Aberrantly low STAT3 and STAT5 responses are associated with poor outcome and an inflammatory gene expression signature in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia.

The relapse rate for children with acute myeloid leukemia is nearly 40% despite aggressive chemotherapy and often stem cell transplant. We sought to understand how environment-induced signaling responses are associated with clinical response to treatment. We previously reported that patients whose AML cells showed low G-CSF-induced STAT3 activation had inferior event-free survival compared to patients with stronger STAT3 responses. Here, we expanded the paradigm to evaluate multiple signaling parameters induced by a more physiological stimulus. We measured STAT3, STAT5 and ERK1/2 responses to G-CSF and to stromal cell-conditioned medium for 113 patients enrolled on COG trials AAML03P1 and AAML0531. Low inducible STAT3 activity was independently associated with inferior event-free survival in multivariate analyses. For inducible STAT5 activity, those with the lowest and highest responses had inferior event-free survival, compared to patients with intermediate STAT5 responses. Using existing RNA-sequencing data, we compared gene expression profiles for patients with low inducible STAT3/5 activation with those for patients with higher inducible STAT3/5 signaling. Genes encoding hematopoietic factors and mitochondrial respiratory chain subunits were overexpressed in the low STAT3/5 response groups, implicating inflammatory and metabolic pathways as potential mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance. We validated the prognostic relevance of individual genes from the low STAT3/5 response signature in a large independent cohort of pediatric AML patients. These findings provide novel insights into interactions between AML cells and the microenvironment that are associated with treatment failure and could be targeted for therapeutic interventions.

NKD2, a negative regulator of Wnt signaling, suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most frequent pediatric malignant bone tumor that has a high propensity for metastases. Through osteoblast-specific alteration of p53 status, we developed a genetically engineered mouse model of localized and metastatic OS to gain an understanding into the molecular pathogenesis of OS. Microarray analysis of both localized tumors and metastatic tumors identified the downregulation of the naked cuticle homolog 2 (NKD2) gene, a negative regulator of Wnt signaling. Overexpression of NKD2 in metastatic human and mouse OS cells significantly decreases cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability in vitro and drastically diminishes OS tumor growth and metastasis in vivo, whereas downregulation enhances migratory and invasive potential. Evaluation of NKD2-overexpressing tumors revealed upregulation of tumor-suppressor genes and downregulation of molecules involved in blood vessel formation and cell migration. Furthermore, assessment of primary human OS revealed downregulation of NKD2 in metastatic and recurrent OS. Finally, we provide biological evidence that use of small-molecule inhibitors targeting the Wnt pathway can have therapeutic efficacy in decreasing metastatic properties in OS. Our studies provide compelling evidence that downregulation of NKD2 expression and alterations in associated regulated pathways have a significant role in driving OS tumor growth and metastasis.

Classification of sarcomas using bioinformatics and molecular profiling.

Recent advances in genomic and proteomic technologies have revolutionized our way of classifying cancers. These high-throughput technologies allow the use of powerful and multivariate bioinformatic approaches to develop molecular classifiers. These classifiers can then be used to distinguish different types of tumors based on their molecular profiles. This is particularly important for heterogeneous groups of tumors such as sarcomas. Although sarcomas have a variety of histological appearances, the distinction among some of the diagnostic groups is vague. Therefore, molecular classification provides a new way to distinguish histologically similar but molecularly different types of sarcomas, and hence improves tumor diagnosis and stratification. In addition, identification of discriminatory genes that carry information to differentiate clinical subtypes of sarcomas will further elucidate the underlying molecular pathways and pathological mechanisms of these tumors. In this article, we review some current methods used in genomic and proteomic profiling, outline the approach of using bioinformatic techniques to develop a molecular classifier, and discuss some recent examples to illustrate the use of molecular classification to distinguish different types of sarcomas and understand the biology of these tumors.

Non-independence of Mnt repressor-operator interaction determined by a new quantitative multiple fluorescence relative affinity (QuMFRA) assay.

Salmonella bacteriophage repressor Mnt belongs to the ribbon-helix-helix class of transcription factors. Previous SELEX results suggested that interactions of Mnt with positions 16 and 17 of the operator DNA are not independent. Using a newly developed high-throughput quantitative multiple fluorescence relative affinity (QuMFRA) assay, we directly quantified the relative equilibrium binding constants (K(ref)) of Mnt to operators carrying all the possible dinucleotide combinations at these two positions. Results show that Mnt prefers binding to C, instead of wild-type A, at position 16 when wild-type C at position 17 is changed to other bases. The measured K(ref) values of double mutants were also higher than the values predicted from single mutants, demonstrating the non-independence of these two positions. The ability to produce a large number of quantitative binding data simultaneously and the potential to scale up makes QuMFRA a valuable tool for the large-scale study of macromolecular interaction.

Targeted gene disruption reveals an essential role for ceruloplasmin in cellular iron efflux.

Aceruloplasminemia is an autosomal recessive disorder of iron metabolism. Affected individuals evidence iron accumulation in tissue parenchyma in association with absent serum ceruloplasmin. Genetic studies of such patients reveal inherited mutations in the ceruloplasmin gene. To elucidate the role of ceruloplasmin in iron homeostasis, we created an animal model of aceruloplasminemia by disrupting the murine ceruloplasmin (Cp) gene. Although normal at birth, Cp(-/-) mice demonstrate progressive accumulation of iron such that by one year of age all animals have a prominent elevation in serum ferritin and a 3- to 6-fold increase in the iron content of the liver and spleen. Histological analysis of affected tissues in these mice shows abundant iron stores within reticuloendothelial cells and hepatocytes. Ferrokinetic studies in Cp(+/+) and Cp(-/-) mice reveal equivalent rates of iron absorption and plasma iron turnover, suggesting that iron accumulation results from altered compartmentalization within the iron cycle. Consistent with this concept, Cp(-/-) mice showed no abnormalities in cellular iron uptake but a striking impairment in the movement of iron out of reticuloendothelial cells and hepatocytes. Our findings reveal an essential physiologic role for ceruloplasmin in determining the rate of iron efflux from cells with mobilizable iron stores.

Involvement of the gapA- and epd (gapB)-encoded dehydrogenases in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate coenzyme biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

We show that epd (gapB) mutants lacking an erythrose 4-phosphate (E4P) dehydrogenase are impaired for growth on some media and contain less pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) and pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP) than their epd+ parent. In contrast to a previous report, we found that gapA epd double mutants lacking the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and E4P dehydrogenases are auxotrophic for pyridoxine. These results implicate the GapA and Epd dehydrogenases in de novo PLP and PMP coenzyme biosynthesis.

Identification and function of the pdxY gene, which encodes a novel pyridoxal kinase involved in the salvage pathway of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

pdrK encodes a pyridoxine (PN)/pyridoxal (PL)/pyridoxamine (PM) kinase thought to function in the salvage pathway of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) coenzyme biosynthesis. The observation that pdxK null mutants still contain PL kinase activity led to the hypothesis that Escherichia coli K-12 contains at least one other B6-vitamer kinase. Here we support this hypothesis by identifying the pdxY gene (formally, open reading frame f287b) at 36.92 min, which encodes a novel PL kinase. PdxY was first identified by its homology to PdxK in searches of the complete E. coli genome. Minimal clones of pdxY+ overexpressed PL kinase specific activity about 10-fold. We inserted an omega cassette into pdxY and crossed the resulting pdxY::omegaKan(r) mutation into the bacterial chromosome of a pdrB mutant, in which de novo PLP biosynthesis is blocked. We then determined the growth characteristics and PL and PN kinase specific activities in extracts of pdxK and pdxY single and double mutants. Significantly, the requirement of the pdxB pdxK pdxY triple mutant for PLP was not satisfied by PL and PN, and the triple mutant had negligible PL and PN kinase specific activities. Our combined results suggest that the PL kinase PdxY and the PN/PL/PM kinase PdxK are the only physiologically important B6 vitamer kinases in E. coli and that their function is confined to the PLP salvage pathway. Last, we show that pdxY is located downstream from pdxH (encoding PNP/PMP oxidase) and essential tyrS (encoding aminoacyl-tRNA(Tyr) synthetase) in a multifunctional operon. pdxY is completely cotranscribed with tyrS, but about 92% of tyrS transcripts terminate at a putative Rho-factor-dependent attenuator located in the tyrS-pdxY intercistronic region.

Maximization of transcription of the serC (pdxF)-aroA multifunctional operon by antagonistic effects of the cyclic AMP (cAMP) receptor protein-cAMP complex and Lrp global regulators of Escherichia coli K-12.

The arrangement of the Escherichia coli serC (pdxF) and aroA genes into a cotranscribed multifunctional operon allows coregulation of two enzymes required for the biosynthesis of L-serine, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, chorismate, and the aromatic amino acids and vitamins. RNase T2 protection assays revealed two major transcripts that were initiated from a promoter upstream from serC (pdxF). Between 80 to 90% of serC (pdxF) transcripts were present in single-gene mRNA molecules that likely arose by Rho-independent termination between serC (pdxF) and aroA. serC (pdxF)-aroA cotranscripts terminated at another Rho-independent terminator near the end of aroA. We studied operon regulation by determining differential rates of beta-galactosidase synthesis in a merodiploid strain carrying a single-copy lambda[phi(serC [pdxF]'-lacZYA)] operon fusion. serC (pdxF) transcription was greatest in bacteria growing in minimal salts-glucose medium (MMGlu) and was reduced in minimal salts-glycerol medium, enriched MMGlu, and LB medium. serC (pdxF) transcription was increased in cya or crp mutants compared to their cya+ crp+ parent in MMGlu or LB medium. In contrast, serC (pdxF) transcription decreased in an lrp mutant compared to its lrp+ parent in MMGlu. Conclusions obtained by using the operon fusion were corroborated by quantitative Western immunoblotting of SerC (PdxF), which was present at around 1,800 dimers per cell in bacteria growing in MMGlu. RNase T2 protection assays of serC (pdxF)-terminated and serC (pdxF)-aroA cotranscript amounts supported the conclusion that the operon was regulated at the transcription level under the conditions tested. Results with a series of deletions upstream of the P(serC (pdxF)) promoter revealed that activation by Lrp was likely direct, whereas repression by the cyclic AMP (cAMP) receptor protein-cAMP complex (CRP-cAMP) was likely indirect, possibly via a repressor whose amount or activity was stimulated by CRP-cAMP.

Isolation of a pdxJ point mutation that bypasses the requirement for the PdxH oxidase in pyridoxal 5' -phosphate coenzyme biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

We isolated 26 suppressor mutations that allowed growth of a delta pdxH::omega null mutant in the absence of pyridoxal. Each suppressor mapped to pdxJ, and the eight suppressors sequenced contained the same glycine-to-serine change in the PdxJ polypeptide. This bypass suppression suggests that PdxJ may participate in formation of the pyridine ring of pyridoxine 5'-phosphate.

Expression of the p53 gene in trophoblastic cells in hydatidiform moles and normal human placentas.

In this study we compared the expression of p53 in six early placentas and eight hydatidiform moles using Northern blotting. A higher expression of p53 in hydatidiform moles as compared to normal placentas of comparable gestational age was observed. Immunohistochemical studies did not detect mutant protein of p53 in the hydatidiform moles. DNA sequencing was performed on four of the hydatidiform moles with increased expression of p53, but no mutations could be detected. The possible role of p53 in the pathogenesis of hydatidiform mole is discussed.

Expression of c-myc and c-fms oncogenes in trophoblastic cells in hydatidiform mole and normal human placenta.

AIMS: To compare the expression of c-myc and c-fms proto-oncogenes in the placenta and hydatidiform mole. METHODS: Twelve hydatidiform moles and six induced abortion cases were collected. c-myc and c-fms proto-oncogene expression was analysed by northern blot hybridisation and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The results of northern blot hybridisation analysis showed that c-fms was expressed more strongly in hydatidiform moles compared with normal placenta of similar gestational age. Moreover, c-fms mRNA concentrations increased with more advanced gestational age in moles but not in normal placentas. c-myc expression was very low in hydatidiform moles and normal placentas. Both oncogenes, however, had no direct correlation with the clinical course of the molar pregnancies. CONCLUSION: The difference in c-fms expression between hydatidiform moles and normal placentas suggests that c-fms may have a role in the development of molar pregnancies.