Project description:Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common form of cancer in women in the United States. Among different types of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer is the most common and is highly lethal, however, prognostic and predictive markers, which can be used to predict chemoresponse and patient survival, have not been thoroughly explored. One critically important yet often overlooked component to the tumor progression process is the tumor microenvironment. Primarily composed of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) as well as endothelial cells and lymphocytic infiltrate, the tumor microenvironment has been shown to directly affect cell growth, migration, and differentiation through secreted proteins, cell-cell interactions and matrix remodeling (Tlsty and Coussens, 2006). The tumor microenvironment has the potential to promote tumor initiation of normal epithelial cells and facilitate progression of malignant cells, thereby, presenting a unique approach to diagnosing, understanding and treating cancer. Using a whole-genome oligonucleotide array platform to perform transcriptome profiling on the fibroblastic stromal component microdissected from a series of advanced stage high-grade serous ovarian adenocarcinomas, we identified a transcriptome signature for the ovarian cancer associated fibroblast (CAF). We further functionally characterized one of the identified genes, MFAP5, and we showed that stromal MFAP5 is a prognostic marker associated with poor patient survival. In addition to that, to investigate the signaling machanism and the effect of MFAP5 treatment on ovarian cancer cells, transcriptome profiling of MFAP5 treated OVCA432 high-grade serous ovarian cancer cells was performed. Further functional studies showed that stromal MFAP5 modulated ovarian cancer cell motility and invasion potential. High grade serous ovarian cancer cell line OVCA432 was used. Total RNA was isolated from control samples and MFAP5 treated cancer cell samples at 48 hours post-treatment. Followed by cDNA synthesis, IVT and biotin labeling, samples were then hybridized onto Affymetrix Human genome U133 plus 2.0 microarrays. For each treatment group, three independent samples were prepared for the microarray experiment.
Project description:Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common form of cancer in women in the United States. Among different types of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer is the most common and is highly lethal, however, prognostic and predictive markers, which can be used to predict chemoresponse and patient survival, have not been thoroughly explored. One critically important yet often overlooked component to the tumor progression process is the tumor microenvironment. Primarily composed of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) as well as endothelial cells and lymphocytic infiltrate, the tumor microenvironment has been shown to directly affect cell growth, migration, and differentiation through secreted proteins, cell-cell interactions and matrix remodeling (Tlsty and Coussens, 2006). The tumor microenvironment has the potential to promote tumor initiation of normal epithelial cells and facilitate progression of malignant cells, thereby, presenting a unique approach to diagnosing, understanding and treating cancer. Using a whole-genome oligonucleotide array platform to perform transcriptome profiling on the fibroblastic stromal component microdissected from a series of advanced stage high-grade serous ovarian adenocarcinomas, we identified a transcriptome signature for the ovarian cancer associated fibroblast (CAF). We further functionally characterized one of the identified genes, MFAP5, and we showed that stromal MFAP5 is a prognostic marker associated with poor patient survival. In addition to that, to investigate the signaling machanism and the effect of MFAP5 treatment on ovarian cancer cells, transcriptome profiling of MFAP5 treated OVCA432 high-grade serous ovarian cancer cells was performed. Further functional studies showed that stromal MFAP5 modulated ovarian cancer cell motility and invasion potential.
Project description:Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common form of cancer in women in the United States. Among different types of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer is the most common and is highly lethal; however, prognostic and predictive markers, which can be used to predict chemoresponse and patient survival, have not been thoroughly explored. One critically important yet often overlooked component to the tumor progression process is the tumor microenvironment. Primarily composed of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) as well as endothelial cells and lymphocytic infiltrate, the tumor microenvironment has been shown to directly affect cell growth, migration, and differentiation through secreted proteins, cell-cell interactions and matrix remodeling (Tlsty and Coussens, 2006). The tumor microenvironment has the potential to promote tumor initiation of normal epithelial cells and facilitate progression of malignant cells, thereby, presenting a unique approach to diagnosing, understanding and treating cancer. Using a whole-genome oligonucleotide array platform to perform transcriptome profiling on the fibroblastic stromal component microdissected from a series of advanced stage high-grade serous ovarian adenocarcinomas, we identified a transcriptome signature for the ovarian cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF). We further functionally characterized one of the identified genes, MFAP5, and we showed that stromal MFAP5 is a prognostic marker associated with poor patient survival. In addition, to investigate the signaling mechanism and the effect of MFAP5 treatment on ovarian cancer angiogenesis, transcriptome profiling was performed on mouse endothelial cells migrated into matrigel reconstituted with recombinant MFAP5 protein.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.