Project description:For establishing a live-cell biobank of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) samples, cultures of two MPM patients were compared to the original tumor tissue using Affymetrix OncoScan Microarrays for genome-wide CNV and LOH detection.
Project description:Regional delivery of oncolytic viruses has been shown to promote immune responses. Malignant pleural effusions comprise an immunosuppressive microenvironment, and the ability of oncolytic viruses to generate immune responses following regional delivery in patients with malignant pleural effusions is unknown. We conducted a phase I clinical trial that studied the intrapleural administration of oncolytic vaccinia virus to establish the safety and feasibility in patients with malignant pleural effusion due to malignant pleural mesothelioma or metastatic disease. In patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, by correlative analysis of pre- and post-treatment tumor biopsies, we provide insight into tumor-specific viral uptake and associated immune responses.
Project description:Since loss of the NF2 tumor suppressor gene results in p21-activated kinase (Pak) activation, PAK inhibitors hold promise for the treatment of NF2-deficient tumors. To test this possibility, we asked if loss of Pak2, a highly expressed group I PAK member, affects the development of malignant mesothelioma in Nf2;Cdkn2a-deficient (NC) mice and the growth properties of NC mesothelioma cells in culture. In vivo, deletion of Pak2 resulted in a markedly decreased incidence and delayed onset of both pleural and peritoneal malignant mesotheliomas in NC mice. In vitro, Pak2 deletion decreased malignant mesothelioma cell viability, migration, clonogenicity, and spheroid formation. RNA-seq analysis demonstrated downregulated expression of Hedgehog and Wnt pathway genes in NC;Pak2-/- mesothelioma cells versus NC;Pak2+/+ mesothelioma cells. Targeting of the Hedgehog signaling component Gli1 or its target gene Myc inhibited cell viability and spheroid formation in NC;P+/+ mesothelioma cells. Kinome profiling uncovered kinase changes indicative of EMT in NC;Pak2-/- mesothelioma cells, suggesting that Pak2-deficient malignant mesotheliomas can adapt by reprogramming their kinome in the absence of Pak activity. The identification of such compensatory pathways offers opportunities for rational combination therapies to circumvent resistance to anti-PAK drugs.
Project description:MicroRNA expression profiles of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) specimens were analyzed to identify novel microRNA that are potentially involved in the oncogenic transformation of human pleural cells. In addition to several novel MPM-associated microRNAs, we observed that the expression level of microRNA-1 was significantly lower in tumors as compared to normal pleural specimens. Subsequently, pre-mir of microRNA-1 was introduced into MPM cell lines to overexpress this microRNA. Phenotypic changes of these altered cells were assayed. The cellular proliferation rate was significantly inhibited after overexpression of microRNA-1. Early and late apoptosis were measured by Annexin V and TUNEL assays, respectively. Taken together, these data suggested that overexpression of microRNA-1 induced apoptosis in these MPM cell lines, acting as a tumor suppressor. We confirmed our observations by assessing in the transduced MPM cells cell cycle-related genes, pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes, which all showed coordinated, significant changes characteristic of the apoptotic phenotype. Thus, further investigation and validation of our microRNA database of MPM may elucidate previously unrecognized molecular pathways and/ or mechanisms by identifying novel microRNAs that are involved in malignant transformation. Our study has now found microRNA-1 to be one of these MPM-associated microRNAs, with potential pathogenic and therapeutic significance. MicroRNA microarray transcriptional profiling studies of 25 MPM primary tumors as well 6 normal pleural samples from an unmatched patient cohort as normal comparators were performed.