Project description:Molecular signatures to improve diagnosis in PTCL and prognostication in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL). Gene expression profiling of PTCL patient samples was performed to investigate whether molecular signatures can be used to identify distinct entities of PTCL.
Project description:Molecular signatures to improve diagnosis in PTCL and prognostication in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL). Gene expression profiling of PTCL patient samples was performed to investigate whether molecular signatures can be used to identify distinct entities of PTCL. Gene expression profiling was performed on PTCL and natural-killer cell lymphoma (NKCL) to define molecular classifiers for the more common entities of PTCL, to identify unique entities within PTCL-U, to elucidate unique tumor and microenvironmental interactions and oncogenic pathways in AITL, and to construct a molecular prognosticator for AITL.
Project description:Recurrent gain-of-function mutations in the transcription factor STAT5 have been detected in PTCL, an aggressive, heterogeneous disease, for which currently no targeted therapy exists. Here we investigated whether constitutive activation of STAT5 suffices to drive PTCL and whether inhibition of the JAK/STAT pathway offers a novel therapeutic opportunity in this disease. We found pronounced STAT5 expression and activity in patients from different PTCL subsets. To mimic high STAT5 activity we expressed a hyperactive STAT5A variant (termed vcS5) in the hematopoietic lineage in transgenic mice. vcS5-transgenic animals developed a lethal PTCL-like disease with full penetrance, characterized by massive expansion of CD8+ T-cells and destructive organ-infiltration. Adoptive transfer of vcS5-expressing CD8+ T-cell rapidly induced the disease in immunocompetent recipient mice. Neoplastic vcS5-T-cells displayed cytokine-hypersensitivity and showed activated, memory CD8+ T-lymphocyte characteristics. Histo-pathological analysis as well as mRNA expression profiles of vcS5 mice was closely correlated with distinct human lymphoma subtypes, including PTCL. Treatment of murine and human PTCL cell lines with the clinical JAK inhibitor Ruxolitinib or a selective STAT5 SH2 domain inhibitor induced cell death. Thus, our results demonstrate that enhanced STAT5 signaling drives PTCL development and suggest inhibition of the JAK/STAT5 pathway as a valuable therapeutic option for patients suffering from these aggressive lymphomas.
Project description:Some infectious agents are associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma development. Here we have used p53-deficient mice chronically injected with Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) with the aim to develop an animal model of infection-associated lymphomagenesis. We show that repeated stimulations with heat-killed Spn significantly enhanced the incidence of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in these mice. Phenotypic studies and gene expression profile analyses indicate that these PTCL arose from chronically stimulated natural killer T (NKT) cells, a T cell lineage that exhibits unique properties. Furthermore, lymphoma development was blocked when these PTCL were transferred to recipients lacking CD1d expression or treated with blocking CD1d mAbs, thus demonstrating that in vivo TCR/CD1d interactions are required for these PTCL survival. In conclusion, we have identified a new entity of peripheral T-cell lymphoma that originates from CD1d-restricted natural killer T (NKT) cells. Our results could refine the classification of PTCL and pave the way for the development of new immunotherapeutic approaches.
Project description:Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma cases along with normal T-cells were subjected to gene expression profiling by means of a DASL array. The cases included both PTCL/NOS and Lennert Lymphoma.
Project description:The molecular biology of the primary nodal EBV-positive variant of PTCL (PTCL-EBV) and its relationship with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) remains poorly understood. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the three diseases using gene and EBV miRNA expression profiling, and copy number aberration (CNA) analyses and attempted to characterize the degree of genomic instability (GI). This series is the oncoscan CNA data of 77 NKTL samples.