Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Although dramatically increased survival rates of early diagnosed cases have been observed, late diagnosed patients and metastatic cancer may still be considered fatal. The present study's main focus was on cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) which is an active component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) regulating the breast cancer ecosystem. Transcriptomic profiling and analysis of CAFs isolated from breast cancer skin metastasis, cutaneous basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma unravelled major gene candidates such as IL6, VEGFA and MFGE8 that induced co‐expression of keratins‐8/‐14 in the EM‐G3 cell line derived from infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma. Western blot analysis of selected keratins (keratin‐8, ‐14, ‐18, ‐19) and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition‐associated markers (SLUG, SNAIL, ZEB1, E‐/N‐cadherin, vimentin) revealed specific responses pointing to certain heterogeneity of the studied CAF populations. Experimental in vitro treatment using neutralizing antibodies against IL-6, VEGF‐A and MFGE8 attenuated the modulatory effect of CAFs on EM‐G3 cells. The present study provided novel data in characterizing and understanding the interactions between CAFs and EM‐G3 cells in vitro. CAFs of different origins support the pro‐inflammatory microenvironment and influence the biology of breast cancer cells. This observation potentially holds significant interest for the development of novel, clinically relevant approaches targeting the TME in breast cancer. Furthermore, its implications extend beyond breast cancer and have the potential to impact a wide range of other cancer types.

• MeSH
• antigeny povrchové MeSH
• fibroblasty asociované s nádorem * metabolismus   MeSH
• fibroblasty metabolismus   MeSH
• keratiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• maligní melanom kůže MeSH
• MFC-7 buňky MeSH
• mléčné bílkoviny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádorové mikroprostředí genetika   MeSH
• nádory prsu * farmakoterapie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• prognóza MeSH
• transkriptom MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma is increasing worldwide. While the treatment of initial stages of the disease is simple, the advanced disease frequently remains fatal despite novel therapeutic options . This requires identification of novel therapeutic targets in melanoma. Similarly to other types of tumours, the cancer microenvironment plays a prominent role and determines the biological properties of melanoma. Importantly, melanoma cell-produced exosomes represent an important tool of intercellular communication within this cancer ecosystem. We have focused on potential differences in the activity of exosomes produced by melanoma cells towards melanoma-associated fibroblasts and normal dermal fibroblasts. Cancer-associated fibroblasts were activated by the melanoma cell-produced exosomes significantly more than their normal counterparts, as assessed by increased transcription of genes for inflammation-supporting cytokines and chemokines, namely IL-6 or IL-8. We have observed that the response is dependent on the duration of the stimulus via exosomes and also on the quantity of exosomes. Our study demonstrates that melanoma-produced exosomes significantly stimulate the tumour-promoting proinflammatory activity of cancer-associated fibroblasts. This may represent a potential new target of oncologic therapy .

• MeSH
• exozómy metabolismus   MeSH
• fibroblasty metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• melanom experimentální metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• nádorové buňky kultivované MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Mutations in BRAT1, encoding BRCA1-associated ATM activator 1, have been associated with neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders characterized by heterogeneous phenotypes with varying levels of clinical severity. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of disease pathology remain poorly understood. Here, we show that BRAT1 tightly interacts with INTS9/INTS11 subunits of the Integrator complex that processes 3' ends of various noncoding RNAs and pre-mRNAs. We find that Integrator functions are disrupted by BRAT1 deletion. In particular, defects in BRAT1 impede proper 3' end processing of UsnRNAs and snoRNAs, replication-dependent histone pre-mRNA processing, and alter the expression of protein-coding genes. Importantly, impairments in Integrator function are also evident in patient-derived cells from BRAT1 related neurological disease. Collectively, our data suggest that defects in BRAT1 interfere with proper Integrator functions, leading to incorrect expression of RNAs and proteins, resulting in neurodegeneration.

• MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• histony MeSH
• jaderné proteiny * genetika   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mutace MeSH
• neurodegenerativní nemoci * genetika   MeSH
• posttranskripční úpravy RNA * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND/AIM: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still represents one of the most aggressive cancers. Understanding of the epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk as a crucial part of the tumor microenvironment should pave the way for therapies to improve patient survival rates. Well-established cell lines present a useful and reproducible model to study PDAC biology. However, the tumor-stromal interactions between cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are still poorly understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied interactions between four PDAC cell lines (Panc-1, CAPAN-2, MIAPaCa-2, and PaTu-8902) and conditioned media derived from primary cultures of normal fibroblasts/PDAC-derived CAFs (PANFs). RESULTS: When the tested PDAC cell lines were stimulated by PANF-derived conditioned media, the most aggressive behavior was acquired by the Panc-1 cell line (increased number and size of colonies, remaining expression of vimentin and keratin 8 as well as increase of epithelial-to-mesenchymal polarization markers), whereas PaTu-8902 cells were rather inhibited. Of note, administration of the conditioned media to MIAPaCa-2 cells resulted in an inverse effect on the size and number of colonies, whereas CAPAN-2 cells were rather stimulated. To explain the heterogeneous pattern of the observed PDAC crosstalk at the in vitro level, we further compared the phenotype of primary cultures of cells derived from ascitic fluid with that of the tested PDAC cell lines, analyzed tumor samples of PDAC patients, and performed gene expression profiling of PANFs. Immuno-cyto/histo-chemical analysis found specific phenotype differences within the group of examined patients and tested PDAC cell lines, whereas the genomic approach in PANFs found the key molecules (IL6, IL8, MFGE8 and periostin) that may contribute to the cancer aggressive behavior. CONCLUSION: The desmoplastic patient-specific regulation of cancer cells by CAFs (also demonstrated by the heterogeneous response of PDAC cell lines to fibroblasts) precludes simple targeting and development of an effective treatment strategy and rather requires establishment of an individualized tumor-specific treatment protocol.

• MeSH
• duktální karcinom pankreatu metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• epitelo-mezenchymální tranzice MeSH
• fibroblasty asociované s nádorem metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• fibroblasty metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádorové mikroprostředí MeSH
• nádory slinivky břišní metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Altering amounts of a protein in a cell has become a crucial tool for understanding its function. In many organisms, including the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, protein overexpression has been achieved by inserting a protein-coding sequence into an overexpression vector. Here, we have adapted the PCR only based system for tagging trypanosome proteins at their endogenous loci such that it in addition enables a tetracycline-inducible T7 RNA polymerase-mediated protein overexpression. Hence, this approach bypasses the need for molecular cloning, making it rapid and cost effective. We validated the approach for ten flagellum-associated proteins with molecular weights ranging from 40 to over 500 kDa. For a majority of the recombinant proteins a significant (3-50 fold) increase in the cellular amount was achieved upon induction of overexpression. Two of the largest proteins studied, the dynein heavy chains, were significantly overexpressed, while two were not. Our data suggest that this may reflect the extent of the T7 RNA polymerase processivity on the trypanosome genomic DNA. We further show that the overexpression is informative as to cellular functions of the studied proteins, and that these cultures can serve as an excellent source for purification of the overexpressed proteins. We believe that this rapid in locus overexpression system will become a valuable tool to interrogate cellular functions and biochemical activities of trypanosome proteins.

• MeSH
• DNA řízené RNA-polymerasy metabolismus   MeSH
• dyneiny biosyntéza   MeSH
• exprese genu MeSH
• protozoální geny MeSH
• protozoální proteiny biosyntéza   izolace a purifikace   MeSH
• rekombinantní proteiny biosyntéza   izolace a purifikace   MeSH
• Trypanosoma brucei brucei * genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• virové proteiny metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Neurodegeneration is a common hallmark of individuals with hereditary defects in DNA single-strand break repair; a process regulated by poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism. Recently, mutations in the ARH3 (ADPRHL2) hydrolase that removes ADP-ribose from proteins have been associated with neurodegenerative disease. Here, we show that ARH3-mutated patient cells accumulate mono(ADP-ribose) scars on core histones that are a molecular memory of recently repaired DNA single-strand breaks. We demonstrate that the ADP-ribose chromatin scars result in reduced endogenous levels of important chromatin modifications such as H3K9 acetylation, and that ARH3 patient cells exhibit measurable levels of deregulated transcription. Moreover, we show that the mono(ADP-ribose) scars are lost from the chromatin of ARH3-defective cells in the prolonged presence of PARP inhibition, and concomitantly that chromatin acetylation is restored to normal. Collectively, these data indicate that ARH3 can act as an eraser of ADP-ribose chromatin scars at sites of PARP activity during DNA single-strand break repair.

• MeSH
• adenosindifosfát ribosa chemie   MeSH
• chromatin chemie   MeSH
• fibroblasty MeSH
• genový knockout MeSH
• glykosidhydrolasy genetika   MeSH
• HEK293 buňky MeSH
• histony chemie   MeSH
• jednořetězcové zlomy DNA * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mutace * MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• neurodegenerativní nemoci genetika   MeSH
• oprava DNA * MeSH
• protein XRCC1 genetika   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese MeSH
• viabilita buněk MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Aberrant regulation of the cell cycle is a typical feature of all forms of cancer. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), it is often associated with the overexpression of cyclin D1 (CCND1). However, it remains unclear how CCND1 expression changes between tumor and normal tissues and whether human papillomavirus (HPV) affects differential CCND1 expression. Here, we evaluated the expression of D-type cyclins in a cohort of 94 HNSCC patients of which 82 were subjected to whole genome expression profiling of primary tumors and paired normal mucosa. Comparative analysis of paired samples showed that CCND1 was upregulated in 18% of HNSCC tumors. Counterintuitively, CCND1 was downregulated in 23% of carcinomas, more frequently in HPV-positive samples. There was no correlation between the change in D-type cyclin expression and patient survival. Intriguingly, among the tumors with downregulated CCND1, one-third showed an increase in cyclin D2 (CCND2) expression. On the other hand, one-third of tumors with upregulated CCND1 showed a decrease in CCND2. Collectively, we have shown that CCND1 was frequently downregulated in HNSCC tumors. Furthermore, regardless of the HPV status, our data suggested that a change in CCND1 expression was alleviated by a compensatory change in CCND2 expression.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Arthrospira platensis, a blue-green alga, is a popular nutraceutical substance having potent antioxidant properties with potential anti-carcinogenic activities. The aim of our study was to assess the possible anti-angiogenic effects of A platensis in an experimental model of pancreatic cancer. The effects of an A platensis extract were investigated on human pancreatic cancer cells (PA-TU-8902) and immortalized endothelial-like cells (Ea.hy926). PA-TU-8902 pancreatic tumours xenografted to athymic mice were also examined. In vitro migration and invasiveness assays were performed on the tested cells. Multiple angiogenic factors and signalling pathways were analysed in the epithelial, endothelial and cancer cells, and tumour tissue. The A platensis extract exerted inhibitory effects on both migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer as well as endothelial-like cells. Tumours of mice treated with A platensis exhibited much lesser degrees of vascularization as measured by CD31 immunostaining (P = .004). Surprisingly, the VEGF-A mRNA and protein expressions were up-regulated in pancreatic cancer cells. A platensis inhibited ERK activation upstream of Raf and suppressed the expression of ERK-regulated proteins. Treatment of pancreatic cancer with A platensis was associated with suppressive effects on migration and invasiveness with various anti-angiogenic features, which might account for the anticancer effects of this blue-green alga.

• MeSH
• antioxidancia farmakologie   MeSH
• antitumorózní látky farmakologie   MeSH
• endoteliální buňky účinky léků   MeSH
• inhibitory angiogeneze farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• myši nahé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádory slinivky břišní farmakoterapie   MeSH
• patologická angiogeneze farmakoterapie   MeSH
• pohyb buněk účinky léků   MeSH
• signální transdukce účinky léků   MeSH
• Spirulina chemie   MeSH
• upregulace účinky léků   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND/AIM: Having previously initiated genome-wide expression profiling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) for regions of the tumor, the margin of surgical resecate (MSR) and normal mucosa (NM), we here proceed with respective analysis of cases after stratification according to the expression status of tenascin (Ten). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tissue specimens of each anatomical site were analyzed by immunofluorescent detection of Ten, fibronectin (Fn) and galectin-1 (Gal-1) as well as by microarrays. RESULTS: Histopathological examination demonstrated that Ten+Fn+Gal-1+co-expression occurs more frequently in samples of HNSCC (55%) than in NM (9%; p<0.01). Contrary, the Ten-Fn+Gal-1-(45%) and Ten-Fn-Gal-1-(39%) status occurred with significantly (p<0.01) higher frequency than in HNSCC (3% and 4%, respectively). In MSRs, different immunophenotypes were distributed rather equally (Ten+Fn+Gal-1+=24%; Ten-Fn+Gal-1-=36%; Ten-Fn-Gal-1-=33%), differing to the results in tumors (p<0.05). Absence/presence of Ten was used for stratification of patients into cohorts without a difference in prognosis, to comparatively examine gene-activity signatures. Microarray analysis revealed i) expression of several tumor progression-associated genes in Ten+HNSCC tumors and ii) a strong up-regulation of gene expression assigned to lipid metabolism in MSRs of Ten-tumors, while NM profiles remained similar. CONCLUSION: The presented data reveal marked and specific changes in tumors and MSR specimens of HNSCC without a separation based on prognosis.

• MeSH
• fibronektiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• galektin 1 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• genová ontologie MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery genetika   MeSH
• nádory hlavy a krku genetika   metabolismus   chirurgie   MeSH
• přežití po terapii bez příznaků nemoci MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u nádorů * MeSH
• resekční okraje MeSH
• sliznice metabolismus   MeSH
• spinocelulární karcinom genetika   metabolismus   chirurgie   MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese metody   MeSH
• tenascin genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• transkriptom * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Statin treatment of hypercholesterolemia is accompanied also with depletion of the mevalonate intermediates, including farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) necessary for proper function of small GTPases. These include Ras proteins, prevalently mutated in pancreatic cancer. In our study, we evaluated the effect of three key intermediates of the mevalonate pathway on GFP-K-Ras protein localization and the gene expression profile in pancreatic cancer cells after exposure to individual statins. METHODS: These effects were tested on MiaPaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells carrying a K-Ras activating mutation (G12C) after exposure to individual statins (20 μM). The effect of statins (atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin, fluvastatin, cerivastatin, rosuvastatin, and pitavastatin) and mevalonate intermediates on GFP-K-Ras protein translocation was analyzed using fluorescence microscopy. The changes in gene expression induced in MiaPaCa-2 cells treated with simvastatin, FPP, GGPP, and their combinations with simvastatin were examined by whole genome DNA microarray analysis. RESULTS: All tested statins efficiently inhibited K-Ras protein trafficking from cytoplasm to the cell membrane of the MiaPaCa-2 cells. The inhibitory effect of statins on GFP-K-Ras protein trafficking was partially prevented by addition of any of the mevalonate pathway's intermediates tested. Expressions of genes involved in metabolic and signaling pathways modulated by simvastatin treatment was normalized by the concurrent addition of FPP or GGPP. K-Ras protein trafficking within the pancreatic cancer cells is effectively inhibited by the majority of statins; the inhibition is eliminated by isoprenoid intermediates of the mevalonate pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the anticancer effects of statins observed in numerous studies to a large extent are mediated through isoprenoid intermediates of the mevalonate pathway, as they influence expression of genes involved in multiple intracellular pathways.

• MeSH
• anticholesteremika farmakologie   MeSH
• atorvastatin farmakologie   MeSH
• beta-buňky účinky léků   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• indoly farmakologie   MeSH
• kyselina mevalonová analogy a deriváty   farmakologie   MeSH
• kyseliny mastné mononenasycené farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lovastatin farmakologie   MeSH
• mikročipová analýza MeSH
• mutace MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• polyisoprenylfosfáty farmakologie   MeSH
• prenylace proteinů MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny p21(ras) genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese MeSH
• rekombinantní fúzní proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• seskviterpeny farmakologie   MeSH
• signální transdukce MeSH
• simvastatin farmakologie   MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
• transport proteinů účinky léků   MeSH
• zelené fluorescenční proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH