Project description:Using EphB2 or the ISC marker Lgr5, we have FACS-purified and profiled intestinal stem cells (ISCs), crypt proliferative progenitors and late transient amplifying cells to define a gene expression program specific for normal ISCs. A frequent complication in colorectal cancer (CRC) is regeneration of the tumor after therapy. The intestinal stem cell signature predicts disease relapse in CRC and identifies a stem cell-like population that displays robust tumor- initiating capacity in immunodeficient mice as well as long-term self-renewal potential.
Project description:Using EphB2 or the ISC marker Lgr5, we have FACS-purified and profiled intestinal stem cells (ISCs), crypt proliferative progenitors and late transient amplifying cells to define a gene expression program specific for normal ISCs. A frequent complication in colorectal cancer (CRC) is regeneration of the tumor after therapy. The intestinal stem cell signature predicts disease relapse in CRC and identifies a stem cell-like population that displays robust tumor- initiating capacity in immunodeficient mice as well as long-term self-renewal potential. We FACS purified mouse intestinal crypt cells according to their EphB2 or Lgr5 contents. We used Affymetrix chips to hybridize 2 samples from EphB2 high, 2 samples from EphB2 medium and 2 samples from EphB2 low cells (one sample from each group in a first hybridization on February 2009 plus an additional sample from each group on March 2009). Additionally, we hybridized one sample from Lgr5-EGFP high and one sample from Lgr5-EGFP low cells, obtained from Lgr5-EGFP knock-in mice (Barker et al., 2007).
Project description:Colorectal cancer molecular signatures derived from omics data can be employed to stratify CRC patients and aid decisions about therapies or evaluate prognostic outcome. However, molecular biomarkers for identification of patients at increased risk of disease relapse are currently lacking. Here, we present a comprehensive multi-omics analysis of a Danish colorectal cancer tumor cohort composed of 412 biopsies from tumors of 371 patients diagnosed at TNM stage II or III. From mass spectrometry-based patient proteome profiles, we classified the tumors into four molecular subtypes, including a mesenchymal-like subtype. As the mesenchymal-rich tumors are known to represent the most invasive and metastatic phenotype, we focused on the protein signature defining this subtype to evaluate their potential as relapse risk markers. Among signature-specific proteins, we followed-up Caveolae-Associated Protein-1 (CAVIN1) and demonstrated its role in tumor progression in a 3D in vitro model of colorectal cancer. Compared to previous omics analyses of CRC, our multi-omics classification provided deeper insights into EMT in cancer cells with stronger correlations with risk of relapse.
Project description:Canonical Wnt signaling output is mediated by β-catenin, which interacts with LEF/TCF transcription factors and recruits a general transcriptional activation complex to its C-terminus. Its N-terminus binds BCL9/9L proteins, which bind co-activators that in mammals contribute to fine-tuning the transcriptional output. We found that a BCL9/9L-dependent gene expression signature was strongly associated with patient outcome in colorectal cancer and that stem cell and mesenchymal genes determine its prognostic value. Abrogating BCL9/9L-β-catenin signaling in independent mouse colorectal cancer models resulted in virtual loss of these traits, and oncogenic intestinal organoids lacking BCL9/9L proteins proved no longer tumorigenic. Our findings suggest that the BCL9/9L arm of Wnt-β-catenin signaling sustains a stemness-to-differentiation equilibrium in colorectal cancer, which critically affects disease outcome. Mutational activation of the Wnt pathway is a key oncogenic event in colorectal cancer. Targeting the pathway downstream of activating mutations is challenging, and the therapeutic window is limited by intestinal toxicity. Contrasting with phenotypes caused by inactivating key Wnt pathway components, ablation of BCL9/9L proteins in adult mice indicated that they were dispensable for intestinal homeostasis, consistent with their role in tuning transcription. Cancer stem cells are increasingly recognized as responsible for tumor recurrence. The correlation between stemness traits in colorectal cancer models and BCL9/9L-β-catenin signaling suggests that high Wnt signaling output is required for their maintenance. Our findings suggest that pruning Wnt-β-catenin signaling might be well tolerated and prove sufficient for trimming stemness traits and improving disease outcome. Examination of Bcl9/9l-knockout versus wild-type transcriptome in murine AOM-DSS tumors, APC-Kras tumors and healthy colocyte extracts.
Project description:We prospectively isolated human colorectal CD44+ cancer stem cells (CSCs) from organoids and primary colorectal cancer. The gene expression of CD44+ CSCs are relevant to each other between organoids and primary tissues. The common gene signature in two different modality identifies CSCs' properties with the biological significance shown in original article.
Project description:Cancer stem cells (CSCs) residing in colorectal cancer tissues have tumorigenic capacity and contribute to chemotherapeutic resistance and disease relapse. It is well known that the survival of colorectal CSCs after 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU)-based therapy leads to cancer recurrence. Thus CSCs represent a promising drug target. Here, we designed and synthesized novel hybrid molecules linking 5-FU with the plant-derived compound thymoquinone (TQ) and tested the potential of individual compounds and their combination to eliminate colorectal CSCs. SARB hybrid showed augmented cytotoxicity against colorectal cancer cells. Data obtained via Nanostring nCounter Gene Expression Assay (Pan Cancer Pathway Panel). Nanostring analysis revealed a unique signature of dysregulated gene expression in response to the combination of TQ and 5-FU (Combi) and SARB treatment. Importantly, two principle stem cell regulatory pathways WNT/ß-Catenin and PI3K/AKT were found to be downregulated after hybrid treatment.
Project description:Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) predisposes patients to leukemia and lymphoma. WAS is caused by mutations in the protein WASP which impair its interaction with the WIPF1 protein. Here, we aim to identify a module of WIPF1-coexpressed genes and to assess its use as a prognostic signature for colorectal cancer, glioma, and breast cancer patients. Two public colorectal cancer microarray data sets were used for discovery and validation of the WIPF1 co-expression module. Based on expression of the WIPF1 signature, we classified more than 400 additional tumors with microarray data from our own experiments or from publicly available data sets according to their WIPF1 signature expression. This allowed us to separate patient populations for colorectal cancers, breast cancers, and gliomas for which clinical characteristics like survival times and times to relapse were analyzed. Groups of colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and glioma patients with low expression of the WIPF1 co-expression module generally had a favorable prognosis. In addition, the majority of WIPF1 signature genes are individually correlated with disease outcome in different studies. Literature gene network analysis revealed that among WIPF1 co-expressed genes known direct transcriptional targets of c-myc, ESR1 and p53 are enriched. The mean expression profile of WIPF1 signature genes is correlated with the profile of a proliferation signature. The WIPF1 signature is the first microarray-based prognostic expression signature primarily developed for colorectal cancer that is instrumental in other tumor types: low expression of the WIPF1 module is associated with better prognosis. We used microarrays for the validation of a WIPF1 co-expression module which was developed on two publically available datasets. Keywords: disease state analysis For the generation of our own microarray data set, 62 CRC patients undergoing elective standard oncological resection at the Department of General, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité, were prospectively recruited.
Project description:Canonical Wnt signaling output is mediated by β-catenin, which interacts with LEF/TCF transcription factors and recruits a general transcriptional activation complex to its C-terminus. Its N-terminus binds BCL9/9L proteins, which bind co-activators that in mammals contribute to fine-tuning the transcriptional output. We found that a BCL9/9L-dependent gene expression signature was strongly associated with patient outcome in colorectal cancer and that stem cell and mesenchymal genes determine its prognostic value. Abrogating BCL9/9L-β-catenin signaling in independent mouse colorectal cancer models resulted in virtual loss of these traits, and oncogenic intestinal organoids lacking BCL9/9L proteins proved no longer tumorigenic. Our findings suggest that the BCL9/9L arm of Wnt-β-catenin signaling sustains a stemness-to-differentiation equilibrium in colorectal cancer, which critically affects disease outcome. Mutational activation of the Wnt pathway is a key oncogenic event in colorectal cancer. Targeting the pathway downstream of activating mutations is challenging, and the therapeutic window is limited by intestinal toxicity. Contrasting with phenotypes caused by inactivating key Wnt pathway components, ablation of BCL9/9L proteins in adult mice indicated that they were dispensable for intestinal homeostasis, consistent with their role in tuning transcription. Cancer stem cells are increasingly recognized as responsible for tumor recurrence. The correlation between stemness traits in colorectal cancer models and BCL9/9L-β-catenin signaling suggests that high Wnt signaling output is required for their maintenance. Our findings suggest that pruning Wnt-β-catenin signaling might be well tolerated and prove sufficient for trimming stemness traits and improving disease outcome.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE27389: Substitutions in the KRas oncogene determine protein behavior: Implications for signaling and clinical outcome. GSE31428: Final efficacy and biomarker analysis of the sorafenib arm of the BATTLE (Biomarker-Integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination) trial GSE31852: An EGFR-mutation signature reveals features of the EGFR-dependent phenotype and identifies MACC1 as an EGFR-associated regulator of MET. GSE33072: An epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene signature predicts resistance to erlotinib and PI3K pathway inhibitors and identifies Axl as a novel EMT marker in non-small cell lung cancer. Refer to individual Series
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer death globally. The molecular mechanisms underlying CRC have been investigated using different omics technologies including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Resulting molecular signatures can be employed to stratify CRC patients and aid decisions about therapies or evaluate prognostic outcome. However, molecular biomarkers for identification of patients at increased risk of disease recurrence are currently lacking. Here, we present a comprehensive multi-omics analysis of a Danish colorectal cancer tumor cohort composed of 412 biopsies from tumors of 371 patients diagnosed at stage II or III. We identified microsatellite instability and tumor stage as the two main clinical traits statistically linked to the risk of relapse. Integrating proteomics and transcriptomics data, we classified the tumors into four consensus molecular subtypes, and found that stage III tumors showed higher epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition signature than stage II. As the mesenchymal-like subtype is the one with most invasive and metastatic phenotype, we focused on proteins over-expressed in this subtype and evaluated their potential as relapse-free survival markers. Specifically, we studied on the role of CAVIN1 in the formation and progression of colorectal cancer in a 3D in vitro model. Finally, using hybrid-DIA phosphoproteomics profiling we identified an mTOR kinase activity footprint that was specific to patients that suffered post-surgery relapse. Compared to previous omics analysis of CRC, our multi-omics classification provided deeper insights into the mesenchymal-like subtypes with stronger correlations with risk of relapse.