Project description:In this work we employed the comprehensive evaluation of clinical data of the cohort of CD patients along with the sequencing of 14 exon of USP8 to estimate the prevalence of USP8 mutations in our cohort and transcriptome analysis of tumor tissue to search for the associations between USP8 mutation status, molecular markers of pituitary adenomas, and clinical and diagnostic parameters of Cushing’s syndrome including hormonal secretion, tumor size, aggressiveness, and SSRT2/SSRT5 expression.
Project description:Pituitary adenomas are benign tumors originating from the endocrine cells of the pituitary gland, but some pathological subtypes are highly invasive, known as invasive pituitary adenomas. Invasive pituitary adenomas are relatively rare, progress rapidly, easily invade surrounding tissues, have a high risk of recurrence, and have poor response to standard treatments. This study collected tumor specimens from 17 patients with non-invasive pituitary adenomas (FSH type) and 15 patients with invasive pituitary adenomas (ACTH-silent type), and performed transcriptome sequencing, aiming to explore the genetic differences between invasive and non-invasive pituitary adenomas.
Project description:Gene alteration analysis on 121 GH-producing pituitary adenomas and non-target proteomics analysis with RNA sequencing analysis on 45 non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) and 60 growth hormone (GH)-producing pituitary adenomas were performed, and integrated these results with the clinical characteristics of acromegaly. We attempted to identify key players involved in shaping the clinical features of acromegaly, especially those related to treatment efficacy. This project revealed the importance of GNAS mutations in terms of clinical and biochemical characteristics and identified novel molecules that may be involved in the responsiveness to medical treatment.
Project description:The clinical characteristics of growth hormone (GH)-producing pituitary adenomas vary across patients. In this study, we aimed to integrate the genetic alterations, protein expression profiles, transcriptomes, and clinical characteristics of GH-producing pituitary adenomas to detect molecules associated with acromegaly characteristics. Targeted capture sequencing and copy number analysis of 36 genes and non-targeted proteomics analysis were performed on fresh-frozen samples from 121 sporadic GH-producing pituitary adenomas. Targeted capture sequencing revealed GNAS as the only driver gene, as previously reported. Classification by consensus clustering using both RNA sequencing and proteomics revealed many similarities between the proteome and the transcriptome. Gene ontology analysis was performed for differentially expressed proteins between wild-type and mutant GNAS samples identified by non-targeted proteomics analysis and involved in G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) pathways. The results suggested that GNAS mutations impact endocrinological features in acromegaly through GPCR pathway induction. ATP2A2 and ARID5B correlated with the GH change rate in the octreotide loading test, and WWC3, SERINC1, and ZFAND3 correlated with the tumor volume change rate after somatostatin analog treatment. These results identified a biological connection between GNAS mutations and the clinical and biochemical characteristics of acromegaly, revealing novel molecules associated with acromegaly that may affect medical treatment efficacy.
Project description:Background: USP8 mutations are the most common driver changes in corticotroph pituitary tumors. They have direct effect on cells’ proteome through disturbance of ubiquitination process and also influence gene expression. The aim of this study was to compare microRNA profiles in USP8- mutated and wild-type tumors and determine the probable role of differential microRNA expression by integrative microRNA and mRNA analysis. Methods: Patients with Cushing’s disease (n = 28) and silent corticotroph tumors (n = 20) were included. USP8 mutations were identified with Sanger sequencing. MicroRNA and gene expression was determined with next-generation sequencing. Results: USP8-mutated patients with Cushing’s disease showed higher rate of clinical remission and trend towards lower tumor volume than wild-type patients. Comparison of microRNA profiles of USP8-mutated and wild-type tumors revealed 68 differentially expressed microRNAs. Their target genes were determined by in silico prediction and microRNA/mRNA correlation analysis. GeneSet Enrichment analysis of putative targets showed that the most significantly overrepresented genes are involved in protein ubiquitination-related processes. Only few microRNAs influence the expression of genes differentially expressed between USP8-mutated and wild-type tumors. Conclusions: Differences in microRNA expression in corticotropinomas stratified according to USP8 status reflect disturbed ubiquitination processes, but do not correspond to differences in gene expression between these tumors.