Project description:Oligodendrogliomas are typically associated with the most favorable prognosis among diffuse gliomas. However, many of the tumors progress, eventually leading to patient death. To characterize the changes associated with oligodendroglioma recurrence and progression, we analyzed two recurrent oligodendroglioma tumors upon diagnosis and after tumor relapse based on whole-genome and RNA sequencing. Relapsed tumors were diagnosed as glioblastomas with an oligodendroglioma component before the World Health Organization classification update in 2016. Both patients died within 12 months after relapse. One patient carried an inactivating POLE mutation leading to a clearly hypermutated progressed tumor. Strikingly, both relapsed tumors carried focal chromosomal rearrangements in PTPRD and CNTNAP2 genes with associated decreased gene expression. TP53 mutation was also detected in both patients after tumor relapse. In The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) diffuse glioma cohort, PTPRD expression decreased by tumor grade in all diffuse glioma subtypes, while CNTNAP2 expression was associated with diffuse glioma subtypes and with tumor grade in oligodendrogliomas and IDH wild-type astrocytomas. Low expression of the genes was associated with poor overall survival. Our analysis provides information about aggressive oligodendrogliomas with worse prognosis and suggests that PTPRD and CNTNAP2 expression could represent an informative marker for their stratification.
Project description:Oligodendrogliomas are typically associated with the most favorable prognosis among diffuse gliomas. However, many of the tumors progress, eventually leading to patient death. To characterize the changes associated with oligodendroglioma recurrence and progression, we analyzed two recurrent oligodendroglioma tumors upon diagnosis and after tumor relapse based on whole-genome and RNA sequencing. Relapsed tumors were diagnosed as glioblastomas with an oligodendroglioma component before the World Health Organization classification update in 2016. Both patients died within 12 months after relapse. One patient carried an inactivating POLE mutation leading to a clearly hypermutated progressed tumor. Strikingly, both relapsed tumors carried focal chromosomal rearrangements in PTPRD and CNTNAP2 genes with associated decreased gene expression. TP53 mutation was also detected in both patients after tumor relapse. In The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) diffuse glioma cohort, PTPRD and CNTNAP2 expression decreased by tumor grade in oligodendrogliomas and PTPRD expression also in IDH-mutant astrocytomas. Low expression of the genes was associated with poor overall survival. Our analysis provides information about aggressive oligodendrogliomas with worse prognosis and suggests that PTPRD and CNTNAP2 expression could represent an informative marker for their stratification.
Project description:CNTNAP2 has two isoforms with clear evidence of expression: CNTNAP2-201 and CNTNAP2-203. Extensive research has centered on the full-length CNTNAP2-201, as a neuronal adhesion molecule, due to its association with numerous neurodevelopmental disorders, the role of CNTNAP2-203 in disease pathology has remained largely unexplored. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major malignancy in the head and neck region with high mortality and morbidity, partially due to a limited understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying its onset and progression. This study reveals that CNTNAP2-203 mRNA and protein levels are significantly elevated in OSCC tissues compared to their adjacent normal tissues, and high CNTNAP2-203 expression is closely associated with worsened clinical outcomes in OSCC patients. Functionally, CNTNAP2-203 plays a role in driving OSCC cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo by modulating E2F1 activity. Mechanistically, CNTNAP2-203 interacts with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and amplifies EGFR signal activities, promoting OSCC tumorigenesis through the EGFR-E2F1 axis. Notably, OSCC cells with elevated CNTNAP2-203 demonstrate increased sensitivity to Gefitinib, either alone or in combination with Cisplatin, suggesting patients with high CNTNAP2-203 levels may achieve better outcomes when treated with such regimens. Therefore, this study not only elucidates the pathogenic role of CNTNAP2-203 in OSCC but also highlights the potential of using CNTNAP2-203 as a biomarker for guiding therapeutic strategies in OSCC management.
Project description:Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder where patients have impaired social behavior and communication, and restricted interests. Although various studies have been carried out to unveil the mechanisms associated with ASD, its pathophysiology is still poorly understood. Genetic variants on CNTNAP2 have been found and considered representative ASD genetic risk factors, and disruption of Cntnap2 causes ASD phenotypes in mice. Here, we performed an integrative multi-omics analysis by combining quantitative proteometabolomics data of Cntnap2 knockout (KO) mice with multi-omics data from ASD patients and forebrain organoids to elucidate Cntnap2-dependent molecular networks of ASD. First, we found Cntnap2-associated molecular signatures and cellular processes by conducting mass spectrometry-based proteometabolomic analysis of the medial prefrontal cortex of the Cntnap2 KO mouse model. Then, we narrowed these identified processes into bona fide ASD molecular processes by incorporating multi-omics data of ASD patients' prefrontal cortex. Further, we mapped cell-type-specific ASD networks by reanalyzing single-cell RNA-seq data of forebrain organoids derived from patients with CNTNAP2 mutation. Finally, we constructed a Cntnap2-associated ASD network model consisting of mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal impairment, and synaptic activity. Our results may shed light on understanding of the Cntnap2-dependent molecular networks of ASD.
Project description:Accelerated brain development is a unique feature of the human species. Not only the size but also morphology, in particular the connections between frontal cortex and basal ganglia distinguish the human brain from great apes and other primates. Recent findings suggest that structural features which may be important for language acquisition are influenced by FOXP2, key regulator of CNTNAP2. CNTNAP2 is one of the largest genes in the human genome, encompassing 2.3 Mb. It encodes a neurexin with essential roles in the vertebrate nervous system. The aim of our study was to compare the methylation patterns of CNTNAP2 in human and chimpanzee brains, assuming that epigenetic regulation is essential for brain development and human language abilities. To this end, we designed a NimbleGen tiling array covering the entire human CNTNAP2 gene plus 0.1 Mb up- and downstream flanking sequence with an average resolution of 13 bp. Methylated DNA ImmunoPreciptation (MeDIP) was used to enrich cytosine-methylated DNA fragments for downstream analysis with high-resolution tiling arrays. MeDIP-based CNTNAP2 methylation profiling
Project description:Accelerated brain development is a unique feature of the human species. Not only the size but also morphology, in particular the connections between frontal cortex and basal ganglia distinguish the human brain from great apes and other primates. Recent findings suggest that structural features which may be important for language acquisition are influenced by FOXP2, key regulator of CNTNAP2. CNTNAP2 is one of the largest genes in the chimpanzee genome, encompassing 2.5 Mb. It encodes a neurexin with essential roles in the vertebrate nervous system. The aim of our study was to compare the methylation patterns of CNTNAP2 in human and chimpanzee brains, assuming that epigenetic regulation is essential for brain development and human language abilities. To this end, we designed a NimbleGen tiling array covering the entire chimpanzee CNTNAP2 gene plus 0.1 Mb up- and downstream flanking sequence with an average resolution of 13 bp. Methylated DNA ImmunoPreciptation (MeDIP) was used to enrich cytosine-methylated DNA fragments for downstream analysis with high-resolution tiling arrays. MeDIP-based CNTNAP2 methylation profiling
Project description:We queried the expression of CNTNAP2 in Ngn2-induced neurons from each member of this family trio, hypothesizing that heterozygous intragenic deletions may affect the expression of CNTNAP2.
Project description:We examined whether adult heterozygous mice (Cntnap2+/-; phenotypically normal) subjected to an early-life stress would have social-related deficits and disruptions in 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), similar to the Cntnap2-/-.
Project description:Accelerated brain development is a unique feature of the human species. Not only the size but also morphology, in particular the connections between frontal cortex and basal ganglia distinguish the human brain from great apes and other primates. Recent findings suggest that structural features which may be important for language acquisition are influenced by FOXP2, key regulator of CNTNAP2. CNTNAP2 is one of the largest genes in the chimpanzee genome, encompassing 2.5 Mb. It encodes a neurexin with essential roles in the vertebrate nervous system. The aim of our study was to compare the methylation patterns of CNTNAP2 in human and chimpanzee brains, assuming that epigenetic regulation is essential for brain development and human language abilities. To this end, we designed a NimbleGen tiling array covering the entire chimpanzee CNTNAP2 gene plus 0.1 Mb up- and downstream flanking sequence with an average resolution of 13 bp. Methylated DNA ImmunoPreciptation (MeDIP) was used to enrich cytosine-methylated DNA fragments for downstream analysis with high-resolution tiling arrays.
Project description:Accelerated brain development is a unique feature of the human species. Not only the size but also morphology, in particular the connections between frontal cortex and basal ganglia distinguish the human brain from great apes and other primates. Recent findings suggest that structural features which may be important for language acquisition are influenced by FOXP2, key regulator of CNTNAP2. CNTNAP2 is one of the largest genes in the human genome, encompassing 2.3 Mb. It encodes a neurexin with essential roles in the vertebrate nervous system. The aim of our study was to compare the methylation patterns of CNTNAP2 in human and chimpanzee brains, assuming that epigenetic regulation is essential for brain development and human language abilities. To this end, we designed a NimbleGen tiling array covering the entire human CNTNAP2 gene plus 0.1 Mb up- and downstream flanking sequence with an average resolution of 13 bp. Methylated DNA ImmunoPreciptation (MeDIP) was used to enrich cytosine-methylated DNA fragments for downstream analysis with high-resolution tiling arrays.