Project description:Whole Exome Sequencing of cohorts of Mutant Braf mouse model melanoma DNA and germline DNA. The cohorts are (1) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas, (2) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas from UVR exposed mice and (3) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas from UVR exposed, sunscreen protected mice.
Project description:We investigated copy number alterations in melanomas from two cohorts of Braf mutant mice (UV exposed and no UV exposure) by comparing tumour DNA to germline DNA by array CGH
Project description:We investigated copy number alterations in melanomas from two cohorts of Braf mutant mice (UV exposed and no UV exposure) by comparing tumour DNA to germline DNA by array CGH There were 15 tumour samples in each cohort (UV exposed and no UV exposure)
Project description:We found that pigmented and amelanotic (MPNST-like) melanomas arise in the genetically engineered BRAF(V600E)-Cdk4(R24C) mouse melanoma model and even in the same animal. To explore the molecular differences between the two type of melanomas in this model we performed global gene expression profiling and pathway analysis to compare the underlying mechanisms. This information was used to identify human melanomas that resemble each type of the mouse melanomas found in the in the genetically engineered BRAF(V600E)-Cdk4(R24C) mouse melanoma model.
Project description:Malignant melanoma is characterized by frequent metastasis, however specific changes that regulate this process have not been clearly delineated. Although it is well known that Wnt signaling is frequently dysregulated in melanoma, the functional implications of this observation are unclear. By modulating beta-catenin levels in a mouse model of melanoma that is based on melanocyte-specific Pten loss and BrafV600E mutation, we demonstrate that beta-catenin is a central mediator of melanoma metastasis to lymph node and lung. In addition to altering metastasis, beta-catenin levels control tumor differentiation and regulate both MAPK/Erk and PI3K/Akt signaling. Highly metastatic tumors with beta-catenin stabilization are very similar to a subset of human melanomas; together these findings establish Wnt signaling as a metastasis regulator in melanoma. MoGene-1_0-st-v1: Four samples total. Two biological replicates of uncultured Pten/Braf murine melanomas and two biological replicates of uncultured Pten/Braf/Bcat-STA murine melanomas. MoEx-1_0-st-v1: Two samples total. Dissociated tumor and FACS-enriched Pten/Braf and Pten/Braf/Bcat-STA murine melanoma.
Project description:To investigate the mechanism underlying the effect of Brn2-loss we extracted mRNA from Braf-Pten-Brn2-wt, Braf-Pten-Brn2-het, and Braf-Pten-Brn2-hom mouse melanomas and performed microarray-based transcriptome analysis.
Project description:To investigate the mechanism underlying the effect of Brn2-loss we extracted mRNA from Braf-Pten-Brn2-wt, Braf-Pten-Brn2-het, and Braf-Pten-Brn2-hom mouse melanomas and performed microarray-based transcriptome analysis.
Project description:Approximately 50% of melanomas harbor an activating BRAFV600E mutation. Standard of care involves a combination of inhibitors targeting mutant BRAF and MEK1/2, the substrate for BRAF in the MAPK pathway. PTEN loss of function mutations occur in 40% of BRAFV600E melanomas, resulting in increased PI3K/AKT activity that enhances resistance to BRAF/MEK combination inhibitor therapy. To compare the response of PTEN null to PTEN wild type cells in an isogenic background, CRISPR was used to knock out PTEN in the A375 melanoma cell line that harbors a BRAFV600E mutation. RNA sequencing and functional kinome analysis revealed the loss of PTEN led to an induction of FOXD3 and an increase in expression of the FOXD3 target gene, ERBB3/HER3. Inhibition of BRAFand MEK1/2 in PTEN null, BRAFV600E cells dramatically induced expression of ERBB3/HER3 relative to wild type cells. A synergy screen of epigenetic modifiers and kinase inhibitors in combination with inhibitors for mutant BRAF/MEK1/2 identified the pan ERBB/HER inhibitor, neratinib, as reversing the resistance observed in PTEN null, BRAFV600E cells. The findings indicate PTEN null BRAFV600E melanoma becomes dependent on ERBB/HER signaling when treated with clinically approved BRAF and MEK inhibitors. Future studies are warranted to test neratinib reversal of resistance in patient melanomas expressing ERBB3/HER3 in combination with its dimerization partner ERBB2/HER2.
Project description:Fifty percent of cutaneous melanomas are driven by activated BRAFV600E, but tumors treated with RAF inhibitors, even when they respond dramatically, rapidly adapt and develop resistance. Thus, there is a pressing need to identify the major mechanisms of intrinsic and adaptive resistance and develop drug combinations that target these resistance mechanisms. In a combinatorial drug screen on a panel of 12 treatment-naïve BRAFV600E mutant melanoma cell lines of varying levels of resistance to MAPK pathway inhibition we identified the combination PLX4720, a targeted inhibitor of mutated BRaf, and lapatinib, an inhibitor of the ERBB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, as synergistically cytotoxic in the subset of cell lines that displayed the most resistance to PLX4720. To identify potential mechanisms of resistance to PLX4720 treatment and synergy with lapatinib treatment we performed a multi-platform functional genomics analysis to profile the genome as well as the transcriptional and proteomic responses of these cell lines to treatment with PLX4720. We found modest levels of resistance correlated with the zygosity of the BRAF V600E allele and RTK mutational status. Layered over base-line resistance was substantial upregulation of many ERBB pathway genes in response to BRaf inhibition, thus generating the vulnerability to combination with lapatinib. The transcriptional responses of ERBB pathway genes are associated with a number of transcription factors, including ETS2 and its associated cofactors that represent a convergent regulatory mechanism conferring synergistic drug susceptibility in the context of diverse mutational landscapes. 12 BRAF mutant melanomas and 4 melanomas with WT BRAF were exposed plx4720 treatment to evaluate their responses after 8 hours of treatment. 5 of the 12 BRAF mutant melanomas responses were also evaluated in response to the treatment of lapatinib alone, masitinib alone, the combination of lapatinib with plx4720, or the combination of masitinib with plx4720. All samples were run in at least triplicate.