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Cristalli C, Scotlandi K. Targeting DNA Methylation Machinery in Pediatric Solid Tumors. Cells 2024; 13:1209. [PMID: 39056791 PMCID: PMC11275080 DOI: 10.3390/cells13141209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2024] [Revised: 07/08/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is a key epigenetic regulatory mechanism that plays a critical role in a variety of cellular processes, including the regulation of cell fate during development, maintenance of cell identity, and genome stability. DNA methylation is tightly regulated by enzymatic reactions and its deregulation plays an important role in the development of cancer. Specific DNA methylation alterations have been found in pediatric solid tumors, providing new insights into the development of these tumors. In addition, DNA methylation profiles have greatly contributed to tune the diagnosis of pediatric solid tumors and to define subgroups of patients with different risks of progression, leading to the reduction in unwanted toxicity and the improvement of treatment efficacy. This review highlights the dysregulated DNA methylome in pediatric solid tumors and how this information provides promising targets for epigenetic therapies, particularly inhibitors of DNMT enzymes (DNMTis). Opportunities and limitations are considered, including the ability of DNMTis to induce viral mimicry and immune signaling by tumors. Besides intrinsic action against cancer cells, DNMTis have the potential to sensitize immune-cold tumors to immunotherapies and may represent a remarkable option to improve the treatment of challenging pediatric solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Cristalli
- Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano, 1/10, 40136 Bologna, Italy
| | - Katia Scotlandi
- Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano, 1/10, 40136 Bologna, Italy
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2
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Remke M, Ramaswamy V. Medulloblastoma subgrouping at first sight. Cancer Cell 2024; 42:1154-1157. [PMID: 38981435 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
Recent incorporation of the four primary medulloblastoma subgroups into the WHO Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors necessitates globally accessible methods to discern subgroups. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Wang et al. develop a rapid and reliable machine learning workflow for pre-operative subgroup determination using routine magnetic resonance imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Remke
- Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, University Children's Hospital, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Vijay Ramaswamy
- Division of Haematology/Oncology, Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Departments of Medical Biophysics and Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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3
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Chen R, Nie P, Wang J, Wang GZ. Deciphering brain cellular and behavioral mechanisms: Insights from single-cell and spatial RNA sequencing. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2024; 15:e1865. [PMID: 38972934 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
The brain is a complex computing system composed of a multitude of interacting neurons. The computational outputs of this system determine the behavior and perception of every individual. Each brain cell expresses thousands of genes that dictate the cell's function and physiological properties. Therefore, deciphering the molecular expression of each cell is of great significance for understanding its characteristics and role in brain function. Additionally, the positional information of each cell can provide crucial insights into their involvement in local brain circuits. In this review, we briefly overview the principles of single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, the potential issues and challenges in their data processing, and their applications in brain research. We further outline several promising directions in neuroscience that could be integrated with single-cell RNA sequencing, including neurodevelopment, the identification of novel brain microstructures, cognition and behavior, neuronal cell positioning, molecules and cells related to advanced brain functions, sleep-wake cycles/circadian rhythms, and computational modeling of brain function. We believe that the deep integration of these directions with single-cell and spatial RNA sequencing can contribute significantly to understanding the roles of individual cells or cell types in these specific functions, thereby making important contributions to addressing critical questions in those fields. This article is categorized under: RNA Evolution and Genomics > Computational Analyses of RNA RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Development RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renrui Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Pengxing Nie
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Guang-Zhong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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4
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Chien F, Michaud ME, Bakhtiari M, Schroff C, Snuderl M, Velazquez Vega JE, MacDonald TJ, Bhasin MK. Medulloblastoma Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals Tumor Microenvironment Heterogeneity with High-Density Progenitor Cell Regions Correlating with High-Risk Disease. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.25.600684. [PMID: 38979174 PMCID: PMC11230370 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.25.600684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment (TME) of medulloblastoma (MB) influences progression and therapy response, presenting a promising target for therapeutic advances. Prior single-cell analyses have characterized the cellular components of the TME but lack spatial context. To address this, we performed spatial transcriptomic sequencing on sixteen pediatric MB samples obtained at diagnosis, including two matched diagnosis-relapse pairs. Our analyses revealed inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity within the TME, comprised of tumor-associated astrocytes (TAAs), macrophages (TAMs), stromal components, and distinct subpopulations of MB cells at different stages of neuronal differentiation and cell cycle progression. We identified dense regions of quiescent progenitor-like MB cells enriched in patients with high-risk (HR) features and an increase in TAAs, TAMs, and dysregulated vascular endothelium following relapse. Our study presents novel insights into the spatial architecture and cellular landscape of the medulloblastoma TME, highlighting spatial patterns linked to HR features and relapse, which may serve as potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franklin Chien
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Marina E. Michaud
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Mojtaba Bakhtiari
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Chanel Schroff
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health and Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Matija Snuderl
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health and Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jose E. Velazquez Vega
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Tobey J. MacDonald
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Manoj K. Bhasin
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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5
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Slika H, Shahani A, Wahi R, Miller J, Groves M, Tyler B. Overcoming Treatment Resistance in Medulloblastoma: Underlying Mechanisms and Potential Strategies. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:2249. [PMID: 38927954 PMCID: PMC11202166 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16122249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastoma is the most frequently encountered malignant brain tumor in the pediatric population. The standard of care currently consists of surgical resection, craniospinal irradiation, and multi-agent chemotherapy. However, despite this combination of multiple aggressive modalities, recurrence of the disease remains a substantial concern, and treatment resistance is a rising issue. The development of this resistance results from the interplay of a myriad of anatomical properties, cellular processes, molecular pathways, and genetic and epigenetic alterations. In fact, several efforts have been directed towards this domain and characterizing the major contributors to this resistance. Herein, this review highlights the different mechanisms that drive relapse and are implicated in the occurrence of treatment resistance and discusses them in the context of the latest molecular-based classification of medulloblastoma. These mechanisms include the impermeability of the blood-brain barrier to drugs, the overactivation of specific molecular pathways, the resistant and multipotent nature of cancer stem cells, intratumoral and intertumoral heterogeneity, and metabolic plasticity. Subsequently, we build on that to explore potential strategies and targeted agents that can abrogate these mechanisms, undermine the development of treatment resistance, and augment medulloblastoma's response to therapeutic modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Slika
- Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (H.S.); (A.S.); (R.W.); (J.M.)
| | - Aanya Shahani
- Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (H.S.); (A.S.); (R.W.); (J.M.)
| | - Riddhpreet Wahi
- Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (H.S.); (A.S.); (R.W.); (J.M.)
- Grant Government Medical College and Sir J.J Group of Hospitals, Mumbai 400008, India
| | - Jackson Miller
- Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (H.S.); (A.S.); (R.W.); (J.M.)
- Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 24450, USA
| | - Mari Groves
- Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA;
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Betty Tyler
- Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (H.S.); (A.S.); (R.W.); (J.M.)
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Gao X, Zhuang Q, Li Y, Li G, Huang Z, Chen S, Sun S, Yang H, Jiang L, Mao Y. Single-Cell Chromatin Accessibility Analysis Reveals Subgroup-Specific TF-NTR Regulatory Circuits in Medulloblastoma. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024:e2309554. [PMID: 38884167 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202309554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
Medulloblastoma (MB) stands as one of the prevalent malignant brain tumors among pediatric patients. Despite its prevalence, the intricate interplay between the regulatory program driving malignancy in MB cells and their interactions with the microenvironment remains insufficiently understood. Leveraging the capabilities of single-cell Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin sequencing (scATAC-seq), the chromatin accessibility landscape is unveiled across 59,015 distinct MB cells. This expansive dataset encompasses cells belonging to discrete molecular subgroups, namely SHH, WNT, Group3, and Group4. Within these chromatin accessibility profiles, specific regulatory elements tied to individual subgroups are uncovered, shedding light on the distinct activities of transcription factors (TFs) that likely orchestrate the tumorigenesis process. Moreover, it is found that certain neurotransmitter receptors (NTRs) are subgroup-specific and can predict MB subgroup classification when combined with their associated transcription factors. Notably, targeting essential NTRs within tumors influences both the in vitro sphere-forming capability and the in vivo tumorigenic capacity of MB cells. These findings collectively provide fresh insights into comprehending the regulatory networks and cellular dynamics within MBs. Furthermore, the significance of the TF-NTR regulatory circuits is underscored as prospective biomarkers and viable therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyue Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Qiyuan Zhuang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
- National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Neurosurgical Institute of Fudan University Shanghai Clinical Medical Center of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
| | - Yun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Guochao Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zheng Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Shenzhi Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Shaoxing Sun
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hui Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
- National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Neurosurgical Institute of Fudan University Shanghai Clinical Medical Center of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Lan Jiang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
- College of Future Technology College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Ying Mao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
- National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Neurosurgical Institute of Fudan University Shanghai Clinical Medical Center of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
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7
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Okonechnikov K, Schrimpf D, Koster J, Sievers P, Milde T, Sahm F, Jones DTW, von Deimling A, Pfister SM, Kool M, Korshunov A. Clinically unfavorable transcriptome subtypes of non-WNT/non-SHH medulloblastomas are associated with a predominance in proliferating and progenitor-like cell subpopulations. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:95. [PMID: 38847845 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02746-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
The non-WNT/non-SHH (Grp3/Grp4) medulloblastomas (MBs) include eight second-generation subgroups (SGS; I-VIII) each with distinct molecular and clinical characteristics. Recently, we also identified two prognostically relevant transcriptome subtypes within each SGS MB, which are associated with unique gene expression signatures and signaling pathways. These prognostic subsets may be in connection to the intra-tumoral cell landscape that underlies SGS MB clinical-molecular diversity. Here, we performed a deconvolution analysis of the Grp3/Grp4 MB bulk RNA profiles using the previously identified single-cell RNA-seq reference dataset and focusing on variability in the cellular composition of SGS MB. RNA deconvolution analysis of the Grp3/Grp4 MB disclosed the subgroup-specific neoplastic cell subpopulations. Neuronally differentiated axodendritic GP3-C1 and glutamatergic GP4-C1 subpopulations were distributed within Grp3- and Grp4-associated SGS MB, respectively. Progenitor GP3-B2 subpopulation was prominent in aggressive SGS II MB, whereas photoreceptor/visual perception GP3/4-C2 cell content was typical for SGS III/IV MB. The current study also revealed significant variability in the proportions of cell subpopulations between clinically relevant SGS MB transcriptome subtypes, where unfavorable cohorts were enriched with cell cycle and progenitor-like cell subpopulations and, vice versa, favorable subtypes were composed of neuronally differentiated cell fractions predominantly. A higher than median proportion of proliferating and progenitor cell subpopulations conferred the shortest survival of the Grp3 and Grp 4 MB, and similar survival associations were identified for all SGS MB except SGS IV MB. In summary, the recently identified clinically relevant Grp3/Grp4 MB transcriptome subtypes are composed of different cell populations. Future studies should aim to validate the prognostic and therapeutic role of the identified Grp3/Grp4 MB inter-tumoral cellular heterogeneity. The application of the single-cell techniques on each SGS MB separately could help to clarify the clinical significance of subgroup-specific variability in tumor cell content and its relation with prognostic transcriptome signatures identified before.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin Okonechnikov
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daniel Schrimpf
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Koster
- Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam and Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Philipp Sievers
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Till Milde
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Pediatric Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Felix Sahm
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andreas von Deimling
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan M Pfister
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marcel Kool
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, 3584CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Andrey Korshunov
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
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8
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Wang C, Fu R, Wang Y, Wei J, Yu Y, Hu L, Zhang C. miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p regulation of the PI3K/AKT pathway via ROR2 in medulloblastoma progression. Cancer Gene Ther 2024; 31:941-954. [PMID: 38632356 PMCID: PMC11192632 DOI: 10.1038/s41417-024-00762-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Medulloblastoma (MB), a prevalent pediatric central nervous system tumor, is influenced by microRNAs (miRNAs) that impact tumor initiation and progression. However, the specific involvement of miRNAs in MB tumorigenesis remains unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified ROR2 expression in normal human fetal cerebellum. Subsequent analyses, including immunofluorescence, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and Western blot, assessed ROR2 expression in MB tissues and cell lines. We investigated miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p and their regulatory role in ROR2 expression through the dual-luciferase reporter, qRT-PCR, and western blot assays. Mechanistic insights were gained through functional assays exploring the impact of miR-124-3p, miR-194-5p, and ROR2 on MB growth in vitro and in vivo. We observed significantly reduced miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p expression and elevated ROR2 expression in MB tissues and cell lines. High ROR2 expression inversely correlated with overall survival in WNT and SHH subgroups of MB patients. Functionally, overexpressing miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p and inhibiting ROR2 suppressed in vitro malignant transformation and in vivo tumorigenicity. Mechanistically, miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p synergistically regulated the ROR2/PI3K/Akt pathway, influencing MB progression. Our findings indicate that miR-124-3p and miR-194-5p function as tumor suppressors, inhibiting MB progression via the ROR2/PI3K/Akt axis, suggesting a key mechanism and therapeutic targets for MB patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Wang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Runxi Fu
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Institute for Pediatric Research, Shanghai, China
| | - Yunkun Wang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jia Wei
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ying Yu
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Liuhua Hu
- Department of Cardiology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Chenran Zhang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
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9
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Chen X, Yang W, Roberts CWM, Zhang J. Developmental origins shape the paediatric cancer genome. Nat Rev Cancer 2024; 24:382-398. [PMID: 38698126 DOI: 10.1038/s41568-024-00684-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
In the past two decades, technological advances have brought unprecedented insights into the paediatric cancer genome revealing characteristics distinct from those of adult cancer. Originating from developing tissues, paediatric cancers generally have low mutation burden and are driven by variants that disrupt the transcriptional activity, chromatin state, non-coding cis-regulatory regions and other biological functions. Within each tumour, there are multiple populations of cells with varying states, and the lineages of some can be tracked to their fetal origins. Genome-wide genetic screening has identified vulnerabilities associated with both the cell of origin and transcription deregulation in paediatric cancer, which have become a valuable resource for designing new therapeutic approaches including those for small molecules, immunotherapy and targeted protein degradation. In this Review, we present recent findings on these facets of paediatric cancer from a pan-cancer perspective and provide an outlook on future investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolong Chen
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Wentao Yang
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Charles W M Roberts
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jinghui Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
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10
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Pekkarinen M, Nordfors K, Uusi-Mäkelä J, Kytölä V, Hartewig A, Huhtala L, Rauhala M, Urhonen H, Häyrynen S, Afyounian E, Yli-Harja O, Zhang W, Helen P, Lohi O, Haapasalo H, Haapasalo J, Nykter M, Kesseli J, Rautajoki KJ. Aberrant DNA methylation distorts developmental trajectories in atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202302088. [PMID: 38499326 PMCID: PMC10948937 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RTs) are pediatric brain tumors known for their aggressiveness and aberrant but still unresolved epigenetic regulation. To better understand their malignancy, we investigated how AT/RT-specific DNA hypermethylation was associated with gene expression and altered transcription factor binding and how it is linked to upstream regulation. Medulloblastomas, choroid plexus tumors, pluripotent stem cells, and fetal brain were used as references. A part of the genomic regions, which were hypermethylated in AT/RTs similarly as in pluripotent stem cells and demethylated in the fetal brain, were targeted by neural transcriptional regulators. AT/RT-unique DNA hypermethylation was associated with polycomb repressive complex 2 and linked to suppressed genes with a role in neural development and tumorigenesis. Activity of the several NEUROG/NEUROD pioneer factors, which are unable to bind to methylated DNA, was compromised via the suppressed expression or DNA hypermethylation of their target sites, which was also experimentally validated for NEUROD1 in medulloblastomas and AT/RT samples. These results highlight and characterize the role of DNA hypermethylation in AT/RT malignancy and halted neural cell differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meeri Pekkarinen
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Kristiina Nordfors
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Tampere Center for Child Health Research, Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- Unit of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Joonas Uusi-Mäkelä
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Ville Kytölä
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Anja Hartewig
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Laura Huhtala
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Minna Rauhala
- Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Department of Neurosurgery, Tays Cancer Centre, Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Henna Urhonen
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Sergei Häyrynen
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Ebrahim Afyounian
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Olli Yli-Harja
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Wei Zhang
- Cancer Genomics and Precision Oncology, Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Pauli Helen
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Department of Neurosurgery, Tays Cancer Centre, Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Olli Lohi
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Tampere Center for Child Health Research, Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Hannu Haapasalo
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/031y6w871 Fimlab Laboratories Ltd, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Joonas Haapasalo
- Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Department of Neurosurgery, Tays Cancer Centre, Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/031y6w871 Fimlab Laboratories Ltd, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Matti Nykter
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Juha Kesseli
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Kirsi J Rautajoki
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- https://ror.org/033003e23 Tampere Institute for Advanced Study, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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11
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Collins RRJ, Gee RRF, Sanchez MCH, Tozandehjani S, Bayat T, Breznik B, Lee AK, Peters ST, Connelly JP, Pruett-Miller SM, Roussel MF, Rakheja D, Tillman HS, Potts PR, Fon Tacer K. Melanoma antigens in pediatric medulloblastoma contribute to tumor heterogeneity and species-specificity of group 3 tumors. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.14.594201. [PMID: 38798351 PMCID: PMC11118370 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.14.594201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Background Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most malignant childhood brain cancer. Group 3 MB subtype accounts for about 25% of MB diagnoses and is associated with the most unfavorable outcomes. Herein, we report that more than half of group 3 MB tumors express melanoma antigens (MAGEs), which are potential prognostic and therapeutic markers. MAGEs are tumor antigens, expressed in several types of adult cancers and associated with poorer prognosis and therapy resistance; however, their expression in pediatric cancers is mostly unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether MAGEs are activated in pediatric MB. Methods To determine MAGE frequency in pediatric MB, we obtained formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE) samples of 34 patients, collected between 2008 - 2015, from the Children's Medical Center Dallas pathology archives and applied our validated reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay to measure the relative expression of 23 MAGE cancer-testis antigen genes. To validate our data, we analyzed several published datasets from pediatric MB patients and patient-derived orthotopic xenografts, totaling 860 patients. We then examined how MAGE expression affects the growth and oncogenic potential of medulloblastoma cells by CRISPR-Cas9- and siRNA-mediated gene depletion. Results Our RT-qPCR analysis suggested that MAGEs were expressed in group 3/4 medulloblastoma. Further mining of bulk and single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets confirmed that 50-75% of group 3 tumors activate a subset of MAGE genes. Depletion of MAGEAs, B2, and Cs alter MB cell survival, viability, and clonogenic growth due to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis. Conclusions These results indicate that targeting MAGEs in medulloblastoma may be a potential therapeutic option for group 3 medulloblastomas. Key Points Several Type I MAGE CTAs are expressed in >60% of group 3 MBs. Type I MAGEs affect MB cell proliferation and apoptosis. MAGEs are potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for group 3 MBs. Importance of the Study This study is the first comprehensive analysis of all Type I MAGE CTAs ( MAGEA , -B , and -C subfamily members) in pediatric MBs. Our results show that more than 60% of group 3 MBs express MAGE genes, which are required for the viability and growth of cells in which they are expressed. Collectively, these data provide novel insights into the antigen landscape of pediatric MBs. The activation of MAGE genes in group 3 MBs presents potential stratifying and therapeutic options. Abstract Figure
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12
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Lee MK, Azizgolshani N, Shapiro JA, Nguyen LN, Kolling FW, Zanazzi GJ, Frost HR, Christensen BC. Identifying tumor type and cell type-specific gene expression alterations in pediatric central nervous system tumors. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3634. [PMID: 38688897 PMCID: PMC11061189 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47712-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the leading cause of pediatric cancer death, and these patients have an increased risk for developing secondary neoplasms. Due to the low prevalence of pediatric CNS tumors, major advances in targeted therapies have been lagging compared to other adult tumors. We collect single nuclei RNA-seq data from 84,700 nuclei of 35 pediatric CNS tumors and three non-tumoral pediatric brain tissues and characterize tumor heterogeneity and transcriptomic alterations. We distinguish cell subpopulations associated with specific tumor types including radial glial cells in ependymomas and oligodendrocyte precursor cells in astrocytomas. In tumors, we observe pathways important in neural stem cell-like populations, a cell type previously associated with therapy resistance. Lastly, we identify transcriptomic alterations among pediatric CNS tumor types compared to non-tumor tissues, while accounting for cell type effects on gene expression. Our results suggest potential tumor type and cell type-specific targets for pediatric CNS tumor treatment. Here we address current gaps in understanding single nuclei gene expression profiles of previously under-investigated tumor types and enhance current knowledge of gene expression profiles of single cells of various pediatric CNS tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Kyung Lee
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Nasim Azizgolshani
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Surgery, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joshua A Shapiro
- Childhood Cancer Data Lab, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA
| | - Lananh N Nguyen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - George J Zanazzi
- Dartmouth Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Hildreth Robert Frost
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Brock C Christensen
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
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13
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Lee MK, Azizgolshani N, Zhang Z, Perreard L, Kolling FW, Nguyen LN, Zanazzi GJ, Salas LA, Christensen BC. Associations in cell type-specific hydroxymethylation and transcriptional alterations of pediatric central nervous system tumors. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3635. [PMID: 38688903 PMCID: PMC11061294 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47943-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Although intratumoral heterogeneity has been established in pediatric central nervous system tumors, epigenomic alterations at the cell type level have largely remained unresolved. To identify cell type-specific alterations to cytosine modifications in pediatric central nervous system tumors, we utilize a multi-omic approach that integrated bulk DNA cytosine modification data (methylation and hydroxymethylation) with both bulk and single-cell RNA-sequencing data. We demonstrate a large reduction in the scope of significantly differentially modified cytosines in tumors when accounting for tumor cell type composition. In the progenitor-like cell types of tumors, we identify a preponderance differential Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine site hydroxymethylation rather than methylation. Genes with differential hydroxymethylation, like histone deacetylase 4 and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, are associated with cell type-specific changes in gene expression in tumors. Our results highlight the importance of epigenomic alterations in the progenitor-like cell types and its role in cell type-specific transcriptional regulation in pediatric central nervous system tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Kyung Lee
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
| | - Nasim Azizgolshani
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ze Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Laurent Perreard
- Dartmouth Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Fred W Kolling
- Dartmouth Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Lananh N Nguyen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - George J Zanazzi
- Dartmouth Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Lucas A Salas
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Brock C Christensen
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
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14
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Qi L, Baxter P, Kogiso M, Zhang H, Braun FK, Lindsay H, Zhao S, Xiao S, Abdallah AS, Suarez M, Huang Z, Teo WY, Yu L, Zhao X, Liu Z, Huang Y, Su JM, Man TK, Lau CC, Perlaky L, Du Y, Li XN. Direct Implantation of Patient Brain Tumor Cells into Matching Locations in Mouse Brains for Patient-Derived Orthotopic Xenograft Model Development. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:1716. [PMID: 38730671 PMCID: PMC11083000 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16091716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: Despite multimodality therapies, the prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors remains extremely poor. One of the major obstacles that hinders development of effective therapies is the limited availability of clinically relevant and biologically accurate (CRBA) mouse models. Methods: We have developed a freehand surgical technique that allows for rapid and safe injection of fresh human brain tumor specimens directly into the matching locations (cerebrum, cerebellum, or brainstem) in the brains of SCID mice. Results: Using this technique, we successfully developed 188 PDOX models from 408 brain tumor patient samples (both high-and low-grade) with a success rate of 72.3% in high-grade glioma, 64.2% in medulloblastoma, 50% in ATRT, 33.8% in ependymoma, and 11.6% in low-grade gliomas. Detailed characterization confirmed their replication of the histopathological and genetic abnormalities of the original patient tumors. Conclusions: The protocol is easy to follow, without a sterotactic frame, in order to generate large cohorts of tumor-bearing mice to meet the needs of biological studies and preclinical drug testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Qi
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Systems Medicine in Inflammatory Diseases, School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 510080, China;
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
| | - Patricia Baxter
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Mari Kogiso
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Huiyuan Zhang
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Frank K. Braun
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Holly Lindsay
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Sibo Zhao
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Sophie Xiao
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
| | - Aalaa Sanad Abdallah
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
| | - Milagros Suarez
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
| | - Zilu Huang
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
| | - Wan Yee Teo
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- The Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Office, SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Center, Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Litian Yu
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xiumei Zhao
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhigang Liu
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yulun Huang
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jack M. Su
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
| | - Tsz-Kwong Man
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
| | - Ching C. Lau
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
| | - Laszlo Perlaky
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
| | - Yuchen Du
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Xiao-Nan Li
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (P.B.); (M.K.); (H.Z.); (F.K.B.); (H.L.); (S.Z.); (W.Y.T.); (L.Y.); (X.Z.); (Z.L.); (Y.H.); (J.M.S.); (T.-K.M.); (C.C.L.); (L.P.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; (S.X.); (A.S.A.); (M.S.); (Z.H.)
- The Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Office, SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Center, Singapore 169856, Singapore
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15
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Yang H, Li M, Deng Y, Wen H, Luo M, Zhang W. Roles and interactions of tumor microenvironment components in medulloblastoma with implications for novel therapeutics. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2024; 63:e23233. [PMID: 38607297 DOI: 10.1002/gcc.23233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastomas, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumors, can be classified into the wingless, sonic hedgehog (SHH), group 3, and group 4 subgroups. Among them, the SHH subgroup with the TP53 mutation and group 3 generally present with the worst patient outcomes due to their high rates of recurrence and metastasis. A novel and effective treatment for refractory medulloblastomas is urgently needed. To date, the tumor microenvironment (TME) has been shown to influence tumor growth, recurrence, and metastasis through immunosuppression, angiogenesis, and chronic inflammation. Treatments targeting TME components have emerged as promising approaches to the treatment of solid tumors. In this review, we summarize progress in research on medulloblastoma microenvironment components and their interactions. We also discuss challenges and future research directions for TME-targeting medulloblastoma therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanjie Yang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Min Li
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuhao Deng
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huantao Wen
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Minjie Luo
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wangming Zhang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Gao W, Zhou J, Huang J, Zhang Z, Chen W, Zhang R, Kang T, Liao D, Zhong L. Up-regulation of RAN by MYBL2 maintains osteosarcoma cancer stem-like cells population during heterogeneous tumor generation. Cancer Lett 2024; 586:216708. [PMID: 38336287 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Intratumor heterogeneity is one of the major features of cancers, leading to aggressive disease and treatment failure. Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are believed to give rise to the heterogeneous cell types within tumors. Hence, understanding the regulatory mechanism underlying the recurrence process of heterogeneous tumor by CSCs could facilitate the development of CSC-targeted therapies. Here, utilizing single-cell transcriptomics, we present the molecular profile of osteosarcoma CSCs-derived heterogeneous tumors consisting of CSC clusters, osteoprogenitor and differentiated cell types, such as pre-osteoblasts, osteoblasts and chondroblasts. Furthermore, by constructing the comprehensive map of modulated genes during CSCs self-renewal and differentiation, we identify RAN exhibiting specific peak expression in osteosarcoma CSCs clusters which is transcriptionally up-regulated by MYBL2. Functionality, MYBL2-RAN pathway promotes the CSCs self-renewal by enhancing the nuclear accumulation of MYC protein, which in turn boosts the overexpression of RAN as a positive feedback. Importantly, blockage of MYBL2-RAN pathway sensitizes CSCs to cisplatin treatment and synergistically enhanced the cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity. Both MYBL2 and RAN are highly expressed in clinical osteosarcoma tissues which indicate poor prognosis. Collectively, our study provides advanced insights into the regeneration process of heterogeneous tumor originating from CSCs and highlights the MYBL2-RAN pathway as a promising target for CSC-based therapy in osteosarcoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weijie Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Jing Zhou
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Pathogenesis and Intervention, School of Medicine, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, PR China
| | - Jintao Huang
- Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Zhiguang Zhang
- Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine, Shenzhen, PR China
| | - Wanqi Chen
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer Research, Center of Digestive Diseases, Scientific Research Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China
| | - Ruhua Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Tiebang Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Dan Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China.
| | - Li Zhong
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer Research, Center of Digestive Diseases, Scientific Research Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China.
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Zhou H, Wang YX, Wu M, Lan X, Xiang D, Cai R, Ma Q, Miao J, Fang X, Wang J, Luo D, He Z, Cui Y, Liang P, Wang Y, Bian XW. FANCD2 deficiency sensitizes SHH medulloblastoma to radiotherapy via ferroptosis. J Pathol 2024; 262:427-440. [PMID: 38229567 DOI: 10.1002/path.6245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
Radiotherapy is one of the standard therapeutic regimens for medulloblastoma (MB). Tumor cells utilize DNA damage repair (DDR) mechanisms to survive and develop resistance during radiotherapy. It has been found that targeting DDR sensitizes tumor cells to radiotherapy in several types of cancer, but whether and how DDR pathways are involved in the MB radiotherapy response remain to be determined. Single-cell RNA sequencing was carried out on 38 MB tissues, followed by expression enrichment assays. Fanconi anemia group D2 gene (FANCD2) expression was evaluated in MB samples and public MB databases. The function of FANCD2 in MB cells was examined using cell counting assays (CCK-8), clone formation, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and in mouse orthotopic models. The FANCD2-related signaling pathway was investigated using assays of peroxidation, a malondialdehyde assay, a reduced glutathione assay, and using FerroOrange to assess intracellular iron ions (Fe2+ ). Here, we report that FANCD2 was highly expressed in the malignant sonic hedgehog (SHH) MB subtype (SHH-MB). FANCD2 played an oncogenic role and predicted worse prognosis in SHH-MB patients. Moreover, FANCD2 knockdown markedly suppressed viability, mobility, and growth of SHH-MB cells and sensitized SHH-MB cells to irradiation. Mechanistically, FANCD2 deficiency led to an accumulation of Fe2+ due to increased divalent metal transporter 1 expression and impaired glutathione peroxidase 4 activity, which further activated ferroptosis and reduced proliferation of SHH-MB cells. Using an orthotopic mouse model, we observed that radiotherapy combined with silencing FANCD2 significantly inhibited the growth of SHH-MB cell-derived tumors in vivo. Our study revealed FANCD2 as a potential therapeutic target in SHH-MB and silencing FANCD2 could sensitize SHH-MB cells to radiotherapy via inducing ferroptosis. © 2024 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Zhou
- School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing, PR China
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Yan-Xia Wang
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Min Wu
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
- Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Xi Lan
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Dongfang Xiang
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Ruili Cai
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Qinghua Ma
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Jingya Miao
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Xuanyu Fang
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Junjie Wang
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Dan Luo
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Zhicheng He
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Youhong Cui
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Ping Liang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
- Jinfeng Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Pathology, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Xiu-Wu Bian
- School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing, PR China
- Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) and Key Laboratory of Tumor Immunopathology, Chongqing, PR China
- Jinfeng Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Pathology, Chongqing, PR China
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18
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Bibbò F, Asadzadeh F, Boccia A, Sorice C, Bianco O, Saccà CD, Majello B, Donofrio V, Bifano D, De Martino L, Quaglietta L, Cristofano A, Covelli EM, Cinalli G, Ferrucci V, De Antonellis P, Zollo M. Targeting Group 3 Medulloblastoma by the Anti-PRUNE-1 and Anti-LSD1/KDM1A Epigenetic Molecules. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3917. [PMID: 38612726 PMCID: PMC11011515 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly malignant childhood brain tumor. Group 3 MB (Gr3 MB) is considered to have the most metastatic potential, and tailored therapies for Gr3 MB are currently lacking. Gr3 MB is driven by PRUNE-1 amplification or overexpression. In this paper, we found that PRUNE-1 was transcriptionally regulated by lysine demethylase LSD1/KDM1A. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of inhibiting both PRUNE-1 and LSD1/KDM1A with the selective inhibitors AA7.1 and SP-2577, respectively. We found that the pharmacological inhibition had a substantial efficacy on targeting the metastatic axis driven by PRUNE-1 (PRUNE-1-OTX2-TGFβ-PTEN) in Gr3 MB. Using RNA seq transcriptomic feature data in Gr3 MB primary cells, we provide evidence that the combination of AA7.1 and SP-2577 positively affects neuronal commitment, confirmed by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive differentiation and the inhibition of the cytotoxic components of the tumor microenvironment and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by the down-regulation of N-Cadherin protein expression. We also identified an impairing action on the mitochondrial metabolism and, consequently, oxidative phosphorylation, thus depriving tumors cells of an important source of energy. Furthermore, by overlapping the genomic mutational signatures through WES sequence analyses with RNA seq transcriptomic feature data, we propose in this paper that the combination of these two small molecules can be used in a second-line treatment in advanced therapeutics against Gr3 MB. Our study demonstrates that the usage of PRUNE-1 and LSD1/KDM1A inhibitors in combination represents a novel therapeutic approach for these highly aggressive metastatic MB tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Bibbò
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnological DMMBM, University Federico II of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.B.); (V.F.); (P.D.A.)
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Fatemeh Asadzadeh
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
- SEMM European School of Molecular Medicine, 20139 Milan, Italy
| | - Angelo Boccia
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Carmen Sorice
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Orazio Bianco
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Carmen Daniela Saccà
- Department of Biology, University Federico II of Naples, 80138 Naples, Italy; (C.D.S.); (B.M.)
| | - Barbara Majello
- Department of Biology, University Federico II of Naples, 80138 Naples, Italy; (C.D.S.); (B.M.)
| | - Vittoria Donofrio
- Department of Pathology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (V.D.); (D.B.)
| | - Delfina Bifano
- Department of Pathology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (V.D.); (D.B.)
| | - Lucia De Martino
- Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (L.D.M.); (L.Q.)
| | - Lucia Quaglietta
- Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (L.D.M.); (L.Q.)
| | - Adriana Cristofano
- Pediatric Neuroradiology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (A.C.); (E.M.C.)
| | - Eugenio Maria Covelli
- Pediatric Neuroradiology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy; (A.C.); (E.M.C.)
| | - Giuseppe Cinalli
- Pediatric Neurosurgery, Santobono-Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, AORN, 80129 Naples, Italy;
| | - Veronica Ferrucci
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnological DMMBM, University Federico II of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.B.); (V.F.); (P.D.A.)
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Pasqualino De Antonellis
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnological DMMBM, University Federico II of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.B.); (V.F.); (P.D.A.)
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
| | - Massimo Zollo
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnological DMMBM, University Federico II of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.B.); (V.F.); (P.D.A.)
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate “Franco Salvatore”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (F.A.); (A.B.); (C.S.); (O.B.)
- DAI Medicina di Laboratorio e Trasfusionale, ‘AOU Federico II Policlinico’, 80131 Naples, Italy
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Gao J, Zhao Y, Wang Z, Liu F, Chen X, Mo J, Jiang Y, Liu Y, Tian P, Li Y, Deng K, Qi X, Han D, Liu Z, Yang Z, Chen Y, Tang Y, Li C, Liu H, Li J, Jiang T. Single-cell transcriptomic sequencing identifies subcutaneous patient-derived xenograft recapitulated medulloblastoma. Animal Model Exp Med 2024. [PMID: 38477441 DOI: 10.1002/ame2.12399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common malignant brain tumors that mainly affect children. Various approaches have been used to model MB to facilitate investigating tumorigenesis. This study aims to compare the recapitulation of MB between subcutaneous patient-derived xenograft (sPDX), intracranial patient-derived xenograft (iPDX), and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) at the single-cell level. METHODS We obtained primary human sonic hedgehog (SHH) and group 3 (G3) MB samples from six patients. For each patient specimen, we developed two sPDX and iPDX models, respectively. Three Patch+/- GEMM models were also included for sequencing. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed to compare gene expression profiles, cellular composition, and functional pathway enrichment. Bulk RNA-seq deconvolution was performed to compare cellular composition across models and human samples. RESULTS Our results showed that the sPDX tumor model demonstrated the highest correlation to the overall transcriptomic profiles of primary human tumors at the single-cell level within the SHH and G3 subgroups, followed by the GEMM model and iPDX. The GEMM tumor model was able to recapitulate all subpopulations of tumor microenvironment (TME) cells that can be clustered in human SHH tumors, including a higher proportion of tumor-associated astrocytes and immune cells, and an additional cluster of vascular endothelia when compared to human SHH tumors. CONCLUSIONS This study was the first to compare experimental models for MB at the single-cell level, providing value insights into model selection for different research purposes. sPDX and iPDX are suitable for drug testing and personalized therapy screenings, whereas GEMM models are valuable for investigating the interaction between tumor and TME cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayu Gao
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, China
| | - Yahui Zhao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Ziwei Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- BGI-Wuhan, Wuhan, China
| | - Fei Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Department of Radiotherapy, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuan Chen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jialin Mo
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of National Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yifei Jiang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of National Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Yongqiang Liu
- Research Center of Chinese Herbal Resources Science and Engineering, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Peiyi Tian
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yanong Li
- Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Department of Radiotherapy, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Kaiwen Deng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Department of Radiotherapy, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xueling Qi
- Department of NeuroPathology, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Dongming Han
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zijia Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhengtao Yang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yixi Chen
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yujie Tang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of National Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunde Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Hailong Liu
- Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Department of Radiotherapy, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Chinese Institute for Medical Research, Beijing, China
| | | | - Tao Jiang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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20
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Zhao S, Li Y, Xu J, Shen L. APOBEC3C is a novel target for the immune treatment of lower-grade gliomas. Neurol Res 2024; 46:227-242. [PMID: 38007705 DOI: 10.1080/01616412.2023.2287340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) type 3C (A3C) has been identified as a cancer molecular biomarker in the past decade. However, the practical role of A3C in lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) in improving the clinical outcome remains unclear. This study aims to discuss the function of A3C in immunotherapy in LGGs. METHODS The RNA-Sequencing (RNA-seq) and corresponding clinical data were extracted from UCSC Xena and the results were verified in the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used for screening A3C-related genes. Comprehensive bioinformation analyses were performed and multiple levels of expression, survival rate, and biological functions were assessed to explore the functions of A3C. RESULTS A3C expression was significantly higher in LGGs than in normal tissues but lower than in glioblastoma (GBM), indicating its role as an independent prognosis predictor for LGGs. Twenty-eight A3C-related genes were found with WGCNA for unsupervised clustering analysis and three modification patterns with different outcomes and immune cell infiltration were identified. A3C and the A3C score were also correlated with immune cell infiltration and the expression of immune checkpoints. In addition, the A3C score was correlated with increased sensitivity to chemotherapy. Single-cell RNA (scRNA) analysis indicated that A3C most probably expresses on immune cells, such as T cells, B cells and macrophage. CONCLUSIONS A3C is an immune-related prognostic biomarker in LGGs. Developing drugs to block A3C could enhance the efficiency of immunotherapy and improve disease survival.Abbreviation: A3C: Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) type 3C; LGGs: lower-grade gliomas; CGGA: Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas; WGCNA: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis; scRNA: Single-cell RNA; HGG: higher-grade glioma; OS: overall survival; TME: tumor microenvironment; KM: Kaplan-Meier; PFI: progression-free interval; IDH: isocitrate dehydrogenase; ROC: receiver operating characteristic; GS: gene significance; MM: module membership; TIMER: Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource; GSVA: gene set variation analysis; ssGSEA: single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis; PCA: principal component analysis; AUC: area under ROC curve; HAVCR2: hepatitis A virus cellular receptor 2; PDCD1: programmed cell death 1; PDCD1LG2: PDCD1 ligand 2; PTPRC: protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type C; ACC: Adrenocortical carcinoma; BLCA: Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma;BRCA: Breast invasive carcinoma; CESC: Cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma; CHOLCholangiocarcinoma; COADColon adenocarcinoma; DLBC: Lymphoid Neoplasm Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma; ESCA: Esophageal carcinoma; GBM: Glioblastoma multiforme; HNSC: Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma; KICH: Kidney Chromophobe; KIRC: Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma; KIRP: Kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma; LAML: Acute Myeloid Leukemia; LGG: Brain Lower Grade Glioma; LIHC: Liver hepatocellular carcinoma; LUAD: Lung adenocarcinoma; LUSC: Lung squamous cell carcinoma; MESO: Mesothelioma; OV: Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma; PAAD: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; PCPG: Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma; PRAD: Prostate adenocarcinoma; READ: Rectum adenocarcinoma; SARC: Sarcoma; SKCM: Skin Cutaneous Melanoma; STAD: Stomach adenocarcinoma; TGCT: Testicular Germ Cell Tumors; THCA: Thyroid carcinoma; THYM: Thymoma; UCEC: Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma; UCS: Uterine Carcinosarcoma; UVM: Uveal Melanoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufa Zhao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huzhou Cent Hospital, Affiliated Cent Hospital Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yuntao Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huzhou Cent Hospital, Affiliated Cent Hospital Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jie Xu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huzhou Cent Hospital, Affiliated Cent Hospital Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Liang Shen
- Department of Neurosurgery, The affiliated Changzhou Second People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
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21
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Wimberly CE, Gulrajani NB, Russ JB, Landi D, Wiemels JL, Towry L, Wiencke JK, Walsh KM. Maternal Prenatal Use of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illicit Drugs and Associations with Childhood Cancer Subtypes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024; 33:347-354. [PMID: 38112788 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-23-1027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The association between childhood cancer risk and maternal prenatal substance use/abuse remains uncertain due to modest sample sizes and heterogeneous study designs. METHODS We surveyed parents of children with cancer regarding maternal gestational use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs, using a Likert-type scale, and demographic, perinatal, and clinical variables. Multivariable log-Poisson regression assessed differences in frequency of prenatal substance use across fifteen childhood cancer subtypes, adjusting for birthweight, gestational age, and demographic factors. RESULTS Respondents from 3,145 unique families completed the survey (92% biological mothers). A minority reported gestational use of tobacco products (14%), illicit drugs including marijuana or cocaine (4%), or more than a moderate amount of alcohol (2%). Prenatal illicit drug use was associated with increased prevalence of intracranial embryonal tumors [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.94; confidence interval [CI], 1.05-3.58], including medulloblastoma (PR = 1.82) and supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET; PR = 2.66), and was also associated with retinoblastoma (PR = 3.11; CI, 1.20-8.08). Moderate to heavy alcohol consumption was strongly associated with elevated prevalence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (PR = 5.94; CI, 1.84-19.21). Prenatal smoking was not associated with elevated prevalence of any childhood cancer subtype. CONCLUSIONS We identify novel associations between illicit drug use during pregnancy and increased prevalence of nonglioma central nervous system tumors, including medulloblastoma, supratentorial PNETs, and retinoblastoma. Gestational exposure to alcohol was positively associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. IMPACT Although alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy has declined, gestational cannabis use has risen. Investigating its impact on neurodevelopment and brain tumorigenesis is vital, with important implications for childhood cancer research and public health education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney E Wimberly
- Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Natalie B Gulrajani
- Children's Health and Discovery Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Jeffrey B Russ
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Daniel Landi
- Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Joseph L Wiemels
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Lisa Towry
- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
| | - John K Wiencke
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Kyle M Walsh
- Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Children's Health and Discovery Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
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22
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Sheng H, Li H, Zeng H, Zhang B, Lu Y, Liu X, Xu Z, Zhang J, Zhang L. Heterogeneity and tumoral origin of medulloblastoma in the single-cell era. Oncogene 2024; 43:839-850. [PMID: 38355808 PMCID: PMC10942862 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-024-02967-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Medulloblastoma is one of the most common malignant pediatric brain tumors derived from posterior fossa. The current treatment includes maximal safe surgical resection, radiotherapy, whole cranio-spinal radiation and adjuvant with chemotherapy. However, it can only limitedly prolong the survival time with severe side effects and relapse. Defining the intratumoral heterogeneity, cellular origin and identifying the interaction network within tumor microenvironment are helpful for understanding the mechanisms of medulloblastoma tumorigenesis and relapse. Due to technological limitations, the mechanisms of cellular heterogeneity and tumor origin have not been fully understood. Recently, the emergence of single-cell technology has provided a powerful tool for achieving the goal of understanding the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. Several studies have demonstrated the intratumoral heterogeneity and tumor origin for each subtype of medulloblastoma utilizing the single-cell RNA-seq, which has not been uncovered before using conventional technologies. In this review, we present an overview of the current progress in understanding of cellular heterogeneity and tumor origin of medulloblastoma and discuss novel findings in the age of single-cell technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Sheng
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Haotai Li
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Han Zeng
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Yu Lu
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xixi Liu
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Zhongwen Xu
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Liguo Zhang
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
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23
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van Essen MJ, Apsley EJ, Riepsaame J, Xu R, Northcott PA, Cowley SA, Jacob J, Becker EBE. PTCH1-mutant human cerebellar organoids exhibit altered neural development and recapitulate early medulloblastoma tumorigenesis. Dis Model Mech 2024; 17:dmm050323. [PMID: 38411252 PMCID: PMC10924233 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.050323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Patched 1 (PTCH1) is the primary receptor for the sonic hedgehog (SHH) ligand and negatively regulates SHH signalling, an essential pathway in human embryogenesis. Loss-of-function mutations in PTCH1 are associated with altered neuronal development and the malignant brain tumour medulloblastoma. As a result of differences between murine and human development, molecular and cellular perturbations that arise from human PTCH1 mutations remain poorly understood. Here, we used cerebellar organoids differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells combined with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to investigate the earliest molecular and cellular consequences of PTCH1 mutations on human cerebellar development. Our findings demonstrate that developmental mechanisms in cerebellar organoids reflect in vivo processes of regionalisation and SHH signalling, and offer new insights into early pathophysiological events of medulloblastoma tumorigenesis without the use of animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max J. van Essen
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
- Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Elizabeth J. Apsley
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
- Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Joey Riepsaame
- Genome Engineering Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3RE Oxford, UK
| | - Ruijie Xu
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678, USA
| | - Paul A. Northcott
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678, USA
| | - Sally A. Cowley
- James and Lillian Martin Centre for Stem Cell Research, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - John Jacob
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Esther B. E. Becker
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
- Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
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24
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Ghasemi DR, Okonechnikov K, Rademacher A, Tirier S, Maass KK, Schumacher H, Joshi P, Gold MP, Sundheimer J, Statz B, Rifaioglu AS, Bauer K, Schumacher S, Bortolomeazzi M, Giangaspero F, Ernst KJ, Clifford SC, Saez-Rodriguez J, Jones DTW, Kawauchi D, Fraenkel E, Mallm JP, Rippe K, Korshunov A, Pfister SM, Pajtler KW. Compartments in medulloblastoma with extensive nodularity are connected through differentiation along the granular precursor lineage. Nat Commun 2024; 15:269. [PMID: 38191550 PMCID: PMC10774372 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44117-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastomas with extensive nodularity are cerebellar tumors characterized by two distinct compartments and variable disease progression. The mechanisms governing the balance between proliferation and differentiation in MBEN remain poorly understood. Here, we employ a multi-modal single cell transcriptome analysis to dissect this process. In the internodular compartment, we identify proliferating cerebellar granular neuronal precursor-like malignant cells, along with stromal, vascular, and immune cells. In contrast, the nodular compartment comprises postmitotic, neuronally differentiated malignant cells. Both compartments are connected through an intermediate cell stage resembling actively migrating CGNPs. Notably, we also discover astrocytic-like malignant cells, found in proximity to migrating and differentiated cells at the transition zone between the two compartments. Our study sheds light on the spatial tissue organization and its link to the developmental trajectory, resulting in a more benign tumor phenotype. This integrative approach holds promise to explore intercompartmental interactions in other cancers with varying histology.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Ghasemi
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Konstantin Okonechnikov
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anne Rademacher
- Division of Chromatin Networks, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stephan Tirier
- Division of Chromatin Networks, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
- Resolve BioSciences GmbH, Monheim am Rhein, Germany
| | - Kendra K Maass
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Hanna Schumacher
- Heidelberg University, Faculty of Medicine, and Heidelberg University Hospital, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Piyush Joshi
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maxwell P Gold
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Julia Sundheimer
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Britta Statz
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ahmet S Rifaioglu
- Heidelberg University, Faculty of Medicine, and Heidelberg University Hospital, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, İskenderun Technical University, Hatay, Turkey
| | - Katharina Bauer
- Single-cell Open Lab, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabrina Schumacher
- Division of Chromatin Networks, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Felice Giangaspero
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomo-Pathological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Kati J Ernst
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Steven C Clifford
- Wolfson Childhood Cancer Research Centre, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University Centre for Cancer, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Julio Saez-Rodriguez
- Heidelberg University, Faculty of Medicine, and Heidelberg University Hospital, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daisuke Kawauchi
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ernest Fraenkel
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
- Edythe Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jan-Philipp Mallm
- Single-cell Open Lab, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Karsten Rippe
- Division of Chromatin Networks, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bioquant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andrey Korshunov
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Stefan M Pfister
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Kristian W Pajtler
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
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25
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Gold MP, Ong W, Masteller AM, Ghasemi DR, Galindo JA, Park NR, Huynh NC, Donde A, Pister V, Saurez RA, Vladoiu MC, Hwang GH, Eisemann T, Donovan LK, Walker AD, Benetatos J, Dufour C, Garzia L, Segal RA, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Mesirov JP, Korshunov A, Pajtler KW, Pomeroy SL, Ayrault O, Davidson SM, Cotter JA, Taylor MD, Fraenkel E. Developmental basis of SHH medulloblastoma heterogeneity. Nat Commun 2024; 15:270. [PMID: 38191555 PMCID: PMC10774283 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44300-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Many genes that drive normal cellular development also contribute to oncogenesis. Medulloblastoma (MB) tumors likely arise from neuronal progenitors in the cerebellum, and we hypothesized that the heterogeneity observed in MBs with sonic hedgehog (SHH) activation could be due to differences in developmental pathways. To investigate this question, here we perform single-nucleus RNA sequencing on highly differentiated SHH MBs with extensively nodular histology and observed malignant cells resembling each stage of canonical granule neuron development. Through innovative computational approaches, we connect these results to published datasets and find that some established molecular subtypes of SHH MB appear arrested at different developmental stages. Additionally, using multiplexed proteomic imaging and MALDI imaging mass spectrometry, we identify distinct histological and metabolic profiles for highly differentiated tumors. Our approaches are applicable to understanding the interplay between heterogeneity and differentiation in other cancers and can provide important insights for the design of targeted therapies.
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Grants
- R35 NS122339 NINDS NIH HHS
- U01 CA253547 NCI NIH HHS
- U24 CA220341 NCI NIH HHS
- R01 NS089076 NINDS NIH HHS
- R01 CA255369 NCI NIH HHS
- P50 HD105351 NICHD NIH HHS
- R01 NS106155 NINDS NIH HHS
- R01 CA159859 NCI NIH HHS
- P30 CA014089 NCI NIH HHS
- U01 CA184898 NCI NIH HHS
- EIF | Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)
- The Pediatric Brain Tumour Foundation, The Terry Fox Research Institute, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Cure Search Foundation, Matthew Larson Foundation (IronMatt), b.r.a.i.n.child, Meagan’s Walk, SWIFTY Foundation, The Brain Tumour Charity, Genome Canada, Genome BC, Genome Quebec, the Ontario Research Fund, Worldwide Cancer Research, V-Foundation for Cancer Research, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research through funding provided by the Government of Ontario, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute Impact grant, a Cancer Research UK Brain Tumour Award, and the Garron Family Chair in Childhood Cancer Research at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto. We also thank Yoon-Jae Cho, John Michaels, Koei Chin, Joe Gray, Connie New, and Ali Abdullatif for their help with the manuscript. Additionally, we appreciate support from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Translational Pathology Core (P30CA014089), the Pediatric Research Biorepository at CHLA, and the Histology Core at the Koch Institute at MIT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell P Gold
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Winnie Ong
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Andrew M Masteller
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David R Ghasemi
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julie Anne Galindo
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Noel R Park
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Nhan C Huynh
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Aneesh Donde
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Veronika Pister
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Raul A Saurez
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Maria C Vladoiu
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Grace H Hwang
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tanja Eisemann
- Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Laura K Donovan
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Adam D Walker
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Benetatos
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Christelle Dufour
- Department of Child and Adolescent Oncology, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
- INSERM U981, Molecular Predictors and New Targets in Oncology, University Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, France
| | - Livia Garzia
- Cancer Research Program, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- MUHC Research Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Rosalind A Segal
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert J Wechsler-Reya
- Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jill P Mesirov
- Department of Medicine, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Andrey Korshunov
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology (B300), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kristian W Pajtler
- Hopp-Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neuro-oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Scott L Pomeroy
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Olivier Ayrault
- Institut Curie, PSL Research University, CNRS UMR, INSERM, Orsay, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS UMR 3347, INSERM U1021, Orsay, France
| | - Shawn M Davidson
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
| | - Jennifer A Cotter
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael D Taylor
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Hematology-Oncology Section, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ernest Fraenkel
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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26
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Yuan M, Mahmud I, Katsushima K, Joshi K, Saulnier O, Pokhrel R, Lee B, Liyanage W, Kunhiraman H, Stapleton S, Gonzalez-Gomez I, Kannan RM, Eisemann T, Kolanthai E, Seal S, Garrett TJ, Abbasi S, Bockley K, Hanes J, Chapagain P, Jallo G, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Taylor MD, Eberhart CG, Ray A, Perera RJ. miRNA-211 maintains metabolic homeostasis in medulloblastoma through its target gene long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 4. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2023; 11:203. [PMID: 38115140 PMCID: PMC10729563 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-023-01684-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The prognosis of childhood medulloblastoma (MB) is often poor, and it usually requires aggressive therapy that adversely affects quality of life. microRNA-211 (miR-211) was previously identified as an important regulator of cells that descend from neural cells. Since medulloblastomas primarily affect cells with similar ontogeny, we investigated the role and mechanism of miR-211 in MB. Here we showed that miR-211 expression was highly downregulated in cell lines, PDXs, and clinical samples of different MB subgroups (SHH, Group 3, and Group 4) compared to normal cerebellum. miR-211 gene was ectopically expressed in transgenic cells from MB subgroups, and they were subjected to molecular and phenotypic investigations. Monoclonal cells stably expressing miR-211 were injected into the mouse cerebellum. miR-211 forced expression acts as a tumor suppressor in MB both in vitro and in vivo, attenuating growth, promoting apoptosis, and inhibiting invasion. In support of emerging regulatory roles of metabolism in various forms of cancer, we identified the acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member (ACSL4) as a direct miR-211 target. Furthermore, lipid nanoparticle-coated, dendrimer-coated, and cerium oxide-coated miR-211 nanoparticles were applied to deliver synthetic miR-211 into MB cell lines and cellular responses were assayed. Synthesizing nanoparticle-miR-211 conjugates can suppress MB cell viability and invasion in vitro. Our findings reveal miR-211 as a tumor suppressor and a potential therapeutic agent in MB. This proof-of-concept paves the way for further pre-clinical and clinical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menglang Yuan
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Iqbal Mahmud
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Keisuke Katsushima
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Kandarp Joshi
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Olivier Saulnier
- The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre and the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Rudramani Pokhrel
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Bongyong Lee
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Wathsala Liyanage
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
| | - Haritha Kunhiraman
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Stacie Stapleton
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Ignacio Gonzalez-Gomez
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Rangaramanujam M Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Tanja Eisemann
- National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Elayaraja Kolanthai
- Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Centre, Nanoscience Technology Center, Materials Science and Engineering, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA
| | - Sudipta Seal
- Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Centre, Nanoscience Technology Center, Materials Science and Engineering, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA
| | - Timothy J Garrett
- Department Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Saed Abbasi
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
| | - Kimberly Bockley
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Justin Hanes
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Prem Chapagain
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - George Jallo
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA
| | - Robert J Wechsler-Reya
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Michael D Taylor
- The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre and the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Hematology-Oncology Section, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Department of Pediatrics-Hematology/Oncology and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Charles G Eberhart
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Animesh Ray
- Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences, Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Ranjan J Perera
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA.
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 600 5th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.
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27
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Zhang T, Jia H, Song T, Lv L, Gulhan DC, Wang H, Guo W, Xi R, Guo H, Shen N. De novo identification of expressed cancer somatic mutations from single-cell RNA sequencing data. Genome Med 2023; 15:115. [PMID: 38111063 PMCID: PMC10726641 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01269-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying expressed somatic mutations from single-cell RNA sequencing data de novo is challenging but highly valuable. We propose RESA - Recurrently Expressed SNV Analysis, a computational framework to identify expressed somatic mutations from scRNA-seq data. RESA achieves an average precision of 0.77 on three in silico spike-in datasets. In extensive benchmarking against existing methods using 19 datasets, RESA consistently outperforms them. Furthermore, we applied RESA to analyze intratumor mutational heterogeneity in a melanoma drug resistance dataset. By enabling high precision detection of expressed somatic mutations, RESA substantially enhances the reliability of mutational analysis in scRNA-seq. RESA is available at https://github.com/ShenLab-Genomics/RESA .
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyun Zhang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China
| | - Hanying Jia
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- Kidney Disease Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, 311121, China
| | - Tairan Song
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China
| | - Lin Lv
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China
| | - Doga C Gulhan
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Haishuai Wang
- College of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, Zhejiang, China
| | - Wei Guo
- Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing, 314400, China
| | - Ruibin Xi
- School of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Statistical Science, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Hongshan Guo
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- Bone Marrow Transplantation Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310003, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ning Shen
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital & Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
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28
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Malawsky DS, Dismuke T, Liu H, Castellino E, Brenman J, Dasgupta B, Tikunov A, Gershon TR. Chronic AMPK inactivation slows SHH medulloblastoma progression by inhibiting mTORC1 signaling and depleting tumor stem cells. iScience 2023; 26:108443. [PMID: 38094249 PMCID: PMC10716552 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
We show that inactivating AMPK in a genetic medulloblastoma model depletes tumor stem cells and slows progression. In medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, drug-resistant stem cells co-exist with transit-amplifying cells and terminally differentiated neuronal progeny. Prior studies show that Hk2-dependent glycolysis promotes medulloblastoma progression by suppressing neural differentiation. To determine how the metabolic regulator AMPK affects medulloblastoma growth and differentiation, we inactivated AMPK genetically in medulloblastomas. We bred conditional Prkaa1 and Prkaa2 deletions into medulloblastoma-prone SmoM2 mice and compared SmoM2-driven medulloblastomas with intact or inactivated AMPK. AMPK-inactivation increased event-free survival (EFS) and altered cellular heterogeneity, increasing differentiation and decreasing tumor stem cell populations. Surprisingly, AMPK-inactivation decreased mTORC1 activity and decreased Hk2 expression. Hk2 deletion similarly depleted medulloblastoma stem cells, implicating reduced glycolysis in the AMPK-inactivated phenotype. Our results show that AMPK inactivation disproportionately impairs medulloblastoma stem cell populations typically refractory to conventional therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Shiloh Malawsky
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Taylor Dismuke
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Hedi Liu
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ethan Castellino
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Jay Brenman
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Biplab Dasgupta
- Division of Oncology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Andrey Tikunov
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Timothy R. Gershon
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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29
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Lambo S, Trinh DL, Ries RE, Jin D, Setiadi A, Ng M, Leblanc VG, Loken MR, Brodersen LE, Dai F, Pardo LM, Ma X, Vercauteren SM, Meshinchi S, Marra MA. A longitudinal single-cell atlas of treatment response in pediatric AML. Cancer Cell 2023; 41:2117-2135.e12. [PMID: 37977148 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2023.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML) is characterized by heterogeneous cellular composition, driver alterations and prognosis. Characterization of this heterogeneity and how it affects treatment response remains understudied in pediatric patients. We used single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell ATAC sequencing to profile 28 patients representing different pAML subtypes at diagnosis, remission and relapse. At diagnosis, cellular composition differed between genetic subgroups. Upon relapse, cellular hierarchies transitioned toward a more primitive state regardless of subtype. Primitive cells in the relapsed tumor were distinct compared to cells at diagnosis, with under-representation of myeloid transcriptional programs and over-representation of other lineage programs. In some patients, this was accompanied by the appearance of a B-lymphoid-like hierarchy. Our data thus reveal the emergence of apparent subtype-specific plasticity upon treatment and inform on potentially targetable processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sander Lambo
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Diane L Trinh
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Rhonda E Ries
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dan Jin
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Audi Setiadi
- British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Division of Hematopathology, Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Michelle Ng
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Medical Genetics and Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Veronique G Leblanc
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | | | - Fangyan Dai
- Hematologics, Incorporated, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Xiaotu Ma
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Suzanne M Vercauteren
- British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Division of Hematopathology, Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Soheil Meshinchi
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Marco A Marra
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Medical Genetics and Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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30
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Cao L, Xie W, Ma W, Zhao H, Wang J, Liang Z, Tian S, Wang B, Ma J. The unique immune ecosystems in pediatric brain tumors: integrating single-cell and bulk RNA-sequencing. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1238684. [PMID: 38094301 PMCID: PMC10716463 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1238684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The significant progress of immune therapy in non-central nervous system tumors has sparked interest in employing the same strategy for adult brain tumors. However, the advancement of immunotherapy in pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors is not yet on par. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive comparative studies investigating the immune ecosystem in pediatric and adult CNS tumors at a high-resolution single-cell level. Methods In this study, we comprehensively analyzed over 0.3 million cells from 171 samples, encompassing adult gliomas (IDH wild type and IDH mutation) as well as four major types of pediatric brain tumors (medulloblastoma (MB), ependymoma (EPN), H3K27M-mutation (DIPG), and pediatric IDH-mutation glioma (P-IDH-M)). Our approach involved integrating publicly available and newly generated single-cell datasets. We compared the immune landscapes in different brain tumors, as well as the detailed functional phenotypes of T-cell and myeloid subpopulations. Through single-cell analysis, we identified gene sets associated with major cell types in the tumor microenvironment (gene features from single-cell data, scFes) and compared them with existing gene sets such as GSEA and xCell. The CBTTC and external GEO cohort was used to analyze and validate the immune-stromal-tumor patterns in pediatric brain tumors which might potentially respond to the immunotherapy. Results From the perspective of single-cell analysis, it was observed that major pediatric brain tumors (MB, EPN, P-IDH-M, DIPG) exhibited lower immune contents compared with adult gliomas. Additionally, these pediatric brain tumors displayed diverse immunophenotypes, particularly in regard to myeloid cells. Notably, the presence of HLA-enriched myeloid cells in MB was found to be independently associated with prognosis. Moreover, the scFes, when compared with commonly used gene features, demonstrated superior performance in independent single-cell datasets across various tumor types. Furthermore, our study revealed the existence of heterogeneous immune ecosystems at the bulk-RNA sequencing level among different brain tumor types. In addition, we identified several immune-stromal-tumor patterns that could potentially exhibit significant responses to conventional immune checkpoint inhibitors. Conclusion The single-cell technique provides a rational path to deeply understand the unique immune ecosystem of pediatric brain tumors. In spite of the traditional attitudes of "cold" tumor towards pediatric brain tumor, the immune-stroma-tumor patterns identified in this study suggest the feasibility of immune checkpoint inhibitors and pave the way for the upcoming tide of immunotherapy in pediatric brain tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Shuaiwei Tian
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Baocheng Wang
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Ma
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
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31
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Zhong S, Wang M, Huang L, Chen Y, Ge Y, Zhang J, Shi Y, Dong H, Zhou X, Wang B, Lu T, Jing X, Lu Y, Zhang J, Wang X, Wu Q. Single-cell epigenomics and spatiotemporal transcriptomics reveal human cerebellar development. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7613. [PMID: 37993461 PMCID: PMC10665552 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43568-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Human cerebellar development is orchestrated by molecular regulatory networks to achieve cytoarchitecture and coordinate motor and cognitive functions. Here, we combined single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics and single cell chromatin accessibility states to systematically depict an integrative spatiotemporal landscape of human fetal cerebellar development. We revealed that combinations of transcription factors and cis-regulatory elements (CREs) play roles in governing progenitor differentiation and cell fate determination along trajectories in a hierarchical manner, providing a gene expression regulatory map of cell fate and spatial information for these cells. We also illustrated that granule cells located in different regions of the cerebellar cortex showed distinct molecular signatures regulated by different signals during development. Finally, we mapped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of disorders related to cerebellar dysfunction and discovered that several disorder-associated genes showed spatiotemporal and cell type-specific expression patterns only in humans, indicating the cellular basis and possible mechanisms of the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suijuan Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- Changping Laboratory, Beijing, 102206, China.
| | - Mengdi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Luwei Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Youqiao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yuxin Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Jiyao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yingchao Shi
- Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology, Guangdong, 519031, China
| | - Hao Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xin Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- Changping Laboratory, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Bosong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Tian Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaoxi Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yufeng Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Junjing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Xiaoqun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- Changping Laboratory, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Qian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- Changping Laboratory, Beijing, 102206, China.
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32
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Blanco-Carmona E, Narayanan A, Hernandez I, Nieto JC, Elosua-Bayes M, Sun X, Schmidt C, Pamir N, Özduman K, Herold-Mende C, Pagani F, Cominelli M, Taranda J, Wick W, von Deimling A, Poliani PL, Rehli M, Schlesner M, Heyn H, Turcan Ş. Tumor heterogeneity and tumor-microglia interactions in primary and recurrent IDH1-mutant gliomas. Cell Rep Med 2023; 4:101249. [PMID: 37883975 PMCID: PMC10694621 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
The isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene is recurrently mutated in adult diffuse gliomas. IDH-mutant gliomas are categorized into oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas, each with unique pathological features. Here, we use single-nucleus RNA and ATAC sequencing to compare the molecular heterogeneity of these glioma subtypes. In addition to astrocyte-like, oligodendrocyte progenitor-like, and cycling tumor subpopulations, a tumor population enriched for ribosomal genes and translation elongation factors is primarily present in oligodendrogliomas. Longitudinal analysis of astrocytomas indicates that the proportion of tumor subpopulations remains stable in recurrent tumors. Analysis of tumor-associated microglia/macrophages (TAMs) reveals significant differences between oligodendrogliomas, with astrocytomas harboring inflammatory TAMs expressing phosphorylated STAT1, as confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, inferred receptor-ligand interactions between tumor subpopulations and TAMs may contribute to TAM state diversity. Overall, our study sheds light on distinct tumor populations, TAM heterogeneity, TAM-tumor interactions in IDH-mutant glioma subtypes, and the relative stability of tumor subpopulations in recurrent astrocytomas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrique Blanco-Carmona
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ashwin Narayanan
- Neurology Clinic and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Inmaculada Hernandez
- Next Generation Sequencing Core, Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, c/o University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan C Nieto
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Elosua-Bayes
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xueyuan Sun
- Neurology Clinic and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; DKTK CCU Neurooncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Claudia Schmidt
- Core Facility Unit Light Microscopy, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Necmettin Pamir
- Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Koray Özduman
- Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Christel Herold-Mende
- Division of Experimental Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Francesca Pagani
- Pathology Unit, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy
| | - Manuela Cominelli
- Pathology Unit, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy
| | - Julian Taranda
- Neurology Clinic and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; DKTK CCU Neurooncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wick
- Neurology Clinic and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; DKTK CCU Neurooncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andreas von Deimling
- Department of Neuropathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, and DKTK CCU Neuropathology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pietro Luigi Poliani
- Pathology Unit, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy
| | - Michael Rehli
- Next Generation Sequencing Core, Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, c/o University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Schlesner
- Biomedical Informatics, Data Mining and Data Analytics, Faculty for Applied Informatics, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Holger Heyn
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Şevin Turcan
- Neurology Clinic and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; DKTK CCU Neurooncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany.
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33
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Chagas PS, Veronez LC, de Sousa GR, Cruzeiro GAV, Corrêa CAP, Saggioro FP, de Paula Queiroz RG, Marie SKN, Brandalise SR, Cardinalli IA, Yunes JA, Júnior CGC, Machado HR, Santos MV, Scrideli CA, Tone LG, Valera ET. Musashi-1 regulates cell cycle and confers resistance to cisplatin treatment in Group 3/4 medulloblastomas cells. Hum Cell 2023; 36:2129-2139. [PMID: 37460706 DOI: 10.1007/s13577-023-00954-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
Groups (Grp) 3 and 4 are aggressive molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma (MB), with high rates of leptomeningeal dissemination. To date, there is still a paucity of biomarkers for these subtypes of MBs. In this study, we investigated the clinical significance and biological functions of Musashi-1 (MSI1) in Grp3 and Grp4-MBs. First, we assessed the expression profile of MSI1 in 59 primary MB samples (15-WNT, 18-SHH, 9-Grp3, and 17-Grp4 subgroups) by qRT-PCR. MSI1 mRNA expression levels were also validated in an additional public dataset of MBs (GSE85217). The ROC curve was used to validate the diagnostic standards of MSI1 expression. Next, the potential correlated cell-cycle genes were measured by RNA-Seq. Cell cycle, cell viability, and apoptosis were evaluated in a Grp3/Grp4 MB cell line after knockdown of MSI1 and cisplatin treatment. We identified an overexpression of MSI1 with a high accuracy to discriminate Grp3/Grp4-MBs from non-Grp3/Grp4-MBs. We identified that MSI1 knockdown not only triggered transcriptional changes in the cell-cycle pathway, but also affected G2/M phase in vitro, supporting the role of knockdown of MSI1 in cell-cycle arrest. Finally, MSI1 knockdown decreased cell viability and sensitized D283-Med cells to cisplatin treatment by enhancing cell apoptosis. Based on these findings, we suggest that MSI1 modulates cell-cycle progression and may play a role as biomarker for Grp3/Grp4-MBs. In addition, MSI1 knockdown combined with cisplatin may offer a potential strategy to be further explored in Grp3/Grp4-MBs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Shimaoka Chagas
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Bandeirantes Avenue, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14048-900, Brazil.
| | - Luciana Chain Veronez
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Graziella Ribeiro de Sousa
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Bandeirantes Avenue, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14048-900, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Alencastro Veiga Cruzeiro
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Harvard Medical School-Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Carolina Alves Pereira Corrêa
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Fabiano Pinto Saggioro
- Department of Pathology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, 3900 Bandeirantes Avenue, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil
- Department of Pathology, Rede D'Or São Luiz Hospital, Rua das Perobas, São Paulo, SP, 04321-120, Brazil
| | - Rosane Gomes de Paula Queiroz
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Suely Kazue Nagahashi Marie
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Department of Neurology, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Hélio Rubens Machado
- Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery and Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Volpon Santos
- Department of Surgery and Anatomy, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Bandeirantes Av., Ribeirão Preto, SP, 390014049-900, Brazil
| | - Carlos Alberto Scrideli
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Bandeirantes Avenue, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14048-900, Brazil
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Luiz Gonzaga Tone
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Bandeirantes Avenue, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14048-900, Brazil
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Elvis Terci Valera
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinics Hospital-Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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34
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Okonechnikov K, Joshi P, Sepp M, Leiss K, Sarropoulos I, Murat F, Sill M, Beck P, Chan KCH, Korshunov A, Sah F, Deng MY, Sturm D, DeSisto J, Donson AM, Foreman NK, Green AL, Robinson G, Orr BA, Gao Q, Darrow E, Hadley JL, Northcott PA, Gojo J, Kawauchi D, Hovestadt V, Filbin MG, von Deimling A, Zuckermann M, Pajtler KW, Kool M, Jones DTW, Jäger N, Kutscher LM, Kaessmann H, Pfister SM. Mapping pediatric brain tumors to their origins in the developing cerebellum. Neuro Oncol 2023; 25:1895-1909. [PMID: 37534924 PMCID: PMC10547518 DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noad124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Distinguishing the cellular origins of childhood brain tumors is key for understanding tumor initiation and identifying lineage-restricted, tumor-specific therapeutic targets. Previous strategies to map the cell-of-origin typically involved comparing human tumors to murine embryonal tissues, which is potentially limited due to species-specific differences. The aim of this study was to unravel the cellular origins of the 3 most common pediatric brain tumors, ependymoma, pilocytic astrocytoma, and medulloblastoma, using a developing human cerebellar atlas. METHODS We used a single-nucleus atlas of the normal developing human cerebellum consisting of 176 645 cells as a reference for an in-depth comparison to 4416 bulk and single-cell transcriptome tumor datasets, using gene set variation analysis, correlation, and single-cell matching techniques. RESULTS We find that the astroglial cerebellar lineage is potentially the origin for posterior fossa ependymomas. We propose that infratentorial pilocytic astrocytomas originate from the oligodendrocyte lineage and MHC II genes are specifically enriched in these tumors. We confirm that SHH and Group 3/4 medulloblastomas originate from the granule cell and unipolar brush cell lineages. Radiation-induced gliomas stem from cerebellar glial lineages and demonstrate distinct origins from the primary medulloblastoma. We identify tumor genes that are expressed in the cerebellar lineage of origin, and genes that are tumor specific; both gene sets represent promising therapeutic targets for future study. CONCLUSION Based on our results, individual cells within a tumor may resemble different cell types along a restricted developmental lineage. Therefore, we suggest that tumors can arise from multiple cellular states along the cerebellar "lineage of origin."
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin Okonechnikov
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Piyush Joshi
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Developmental Origins of Pediatric Cancer Junior Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mari Sepp
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kevin Leiss
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ioannis Sarropoulos
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florent Murat
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
- INRAE, LPGP, Rennes, France
| | | | - Pengbo Beck
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kenneth Chun-Ho Chan
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Andrey Korshunov
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Felix Sah
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Y Deng
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dominik Sturm
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - John DeSisto
- Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Andrew M Donson
- Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Nicholas K Foreman
- Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Adam L Green
- Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Giles Robinson
- Department of Oncology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Brent A Orr
- Department of Pathology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Qingsong Gao
- Department of Pathology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Emily Darrow
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jennifer L Hadley
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Paul A Northcott
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Johannes Gojo
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Neuropathology, NN Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, Moscow, Russia
| | - Daisuke Kawauchi
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Volker Hovestadt
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, USA
| | - Mariella G Filbin
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, USA
| | - Andreas von Deimling
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marc Zuckermann
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kristian W Pajtler
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marcel Kool
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, 3584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Natalie Jäger
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lena M Kutscher
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Developmental Origins of Pediatric Cancer Junior Research Group, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Henrik Kaessmann
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan M Pfister
- Hopp Children’s Cancer Center (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
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Yang W, Ma W, Huang J, Cai Y, Peng X, Zhao F, Zhang D, Zou Z, Sun H, Qi X, Ge M. Beijing Children's Hospital guidelines on the design and conduction of the first standardized database for medulloblastoma. Metab Brain Dis 2023; 38:2393-2400. [PMID: 37261631 DOI: 10.1007/s11011-023-01233-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common malignant childhood brain tumors (WHO grade IV). Its high degree of malignancy leads to an unsatisfactory prognosis, requiring more precise and personalized treatment in the near future. Multi-omics and artificial intelligence have been playing a significant role in precise medical research, but their implementation needs a large amount of clinical information and biomaterials. For these reasons, it is urgent for current MB researchers to establish a large sample-size database of MB that contains complete clinical data and sufficient biomaterials such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), cancer tissue, and urine. Unfortunately, there are few biobanks of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors throughout the world for limited specimens, scarce funds, different standards collecting methods and et cl. Even though, China falls behind western countries in this area. The present research set up a standard workflow to construct the Beijing Children's Hospital Medulloblastoma (BCH-MB) biobank. Clinical data from children with MB and for collecting and storing biomaterials, along with regular follow-up has been collected and recorded in this database. In the future, the BCH-MB biobank could make it possible to validate the promising biomarkers already identified, discover unrevealed MB biomarkers, develop novel therapies, and establish personalized prognostic models for children with MB upon the support of its sufficient data and biomaterials, laying the foundation for individualized therapies of children with MB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Wenping Ma
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Jiansong Huang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Peking University International Hospital, Peking University Health Science Center, Peking University, Beijing, 102200, China
| | - Yingjie Cai
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Xiaojiao Peng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Fengmao Zhao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Di Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Zhewei Zou
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China
| | - Hailang Sun
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China.
| | - Xiang Qi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China.
| | - Ming Ge
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China.
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Jassim A, Rahrmann EP, Simons BD, Gilbertson RJ. Cancers make their own luck: theories of cancer origins. Nat Rev Cancer 2023; 23:710-724. [PMID: 37488363 DOI: 10.1038/s41568-023-00602-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Cancer has been a leading cause of death for decades. This dismal statistic has increased efforts to prevent the disease or to detect it early, when treatment is less invasive, relatively inexpensive and more likely to cure. But precisely how tissues are transformed continues to provoke controversy and debate, hindering cancer prevention and early intervention strategies. Various theories of cancer origins have emerged, including the suggestion that it is 'bad luck': the inevitable consequence of random mutations in proliferating stem cells. In this Review, we discuss the principal theories of cancer origins and the relative importance of the factors that underpin them. The body of available evidence suggests that developing and ageing tissues 'walk a tightrope', retaining adequate levels of cell plasticity to generate and maintain tissues while avoiding overstepping into transformation. Rather than viewing cancer as 'bad luck', understanding the complex choreography of cell intrinsic and extrinsic factors that characterize transformation holds promise to discover effective new ways to prevent, detect and stop cancer before it becomes incurable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Jassim
- CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eric P Rahrmann
- CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ben D Simons
- Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Richard J Gilbertson
- CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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37
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Hedberg J, Studebaker A, Smith L, Chen CY, Westfall JJ, Cam M, Gross A, Hernandez-Aguirre I, Martin A, Kim D, Dhital R, Kim Y, Roberts RD, Cripe TP, Mardis ER, Cassady KA, Leonard J, Miller KE. Oncolytic virus-driven immune remodeling revealed in mouse medulloblastomas at single cell resolution. Mol Ther Oncolytics 2023; 30:39-55. [PMID: 37583388 PMCID: PMC10424001 DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2023.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Oncolytic viruses, modified for tumor-restricted infection, are a promising cancer immunotherapeutic, yet much remains to be understood about factors driving their activity and outcome in the tumor microenvironment. Here, we report that oncolytic herpes simplex virus C134, previously found to exert T cell-dependent efficacy in mouse models of glioblastoma, exerts T cell-independent efficacy in mouse models of medulloblastoma, indicating this oncolytic virus uses different mechanisms in different tumors. We investigated C134's behavior in mouse medulloblastomas, using single cell RNA sequencing to map C134-induced gene expression changes across cell types, timepoints, and medulloblastoma subgroup models at whole-transcriptome resolution. Our work details substantial oncolytic virus-induced transcriptional remodeling of medulloblastoma-infiltrating immune cells, 10 subpopulations of monocytes and macrophages collectively demonstrating M1-like responses to C134, and suggests C134 be investigated as a potential new therapy for medulloblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack Hedberg
- The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Adam Studebaker
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Luke Smith
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Chun-Yu Chen
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Jesse J. Westfall
- The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Maren Cam
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Amy Gross
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Ilse Hernandez-Aguirre
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Alexia Martin
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Doyeon Kim
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Ravi Dhital
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Yeaseul Kim
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
| | - Ryan D. Roberts
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Division of Hematology/Oncology/BMT, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Timothy P. Cripe
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Division of Hematology/Oncology/BMT, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Elaine R. Mardis
- The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Kevin A. Cassady
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Jeffrey Leonard
- The Center for Childhood Cancer, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA
| | - Katherine E. Miller
- The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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Nabbi A, Beck P, Delaidelli A, Oldridge DA, Sudhaman S, Zhu K, Yang SYC, Mulder DT, Bruce JP, Paulson JN, Raman P, Zhu Y, Resnick AC, Sorensen PH, Sill M, Brabetz S, Lambo S, Malkin D, Johann PD, Kool M, Jones DTW, Pfister SM, Jäger N, Pugh TJ. Transcriptional immunogenomic analysis reveals distinct immunological clusters in paediatric nervous system tumours. Genome Med 2023; 15:67. [PMID: 37679810 PMCID: PMC10486055 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01219-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cancer immunotherapies including immune checkpoint inhibitors and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy have shown variable response rates in paediatric patients highlighting the need to establish robust biomarkers for patient selection. While the tumour microenvironment in adults has been widely studied to delineate determinants of immune response, the immune composition of paediatric solid tumours remains relatively uncharacterized calling for investigations to identify potential immune biomarkers. METHODS To inform immunotherapy approaches in paediatric cancers with embryonal origin, we performed an immunogenomic analysis of RNA-seq data from 925 treatment-naïve paediatric nervous system tumours (pedNST) spanning 12 cancer types from three publicly available data sets. RESULTS Within pedNST, we uncovered four broad immune clusters: Paediatric Inflamed (10%), Myeloid Predominant (30%), Immune Neutral (43%) and Immune Desert (17%). We validated these clusters using immunohistochemistry, methylation immune inference and segmentation analysis of tissue images. We report shared biology of these immune clusters within and across cancer types, and characterization of specific immune cell frequencies as well as T- and B-cell repertoires. We found no associations between immune infiltration levels and tumour mutational burden, although molecular cancer entities were enriched within specific immune clusters. CONCLUSIONS Given the heterogeneity of immune infiltration within pedNST, our findings suggest personalized immunogenomic profiling is needed to guide selection of immunotherapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Nabbi
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Pengbo Beck
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Alberto Delaidelli
- Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Derek A Oldridge
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Center for Computational and Genomic Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sumedha Sudhaman
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Kelsey Zhu
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - S Y Cindy Yang
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - David T Mulder
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Jeffrey P Bruce
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Joseph N Paulson
- Department of Biostatistics, Genentech Inc, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Pichai Raman
- Division of Neurosurgery, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Center for Data-Driven Discovery in Biomedicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Yuankun Zhu
- Division of Neurosurgery, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Center for Data-Driven Discovery in Biomedicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Adam C Resnick
- Division of Neurosurgery, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Center for Data-Driven Discovery in Biomedicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Poul H Sorensen
- Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Martin Sill
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Brabetz
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sander Lambo
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David Malkin
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Pascal D Johann
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marcel Kool
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - David T W Jones
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Glioma Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan M Pfister
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Natalie Jäger
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Division of Pediatric Neurooncology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), B062, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Trevor J Pugh
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower, Room 9-305, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L7, Canada.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Canada.
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Manfreda L, Rampazzo E, Persano L, Viola G, Bortolozzi R. Surviving the hunger games: Metabolic reprogramming in medulloblastoma. Biochem Pharmacol 2023; 215:115697. [PMID: 37481140 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor characterized by its aggressive nature and limited treatment options. Metabolic changes have recently emerged as key factors in the development, progression, and response to therapy in various types of cancer. Cancer cells exhibit remarkable adaptability by modulating glucose, lipids, amino acids, and nucleotide metabolism to survive in nutrient- and oxygen-deprived environments. Although medulloblastoma has been extensively studied from a genomic perspective, leading to the identification of four subgroups and their respective subcategories, the investigation of its metabolic phenotype has remained relatively understudied. This review focus on the available literature, aiming to summarize the current knowledge about the main metabolic pathways that are deregulated in medulloblastoma tumors, while emphasizing the controversial aspects and the progress that is yet to be made. Furthermore, we underscored the insights gained so far regarding the impact of metabolism on the development of drug resistance in medulloblastoma and the therapeutic strategies employed to target specific metabolic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Manfreda
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Pediatric Research Institute, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Rampazzo
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Pediatric Research Institute, Padova, Italy
| | - Luca Persano
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Pediatric Research Institute, Padova, Italy
| | - Giampietro Viola
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Pediatric Research Institute, Padova, Italy
| | - Roberta Bortolozzi
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Pediatric Research Institute, Padova, Italy; Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Xiong W, Zhang X, Peng B, Zhu H, Huang L, He S. Pan-glioma analyses reveal species- and tumor-specific regulation of neuron-glioma synapse genes by lncRNAs. Front Genet 2023; 14:1218408. [PMID: 37693314 PMCID: PMC10484416 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1218408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas are highly heterogeneous and aggressive. Malignant cells in gliomas can contact normal neurons through a synapse-like structure (called neuron-to-glioma synapse, NGS) to promote their proliferation, but it is unclear whether NGS gene expression and regulation show species- and tumor-specificity. This question is important in that many anti-cancer drugs are developed upon mouse models. To address this question, we conducted a pan-glioma analysis using nine scRNA-seq datasets from humans and mice. We also experimentally validated the key element of our methods and verified a key result using TCGA datasets of the same glioma types. Our analyses revealed that NGS gene expression and regulation by lncRNAs are highly species- and tumor-specific. Importantly, simian-specific lncRNAs are more involved in NGS gene regulation than lncRNAs conserved in mammals, and transgenic mouse gliomas have little in common with PDX mouse models and human gliomas in terms of NGS gene regulation. The analyses suggest that simian-specific lncRNAs are a new and rich class of potential targets for tumor-specific glioma treatment, and provide pertinent data for further experimentally and clinically exmining the targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xiong
- Bioinformatics Section, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xuecong Zhang
- Bioinformatics Section, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Bin Peng
- Bioinformatics Section, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hao Zhu
- Bioinformatics Section, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lijin Huang
- Neurosurgery Department, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Sha He
- Bioinformatics Section, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Slika H, Alimonti P, Raj D, Caraway C, Alomari S, Jackson EM, Tyler B. The Neurodevelopmental and Molecular Landscape of Medulloblastoma Subgroups: Current Targets and the Potential for Combined Therapies. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3889. [PMID: 37568705 PMCID: PMC10417410 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15153889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. Despite the use of multiple therapeutic approaches consisting of surgical resection, craniospinal irradiation, and multiagent chemotherapy, the prognosis of many patients with medulloblastoma remains dismal. Additionally, the high doses of radiation and the chemotherapeutic agents used are associated with significant short- and long-term complications and adverse effects, most notably neurocognitive delay. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development and clinical integration of targeted treatment regimens with greater efficacy and superior safety profiles. Since the adoption of the molecular-based classification of medulloblastoma into wingless (WNT) activated, sonic hedgehog (SHH) activated, group 3, and group 4, research efforts have been directed towards unraveling the genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic profiles of each subtype. This review aims to delineate the progress that has been made in characterizing the neurodevelopmental and molecular features of each medulloblastoma subtype. It further delves into the implications that these characteristics have on the development of subgroup-specific targeted therapeutic agents. Furthermore, it highlights potential future avenues for combining multiple agents or strategies in order to obtain augmented effects and evade the development of treatment resistance in tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Slika
- Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut P.O. Box 11-0236, Lebanon;
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
| | - Paolo Alimonti
- School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy;
| | - Divyaansh Raj
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
| | - Chad Caraway
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
| | - Safwan Alomari
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
| | - Eric M. Jackson
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
| | - Betty Tyler
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (D.R.); (C.C.); (S.A.); (E.M.J.)
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Park SY, Ter-Saakyan S, Faraci G, Lee HY. Immune cell identifier and classifier (ImmunIC) for single cell transcriptomic readouts. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12093. [PMID: 37495649 PMCID: PMC10372073 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39282-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Single cell RNA sequencing has a central role in immune profiling, identifying specific immune cells as disease markers and suggesting therapeutic target genes of immune cells. Immune cell-type annotation from single cell transcriptomics is in high demand for dissecting complex immune signatures from multicellular blood and organ samples. However, accurate cell type assignment from single-cell RNA sequencing data alone is complicated by a high level of gene expression heterogeneity. Many computational methods have been developed to respond to this challenge, but immune cell annotation accuracy is not highly desirable. We present ImmunIC, a simple and robust tool for immune cell identification and classification by combining marker genes with a machine learning method. With over two million immune cells and half-million non-immune cells from 66 single cell RNA sequencing studies, ImmunIC shows 98% accuracy in the identification of immune cells. ImmunIC outperforms existing immune cell classifiers, categorizing into ten immune cell types with 92% accuracy. We determine peripheral blood mononuclear cell compositions of severe COVID-19 cases and healthy controls using previously published single cell transcriptomic data, permitting the identification of immune cell-type specific differential pathways. Our publicly available tool can maximize the utility of single cell RNA profiling by functioning as a stand-alone bioinformatic cell sorter, advancing cell-type specific immune profiling for the discovery of disease-specific immune signatures and therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Yong Park
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Sonia Ter-Saakyan
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Gina Faraci
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Ha Youn Lee
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
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Rechberger JS, Toll SA, Vanbilloen WJF, Daniels DJ, Khatua S. Exploring the Molecular Complexity of Medulloblastoma: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment. Diagnostics (Basel) 2023; 13:2398. [PMID: 37510143 PMCID: PMC10378552 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics13142398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Over the last few decades, significant progress has been made in revealing the key molecular underpinnings of this disease, leading to the identification of distinct molecular subgroups with different clinical outcomes. In this review, we provide an update on the molecular landscape of medulloblastoma and treatment strategies. We discuss the four main molecular subgroups (WNT-activated, SHH-activated, and non-WNT/non-SHH groups 3 and 4), highlighting the key genetic alterations and signaling pathways associated with each entity. Furthermore, we explore the emerging role of epigenetic regulation in medulloblastoma and the mechanism of resistance to therapy. We also delve into the latest developments in targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Continuing collaborative efforts are needed to further unravel the complex molecular mechanisms and profile optimal treatment for this devastating disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian S Rechberger
- Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Stephanie A Toll
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Wouter J F Vanbilloen
- Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Department of Neurology, Elisabeth-Tweesteden Hospital, 5022 Tilburg, The Netherlands
| | - David J Daniels
- Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Soumen Khatua
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Section of Neuro-Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
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Pallavicini G, Iegiani G, Parolisi R, Ferraro A, Garello F, Bitonto V, Terreno E, Gai M, Di Cunto F. Lestaurtinib inhibits Citron kinase activity and medulloblastoma growth through induction of DNA damage, apoptosis and cytokinesis failure. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1202585. [PMID: 37404750 PMCID: PMC10315473 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1202585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Medulloblastoma (MB), the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, is currently treated with surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy, which is accompanied by severe side effects, raising the need for innovative therapies. Disruption of the microcephaly-related gene Citron kinase (CITK) impairs the expansion of xenograft models as well as spontaneous MB arising in transgenic mice. No specific CITK inhibitors are available. Methods Lestaurtinib, a Staurosporine derivative also known as CEP-701, inhibits CITK with IC50 of 90 nM. We therefore tested the biological effects of this molecule on different MB cell lines, as well as in vivo, injecting the drug in MBs arising in SmoA1 transgenic mice. Results Similar to CITK knockdown, treatment of MB cells with 100 nM Lestaurtinib reduces phospho-INCENP levels at the midbody and leads to late cytokinesis failure. Moreover, Lestaurtinib impairs cell proliferation through CITK-sensitive mechanisms. These phenotypes are accompanied by accumulation of DNA double strand breaks, cell cycle block and TP53 superfamily activation in vitro and in vivo. Lestaurtinib treatment reduces tumor growth and increases mice survival. Discussion Our data indicate that Lestaurtinib produces in MB cells poly-pharmacological effects extending beyond the inhibition of its validated targets, supporting the possibility of repositioning this drug for MB treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianmarco Pallavicini
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Giorgia Iegiani
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Roberta Parolisi
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Alessia Ferraro
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Francesca Garello
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Valeria Bitonto
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Enzo Terreno
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Marta Gai
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Ferdinando Di Cunto
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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Lowenstein ED, Cui K, Hernandez-Miranda LR. Regulation of early cerebellar development. FEBS J 2023; 290:2786-2804. [PMID: 35262281 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The study of cerebellar development has been at the forefront of neuroscience since the pioneering work of Wilhelm His Sr., Santiago Ramón y Cajal and many others since the 19th century. They laid the foundation to identify the circuitry of the cerebellum, already revealing its stereotypic three-layered cortex and discerning several of its neuronal components. Their work was fundamental in the acceptance of the neuron doctrine, which acknowledges the key role of individual neurons in forming the basic units of the nervous system. Increasing evidence shows that the cerebellum performs a variety of homeostatic and higher order neuronal functions beyond the mere control of motor behaviour. Over the last three decades, many studies have revealed the molecular machinery that regulates distinct aspects of cerebellar development, from the establishment of a cerebellar anlage in the posterior brain to the identification of cerebellar neuron diversity at the single cell level. In this review, we focus on summarizing our current knowledge on early cerebellar development with a particular emphasis on the molecular determinants that secure neuron specification and contribute to the diversity of cerebellar neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ke Cui
- Institut für Zell- and Neurobiologie, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Luis Rodrigo Hernandez-Miranda
- Institut für Zell- and Neurobiologie, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
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46
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Dong M, He Y, Jiang Y, Zou F. Joint gene network construction by single-cell RNA sequencing data. Biometrics 2023; 79:915-925. [PMID: 35184277 PMCID: PMC10548400 DOI: 10.1111/biom.13645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In contrast to differential gene expression analysis at the single-gene level, gene regulatory network (GRN) analysis depicts complex transcriptomic interactions among genes for better understandings of underlying genetic architectures of human diseases and traits. Recent advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) allow constructing GRNs at a much finer resolution than bulk RNA-seq and microarray data. However, scRNA-seq data are inherently sparse, which hinders the direct application of the popular Gaussian graphical models (GGMs). Furthermore, most existing approaches for constructing GRNs with scRNA-seq data only consider gene networks under one condition. To better understand GRNs across different but related conditions at single-cell resolution, we propose to construct Joint Gene Networks with scRNA-seq data (JGNsc) under the GGMs framework. To facilitate the use of GGMs, JGNsc first proposes a hybrid imputation procedure that combines a Bayesian zero-inflated Poisson model with an iterative low-rank matrix completion step to efficiently impute zero-inflated counts resulted from technical artifacts. JGNsc then transforms the imputed data via a nonparanormal transformation, based on which joint GGMs are constructed. We demonstrate JGNsc and assess its performance using synthetic data. The application of JGNsc on two cancer clinical studies of medulloblastoma and glioblastoma gains novel insights in addition to confirming well-known biological results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meichen Dong
- Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Yiping He
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Yuchao Jiang
- Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Fei Zou
- Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Li Y, Zhu Q, Zhou S, Chen J, Du A, Qin C. Combined bulk RNA and single-cell RNA analyses reveal TXNL4A as a new biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1202732. [PMID: 37305572 PMCID: PMC10248245 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1202732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high mortality rate worldwide. The dysregulation of RNA splicing is a major event leading to the occurrence, progression, and drug resistance of cancer. Therefore, it is important to identify new biomarkers of HCC from the RNA splicing pathway. Methods We performed the differential expression and prognostic analyses of RNA splicing-related genes (RRGs) using The Cancer Genome Atlas-liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC)-LIHC dataset was used to construct and validate prognostic models, and the PubMed database was used to explore genes in the models to identify new markers. The screened genes were subjected to genomic analyses, including differential, prognostic, enrichment, and immunocorrelation analyses. Single-cell RNA (scRNA) data were used to further validate the immunogenetic relationship. Results Of 215 RRGs, we identified 75 differentially expressed prognosis-related genes, and a prognostic model incorporating thioredoxin like 4A (TXNL4A) was identified using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis. ICGC-LIHC was used as a validation dataset to confirm the validity of the model. PubMed failed to retrieve HCC-related studies on TXNL4A. TXNL4A was highly expressed in most tumors and was associated with HCC survival. Chi-squared analyses indicated that TXNL4A expression positively correlated positively with the clinical features of HCC. Multivariate analyses revealed that high TXNL4A expression was an independent risk factor for HCC. Immunocorrelation and scRNA data analyses indicated that TXNL4A was correlated with CD8 T cell infiltration in HCC. Conclusion Therefore, we identified a prognostic and immune-related marker for HCC from the RNA splicing pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Li
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Qiaozhen Zhu
- Infection and Immunity Institute and Translational Medical Center, Huaihe Hospital, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Shuchang Zhou
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Jiangtao Chen
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Aoyu Du
- Department of Plastic Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Changjiang Qin
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
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Akeret K, Weller M, Krayenbühl N. The anatomy of neuroepithelial tumours. Brain 2023:7171408. [PMID: 37201913 PMCID: PMC10393414 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Many neurological conditions conceal specific anatomical patterns. Their study contributes to the understanding of disease biology and to tailored diagnostics and therapy. Neuroepithelial tumours exhibit distinct anatomical phenotypes and spatiotemporal dynamics that differ from those of other brain tumours. Brain metastases display a preference for the cortico-subcortical boundaries of watershed areas and have a predominantly spherical growth. Primary CNS lymphomas localize to the white matter and generally invade along fibre tracts. In neuroepithelial tumours, topographic probability mapping and unsupervised topological clustering have identified an inherent radial anatomy and adherence to ventriculopial configurations of specific hierarchical orders. Spatiotemporal probability and multivariate survival analyses have identified a temporal and prognostic sequence underlying the anatomical phenotypes of neuroepithelial tumours. Gradual neuroepithelial de-differentiation and declining prognosis follow (i) an expansion into higher order radial units; (ii) a subventricular spread; and (iii) the presence of mesenchymal patterns (expansion along white matter tracts, leptomeningeal or perivascular invasion, CSF spread). While different pathophysiological hypotheses have been proposed, the cellular and molecular mechanisms dictating this anatomical behaviour remain largely unknown. Here we adopt an ontogenetic approach towards the understanding of neuroepithelial tumour anatomy. Contemporary perception of histo- and morphogenetic processes during neurodevelopment permit us to conceptualize the architecture of the brain into hierarchically organized radial units. The anatomical phenotypes in neuroepithelial tumours and their temporal and prognostic sequences share remarkable similarities with the ontogenetic organization of the brain and the anatomical specifications that occur during neurodevelopment. This macroscopic coherence is reinforced by cellular and molecular observations that the initiation of various neuroepithelial tumours, their intratumoural hierarchy and tumour progression are associated with the aberrant reactivation of surprisingly normal ontogenetic programs. Generalizable topological phenotypes could provide the basis for an anatomical refinement of the current classification of neuroepithelial tumours. In addition, we have proposed a staging system for adult-type diffuse gliomas that is based on the prognostically critical steps along the sequence of anatomical tumour progression. Considering the parallels in anatomical behaviour between different neuroepithelial tumours, analogous staging systems may be implemented for other neuroepithelial tumour types and subtypes. Both the anatomical stage of a neuroepithelial tumour and the spatial configuration of its hosting radial unit harbour the potential to stratify treatment decisions at diagnosis and during follow-up. More data on specific neuroepithelial tumour types and subtypes are needed to increase the anatomical granularity in their classification and to determine the clinical impact of stage-adapted and anatomically tailored therapy and surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Akeret
- Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neuroscience Centre, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael Weller
- Department of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Centre, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Niklaus Krayenbühl
- Division of Paediatric Neurosurgery, University Children's Hospital, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
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Piwecka M, Rajewsky N, Rybak-Wolf A. Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics: deciphering brain complexity in health and disease. Nat Rev Neurol 2023:10.1038/s41582-023-00809-y. [PMID: 37198436 DOI: 10.1038/s41582-023-00809-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
In the past decade, single-cell technologies have proliferated and improved from their technically challenging beginnings to become common laboratory methods capable of determining the expression of thousands of genes in thousands of cells simultaneously. The field has progressed by taking the CNS as a primary research subject - the cellular complexity and multiplicity of neuronal cell types provide fertile ground for the increasing power of single-cell methods. Current single-cell RNA sequencing methods can quantify gene expression with sufficient accuracy to finely resolve even subtle differences between cell types and states, thus providing a great tool for studying the molecular and cellular repertoire of the CNS and its disorders. However, single-cell RNA sequencing requires the dissociation of tissue samples, which means that the interrelationships between cells are lost. Spatial transcriptomic methods bypass tissue dissociation and retain this spatial information, thereby allowing gene expression to be assessed across thousands of cells within the context of tissue structural organization. Here, we discuss how single-cell and spatially resolved transcriptomics have been contributing to unravelling the pathomechanisms underlying brain disorders. We focus on three areas where we feel these new technologies have provided particularly useful insights: selective neuronal vulnerability, neuroimmune dysfunction and cell-type-specific treatment response. We also discuss the limitations and future directions of single-cell and spatial RNA sequencing technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Piwecka
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Nikolaus Rajewsky
- Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Agnieszka Rybak-Wolf
- Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
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50
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Murdaugh RL, Anastas JN. Applying single cell multi-omic analyses to understand treatment resistance in pediatric high grade glioma. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1002296. [PMID: 37205910 PMCID: PMC10191214 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1002296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite improvements in cancer patient outcomes seen in the past decade, tumor resistance to therapy remains a major impediment to achieving durable clinical responses. Intratumoral heterogeneity related to genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolic differences between individual cancer cells has emerged as a driver of therapeutic resistance. This cell to cell heterogeneity can be assessed using single cell profiling technologies that enable the identification of tumor cell clones that exhibit similar defining features like specific mutations or patterns of DNA methylation. Single cell profiling of tumors before and after treatment can generate new insights into the cancer cell characteristics that confer therapeutic resistance by identifying intrinsically resistant sub-populations that survive treatment and by describing new cellular features that emerge post-treatment due to tumor cell evolution. Integrative, single cell analytical approaches have already proven advantageous in studies characterizing treatment-resistant clones in cancers where pre- and post-treatment patient samples are readily available, such as leukemia. In contrast, little is known about other cancer subtypes like pediatric high grade glioma, a class of heterogeneous, malignant brain tumors in children that rapidly develop resistance to multiple therapeutic modalities, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation. Leveraging single cell multi-omic technologies to analyze naïve and therapy-resistant glioma may lead to the discovery of novel strategies to overcome treatment resistance in brain tumors with dismal clinical outcomes. In this review, we explore the potential for single cell multi-omic analyses to reveal mechanisms of glioma resistance to therapy and discuss opportunities to apply these approaches to improve long-term therapeutic response in pediatric high grade glioma and other brain tumors with limited treatment options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L. Murdaugh
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Program in Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jamie N. Anastas
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Program in Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
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