Project description:Ependymomas exist within distinct genetic subgroups, but the molecular diversity within individual ependymomas is unknown. We performed multiplatform molecular profiling of 6 spatially-distinct samples from an ependymoma with C11orf95-RELA fusion. DNA methylation and RNA sequencing distinguished clusters of samples according to neuronal development gene expression programs that could also be delineated by differences in magnetic resonance blood perfusion. Exome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed epigenomic intratumor heterogeneity, and suggested that chromosomal structural alterations may precede accumulation of single nucleotide variants during ependymoma tumorigenesis. In sum, these findings shed new light on the oncogenesis and intratumor heterogeneity of ependymoma.
Project description:Cancer is a disease of the genome. Many genomic abnormalities have been found in a variety of cancer types, which are believed to be attributable to tumorigenesis as well as resistance to treatment and recurrence. Genomic heterogeneity in the same type of cancer or within a tumor reveals the complexity of cancer biology so that intratumor heterogeneity has become an inherent feature of cancer. In this study, we use whole-exome sequencing and array comparative genomic hybridization technology to examine the mutational profiling and copy number changes from multi-region samples within an esophageal cancer in order to understand the genomic phylogeny in the evolution of intratumor heterogeneity in esophageal cancer.
Project description:Multiple stereotatically separate sites from human meningioma were processed for methlyation profiling Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors, but the molecular drivers of meningioma tumorigenesis are poorly understood. We hypothesized that investigating intratumor heterogeneity in meningiomas would elucidate biologic drivers and reveal new targets for molecular therapy. To test this hypothesis, we performed multiplatform molecular profiling of 86 spatially-distinct samples from 13 human meningiomas. Our data reveal that regional alterations in chromosome structure underlie clonal transcriptomic, epigenomic, and histopathologic signatures in meningioma. Stereotactic co-registration of sample coordinates to preoperative magnetic resonance images further demonstrated that high apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) distinguished meningioma regions with proliferating cells enriched for developmental gene expression programs. To understand the function of these genes in meningioma, we developed a human cerebral organoid model of meningioma and validated the high ADC marker genes CDH2 and PTPRZ1 as potential targets for meningioma therapy using live imaging, single cell RNA sequencing, CRISPR interference, and pharmacology.
Project description:Intratumor mutational heterogeneity has been documented in primary non-small cell lung cancer. Here, we elucidate mechanisms of tumor evolution and heterogeneity in metastatic thoracic tumors (lung adenocarcinoma and thymic carcinoma) using whole-exome and transcriptome sequencing, SNP array for copy number alterations (CNA) and mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics of metastases obtained by rapid autopsy. APOBEC-mutagenesis, promoted by increased expression of APOBEC3 region transcripts and associated with a high-risk germline APOBEC3 variant, strongly correlated with mutational tumor heterogeneity. TP53 mutation status was associated with APOBEC hypermutator status. Interferon pathways were enriched in tumors with high APOBEC mutagenesis and IFN- induced expression of APOBEC3B in lung adenocarcinoma cells in culture suggesting a role for the immune microenvironment in the generation of mutational heterogeneity. CNA occurring late in tumor evolution correlated with downstream transcriptomic and proteomic heterogeneity, although global proteomic heterogeneity was significantly greater than transcriptomic and CNA heterogeneity. These results illustrate key mechanisms underlying multi-dimensional heterogeneity in metastatic thoracic tumors.
Project description:We classified samples and deciphered a key genes signature of intratumor heterogeneity by Principal Component Analysis and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis. At the genome level, we identified common GB copy number alterations and but a strong inter-individual molecular heterogeneity.
Project description:Multiplatform genomic profiling and magnetic resonance imaging identify mechanisms underlying intratumor heterogeneity in meningioma
Project description:Epigenetic dysregulation is a universal feature of cancer that results in altered patterns of gene expression that drive malignancy. Brain tumors exhibit subtype-specific epigenetic alterations, however the molecular mechanisms responsible for these diverse epigenetic states remain unclear. Here we show that the developmental transcription factor Sox9 differentially regulates epigenomic states in high-grade glioma (HGG) and ependymoma (EPN). These contrasting roles for Sox9 correspond with protein interactions with histone deacetylating complexes in HGG, and association with the Rela oncofusion in EPN. Together, our studies demonstrate how epigenomic states are differentially regulated in distinct subtypes of brain tumors, while revealing divergent roles for Sox9 in HGG and EPN tumorigenesis.
Project description:We classified samples and deciphered a key genes signature of intratumor heterogeneity by Principal Component Analysis and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis. We provide a signature of key cancer-heterogeneity genes highly associated with the intratumor spatial gradient and show that it is enriched in genes with correlation between methylation and expression levels.
