The p21 RAS subfamily of small GTPases, including KRAS, HRAS, and NRAS, regulates cell proliferation, cytoskeletal organization and other signaling networks, and is the most frequent target of activating mutations in cancer. Activating germline mutations of KRAS and HRAS cause severe developmental abnormalities leading to Noonan, cardio-facial-cutaneous and Costello syndrome, but activating germline mutations of NRAS have not been reported. Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is the most common genetic disease of lymphocyte apoptosis and causes autoimmunity as well as excessive lymphocyte accumulation, particularly of CD4-, CD8- ab T cells. Mutations in ALPS typically affect CD95 (Fas/APO-1)-mediated apoptosis, one of the extrinsic death pathways involving tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily proteins, but certain ALPS individuals have no such mutations. We show here that the salient features of ALPS as well as a predisposition to hematological malignancies can be caused by a heterozygous germline Gly13Asp activating mutation of the NRAS oncogene that does not impair CD95-mediated apoptosis. The increase in active, GTP-bound NRAS augments RAF/MEK/ERK signaling which markedly decreases the pro-apoptotic protein BIM and attenuates intrinsic, nonreceptor-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis. Thus, germline activating mutations in NRAS differ from other p21 Ras oncoproteins by causing selective immune abnormalities without general developmental defects. Our observations on the effects of NRAS activation indicate that RAS-inactivating drugs, such as farnesyl-transferase inhibitors (FTIs) should be examined in human autoimmune and lymphocyte homeostasis disorders.
NRAS mutation causes a human autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome.
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View SamplesBackground: Inter-patient prostate cancer (PrCa) heterogeneity results in highly variable patient outcomes. Multi-purpose biomarkers to dissect this heterogeneity are urgently required to improve treatment and accelerate drug development in PrCa. Circulating biomarkers are most practical for evaluating this disease. We pursued the analytical validation and clinical qualification of blood mRNA expression arrays.
Prognostic value of blood mRNA expression signatures in castration-resistant prostate cancer: a prospective, two-stage study.
Subject
View SamplesPFAPA, the syndrome of periodic fever associated with aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and/or cervical adenitis, is the most common periodic fever disease in children. Cases are mostly sporadic; the etiopathogenesis is unknown.
Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and adenitis (PFAPA) is a disorder of innate immunity and Th1 activation responsive to IL-1 blockade.
Sex, Age, Disease, Disease stage, Subject
View SamplesInflammasomes are intracellular innate immune sensors that respond to pathogen and damage-associated signals with the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-1, resulting in IL-1_ and IL-18 secretion and macrophage pyroptosis. The discovery that heterozygous gain-of-function mutations in NLRP3 lead to oversecretion of IL-1_ and cause the autoinflammatory disease spectrum Cryopyrin Associated Periodic Syndrome (CAPS), led to the successful use of IL-1 blocking therapies1. We found that a de novo missense mutation in the regulatory domain of the NLRC4 (IPAF, CARD12) inflammasome causes early-onset recurrent fever flares and Macrophage Activation Syndrome (MAS). Functional analyses demonstrated spontaneous production of the inflammasome-dependent cytokines IL-1² and IL-18 exceeding levels in CAPS patients. The NLRC4 mutation led to constitutive caspase-1 cleavage in transduced cells and enhanced spontaneous production of IL-18 by both patient and NLRC4 mutant macrophages. Thus, we describe a novel monoallelic inflammasome defect that expands the autoinflammatory paradigm to include MAS and suggests novel targets for therapy. Overall design: Whole blood RNA-seq from seven timepoints of one patient with NLRC4-MAS as compared to five healthy pediatric controls, 7 NOMID patients with active disease prior to anakinra treatment and the same 7 NOMID patients with inactive disease after anakinra treatment. Please note that seven time points are chronologic time point. They are ordinal, in that "1" was drawn before "2", but the distance in time between points is not constant. Thus, time points 4 through 7 correspond to samples drawn while the patient was well AND on treatment. However there may be differences between 4 and 7 pertaining to the length of treatment, and for that reason any of these samples were not considered replicates.
An activating NLRC4 inflammasome mutation causes autoinflammation with recurrent macrophage activation syndrome.
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View SamplesPurpose:This work aimed to identify the genetic profiles of piriform projection neurons and characterize their spatial organization within the piriform cortex. Methods: We microdissected the three layers of pirifrom cortex by laser capture (LMD) and performed RNA deep sequencing in order to identify layer-specific molecular markers, we then validated these data by using RNA in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry.We next performed anterograde neural tracing experiments to identify piriform target regions, and retrograde neural tracing experiments to analyze how piriform projection neurons are organized within piriform cortex.We then combined the analysis of patterns of gene expression with retrograde tracing experiments to identify molecular signatures of the different subclasses of piriform projecting neurons. Results:We show that layers and sub-layers of the piriform cortex can be discriminated by gene expression patterns in adult piriform cortex. We observe that neurons projecting to distinct target areas are localized in distinct layers and express specific genes. We demonstrate that these molecular signatures of piriform projection neurons are maintained in reeler mice, in which cortical lamination is lost and neural positioning is scrambled, suggesting that piriform output connectivity strictly depends on the molecular programm, rather than a proper lamination of the cortex. Conclusion:These results provide important insights into the principles underling the piriform connectivity. Overall design: 3 replicates per each layer (three layers) of piriform cotrex were used for the RNA deep sequancing
Molecular signatures of neural connectivity in the olfactory cortex.
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View SamplesLPL co-deregulated genes after LPL specific siRNA knock-down
Lipoprotein lipase in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia - strong biomarker with lack of functional significance.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesMouse and human stem cells with features similar to those of embryonic stem cells have been derived from testicular cells. Although pluripotent stem cells have been obtained from defined germline stem cells (GSCs) of mouse neonatal testis, only multipotent stem cells have been obtained so far from defined cells of mouse adult testis. In this study we describe a robust and reproducible protocol for obtaining germline-derived pluripotent stem (gPS) cells from adult unipotent GSCs. Pluripotency of gPS cells was confirmed by in vitro and in vivo differentiation, including germ cell contribution and transmission. As determined by clonal analyses, gPS cells indeed originate from unipotent GSCs. We propose that the conversion process requires a GSC culture microenvironment that depends on the initial number of plated GSCs and the length of culture time.
Induction of pluripotency in adult unipotent germline stem cells.
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View SamplesMouse and human stem cells with features similar to those of embryonic stem cells have been derived from testicular cells. Although pluripotent stem cells have been obtained from defined germline stem cells (GSCs) of mouse neonatal testis, only multipotent stem cells have been obtained so far from defined cells of mouse adult testis. In this study we describe a robust and reproducible protocol for obtaining germline-derived pluripotent stem (gPS) cells from adult unipotent GSCs. Pluripotency of gPS cells was confirmed by in vitro and in vivo differentiation, including germ cell contribution and transmission. As determined by clonal analyses gPS cells indeed originate from unipotent GSCs. We propose that the conversion process requires a GSC culture microenvironment that depends on the initial number of plated GSCs and the length of culture time.
Induction of pluripotency in adult unipotent germline stem cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe reciprocal interaction between cancer cells and the tissue-specific stroma is critical for primary and metastatic tumor growth progression. Prostate cancer cells colonize preferentially bone (osteotropism), where they alter the physiological balance between osteoblast-mediated bone formation and osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, and elicit prevalently an osteoblastic response (osteoinduction). The molecular cues provided by osteoblasts for the survival and growth of bone metastatic prostate cancer cells are largely unknown. We exploited the sufficient divergence between human and mouse RNA sequences together with redefinition of highly species-specific gene arrays by computer-aided and experimental exclusion of cross-hybridizing oligonucleotide probes. This strategy allowed the dissection of the stroma (mouse) from the cancer cell (human) transcriptome in bone metastasis xenograft models of human osteoinductive prostate cancer cells (VCaP and C4-2B). As a result, we generated the osteoblastic bone metastasis-associated stroma transcriptome (OB-BMST). Subtraction of genes shared by inflammation, wound healing and desmoplastic responses, and by the tissue type-independent stroma responses to a variety of non-osteotropic and osteotropic primary cancers generated a curated gene signature (Core OB-BMST) putatively representing the bone marrow/bone-specific stroma response to prostate cancer-induced, osteoblastic bone metastasis. The expression pattern of three representative Core OB-BMST genes (PTN, EPHA3 and FSCN1) seems to confirm the bone specificity of this response. A robust induction of genes involved in osteogenesis and angiogenesis dominates both the OB-BMST and Core OB-BMST. This translates in an amplification of hematopoietic and, remarkably, prostate epithelial stem cell niche components that may function as a self-reinforcing bone metastatic niche providing a growth support specific for osteoinductive prostate cancer cells. The induction of this combinatorial stem cell niche is a novel mechanism that may also explain cancer cell osteotropism and local interference with hematopoiesis (myelophthisis). Accordingly, these stem cell niche components may represent innovative therapeutic targets and/or serum biomarkers in osteoblastic bone metastasis.
The molecular signature of the stroma response in prostate cancer-induced osteoblastic bone metastasis highlights expansion of hematopoietic and prostate epithelial stem cell niches.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe four transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc can induce pluripotency in mouse and human fibroblasts. We previously described direct reprogramming of adult mouse neural stem cells (NSCs) by Oct4 and either Klf4 or c-Myc. NSCs endogenously express Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4 as well as several intermediate reprogramming markers. Here we report that exogenous expression of the germline-specific transcription factor Oct4 is sufficient to generate pluripotent stem cells from adult mouse NSCs. These one-factor induced pluripotent stem (1F iPS) cells are similar to embryonic stem cells in vitro and in vivo. Not only can these cells be efficiently differentiated into NSCs, cardiomyocytes and germ cells in vitro, but they are also capable of teratoma formation and germline transmission in vivo. Our results demonstrate that Oct4 is required and sufficient to directly reprogram NSCs to pluripotency.
Oct4-induced pluripotency in adult neural stem cells.
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