RAL GTPases mediate EGFR/MAPK signalling-driven intestinal stem cell proliferation and tumourigenesis upstream of RAS activation.
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PROVIDER: PRJNA681831 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:Abstract: RAS-like (RAL) GTPases function in Wnt signalling-dependent intestinal stem cell proliferation and regeneration. Whether RAL proteins work as canonical RAS effectors in the intestine, and the mechanisms of how they contribute to tumorigenesis remain unclear. Here, we show that RAL GTPases are necessary and sufficient to activate EGFR/MAPK signalling in the intestine. We identify non-canonical roles of RAL GTPases not as RAS effectors, but rather by acting upstream of RAS activation via induction of EGFR internalisation . Knocking down Drosophila RalA from intestinal stem and progenitor cells leads to increased levels of plasma membrane-associated EGFR and decreased MAPK pathway activation. Importantly, in addition to impacting stem cell proliferation and damage-induced intestinal regeneration, this function of RAL GTPases drives EGFR-dependent tumorigenic growth in the intestine and in human mammary epithelium. Altogether, our results reveal previously unrecognised cellular and molecular contexts where RAL GTPases become essential mediators of EGFR-driven tissue homeostasis and malignant transformation. Results: RalA is required within ISCs to induce midgut adult midgut regeneration following damage by oral infection with Erwinia carotovora carotovora 15 (Ecc15) (Johansson et al., 2019). To achieve a global view of intestinal pathways affected by RalA, we performed a transcriptomic analysis by RNAseq of whole midguts from vehicle treated (Mock) or damaged (Ecc15 fed) control animals or following RalA knockdown in intestinal stem and progenitor cells using the escargot-gal4 driver (ISC/EB>) (Micchelli and Perrimon, 2006). Consistent with its effect on ISC proliferation (Johansson et al., 2019), RalA knockdown significantly impaired damage-induced upregulation of cell cycle genes in the midgut. Additionally, levels of multiple transcriptional targets of the EGFR/MAPK pathway (Golembo et al., 1996; Hsu et al., 2001; Jin et al., 2015; Meng and Biteau, 2015), such as argos (aos), rhomboid (rho), Sox21a and string (stg) were increased following Ecc15 infection in control midguts. The upregulation of these target genes was significantly impaired upon RalA knockdown.
2021-02-01 | GSE162421 | GEO
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8216719 | biostudies-literature
Project description:K-ras mutations are observed in around 40% human colorectal adenomas and carcinomas and contribute to the pathogenesis of human and rodent colorectal tumour formation. Previously, we developed and characterised a strain of transgenic mice with inducible intestinal epithelial expression of K-rasVal12 via a Cre/LoxP system. To evaluate the influence of mutant K-ras on carcinogen-induced colorectal tumourigenesis, we induced neoplastic alterations in the large intestines of wild-type and K-rasVal12 mice using the colon-selective carcinogen 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), which has been widely used to study chemically induced colorectal tumours that are histopathologically similar to those observed in humans. K-rasVal12 expression significantly promoted DMH-induced colorectal tumourigenesis: the average life span of the mice decreased from 38.52±1.97 weeks for 40 wild-type mice to 32.42±2.17 weeks for 26 K-rasVal12 mice (mean+SEM, P<0.05) and the large intestinal tumours increased from 2.27±0.15 per wild-type mouse to 3.85±0.20 in K-rasVal12 mice (mean+SEM, P<0.01). Adenomas from DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice showed significantly higher levels (10.9±1.69%) of Ki-67-positive proliferating cells compared with those from DMH-treated wild-type mice (7.77±1.15%) (mean+SD, P<0.01) and a mild increase in apoptotic nuclei staining for cleaved caspase-3 (1.94+0.51% compared with 1.15±0.34%, mean+SD, P<0.01). In the adenomas from DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice, K-rasVal12 transgene recombination and expression were confirmed and shown to promote strong Erk and mild Akt activation compared with adenomas from DMH-treated wild-type mice. Microarray hybridization and cluster analysis demonstrated different expression profiles in adenomas from DMH-treated wild-type and DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice, indicating involvement of different molecular mechanisms, but array-comparative genomic hybridisation analysis showed chromosome stability in both, with very few chromosome alterations observed in adenomas from either of the two groups. Taken together, these data show that mutant K-ras promotes DMH-induced colorectal tumourigenesis, conferring a proliferative effect, but does not alter chromosome stability in the tumours. This study has 7 samples analysed, 4 Kras mutants and 3 controls, on the Illumina Mouse-6 Beadchip array.
2010-10-02 | E-GEOD-24010 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Systemic muscle wasting drives tumourigenesis
| PRJNA587726 | ENA
Project description:Activated HER2 and EGFR stimulate the Ras small GTPases, which in turn primarily activate the MAPK, PI3K-Akt and RalGEF-Ral pathways. While activation of the MAPK and PI3K-Akt pathways downstream of HER2 and EGFR promote mammary tumorigenesis, little is known regarding the role of the RalGEF-Ral pathway. RalGEFs convert the small GTPases RalA and RalB to an active GTP-bound state. Of the two proteins, only activated RalA is transforming, while RalB is more important for cell motility, and hence we investigated the role of RalA in HER2-overexpressing and EGFR-positive breast cancer. We now report that shRNA-mediated knockdown of RalA reduced the in vitro transformed growth and in vivo tumorigenic growth of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, while knockdown of RalB reduced migration and invasion. Lastly, we demonstrate that expression of activated HER2 increases RalA-GTP levels, and that a number of genes associated with activated RalA are elevated in tumor compared to normal mammary tissue. Taken together, these results suggest a possible role for RalA in mammary tumorigenesis. Four independent cultures of HEK-HT cells stably infected with a retrovirus confirmed to expressed RalAQ72L and four independent cultures of HEK-HT cells stably infected with a control retrovirus RalA activation expression analysis
2016-02-13 | E-GEOD-19295 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Mitochondrial dysfunction causes biophysical, metabolic and signalling changes that alter homeostasis and reprogram cells. We used a Drosophila model in which TFAM is overexpressed in the nervous system with or without Ras/MAPK pathway inhibition, by knock-down of the ETS transcription factor pointed, to investigate the how mitochondrial dysfunction and Ras/MAPK signalling affect the transcriptome. We used microarray analysis to investigate gene expression in cases of mitochondrial dysfunction in the CNS with or without Ras/MAPK pathway inhibition by knock-down of pointed (Pnt) and anterior open (Aop).
2018-05-05 | GSE114054 | GEO
Project description:Approximately 50% of prostate cancers have chromosomal translocations resulting in the over-expression one of four ETS family transcription factors. However, it is not known why these four four family members are selected for oncogenic roles, while other ETS proteins are not. We found that the four oncogenic ETS family members have a specific role in prostate cell migration. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing, this specific biological function was matched to a specific set of genomic targets highlighted by the presence of an AP-1 binding site. ETS/AP-1 binding sites are prototypical Ras-responsive elements, but oncogenic ETS proteins could activate a Ras/MAPK transcriptional program in the absence of MAPK activation. These findings indicate that the specific function of ETS proteins over-expressed in prostate cancer is the activation of a Ras/MAPK gene expression program in the absence of signaling pathway mutations. 16 samples were analyzed, comprised of four replicates each of four different biological conditions. RNA from U0126 treated RWPE-1 empty vector cell RNA serves as a control for each experiment. Cell lines have retroviral expression constructs expressing either empty vector, Flag-ERG, or Flag-ETV1.
2011-10-18 | E-GEOD-29438 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:K-ras mutations are observed in around 40% human colorectal adenomas and carcinomas and contribute to the pathogenesis of human and rodent colorectal tumour formation. Previously, we developed and characterised a strain of transgenic mice with inducible intestinal epithelial expression of K-rasVal12 via a Cre/LoxP system. To evaluate the influence of mutant K-ras on carcinogen-induced colorectal tumourigenesis, we induced neoplastic alterations in the large intestines of wild-type and K-rasVal12 mice using the colon-selective carcinogen 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), which has been widely used to study chemically induced colorectal tumours that are histopathologically similar to those observed in humans. K-rasVal12 expression significantly promoted DMH-induced colorectal tumourigenesis: the average life span of the mice decreased from 38.52±1.97 weeks for 40 wild-type mice to 32.42±2.17 weeks for 26 K-rasVal12 mice (mean+SEM, P<0.05) and the large intestinal tumours increased from 2.27±0.15 per wild-type mouse to 3.85±0.20 in K-rasVal12 mice (mean+SEM, P<0.01). Adenomas from DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice showed significantly higher levels (10.9±1.69%) of Ki-67-positive proliferating cells compared with those from DMH-treated wild-type mice (7.77±1.15%) (mean+SD, P<0.01) and a mild increase in apoptotic nuclei staining for cleaved caspase-3 (1.94+0.51% compared with 1.15±0.34%, mean+SD, P<0.01). In the adenomas from DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice, K-rasVal12 transgene recombination and expression were confirmed and shown to promote strong Erk and mild Akt activation compared with adenomas from DMH-treated wild-type mice. Microarray hybridization and cluster analysis demonstrated different expression profiles in adenomas from DMH-treated wild-type and DMH-treated K-rasVal12 mice, indicating involvement of different molecular mechanisms, but array-comparative genomic hybridisation analysis showed chromosome stability in both, with very few chromosome alterations observed in adenomas from either of the two groups. Taken together, these data show that mutant K-ras promotes DMH-induced colorectal tumourigenesis, conferring a proliferative effect, but does not alter chromosome stability in the tumours.
2010-10-02 | GSE24010 | GEO
Project description:We performed tanscriptional profiling of ARPE19 and four isogenic transformed cells lines in which Ras or two downstream pathways, MAPK or PI3K/mTOR, were up-regulated. The purpose of this study is to understand how Ras signaling impacts kinetochore function.
2022-09-21 | GSE172512 | GEO
Project description:Approximately 50% of prostate cancers have chromosomal translocations resulting in the over-expression one of four ETS family transcription factors. However, it is not known why these four four family members are selected for oncogenic roles, while other ETS proteins are not. We found that the four oncogenic ETS family members have a specific role in prostate cell migration. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing, this specific biological function was matched to a specific set of genomic targets highlighted by the presence of an AP-1 binding site. ETS/AP-1 binding sites are prototypical Ras-responsive elements, but oncogenic ETS proteins could activate a Ras/MAPK transcriptional program in the absence of MAPK activation. These findings indicate that the specific function of ETS proteins over-expressed in prostate cancer is the activation of a Ras/MAPK gene expression program in the absence of signaling pathway mutations. ChIP sequencing two transcription factors in PC3 cells, four transcription factors plus a FLAG control in RWPE-1 cells and input DNA sequencing from each cell line.
2011-10-19 | E-GEOD-29808 | biostudies-arrayexpress