Abstract B11: Foxm1 mediates maintenance and progression of mouse lung tumor driven by oncogenic Kras

Oncogenic mutation of Kras gene is one of the major causes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and there is no effective chemotherapy agent available for targeting cancers harboring oncogenic Kras mutations. Hence, identifying new downstream molecular targets of KRAS signaling is critical for improving current therapeutic outcomes. Previous research has demonstrated that increased activity and expression of Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) transcription factor are associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients. We and others have reported that FOXM1 regulates gene transcription network of cell cycle, angiogenesis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell migration, and cancer stemness. Deletion of Foxm1 alleles in respiratory epithelial cells diminished the lung tumor initiation in SPC-rtTA/tetO-KrasG12D/Foxm1-/- mice; however, whether Foxm1 is critical for Kras mutant tumor maintenance and progression remains unclear. Herein, we report that intratracheal (IT) injected adenoviral Ad-Cre to CCSP-rtTA/tetO-KrasG12D/Foxm1fl/fl mice that bear induced KRAS mutant lung tumors, causing 75% of preexisting lung tumor regression as detected by micro-computed tomography (μCT). IT treatment with Ad-Cre that mediated genetically deletion of Foxm1 alleles in lungs, resulted in reduced proliferation of tumor cells. Moreover, in vitro disruption of FOXM1 expression by shRNA diminished cell proliferation on plate and anchorage-independent growth in soft agar of KRAS-mutated lung cancer NCI-H23 as well as KRASG12D-transformed BEAS-2B cells. Accordingly, these results demonstrated that Foxm1 is critical for oncogenic KRAS signaling pathway in both maintenance and progression of lung adenocarcinoma, suggesting that Foxm1 could be a potential therapeutic target to improve the outcome of KRAS mutant lung cancer treatment.

Citation Format: Sheng-Yang Chao, Chien-Cheng Li, Sheng-Kai Liang, Yi-Shiuan Chiu, Yi-Kai Lin, Chia-Chan Hsu, Jen-Kun Chen, Tsui-Chun Tsou, I-Ching Wang. Foxm1 mediates maintenance and progression of mouse lung tumor driven by oncogenic Kras [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Modeling Cancer in Mice: Technology, Biology, and Beyond; 2017 Sep 24-27; Orlando, Florida. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B11.

Analyze the beta waves of electroencephalogram signals from young musicians and non-musicians in major scale working memory task

Electroencephalograms can record wave variations in any brain activity. Beta waves are produced when an external stimulus induces logical thinking, computation, and reasoning during consciousness. This work uses the beta wave of major scale working memory N-back tasks to analyze the differences between young musicians and non-musicians. After the feature analysis uses signal filtering, Hilbert-Huang transformation, and feature extraction methods to identify differences, k-means clustering algorithm are used to group them into different clusters. The results of feature analysis showed that beta waves significantly differ between young musicians and non-musicians from the low memory load of working memory task.

Memory efficient algorithms for structural alignment of RNAs with pseudoknots

In this paper, we consider the problem of structural alignment of a target RNA sequence of length n and a query RNA sequence of length m with known secondary structure that may contain simple pseudoknots or embedded simple pseudoknots. The best known algorithm for solving this problem runs in O(mn3) time for simple pseudoknot or O(mn4) time for embedded simple pseudoknot with space complexity of O(mn3) for both structures, which require too much memory making it infeasible for comparing noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with length several hundreds or more. We propose memory efficient algorithms to solve the same problem. We reduce the space complexity to O(n3) for simple pseudoknot and O(mn2 + n3) for embedded simple pseudoknot while maintaining the same time complexity. We also show how to modify our algorithm to handle a restricted class of recursive simple pseudoknot which is found abundant in real data with space complexity of O(mn2 + n3) and time complexity of O(mn4). Experimental results show that our algorithms are feasible for comparing ncRNAs of length more than 500.

Autologous fibrin glue in the treatment of rectovaginal and complex fistulas

This nonrandomized series reports the use of autologous fibrin glue to treat complex rectovaginal and anorectal fistulas. The use of an autologous source to prepare fibrin glue eliminates the risk of disease transmission. Ten patients, six women and four men, with complex fistulas were treated with autologous fibrin glue application. Five patients had rectovaginal fistulas; one of them had Crohn's disease. Five patients had complex anal fistulas; two of them had Crohn's disease, and one had a large postanal ulcer associated with HIV disease. All patients had outpatient preoperative mechanical bowel preparation and prophylactic parenteral antibiotics. Six of the ten patients (60 percent) reported complete healing of the fistulas. Follow-up ranged from three months to one year. Four of five rectovaginal fistulas healed. The two patients with Crohn's disease and complex anal fistulas and the patient with HIV disease did not heal, but all three reported significantly less drainage. Autologous fibrin glue is a viable alternative for the treatment of recurrent rectovaginal and complex abscess/fistulas.

Adenocarcinoma of the anal glands. Results of a survey

Anal gland adenocarcinoma is rare, with information concerning this lesion communicated mostly as case reports. Cases seen by authors, combined with a survey of the membership of The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, allowed 52 cases with sufficient data for analysis. It became clear from the survey that most colorectal surgeons have not treated this malignancy. Predominant symptoms are anal pain (58 percent), rectal bleeding (40 percent), and the presence of perianal mass (37 percent). Fifty-four percent of patients present with a fistula, the incidence of fistula being significantly higher in males. Metastases, which may be inguinal, pelvic, or hepatic, are present at diagnosis in 13.5 percent of patients. Three-fourths of patients are eventually treated by abdomino-perineal resection (APR). Twelve percent of the patients in this series had an APR after a failed local excision. The conclusions from this study are: 1) if local excision is attempted, it must be complete, and the patient must be followed closely for many years, and 2) APR is needed in most patients for local control, with the role of subsequent radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy not yet defined.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis. Report of four cases

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is a rare disease in the United States. Correct identification is often delayed because it is not considered early on in the differential diagnosis. Four patients with gastrointestinal tuberculosis and the symptoms, diagnosis, complications, and treatment of the disease are discussed. Gastrointestinal tuberculosis should be considered in Asian immigrant patients who present with symptoms and signs of inflammatory bowel disease.

Malignant melanoma of the anorectum

Melanoma is a virulent tumor that can be widely disseminated and is generally incurable even when the primary growth is small. Review of the cases of 34 patients with primary melanoma of the anorectum, with follow-up ranging from two to five years, suggests that improvement in survival depends on acute surgical awareness and aggressive surgical intervention.

Autophosphorylation of rabbit skeletal muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase I catalytic subunit

The catalytic subunit of rabbit skeletal muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase I can catalyze self-phosphorylation. The autophosphorylation reaction uses ATP as the phosphoryl donor, requires Mg2+, and is inhibited by polyarginine. Prior treatment of the catalytic subunit with Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase in the presence of bovine serum albumin greatly enhances the autophosphorylation of the subunit. The protein-bound phosphate is stable in acid but labile in base. Incubation of the 32P-labeled phosphoenzyme with histones led neither to the phosphorylation of histones nor to a loss of radioactivity from the phosphoenzyme. The results suggest that the phosphoenzyme does not represent an intermediate of the phosphotransferase reaction.