Neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial pediatric solid tumor, is responsible for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. Patients frequently present at diagnosis with metastatic disease, particularly to the bone marrow. Advances in therapy and understanding of the metastatic process have been limited due in part, to the lack of animal models harboring bone marrow disease. The widely employed transgenic model, the TH-MYCN mouse, exhibits limited metastasis to this site. Here we establish the first genetic immunocompetent mouse model for metastatic neuroblastoma with enhanced secondary tumors in the bone marrow. This model recapitulates two frequent alterations in metastatic neuroblasoma, over-expression of MYCN and loss of caspase-8 expression. In this model, the mouse caspase-8 gene was deleted in neural crest lineage cells by crossing a TH-Cre transgenic mouse with a caspase-8 conditional knockout mouse. This mouse was then crossed with the neuroblastoma prone TH-MYCN mouse. While over-expression of MYCN by itself rarely caused bone marrow metastasis (5% average incidence), combining MYCN overexpression and caspase-8 deletion significantly increased bone marrow metastasis (37% average incidence). Loss of caspase-8 expression did not alter the site, incidence, or latency of the primary tumors. However, secondary tumors were detected in the bone marrow of these mice as early as week 9-10. The mouse model described in this work is a valuable tool to enhance our understanding of metastatic neuroblastoma and treatment options and underscores the role of caspase-8 in neuroblastoma progression.
Th-MYCN mice with caspase-8 deficiency develop advanced neuroblastoma with bone marrow metastasis.
Specimen part
View SamplesPofut1 is an essential gene that glycosylates proteins containing EGF-like repeats, including Notch Receptors (NotchRs). Work in mice and in Drosophila has shown that O-fucosylation by Pofut1 is required for NotchR ligands to bind to and activate NotchRs. As such, Pofut1 deletion in skeletal myofibers allows for an analysis of potential functions and molecular changes of Pofut1 in skeletal muscle that derive from its expression in skeletal myofibers. In this study we compared gene expression profiles between quadriceps muscles in mice where Protein O-fucosyltransferase 1 (Pofut1) was deleted specifically in skeletal myofibers via use of a human skeletal alpha actin Cre transgene (Scre) and a loxP flanked Pofut1 gene (SCreFF) and mice which bore the only the Scre transgene but did not have floxed Pofut1 alleles (SCre++).
Deletion of <i>Pofut1</i> in Mouse Skeletal Myofibers Induces Muscle Aging-Related Phenotypes in <i>cis</i> and in <i>trans</i>.
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesDeregulated intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis underlies synaptic dysfunction and is a common feature in neurodegenerative processes, including Huntington's disease (HD). DREAM/calsenilin/KChIP-3 is a multifunctional Ca2+ binding protein that controls the expression level and/or the activity of several proteins related to Ca2+ homeostasis, neuronal excitability and neuronal survival. We found that expression of endogenous DREAM (DRE antagonist modulator) is reduced in the striatum of R6 mice, in STHdh-Q111/111 knock in striatal neurons and in HD patients. DREAM down regulation in R6 striatum occurs early after birth, well before the onset of motor coordination impairment, and could be part of an endogenous mechanism of neuroprotection, since i) R6/2 mice hemizygous for the DREAM gene (R6/2xDREAM+/-) showed delayed onset of locomotor impairment and prolonged lifespan, ii) motor impairment after chronic administration of 3-NPA was reduced in DREAM knockout mice and enhanced in daDREAM transgenic mice and, iii) lentiviral-mediated DREAM expression in STHdh-Q111/111 knock in cells sensitizes them to oxidative stress. Transcriptomic analysis showed that changes in gene expression in R6/2 striatum were notably reduced in R6/2xDREAM+/- striatum. Chronic administration of repaglinide, a molecule able to bind to DREAM in vitro and to accelerate its clearance in vivo, delayed the onset of motor dysfunction, reduced striatal loss and prolonged the lifespan in R6/2 mice. Furthermore, exposure to repaglinide protected STHdh-Q111/111 knock in striatal neurons sensitized to oxidative stress by lentiviral-mediated DREAM overexpression. Thus, genetic and pharmacological evidences disclose a role for DREAM silencing in early neuroprotective mechanisms in HD.
Activating transcription factor 6 derepression mediates neuroprotection in Huntington disease.
Specimen part
View SamplesDuring mammalian kidney development, mesenchymal nephron progenitors (cap mesenchyme) differentiate into the epithelial cells that go on to form the nephron. Although differentiation of nephron progenitors is triggered by activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling, constitutive activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling blocks epithelialization of nephron progenitors. Full epithelialization of nephron progenitors requires transient activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling. We performed transcriptional profiling of nephron progenitors responding to constitutive or transient activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling.
Six2 and Wnt regulate self-renewal and commitment of nephron progenitors through shared gene regulatory networks.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesOur laboratory's interest is in understanding the molecular principles that underlie the regional organization of the mammalian metanephric kidney. Our goal is to generate a detailed spatial map of the cellular expression of selected regulatory genes during mammalian kidney development. The goal of this study is to identify a population of genes that are enriched in the renal vesicle (RV) and its derivatives using Wnt4 mutants.
Analysis of early nephron patterning reveals a role for distal RV proliferation in fusion to the ureteric tip via a cap mesenchyme-derived connecting segment.
Sex
View SamplesThe MAQC-II Project: A comprehensive study of common practices for the development and validation of microarray-based predictive models
Effect of training-sample size and classification difficulty on the accuracy of genomic predictors.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Race, Compound
View SamplesThe Hamner data set (endpoint A) was provided by The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA). The study objective was to apply microarray gene expression data from the lung of female B6C3F1 mice exposed to a 13-week treatment of chemicals to predict increased lung tumor incidence in the 2-year rodent cancer bioassays of the National Toxicology Program. If successful, the results may form the basis of a more efficient and economical approach for evaluating the carcinogenic activity of chemicals. Microarray analysis was performed using Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 arrays on three to four mice per treatment group, and a total of 70 mice were analyzed and used as the MAQC-II's training set (GEO Series GSE6116). Additional data from another set of 88 mice were collected later and provided as the MAQC-II's external validation set (this Series). The training dataset had already been deposited in GEO by its provider and its accession number is GSE6116.
Effect of training-sample size and classification difficulty on the accuracy of genomic predictors.
Specimen part, Compound
View SamplesWallerian degeneration (WD) involves the fragmentation of axonal segments disconnected from their cell bodies, segmentation of the myelin sheath, and removal of debris by Schwann cells and immune cells. The removal and downregulation of myelin-associated inhibitors of axonal regeneration and synthesis of growth factors by these two cell types are critical responses to successful nerve repair. Here, we analyzed the transcriptome of the sciatic nerve of mice carrying the Wallerian degeneration slow (WldS) mutant gene, a gene that confers axonal protection in the distal stump after injury, therefore causing significant delays in WD, neuroinflammation, and axonal regeneration.
Transcriptional profiling of the injured sciatic nerve of mice carrying the Wld(S) mutant gene: identification of genes involved in neuroprotection, neuroinflammation, and nerve regeneration.
Specimen part, Time
View SamplesPURPOSE: Hyperoxia is toxic to photoreceptors, and this toxicity may be important in the progress of retinal dystrophies. This microarray study examines gene expression induced in the C57BL/6J mouse retina by hyperoxia over the 14-day period during which photoreceptors first resist, then succumb to, hyperoxia. METHODS: Young adult C57BL/6J mice were exposed to hyperoxia (75% oxygen) for up to 14 days. On day 0 (control), day 3, day 7, and day 14, retinal RNA was extracted and processed on Affymetrix GeneChip Mouse Genome 430 2.0 arrays. Microarray data were analyzed using GCOS Version 1.4 and GeneSpring Version 7.3.1. RESULTS: The overall numbers of hyperoxia-regulated genes increased monotonically with exposure. Within that increase, however, a distinctive temporal pattern was apparent. At 3 days exposure, there was prominent upregulation of genes associated with neuroprotection. By day 14, these early-responsive genes were downregulated, and genes related to cell death were strongly expressed. At day 7, the regulation of these genes was mixed, indicating a possible transition period from stability at day 3 to degeneration at day 14. CONCLUSIONS: Microarray analysis of the response of the retina to prolonged hyperoxia demonstrated a temporal pattern involving early neuroprotection and later cell death, and provided insight into the mechanisms involved in the two phases of response. As hyperoxia is a consistent feature of the late stages of photoreceptor degenerations, understanding the mechanisms of oxygen toxicity may be important therapeutically.
Gene regulation induced in the C57BL/6J mouse retina by hyperoxia: a temporal microarray study.
Specimen part
View SamplesSle2c1 is an NZM2410-derived lupus susceptibility locus that induces an expansion of the B1a cell compartment. B1a cells have a repertoire enriched for autoreactivity, and an expansion of this B cell subset occurs in several mouse models of lupus. Here we showed that expression of Sle2c1 enhances NZB cellular phenotypes that have been associated with autoimmune pathogenesis. A combination of genetic mapping and candidate gene analysis presents Cdkn2c, a gene encoding for cyclin kinase inhibitor p18INK4c (p18), as the top candidate gene for inducing the Slec2c1 associated expansion of B1a cells. A novel SNP in the Cdkn2c promoter is associated with a significantly reduced Cdkn2c expression in the splenic B cells and B1a cells from Sle2c1-carrying mice, which leads to defective G1 cell cycle arrest in splenic B cells and increased proliferation of Pc B1a cells. As cell cycle is differentially regulated in B1a and B2 cells, these results suggest that Cdkn2c play a critical role in B1a cell self renewal, and that its impaired expression leads to an accumulation of these cells with high autoreactive potential.
Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor Cdkn2c regulates B cell homeostasis and function in the NZM2410-derived murine lupus susceptibility locus Sle2c1.
Specimen part
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