@article {807, title = {HMGA1 regulates trabectedin sensitivity in advanced soft-tissue sarcoma (STS): A Spanish Group for Research on Sarcomas (GEIS) study.}, journal = {Cell Mol Life Sci}, volume = {81}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 May 17}, pages = {219}, abstract = {

HMGA1 is a structural epigenetic chromatin factor that has been associated with tumor progression and drug resistance. Here, we reported the prognostic/predictive value of HMGA1 for trabectedin in advanced soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) and the effect of inhibiting HMGA1 or the mTOR downstream pathway in trabectedin activity. The prognostic/predictive value of HMGA1 expression was assessed in a cohort of 301 STS patients at mRNA (n = 133) and protein level (n = 272), by HTG EdgeSeq transcriptomics and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The effect of HMGA1 silencing on trabectedin activity and gene expression profiling was measured in leiomyosarcoma cells. The effect of combining mTOR inhibitors with trabectedin was assessed on cell viability in vitro studies, whereas in vivo studies tested the activity of this combination. HMGA1 mRNA and protein expression were significantly associated with worse progression-free survival of trabectedin and worse overall survival in STS. HMGA1 silencing sensitized leiomyosarcoma cells for trabectedin treatment, reducing the spheroid area and increasing cell death. The downregulation of HGMA1 significantly decreased the enrichment of some specific gene sets, including the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The inhibition of mTOR, sensitized leiomyosarcoma cultures for trabectedin treatment, increasing cell death. In in vivo studies, the combination of rapamycin with trabectedin downregulated HMGA1 expression and stabilized tumor growth of 3-methylcholantrene-induced sarcoma-like models. HMGA1 is an adverse prognostic factor for trabectedin treatment in advanced STS. HMGA1 silencing increases trabectedin efficacy, in part by modulating the mTOR signaling pathway. Trabectedin plus mTOR inhibitors are active in preclinical models of sarcoma, downregulating HMGA1 expression levels and stabilizing tumor growth.

}, keywords = {Animals, Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating, Cell Line, Tumor, Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, HMGA1a Protein, Humans, Leiomyosarcoma, Mice, Prognosis, Sarcoma, Signal Transduction, TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases, Trabectedin, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays}, issn = {1420-9071}, doi = {10.1007/s00018-024-05250-y}, author = {Moura, David S and Mondaza-Hernandez, Jose L and Sanchez-Bustos, Paloma and Pe{\~n}a-Chilet, Maria and Cordero-Varela, Juan A and Lopez-Alvarez, Maria and Carrillo-Garcia, Jaime and Martin-Ruiz, Marta and Romero-Gonzalez, Pablo and Renshaw-Calderon, Marta and Ramos, Rafael and Marcilla, David and Alvarez-Alegret, Ramiro and Agra-Pujol, Carolina and Izquierdo, Francisco and Ortega-Medina, Luis and Martin-Davila, Francisco and Hernandez-Leon, Carmen Nieves and Romagosa, Cleofe and Salgado, Maria Angeles Vaz and Lavernia, Javier and Bagu{\'e}, Silvia and Mayodormo-Aranda, Empar and Alvarez, Rosa and Valverde, Claudia and Martinez-Trufero, Javier and Castilla-Ramirez, Carolina and Gutierrez, Antonio and Dopazo, Joaquin and Hindi, Nadia and Garcia-Foncillas, Jesus and Martin-Broto, Javier} } @article {695, title = {Mechanistic Models of Signaling Pathways Reveal the Drug Action Mechanisms behind Gender-Specific Gene Expression for Cancer Treatments.}, journal = {Cells}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 06 29}, abstract = {

Despite the existence of differences in gene expression across numerous genes between males and females having been known for a long time, these have been mostly ignored in many studies, including drug development and its therapeutic use. In fact, the consequences of such differences over the disease mechanisms or the drug action mechanisms are completely unknown. Here we applied mechanistic mathematical models of signaling activity to reveal the ultimate functional consequences that gender-specific gene expression activities have over cell functionality and fate. Moreover, we also used the mechanistic modeling framework to simulate the drug interventions and unravel how drug action mechanisms are affected by gender-specific differential gene expression. Interestingly, some cancers have many biological processes significantly affected by these gender-specific differences (e.g., bladder or head and neck carcinomas), while others (e.g., glioblastoma or rectum cancer) are almost insensitive to them. We found that many of these gender-specific differences affect cancer-specific pathways or in physiological signaling pathways, also involved in cancer origin and development. Finally, mechanistic models have the potential to be used for finding alternative therapeutic interventions on the pathways targeted by the drug, which lead to similar results compensating the downstream consequences of gender-specific differences in gene expression.

}, keywords = {Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Signal Transduction}, issn = {2073-4409}, doi = {10.3390/cells9071579}, author = {Cubuk, Cankut and Can, Fatma E and Pe{\~n}a-Chilet, Maria and Dopazo, Joaquin} } @article {405, title = {Gene Expression Integration into Pathway Modules Reveals a Pan-Cancer Metabolic Landscape.}, journal = {Cancer Res}, volume = {78}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Nov 01}, pages = {6059-6072}, abstract = {

Metabolic reprogramming plays an important role in cancer development and progression and is a well-established hallmark of cancer. Despite its inherent complexity, cellular metabolism can be decomposed into functional modules that represent fundamental metabolic processes. Here, we performed a pan-cancer study involving 9,428 samples from 25 cancer types to reveal metabolic modules whose individual or coordinated activity predict cancer type and outcome, in turn highlighting novel therapeutic opportunities. Integration of gene expression levels into metabolic modules suggests that the activity of specific modules differs between cancers and the corresponding tissues of origin. Some modules may cooperate, as indicated by the positive correlation of their activity across a range of tumors. The activity of many metabolic modules was significantly associated with prognosis at a stronger magnitude than any of their constituent genes. Thus, modules may be classified as tumor suppressors and oncomodules according to their potential impact on cancer progression. Using this modeling framework, we also propose novel potential therapeutic targets that constitute alternative ways of treating cancer by inhibiting their reprogrammed metabolism. Collectively, this study provides an extensive resource of predicted cancer metabolic profiles and dependencies. Combining gene expression with metabolic modules identifies molecular mechanisms of cancer undetected on an individual gene level and allows discovery of new potential therapeutic targets. .

}, keywords = {Cell Line, Tumor, Cluster Analysis, Disease Progression, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Gene Regulatory Networks, Humans, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Metabolome, mutation, Neoplasms, Oncogenes, Phenotype, Prognosis, RNA, Small Interfering, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Transcriptome, Treatment Outcome}, issn = {1538-7445}, doi = {10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-2705}, author = {Cubuk, Cankut and Hidalgo, Marta R and Amadoz, Alicia and Pujana, Miguel A and Mateo, Francesca and Herranz, Carmen and Carbonell-Caballero, Jos{\'e} and Dopazo, Joaquin} } @article {404, title = {Models of cell signaling uncover molecular mechanisms of high-risk neuroblastoma and predict disease outcome.}, journal = {Biol Direct}, volume = {13}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Aug 22}, pages = {16}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Despite the progress in neuroblastoma therapies the mortality of high-risk patients is still high (40-50\%) and the molecular basis of the disease remains poorly known. Recently, a mathematical model was used to demonstrate that the network regulating stress signaling by the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway played a crucial role in survival of patients with neuroblastoma irrespective of their MYCN amplification status. This demonstrates the enormous potential of computational models of biological modules for the discovery of underlying molecular mechanisms of diseases.

RESULTS: Since signaling is known to be highly relevant in cancer, we have used a computational model of the whole cell signaling network to understand the molecular determinants of bad prognostic in neuroblastoma. Our model produced a comprehensive view of the molecular mechanisms of neuroblastoma tumorigenesis and progression.

CONCLUSION: We have also shown how the activity of signaling circuits can be considered a reliable model-based prognostic biomarker.

REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Tim Beissbarth, Wenzhong Xiao and Joanna Polanska. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers{\textquoteright} comments section.

}, keywords = {Computational Biology, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Humans, JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases, Models, Theoretical, Neuroblastoma, Signal Transduction}, issn = {1745-6150}, doi = {10.1186/s13062-018-0219-4}, author = {Hidalgo, Marta R and Amadoz, Alicia and Cubuk, Cankut and Carbonell-Caballero, Jos{\'e} and Dopazo, Joaquin} } @article {505, title = {Mammosphere formation in breast carcinoma cell lines depends upon expression of E-cadherin.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {8}, year = {2013}, month = {2013}, pages = {e77281}, abstract = {

Tumors are heterogeneous at the cellular level where the ability to maintain tumor growth resides in discrete cell populations. Floating sphere-forming assays are broadly used to test stem cell activity in tissues, tumors and cell lines. Spheroids are originated from a small population of cells with stem cell features able to grow in suspension culture and behaving as tumorigenic in mice. We tested the ability of eleven common breast cancer cell lines representing the major breast cancer subtypes to grow as mammospheres, measuring the ability to maintain cell viability upon serial non-adherent passage. Only MCF7, T47D, BT474, MDA-MB-436 and JIMT1 were successfully propagated as long-term mammosphere cultures, measured as the increase in the number of viable cells upon serial non-adherent passages. Other cell lines tested (SKBR3, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-435) formed cell clumps that can be disaggregated mechanically, but cell viability drops dramatically on their second passage. HCC1937 and HCC1569 cells formed typical mammospheres, although they could not be propagated as long-term mammosphere cultures. All the sphere forming lines but MDA-MB-436 express E-cadherin on their surface. Knock down of E-cadherin expression in MCF-7 cells abrogated its ability to grow as mammospheres, while re-expression of E-cadherin in SKBR3 cells allow them to form mammospheres. Therefore, the mammosphere assay is suitable to reveal stem like features in breast cancer cell lines that express E-cadherin.

}, keywords = {Breast Neoplasms, Cadherins, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Proliferation, Cluster Analysis, Female, gene expression, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Humans, MCF-7 Cells, Neoplastic Stem Cells, Spheroids, Cellular, Tumor Cells, Cultured}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0077281}, author = {Manuel Iglesias, Juan and Beloqui, Izaskun and Garcia-Garcia, Francisco and Leis, Olatz and Vazquez-Martin, Alejandro and Eguiara, Arrate and Cufi, Silvia and Pavon, Andres and Menendez, Javier A and Dopazo, Joaquin and Martin, Angel G} } @article {501, title = {Role of CPI-17 in restoring skin homoeostasis in cutaneous field of cancerization: effects of topical application of a film-forming medical device containing photolyase and UV filters.}, journal = {Exp Dermatol}, volume = {22}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jul}, pages = {494-6}, abstract = {

Cutaneous field of cancerization (CFC) is caused in part by the carcinogenic effect of the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers CPD and 6-4 photoproducts (6-4PPs). Photoreactivation is carried out by photolyases which specifically recognize and repair both photoproducts. The study evaluates the molecular effects of topical application of a film-forming medical device containing photolyase and UV filters on the precancerous field in AK from seven patients. Skin improvement after treatment was confirmed in all patients by histopathological and molecular assessment. A gene set analysis showed that skin recovery was associated with biological processes involved in tissue homoeostasis and cell maintenance. The CFC response was associated with over-expression of the CPI-17 gene, and a dependence on the initial expression level was observed (P~=~0.001). Low CPI-17 levels were directly associated with pro-inflammatory genes such as TNF (P~=~0.012) and IL-1B (P~=~0.07). Our results suggest a role for CPI-17 in restoring skin homoeostasis in CFC lesions.

}, keywords = {Administration, Topical, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Biopsy, Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase, Female, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Homeostasis, Humans, Inflammation, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Liposomes, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle Proteins, Phenotype, Phosphoprotein Phosphatases, Reactive Oxygen Species, Skin, Skin Neoplasms, Ultraviolet Rays}, issn = {1600-0625}, doi = {10.1111/exd.12177}, author = {Puig-Butille, Joan Anton and Malvehy, Josep and Potrony, Miriam and Trullas, Carles and Garcia-Garcia, Francisco and Dopazo, Joaquin and Puig, Susana} } @article {604, title = {Evidence for systems-level molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis.}, journal = {BMC Genomics}, volume = {8}, year = {2007}, month = {2007 Jun 20}, pages = {185}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Cancer arises from the consecutive acquisition of genetic alterations. Increasing evidence suggests that as a consequence of these alterations, molecular interactions are reprogrammed in the context of highly connected and regulated cellular networks. Coordinated reprogramming would allow the cell to acquire the capabilities for malignant growth.

RESULTS: Here, we determine the coordinated function of cancer gene products (i.e., proteins encoded by differentially expressed genes in tumors relative to healthy tissue counterparts, hereafter referred to as "CGPs") defined as their topological properties and organization in the interactome network. We show that CGPs are central to information exchange and propagation and that they are specifically organized to promote tumorigenesis. Centrality is identified by both local (degree) and global (betweenness and closeness) measures, and systematically appears in down-regulated CGPs. Up-regulated CGPs do not consistently exhibit centrality, but both types of cancer products determine the overall integrity of the network structure. In addition to centrality, down-regulated CGPs show topological association that correlates with common biological processes and pathways involved in tumorigenesis.

CONCLUSION: Given the current limited coverage of the human interactome, this study proposes that tumorigenesis takes place in a specific and organized way at the molecular systems-level and suggests a model that comprises the precise down-regulation of groups of topologically-associated proteins involved in particular functions, orchestrated with the up-regulation of specific proteins.

}, keywords = {Cell Transformation, Neoplastic, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Humans, Male, Models, Biological, Models, Genetic, Models, Statistical, Neoplasm Proteins, Neoplasms, Prostatic Neoplasms, Protein Interaction Mapping, RNA, Messenger, Signal Transduction, Systems biology}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2164-8-185}, author = {Hern{\'a}ndez, Pilar and Huerta-Cepas, Jaime and Montaner, David and Al-Shahrour, F{\'a}tima and Valls, Joan and G{\'o}mez, Laia and Capell{\`a}, Gabriel and Dopazo, Joaquin and Pujana, Miguel Angel} }