Genomic instability, a hallmark of cancer, occurs preferentially at specific genomic regions known as common fragile sites (CFSs). CFSs are evolutionarily conserved and late replicating regions with AT-rich sequences, and CFS instability is correlated with cancer. In the last decade, much progress has been made toward understanding the mechanisms of chromosomal instability at CFSs. However, despite tremendous efforts, identifying a cancer-associated CFS gene (CACG) remains a challenge and little is known about the function of CACGs at most CFS loci. Recent studies of FATS (for Fragile-site Associated Tumor Suppressor), a new CACG at FRA10F, reveal an active role of this CACG in regulating DNA damage checkpoints and suppressing tumorigenesis. The identification of FATS may inspire more discoveries of other uncharacterized CACGs. Further elucidation of the biological functions and clinical significance of CACGs may be exploited for cancer biomarkers and therapeutic benefits.

factors, the diagnosis is delayed (Gao et al., 2016). Consequently, patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in total or partial penectomy, and often present with regional lymph node metastasis and reduced survival (

BackgroundSeveral genetic and epigenetic alterations are related to the development and progression of Gastric Cancer (GC), one of those being the deregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression profile. miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of thousands of genes, including oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Our group identified, in previous studies, some miRNAs that are differentially expressed in GC when compared to the gastric mucosa without cancer, including hsa-miR-29c and hsa-miR-135b. The aim of the study was to modulate the expression of the miRNAs hsa-miR-29c-5p and hsa-miR-135b-5p and evaluate the expression of their target genes in 2D and 3D cell cultures.Methodshsa-miR-29c-5p and hsa-miR-135b-5p expression profiles were modulated by transfecting mimics and antimiRs, respectively, in 2D and 3D cell cultures. The expression of the proteins coded by the genes CDC42, DNMT3A (target genes of hsa-miR-29c-5p) and APC (target gene of hsa-miR-135b-5p) were measured by Western Blot.ResultsResults showed that mimics and antimiRs transfection significantly altered the expression of both miRNAs, increasing the expression of hsa-miR-29c-5p and reducing the expression of hsa-miR-135b-5p, especially in the 3D culture of the cell lines. When analyzing the proteins expression, we observed that AGP01 and AGP03 cell lines transfected with mimics had a reduction in the levels of CDC42 and DNMT3A and all three cell lines transfected with antimiRs had an increase in the expression of the protein APC.ConclusionWe concluded that three-dimensional culture can be a more representative in vitro model that resembles better the in vivo reality. Our results also showed that hsa-miR-29c-5p is an important regulator of CDC42 and DNMT3A genes in the intestinal subtype gastric cancer and hsa-miR-135b-5p regulates the APC gene in both intestinal and diffuse subtypes of GC. Dysregulation in their expression, and consequently in their respectively signaling pathways, shows how these miRNAs can influence the carcinogenesis of different histological subtypes of gastric cancer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4980-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

AIMTo establish a permanent piwi like RNA-mediated gene silencing 1 (PIWIL1) gene knockout in AGP01 gastric cancer cell line using CRISPR-Cas9 system and analyze phenotypic modifications as well as gene expression alterations.METHODSCRISPR-Cas9 system used was purchased from Dharmacon GE Life Sciences (Lafayette, CO, United States) and permanent knockout was performed according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Wound-healing assay was performed to investigate the effect of PIWIL1 knockout on migration capability of cells and Boyden chamber invasion assay was performed to investigate the effect on invasion capability. For the gene expression analysis, a one-color microarray-based gene expression analysis kit (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, United States) was used according to the protocol provided by the manufacturer.RESULTSPIWIL1 gene knockout caused a significant decrease in AGP01 migration capacity as well as a significant decrease in cell invasiveness. Moreover, functional analysis based on grouping of all differentially expressed mRNAs identified a total of 35 genes (5 up-regulated and 30 down-regulated) encoding proteins involved in cellular invasion and migration. According to current literature, 9 of these 35 genes (DOCK2, ZNF503, PDE4D, ABL1, ABL2, LPAR1, SMAD2, WASF3 and DACH1) are possibly related to the mechanisms used by PIWIL1 to promote carcinogenic effects related to migration and invasion, since their functions are consistent with the changes observed (being up- or down-regulated after knockout).CONCLUSIONTaken together, these data reinforce the idea that PIWIL1 plays a crucial role in the signaling pathway of gastric cancer, regulating several genes involved in migration and invasion processes; therefore, its use as a therapeutic target may generate promising results in the treatment of gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is the third most frequent type of neoplasia and the second most important cause of death in the world. ACP01 is the first gastric adenocarcinoma cell line developed in Brazil. To evaluate chromosomal aberrations implicated in gastric carcinogenesis, we analysed three different passages (6th, 12th and 35th) of ACP01 cell line by fluorescence in situ hybridisation using chromosome 8 alpha-satellite probe. Most of the chromosome 8 alterations found involved a numerical increase of this chromosome. Chromosome 8 trisomy was detected in all cases, varying from 37% (6th passage) to 67% (35th passage), and chromosome 8 tetrasomy (also observed in all passages) varied from 2.5% (6th passage) to 30% (35th passage). The presence of five signals for chromosome 8 was observed in all passages with the highest frequency found in the 12th passage (20%). Our results confirm that trisomy of chromosome 8 is a common biological phenomenon in adenocarcinoma of stomach and can be used as a gastric mucosa malignancy marker. Although gastric tumours are frequent neoplasias, papers on their cytogenetics are scarce in the literature. It is, therefore, necessary to conduct new studies aiming to identify peculiar genetic characteristics of a tumour, which might help in diagnosis and prognosis of this disease, besides allowing more accurate therapeutic conduct to be established.

ABSTRACT. Breast cancer is the second most common origin of brain metastases, after lung cancer, and represents 14-20% of all cases. Abnormalities of chromosome 17 are important molecular genetic events in human breast cancer, and several oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are located on this chromosome. In about half of all human cancers, the tumor suppressor gene TP53, located at 17p13, is either lost or mutated. Loss of p53 protein function influences not only cell cycle checkpoint controls and apoptosis, but also the regulation of other important stages of metastatic progression, such as cell migration and tissue invasion. The aim of our study was to identify numerical aberrations of chromosome 17 and TP53 in 5 subjects with brain metastasis from breast cancer using dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments. Deletion of TP53 was the most frequent alteration observed, suggesting that if this alteration is present in the primary tumors, breast tumors with loss of TP53 copies have a poorer prognosis and a higher chance for metastasis. If this is true, the analyses of chromosome 17 and TP53 in primary breast cancer could be important for predicting its metastatic potential.

Genomic instability tends to occur at specific genomic regions known as common fragile sites (FS). FS are evolutionarily conserved and generally involve late replicating regions with AT-rich sequences. The possible correlation between some FS and cancer-related breakpoints emphasizes on the importance of understanding the mechanisms of chromosomal instability at these sites. Although about 230 FS have already been mapped cytogenetically, only a few of them have been characterized on a molecular level. In this chapter, we provide a protocol for mapping of common FS using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) probes in fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and suggest the usage of lymphocytes from Fanconi anemia patients as a model system. In the latter, rare FS are expressed much more frequently than in, for example, aphidicolin-induced blood lymphocyte preparations. Knowing the exact location of FS enables the molecular comparison of their location and breakpoints that appear during evolution, cancer development and inherited disorders.

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