BackgroundDeep sequencing techniques provide a remarkable opportunity for comprehensive understanding of tumorigenesis at the molecular level. As omics studies become popular, integrative approaches need to be developed to move from a simple cataloguing of mutations and changes in gene expression to dissecting the molecular nature of carcinogenesis at the systemic level and understanding the complex networks that lead to cancer development.ResultsHere, we describe a high-throughput, multi-dimensional sequencing study of primary lung adenocarcinoma tumors and adjacent normal tissues of six Korean female never-smoker patients. Our data encompass results from exome-seq, RNA-seq, small RNA-seq, and MeDIP-seq. We identified and validated novel genetic aberrations, including 47 somatic mutations and 19 fusion transcripts. One of the fusions involves the c-RET gene, which was recently reported to form fusion genes that may function as drivers of carcinogenesis in lung cancer patients. We also characterized gene expression profiles, which we integrated with genomic aberrations and gene regulations into functional networks. The most prominent gene network module that emerged indicates that disturbances in G2/M transition and mitotic progression are causally linked to tumorigenesis in these patients. Also, results from the analysis strongly suggest that several novel microRNA-target interactions represent key regulatory elements of the gene network.ConclusionsOur study not only provides an overview of the alterations occurring in lung adenocarcinoma at multiple levels from genome to transcriptome and epigenome, but also offers a model for integrative genomics analysis and proposes potential target pathways for the control of lung adenocarcinoma.
An increasing number of chromosomal aberrations is being identified in solid tumors providing novel biomarkers for various types of cancer and new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. We applied next generation sequencing technique to analyze the transcriptome of the non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell line H2228 and discovered a fusion transcript composed of multiple exons of ALK (anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase) and PTPN3 (protein tyrosine phosphatase, nonreceptor Type 3). Detailed analysis of the genomic structure revealed that a portion of genomic region encompassing Exons 10 and 11 of ALK has been translocated into the intronic region between Exons 2 and 3 of PTPN3. The key net result appears to be the null mutation of one allele of PTPN3, a gene with tumor suppressor activity. Consistently, ectopic expression of PTPN3 in NSCLC cell lines led to inhibition of colony formation. Our study confirms the utility of next generation sequencing as a tool for the discovery of somatic mutations and has led to the identification of a novel mutation in NSCLC that may be of diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic importance.
VAMP2-NRG1 is a novel oncogenic fusion gene representing a new addition to the list of NRG1 fusion genes, which together may form an important diagnostic and clinical category of lung adenocarcinoma cases.
SLC22A18, solute carrier family 22, member 18, has been proposed to function as a tumor suppressor based on its chromosomal location at 11p15.5, mutations and aberrant splicing in several types of cancer and down-regulation in glioblastoma. In this study, we sought to demonstrate the significance of SLC22A18 as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer (CRC) and provide mechanistic bases for its function. We first showed that the expression of SLC22A18 is significantly down-regulated in tumor tissues using matched normal-tumor samples from CRC patients. This finding was also supported by publically accessible data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Functionally, SLC22A18 inhibits colony formation and induces of G2/M arrest consistent with being a tumor suppressor. Interestingly, suppression of KRAS by RNA interference promotes SLC22A18 expression, and expression of SLC22A18 in turn inhibits KRASG12D-mediated anchorage independent growth of NIH3T3 cells indicating a mutual negative interaction. Finally, we evaluated diagnostic and prognostic values of SLC22A18 using clinical and gene expression data from TCGA which revealed a significantly worse long-term prognosis for patients with low level SLC22A18 expression. In sum, we established SLC22A18 as a tumor suppressor in colon epithelial cells and propose that SLC22A18 is potentially a marker of diagnostic and prognostic values.
Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) has been discovered as the tail moiety of fusion genes with several distinct partner head genes in lung cancers. These fusion genes activate ERBB2/ERBB3 receptor-mediated cell signaling and thereby function as oncogenic drivers. We have carried out whole-transcriptome sequencing of 100 non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) tumors and isolated a novel fusion gene consisting of Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 2 (VAMP2) and NRG1. RT-PCR and genomic DNA analysis were used to demonstrate inter-chromosomal translocation. Immunoblotting and soft agar assays were used to examine stimulating activity of the fusion gene through ERBB2/ERBB3 signaling pathway. The most highly expressed splice variant of VAMP2-NRG1 fusion gene was shown to be membrane-bound and display EGF-like domain of NRG1 extracellularly. VAMP2-NRG1 promotes anchorage-independent colony formation of H1568 lung adenocarcinoma cells. Ectopic expression of the fusion gene stimulates phosphorylation of ERBB2 and ERBB3 as well as down-stream targets, AKT and ERK, confirming activation of the signaling pathway. VAMP2-NRG1 is a novel oncogenic fusion gene representing a new addition to the list of NRG1 fusion genes which together may form an important diagnostic and clinical category of lung adenocarcinoma cases. Citation Format: Yeonjoo Jung, Seunghui Yong, Pora Kim, Hee-Young Lee, Yeonhwa Jung, Juhee Keum, Suyeon Kim, Sanghyuk Lee, Jhingook Kim, Jaesang Kim. VAMP2-NRG1 fusion gene is a novel oncogenic driver of non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-015. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-015
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