Introduction: Infiltration of cancers by T-cells is associated with improved patient survival and response to immune therapies; however, optimal approaches to induce T-cell infiltration of tumors are not known. This study tests the hypothesis that topical treatment of melanoma metastases with the TLR7 agonist imiquimod treatment plus administration of a multipeptide cancer vaccine will improve immune cell infiltration of melanoma metastases. Patients and Methods: Eligible patients were immunized with a vaccine comprised of 12 melanoma peptides and a tetanus toxoid-derived helper peptide, and imiquimod was applied topically to tumors daily. Adverse events (AE; CTCAE v4.03) were recorded and effects on the tumor microenvironment (TME) were evaluated from sequential tumor biopsies. T-cell responses were assessed by IFNgamma ELIspot assay, and T-cell tetramer staining. Patient tumors were evaluated for immune cell infiltration, cytokine and chemokine production, and gene expression. Results and Conclusions: Four eligible patients were enrolled, and administration of imiquimod and vaccination was well tolerated in these patients. Circulating T-cell responses to the vaccine were detected by ex vivo ELIspot assay in 3 of 4 patients. Treatment of metastases with imiquimod induced immune cell infiltration and favorable gene signatures in the patients with circulating T-cell responses. This study supports further study of topical imiquimod combined with vaccines or other immune therapies for the treatment of melanoma. Precis: This clinical trial tested topical application of imiquimod to melanoma metastases combined with a melanoma vaccine. The regimen dramatically upregulated immune rejection gene signatures in melanoma metastases and increased T-cell infiltrate.
Topical treatment of melanoma metastases with imiquimod, plus administration of a cancer vaccine, promotes immune signatures in the metastases.
Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesZinc finger nucleases (ZFN) are powerful tools for editing genes in cells. Here we use ZFNs to interrogate the biological function of human ADPGK, which encodes an ADP-dependent glucokinase (ADPGK), in tumour cell lines. The hypothesis tested is that ADPGK utilises ADP to phosphorylate glucose under conditions where ATP becomes limiting, such as hypoxia. We characterised two ZFN knockout clones in each of two tumour cell lines (H460 and HCT116). All four lines had frameshift mutations in all alleles at the target site in exon 1 of ADPGK, and were ADPGK-null by immunoblotting. ADPGK knockout had little or no effect on cell proliferation, but compromised the ability of H460 cells to survive siRNA silencing of hexokinase-2 under oxic conditions, with clonogenic survival falling from 213% for the parental line to 6.40.8% (p=0.002) and 4.30.8% (p=0.001) for the two knockouts. A similar increased sensitivity to clonogenic cell killing was observed under anoxia. No such changes were found when ADPGK was knocked out in HCT116 cells, for which the parental line was less sensitive than H460 to anoxia and to hexokinase-2 silencing. While knockout of ADPGK in HCT116 cells caused few changes in global gene expression, knockout of ADPGK in H460 cells caused notable up-regulation of mRNAs encoding cell adhesion proteins. Surprisingly, we could discern no effect on glycolysis as measured by glucose consumption or lactate formation under oxic or anoxic conditions, or extracellular acidification rate (Seahorse XF analyser) under oxic conditions in a variety of media. However, oxygen consumption rates were generally lower in the ADPGK knockouts, in some cases markedly so. Collectively, the results demonstrate that ADPGK can contribute to tumour cell survival under conditions of high glycolytic dependence, but the phenotype resulting from knockout of ADPGK is cell line dependent and appears to be unrelated to priming of glycolysis.
Expression and role in glycolysis of human ADP-dependent glucokinase.
Cell line
View SamplesIn this work, we determine total mRNA decay rates in rpb1-1 and rpb1-1/caf1? cells, calculate half-lives in rpb1-1/caf1? cells relative to rpb1-1 cells and correlate them with codon optimality. Overall design: mRNA profiling was done on 10 time points in rpb1-1/caf1 cells and sequenced using a paired end protocol on an Illumina HiSeq2000 instrument. A biological duplicate was performed.
mRNA Deadenylation Is Coupled to Translation Rates by the Differential Activities of Ccr4-Not Nucleases.
Cell line, Subject
View SamplesBreast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was treated with DMSO or UF010, a novel HDAC inhibitor for 24 hours. The impact of UF010 treatment on global gene expression was determined.
Identification of histone deacetylase inhibitors with benzoylhydrazide scaffold that selectively inhibit class I histone deacetylases.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesPurpose: to identify genes aberrantly expressed upon myocardial ablation of Hif1a Methods: a floxed Hif1a allele was deleted in mouse embryonic hearts using a NXK2.5Cre line. Total RNA was extracted from E12.5 hearts (n=3 for controls and mutants) usinz Trizol and processed for RNA-seq. Reads were mapped to Mm10 reference genome using TopHat2 and Bowtie2. Transcript expression values were determined after transcript normalization with AltAnalyze Results: this analysis revealed a total of 1451 genes significantely (|Fold| > 20% and P<0.05) modulated in Hif1a cKO hearts Overall design: 6 total RNAseq runs with 3 experimental samples and 3 controls samples
HIF1α Represses Cell Stress Pathways to Allow Proliferation of Hypoxic Fetal Cardiomyocytes.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesARC (NSC 188491, SMA-491), 4-amino-6-hydrazino-7-beta-d-ribofuranosyl-7H-pyrrolo-(2,3-d)-pyrimidine-5-carboxamide, is a nucleoside analog with profound in vitro anti-cancer activity. First identified in a high-throughput screen for inhibitors of p21 mRNA expression, subsequent experiments showed that ARC also repressed expression of hdm2 and survivin, leading to its classification as a global inhibitor of transcription 1. The following Hu U133 plus 2.0 arrays represent single time point (24 hour) gene expression analysis of transcripts altered by ARC treatment. Arrays for the other compounds (sangivamycin and doxorubicin) are included as comparators.
ARC (NSC 188491) has identical activity to Sangivamycin (NSC 65346) including inhibition of both P-TEFb and PKC.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesChronic non-healing venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a widespread debilitating disease with high morbidity and associated costs, as approximately $15 billion annually are spent on the care of VLUs. Despite their socioeconomic burden, there is a paucity of novel treatments targeted towards healing VLUs, which can be attributed to both lack of pathophysiologic insight into VLU development as well as lack of knowledge regarding biologic actions of VLU-targeted therapies. Currently, the bioengineered bilayered living cellular construct (BLCC) skin substitute is the only FDA-approved biologic treatment for healing VLUs. To elucidate the mechanisms through which the BLCC promotes healing of chronic VLUs, we conducted a clinical trial (NCT01327937) in which patients with non-healing VLUs were treated with either standard care (compression therapy) or with BLCC together with standard care. Tissue was collected from the VLU edge before and 1 week after treatment, and samples underwent comprehensive microarray, mRNA and protein analyses. Ulcers treated with BLCC skin substitute displayed three distinct patterns suggesting the mechanisms by which BLCC shifted a non-healing into a healing tissue response: it modulated inflammatory and growth factor signaling; it activated keratinocytes; and it attenuated Wnt/-catenin signaling. In these ways, BLCC application orchestrated a shift of the chronic non-healing ulcer microenvironment into a distinctive healing milieu resembling that of an acute, healing wound. Our findings also provide first patient-derived in vivo evidence of specific biologic processes that can be targeted in the design of therapies to promote healing of chronic VLUs.
A bioengineered living cell construct activates an acute wound healing response in venous leg ulcers.
Specimen part, Disease stage, Time
View SamplesDiabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are the leading cause of lower leg amputations in diabetic population. To better understand molecular pathophysiology of DFUs we used patients specimens and genomic profiling. We identified 3900 genes specifically regulated in DFUs. Moreover, we compared DFU to human skin acute wound (AW) profiles and found DNA repair mechanisms and regulation of gene expression among the processes specifically suppressed in DFUs, whereas essential wound healing-related processes, inflammatory/immune response or cell migration, were not activated properly. To identify potential regulators of DFU-specific genes, we used upstream target analysis. We found miR-15/16 family enriched in DFUs, but not in AW, which was confirmed by qPCR. We found that infection with the most common DFU colonizer, Staphylococcus aureus, triggers induction of miR-15-5p, which in turn, targets multiple DFU-specific genes, including genes involved in DNA repair (WEE1, MSH2 and RAD50) and the regulator of inflammatory pathway, IKBKB. Induction of miR-15b-5p, either by miR-mimic transfection in vitro or by S. aureus infection of acute wounds ex vivo, suppressed both WEE1 and IKBKB. Consequently, we detected an increase in DNA double strand breaks in DFUs. In summary, our data indicate that S. aureus infection, via induction of miR-15b-5p, may lead to suppression of DNA repair mechanisms and a sub-optimal inflammatory response, contributing to pathophysiology of DFU patients
Staphylococcus aureus Triggers Induction of miR-15B-5P to Diminish DNA Repair and Deregulate Inflammatory Response in Diabetic Foot Ulcers.
Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesPrimary human hepatocytes (PHHs) are a liver-specific cell subtype, and we have shown that these cells respond in a unique manner to the introduction of hepatitis C viral RNA (HCV vRNA) derived from different genotypes of the virus.
Transmitted/founder hepatitis C viruses induce cell-type- and genotype-specific differences in innate signaling within the liver.
Specimen part
View SamplesTo identify new markers for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), we compared genome-wide gene expression of lymphoblasts from 270 patients with newly diagnosed childhood ALL to that of normal CD19 CD10 B-cell progenitors (n=4). Expression of 30 genes differentially expressed by > 3-fold in at least 25% of cases of ALL (or 40% of ALL subtypes) was tested by flow cytometry in 200 B-lineage ALL and 61 nonleukemic BM samples, including samples containing hematogones. Of the 30 markers, 22 (CD44, BCL2, HSPB1, CD73, CD24, CD123, CD72, CD86, CD200, CD79b, CD164, CD304, CD97, CD102, CD99, CD300a, CD130, PBX1, CTNNA1, ITGB7, CD69, CD49f) were differentially expressed in up to 81.4% of ALL cases; expression of some markers was associated with the presence of genetic abnormalities. Results of MRD detection by flow cytometry with these markers correlated well with those of molecular testing (52 follow-up samples from 18 patients); sequential studies during treatment and diagnosis-relapse comparisons documented their stability. When incorporated in 6-marker combinations, the new markers afforded the detection of 1 leukemic cell among 105 BM cells. These new markers should allow MRD studies in all B-lineage ALL patients, and substantially improve their sensitivity.
New markers for minimal residual disease detection in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Specimen part
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