Project description:Human CD4+ T cells mediate spontaneous rejection of acquired benign melanocytic nevi, in the majority of cases, through a break in peripheral tolerance. For the remaining cases, nevi remain stable and do not progress to malignancy. In this experiment, we compared gene expression of post-transplant rejected nevi to stable nevi in order to better characterize their transcriptional profiles.
Project description:The purpose of this study was to comprehensively study and compare the molecular gene expression profiles of common melanocytic nevi (GSE53223), dysplastic nevi (GSE53223), and primary melanoma.
Project description:Acquired melanocytic nevi grow and persist in a stable form into adulthood. Using genome-wide methylation profiling, we evaluated 32 histopathologically confirmed, and dermoscopically characterized nevi, with matched adjacent skin, to identify key epigenetic regulatory mechanisms involved in nevogenesis. Benign (n=13; 69% globular and 31% non-specific dermoscopic pattern) and dysplastic (n=19; 95% reticular/nonspecific dermoscopic pattern) nevi were dissimilar with only two shared differentially methylated (DM) loci. Relative to adjacent skin, benign nevi demonstrated an increase in both genome-scale methylation and methylation of Alu/LINE-1 retrotransposable elements, a marker of genomic stability, as well as global methylation. In contrast, dysplastic nevi showed evidence for genomic instability via hypomethylation of Alu/LINE-1. The difference in methylation between benign and dysplastic nevi was statistically significant for Alu (P = 0.00019) and LINE-1 (P = 0.000035) retrotransposable elements. Using dermoscopic classifications, reticular/nonspecific nevi had 59,572 CpG DM loci (Q < 0.05), whereas globular nevi had non-significant DM loci. The relative activity of reticular/non-specific nevi was evidenced by 50,720 hypomethylated loci being enriched for accessible chromatin, and 8,852 hypermethylated loci strongly enriched, for example, marks of active gene promoters, which suggests that gain of DNA methylation observed in these nevus types plays a role in gene regulation.
Project description:The molecular properties of benign melanocytic lesions are poorly understood. Only few studies have been performed on specific nevi subtypes, including common nevocellular nevi (NCN) or Spitz nevi (SN). Genomic alterations in melanoma-associated oncogenes are typically absent in SN. In the present study, mRNA expression of 25 SN and 15 NCN were analyzed. Molecular profiling was done using the RNA NanoString nCounter Gene Expression Platform (No. of genes = 770). Marker discovery was performed with a training set consisting of 7 SN and 7 NCN samples from the same patients, and validation was performed using a second set consisting of 18 SN and 8 NCN samples. Using the training set, 197 differentially expressed genes were identified in SN versus NCN. Of these, 74 genes validated in the validation set (FDR Q value ≤ 0.13). In addition, using Random Forest and LASSO feature selection a molecular signature of SN versus NCN was identified including 15 top-ranked genes. Gene set analysis showed upregulation of gene pathways with increased expression of transcripts related to immunomodulatory, inflammatory and extracellular matrix interactions as well as angiogenesis associated processes in SN. Although the molecular characteristics of malignant melanoma have been studied in detail, the molecular properties of benign melanocytic lesions such as common nevocellular nevi (NCN) and Spitz nevi (SN) remain poorly understood. This limited knowledge hinders a better understanding of atypical and malignant transformation of melanocytes. The present study identified a distinct molecular expression profile in SN compared to NCN, even when lesions were obtained from the same patients. These findings strongly indicate that SN represent a distinct group of melanocytic neoplasms and evolve differentially and not sequentially from NCN.