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Torre-Castro J, Rodríguez M, Alonso-Alonso R, Mendoza Cembranos MD, Díaz-Alejo JF, Rebollo-González M, Borregón J, Nájera Botello L, Mahillo-Fernández I, Samimi M, Kervarrec T, Requena L, Piris MÁ. LT and SOX9 expression are associated with gene sets that distinguish Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV)-positive and MCPyV-negative Merkel cell carcinoma. Br J Dermatol 2024; 190:876-884. [PMID: 38261397 DOI: 10.1093/bjd/ljae033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive malignant neuroendocrine tumour. There are two subsets of MCC, one related to Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and the other to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). MCPyV-positive and MCPyV-negative MCCs have been considered to be different tumours, as the former harbour few DNA mutations and are not related to UVR, and the latter usually arise in sun-exposed areas and may be found in conjunction with other keratinocytic tumours, mostly squamous cell carcinomas. Two viral oncoproteins, large T antigen (LT; coded by MCPyV_gp3) and small T antigen (sT; coded by MCPyV_gp4), promote different carcinogenic pathways. OBJECTIVES To determine which genes are differentially expressed in MCPyV-positive and MCPyV-negative MCC; to describe the mutational burden and the most frequently mutated genes in both MCC subtypes; and to identify the clinical and molecular factors that may be related to patient survival. METHODS Ninety-two patients with a diagnosis of MCC were identified from the medical databases of participating centres. To study gene expression, a customized panel of 172 genes was developed. Gene expression profiling was performed with nCounter technology. For mutational studies, a customized panel of 26 genes was designed. Somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified following the GATK Best Practices workflow for somatic mutations. RESULTS The expression of LT enabled the series to be divided into two groups (LT positive, n = 55; LT negative, n = 37). Genes differentially expressed in LT-negative patients were related to epithelial differentiation, especially SOX9, or proliferation and the cell cycle (MYC, CDK6), among others. Congruently, LT displayed lower expression in SOX9-positive patients, and differentially expressed genes in SOX9-positive patients were related to epithelial/squamous differentiation. In LT-positive patients, the mean SNV frequency was 4.3; in LT-negative patients it was 10 (P = 0.03). On multivariate survival analysis, the expression of SNAI1 [hazard ratio (HR) 1.046, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.007-1.086; P = 0.02] and CDK6 (HR 1.049, 95% CI 1.020-1.080; P = 0.001) were identified as risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Tumours with weak LT expression tend to co-express genes related to squamous differentiation and the cell cycle, and to have a higher mutational burden. These findings are congruent with those of earlier studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marta Rodríguez
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
- Center for Biomedical Network on Cancer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Ruth Alonso-Alonso
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
- Center for Biomedical Network on Cancer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Jesús Frutos Díaz-Alejo
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marcos Rebollo-González
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jennifer Borregón
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
| | - Laura Nájera Botello
- Pathology Department, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Mahillo-Fernández
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Miguel Ángel Piris
- Pathology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
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Nguyen MB, Flora P, Branch MC, Weber M, Zheng XY, Sivan U, Joost S, Annusver K, Zheng D, Kasper M, Ezhkova E. Tenascin-C expressing touch dome keratinocytes exhibit characteristics of all epidermal lineages. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadi5791. [PMID: 38241368 PMCID: PMC10798558 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi5791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
The touch dome (TD) keratinocytes are specialized epidermal cells that intimately associate with the light touch sensing Merkel cells (MCs). The TD keratinocytes function as a niche for the MCs and can induce de novo hair follicles upon stimulation; however, how the TD keratinocytes are maintained during homeostasis remains unclear. scRNA-seq identified a specific TD keratinocyte marker, Tenascin-C (TNC). Lineage tracing of Tnc-expressing TD keratinocytes revealed that these cells maintain themselves as an autonomous epidermal compartment and give rise to MCs upon injury. Molecular characterization uncovered that, while the transcriptional and chromatin landscape of the TD keratinocytes is remarkably similar to that of the interfollicular epidermal keratinocytes, it also shares certain molecular signatures with the hair follicle keratinocytes. Our study highlights that the TD keratinocytes in the adult skin have molecular characteristics of keratinocytes of diverse epidermal lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minh Binh Nguyen
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pooja Flora
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Meagan C. Branch
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Madison Weber
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Xiang Yu Zheng
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Unnikrishnan Sivan
- Department of Neurology, and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Simon Joost
- Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Karl Annusver
- Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Deyou Zheng
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maria Kasper
- Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Elena Ezhkova
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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