Project description:Next generation sequencing is making sequence-based molecular pathology and personalised oncology viable. We selected an individual initially diagnosed with conventional, but aggressive, prostate adenocarcinoma and sequenced the genome and transcriptome from primary and metastatic tissues collected prior to hormone therapy. The histology-pathology and genomic architecture were remarkably homogeneous, yet it was possible to determine the quadrant of the prostate tumour that likely seeded the metastatic diaspora. Despite a homogenous cell type, our transcriptome analysis revealed signatures of both luminal and neuroendocrine cell types. Remarkably, the repertoire of expressed but private gene fusions, including C15orf21:MYC, recapitulated this biology while the amplification and over expression of the stem cell gene MSI2 may have contributed to the stable hybrid cellular identity. This hybrid luminal-neuroendocrine tumour appears to represent a novel and highly aggressive case of prostate cancer with unique biological features and conceivably a propensity for rapid progression to castrate-resistance. Overall, this work highlights the importance of integrated analyses of genome, exome and transcriptome sequences for basic tumour biology, sequence-based molecular pathology, and personalized oncology. 5 samples
Project description:Next generation sequencing is making sequence-based molecular pathology and personalised oncology viable. We selected an individual initially diagnosed with conventional, but aggressive, prostate adenocarcinoma and sequenced the genome and transcriptome from primary and metastatic tissues collected prior to hormone therapy. The histology-pathology and genomic architecture were remarkably homogeneous, yet it was possible to determine the quadrant of the prostate tumour that likely seeded the metastatic diaspora. Despite a homogenous cell type, our transcriptome analysis revealed signatures of both luminal and neuroendocrine cell types. Remarkably, the repertoire of expressed but private gene fusions, including C15orf21:MYC, recapitulated this biology while the amplification and over expression of the stem cell gene MSI2 may have contributed to the stable hybrid cellular identity. This hybrid luminal-neuroendocrine tumour appears to represent a novel and highly aggressive case of prostate cancer with unique biological features and conceivably a propensity for rapid progression to castrate-resistance. Overall, this work highlights the importance of integrated analyses of genome, exome and transcriptome sequences for basic tumour biology, sequence-based molecular pathology, and personalized oncology.
Project description:<p>BRCA1 mutations are a hallmark of hereditary ovarian cancer, strongly linked to deficiencies in homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair and impaired DNA replication fork protection. However, its roles in cancer progression beyond maintaining genomic integrity remain poorly understood. Through metabolomics approaches, we found BRCA1-deficiency strikingly increased choline metabolism. Loss of BRCA1 promotes choline uptake through upregulating choline transporter-like protein 4 (CTL4). BRCA1 directly binds and recruits EZH2-mediated H3K27Me3 deposition to CTL4 promoter. CTL4 was therefore overexpressed in ovarian cancer tissues with BRCA1 mutations. Furthermore, BRCA1-deficiency significantly promotes ovarian cancer invasion, while inhibition of CTL4 reverses the high metastatic potential of BRCA1-deficient ovarian cancer cells, suggesting the functionality and specificity of CTL4 as a therapeutic target. Additionally, we discovered that phosphocholine, the choline metabolite increased by CTL4 overexpression, interacted with and stabilized the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition inducer FAM3C in BRCA1-deficient ovarian cancer cells. Importantly, we identified a potent CTL4 inhibitor, DT-13, which significantly reduces choline metabolism and effectively suppresses metastasis in BRCA1-deficient ovarian cancers. Therefore, our study uncovers a mechanism underlying metastasis in BRCA1-deficient cancers and identifies CTL4 as a therapeutic target for metastatic ovarian cancer patients with BRCA1 mutations.</p>