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Apoptosis, autophagy and senescence protect BRAFV600E nevi from malignant transformation

ABSTRACT: The oncogenic mutation BRAFV600E is a common event in nevi and melanomas, which are aggressive skin tumors characterized by MAPK signaling pathway activation. It has been observed that mutated benign melanocytic lesions can remain unchanged for decades, but also proliferate or undergo oncogene-induced senescence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of a gene expression signature in BRAFV600E mutated nevi compared to wild-type ones, all derived from sun exposed sites. Microdissected tissues from excisional biopsies of acquired nevi were analyzed to detect the presence of BRAF and NRAS mutations and to profile whole genome expression by means of oligonucleotide microarrays. BRAFV600E mutation was evidenced in 64% of nevi, while no NRAS mutations were detected. Functional analysis of genes differentially expressed between wild-type and mutated lesions pointed out the role of oxidative stress in causing the oncogenic BRAF mutation and that the direct consequence of constitutive activation of BRAF-MEK-ERK pathway, in a benign contest, is the activation of apoptosis, autophagy and senescence. Our data also indicate that in mutated lesions, p53 plays a crucial role in the maintenance of the benign status.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE23976 | GEO | 2024/12/31

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA130463

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The oncogenic mutation BRAFV600E is a common event in nevi and melanomas, which are aggressive skin tumors characterized by MAPK signaling pathway activation. It has been observed that mutated benign melanocytic lesions can remain unchanged for decades, but also proliferate or undergo oncogene-induced senescence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of a gene expression signature in BRAFV600E mutated nevi compared to wild-type ones, all derived from sun exposed sites. Microdissected tissues from excisional biopsies of acquired nevi were analyzed to detect the presence of BRAF and NRAS mutations and to profile whole genome expression by means of oligonucleotide microarrays. BRAFV600E mutation was evidenced in 64% of nevi, while no NRAS mutations were detected. Functional analysis of genes differentially expressed between wild-type and mutated lesions pointed out the role of oxidative stress in causing the oncogenic BRAF mutation and that the direct consequence of constitutive activation of BRAF-MEK-ERK pathway, in a benign contest, is the activation of apoptosis, autophagy and senescence. Our data also indicate that in mutated lesions, p53 plays a crucial role in the maintenance of the benign status. In our study, in order to understand the role of BRAF mutation in acquired nevi, we performed gene expression profiling analysis on fourteen lesions derived from intermittently exposed sites, using whole genome oligonucleotide microarrays. Expression data were coupled with sequencing results on BRAF and NRAS genes and class comparison algorithms were applied to detect sequences differentially expressed between BRAFV600E and BRAFwt-NRASwt lesions. Some of the obtained results were further validated by Real-Time RT-PCR on an independent cohort of samples. Mutation analysis evidenced BRAF mutations in 64% of the common acquired nevi. All the mutations consisted in the substitution V600E (T1799A). No alteration was found on exon 11 of the BRAF gene nor on exons 1 and 2 of the NRAS gene, as expected since no lesion came from chronically exposed sites. Transcriptome analysis was carried out using oligo-microarrays and differential expression was tested applying the Linear Models package LIMMA available at www.bioconductor.org that uses Bayesian statistics to compute the probability of a gene being differentially expressed. Only 25 transcripts had B value greater then 2. We then performed a one-way ANOVA, dividing samples into three classes according to their BRAF mutational status (wt, ++, +++) as assessed by pyrosequencing. We found 2882 known transcripts by selecting those with ANOVA p-value<0.01 and increasing or decreasing expression trends along the three classes. Functional analysis was performed using the MetaCoreTM software package to identify overrepresented functional processes. BRAF signature, acquired nevi, gene expression profiling "++ and +++" refer to the percentage of alleles carrying the mutation in the *BRAF*V600E lesions. This has been assessed by pyrosequencing analysis (Venesio et al, 2008. PMID= 18408659).

Project description:Melanocytes within benign human nevi are the paradigm for tumor suppressive senescent cells in a pre-malignant neoplasm. These cells typically contain mutations in either the BRAF or N-RAS oncogene and express markers of senescence, including p16. However, a nevus can contain 10s to 100s of thousands of clonal melanocytes and approximately 20-30% of melanoma are thought to arise in association with a pre-existing nevus. Neither observation is indicative of fail-safe senescence-associated proliferation arrest and tumor suppression. We set out to better understand the status of nevus melanocytes. Proliferation-promoting Wnt target genes, such as cyclin D1 and c-myc, were repressed in oncogene-induced senescent melanocytes in vitro, and repression of Wnt signaling in these cells induced a senescent-like state. In contrast, cyclin D1 and c-myc were expressed in many melanocytes of human benign nevi. Specifically, activated Wnt signalling in nevi correlated inversely with nevus maturation, an established dermatopathological correlate of clinical benignancy. Single cell analyses of lone epidermal melanocytes and nevus melanocytes showed that expression of proliferation-promoting Wnt targets correlates with prior proliferative expansion of p16-expressing nevus melanocytes. In a mouse model, activation of Wnt signaling delayed, but did not bypass, senescence of oncogene-expressing melanocytes, leading to massive accumulation of proliferation-arrested, p16-positive non-malignant melanocytes. We conclude that clonal hyperproliferation of oncogene-expressing melanocytes to form a nevus is facilitated by transient delay of senescence due to activated Wnt signaling. The observation that activation of Wnt signaling correlates inversely with nevus maturation, an indicator of clinical benignancy, supports the notion that persistent destabilization of senescence by Wnt signaling contributes to the malignant potential of nevi. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression after lentiviral infection of BRAF in 3 replicates. Primary human melanocytes were infected/uninfected with lentivirus containing either an Empty Vector or activated BRAFV600E mutant in three biological replicates

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Apoptosis, autophagy and senescence protect BRAFV600E nevi from malignant transformation

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