Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a multi-system disease caused by mutations in the NF1 gene encoding a Ras-GAP protein, neurofibromin, which negatively regulates Ras signalling. Besides neuroectodermal malformations and tumours, the skeletal system is often affected (e.g. scoliosis and long bone dysplasia), demonstrating the importance of neurofibromin for development and maintenance of the musculoskeletal system. Here we focus on the role of neurofibromin in skeletal muscle development. Nf1 gene inactivation in the early limb bud mesenchyme using Prx1-cre (Nf1Prx1) resulted in muscle dystrophy characterised by fibrosis, reduced number of muscle fibres, and reduced muscle force. To gain insight into the molecular changes of the observed muscle dystrophy and fibrosis and to compare these with other known muscle dystrophies, we performed transcriptional profiling of the entire triceps muscles of threemonth-old wild type (wt) and mutant animals using Affymetrix high-density microrrays.
Neurofibromin (Nf1) is required for skeletal muscle development.
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesWe found that small moleculal weight FOXO1 inhibitor has antitumor affect against BCP-ALL cell lines RS4;11 and UoCB6
Tight regulation of FOXO1 is essential for maintenance of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Cell line
View SamplesTissues of Arabidopsis plants overexpressing artificial microRNAs were compared to wild_type and respective target gene mutants (duplicate arrays)
Highly specific gene silencing by artificial microRNAs in Arabidopsis.
Specimen part
View SamplesMale weanling Wistar rats from the Animal Facility at the Center for Experimental and Applied Pathology were divided into 4 groups and fed the following diets: 1) choline-deficient diet with VO [corn and hydrogenated oils) as lipids (CDVO); 2) choline-supplemented diet with VO as lipids (CSVO); 3) choline-deficient diet with MO as lipid (CDMO); and 4) choline-supplemented diet with MO as lipid (CSMO). Authors have adhered to appropriate NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. It is known that female rats are more resistant than male rats to AKI. Animals were sacrificed after receiving the experimental diets for 6 days. The left kidney was fixed in formaldehyde-buffer and stained with hematoxiline-eosin for histopathological analysis. The right kidney was cryopreserved for microarray analysis. Cryopreserved kidney was wrapped with aluminum foil and broken with a hammer previously wrapped with tape paper on a counter covered in aluminum. The pieces of the kidney were located in a mortar with liquid nitrogen to keep cryopreservation and were pulverized with a pestle. Nitrogen was added as it evaporated. The tissue was broken up to be completely pulverized. Powder was placed with a spatula in a cryotube supported on a dry ice with a layer of aluminum above. Before proceeding with another sample and to avoid contamination, the mortar, the pestle and the spatula were washed with tap water, distilled water and then alcohol. The tape of the hammer, the aluminum on the counter and the latex gloves were also replaced by new ones. Total RNA was purified from 30 milligrams of frozen rat kidney pools, using RNeasy Mini Kit [Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The biological concentration, integrity and quality of the RNA obtained were performing using NanoDrop 2000c (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Delaware, USA) and RIN (RNA Integrity Number). Five hundred nanograms of total RNA were processed and hybridized to Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Gene 1.0 ST Array (Affymetrix Inc, Singapore, Singapore), according to Ambion WT Expression Kit instructions (Ambion Inc, Texas, USA). Total RNA obtained during the tissue extraction was processed to obtain a double strand cDNA. After that we performed a in-vitro transcripition to generate antisence cRNA (aRNA). This aRNA was used to generate a single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) using random primers and the dUTP +dNTP mix. The resulting single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) containing the unnatural uracilbase is then treated with Uracil DNA Glycosylase, which specifically removes the uracilresidue from the ss-DNA molecules. In the same reaction, the APE 1 enzyme then cleaves the phosphodiester backbone where the base is missing, leaving a 3-hydroxyland a 5-deoxyribose phosphate terminus. Before this prosses, shorts ss-DNA fragments were labeled by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) that covalently linked the 3-hydrosyl phosphate terminus whit Biotin Allonamide Triphosphate. The GeneChip Rat Gene 1.0 ST Array enables whole-genome, gene-level expression studies for well-characterized genes. It is a single GeneChip-brand array comprised of more than 722 254 unique 25-mer oligonucleotide features accounting for more than 27 342 gene-level probe sets. Results were scanned with GeneChip Scanner 3000 7G (Affymetrix Inc, Tokyo, Japan), and normalized by RMA algorithm using Affymetrix Expression Console Software. In addition, call values were retrieved by MAS5 algorithm, and only genes with a p (present) call value were used in the analysis. Differentially expressed genes were identified using limma (www.bioconductor.org) and p adjusted values and absolute log fold change greater than 1.5 were used for gene selection.
Molecular pathology of acute kidney injury in a choline-deficient model and fish oil protective effect.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesWe previously found that KLF4, a gene highly expressed in adult prostate stem cells, blocks the progression of indolent intraepithelial prostatic lesions into aggressive and rapidly growing tumors. To test whether this anti-cancer effect of KLF4 can also prevent prostate cancer-induced damage to the bone, we ablated KLF4 in human PC3 prostate cancer cells using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing and compared their behavior to null cells transduced with a DOX inducible KLF4 expression system. KLF4 re-expression inhibited growth of PC3 null cells in monolayer and as colonies in soft agar in a dose-dependent manner. When injected into the mouse femurs, PC3 null cells proliferated rapidly, forming very large, invasive and osteolytic tumors. Induction of KLF4 expression in PC3 null cells immediately after their intra-femoral inoculation blocked the development of tumors while preserving the normal bone architecture. KLF4 re-expression in established PC3 bone tumors inhibited osteolytic effects of PC3 null cells, preventing bone fractures and inducing a significant osteogenic response with regions of new bone formation. Transcriptome analyses of PC3 cells with no or high KLF4 expression revealed KLF4-dependent osteolytic or osteogenic transcriptional programs, respectively. Importantly, these KLF4-dependent functions significantly overlapped with metastatic prostate cancers in patients. Overall design: Uninfected PC3 KLF4 wild-type cells and uninfected PC3 KLF4 null cells were grown for 48 hours and collected for RNA extraction. Another cohort of PC3 KLF4 null cells was infected with lentiviruses expressing a DOX inducible KLF4 expression construct (BFP-T2A-hKLF4) or the control empty vector (BFP-T2A). After 48 hours, DOX (10 ng/ml) was added to the culture medium to induce KLF4 expression. Control and KLF4-overexpressing cells were collected for RNA extraction after a 48-hour incubation with DOX. Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy kit (Qiagen, CA, USA). RNA-Seq libraries were prepared with the TruSeq sample preparation kit (Illumina, CA, USA).
KLF4 as a rheostat of osteolysis and osteogenesis in prostate tumors in the bone.
Specimen part, Cell line, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesPatients relapsing with FLT3-ITD mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) have a one-year-survival below 20%. We observed that sorafenib increased IL-15 production by FLT3-ITD+-leukemia cells, which synergized with the allogeneic CD8+T-cell response, leading to long-term survival in murine and humanized FLT3-ITD+AML models. Using IL-15 deficiency in recipient tissues or leukemia cells, IL-15 production upon sorafenib-treatment could be attributed to leukemia cells. Sorafenib treatment-related IL-15 production caused an increase in CD8+CD107a+IFN-+ T-cells with features of longevity (Bcl-2high/reduced PD-1-levels), which eradicated leukemia in secondary recipients. Mechanistically, sorafenib reduced ATF4 expression, thereby blocking negative regulation of IRF7-activation, which enhances IL-15 transcription. Consistent with the mouse data, IL-15 and pIRF7 levels increased in leukemic blasts of FLT3-ITD+AML patients upon sorafenib treatment. Analysis of 130 patients with FLT3-ITD-mutant AML relapsing after allo-HCT showed the highest complete remission-rate and median overall-survival-rate in the sorafenib/donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) group compared to all other groups (chemotherapy, chemotherapy/DLI, sorafenib alone). Our findings indicate that the synergism of DLI and sorafenib is mediated via reduced ATF4 expression, causing activation of the pIRF7/IL-15-axis in leukemia cells. The sorafenib/DLI strategy therefore has the potential for an immune-mediated cure of FLT3-ITD-mutant AML- relapse, an otherwise fatal complication after allo-HCT.
Sorafenib promotes graft-versus-leukemia activity in mice and humans through IL-15 production in FLT3-ITD-mutant leukemia cells.
Specimen part, Treatment, Time
View Samples