ABSTRACT: The main function of the nervous system is to maintain homeostasis by sensing and reacting to signals that reach a certain threshold. For example, the brain can sense immune peripheral events through soluble compounds or the vagus nerve and can react through activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, resulting in the modulation of an ongoing immune response. Cancer progression is characterized by high mutation rates, with each mutation potentially promoting alarm signals during the 10 to 15 years of cancer development before clinical detection. It is not known, however, whether the brain can recognize the presence of a peripheral tumour, and if this recognition can be molecularly assessed. Using genome-wide expression analysis in a model of mammary carcinoma, we show that a tumor growing at the periphery can indeed promote changes in the expression levels of defined sets of genes in the midbrain. These changes occur as early as 18 h after tumour cell injection and involve specific signalling pathways. These findings prove that cancer-derived signals are effective in eliciting specific changes in gene expression in discrete brain regions and open a question regarding the potential role of brain genes in cancer outcomes. Keywords: gene expression profile of the midbrain in response to peripheral tumor cells

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE7298 | GEO | 2007/05/02

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA105029

REPOSITORIES: GEO