1
|
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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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.
Collapse
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.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Märtens K, Bortolomeazzi M, Montorsi L, Spencer J, Ciccarelli F, Yau C. Rarity: discovering rare cell populations from single-cell imaging data. Bioinformatics 2023; 39:btad750. [PMID: 38092048 PMCID: PMC10751233 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btad750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION Cell type identification plays an important role in the analysis and interpretation of single-cell data and can be carried out via supervised or unsupervised clustering approaches. Supervised methods are best suited where we can list all cell types and their respective marker genes a priori, while unsupervised clustering algorithms look for groups of cells with similar expression properties. This property permits the identification of both known and unknown cell populations, making unsupervised methods suitable for discovery. Success is dependent on the relative strength of the expression signature of each group as well as the number of cells. Rare cell types therefore present a particular challenge that is magnified when they are defined by differentially expressing a small number of genes. RESULTS Typical unsupervised approaches fail to identify such rare subpopulations, and these cells tend to be absorbed into more prevalent cell types. In order to balance these competing demands, we have developed a novel statistical framework for unsupervised clustering, named Rarity, that enables the discovery process for rare cell types to be more robust, consistent, and interpretable. We achieve this by devising a novel clustering method based on a Bayesian latent variable model in which we assign cells to inferred latent binary on/off expression profiles. This lets us achieve increased sensitivity to rare cell populations while also allowing us to control and interpret potential false positive discoveries. We systematically study the challenges associated with rare cell type identification and demonstrate the utility of Rarity on various IMC datasets. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Implementation of Rarity together with examples is available from the Github repository (https://github.com/kasparmartens/rarity).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kaspar Märtens
- The Alan Turing Institute, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom
| | - Michele Bortolomeazzi
- Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Montorsi
- Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Jo Spencer
- King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca Ciccarelli
- Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, United Kingdom
- Bart’s Cancer Institute - Centre for Cancer Genomics & Computational Biology, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher Yau
- The Alan Turing Institute, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom
- Nuffield Department for Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Women’s Centre (Level 3), John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Dressler L, Bortolomeazzi M, Keddar MR, Misetic H, Sartini G, Acha-Sagredo A, Montorsi L, Wijewardhane N, Repana D, Nulsen J, Goldman J, Pollitt M, Davis P, Strange A, Ambrose K, Ciccarelli FD. Comparative assessment of genes driving cancer and somatic evolution in non-cancer tissues: an update of the Network of Cancer Genes (NCG) resource. Genome Biol 2022; 23:35. [PMID: 35078504 PMCID: PMC8790917 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-022-02607-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genetic alterations of somatic cells can drive non-malignant clone formation and promote cancer initiation. However, the link between these processes remains unclear and hampers our understanding of tissue homeostasis and cancer development. Results Here, we collect a literature-based repertoire of 3355 well-known or predicted drivers of cancer and non-cancer somatic evolution in 122 cancer types and 12 non-cancer tissues. Mapping the alterations of these genes in 7953 pan-cancer samples reveals that, despite the large size, the known compendium of drivers is still incomplete and biased towards frequently occurring coding mutations. High overlap exists between drivers of cancer and non-cancer somatic evolution, although significant differences emerge in their recurrence. We confirm and expand the unique properties of drivers and identify a core of evolutionarily conserved and essential genes whose germline variation is strongly counter-selected. Somatic alteration in even one of these genes is sufficient to drive clonal expansion but not malignant transformation. Conclusions Our study offers a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the genetic events initiating clone expansion and cancer revealing significant gaps and biases that still need to be addressed. The compendium of cancer and non-cancer somatic drivers, their literature support, and properties are accessible in the Network of Cancer Genes and Healthy Drivers resource at http://www.network-cancer-genes.org/. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13059-022-02607-z.
Collapse
|
4
|
Bortolomeazzi M, Keddar MR, Montorsi L, Acha-Sagredo A, Benedetti L, Temelkovski D, Choi S, Petrov N, Todd K, Wai P, Kohl J, Denner T, Nye E, Goldstone R, Ward S, Wilson GA, Al Bakir M, Swanton C, John S, Miles J, Larijani B, Kunene V, Fontana E, Arkenau HT, Parker PJ, Rodriguez-Justo M, Shiu KK, Spencer J, Ciccarelli FD. Immunogenomics of Colorectal Cancer Response to Checkpoint Blockade: Analysis of the KEYNOTE 177 Trial and Validation Cohorts. Gastroenterology 2021; 161:1179-1193. [PMID: 34197832 PMCID: PMC8527923 DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.06.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Colorectal cancer (CRC) shows variable response to immune checkpoint blockade, which can only partially be explained by high tumor mutational burden (TMB). We conducted an integrated study of the cancer tissue and associated tumor microenvironment (TME) from patients treated with pembrolizumab (KEYNOTE 177 clinical trial) or nivolumab to dissect the cellular and molecular determinants of response to anti- programmed cell death 1 (PD1) immunotherapy. METHODS We selected multiple regions per tumor showing variable T-cell infiltration for a total of 738 regions from 29 patients, divided into discovery and validation cohorts. We performed multiregional whole-exome and RNA sequencing of the tumor cells and integrated these with T-cell receptor sequencing, high-dimensional imaging mass cytometry, detection of programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL1) interaction in situ, multiplexed immunofluorescence, and computational spatial analysis of the TME. RESULTS In hypermutated CRCs, response to anti-PD1 immunotherapy was not associated with TMB but with high clonality of immunogenic mutations, clonally expanded T cells, low activation of Wnt signaling, deregulation of the interferon gamma pathway, and active immune escape mechanisms. Responsive hypermutated CRCs were also rich in cytotoxic and proliferating PD1+CD8 T cells interacting with PDL1+ antigen-presenting macrophages. CONCLUSIONS Our study clarified the limits of TMB as a predictor of response of CRC to anti-PD1 immunotherapy. It identified a population of antigen-presenting macrophages interacting with CD8 T cells that consistently segregate with response. We therefore concluded that anti-PD1 agents release the PD1-PDL1 interaction between CD8 T cells and macrophages to promote cytotoxic antitumor activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michele Bortolomeazzi
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mohamed Reda Keddar
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Montorsi
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amelia Acha-Sagredo
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lorena Benedetti
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Damjan Temelkovski
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Subin Choi
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nedyalko Petrov
- Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Katrina Todd
- Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Patty Wai
- State-Dependent Neural Processing Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Johannes Kohl
- State-Dependent Neural Processing Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tamara Denner
- Experimental Histopathology, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Nye
- Experimental Histopathology, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Goldstone
- Advanced Sequencing Facility, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sophia Ward
- Advanced Sequencing Facility, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gareth A Wilson
- Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, University College London Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maise Al Bakir
- Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, University College London Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Charles Swanton
- Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, University College London Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Susan John
- School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Banafshe Larijani
- FASTBASE Solutions S.L, Derio, Spain; Cell Biophysics Laboratory, Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology & Biophysics Institute, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain; Centre for Therapeutic Innovation, Cell Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology & Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Kunene
- Medical Oncology, University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Elisa Fontana
- Drug Development Unit, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK, London, United Kingdom
| | - Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau
- Drug Development Unit, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK, London, United Kingdom; Department of Oncology, University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J Parker
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Protein Phosphorylation Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Manuel Rodriguez-Justo
- Department of Histopathology, University College London Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kai-Keen Shiu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, University College London Hospital National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jo Spencer
- School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
| | - Francesca D Ciccarelli
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Bortolomeazzi M, Keddar MR, Ciccarelli FD, Benedetti L. Identification of non-cancer cells from cancer transcriptomic data. Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech 2020; 1863:194445. [PMID: 31654804 PMCID: PMC7346884 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2019.194445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Interactions between cancer cells and non-cancer cells composing the tumour microenvironment play a primary role in determining cancer progression and shaping the response to therapy. The qualitative and quantitative characterisation of the different cell populations in the tumour microenvironment is therefore crucial to understand its role in cancer. In recent years, many experimental and computational approaches have been developed to identify the cell populations composing heterogeneous tissue samples, such as cancer. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art approaches for the quantification of non-cancer cells from bulk and single-cell cancer transcriptomic data, with a focus on immune cells. We illustrate the main features of these approaches and highlight their applications for the analysis of the tumour microenvironment in solid cancers. We also discuss techniques that are complementary and alternative to RNA sequencing, particularly focusing on approaches that can provide spatial information on the distribution of the cells within the tumour in addition to their qualitative and quantitative measurements. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Transcriptional Profiles and Regulatory Gene Networks edited by Dr. Federico Manuel Giorgi and Dr. Shaun Mahony.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michele Bortolomeazzi
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London SE11UL, UK
| | - Mohamed Reda Keddar
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London SE11UL, UK
| | - Francesca D Ciccarelli
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London SE11UL, UK.
| | - Lorena Benedetti
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London SE11UL, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Gaffo E, Bortolomeazzi M, Bisognin A, Di Battista P, Lovisa F, Mussolin L, Bortoluzzi S. MiR&moRe2: A Bioinformatics Tool to Characterize microRNAs and microRNA-Offset RNAs from Small RNA-Seq Data. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21051754. [PMID: 32143373 PMCID: PMC7084216 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21051754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
MicroRNA-offset RNAs (moRNAs) are microRNA-like small RNAs generated by microRNA precursors. To date, little is known about moRNAs and bioinformatics tools to inspect their expression are still missing. We developed miR&moRe2, the first bioinformatics method to consistently characterize microRNAs, moRNAs, and their isoforms from small RNA sequencing data. To illustrate miR&moRe2 discovery power, we applied it to several published datasets. MoRNAs identified by miR&moRe2 were in agreement with previous research findings. Moreover, we observed that moRNAs and new microRNAs predicted by miR&moRe2 were downregulated upon the silencing of the microRNA-biogenesis pathway. Further, in a sizeable dataset of human blood cell populations, tens of novel miRNAs and moRNAs were discovered, some of them with significantly varied expression levels among the cell types. Results demonstrate that miR&moRe2 is a valid tool for a comprehensive study of small RNAs generated from microRNA precursors and could help to investigate their biogenesis and function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Gaffo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (A.B.)
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (S.B.); Tel.: +39-049-827-6502 (S.B.)
| | - Michele Bortolomeazzi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (A.B.)
| | - Andrea Bisognin
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (A.B.)
| | - Piero Di Battista
- Division of Pediatric Hematology, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (P.D.B.); (F.L.); (L.M.)
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Federica Lovisa
- Division of Pediatric Hematology, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (P.D.B.); (F.L.); (L.M.)
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Lara Mussolin
- Division of Pediatric Hematology, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (P.D.B.); (F.L.); (L.M.)
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefania Bortoluzzi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (A.B.)
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Innovative Biotechnologies (CRIBI), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (S.B.); Tel.: +39-049-827-6502 (S.B.)
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Repana D, Nulsen J, Dressler L, Bortolomeazzi M, Venkata SK, Tourna A, Yakovleva A, Palmieri T, Ciccarelli FD. The Network of Cancer Genes (NCG): a comprehensive catalogue of known and candidate cancer genes from cancer sequencing screens. Genome Biol 2019; 20:1. [PMID: 30606230 PMCID: PMC6317252 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-018-1612-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 336] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/12/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The Network of Cancer Genes (NCG) is a manually curated repository of 2372 genes whose somatic modifications have known or predicted cancer driver roles. These genes were collected from 275 publications, including two sources of known cancer genes and 273 cancer sequencing screens of more than 100 cancer types from 34,905 cancer donors and multiple primary sites. This represents a more than 1.5-fold content increase compared to the previous version. NCG also annotates properties of cancer genes, such as duplicability, evolutionary origin, RNA and protein expression, miRNA and protein interactions, and protein function and essentiality. NCG is accessible at http://ncg.kcl.ac.uk/ .
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dimitra Repana
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Joel Nulsen
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Lisa Dressler
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Michele Bortolomeazzi
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Santhilata Kuppili Venkata
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Aikaterini Tourna
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Anna Yakovleva
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Tommaso Palmieri
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| | - Francesca D. Ciccarelli
- Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT UK
- School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL UK
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Bortolomeazzi M, Gaffo E, Bortoluzzi S. A survey of software tools for microRNA discovery and characterization using RNA-seq. Brief Bioinform 2017; 20:918-930. [DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbx148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Revised: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Enrico Gaffo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|