Cancer progression is associated with alterations of epigenetic regulators such as histone-lysine demethylases 4 (KDM4)2-5. During breast cancer therapy, classical treatments fail to address resistant cancer stem cell populations6-10. Here, we identified a novel KDM4 inhibitor (KDM4(i)) with unique preclinical characteristics. KDM4(i) is a highly potent pan KDM4 inhibitor that specifically blocks the demethylase activity of KDM4A, B, C, and D but not that of the other members of the KDM family. We validated the KDM4(i) anti-tumoral properties under conditions recapitulating patient tumors. Therefore, we established a method to isolate and grow triple-negative breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) from individual patient tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Limiting dilution orthotopic xenografts of these BCSCs faithfully regenerate original patient tumor histology and gene expression. KDM4(i) blocks proliferation, sphere formation and xenograft tumor growth of BCSCs. Importantly, KDM4(i) abrogates expression of EGFR, a driver of therapy-resistant triple-negative breast tumor cells11, via inhibition of the KDM4A demethylase activity. Taken together, we present a unique BCSC culture system as a basis for therapeutic compound identification and demonstrate that KDM4 inhibition is a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.
KDM4 Inhibition Targets Breast Cancer Stem-like Cells.
Sex, Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesRNAseq of ex vivo CD8 T cell lineages and in vitro differentiated CD8 T cells treated with nanocarriers encapsulating control or Foxo1-3A transcription factor mRNA Overall design: Gene expression in central memory CD8 and in vitro Foxo1-3A nanoparticle treated CD8 were compared to control cells cultured in vitro with eGFP mRNA encapsulating nanoparticles.
Hit-and-run programming of therapeutic cytoreagents using mRNA nanocarriers.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesAberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation in the absence of genetic mutations is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR/dCas9 based epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNMT3A and its regulator DNMT3L. Using this system, we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary myoepithelial cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct and results in sustained repression of CDKN2A and RASSF1 transcripts which prevents cells from entering senescence. The phenotype is associated with retuned expression of a subset of genes to levels in early passage cells; however, the outgrowing myoepithelial cells are not immortal but proliferate for 18-20 population doublings before cell cycle arrest. Finally, we show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16, but prolonged proliferation is enhanced by combined hypermethylation and repression of both CDKN2A transcripts p16 and p14. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, a potential first step in the disease process. Overall design: RNA-seq experiment with n=3 biological replicates of primary myoepithelial transfection with 26x gRNAs targeting DNA methylation as described.
Hit-and-run epigenetic editing prevents senescence entry in primary breast cells from healthy donors.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Anti-diabetic rosiglitazone remodels the adipocyte transcriptome by redistributing transcription to PPARγ-driven enhancers.
Cell line, Treatment, Time
View SamplesRosiglitazone (rosi) is a powerful insulin sensitizer, but serious toxicities have curtailed its widespread clinical use. Rosi functions as a high-affinity ligand for PPARg, the adipocyte-predominant nuclear receptor (NR). The classic model, involving binding of ligand to the NR on DNA, explains positive regulation of gene expression, but ligand-dependent repression is not well understood. We have now addressed this issue by studying the direct effects of rosiglitazone on gene transcription, using global run-on sequencing (GRO-seq). Rosi-induced changes in gene body transcription were pronounced after 10 minutes and correlated with steady-state mRNA levels as well as with transcription at nearby enhancers (eRNAs). Upregulated eRNAs occurred almost exclusively at PPARg binding sites, to which rosi treatment recruited the coactivator MED1. By contrast, transcriptional repression by rosi involved a loss of MED1 from eRNA sites devoid of PPARg and enriched for other TFs including AP-1 factors and C/EBPs. Thus, rosi activates and represses transcription by fundamentally different mechanisms that could inform the future development of antidiabetic drugs.
Anti-diabetic rosiglitazone remodels the adipocyte transcriptome by redistributing transcription to PPARγ-driven enhancers.
Cell line, Treatment, Time
View SamplesWe measured transcriptional changes in an effort to understand mechanisms of action resulting from the introduction of global transcriptional machinery engineering in E. coli in the presence and absence of ethanol.
Global transcription machinery engineering: a new approach for improving cellular phenotype.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesWe measured transcriptional changes in four strains P2, rpoD3, rpoA14, and rpoA27 - in an effort to understand mechanisms by which L-tyrosine production is positively influenced by the presence of mutant rpoA- and rpoD-encoded transcriptional components.
Rational, combinatorial, and genomic approaches for engineering L-tyrosine production in Escherichia coli.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMechanical unloading by ventricular assist devices (VAD) leads to significant gene-expression changes often summarized as reverse remodeling. However, little is known on individual transcriptome changes during VAD-support and its relationship to non-failing hearts (NF). In addition no data are available for the transcriptome regulation during non-pulsatile VAD-support. Therefore we analysed the gene-expression patterns of 30 paired samples from VAD-supported (including 8 non-pulsatile VADs) and 8 non-failing control hearts (NF) using the first total human genome-array available.
Global gene expression analysis in nonfailing and failing myocardium pre- and postpulsatile and nonpulsatile ventricular assist device support.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesTranscriptome analysis may provide means to investigate the underlying genetic causes of shared and divergent phenotypes in different populations and help to identify potential targets of adaptive evolution. Applying RNA sequencing to whole male Drosophila melanogaster from the ancestral tropical African environment and a very recently colonized cold-temperate European environment at both standard laboratory conditions and following a cold shock, we seek to uncover the transcriptional basis of cold adaptation. In both the ancestral and the derived populations, the predominant characteristic of the cold shock response is the swift and massive upregulation of heat shock proteins and other chaperones. Although we find ~30% of the genome to be differentially expressed following a cold shock, only relatively few genes (n=26) are up- or down-regulated in a population-specific way. Intriguingly, 24 of these 26 genes show a greater degree of differential expression in the African population. Likewise, there is an excess of genes with particularly strong cold-induced changes in expression in Africa on a genome-wide scale. The analysis of the transcriptional cold shock response most prominently reveals an upregulation of components of a general stress response, which is conserved over many taxa and triggered by a plethora of stressors. Despite the overall response being fairly similar in both populations, there is a definite excess of genes with a strong cold-induced fold-change in Africa. This is consistent with a detrimental deregulation or an overshooting stress response. Thus, the canalization of European gene expression might be responsible for the increased cold tolerance of European flies. Overall design: mRNA profiles of whole Drosophila melanogaster adult males from a Africa (4 lines) and Europe (4 lines) during a 7h cold shock experiment. Samples include room temperature controls, 3.5h into the cold shock, 15 minutes after recovery and 90 minutes after recovery. 2 biological replicates each.
Canalization of gene expression is a major signature of regulatory cold adaptation in temperate Drosophila melanogaster.
Sex, Subject
View SamplesThe ability to cope with infection by a parasite is one of the major challenges for any host species and is a major driver of evolution. Parasite pressure differs between habitats. It is thought to be higher in tropical regions compared to temporal ones. We infected Drosophila melanogaster from two tropical (Malaysia and Zimbabwe) and two temperate populations (the Netherlands and North Carolina) with the generalist entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana to examine if adaptation to local parasite pressures led to differences in resistance. Contrary to previous findings we observed increased survival in temperate populations. This, however, is not due to increased resistance to infection per se, but rather the consequence of a higher general vigor of the temperate populations. We also assessed transcriptional response to infection within these flies eight and 24 hours after infection. Only few genes were induced at the earlier time point, most of which are involved in detoxification. In contrast, we identified more than 4,000 genes that changed their expression state after 24 hours. This response was generally conserved over all populations with only few genes being uniquely regulated in the temperate populations. We furthermore found that the American population was transcriptionally highly diverged from all other populations concerning basal levels of gene expression. This was particularly true for stress and immune response genes, which might be the genetic basis for their elevated vigor. Overall design: mRNA profiles of whole Drosophila melanogaster adult males from an African, American, Asian and European population after infection with Beauveria bassiana. Samples include uninfected controls, 8h after infection and 24h after infection. 3 biological replicates each (2 in the case of American controls).
Survival Rate and Transcriptional Response upon Infection with the Generalist Parasite Beauveria bassiana in a World-Wide Sample of Drosophila melanogaster.
Sex, Specimen part, Subject
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