Project description:NanoString data on 12 conjunctival melanomas and mucosal melanoma The objective was to compare conjunctival melanoma with other mucosal melanomas at the RNA level using NanoString expression analysis of FFPE material.
Project description:The primary objective of this prospective observational study is to characterize the gut and oral microbiome as well as the whole blood transcriptome in gastrointestinal cancer patients and correlate these findings with cancer type, treatment efficacy and toxicity. Participants will be recruited from existing clinical sites only, no additional clinical sites are needed.
Project description:<p>Mucosal melanoma is a deadly disease that carries the worst prognosis amongst subtypes of melanoma. Like all melanomas, mucosal melanomas are frequently driven by activating mutations in the MAPK and/or PI3K pathways; however, unlike melanomas that arise on sun-exposed skin, mucosal melanomas harbor few point mutations. Instead, most somatic alterations involve structural alterations, which appear early during tumor progression. Molecular studies in mucosal melanoma generally only profile point mutations without interrogating copy number alterations, and pathogenic mutations are only found in 30% of cases. We sequenced 38 mucosal melanomas, and in addition to profiling point mutations, we looked for copy number alterations that amplify oncogenes or delete tumor suppressors.</p>
Project description:Cutaneous, acral and mucosal subtypes of melanoma were evaluated by whole-genome sequencing, revealing genes affected by novel recurrent mutations to the promoter (TERT, DPH3, OXNAD1, RPL13A, RALY, RPL18A, AP2A1), 5’-UTR (HNRNPUL1, CCDC77, PES1), and 3’-UTR (DYNAP, CHIT1, FUT9, CCDC141, CDH9, PTPRT) regions. TERT promoter mutations had the highest frequency of any mutation, but neither they nor ATRX mutations, associated with the alternative telomere lengthening mechanism, were correlated with greater telomere length. Genomic landscapes largely reflected ultraviolet radiation mutagenesis in cutaneous melanoma and provided novel insights into melanoma pathogenesis. In contrast, acral and mucosal melanomas exhibited predominantly structural changes, and mutation signatures of unknown aetiology not previously identified in melanoma. The majority of melanomas had potentially actionable mutations, most of which were in components of the mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphoinositol kinase pathways.
Project description:We conducted whole genome sequencing of 5 mucosal melanomas and their matched DNA from blood. We conducted whole exome sequencing of a further 5 mucosal melanomas and their matched DNA from blood.
Project description:In this study, we conducted whole-transcriptome sequencing in five primary Uveal Melanoma and four adjacent tissues to uncover key dysregulated the gene-regulatory circuits in Uveal Melanoma.
Project description:Mucosal melanoma (MM) is a deadly cancer derived from mucosal melanocytes. To test the consequences of MM genetics, we develop a zebrafish model in which all melanocytes experience CCND1 expression and loss of PTEN and TP53. Surprisingly, melanoma only develops from melanocytes lining internal organs, analogous to the location of patient MM. We find that zebrafish MMs have a unique chromatin landscape from cutaneous melanoma. Internal melanocytes are labeled using a MM-specific transcriptional enhancer. Normal zebrafish internal melanocytes share a gene expression signature with MMs. Patient and zebrafish MMs show increased migratory neural crest gene and decreased antigen presentation gene expression, consistent with the increased metastatic behavior and decreased immunotherapy sensitivity of MM. Our work suggests the cell state of the originating melanocyte influences the behavior of derived melanomas. Our animal model phenotypically and transcriptionally mimics patient tumors, allowing this model to be used for MM therapeutic discovery. As this is a non-MAPK driven genetically engineered model of melanoma, our work also has implications for the 15% of cutaneous melanoma patients who lack MAPK-driving mutations.