ALBERT

Description: Haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niches, although proposed decades ago, have only recently been identified as separate osteoblastic and vascular microenvironments. Their interrelationships and interactions with HSCs in vivo remain largely unknown. Here we report the use of a newly developed ex vivo real-time imaging technology and immunoassaying to trace the homing of purified green-fluorescent-protein-expressing (GFP(+)) HSCs. We found that transplanted HSCs tended to home to the endosteum (an inner bone surface) in irradiated mice, but were randomly distributed and unstable in non-irradiated mice. Moreover, GFP(+) HSCs were more frequently detected in the trabecular bone area compared with compact bone area, and this was validated by live imaging bioluminescence driven by the stem-cell-leukaemia (Scl) promoter-enhancer. HSCs home to bone marrow through the vascular system. We found that the endosteum is well vascularized and that vasculature is frequently localized near N-cadherin(+) pre-osteoblastic cells, a known niche component. By monitoring individual HSC behaviour using real-time imaging, we found that a portion of the homed HSCs underwent active division in the irradiated mice, coinciding with their expansion as measured by flow assay. Thus, in contrast to central marrow, the endosteum formed a special zone, which normally maintains HSCs but promotes their expansion in response to bone marrow damage.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Xie, Yucai -- Yin, Tong -- Wiegraebe, Winfried -- He, Xi C -- Miller, Diana -- Stark, Danny -- Perko, Katherine -- Alexander, Richard -- Schwartz, Joel -- Grindley, Justin C -- Park, Jungeun -- Haug, Jeff S -- Wunderlich, Joshua P -- Li, Hua -- Zhang, Simon -- Johnson, Teri -- Feldman, Ricardo A -- Li, Linheng -- England -- Nature. 2009 Jan 1;457(7225):97-101. doi: 10.1038/nature07639. Epub 2008 Dec 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 E. 50th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19052548" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A 9.5-kilobase plasmid of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is required for high virulence when mice are inoculated with the bacterium by subcutaneous injection. Inactivation of the plasmid gene pla, which encodes a surface protease, increased the median lethal dose of the bacteria for mice by a millionfold. Moreover, cloned pla was sufficient to restore segregants lacking the entire pla-bearing plasmid to full virulence. Both pla+ strains injected subcutaneously and pla- mutants injected intravenously reached high titers in liver and spleen of infected mice, whereas pla- mutants injected subcutaneously failed to do so even though they establish a sustained local infection at the injection site. More inflammatory cells accumulated in lesions caused by the pla- mutants than in lesions produced by the pla+ parent. The Pla protease was shown to be a plasminogen activator with unusual kinetic properties. It can also cleave complement C3 at a specific site.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sodeinde, O A -- Subrahmanyam, Y V -- Stark, K -- Quan, T -- Bao, Y -- Goguen, J D -- AI22176/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1992 Nov 6;258(5084):1004-7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester 01655.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1439793" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Myocardial infarction, a leading cause of death in the Western world, usually occurs when the fibrous cap overlying an atherosclerotic plaque in a coronary artery ruptures. The resulting exposure of blood to the atherosclerotic material then triggers thrombus formation, which occludes the artery. The importance of genetic predisposition to coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction is best documented by the predictive value of a positive family history. Next-generation sequencing in families with several affected individuals has revolutionized mutation identification. Here we report the segregation of two private, heterozygous mutations in two functionally related genes, GUCY1A3 (p.Leu163Phefs*24) and CCT7 (p.Ser525Leu), in an extended myocardial infarction family. GUCY1A3 encodes the alpha1 subunit of soluble guanylyl cyclase (alpha1-sGC), and CCT7 encodes CCTeta, a member of the tailless complex polypeptide 1 ring complex, which, among other functions, stabilizes soluble guanylyl cyclase. After stimulation with nitric oxide, soluble guanylyl cyclase generates cGMP, which induces vasodilation and inhibits platelet activation. We demonstrate in vitro that mutations in both GUCY1A3 and CCT7 severely reduce alpha1-sGC as well as beta1-sGC protein content, and impair soluble guanylyl cyclase activity. Moreover, platelets from digenic mutation carriers contained less soluble guanylyl cyclase protein and consequently displayed reduced nitric-oxide-induced cGMP formation. Mice deficient in alpha1-sGC protein displayed accelerated thrombus formation in the microcirculation after local trauma. Starting with a severely affected family, we have identified a link between impaired soluble-guanylyl-cyclase-dependent nitric oxide signalling and myocardial infarction risk, possibly through accelerated thrombus formation. Reversing this defect may provide a new therapeutic target for reducing the risk of myocardial infarction.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Erdmann, Jeanette -- Stark, Klaus -- Esslinger, Ulrike B -- Rumpf, Philipp Moritz -- Koesling, Doris -- de Wit, Cor -- Kaiser, Frank J -- Braunholz, Diana -- Medack, Anja -- Fischer, Marcus -- Zimmermann, Martina E -- Tennstedt, Stephanie -- Graf, Elisabeth -- Eck, Sebastian -- Aherrahrou, Zouhair -- Nahrstaedt, Janja -- Willenborg, Christina -- Bruse, Petra -- Braenne, Ingrid -- Nothen, Markus M -- Hofmann, Per -- Braund, Peter S -- Mergia, Evanthia -- Reinhard, Wibke -- Burgdorf, Christof -- Schreiber, Stefan -- Balmforth, Anthony J -- Hall, Alistair S -- Bertram, Lars -- Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth -- Li, Shu-Chen -- Marz, Winfried -- Reilly, Muredach -- Kathiresan, Sekar -- McPherson, Ruth -- Walter, Ulrich -- CARDIoGRAM -- Ott, Jurg -- Samani, Nilesh J -- Strom, Tim M -- Meitinger, Thomas -- Hengstenberg, Christian -- Schunkert, Heribert -- British Heart Foundation/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2013 Dec 19;504(7480):432-6. doi: 10.1038/nature12722. Epub 2013 Nov 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Institut fur Integrative und Experimentelle Genomik, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany [2] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Hamburg/Lubeck/Kiel, 23562 Lubeck, Germany [3]. ; 1] Klinik und Poliklinik fur Innere Medizin II, Universitatsklinikum Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany [2] Department of Genetic Epidemiology, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany [3]. ; 1] Klinik und Poliklinik fur Innere Medizin II, Universitatsklinikum Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany [2] Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM), UMR-S937 Paris, France [3]. ; 1] Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen and 1. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universitat Munchen, 80636 Munchen, Germany [2] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, 80636 Munich, Germany [3]. ; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany. ; 1] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Hamburg/Lubeck/Kiel, 23562 Lubeck, Germany [2] Institut fur Physiologie, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany. ; 1] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Hamburg/Lubeck/Kiel, 23562 Lubeck, Germany [2] Institut fur Humangenetik, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany. ; Institut fur Humangenetik, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany. ; Institut fur Integrative und Experimentelle Genomik, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany. ; Klinik und Poliklinik fur Innere Medizin II, Universitatsklinikum Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany. ; 1] Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany [2] Institute of Human Genetics, Technische Universitat Munchen, 81675 Munchen, Germany. ; 1] Institut fur Integrative und Experimentelle Genomik, Universitat zu Lubeck, 23562 Lubeck, Germany [2] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Hamburg/Lubeck/Kiel, 23562 Lubeck, Germany. ; 1] Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany [2] Department of Genomics, Research Center Life & Brain, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany. ; 1] Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany [2] Division of Medical Genetics, University Hospital Basel and Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4003 Basel, Switzerland. ; 1] Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK [2] Leicester National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Disease, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. ; 1] Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen and 1. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universitat Munchen, 80636 Munchen, Germany [2] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, 80636 Munich, Germany. ; Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen and 1. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universitat Munchen, 80636 Munchen, Germany. ; Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrecht-Universitat, 24105 Kiel, Germany. ; Division of Cardiovascular and Diabetes Research, Multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Research Centre, Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. ; Division of Cardiovascular and Neuronal Remodelling, Multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Research Centre, Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. ; Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany. ; Charite Research Group on Geriatrics, Charite-Universitatsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany. ; 1] Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany [2] Department of Psychology, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany. ; 1] Synlab Academy and Business Development, synlab Services GmbH, 68165 Mannheim, Germany [2] Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria [3] Medical Clinic V, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68167 Mannheim, Germany. ; The Cardiovascular Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. ; 1] Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA [2] Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA [3] Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ; University of Ottawa, Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4W7, Canada. ; 1] Centrum fur Thrombose und Hamostase (CTH), Universitatsmedizin Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany [2] German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site RheinMain, 55131 Mainz, Germany. ; 1] Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China [2] Laboratory of Statistical Genetics, Rockefeller University, New York 10065, USA. ; 1] Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen and 1. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universitat Munchen, 80636 Munchen, Germany [2] Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany [3] Institute of Human Genetics, Technische Universitat Munchen, 81675 Munchen, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24213632" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant paediatric brain tumour currently treated with a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, posing a considerable burden of toxicity to the developing child. Genomics has illuminated the extensive intertumoral heterogeneity of medulloblastoma, identifying four distinct molecular subgroups. Group 3 and group 4 subgroup medulloblastomas account for most paediatric cases; yet, oncogenic drivers for these subtypes remain largely unidentified. Here we describe a series of prevalent, highly disparate genomic structural variants, restricted to groups 3 and 4, resulting in specific and mutually exclusive activation of the growth factor independent 1 family proto-oncogenes, GFI1 and GFI1B. Somatic structural variants juxtapose GFI1 or GFI1B coding sequences proximal to active enhancer elements, including super-enhancers, instigating oncogenic activity. Our results, supported by evidence from mouse models, identify GFI1 and GFI1B as prominent medulloblastoma oncogenes and implicate 'enhancer hijacking' as an efficient mechanism driving oncogene activation in a childhood cancer.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201514/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201514/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Northcott, Paul A -- Lee, Catherine -- Zichner, Thomas -- Stutz, Adrian M -- Erkek, Serap -- Kawauchi, Daisuke -- Shih, David J H -- Hovestadt, Volker -- Zapatka, Marc -- Sturm, Dominik -- Jones, David T W -- Kool, Marcel -- Remke, Marc -- Cavalli, Florence M G -- Zuyderduyn, Scott -- Bader, Gary D -- VandenBerg, Scott -- Esparza, Lourdes Adriana -- Ryzhova, Marina -- Wang, Wei -- Wittmann, Andrea -- Stark, Sebastian -- Sieber, Laura -- Seker-Cin, Huriye -- Linke, Linda -- Kratochwil, Fabian -- Jager, Natalie -- Buchhalter, Ivo -- Imbusch, Charles D -- Zipprich, Gideon -- Raeder, Benjamin -- Schmidt, Sabine -- Diessl, Nicolle -- Wolf, Stephan -- Wiemann, Stefan -- Brors, Benedikt -- Lawerenz, Chris -- Eils, Jurgen -- Warnatz, Hans-Jorg -- Risch, Thomas -- Yaspo, Marie-Laure -- Weber, Ursula D -- Bartholomae, Cynthia C -- von Kalle, Christof -- Turanyi, Eszter -- Hauser, Peter -- Sanden, Emma -- Darabi, Anna -- Siesjo, Peter -- Sterba, Jaroslav -- Zitterbart, Karel -- Sumerauer, David -- van Sluis, Peter -- Versteeg, Rogier -- Volckmann, Richard -- Koster, Jan -- Schuhmann, Martin U -- Ebinger, Martin -- Grimes, H Leighton -- Robinson, Giles W -- Gajjar, Amar -- Mynarek, Martin -- von Hoff, Katja -- Rutkowski, Stefan -- Pietsch, Torsten -- Scheurlen, Wolfram -- Felsberg, Jorg -- Reifenberger, Guido -- Kulozik, Andreas E -- von Deimling, Andreas -- Witt, Olaf -- Eils, Roland -- Gilbertson, Richard J -- Korshunov, Andrey -- Taylor, Michael D -- Lichter, Peter -- Korbel, Jan O -- Wechsler-Reya, Robert J -- Pfister, Stefan M -- 5P30CA030199/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P01 CA096832/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P30 CA030199/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103504/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA159859/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 24;511(7510):428-34. doi: 10.1038/nature13379. Epub 2014 Jun 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2]. ; 1] Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0685, USA [2] Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA [3]. ; 1] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany [2]. ; European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. ; Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada. ; Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada. ; Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ; Department of Neuropathology, NN Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, 4th Tverskaya-Yamskaya 16, Moscow 125047, Russia. ; Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Data Management Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestrasse 63-73, Berlin 14195, Germany. ; Division of Translational Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Translational Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University SE, II.sz. Gyermekklinika, Budapest 1094, Hungary. ; 2nd Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, SE, II.sz. Gyermekklinika, Budapest 1094, Hungary. ; 1] Glioma Immunotherapy Group, Division of Neurosurgery, Lund University, Paradisgatan 2, Lund 221 00, Sweden [2] Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Paradisgatan 2, Lund 221 00, Sweden. ; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Masaryk University and University Hospital, Brno, Cernopolni 9 Brno 613 00, Czech Republic. ; Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, V Uvalu 84, Prague 150 06, Czech Republic. ; Department of Oncogenomics, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam 1105, AZ Netherlands. ; Department of Neurosurgery, Tubingen University Hospital, Hoppe-Seyler Strasse 3, Tubingen 72076, Germany. ; Division of Immunobiology, Program in Cancer Pathology of the Divisions of Experimental Hematology and Pathology, Program in Hematologic Malignancies of the Cancer and Blood Disease Insitute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 452229, USA. ; 1] Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA [2] Department of Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA. ; Department of Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA. ; Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, Bonn 53105, Germany. ; Cnopf'sche Kinderklinik, Nurnberg Children's Hospital, St-Johannis-Muhlgasse 19, Nurnberg 90419, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf, Moorenstrasse 5, Dusseldorf 40225, Germany. ; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 220, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada [2] Division of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada. ; 1] Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany [2] EMBL, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Saffron Walden CB10 1SD, UK. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25043047" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Following the discovery of BRD4 as a non-oncogene addiction target in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), bromodomain and extra terminal protein (BET) inhibitors are being explored as a promising therapeutic avenue in numerous cancers. While clinical trials have reported single-agent activity in advanced haematological malignancies, mechanisms determining the response to BET inhibition remain poorly understood. To identify factors involved in primary and acquired BET resistance in leukaemia, here we perform a chromatin-focused RNAi screen in a sensitive MLL-AF9;Nras(G12D)-driven AML mouse model, and investigate dynamic transcriptional profiles in sensitive and resistant mouse and human leukaemias. Our screen shows that suppression of the PRC2 complex, contrary to effects in other contexts, promotes BET inhibitor resistance in AML. PRC2 suppression does not directly affect the regulation of Brd4-dependent transcripts, but facilitates the remodelling of regulatory pathways that restore the transcription of key targets such as Myc. Similarly, while BET inhibition triggers acute MYC repression in human leukaemias regardless of their sensitivity, resistant leukaemias are uniformly characterized by their ability to rapidly restore MYC transcription. This process involves the activation and recruitment of WNT signalling components, which compensate for the loss of BRD4 and drive resistance in various cancer models. Dynamic chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and self-transcribing active regulatory region sequencing of enhancer profiles reveal that BET-resistant states are characterized by remodelled regulatory landscapes, involving the activation of a focal MYC enhancer that recruits WNT machinery in response to BET inhibition. Together, our results identify and validate WNT signalling as a driver and candidate biomarker of primary and acquired BET resistance in leukaemia, and implicate the rewiring of transcriptional programs as an important mechanism promoting resistance to BET inhibitors and, potentially, other chromatin-targeted therapies.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Rathert, Philipp -- Roth, Mareike -- Neumann, Tobias -- Muerdter, Felix -- Roe, Jae-Seok -- Muhar, Matthias -- Deswal, Sumit -- Cerny-Reiterer, Sabine -- Peter, Barbara -- Jude, Julian -- Hoffmann, Thomas -- Boryn, Lukasz M -- Axelsson, Elin -- Schweifer, Norbert -- Tontsch-Grunt, Ulrike -- Dow, Lukas E -- Gianni, Davide -- Pearson, Mark -- Valent, Peter -- Stark, Alexander -- Kraut, Norbert -- Vakoc, Christopher R -- Zuber, Johannes -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 24;525(7570):543-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14898. Epub 2015 Sep 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria. ; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA. ; Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria. ; Ludwig Boltzmann Cluster Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria. ; Boehringer Ingelheim - Regional Center Vienna GmbH, 1121 Vienna, Austria. ; Department of Medicine, Hematology &Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York 10065, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26367798" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Progesterone receptor (PR) expression is used as a biomarker of oestrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) function and breast cancer prognosis. Here we show that PR is not merely an ERalpha-induced gene target, but is also an ERalpha-associated protein that modulates its behaviour. In the presence of agonist ligands, PR associates with ERalpha to direct ERalpha chromatin binding events within breast cancer cells, resulting in a unique gene expression programme that is associated with good clinical outcome. Progesterone inhibited oestrogen-mediated growth of ERalpha(+) cell line xenografts and primary ERalpha(+) breast tumour explants, and had increased anti-proliferative effects when coupled with an ERalpha antagonist. Copy number loss of PGR, the gene coding for PR, is a common feature in ERalpha(+) breast cancers, explaining lower PR levels in a subset of cases. Our findings indicate that PR functions as a molecular rheostat to control ERalpha chromatin binding and transcriptional activity, which has important implications for prognosis and therapeutic interventions.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4650274/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4650274/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mohammed, Hisham -- Russell, I Alasdair -- Stark, Rory -- Rueda, Oscar M -- Hickey, Theresa E -- Tarulli, Gerard A -- Serandour, Aurelien A -- Birrell, Stephen N -- Bruna, Alejandra -- Saadi, Amel -- Menon, Suraj -- Hadfield, James -- Pugh, Michelle -- Raj, Ganesh V -- Brown, Gordon D -- D'Santos, Clive -- Robinson, Jessica L L -- Silva, Grace -- Launchbury, Rosalind -- Perou, Charles M -- Stingl, John -- Caldas, Carlos -- Tilley, Wayne D -- Carroll, Jason S -- 242664/European Research Council/International -- 5P30CA142543/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- A10178/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Jul 16;523(7560):313-7. doi: 10.1038/nature14583. Epub 2015 Jul 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK. ; Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories and the Adelaide Prostate Cancer Research Centre, School of Medicine, Hanson Institute Building, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia. ; Department of Urology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA. ; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Drive, CB7295, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. ; 1] Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK [2] Cambridge Breast Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK [3] Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26153859" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉