T follicular helper CD4 T cells (Tfh) provide requisite help to B cells in the germinal centers (GC) of lymphoid tissue. GC Tfh are identified by high expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR5 and the inhibitory molecule PD-1. Although more accessible, blood contains lower frequencies of CXCR5+ and PD-1+ cells that have been termed circulating Tfh (cTfh). However, it remains unclear whether GC Tfh exit lymphoid tissues and populate this cTfh pool. To examine exiting cells, we assessed the phenotype of Tfh present within the major conduit of efferent lymph from lymphoid tissues into blood, the human thoracic duct. Unlike blood, we consistently identified a CXCR5-Bright PD-1-Bright (CXCR5BrPD-1Br) Tfh population in thoracic duct lymph (TDL). These CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh shared phenotypic and transcriptional similarities with GC Tfh. Moreover, components of the epigenetic profile of GC Tfh could be detected in CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh, and the transcriptional imprint of this epigenetic signature was enriched in an activated cTfh subset known to contain vaccine-responding cells. Together with data showing shared TCR sequences between the CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh and cTfh, these studies identify a population in TDL as a circulatory intermediate connecting the biology of Tfh in blood to Tfh in lymphoid tissue. Overall design: Transcriptional features of germinal center Tfh were detected in a population of Tfh in the efferent lymph of the human thoracic duct and can be traced to an activated subset of circulating Tfh in blood.
T follicular helper cells in human efferent lymph retain lymphoid characteristics.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesWe established a novel EGFP reporter mouse line (named Tg(ETAR-EGFP)14Imeg), which enables the placode-derived inner ear sensory cell lineage to be visualized and monitored. At E10.5, EGFP expression was detected in the ventral and dorsomedial region of the otocyst.
Establishment of mice expressing EGFP in the placode-derived inner ear sensory cell lineage and FACS-array analysis focused on the regional specificity of the otocyst.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe biologic basis for NSCLC metastasis is not well understood. Here we addressed this deficiency by transcriptionally profiling tumors from a genetic mouse model of human lung adenocarcinoma that develops metastatic disease owing to the expression of K-rasG12D and p53R172H. As a tool to investigate the biologic basis for metastasis in this model and to query the roles of specific genes in this signature, we isolated adenocarcinoma cell lines from these mice and used them to develop a syngeneic tumor model in wild-type littermates. Transcriptional profiling of the highly metastatic subcutaneous tumors revealed genes that regulate, among other processes, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and intra-tumoral inflammation and angiogenesis, whereas the non-metastatic tumors did not.
Contextual extracellular cues promote tumor cell EMT and metastasis by regulating miR-200 family expression.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMetastatic disease is a primary cause of cancer-related death, and factors governing tumor cell metastasis have not been fully elucidated. Here we addressed this question by using tumor cell lines derived from mice that develop metastatic lung adenocarcinoma owing to expression of mutant K-ras and p53. A feature of metastasis-prone tumor cells that distinguished them from metastasis-incompetent tumor cells was plasticity in response to changes in their microenvironment. They transited reversibly between epithelial and mesenchymal states, forming highly polarized epithelial spheres in 3-dimensional culture that underwent epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) following treatment with transforming growth factor-beta or injection into syngeneic mice. This plasticity was entirely dependent upon the microRNA-200 family, which decreased during EMT. Forced expression of miR-200 abrogated the capacity of these tumor cells to undergo EMT, invade, and metastasize and conferred transcriptional features of metastasis-incompetent tumor cells. We conclude that microenvironmental cues direct tumor metastasis by regulating miR-200 expression.
Contextual extracellular cues promote tumor cell EMT and metastasis by regulating miR-200 family expression.
Cell line
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Expression signatures of metastatic capacity in a genetic mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe biologic basis for NSCLC metastasis is not well understood. Here we addressed this deficiency by transcriptionally profiling tumors from a genetic mouse model of human lung adenocarcinoma that develops metastatic disease owing to the expression of K-rasG12D and p53R172H. We identified 2,209 genes that were differentially expressed in distant metastases relative to matched lung tumors. Mining of publicly available data bases revealed this expression signature in a subset of NSCLC patients who had a poorer prognosis than those without the signature.
Expression signatures of metastatic capacity in a genetic mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesTumor cells that give rise to metastatic disease are a primary cause of cancer-related death and have not been fully elucidated in patients with lung cancer. Here, we addressed this question by using tissues from a mouse that develops metastatic lung adenocarcinoma owing to expression of mutant K-ras and p53. We identified a metastasis-prone population of tumor cells that differed from those with low metastatic capacity on the basis of having sphere-forming capacity in Matrigel cultures, increased expression of CD133 and Notch ligands, and relatively low tumorigenicity in syngeneic mice. Knockdown of jagged1 or pharmacologic inhibition of its downstream mediator phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase abrogated the metastatic but not the tumorigenic activity of these cells. We conclude from these studies on a mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma that CD133 and Notch ligands mark a population of metastasis-prone tumor cells and that the efficacy of Notch inhibitors in metastasis prevention should be explored.
The Notch ligand Jagged2 promotes lung adenocarcinoma metastasis through a miR-200-dependent pathway in mice.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe Zeb1 transcriptional repressor plays a key role in metastasis through the down-regulation of genes that are strong inducers of epithelial differentiation and inhibitors of stem-ness. Here we report that Zeb1 controls the expression of numerous oncogenic and tumor suppressive microRNAs (miRs). Zeb1 stimulated pro-migratory cytoskeletal processes by down-regulating miR-34a and activated Rho GTPases through Arhgap1, a Cdc42 GTPase activating protein and novel miR-34a target gene. Poor-prognosis human lung adenocarcinomas were highly enriched in a cytoskeletal gene signature activated by miR-34a down-regulation. These findings suggest that Zeb1 regulates a miR network and drives pro-migratory cytoskeletal processes through miR-34a.
ZEB1 drives prometastatic actin cytoskeletal remodeling by downregulating miR-34a expression.
Specimen part
View SamplesMitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4) is a dual-specificity kinase activated by environmental stress, cytokines, and peptide growth factors that reportedly can promote or inhibit tumor cell growth and metastasis. Somatic mutations in the gene encoding MKK4 (MAP2K4) have been identified in various human cancers, but the consequences of these mutations on MKK4 function and the biology of tumor cells that have them have not been elucidated. Here we report that, of the eleven mutations within the MAP2K kinase domain described thus far, one had gain-of-function (Q142L) and six had loss-of-function. Three of the loss-of-function mutations are nonsense mutations that produced C-terminally-truncated proteins (I295fs*23, R304*, and W310*) that were highly ubiqitinated and rapidly degraded when introduced into cells, and three are missense mutations in the ATP-binding pocket (N234I), activation loop (S251N), or C-lobe (P326L). We modeled the consequences of MAP2K4 loss-of-function mutations on cells by introducing MKK4 short-hairpin RNA constructs and found that MKK4 depletion enhanced the ability of a weakly tumorigenic murine cancer cell to metastasize when injected into syngeneic mice but had no effect on primary tumor formation. MKK4-depleted cells exhibited an increased capacity to migrate across PET filters and to invade through matrigel but no change in anchorage-dependent or -independent proliferation. Transcriptional profiling of these cells revealed gene expression changes that promote epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and angiogenesis. We conclude that MKK4 inactivation promoted metastasis but not primary tumor formation. Collectively, these findings implicate loss-of-function MAP2K4 somatic mutations in tumor metastasis and provide one of the few examples of a somatic mutation in cancer cells that exerts a metastasis-specific effect.
Map2k4 functions as a tumor suppressor in lung adenocarcinoma and inhibits tumor cell invasion by decreasing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2 expression.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesOur study in zebrafish is the first to use an animal model to understand the biology of the developmental disorder Roberts Syndrome (RBS). RBS is caused by mutations in the ESCO2 gene.
A zebrafish model of Roberts syndrome reveals that Esco2 depletion interferes with development by disrupting the cell cycle.
Age, Specimen part
View Samples