Project description:Prostate tumors with the gene fusion TMPRSS2:ERG have been reported to have a significantly higher risk of recurrence compared with tumors lacking the fusion. Tumors from 139 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy were analyzed for the expression of 502 cancer-related genes to identify genes differentially regulated in TMPRSS2:ERG fusion tumors as well as identify biomarkers of biochemical recurrence. 139 prostate fresh-frozen tumors from radical prostatectomy surgery where profiled on the Illumina Human Cancer DASL Panel. 69 tumors were positive for the gene fusion TMPRSS2:ERG while 70 where not. 33 of the 139 patients experienced biochemical recurrence. Data was analyzed for differential genes in TMPRSS2:ERG fusion positive tumors as well as clinical and molecular biomarkers of recurrence.
Project description:Prostate tumors with the gene fusion TMPRSS2:ERG have been reported to have a significantly higher risk of recurrence compared with tumors lacking the fusion. Tumors from 139 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy were analyzed for the expression of 502 cancer-related genes to identify genes differentially regulated in TMPRSS2:ERG fusion tumors as well as identify biomarkers of biochemical recurrence.
Project description:Common epithelial cancers are believed to become more aggressive through the accumulation of multiple independent molecular events that lead to the deregulation of cell signaling. However, the discovery that the majority of prostate cancers harbor gene fusions of the 5'-untranslated region of androgen regulated TMPRSS2 promoter with ETS transcription factor family members has brought this paradigm into question1,2. TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion is the most common molecular sub-type of prostate cancer. Recent work suggests that the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is associated with a more aggressive clinical phenotype3. In the most advanced castration resistant prostate cancers where the androgen receptor has been inactivated, the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion remains functionally active. Here we show compelling clinical and gene expression data supporting the existence of a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion prostate cancer subclass. Using expression array profiling on 455 primary prostate tumors, we identified an 87 gene expression signature, distinguishing TMPRSS2-ERG fusion prostate cancer as a discrete molecular entity. Computational analysis suggested that this fusion signature was associated with estrogen receptor signaling. Functional studies demonstrated regulation of the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcript by estrogenic compounds. These data identify a previously unrecognized mechanism for regulation of the TMPRSS2-ERG, even in the absence of a functional androgen receptor, and thus may have broader implications in the treatment of prostate cancer. Keywords: Prostate cancer, Expression array, Illumina, gene fusion, TMPRSS2, ERG, Signatures, Estrogen Test Cohort: 388 cases from the population based Swedish-Watchful Waiting cohort. The cohort consists of men with localized prostate cancer (clinical stage T1-T2, Mx, N0); Validation cohort: The PhysiciansM-bM-^@M-^Y Health Study (PHS) cohort included 116 US men diagnosed with incidental prostate cancer between 1983 and 2003; 455 cases were annotated for TMPRSS2-ERG fusion. Test Set: GSM208029 ... GSM208392 Validation Set: GSM208404 ... GSM208512
Project description:We profiled genome-wide gene expression of human prostate benign and malignant tissue to identify potential biomarkers and immunotherapy targets. We stratified malignant specimens according to their TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion status. Radical prostatectomy tissue samples were obtained from the Hershey Foundation Prostate Cancer Serum and Tumor Bank at our institution. Morphologic diagnosis was done by a pathologist. OCT blocks containing >30% of PCa tissue (with Gleason score of 6 or 7) were selected for RNA purification. A biopsy punch was used to select the PCa tissues from the OCT sample blocks. Benign or PCa tissues were homogenized using a TissueLyser (Qiagen) at 28 Hz for 5 min. Total RNA was isolated using Trizol reagent. RNA was quantified by NanoDrop ND-1000 spectrophotometer, and quality was evaluated with Agilent RNA 6000 NanoChip and the 2100 Bioanalyzer, with 28S/18S ratios and RIN determined by 2100 Expert software.
Project description:TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is the most common genetic alteration in prostate cancer (PCa) and TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers. However, their precise roles in PCa pathogenesis remain elusive. Here we showed that TMPRSS2-ERG fusion co-occurred with TP53 deletion/mutation in PCa patient specimens. ERG overexpression and Trp53 knockout/R172H mutant knockin induced pyrimidine synthesis gene (PSG) expression and prostate tumorigenesis in mice. Gain-of-function p53 mutants bound to the CTNNB1 promoter and upregulated β-Catenin. Overexpressed ERG and β-Catenin co-occupied PSG loci and mediated PSG expression, and high PSG expression associated with increased β-Catenin level and poor overall survival of PCa patients. β-Catenin inhibition by proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) of its co-activator CBP and partner proteins LEF1/TCFs blocked ERG/p53-mutant PCa growth. Our study identifies CTNNB1 as a transcriptional target of p53 GOF-mutants, and reveals a druggable dependency on β-Catenin and pyrimidine synthesis in p53-mutated cancers with or without TMPRSS2-ERG fusion.
Project description:TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is the most common genetic alteration in prostate cancer (PCa) and TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers. However, their precise roles in PCa pathogenesis remain elusive. Here we showed that TMPRSS2-ERG fusion co-occurred with TP53 deletion/mutation in PCa patient specimens. ERG overexpression and Trp53 knockout/R172H mutant knockin induced pyrimidine synthesis gene (PSG) expression and prostate tumorigenesis in mice. Gain-of-function p53 mutants bound to the CTNNB1 promoter and upregulated β-Catenin. Overexpressed ERG and β-Catenin co-occupied PSG loci and mediated PSG expression, and high PSG expression associated with increased β-Catenin level and poor overall survival of PCa patients. β-Catenin inhibition by proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) of its co-activator CBP and partner proteins LEF1/TCFs blocked ERG/p53-mutant PCa growth. Our study identifies CTNNB1 as a transcriptional target of p53 GOF-mutants, and reveals a druggable dependency on β-Catenin and pyrimidine synthesis in p53-mutated cancers with or without TMPRSS2-ERG fusion.
Project description:TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is the most common genetic alteration in prostate cancer (PCa) and TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers. However, their precise roles in PCa pathogenesis remain elusive. Here we showed that TMPRSS2-ERG fusion co-occurred with TP53 deletion/mutation in PCa patient specimens. ERG overexpression and Trp53 knockout/R172H mutant knockin induced pyrimidine synthesis gene (PSG) expression and prostate tumorigenesis in mice. Gain-of-function p53 mutants bound to the CTNNB1 promoter and upregulated β-Catenin. Overexpressed ERG and β-Catenin co-occupied PSG loci and mediated PSG expression, and high PSG expression associated with increased β-Catenin level and poor overall survival of PCa patients. β-Catenin inhibition by proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) of its co-activator CBP and partner proteins LEF1/TCFs blocked ERG/p53-mutant PCa growth. Our study identifies CTNNB1 as a transcriptional target of p53 GOF-mutants, and reveals a druggable dependency on β-Catenin and pyrimidine synthesis in p53-mutated cancers with or without TMPRSS2-ERG fusion.
Project description:We profiled genome-wide gene expression of human prostate benign and malignant tissue to identify potential biomarkers and immunotherapy targets. We stratified malignant specimens according to their TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion status.
Project description:Common epithelial cancers are believed to become more aggressive through the accumulation of multiple independent molecular events that lead to the deregulation of cell signaling. However, the discovery that the majority of prostate cancers harbor gene fusions of the 5'-untranslated region of androgen regulated TMPRSS2 promoter with ETS transcription factor family members has brought this paradigm into question1,2. TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion is the most common molecular sub-type of prostate cancer. Recent work suggests that the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is associated with a more aggressive clinical phenotype3. In the most advanced castration resistant prostate cancers where the androgen receptor has been inactivated, the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion remains functionally active. Here we show compelling clinical and gene expression data supporting the existence of a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion prostate cancer subclass. Using expression array profiling on 455 primary prostate tumors, we identified an 87 gene expression signature, distinguishing TMPRSS2-ERG fusion prostate cancer as a discrete molecular entity. Computational analysis suggested that this fusion signature was associated with estrogen receptor signaling. Functional studies demonstrated regulation of the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcript by estrogenic compounds. These data identify a previously unrecognized mechanism for regulation of the TMPRSS2-ERG, even in the absence of a functional androgen receptor, and thus may have broader implications in the treatment of prostate cancer. Keywords: Prostate cancer, Expression array, Illumina, gene fusion, TMPRSS2, ERG, Signatures, Estrogen
Project description:To identify biomarkers predictive of biochemical recurrence, we isolated the RNA from 70 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) radical prostatectomy specimens with known long term outcome to perform DASL expression profiling with a custom-designed panel of 522 prostate cancer relevant genes that we designed. We identified a panel of ten protein-coding genes and two miRNA genes that could be used to separate patients with and without biochemical recurrence (p < 0.001), as well as for the subset of 42 Gleason score 7 patients (p < 0.001). We performed an independent validation analysis on 40 samples and found that the biomarker panel was also significant at prediction of recurrence for all cases (p = 0.013) and for a subset of 19 Gleason score 7 cases (p = 0.010), both of which were adjusted for relevant clinical information including T-stage, PSA and Gleason score. Importantly, these biomarkers could significantly predict clinical recurrence for Gleason 7 patients. These biomarkers may increase the accuracy of prognostication following radical prostatectomy using formalin-fixed specimens. Total RNA prepared from FFPE cores from prostatectomy samples of 70 patients were used for the training phase (29 with biochemical recurrence and 41 controls). All samples were analyzed by both custom Prostate DASL of 522 genes and by Illumina miRNA microarray. Subsequently in the validation phase, samples from 40 patients were used on the same platforms (13 with biochemical recurrence and 27 controls). For the training set, 45 cases were from Sunnybrook Health Science Center (Toronto, ON), and 25 patients from Emory University. For the validation set, all samples were from Emory University. Relevant clinical metadata included are PSA, T-stage, and Gleason Score.