The presence of disseminated tumour cells (DTCs) in bone marrow predicts poorer metastasis-free survival of breast cancer patients with localized disease, and their eradication improves long-term prognosis. DTCs persist in distant tissues despite administration of adjuvant chemotherapy, ostensibly because the majority of DTCs are quiescent. Here, we provide evidence that the microenvironment of DTCs protects them from chemotherapy independent of cell cycle status. We show that chemoresistant DTCs associate with the perivascular niche (PVN) of distant tissues, and that they are protected from therapies by vascular endothelium. Inhibiting key integrin-mediated interactions between DTCs and the PVN, driven partly by endothelial-derived von Willebrand Factor, sensitizes DTCs to chemotherapy and prevents bone metastasis. Importantly, chemosensitization is achieved without inducing DTC proliferation, or exacerbating chemotherapy-induced toxicities. These results suggest that prefacing adjuvant therapy with integrin inhibitors is a viable clinical strategy to eradicate DTCs and prevent metastasis. Overall design: RNA sequencing of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and bone marrow microvascular niches (MVNs) by RNAseq using Illumina HiSeq 2500.
Targeting the perivascular niche sensitizes disseminated tumour cells to chemotherapy.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesStephen Paget first proposed, in 1889, that organ distribution of metastases is a non-random event, yet metastatic organotropism remains one of the greatest mysteries in cancer biology. Here, we demonstrate that exosomes released by lung-, liver- and brain-tropic tumor cells fuse preferentially with resident cells at their predicted destination, such as fibroblasts and epithelial cells in the lung, Kupffer cells in the liver, and endothelial cells in the brain. We found that exosome homing to organ-specific cell types prepares the pre-metastatic niche and that treatment with exosomes derived from lung tropic models can redirect metastasis to the lung. Proteomic profiling of exosomes revealed distinct integrin expression patterns associated with each organ-specific metastasis. Whereas exosomal integrins a6ß4 and a6ß1 were associated with lung metastasis, exosomal integrins avß5 and avß3 were linked with liver and brain metastases, respectively. Targeting a6ß4 and avß5 integrins decreased exosome uptake and metastasis in the lung and liver, respectively. Importantly, we demonstrate that exosome uptake activates a cell-specific subset of S100 family genes, known to support cell migration and niche formation. Finally, our clinical data indicate that integrin-expression profiles in circulating plasma exosomes from cancer patients could be used to predict organ-specific metastasis. Overall design: Education of human von Kupffer cells in vitro with human pancreatic cancer exosomes
Tumour exosome integrins determine organotropic metastasis.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesGenome-wide alternative splice analysis of RNA from lupus and its severe form lupus nephritis
Genome-wide peripheral blood transcriptome analysis of Arab female lupus and lupus nephritis.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease stage
View SamplesWe performed single-cell mRNA-Seq on wild-type mouse keratinocytes co-cultured with keratinocytes in which beta-catenin was activated. We identified seven distinct cell states in cultures that had not been exposed to the beta-catenin stimulus. Using temporal single-cell analysis we reconstruct the cell fate changes induced by neighbor Wnt activation. Gene expression heterogeneity was reduced in neighboring cells and this effect was most dramatic for protein synthesis associated genes. The changes in gene expression were accompanied by a shift from a quiescent to a more proliferative stem cell state. By integrating imaging and reconstructed sequential gene expression changes during the state transition we identified transcription factors, including Smad4 and Bcl3, that were responsible for effecting the transition in a contact-dependent manner. Our data indicate that non cell autonomous Wnt/beta-catenin signaling decreases transcriptional heterogeneity and further our understanding of how epidermal Wnt signaling orchestrates regeneration and self-renewal. Overall design: Comparison of cells exposed to Wnt activated neighbors versus unactivated.
Epidermal Wnt signalling regulates transcriptome heterogeneity and proliferative fate in neighbouring cells.
Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesAirway epithelial cells (AEC) are critical components of the inflammatory and immune response during exposure to pathogens. AECs in monolayer culture and differentiated epithelial cells in air-liquid interface (ALI) represent two distinct and commonly used in vitro models, yet differences in their response to pathogens have not been investigated. In this study, we compared the transcriptional effects of flagellin on AECs in monolayer culture versus ALI culture using exon microarrays and RNAsequencing. We found that AECs cultured in monolayer and ALI have strikingly different transcriptional states at baseline. When challenged with flagellin, monolayer AEC cultures greatly increased transcription of numerous genes mapping to wounding response, immunity and inflammatory response. In contrast, AECs in ALI culture had an unexpectedly muted response to flagellin, both in number of genes expressed and relative enrichment of inflammatory and immune pathways. In conclusion, In vitro culturing methods have a dramatic effect on the transcriptional profile of AECs at baseline and after stimulation with flagellin. These differences suggest that epithelial responses to pathogen challenges are distinctly different in culture models of intact and injured epithelium. Overall design: A total of eight independent RNAseq experiments were conducted. Four RNAseq experiments (n = 2 unstimulated, n = 2 stimulated with flagellin) were performed using AECs grown in monolayer. Four RNAseq experiments (n =2 unstimulated, n = 2 stimulated with flagellin) were conducted using AECs grown in ALI cultures
Plasticity of airway epithelial cell transcriptome in response to flagellin.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesRationale: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with metabolic dysregulation and systemic inflammation. This may be due to pathophysiologic effects of OSA on visceral adipose tissue. We sought to assess the transcriptional consequences of OSA on adipocytes by utilizing pathway-focused analyses.
A pathway-based analysis on the effects of obstructive sleep apnea in modulating visceral fat transcriptome.
Subject
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Plasticity of airway epithelial cell transcriptome in response to flagellin.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesAirway epithelial cells (AEC) are critical components of the inflammatory and immune response during exposure to pathogens. AECs in monolayer culture and differentiated epithelial cells in air-liquid interface (ALI) represent two distinct and commonly used in vitro models, yet differences in their response to pathogens have not been investigated. In this study, we compared the transcriptional effects of flagellin on AECs in monolayer culture versus ALI culture using exon microarrays and RNAsequencing. We found that AECs cultured in monolayer and ALI have strikingly different transcriptional states at baseline. When challenged with flagellin, monolayer AEC cultures greatly increased transcription of numerous genes mapping to wounding response, immunity and inflammatory response. In contrast, AECs in ALI culture had an unexpectedly muted response to flagellin, both in number of genes expressed and relative enrichment of inflammatory and immune pathways. In conclusion, In vitro culturing methods have a dramatic effect on the transcriptional profile of AECs at baseline and after stimulation with flagellin. These differences suggest that epithelial responses to pathogen challenges are distinctly different in culture models of intact and injured epithelium.
Plasticity of airway epithelial cell transcriptome in response to flagellin.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesTissue injury, such as incisional wound, results in an inflammatory response as well as acute to chronic mechanical and thermal pain. It is now understood that there is a strong contribution of these immune cells to the pain phenotype.
CD11b+Ly6G- myeloid cells mediate mechanical inflammatory pain hypersensitivity.
Sex, Age
View SamplesRationale: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with a number of chronic disorders that may improve with effective therapy. However, the molecular pathways affected by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment are largely unknown. We sought to assess the system-wide consequences of CPAP therapy by transcriptionally profiling peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs). Methods: Subjects diagnosed with severe OSA were treated with CPAP, and whole-genome expression measurement of PBLs was performed at baseline and following therapy. We used Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to identify gene sets that were differentially enriched. Network analysis was then applied to identify key drivers of pathways influenced by CPAP. Results: 18 subjects with severe OSA (apnea hypopnea index 30 events/hour) underwent CPAP therapy and microarray analysis of their PBLs. Treatment with CPAP improved AHI, daytime sleepiness and blood pressure but did not affect anthropometric measures. GSEA revealed a number of enriched gene sets, many of which were involved in neoplastic processes and displayed down-regulated expression patterns in response to CPAP. Network analysis identified several densely connected genes that are important modulators of cancer and tumor growth. Conclusions: Effective therapy of OSA with CPAP is associated with alterations in circulating leukocyte gene expression. Functional enrichment and network analyses highlighted transcriptional suppression in cancer-related pathways suggesting potentially novel mechanisms linking OSA with neoplastic signatures.
Treatment of obstructive sleep apnea alters cancer-associated transcriptional signatures in circulating leukocytes.
Treatment, Subject
View Samples