Project description:Purpose: The uncommonness of gallbladder cancer in the developed world has contributed to the generally poor understanding of the disease. The development of new and effective treatment has been and continues to be a major public health imperative. Methods: We report mutational and copy number analysis of 44 predominantly early-staged gallbladder tumors and 5-gallbladder cancer cell lines by a combination of directed and whole exome sequencing at an average coverage of 100X and above. Using gallbladder cancer cell lines and xenograft mouse models we performed phospho-proteome array profiling, followed by an in-depth functional characterization. Results: We describe recurrent activating ERBB2 somatic mutation in 6 of 44 gallbladder primary tumors with an overall mutation frequency of 13%, along with KRAS activating mutations in 3 of 44 samples. Consistent with whole exome findings, a phospho-proteomic array profile of 49-tyrosine kinase revealed constitutive phosphorylation of ERBB2 and EGFR that were found to heterodimerize. We demonstrate that treatment with ERBB2-specific, EGFR-specific shRNA or with covalent EGFR family inhibitor BIBW-2992 inhibits transformation, survival, migration, invasion, and tumor forming characteristics of gallbladder cancer cells harboring wild type or KRAS (G13D) but not KRAS (G12V) mutation. Furthermore, we show in vivo reduction in tumor size is paralleled by a reduction in the amounts of phospho-ERK in KRAS (G13D) but not in KRAS (G12V) xenografts, validating the in vitro findings Conclusion: Findings from this study implicate ERBB2 as an important therapeutic target in early stage gallbladder cancer. We also present the first evidence that the presence of KRAS (G12V), but not KRAS (G13D) mutation, may preclude gallbladder cancer patients to respond to anti-EGFR treatment, similar to the clinical algorithm commonly practiced to opt for anti-EGFR treatment in colorectal cancer.
Project description:Whole exome sequencing was performed on set of 48 DNA samples obtained from 16 EGFR mutated NSCLC patients whose tumors progressed following EGFR-TKI treatment. The DNA samples included baseline biopsy, rebiopsy and blood from the same patient. By comparing the variants in rebiopsy tumors and baseline tumors we aim to understand the genomic alterations responsible for the development of EGFR-TKI resistance in NSCLC patients.
Project description:The study involves whole exome sequencing of 20 primary tumors obtained from lung squamous carcinoma patients of Indian origin. With this, we aim to describe the mutational profile of this specific subset of lung cancer patients. This knowledge will further allow us to gain an insight into potentially actionable genomic alterations prevalent in Indian lung squamous carcinoma.
Project description:To characterize the consequences of systemic IL-27R agonism via IL-27 overexpression or IL-27 blockade (αIL-27) on anti-tumor CTL, we performed scRNA-seq of M86 neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cells from MC38 tumors and dLN.
Project description:We generated C57BL/6 mice lacking Bmp10 and/or Bmp9 utilizing the Cre-loxP system. Briefly, Bmp9 constitutive deletion resulted from the replacement of exon 2 by a neomycin resistance cassette. Because Bmp10 deletion leads to early embryonic lethality, we used the tamoxifen-inducible Cre system to generate Bmp10-cKO mice (Rosa26-CreERT2;Bmp10lox/lox) by crossing Rosa26-CreERT2 mice with Bmp10lox/lox mice that possess loxP sites flanking exon 2. To generate double-KO (DKO) mice, we crossed these Rosa26-CreERT2;Bmp10lox/lox mice with Bmp9-KO mice. At the age of 8 weeks, mice were treated with tamoxifen (Sigma) by intraperitoneal injection once a day for 5 days at a dosage of 50 mg/kg. At the age of 5 months, Wild Type and DKO mouse lung tissue was flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C. RNA extraction, RNA sample quality assessment, RNA library preparation, sequencing and raw data analysis were conducted at GENEWIZ, Inc. (South Plainfield, NJ, USA). Total RNA was extracted from frozen tissue using the Qiagen RNeasy Plus Mini kit. RNA samples were quantified using Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and RNA integrity was checked with Agilent TapeStation (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA). rRNA depletion was performed using Ribozero rRNA Removal Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). RNA sequencing library preparation used NEBNext Ultra RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina by following the manufacturer’s recommendations (NEB, Ipswich, MA, USA). Briefly, enriched RNAs were fragmented for 15 minutes at 94 °C. First strand and second strand cDNA were subsequently synthesized. cDNA fragments were end repaired and adenylated at 3’ends, and universal adapter was ligated to cDNA fragments, followed by index addition and library enrichment with limited cycle PCR. Sequencing libraries were validated using the Agilent Tapestation 4200 (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA), and quantified by using Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) as well as by quantitative PCR (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The sequencing libraries were clustered on one lane of a flowcell. After clustering, the flowcell was loaded on the Illumina HiSeq 4000 instrument (or equivalent) according to manufacturer’s instructions. The samples were sequenced using a 2x150 Paired End (PE) configuration. Image analysis and base calling were conducted by the HiSeq Control Software (HCS). Raw sequence data (.bcl files) generated from Illumina HiSeq was converted into fastq files and de-multiplexed using Illumina's bcl2fastq 2.17 software. One mis-match was allowed for index sequence identification. After investigating the quality of the raw data, sequence reads were trimmed to remove possible adapter sequences and nucleotides with poor quality using Trimmomatic v.0.36. The trimmed reads were mapped to the the Mus musculus GRCm38 reference genome available on ENSEMBL using the STAR aligner v.2.5.2b. Gene counts were calculated from uniquely mapped reads using feature Counts from the Subread package v.1.5.2. Only unique reads that fell within exon regions were counted. The gene hit counts table was then used for downstream differential expression analysis. A differential gene expression analysis between WT and DKO groups of samples was performed using the R-package DESeq2 (Wald test).
Project description:In the current study we examined the speed of resistance development in the silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, after selection with either a neonicotinoid (thiacloprid) or pyrethroid (alpha-cypermethrin) insecticide alone or in combination with PBO. We used one control sample with no selection, 2 samples for neonicotinoid (thiacloprid) and Pyrethroid treatment and 2 samples for neonicotinoid (thiacloprid) + PBO and Pyrethroid + PBO treatments. The findings of this study demonstrate that PBO used in combination with certain insecticides can suppress the development of resistance in a laboratory setting.
Project description:AML1-ETO, a fusion protein generated by the t(8;21) translocation in acute myeloid leukemia, is a transcription factor implicated in both gene repression and activation. We now show that, in leukemic cells, AML1-ETO resides in and functions through a stable protein complex (AETFC) that contains several hematopoietic transcription factors and cofactors. In conjunction with biochemical and leukemia pathological studies, the ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analyses of the AETFC components in leukemic cells reveal that these components stabilize the complex through multivalent interactions, provide multiple DNA-binding domains for diverse target genes, colocalize genome-wide, cooperatively regulate gene expression, and contribute to leukemogenesis. RNA-seq analyses gene expression upon knockdown of each AETFC component, including AML1-ETO, HEB, E2A, LYL1, LDB1 and LMO2, and double-knockdown of HEB and E2A, in Kasumi-1 cells. ChIP-seq analyses of four AETFC components, namely AML1-ETO, HEB, E2A and LMO2, in Kasumi-1 cells.
Project description:In the process of seeking novel lung host defense regulators by analyzing genome-wide RNA sequence data from normal human airway epithelium, we detected expression of POU2AF1, a known transcription co-factor previously thought to be expressed only in lymphocytes. Lymphocyte contamination of human airway epithelial samples obtained by bronchoscopy and brushing was excluded by immunohistochemistry staining, the observation of up-regulation of POU2AF1 in purified airway basal stem/progenitor cells undergoing differentiation and analysis of differentiating single basal cell clones. Lentivirus-mediated up-regulation of POU2AF1 in airway basal cells induced up-regulation of host defense genes, including MX1, IFIT3, IFITM and known POU2AF1 downstream genes HLA-DRA, ID2, ID3, IL6, BCL6. Interestingly, expression of these genes paralleled changes of POU2AF1 expression during airway epithelium differentiation in vitro, suggesting POU2AF1 helps to maintain a "host defense tone" even in pathogen-free condition. Cigarette smoke, a known risk factor for airway infection, suppressed POU2AF1 expression both in vivo in humans and in vitro in human airway epithelial cultures, accompanied by deregulation of POU2AF1 downstream genes. Finally, enhancing POU2AF1 expression in human airway epithelium attenuated the suppression of host defense genes by smoking. Together, these findings suggest a novel function of POU2AF1 as a potential regulator of host defense genes in the human airway epithelium. Methods: Massive parallel RNA sequencing was used to compare the transcriptome of lentivirus mediated POU2AF1 or RFP (control) gene expression in human primary airway epithelial cells (3 samples per group). Uninfected basal cell was used as a further control. Conclusions: The genes up-regulated by POU2AF1 in human airway epithelial cells are mainly related to the intracellular or extracellular anti-pathogen response, suggesting POU2AF1 plays a role in airway epithelial host defense. By genome-wide-based screening, POU2AF1, a known lymphocyte transcription co-factor, was found to be expressed in human airway epithelium and regulate host defense genes. It might be a drug target as smoking-compromised host defense is associated with down-regulation of POU2AF1. In this Series, human airway epithelial cell transcriptomes (3 uninfected without treatment, 3 infected with lenti-RFP virus and 3 infected with lenti-POU2AF1 virus) were compared using massive parallel RNA sequencing (Illumina HiSeq 2000).