Retinoic acid pathway activity in Wilms tumors and characterization of biological responses in vitro
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ABSTRACT: Wilms tumor (WT) is one of the most common malignancies in childhood. With current therapy protocols up to 90 % of patients can be cured, but there is still a need to improve therapy for patients with aggressive WT and to reduce treatment intensity where possible. Prior data suggested deregulation of the retinoic acid (RA) pathway in high-risk WT. This could be validated in a large independent tumor set. Reduced RA pathway activity and MYCN overexpression were found in high risk tumors as opposed to tumors with low/intermediate risk, suggesting a beneficial impact of RA on advanced WT. To investigate the possible mode of action of retinoids as a novel therapeutic agent we treated primary tumor cell cultures with all-trans-RA (ATRA), 9cis-RA, fenretinide and combinations of retinoids and a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. Genes deregulated in high risk tumors showed opposite changes upon treatment suggesting a positive effect of retinoids. 6/7 primary cultures tested reduced proliferation, irrespective of prior RA signaling levels. The only variant culture was derived from mesoblastic nephroma, a distinct childhood kidney neoplasm. Retinoid / HDAC inhibitor combinations provided no synergistic effect. ATRA and 9cis-RA induced morphological changes suggestive of differentiation, while fenretinide induced apoptosis in several cultures tested. Microarray analysis of ATRA treated WT cells revealed differential expression of many genes involved in extracellular matrix formation and osteogenic, neuronal or muscle differentiation. Although some of the effects appear to be reversible, these findings provide further evidence of a potential utility of retinoids in Wilms tumor treatment.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE28807 | GEO | 2012/04/21
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA138801
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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