Background: Identification and purification of cancer stem cells (CSCs) lead to new therapeutic targets; however, there has been no study to identify and isolated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET) CSC. Therefore the clinical significance and its target remain unknown. This study aimed to identify pNET CSCs and characterize therapeutic candidate for pNET CSCs. Methods: We isolated CSCs sorting by ALDH activity in pNET surgical section and cell lines. We verified whether these cells have the property of stemness in vivo and in vitro. Additionally in order to acquire CSC gene profile, genome-wide gene expression profiles were investigated using a microarray technique. Results: ALDHhigh cells, but not control bulk cells, formed spheres, proliferated in hypoxia as well as normoxia and promoted cell motility, which are features of CSCs. Injection of as few as 10 ALDHhigh cells led to subcutaneous tumor formation, and 105 ALDHhigh cells established metastases but not control bulk cells in mice. Comprehensive gene expression analysis revealed that genes associated with mesenchymal stem cell, including CD73, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were overexpressed in ALDHhigh cells. APCP, which is CD73 inhibitor, inhibited sphere formation and cell motility in ALDHhigh cells in vitro, and tumor growth inhibition were observed in ALDHhigh cells in vivo. Conclusions: We identified ALDHhigh cells of pNET and elucidated that they have stemness property. Furthermore we identified CD73 as a target of ALDHhigh cells. CD73 is a promising novel target of pNET CSCs.
CD73 as a therapeutic target for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor stem cells.
Cell line
View SamplesPersistent colonization of the gastric mucosa by Helicobacter pylori (Hp) elicits chronic inflammation and aberrant epithelial cell proliferation, which increases the risk of gastric cancer. We examined the ability of microRNAs to modulate gastric cell proliferation in response to persistent Hp infection and found that epigenetic silencing of miR-210 plays a key role in gastric disease progression. Importantly, DNA methylation of the miR-210 gene was increased in Hp-positive human gastric biopsies as compared to Hp-negative controls. Moreover silencing of miR-210 in gastric epithelial cells promoted proliferation. We identified STMN1 and DIMT1 as miR-210 target genes and demonstrated that inhibition of miR-210 expression augmented cell proliferation by activating STMN1 and DIMT1. Together, our results highlight inflammation-induced epigenetic silencing of miR-210 as a mechanism of induction of chronic gastric diseases, including cancer, during Hp infection.
Epigenetic silencing of miR-210 increases the proliferation of gastric epithelium during chronic Helicobacter pylori infection.
Cell line
View SamplesMediator complex has been known as pivotal regulator of RNA polymerase II. Mediator complex has two CDK subunits in vertebrates, named CDK8 and CDK19. To elucidate functional difference between CDK8 and CDK19 in human cell, we employ siRNA mediate knockdown assay using HeLa S3 cell line. According to this assay these CDKs possess highly redundancy in HeLa S3 cell transcription regulation mechanism but in several genes, each CDK shows gene specific regulatory function.
Identification of target genes for the CDK subunits of the Mediator complex.
Cell line
View SamplesThe transcriptomic profiles of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were investigated using the next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). The CLC Genomic Workbench software was used to screen the differentially expressed transcripts. A total of 49 genes with a significantly differential expression (false discovery rate (FDR) p<0.05, fold change >2) in the female group as compared with the male group. Overall design: mRNA profiles of mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) were generated by RNA sequencing using the NextSeq 500 (Illumina).
KDM5D-mediated H3K4 demethylation is required for sexually dimorphic gene expression in mouse embryonic fibroblasts.
Sex, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesMediator complex has been known as pivotal regulator of RNA polymerase II. Mediator complex has two CDK subunits in vertebrates, named CDK8 and CDK19. To elucidate functional difference between CDK8 and CDK19 in human cell, we employ siRNA mediate knockdown assay using HeLa S3 cell line. According to this assay these CDKs possess highly redundancy in HeLa S3 cell transcription regulation mechanism but in several genes, each CDK shows gene specific regulatory function.
Mediator complex recruits epigenetic regulators via its two cyclin-dependent kinase subunits to repress transcription of immune response genes.
Cell line
View SamplesWe have previously showed that whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) causes a greater increase in muscle protein synthesis than an identical composition of amino acids mixture does. The present study was conducted to investigate a comparative effect of WPH on gene expression. Male Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to a 2-h swimming exercise were administered either a carbohydrate-amino acid diet or a carbohydrate-WPH diet immediately after exercise. One hour after exercise, epitrochlearis muscle mRNA was sampled and subjected to DNA microarray analysis. As a result, ingestion of WPH altered 189 genes in considering the false discovery rate. Among the upregulated genes, 8 Gene Ontology (GO) terms were enriched, which included key elements in muscle repair after exercise such as Cd24, Ccl2, Ccl7 and Cxcl1. On the other hand, 9 GO terms were enriched in the gene sets downregulated by ingestion of WPH and these GO terms fell into 2 clusters, regulation of ATPase activity, and immune response. Furthermore, we found that WPH activate the 2 upstream proteins, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), which may act as key factors for regulation of gene expression. These results suggest that ingestion of WPH, compared to an identical composition of amino acid mixture, induces greater changes in the after-exercise gene expression profile via activation of the proteins, ERK1/2 and HIF-1.
Post-exercise impact of ingested whey protein hydrolysate on gene expression profiles in rat skeletal muscle: activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesTo examine the transcriptome alteration caused by ZIC5 knockdown in melanoma, we performed gene expression microarray analysis.
ZIC5 Drives Melanoma Aggressiveness by PDGFD-Mediated Activation of FAK and STAT3.
Cell line
View SamplesTo clarify the downstream signal pathway of EML4-ALK in NSCLC, we performed Affymetrix GeneChip analysis using ALK inhibitor CH5424802-treated NCI-H2228 xenograft tumors, and comprehensively characterized the gene expression regulated by inhibition of activated ALK.
CH5424802, a selective ALK inhibitor capable of blocking the resistant gatekeeper mutant.
Specimen part
View SamplesApela (also referred to as Elabela, Ende and Toddler) is a small signaling peptide that activates the G protein-coupled receptor Aplnr. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate a null, reporter-expressing allele, in order to study the role of Apela in the developing mouse embryo. We found that loss of Apela results in low penetrance cardiovascular defects that manifest after the onset of circulation. Targeted Apela null alleles exhibited different transcriptional activity depending on the presence or absence of a Neomycin selection cassette. These are referred to as Apela KO NEO-IN and Apela KO NEO-OUT strains, respectively. Despite subtle phenotypic characteristics that were unique to the NEO-OUT mutants, both Apela null strains shared the same variable expressivity of cardiovascular defects and the same penetrance of embryonic lethality. To investigate the earliest regulatory events leading to physical abnormalities in Apela mutants, we performed RNA-Seq on whole stage-matched and morphologically normal E7.5 embryos (3 wild-type, 6 Apela KO NEO-IN, and 6 Apela KO NEO-OUT individuals). We chose this stage because Apela is initially expressed in the embryo at late gastrulation, shortly after the emergence of extraembryonic mesoderm progenitors. Since modification of the Apela locus may influence the expression of neighboring genes, we examined the expression of upstream and downstream sequences and found no significant difference in their expression. Downregulated genes of interest included several mitochondrial genes, Ceacam2, Ulk4, and Mov10l1. Upregulated genes included the vascular endothelial growth factor Vegfc. Principal component analysis identified outliers (KO1 and KO9), both of which expressed lower levels of mesoderm markers. KO9 was further characterized by aberrant upregulation of erythroid and myeloid markers. This finding was confirmed in our study by qRT-PCR analysis of additional Apela null individuals. Overall design: 15 individual embryos were analyzed at E7.5. Embryos were stage-matched according to morphological landmarks. Control samples were wild-type (n=3), and Apela KO samples were null embryos from the NEO-IN (n=6, ‘KO1-6’) and NEO-OUT (n=6, ‘KO7-12) mutant strains. Whole embryos (including embryonic and extraembryonic tissues) were used for the analysis. Apela KO samples were isolated from homozygous KO intercrosses and therefore did not require genotyping.
Loss of Apela Peptide in Mice Causes Low Penetrance Embryonic Lethality and Defects in Early Mesodermal Derivatives.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesTankyrase enhances beta-catenin signaling via PARsylation and subsequent degradation of Axin, a negative regulator of beta-catenin. Tankyrase inhibitors stabilize Axin and suppress beta-catenin signaling. We developed a novel tankyrase inhibitor, RK-287107.
RK-287107, a potent and specific tankyrase inhibitor, blocks colorectal cancer cell growth in a preclinical model.
Specimen part, Treatment
View Samples