Project description:Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a slowly growing but highly metastatic sarcoma that affects adolescents and young adults. Its characteristic alveolar structure is constituted by tumor cell nests and abundant vascular network that is responsible for metastatic activities at the initial stage. Here we have generated a new ex vivo mouse model for ASPS that well recapitulates angiogenic and metastatic phenotypes. In mouse ASPS the tumor cells frequently show tumor intravasation, and the intravascular tumor cells were present as organoid structures covered with hemangiopericytes, which is also the case in human ASPS. High expression of GPNMB, a transcriptional target of ASPSCR1-TFE3, was observed at the intravasation. ASPS tumor cells showed the enhanced activity of transendothelial migration and the activity was inhibited by silencing of Gpnmb, indicating that GPNMB plays an important role in tumor intravasation, one of key steps in cancer metastasis. The present model also enabled to evaluate the function of TFE/MITF family transcription factors, and ASPSCR1-TFEB also possessed definitive but less oncogenic activity than that of ASPSCR1-TFE3. Collectively, our new mouse model is a useful tool to understand oncogenic, angiogenic and metastatic mechanisms of ASPS, to identify important motif within the ASPSCR1-TFE3 fusion protein and to provide a novel therapeutic strategy. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression in mouse ASPS.
Project description:In order to dtermine how well a mouse genetic model of alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) mimics the human disease, five human ASPS tumor samples and three normal skeletal muscle samples were profiled by RNAseq and compared to samples from five mouse tumors induced by expression of ASPSCR1-TFE3 and three normal mouse skeletal muscle samples, also profiled by RNAseq.
Project description:In order to dtermine how well a mouse genetic model of alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) mimics the human disease, five human ASPS tumor samples and three normal skeletal muscle samples were profiled by RNAseq and compared to samples from five mouse tumors induced by expression of ASPSCR1-TFE3 and three normal mouse skeletal muscle samples, also profiled by RNAseq. The reference was really comparing 5 human ASPS tumors to 5 mouse tumors that histologically mimic ASPS, but using skeletal muscle controls (3 from each species) as a sounding board for differential expression.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below. Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare mesenchymal malignancy driven by the ASPSCR1::TFE3 fusion. A better understanding of the mechanisms by which this oncogenic transcriptional regulator drives cancer growth is needed to help identify potential therapeutic targets. Here, we characterized the transcriptional and chromatin landscapes of ASPS tumors and preclinical models, identifying the essential role of ASPSCR1::TFE3 in tumor cell viability by regulating core transcriptional programs involved in cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and mitochondrial biology. ASPSCR1::TFE3 directly interacted with key epigenetic regulators at enhancers and promoters to support ASPS-associated transcription. Among the effector programs driven by ASPSCR1::TFE3, cell proliferation was driven by high levels of cyclin D1 expression. Disruption of cyclin D1/CDK4 signaling led to loss of ASPS proliferative capacity, and combined inhibition of CDK4/6 and angiogenesis halted tumor growth in xenografts. These results define the ASPS oncogenic program, reveal mechanisms by which ASPSCR1::TFE3 controls tumor biology, and identify a strategy for therapeutically targeting tumor cell-intrinsic vulnerabilities.