BACKGROUND & AIMS: Metabolic syndrome is a newly identified risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however the molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. To elucidate this issue, cross-species analysis was performed to compare gene expression patterns of HCC from human patients and melanocortin 4 receptor-knockout (MC4R-KO) mice, developing HCC with obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. METHODS: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principle component analysis of 746 differentially expressed orthologous genes classified HCC of 152 human patients and MC4R-KO mice into two distinct subgroups, one of which included all the mouse HCC was etiologically associated with metabolic risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes. A specific biomarker was identified by the integrative analysis, and validated with in vitro studies and other cohort patients. RESULTS: As commonly overexpressed in human and mouse metabolic disease-associated HCC, FABP4 was remarkably enriched in intratumoral activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Then, we established subclones constitutively expressing FABP4 from a human HSC cell line, in which the expression levels of inflammatory chemokines including IL1A and IL6 was upregulated through NF-B nuclear translocation. An immunohistochemical validation study of other 106 human HCC samples indicated that FABP4-positive HSCs were distributed in tumors of 38 cases, and that the FABP4-high group was composed of patients with non-viral and non-alcoholic HCC (P=0.027) and with multiple metabolic risk factors (P<0.001) compared with the FABP4-low. CONCLUSIONS: FABP4 overexpression in HSCs could contribute to hepatocellular carcinogenesis in patients with metabolic risk factors via modulation of inflammatory pathway, and is a promising novel biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for this subtype of HCC.
Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 (FABP4) Overexpression in Intratumoral Hepatic Stellate Cells within Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Metabolic Risk Factors.
Specimen part
View SamplesBACKGROUND & AIMS: Metabolic syndrome is a newly identified risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however the molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. To elucidate this issue, cross-species analysis was performed to compare gene expression patterns of HCC from human patients and melanocortin 4 receptor-knockout (MC4R-KO) mice, developing HCC with obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. METHODS: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principle component analysis of 746 differentially expressed orthologous genes classified HCC of 152 human patients and MC4R-KO mice into two distinct subgroups, one of which included all the mouse HCC was etiologically associated with metabolic risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes. A specific biomarker was identified by the integrative analysis, and validated with in vitro studies and other cohort patients. RESULTS: As commonly overexpressed in human and mouse metabolic disease-associated HCC, FABP4 was remarkably enriched in intratumoral activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Then, we established subclones constitutively expressing FABP4 from a human HSC cell line, in which the expression levels of inflammatory chemokines including IL1A and IL6 was upregulated through NF-B nuclear translocation. An immunohistochemical validation study of other 106 human HCC samples indicated that FABP4-positive HSCs were distributed in tumors of 38 cases, and that the FABP4-high group was composed of patients with non-viral and non-alcoholic HCC (P=0.027) and with multiple metabolic risk factors (P<0.001) compared with the FABP4-low. CONCLUSIONS: FABP4 overexpression in HSCs could contribute to hepatocellular carcinogenesis in patients with metabolic risk factors via modulation of inflammatory pathway, and is a promising novel biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for this subtype of HCC.
Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 (FABP4) Overexpression in Intratumoral Hepatic Stellate Cells within Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Metabolic Risk Factors.
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View SamplesCellular differentiation is regulated through activation and repression of defined transcription factors. A hallmark of differentiation is a pronounced change in cell shape, which is determined by dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. In de-differentiated fat (DFAT) cells and 3T3-L1 cells, we showed that treatment with the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, by inducing remodeling of the actin cytoskelton, causes adipocyte differentiation. In addition, we found that depletion of MKL1, an actin binding transcriptional coactivator, elicits adipogenesis.
Regulation of MKL1 via actin cytoskeleton dynamics drives adipocyte differentiation.
Specimen part
View SamplesPompe disease is caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the GAA gene, which encodes acid alpha-glucosidase. Although enzyme replacement therapy has recently improved patient survival greatly, the results in skeletal muscles and for advanced disease are still not satisfactory. Here, we report the derivation of Pompe disease induced pluripotent stem cells (PomD-iPSCs) and their potential for pathogenesis modeling, drug testing and disease marker identification. PomD-iPSCs maintained pluripotent features, and had low GAA activity and high glycogen content. Cardiomyocyte-like cells (CMLCs) differentiated from PomD-iPSCs recapitulated the hallmark Pompe disease pathophysiological phenotypes, including high levels of glycogen, abundant intracellular LAMP-1- or LC3-positive granules, and multiple ultrastructural aberrances. Drug rescue assessment showed that exposure of PomD-iPSC-derived CMLCs to rhGAA reversed the major pathologic phenotypes. Further, L-carnitine and 3- methyladenine treatment reduced defective cellular respiration and buildup of phagolysosomes, respectively, in the diseased cells. By comparative transcriptome analysis, we identified glycogen metabolism, lysosome and mitochondria related marker genes whose expression robustly correlated with the therapeutic effect of drug treatment in PomD-iPSC-derived CMLCs. Collectively, these results demonstrate that PomD-iPSCs are a promising in vitro disease model for development of novel therapeutic strategies for Pompe disease.
Human Pompe disease-induced pluripotent stem cells for pathogenesis modeling, drug testing and disease marker identification.
Specimen part
View SamplesMounting evidence points to a link between a cancer possessing stem-like properties and a worse prognosis. To understand the biology, a common approach is to integrate network biology with signal processing mechanics. That said, even with the right tools, predicting the risk for a highly susceptible target using only a handful of gene signatures remains very difficult. By compiling the expression profiles of a panel of tumor stem-like cells (TSLCs) originating in different tissues, comparing these to their parental tumor cells (PTCs) and the human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and integrating network analysis with signaling mechanics, we propose that network topologically-weighted signaling processing measurements under tissue-specific conditions can provide scalable and predicable target identification.
Network biology of tumor stem-like cells identified a regulatory role of CBX5 in lung cancer.
Specimen part
View SamplesRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells are two retinal cell types that are affected by the most prevalent retinal diseases leading to irreversible blindness, such as glaucoma affecting the former and age-related macular degeneration affecting the latter. One of the most promising approaches for the therapy of these diseases is via the autologous transplantation of RGC or RPE cells derived from the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). This emphasizes the importance of detailed characterization and understanding of the mechanisms of differentiation of iPSCs into retinal lineages on the genome-wide scale. Such information can be used to identify novel crucial regulators of differentiation, optimisation of differentiation protocols to make them more efficient and safe, identification of novel specific biomarker signatures of differentiated cells. In this study, we performed the genome-wide transcriptome analysis of terminally differentiated RGC and RPE lineages, as well as intermediate retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) of optic vesicles (OVs) derived from the human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In our analysis we specifically focused on the classes of transcripts that encode regulators of gene expression, such as transcription factors, epigenetic factors, and components of signaling pathways.
Expression profiling of cell-intrinsic regulators in the process of differentiation of human iPSCs into retinal lineages.
Specimen part
View SamplesCompared the global gene expression profiles of HD- and CON-iPSC-derived neurons
Elucidating the role of the A2A adenosine receptor in neurodegeneration using neurons derived from Huntington's disease iPSCs.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesStevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis
Granulysin is a key mediator for disseminated keratinocyte death in Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesStevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis
Granulysin is a key mediator for disseminated keratinocyte death in Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe arabidopsis L-type lectin receptor kinase-VI.2 positively regulates bacterial PAMP-triggered immunity.
The lectin receptor kinase-VI.2 is required for priming and positively regulates Arabidopsis pattern-triggered immunity.
Specimen part
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