Melanoma genomics - will we go beyond BRAF in clinics?

In the era of next-generation sequencing, the genetic background of cancer, including melanoma, appears to be thoroughly established. However, evaluating the oncogene BRAF mutation in codon V600 is still the only companion diagnostic genomic test commonly implemented in clinics for molecularly targeted treatment of advanced melanoma. Are we wasting the collected genomic data? Will we implement our current genomic knowledge of melanoma in clinics soon? This question is rather urgent because new therapeutic targets and biomarkers are needed to implement more personalized, patient-tailored therapy in clinics.

An Increase in HSF1 Expression Directs Human Mammary Epithelial Cells toward a Mesenchymal Phenotype.

HSF1 is a well-known heat shock protein expression regulator in response to stress. It also regulates processes important for growth, development or tumorigenesis. We studied the HSF1 influence on the phenotype of non-tumorigenic human mammary epithelial (MCF10A and MCF12A) and several triple-negative breast cancer cell lines.

Potential Biomarkers of Skin Melanoma Resistance to Targeted Therapy-Present State and Perspectives.

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer, the number of which is increasing worldwide every year. It is completely curable in its early stage and fatal when spread to distant organs. In addition to new therapeutic strategies, biomarkers are an important element in the successful fight against this cancer.

Evaluation of the Role of ITGBL1 in Ovarian Cancer.

In our previous microarray study we identified two subgroups of high-grade serous ovarian cancers with distinct gene expression and survival. Among differentially expressed genes was an (), coding for a poorly characterized protein comprised of ten EGF-like repeats. Here, we have analyzed the influence of ITGBL1 on the phenotype of ovarian cancer (OC) cells.

Biological Factors behind Melanoma Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Modern immunotherapy together with targeted therapy has revolutionized the treatment of advanced melanoma. Inhibition of immune checkpoints significantly improved the median overall survival and gave hope to many melanoma patients. However, this treatment has three serious drawbacks: high cost, serious side effects, and an effectiveness limited only to approximately 50% of patients.

Genetic Profiling of Advanced Melanoma: Candidate Mutations for Predicting Sensitivity and Resistance to Targeted Therapy.

Background: Molecularly targeted therapy has revolutionized the treatment of advanced melanoma. However, despite its high efficiency, a majority of patients experience relapse within 1 year of treatment because of acquired resistance, and approximately 10-25% patients gain no benefit from these agents owing to intrinsic resistance. This is mainly caused by the genetic heterogeneity of melanoma cells.

Prognostic significance of Epstein-Barr virus viral load in patients with T1-T2 nasopharyngeal cancer.

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is highly prevalent in southern Chinese populations but it is rare in most parts of the world. A few studies were performed in nonendemic regions of the world, and suggested the prognostic value of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load in blood. In this study, EBV DNA presence and viral load (VL) level in the blood of patients with NPC in Polish population were presented.

Molecular background of skin melanoma development and progression: therapeutic implications.

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer with an increasing number of cases worldwide and curable mostly in its early stage. The improvement in patients' survival in advanced melanoma has been achieved only recently, due to development of new biological drugs for targeted therapies and immunotherapy. Further progress in the treatment of melanoma is clearly dependent on the better understanding of its complex biology.

Establishment and Characterization of the Novel High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Cell Line OVPA8.

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most frequent histological type of ovarian cancer and the one with worst prognosis. Unfortunately, the majority of established ovarian cancer cell lines which are used in the research have unclear histological origin and probably do not represent HGSOC. Thus, new and reliable models of HGSOC are needed.

Bis-anthracycline WP760 abrogates melanoma cell growth by transcription inhibition, p53 activation and IGF1R downregulation.

Anthracycline chemotherapeutics, e.g. doxorubicin and daunorubicin, are active against a broad spectrum of cancers.

Unsupervised analysis reveals two molecular subgroups of serous ovarian cancer with distinct gene expression profiles and survival.

Purpose: Ovarian cancer is typically diagnosed at late stages, and thus, patients' prognosis is poor. Improvement in treatment outcomes depends, at least partly, on better understanding of ovarian cancer biology and finding new molecular markers and therapeutic targets.

Methods: An unsupervised method of data analysis, singular value decomposition, was applied to analyze microarray data from 101 ovarian cancer samples; then, selected genes were validated by quantitative PCR.

The putative oncogene, CRNDE, is a negative prognostic factor in ovarian cancer patients.

The CRNDE gene seems to play an oncogenic role in cancers, though its exact function remains unknown. Here, we tried to assess its usefulness as a molecular prognostic marker in ovarian cancer. Based on results of our microarray studies, CRNDE transcripts were further analyzed by Real-Time qPCR-based profiling of their expression.

Global gene expression profiling in three tumor cell lines subjected to experimental cycling and chronic hypoxia.

Hypoxia is one of the most important features of the tumor microenvironment, exerting an adverse effect on tumor aggressiveness and patient prognosis. Two types of hypoxia may occur within the tumor mass, chronic (prolonged) and cycling (transient, intermittent) hypoxia. Cycling hypoxia has been shown to induce aggressive tumor cell phenotype and radioresistance more significantly than chronic hypoxia, though little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

Gene expression analysis in ovarian cancer - faults and hints from DNA microarray study.

The introduction of microarray techniques to cancer research brought great expectations for finding biomarkers that would improve patients' treatment; however, the results of such studies are poorly reproducible and critical analyses of these methods are rare. In this study, we examined global gene expression in 97 ovarian cancer samples. Also, validation of results by quantitative RT-PCR was performed on 30 additional ovarian cancer samples.

Impact of heat shock transcription factor 1 on global gene expression profiles in cells which induce either cytoprotective or pro-apoptotic response following hyperthermia.

Background: Elevated temperatures induce activation of the heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) which in somatic cells leads to heat shock proteins synthesis and cytoprotection. However, in the male germ cells (spermatocytes) caspase-3 dependent apoptosis is induced upon HSF1 activation and spermatogenic cells are actively eliminated.

Results: To elucidate a mechanism of such diverse HSF1 activity we carried out genome-wide transcriptional analysis in control and heat-shocked cells, either spermatocytes or hepatocytes.

[Role of tumor microenvironment in the formation and progression of skin melanoma].

Melanoma develops from melanocytes localized mainly in skin, to a lesser extent in uvea and mucosal tissue. It is one of the most aggressive tumors, resistant to standard therapies. It is caused mainly by UV radiation.

Melanoma-associated genes, MXI1, FN1, and NME1, are hypoxia responsive in murine and human melanoma cells.

Hypoxia can influence aggressiveness of melanoma by inducing specific gene expression profiles. In our previous microarray study, we identified more than 430 hypoxia-responsive genes in the B16-F10 murine melanoma cell line in vitro. Of the genes identified, seven genes: galectin 3 (Lgals3), melanoma cell adhesion molecule (Mcam), fibronectin 1 (Fn1), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3), microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf), max interacting protein 1 (Max1), and non-metastatic cells 1, protein (NM23A) expressed in (Nme1) are known to be associated with melanoma, but have not yet been reported as being regulated by hypoxia in human melanoma cells.

Gene expression profile of B 16(F10) murine melanoma cells exposed to hypoxic conditions in vitro.

Hypoxia is an important feature of tumor microenvironment, exerting far-reaching effects on cells and contributing to cancer progression. Previous studies have established substantial differences in hypoxia response between various cell lines. Investigating this phenomenon in melanoma cells contributes to a better understanding of cell lineage-specific hypoxia response and could point out novel hypoxia-regulated genes.

A receptor kinase gene of the LysM type is involved in legume perception of rhizobial signals.

Plants belonging to the legume family develop nitrogen-fixing root nodules in symbiosis with bacteria commonly known as rhizobia. The legume host encodes all of the functions necessary to build the specialized symbiotic organ, the nodule, but the process is elicited by the bacteria. Molecular communication initiates the interaction, and signals, usually flavones, secreted by the legume root induce the bacteria to produce a lipochitin-oligosaccharide signal molecule (Nod-factor), which in turn triggers the plant organogenic process.

A genetic linkage map of the model legume Lotus japonicus and strategies for fast mapping of new loci.

A genetic map for the model legume Lotus japonicus has been developed. The F(2) mapping population was established from an interspecific cross between L. japonicus and L.