Project description:Voltage sensitive potassium channels play an important role in controlling membrane potential and ionic homeostasis in the gut and have been implicated in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Through large scale analysis of 897 patients with Gastro-oesophageal adenocarcincomas (GOA) coupled with in vitro models, we find KCNQ family genes are mutated in ~30% of patients, and play therapeutically targetable roles in GOA cancer growth. KCNQ1 and KCNQ3 mediate the WNT pathway and MYC to increase proliferation through resultant effects on cadherins junctions. This also highlights novel roles for KCNQ3 in non-excitable tissues. We additionally discover that activity of KCNQ3 sensitises cancer cells to existing potassium channel inhibitors, and that inhibition of KCNQ activity reduces proliferation of GOA cancer cells. These findings reveal a novel and exploitable role for potassium channels in the advancement of human cancer, and highlight that supplemental treatments for GOAs may exist through KCNQ inhibitors.
2023-09-13 | GSE242782 | GEO
Project description:Comparative analysis of microbiomes diversity from different mangrove species in Goa, India.
Project description:Halophiles are relatively unexplored as potential sources of novel species. However, little is known about the culturable bacterial diversity thrive in hypersaline lakes. In this work, a total of 343 bacteria from sediment samples of Aiding Lake, China, were isolated using nine different media supplemented with 5% or 15% (w/v) NaCl. The number of species and genera of bacteria recovered from the different media varied, indicating the need to optimize the isolation conditions. The results showed an unexpected level of bacterial diversity, with four phyla (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Rhodothermaeota), fourteen orders (Actinopolysporales, Alteromonadales, Bacillales, Balneolales, Chromatiales, Glycomycetales, Jiangellales, Micrococcales, Micromonosporales, Oceanospirillales, Pseudonocardiales, Rhizobiales, Streptomycetales, and Streptosporangiales), including 17 families, 43 genera (including two novel genera), and 71 species (including four novel species). The predominant phyla included Actinobacteria and Firmicutes and the predominant genera included Actinopolyspora, Gracilibacillus, Halomonas, Nocardiopsis, and Streptomyces. To our knowledge, this is the first time that members of phylum Rhodothermaeota were identified in sediment samples from a salt lake.