Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is still one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide (World Health Organization, Fact sheet NM-BM-0297, October 2011). Though, therapeutic options improved over the past years, the prognosis of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) remains poor with a median survival of 18-21 months. Monoclonal antibodies targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are used for the palliative treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) carrying a KRAS-wildtype. Among the tumors with a KRAS-wildtype, only 35% respond, and alterations of other signaling molecules and pathways modulate therapeutic response. In this study we analyzed the effect of KRAS-mutations on intracellular signaling cascades to find new therapeutic approaches for patients with mCRC. Reverse-phase protein array and gene array technology was applied to sixteen adenocarcinomas of the sigmoid colon carrying either wildtype (n=8) or mutant (n=8) KRAS. Differential expression was validated on 49 sigmoid cancers by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In a screening for members of signaling pathways known to have a high impact on tumor development in colon cancer, we found 14 proteins downregulated in tumors with mutated KRAS. Subsequently, we compared the data of the protein arrays with the results of gene expression arrays performed with the same samples. We confirmed the differential expression of eight genes as a function of the KRAS genotype of the tumor. To further validate the differential expression of these candidates, we performed quantitative expression analysis and immunohistochemical staining of an independent validation series comprising 49 CRC patient samples. It was clearly demonstrated that the expression of EGFR is decreased in colorectal carcinomas with a mutant KRAS genotype. mRNA was obtained from 16 patients with colorectal cancer (8 with and 8 without KRAS-mutation). mRNA was extracted from neoplastic and non-neoplastic colon mucosa and analyzed separately by Affymetrix Human Gene 1.1 ST GeneChips finally generating 32 separate data sets.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is still one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide (World Health Organization, Fact sheet N°297, October 2011). Though, therapeutic options improved over the past years, the prognosis of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) remains poor with a median survival of 18-21 months. Monoclonal antibodies targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are used for the palliative treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) carrying a KRAS-wildtype. Among the tumors with a KRAS-wildtype, only 35% respond, and alterations of other signaling molecules and pathways modulate therapeutic response. In this study we analyzed the effect of KRAS-mutations on intracellular signaling cascades to find new therapeutic approaches for patients with mCRC. Reverse-phase protein array and gene array technology was applied to sixteen adenocarcinomas of the sigmoid colon carrying either wildtype (n=8) or mutant (n=8) KRAS. Differential expression was validated on 49 sigmoid cancers by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In a screening for members of signaling pathways known to have a high impact on tumor development in colon cancer, we found 14 proteins downregulated in tumors with mutated KRAS. Subsequently, we compared the data of the protein arrays with the results of gene expression arrays performed with the same samples. We confirmed the differential expression of eight genes as a function of the KRAS genotype of the tumor. To further validate the differential expression of these candidates, we performed quantitative expression analysis and immunohistochemical staining of an independent validation series comprising 49 CRC patient samples. It was clearly demonstrated that the expression of EGFR is decreased in colorectal carcinomas with a mutant KRAS genotype.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of human mesenchymal stem cells comparing normoxic MSCs cells with hypoxic MSCs cells. Hypoxia may inhibit senescence of MSCs during expansion. Goal was to determine the effects of hypoxia on global MSCs gene expression.
Project description:Mutations activating the KRAS GTPase or the BRAF kinase are frequent in colorectal cancer and are thought to constitutively activate the terminal mitogen-activated protein kinase, ERK. Using mass cytometry, we found graded phosphorylation of ERK anti-correlated with cell differentiation in patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids, and unexpectedly this gradient was observed independently of KRAS mutational status. We therefore investigated differentiation-dependent signal transduction elicited by oncogenic KRAS or BRAF in transgenic mouse organoid models. Reporter, single cell transcriptome and mass cytometry analyses showed that transgenic expression of KRASG12V activated ERK in a cell type-specific pattern. Furthermore, expression of oncogenic KRAS induced the formation of RAS-ERK-responsive cells. In contrast, transgenic expression of BRAFV600E triggered high ERK activity and downstream gene expression in all intestinal cell types, followed by epithelial disorganisation. We analysed signal transduction to ERK using single cell-resolved network perturbation data in transgenic organoids. Network reconstruction followed by quantitative modelling revealed that activation of ERK is shaped by cell type-specific MEK to ERK feed forward and negative feedback signalling. We identify dual-specificity phosphatases as candidate modulators of MEK to ERK signal transduction. Our experiments highlight key differences between ERK activity elicited by the BRAF or KRAS oncogenes in colorectal cancer and find unexpected functional heterogeneity in a signalling pathway with fundamental relevance for cancer therapy.