Project description:NK-cell lymphoma shares strikingly similar molecular features with a distinct subset of gamma-delta T-cell lymphoma. Gene expression profiling of NK-cell lymphoma patient samples was performed to investigate whether molecular signatures can be used to identify entities of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) with NK-cell-like features. Gene expression profiling was performed on NK-cell maligancies to examine extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) and aggressive NK-cell leukemia (ANKL) and well-characterized cell lines of NK- and T-cell lineages to define molecular classifiers that can distinguish ENKTL from other lymphomas.
Project description:To investigate if biologically distinct subsets exists in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL), we performed unsupervised integrative analyses of gene expression profiling (GEP), miRNA profiling, and copy number aberration (CNA) on 66 cases of NKTL from diverse anatomical sites. This series is the CNA of 23 supplementary cases.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.