Project description:Cellular differentiation and lineage commitment are considered to be robust and irreversible processes during development. Recent work has shown that mouse and human fibroblasts can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state with a combination of four transcription factors. This raised the question of whether transcription factors could directly specify somatic cell fates in cells such as pancreatic ? cells, contractile cardiomyocytes and neurons. We hypothesized that combinatorial expression of chondrocyte-specific transcription factors could directly convert human amnion cells into chondrosarcoma. Starting from a pool of candidate genes, we identified a combination of only five genes (5F pool), BCL6, T (also called BRACHYURY), c-MYC, MITF and BAF60C (also called SMARCD3) that rapidly and efficiently convert postnatal human amnion into chondrosarcoma. The cells generated expressed multiple cartilage-specific genes such as collagen type II ?1, link protein-1 and aggrecan, and exhibited characteristics of cartilage both in vivo and in vitro. Expression of the endogenous genes for T and MITF was initiated, implying that the cell conversion is due to not only the forced expression of the transgenes, but also the cellular reprogramming by the transgenes. The same set of genes converted human placental artery-derived endothelial (hPAE) cells and menstrual blood-derived cells into chondrosarcoma cells, implying that this conversion is independent of cell types. Direct conversion system from non-cartilage tissue to cartilaginous tissue contributes substantially to a major advance toward cartilage development, oncogenesis of chondrocytes, and cell-based therapy. We hypothesized that combinatorial expression of chondrocyte-specific transcription factors could directly convert human amnion cells into chondrosarcoma. Starting from a pool of candidate genes, we identified a combination of only five genes that rapidly efficiently convert postnatal human amnion into chondrosarcoma.
Project description:Chondrosarcoma is the second most common type of bone cancer. At present, the most effective clinical course of action is surgical resection. Cisplatin is the chemotherapeutic medication most widely used for the treatment of chondrosarcoma; however, its effectiveness is severely hampered by drug resistance. In the current study, we compared cisplatin-resistant chondrosarcoma SW1353 cells with their parental cells via RNA sequencing. Our analysis revealed that glutamine metabolism is highly activated in resistant cells but glucose metabolism is not. Amphiregulin (AR), a ligand of the epidermal growth factor receptor, enhances glutamine metabolism and supports cisplatin resistance in human chondrosarcoma by promoting NADPH production and inhibiting ROS accumulation. The MEK, ERK, and NrF2 signaling pathways were shown to regulate AR-mediated SLC1A5 and GLS expression as well as glutamine metabolism in cisplatin-resistant chondrosarcoma. The knockdown of AR expression in cisplatin-resistant chondrosarcoma cells was shown to reduce the expression of SLC1A5 and GLS in vivo. These results indicate that AR and glutamine metabolism are worth pursuing as therapeutic targets in dealing with cisplatin-resistant human chondrosarcoma.
Project description:Cellular differentiation and lineage commitment are considered to be robust and irreversible processes during development. Recent work has shown that mouse and human fibroblasts can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state with a combination of four transcription factors. This raised the question of whether transcription factors could directly specify somatic cell fates in cells such as pancreatic β cells, contractile cardiomyocytes and neurons. We hypothesized that combinatorial expression of chondrocyte-specific transcription factors could directly convert human amnion cells into chondrosarcoma. Starting from a pool of candidate genes, we identified a combination of only five genes (5F pool), BCL6, T (also called BRACHYURY), c-MYC, MITF and BAF60C (also called SMARCD3) that rapidly and efficiently convert postnatal human amnion into chondrosarcoma. The cells generated expressed multiple cartilage-specific genes such as collagen type II α1, link protein-1 and aggrecan, and exhibited characteristics of cartilage both in vivo and in vitro. Expression of the endogenous genes for T and MITF was initiated, implying that the cell conversion is due to not only the forced expression of the transgenes, but also the cellular reprogramming by the transgenes. The same set of genes converted human placental artery-derived endothelial (hPAE) cells and menstrual blood-derived cells into chondrosarcoma cells, implying that this conversion is independent of cell types. Direct conversion system from non-cartilage tissue to cartilaginous tissue contributes substantially to a major advance toward cartilage development, oncogenesis of chondrocytes, and cell-based therapy.
Project description:Next-generation proteomics of proteins from the medium of human cells in culture after incubation with the medium from irradiated chondrosarcoma cells.
Project description:To collect human tissue, blood, and fecal samples from patients suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colorectal Cancer. The samples will be used to establish biomimetic human organ-on-a-chip technology, as well as study the role of the microbiome in the pathogenesis in human gastrointestinal diseases.
Project description:Excessive Hedgehog signaling in chondrocytes is sufficient to cause formation of enchondroma-like lesions in mice which can progress to chondrosarcoma. To elucidate potential mechanisms through which activation of Hedgehog signaling contributes to cartilage tumor formation, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation and next generation sequencing to identify Gli1 and Gli2 target genes in primary human chondrosarcoma. In silico analyses were conducted to identify and characterize Gli1 and Gli2 binding regions, including de novo motif analysis, co-localization with additional transcription factors, distance to transcriptional start site, conservation between human and mouse, and supervised and unsupervised analyses of biological pathways and processes. Our results profile putative unique and overlapping target genes of Gli1 and Gli2 in chondrosarcoma.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of 17 fresh frozen chondrosarcoma biopsies using the Human-6 v2 Expression BeadChip (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). DNA copy number analyses was also performed in these tumors. Keywords: chondrosarcoma, gene expression profiling, Illumina