The biology underlying nodal metastasis is poorly understood. Transcriptome profiling has helped to characterize both primary tumors seeding nodal metastasis and the metastasis themselves. The interpretation of these data, however, is not without ambiguities. Here we profiled the transcriptomes of 17 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) nodal metastases, associated primary tumors and primary tumors from N0 patients. We also included patient-matched normal thyroid and lymph node samples as controls to address some limits of previous studies. We found that the transcriptomes of patient-matched primary tumors and metastases were more similar than of unrelated metastases/primary pairs, a result also reported in other organ systems, and that part of this similarity reflected patient background. We found that the comparison of patient-matched primary tumors and metastases was heavily confounded by the presence of lymphoid tissues in the metastasis samples. An original data adjustment procedure was developed to circumvent this problem. It revealed a differential expression of stroma-related gene expression signatures also regulated in other organ systems. The comparison of N0 vs. N+ primary tumors uncovered a signal irreproducible across independent PTC datasets. This signal was also detectable when comparing the normal thyroid tissues adjacent to N0 and N+ tumors, suggesting a cohort specific bias also likely to be present in previous studies with similar statistical power. Classification of N0 vs. N+ yielded an accuracy of 63%, but additional statistical controls not presented in previous studies, revealed that this is likely to occur by chance alone. To address this issue, we used large datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas and showed that N0 vs. N+ classification rates could not be reached randomly for most cancers. Yet, it was significant, but of limited accuracy (<70%) for thyroid, breast and head and neck cancers.
Revisiting the transcriptional analysis of primary tumours and associated nodal metastases with enhanced biological and statistical controls: application to thyroid cancer.
Sex
View SamplesWe profiled the gene expression of 11 anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATC), 49 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) and 45 normal thyroids (N)
A general method to derive robust organ-specific gene expression-based differentiation indices: application to thyroid cancer diagnostic.
Specimen part
View SamplesThyroid gland is among the most sensitive organs to ionizing radiation. Whether low-dose radiation-induced papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) differs from sporadic PTC is yet unknown.
Gene signature of the post-Chernobyl papillary thyroid cancer.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMouse Hammer toe (Hm) shows syndactyly. To reveal the molecular mechanisms of Hm phenotype, we performed microarray analysis to search differencially expressed genes in Hm limb.
Enhancer adoption caused by genomic insertion elicits interdigital <i>Shh</i> expression and syndactyly in mouse.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe 5HT system is organized into rostral and caudal populations with discrete anatomical locations and opposite axonal trajectories in the developing hindbrain. 5HT neuron cell bodies in the rostral subdivision migrate to the midbrain and pons and extend ascending projections throughout the forebrain. 5HT cell bodies in the caudal subdivision migrate to the ventral medulla and caudal half of the pons and provide descending projections to the brainstem and spinal cord.
Distinct transcriptomes define rostral and caudal serotonin neurons.
Specimen part
View SamplesWe individually examined the ability of human ARGFX, DPRX, LEUTX, and TPRX1 to regulate gene expression by ectopically expressing these proteins in fibroblasts. Overall design: Each gene along with an empty control vector were transfected individually to drive ectopic expression in human dermal fibroblasts, in triplicate.
Evolutionary origin and functional divergence of totipotent cell homeobox genes in eutherian mammals.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesFollowing androgen ablation treatment for advanced prostate cancer, almost all men relapse after a period of initial response to therapy, which eventually is life threatening. We have previously found that purine-rich element binding protein, PUR alpha, was significantly repressed in androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines in comparison to an androgen-dependent line. Moreover, over-expressing PURa in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells attenuated their cell proliferation. The aim of the studies described here was to uncover some of the mechanisms by which over-expression of PURa attenuates cell proliferation.
Purine-rich element binding protein (PUR) alpha induces endoplasmic reticulum stress response, and cell differentiation pathways in prostate cancer cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesWhile blood transcriptional profiling has improved diagnosis and understanding of disease pathogenesis of adult tuberculosis (TB), no studies applying gene expression profiling of children with TB have been described so far. In this study, we have compared whole blood gene expression in childhood TB patients, as well as in healthy latently infected (LTBI) and uninfected (HC) children in a cohort of Warao Amerindians in the Delta Amacuro in Venezuela. We identified a 116-gene signature set by means of random forest analysis that showed an average prediction error of 11% for TB vs. LTBI and for TB vs. LTBI vs. HC in our dataset. Furthermore, a minimal set of only 9 genes showed a significant predictive value for all previously published adult studies using whole blood gene expression, with average prediction errors between 17% and 23%. Additionally, a minimal gene set of 42 genes with a comparable predictive value to the 116-gene set in both our dataset and the previously published literature cohorts for the comparsion of TB vs. LTBI vs. HC was identified. In order to identify a robust representative gene set that would hold stand among different ethnic populations, we selected ten genes that were highly discriminative between TB, LTBI and HC in all literature datasets as well as in our dataset. Functional annotation of these ten genes highlights a possible role for genes involved in calcium signaling and calcium metabolism as biomarkers for active TB. These ten genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in an additional cohort of 54 Warao Amerindian children with LTBI, HC and non-TB pneumonia. Decision tree analysis indicated that five of the ten genes were sufficient to diagnose 78% of the TB cases correctly with 100% specificity. We conclude that our data justify the further exploration of our signature set as biomarkers to diagnose childhood TB. Furthermore, as the identification of different biomarkers in ethnically distinct cohorts is apparent, it is important to cross-validate newly identified markers in all available cohorts.
A predictive signature gene set for discriminating active from latent tuberculosis in Warao Amerindian children.
Sex, Age
View SamplesGene expression profiles during the differentiation of EPCs into OECs were analyzed.
Endothelial progenitor cell homing: prominent role of the IGF2-IGF2R-PLCbeta2 axis.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesLRF, which is encoded by the ZBTB7A gene and formerly known as POKEMON (POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor), was originally identified as a PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger) homologue interacting with BCL6 (B-cell lymphoma 6). LRF is a transcription factor that is broadly expressed in hematopoietic lineage cells, but its expression is particularly high in erythroblasts and germinal center (GC) B-cells. The goal of this study is to assess the effect of LRF loss on the LT-HSC transcriptome. Nine days after injection of adult mice with polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (pIpc) to activate Cre, total RNAs were isolated from double-sorted LT-HSCs from LRF Flox/+ Mx1-Cre+ and LRF Flox/Flox Mx1-Cre+ mice and processed for microarray analysis.
LRF-mediated Dll4 repression in erythroblasts is necessary for hematopoietic stem cell maintenance.
Age, Specimen part, Time
View Samples