Dataset Information

Gene expression analysis of human medulloblastoma and neural stem cells

ABSTRACT: Medulloblastoma is the most common form of malignant paediatric brain tumour and is the leading cause of childhood cancer related mortality. The four molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma that have been identified – WNT, SHH, Group 3 and Group 4 - have molecular and topographical characteristics suggestive of different cells of origin. Definitive identification of the cell(s) of origin of the medulloblastoma subgroups, particularly the poorer prognosis Group 3 and Group 4 medulloblastoma, is critical to understand the pathogenesis of the disease, and ultimately for the development of more effective treatment options. The gene expression profiles of normal human neural tissues and cell types representing a broad neuro-developmental continuum, were compared to those of two independent cohorts of primary human medulloblastoma specimens. Total RNAwas extracted from 19 human primary medulloblastoma specimens, one human normal fetal brain (NFB) sample consisting of total RNA pooled from 50 individuals (embryonic week 22-33), two normal human fetal germinal matrix (NFGM) samples obtained from the lateral sub-ventricular zones of two 16 week old male fetuses, and CD133+ neural stem cells and CD133- neural progenitor cells isolated from embryonic stem cell derived neurospheres from three individuals. Gene expression profiling was carried out using Affymetrix U133A genechips.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Carter Kim

PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-62600 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in children and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality and morbidity. Several molecular sub-types of MB have been identified, suggesting they may arise from distinct cells of origin. Data from animal models indicate that some MB sub-types arise from multipotent cerebellar neural stem cells (NSCs). Hence, microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of primary MB samples were compared to CD133+ NSCs, aiming to identify deregulated miRNAs involved in MB pathogenesis. Expression profiling of 662 miRNAs in primary MB specimens, MB cell lines, and human CD133+ NSCs and CD133- neural progenitor cells was performed by qRT-PCR. Clustering analysis identified two distinct sub-types of MB primary specimens, reminiscent of sub-types obtained from their mRNA profiles. 21 significantly up-regulated and 12 significantly down-regulated miRNAs were identified in MB primary specimens relative to CD133+ NSCs (p<0.01). The majority of up-regulated miRNAs mapped to chromosomal regions 14q32 and 17q. Integration of the predicted targets of deregulated miRNAs with mRNA expression data from the same specimens revealed enrichment of pathways regulating neuronal migration, nervous system development and cell proliferation. Transient over-expression of a down-regulated miRNA, miR-935, resulted in significant down-regulation of three of the seven predicted miR-935 target genes at the mRNA level in a MB cell line, confirming the validity of this approach. This study represents the first integrated analysis of MB miRNA and mRNA expression profiles and is the first to compare MB miRNA expression profiles to those of CD133+ NSCs. We identified several differentially expressed miRNAs that potentially target networks of genes and signaling pathways that may be involved in the transformation of normal NSCs to brain tumor stem cells. Based on this integrative approach, our data provide an important platform for future investigations aimed at characterizing the role of specific miRNAs in MB pathogenesis.

Project description:Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. The aim of our study was to understand which mechanisms are involved in aberrant activation of Wnt pathway and its association with MB tumor development. We studied the expression profiles of 19 MBs tumors using a genome-wide approach, furthermore we have included the data obtained from four independent public Datasets of gene expression (see README file below) to increase the statistical power of the study. The expression profiles identified the Wnt inhibitor gene, DKK3, significant down-regulated. DKK3 down-regulation was confirmed by qPCR in 80% of samples (27/33 MB tumors and in 3/5 MB human cell lines). Since DKK3 was found methylated in several cancers we also investigated the status of methylated CpG sites within the three promoters by a combination of two approaches: the MSP and pyrosequencing. MSP showed no methylation in all promoters while the pyrosequencing, a quantitative technique, indicated a very low level of methylation. To verify the epigenetic involvement on DKK3 silencing, we also studied the effect of Trichostatin A (TSA) in 4 MB cell lines (DAOY; D283; D425; D458). After TSA treatment we observed a significant DKK3 mRNA expression increase in 3/4 cell lines compared to the no treated cells. DAOY cells, that have a normal DKK3 expression value, did not change significantly the DKK3 expression after TSA treatment. To further validate the role of histone tail modifications as an epigenetic silencing mechanism for DKK3 in MB, we performed Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiment using antibodies against acetylated histones. According to our earlier results, TSA treatment increased the signal of the histone modification meH3K4 which is related to a transcriptionally active gene respect to the untreated controls. Finally, we evaluated the DKK3 protein in three MB cell lines (DAOY; D283; D425) after 24h of TSA treatment, by immunofluorescence. We analysed 19 Medulloblastoma tumor from pediatric patients, a commercial pool (Clontech) of 24 normal cerebellum from female and male Caucasians (ages: 16-70 years; cause of death: sudden death) and a pool of 10 normal cerebellum from children (6 Caucasians and 4 African Americans; ages: 0-16 years; cause of death: sudden death) using 44K whole genome oligonucleotids microarray

Dataset Information

Gene expression analysis of human medulloblastoma and neural stem cells

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets