Project description:Vil-CreERT2 was used to drive loss of APC (Adenomatous polyposis coli) in the murine intestinal epithelium. 4 days post induction, mice were sampled and 1cm of tissue from the proximal intestine was collected into RNA later. This was compared to control (wild-type) intestine. This analysis allows investigation of transcriptional changes following APC loss (and therefore activation of the WNT signalling pathway).
Project description:BACKGROUND: p53 is an important tumor suppressor with a known role in the later stages of colorectal cancer, but its relevance to the early stages of neoplastic initiation remains somewhat unclear. Although p53-dependent regulation of Wnt signalling activity is known to occur, the importance of these regulatory mechanisms during the early stages of intestinal neoplasia has not been demonstrated. METHODS: We have conditionally deleted the Adenomatous Polyposis coli gene (Apc) from the adult murine intestine in wild type and p53 deficient environments and subsequently compared the phenotype and transcriptome profiles in both genotypes. RESULTS: Expression of p53 was shown to be elevated following the conditional deletion of Apc in the adult small intestine. Furthermore, p53 status was shown to impact on the transcription profile observed following Apc loss. A number of key Wnt pathway components and targets were altered in the p53 deficient environment. However, the aberrant phenotype observed following loss of Apc (rapid nuclear localisation of beta-catenin, increased levels of DNA damage, nuclear atypia, perturbed cell death, proliferation, differentiation and migration) was not significantly altered by the absence of p53. CONCLUSION: p53 related feedback mechanisms regulating Wnt signalling activity are present in the intestine, and become activated following loss of Apc. However, the physiological Wnt pathway regulation by p53 appears to be overwhelmed by Apc loss and consequently the activity of these regulatory mechanisms is not sufficient to modulate the immediate phenotypes seen following Apc loss. Thus we are able to provide an explanation to the apparent contradiction that, despite having a Wnt regulatory capacity, p53 loss is not associated with early lesion development. Samples were collected from genetically modified mice. Gene recombination was induced using IP administration of beta-napthoflavone.
Project description:Nearly all colorectal cancers have dysregulated Wnt signalling, predominantly through the mutation of the Apc (Adenomatous Polyposis Coli) gene. Therefore it is of vital importance to elucidate the key Wnt target genes in intestinal cells in vivo. We have used a novel inducible cre-lox based murine system (designated ApcFlox) to investigate the consequences of perturbation of Wnt signalling following inactivation of Apc in vivo within 100% of the intestinal epithelium. We have employed microarray analysis at 3 time points within our ApcFlox system (Day 3 prior to the onset of phenotype, day 4 the establishment of the phenotype and day 5 gross phenotype of altered proliferation, differentiation and migration) and from adenomas arising in the ApcMin/+ background allowing us characterise Wnt/beta-catenin target genes based on their expression profiles during different stages of intestinal tumourigenesis. Furthermore, we have employed microarray analysis using livers from our ApcFlox system and have demonstrated that there is very little overlap in the Wnt target genes induced by Apc loss in the liver and the intestine. More importantly, we have been able to determine a novel set of putative Wnt/beta-catenin target genes which are upregulated at both early and late stages of tumourigenesis in the intestine and may represent novel therapeutic targets in colon cancer. Samples were collected from Genetcially modified mice of the genotypes indicated on the sample records. Where appropriate, gene recombination was induced using IP administration of beta-napthoflavone. Cohorts of samples were used to compare the affects of APC loss in the small intestine at three time points (and compared to matched control samples in which the gene was not recombined). Furthermore, these samples were compared to colonic polyps (and normal colon) taken from the Apcmin Mouse.
Project description:BACKGROUND: p53 is an important tumor suppressor with a known role in the later stages of colorectal cancer, but its relevance to the early stages of neoplastic initiation remains somewhat unclear. Although p53-dependent regulation of Wnt signalling activity is known to occur, the importance of these regulatory mechanisms during the early stages of intestinal neoplasia has not been demonstrated. METHODS: We have conditionally deleted the Adenomatous Polyposis coli gene (Apc) from the adult murine intestine in wild type and p53 deficient environments and subsequently compared the phenotype and transcriptome profiles in both genotypes. RESULTS: Expression of p53 was shown to be elevated following the conditional deletion of Apc in the adult small intestine. Furthermore, p53 status was shown to impact on the transcription profile observed following Apc loss. A number of key Wnt pathway components and targets were altered in the p53 deficient environment. However, the aberrant phenotype observed following loss of Apc (rapid nuclear localisation of beta-catenin, increased levels of DNA damage, nuclear atypia, perturbed cell death, proliferation, differentiation and migration) was not significantly altered by the absence of p53. CONCLUSION: p53 related feedback mechanisms regulating Wnt signalling activity are present in the intestine, and become activated following loss of Apc. However, the physiological Wnt pathway regulation by p53 appears to be overwhelmed by Apc loss and consequently the activity of these regulatory mechanisms is not sufficient to modulate the immediate phenotypes seen following Apc loss. Thus we are able to provide an explanation to the apparent contradiction that, despite having a Wnt regulatory capacity, p53 loss is not associated with early lesion development.
Project description:Nearly all colorectal cancers have dysregulated Wnt signalling, predominantly through the mutation of the Apc (Adenomatous Polyposis Coli) gene. Therefore it is of vital importance to elucidate the key Wnt target genes in intestinal cells in vivo. We have used a novel inducible cre-lox based murine system (designated ApcFlox) to investigate the consequences of perturbation of Wnt signalling following inactivation of Apc in vivo within 100% of the intestinal epithelium. We have employed microarray analysis at 3 time points within our ApcFlox system (Day 3 prior to the onset of phenotype, day 4 the establishment of the phenotype and day 5 gross phenotype of altered proliferation, differentiation and migration) and from adenomas arising in the ApcMin/+ background allowing us characterise Wnt/beta-catenin target genes based on their expression profiles during different stages of intestinal tumourigenesis. Furthermore, we have employed microarray analysis using livers from our ApcFlox system and have demonstrated that there is very little overlap in the Wnt target genes induced by Apc loss in the liver and the intestine. More importantly, we have been able to determine a novel set of putative Wnt/beta-catenin target genes which are upregulated at both early and late stages of tumourigenesis in the intestine and may represent novel therapeutic targets in colon cancer.
Project description:Loss of the APC tumor suppressor in the intestinal epithelium initiates the majority of human colorectal adenocarcinomas. Constitutive β-catenin activation is thought to underlie tumorigenesis induced by loss of APC, however β-catenin activation alone does not recapitulate all APC-loss phenotypes, suggesting that additional pathways are required. We demonstrate that aberrant activation of the Msi1 RNA binding protein occurs upon APC loss and that constitutive Msi1 activation alone is sufficient to phenocopy APC loss in the intestinal epithelium. Msi1 elicits these effects through binding of mRNAs encoding pleiotropic tumor suppressors resulting in promiscuous activation of quiescent intestinal stem cells, proliferative expansion of the stem cell compartment, crypt fission, and blocked differentiation. Further, we find these phenotypes to be largely dependent on mTORC1 activity, and demonstrate that loss of Msi activity is sufficient to abrogate tumorigenesis in mouse and human systems. Our findings implicate Msi1 as a central coordinator of APC loss-induced intestinal stem cell transformation and adenocarcinoma progression. 2 wild-type, 2 transgenic samples
Project description:To asses the effect of Apc loss on the intestinal epithelium we induced homozygous VillinCreERT2 Apc flox/flox mice with tamoxifen on 3 consecutive days (day 0, 1 and 2), and harvested small intestinal epithelium on day 3.
Project description:The APC (Adenomatous Polyposis Coli) gene encodes a large multidomain protein that plays an integral role in the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. The loss-of-function mutation in APC is considered the earliest genetic alteration in the course of adenoma-carcinoma sequence of colorectal cancer progression, and the resulting constitutive activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is required for the maintenance of advanced colorectal cancer. In order to identify genes affected by loss of Apc function, we performed transcription profiling of mouse small intestinal tissues comparing polyps with normal mucosa of Apc+/Delta716 mice. We isolated total RNA from intestinal polyps and normal intestinal mucosa from 3 individual Apc+/Delta716 mice. Total RNA samples were then employed to perform microarray analysis (Agilent Whole Mouse Genome Microarray Ver. 2.0, 4x44K).