Project description:Primary mielofibrosis (PMF) is a rare chronic myeloproliferative disorder characterized by the accumulation of abnormal megakaryocytes (Mks) in the bone marrow (BM), variable degrees of BM fibrosis, osteosclerosis and angiogenesis, immature myeloid and erythroid cells, and tear-drop erythrocytes in the peripheral blood (PB), and extramedullary hematopoiesis. The identification of the JAK2V617F mutation represented a seminal discovery in the field of Philadelphia-chromosome–negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), providing clues to the pathogenesis, prompting a revision of the diagnostic criteria, and culminating in the development of clinical trials with JAK2 (and JAK1) inhibitors. The JAK2V617F mutation occurs in almost all patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and in 50%-70% of those with essential thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Soon after the identification of the JAK2V617F mutation, mutations in JAK2 exon 12 were described in rare patients with JAK2V617F-negative PV and mutations in MPL were reported in 5%-10% of ET or PMF subjects. The complexity of the molecular pathogenesis of MPNs is reinforced by discovery of additional mutations in TET2, ASXL1, CBL, IDH1/IDH2, EZH2 and IKZF1. These mutations are detected in a minority of patients at different phases of the disorder, including leukemic transformation, and are variably associated each other and with JAK2 or MPL mutations. In order to better characterize biological differences between mutated and wild-type PMF cell populations we performed a gene expression profiling on 9 samples carrying at least one mutation in ASXL1, SRSF2 or EZH2 genes and 11 wild-type samples using the Affymetrix GeneChip technology. After data preprocessing and filtering a supervised analysis approach was used to define a gene expression signature for mutated samples. PMF samples carrying at least one mutation in ASXL1, SRSF2 or EZH2 genes exhibit a specific molecular signature as compared with WT samples. Gene expression profile (GEP) of CD34+ cells from 20 PMF patients (1 replicate for each sample). In particular, GEP was performed on 9 samples carrying at least one mutation in ASXL1, SRSF2 or EZH2 genes and 11 wild-type samples.

Project description:Ph-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are characterized by many somatic mutations which have already been shown useful in the prognostic assessment of MPN patients. Moreover, aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression seems to add to the molecular complexity of MPNs, as specific miRNA signatures capable of discriminating MPN cells from those of normal donors were previously reported. In order to have a comprehensive picture of miRNA deregulation and its relationship with differential gene expression in primary myelofibrosis (PMF) cells, we obtained gene- (GEP) and miRNA expression profiles (miEP) of CD34+ cells from 31 healthy donors and 42 PMF patients using Affymetrix technology (HG-U219 and miRNA 2.0 arrays). Differentially expressed genes (DEG) and miRNAs (DEM) were sorted out by means of Partek Genomic Suite vs 6.6. Since each miRNA can target many mRNAs while a single mRNA can be targeted by multiple miRNAs, we performed Integrative Analysis (IA) by means of Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to untangle this combinatorial complexity. In particular, IPA points out DEM-DEG pairs among experimentally validated interactions from TarBase, miRecords and Ingenuity Expert Findings as well as predicted microRNA-mRNA interactions from TargetScan. IPA microRNA Target Filter was then employed to select only the DEM-DEG pairs showing an anti-correlated expression pattern and to build regulatory networks. Finally, 3'UTR luciferase reporter assays were performed to validate IPA predicted miRNA-mRNA interactions. This study allowed the identification of different networks possibly involved in PMF onset and progression, highlighting an aberrant cross-regulation in miRNA-targets involved in malignant hematopoiesis. Furthermore, Integrative analysis was proved a powerful tool to unravel miRNA-mRNA interactions in functional networks, shedding light on the potential contribution of miRNAs to PMF pathogenesis. Gene expression profile (GEP) and miRNA expression profile (miEP) were performed starting from the same totalRNA of CD34+ cells from 42 PMF patients and 31 healthy donors (n=16 PB CD34+, n=15 BM CD34+) (1 replicate for each sample). In particular, GEP and miEP were performed on 23 PMF patients carrying the mutation JAK2V617F and 19 wild-type samples.

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