Project description:Microarray-based gene expression analysis identified genes differentially expressed in 10 glioblastoma spheroid cultures compared to a non-neoplastic spheroid culture isolated from the bulbus olfactorius In this study, a set of 10 glioblastoma spheroid cultures was used to acquire expression profiles of a total of 17 093 transcripts, leading to the identification of differentially expressed genes compared to a non-neoplastic brain spheroid culture
Project description:Malignant glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor with a dismal prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Genomic profiling of GBM samples in the TCGA database has identified four molecular subtypes (Proneural, Neural, Classical and Mesenchymal), which may arise from different glioblastoma stem-like cell (GSC) populations. In the present study, we identify two GSC populations that produce GBM tumors by subcutaneous and intracranial injection with identical histological features. Gene expression analysis revealed that xenografts of GSCs grown as spheroid cultures had a Classical molecular subtype similar to that of bulk tumor cells. In contrast xenografts of GSCs grown as adherent cultures on laminin-coated plates expressed a Mesenchymal gene signature. Adherent GSC-derived xenografts had high STAT3 and ANGPTL4 expression as well as enrichment for stem cell markers, transcriptional networks and pro-angiogenic markers characteristic of the Mesenchymal subtype. Examination of clinical samples from GBM patients showed that STAT3 expression was directly correlated with ANGPTL4 expression, and that increased expression of these genes correlated with poor patient survival and performance. A pharmacological STAT3 inhibitor abrogated STAT3 binding to the ANGPTL4 promoter and exhibited anticancer activity in vivo. Taken together, we identified two distinct GSC populations that produce histologically identical tumors but with very different gene expression patterns, and a STAT3/ ANGPTL4 pathway in glioblastoma that may serve as a target for therapeutic intervention. 2 samples of each variable were analyzed. Cells were cultured under normal adherent conditon (Bulk tumor cells), non-adherent plates with stem cell medium (Sp-GSC) or laminin-coated plates with stem cell medium (Ad-GSC). Xenografts were generated in NSG mice by subcutaneous inoculation.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (21-25 nucleotide in length) non-coding RNA molecules that negatively regulate protein expression. They are linked to cancer development and maintenance. In this work, studying gene expression profiles of 340 mammalian miRNAs with DNA microarrays, we selected 10 miRNAs gene features able to distinguish primary from secondary glioblastoma type; furthermore we verified that miR-21 and miR-155 up-regulatation seems to characterize the glioblastoma tumour state since it was found up-regulated in all samples analyzed compared to adult brain noneoplastic tissue. Since miR-21 function in glioblastoma cells was addressed previously we concentrated our efforts on miR-155 function. We found that miR-155 levels were markedly elevated both in primary and secondary glioblastomas tumours, in glioblastoma cell cultures and in 4 glioblastoma cell lines (U87, A172, LN229, and LN308) compared with adult brain tissue, CHP212-neuroblastoma cell lines and DAOY-1-medulloblastoma cell line. Since one of the miR-155 target was gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor (GABRA1) we verified if there was a relation between miR-155 up-regulation and GABRA1 expression. We demonstrated that, in cultured glioblastoma cells, knockdown of miR-155, which lower miR-155 expression to normal level, restore the normal expression of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor (GABRA1), making glioblastoma cells responsive to GABA cell cycle inhibiting signals. Our data suggest that aberrantly over-expressed miR-155 contribute to the malignant phenotype of the glioblastoma cells, promoting their unlimited growth. Keywords: miRNA expression profile We studied the expression profiles of 340 miRNAs in 97 glioblastoma tissues, of which 66 were primary glioblastomas and 27 were secondary glioblastomas. We have 66 replicates of primary glioblastoma and 27 replicates of secondary glioblastoma, each hybridized with the respective adult non-neoplastic brain tissue as a control.
Project description:Development of model systems that recapitulate the molecular heterogeneity observed amongst GBM tumors will expedite the testing of targeted molecular therapeutic strategies for GBM treatment. In this study, we profiled DNA copy number and mRNA expression in 21 independent GBM tumor lines maintained as subcutaneous xenografts (GBMX), and compared GBMX molecular signatures to those observed in GBM clinical specimens derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The predominant copy number signature in both tumor groups was defined by chromosome-7-gain/chromosome-10-loss, a poor prognosis genetic signature. We also observed, at frequencies similar to that detected in TCGA GBMs genomic amplification and overexpression of known GBM oncogenes such as EGFR, MDM2, CDK6 and MYCN, and novel genes including NUP107, SLC35E3, MMP1, MMP13 and DDX1. The transcriptional signature of GBMX tumors, which was stable over multiple subcutaneous passages, was defined by overexpression of genes involved in M-phase, DNA Replication, and Chromosome organization (MRC) and was highly similar to the poor-prognosis mitosis-and-cell-cycle-module (MCM) in GBM. Assessment of gene expression in TCGA-derived GBMs revealed overexpression of MRC cancer genes AURKB, BIRC5, CCNB1, CCNB2, CDC2, CDK2, and FOXM1, which form a transcriptional network important for G2/M- progression and/or -checkpoint activation. In conclusion, our study supports propagation of GBM tumors as subcutaneous xenografts as a useful approach for sustaining key molecular characteristics of patient tumors, and highlights therapeutic opportunities conferred by this GBMX tumor panel for testing targeted therapeutic strategies for GBM treatment. Keywords: Disease state analysis RNA expression was assessed in 38 samples: 34 GBM xenograft tumors (29 independent tumors with hybridization replicates for 5 tumors) and 4 non-neoplastic control brain samples
Project description:We performed scATAC-seq on glioblastoma tissue samples taken at time of recurrence to map the global chromatin profiles of glioblastoma cells and associated non-neoplastic cells