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GSE24628
Mus musculus
16 Downloadable Samples
Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array (mouse4302)
Description
Medulloblastoma encompasses a collection of clinically and molecularly diverse tumor subtypes that together comprise the most common malignant childhood brain tumor. These tumors are thought to arise within the cerebellum, with approximately 25% originating from granule neuron precursor cells (GNPCs) following aberrant activation of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway (hereafter, SHH-subtype). The pathological processes that drive heterogeneity among the other medulloblastoma subtypes are not known, hindering the development of much needed new therapies. Here, we provide evidence that a discrete subtype of medulloblastoma that contains activating mutations in the WNT pathway effector CTNNB1 (hereafter, WNT-subtype), arises outside the cerebellum from cells of the dorsal brainstem. We found that genes marking human WNT-subtype medulloblastomas are more frequently expressed in the lower rhombic lip (LRL) and embryonic dorsal brainstem than in the upper rhombic lip (URL) and developing cerebellum. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intra-operative reports showed that human WNT-subtype tumors infiltrate the dorsal brainstem, while SHH-subtype tumors are located within the cerebellar hemispheres. Activating mutations in Ctnnb1 had little impact on progenitor cell populations in the cerebellum, but caused the abnormal accumulation of cells on the embryonic dorsal brainstem that included aberrantly proliferating Zic1+ precursor cells. These lesions persisted in all mutant adult mice and in 15% of cases in which Tp53 was concurrently deleted, progressed to form medulloblastomas that recapitulated the anatomy and gene expression profiles of human WNT-subtype medulloblastoma. We provide the first evidence that subtypes of medulloblastoma have distinct cellular origins. Our data provide an explanation for the marked molecular and clinical differences between SHH and WNT-subtype medulloblastomas and have profound implications for future research and treatment of this important childhood cancer.
Publication Title
Subtypes of medulloblastoma have distinct developmental origins.
Sample Metadata Fields
Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 71 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array (hgu133plus2)
Description
Medulloblastoma is a malignant childhood brain tumour comprising four discrete subgroups. To identify mutations that drive medulloblastoma we sequenced the entire genomes of 37 tumours and matched normal blood. One hundred and thirty-six genes harbouring somatic mutations in this discovery set were sequenced in an additional 56 medulloblastomas. Recurrent mutations were detected in 41 genes not yet implicated in medulloblastoma: several target distinct components of the epigenetic machinery in different disease subgroups, e.g., regulators of H3K27 and H3K4 trimethylation in subgroup-3 and 4 (e.g., KDM6A and ZMYM3), and CTNNB1-associated chromatin remodellers in WNT-subgroup tumours (e.g., SMARCA4 and CREBBP). Modelling of mutations in mouse lower rhombic lip progenitors that generate WNT-subgroup tumours, identified genes that maintain this cell lineage (DDX3X) as well as mutated genes that initiate (CDH1) or cooperate (PIK3CA) in tumourigenesis. These data provide important new insights into the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma subgroups and highlight targets for therapeutic development.
Publication Title
Novel mutations target distinct subgroups of medulloblastoma.
Sample Metadata Fields
Sex
View Samples- Mus musculus
- 19 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array (mouse4302)
Description
Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Patients whose tumors exhibit overexpression or amplification of the MYC oncogene (c-MYC) usually have an extremely poor prognosis, but there are no animal models of this subtype of the disease. Here we show that cerebellar stem cells expressing Myc and mutant Trp53 (p53) generate aggressive tumors following orthotopic transplantation. These tumors consist of large, pleiomorphic cells and resemble human MYC-driven MB at a molecular level. Notably, antagonists of PI3K/mTOR signaling, but not Hedgehog signaling, inhibit growth of tumor cells. These findings suggest that cerebellar stem cells can give rise to MYC-driven MB, and identify a novel model that can be used to test therapies for this devastating disease.
Publication Title
An animal model of MYC-driven medulloblastoma.
Sample Metadata Fields
Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 103 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST Array [transcript (gene) version (huex10st)
Description
Recent genomic approaches have suggested the existence of multiple distinct subtypes of medulloblastoma. We studied a large cohort of medulloblastomas to determine how many subgroups of the disease exist, how they differ, and the extent of overlap between subgroups. We determined gene expression profiles and DNA copy number aberrations for 103 primary medulloblastomas. Bioinformatic tools were used for class discovery of medulloblastoma subgroups based on the most informative genes in the dataset. Immunohistochemistry for subgroup-specific signature genes was used to determine subgroup affiliation for 294 non-overlapping medulloblastomas on two independent tissue microarrays (TMAs). Multiple unsupervised analyses of transcriptional profiles identified four distinct, non-overlapping molecular variants: WNT, SHH, Group C, and Group D. Supervised analysis of these four subgroups revealed significant subgroup-specific demographics, histology, metastatic status, and DNA copy number aberrations. Immunohistochemistry for DKK1 (WNT), SFRP1 (SHH), NPR3 (Group C), and KCNA1 (Group D) could reliably and uniquely classify formalin fixed medulloblastomas in ~98% of cases. Group C patients (NPR3 +ve tumors) exhibited a significantly diminished progression free and overall survival irrespective of their metastatic status. Our integrative genomics approach to a large cohort of medulloblastomas has identified four disparate subgroups with distinct demographics, clinical presentation, transcriptional profiles, genetic abnormalities, and clinical outcome. Medulloblastomas can be reliably assigned to subgroups through immunohistochemistry, thereby making medulloblastoma sub-classification widely available. Future research on medulloblastoma and the development of clinical trials should take into consideration these four distinct types of medulloblastoma.
Publication Title
Medulloblastoma comprises four distinct molecular variants.
Sample Metadata Fields
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 763 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Gene 1.1 ST Array (hugene11st)
Description
Affimetrix Human Gene 1.1 ST Array profiling of 763 primary medullobalstoma samples used for identification of Medullobastoma subtypes
Publication Title
Intertumoral Heterogeneity within Medulloblastoma Subgroups.
Sample Metadata Fields
Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 30 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST Array (hugene10st)
Description
Pediatric medulloblastoma is considered a highly heterogeneous disease, and a new strategy of risk stratification to optimize therapeutic outcomes is required. We aimed to investigate a new risk-stratification approach based on expression profiles of medulloblastoma cohorts. We analyzed gene expression profiles of 30 primary medulloblastomas and detected strong evidence that poor survival outcome was significantly associated with mRNA expression profiles of 17p loss. However, it was not supported in independent cohorts from previously published data (n=100). We speculated that this controversy might come from complex conditions of two important prognostic determinants, loss of tumor suppressors (chromosome 17p) and high expression of oncogenes, c-myc (MYC) or N-myc (MYCN). Simultaneous consideration of these two factors led to a new subgrouping of patients, exhibiting obviously different survival expectancies between the subgroups. Patients with up-regulated WNT signalings were always pre-defined as an independent subgroup, which ultimately removed confounding effect arising from contradictory outcome, favorable prognosis of WNT medulloblastomas despite their high MYC/MYCN expression level. We also found that age is a significant prognostic marker after adjusting for 17p and MYC/MYCN status. Diminished survival in age <3 years was more substantial in groups with high expression of MYC/MYCN or 17p loss, indicating survival outcome might be coordinately affected by these three factors. We suggest a more tailored and easily applicable subgrouping system based on expression profiles of chromosome 17p and MYC/MYCN, while separating WNT medulloblastoma as an independent subgroup, which could provide the basis for a novel risk-stratification strategy in pediatric medulloblastoma.
Publication Title
Prognostic classification of pediatric medulloblastoma based on chromosome 17p loss, expression of MYCC and MYCN, and Wnt pathway activation.
Sample Metadata Fields
Sex, Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 39 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array (hgu133plus2)
Description
Medulloblastoma is the most frequent malignant pediatric brain tumor. Considerable efforts are dedicated to identify markers that help to refine treatment strategies. The activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway occurs in 10-15% of medulloblastomas and has been recently described as a marker for favorable patient outcome. We report a series of 72 pediatric medulloblastomas evaluated for beta-catenin immunostaining, CTNNB1 mutations, and studied by comparative genomic hybridization. Gene expression profiles were also available in a subset of 40 cases. Immunostaining of beta-catenin showed extensive nuclear staining (>50% of the tumor cells) in 6 cases and focal nuclear staining (<10% of cells) in 3 cases. The other cases exhibited either a signal strictly limited to the cytoplasm (58 cases) or were negative (5 cases). CTNNB1 mutations were detected in all beta-catenin extensively nucleopositive cases. The expression profiles of these cases documented a strong activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. Remarkably, 5 out of these 6 tumors showed a complete loss of chromosome 6. In contrast, cases with focal nuclear beta-catenin staining, as well as tumors with negative or cytoplasmic staining, never demonstrated CTNNB1 mutation, Wnt/beta-catenin pathway activation or chromosome 6 loss. Patients with extensive nuclear staining were significantly older at diagnosis and were in continuous complete remission after a mean follow-up of 75.7 months (range 27.5-121.2) from diagnosis. All three patients with a focal nuclear staining of beta-catenin died within 36 months from diagnosis. Altogether, these data confirm and extend previous observations that CTNNB1-mutated tumors represent a distinct molecular subgroup of medulloblastomas with favorable outcome, indicating that therapy de-escalation should be considered. Yet, international consensus on the definition criteria of this distinct medulloblastoma subgroup should be achieved.
Publication Title
Beta-catenin status in paediatric medulloblastomas: correlation of immunohistochemical expression with mutational status, genetic profiles, and clinical characteristics.
Sample Metadata Fields
No sample metadata fields
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 5 Downloadable Samples
Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (HumanMethylation450_15017482), Affymetrix Human Gene 2.0 ST Array (hugene20st)
Description
Affymetrix Human Gene 2.0 ST Array profiling of 9 pairs of matched primary-metastases medulloblastoma samples.
Publication Title
Medulloblastoma subgroups remain stable across primary and metastatic compartments.
Sample Metadata Fields
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Subject
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 24 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Gene 2.0 ST Array (hugene20st)
Description
These gene expression microarrays were performed as part of a project aiming to integrate quantitative proteomic, gene expression and epigenetic data from the childhood brain tumor medulloblastoma.
Publication Title
Proteomic analysis of Medulloblastoma reveals functional biology with translational potential.
Sample Metadata Fields
Sex, Specimen part
View Samples- Homo sapiens
- 15 Downloadable Samples
- Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array (hgu133plus2)
Description
Bmi-1 and Mel-18 are close structural homologues that belong to the polycomb group (PcG) of transcriptional regulators of homeotic gene expression in development. They are believed to stably maintain repression of gene expression by altering the state of chromatin at specific promoters. A number of clinical and experimental observations have also implicated Bmi-1 in tumorigenesis and stem cell maintenance. Bmi-1 overexpression or amplification has been observed in a number of human malignancies, particularly in B-cell lymphomas, medulloblastomas and breast cancer. We report here that shRNA-mediated knock-down of either Bmi-1 or Mel-18 in human medulloblastoma DAOY cells results in the inhibition of proliferation, loss of clonogenic survival and anchorage-independent growth, and suppression of xenograft tumor formation in nude mice. Furthermore, overexpression of both Bmi-1 and Mel-18 significantly increased clonogenic survival of Rat1 fibroblasts. In contrast, stable downregulation of Bmi-1 or Mel-18 alone did not affect the growth of SK-OV-3 or U2OS cancer cell lines or normal human WI38 fibroblasts. Gene expression analysis of shRNA-expressing DAOY cells has demonstrated a significant overlap in the Bmi-1- and Mel-18-regulated genes and revealed novel gene targets under their control. Taken together, these results suggest that Bmi-1 and Mel-18 might have overlapping functions in human tumorigenesis.
Publication Title
Contribution of polycomb homologues Bmi-1 and Mel-18 to medulloblastoma pathogenesis.
Sample Metadata Fields
No sample metadata fields
View Samples