Metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 () is key in promoting tumor proliferation and invasion, and is mediated by the hepatocyte growth factor () and mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor. Previous reports have revealed that is a novel oncogene that is expressed in various types of gastrointestinal cancer. The present study comprised of 174 patients who underwent curative surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) are shed from primary tumors into the bloodstream, mediating the hematogenous spread of cancer to distant organs. To define their composition, we compared genome-wide expression profiles of CTCs with matched primary tumors in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer, isolating individual CTCs using epitope-independent microfluidic capture, followed by single-cell RNA sequencing. CTCs clustered separately from primary tumors and tumor-derived cell lines, showing low-proliferative signatures, enrichment for the stem-cell-associated gene Aldh1a2, biphenotypic expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers, and expression of Igfbp5, a gene transcript enriched at the epithelial-stromal interface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex of birds is genetically determined through inheritance of the ZW sex chromosomes (ZZ males and ZW females). Although the mechanisms of avian sex determination remains unknown, the genetic sex is experimentally reversible by in ovo exposure to exogenous estrogens (ZZ-male feminization) or aromatase inhibitors (ZW-female masculinization). Expression of various testis- and ovary-specific marker genes during the normal and reversed gonadal sex differentiation in chicken embryos has been extensively studied, but the roles of sex-specific epigenetic marks in sex differentiation are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF