Use of gene set analysis (GSA) for molecular classification of responders and nonresponders to FOLFOX therapy in colorectal cancer (CRC).

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3628-3628
Author(s):  
Stephen Yip ◽  
Maggie Chon U. Cheang ◽  
Hagen F. Kennecke

3628 Background: Folinic acid (FOL) fluorouracil (F) and oxaliplatin (OX) chemotherapy is a commonly used therapy for CRC. Lacking in current literature are clinically relevant classifiers for potential responders. GSA technique is statistical method that detects significance of sets of genes, instead of examining a gene-by-gene basis. The objective of this study was to identify differential functionally annotated gene expression profiles associated with response to FOLFOX therapy in CRC tumors using gene-by-gene and GSA approaches. Methods: Genome wide expression profile data were collected on pre-treatment tumor tissues from patients with unresectable CRC receiving FOLFOX therapy (n = 83, Affymetrix HG U133A, GSE28702, Tsuji et al. BJC 2012). Gene expression was compared between responders (n = 42) and Non-responders (n = 41). GSA was conducted on 3272 curated gene sets from the Molecular Signatures Database (Subramanian, Tamayo et al. 2005, PNAS 102, 15545-15550) annotated by biological pathway, biochemical function and clinical behavior. Significant analysis of Microarray (SAM) and GSA (Tibshirani et al.) was done to identify gene sets associated with FOLFOX response. Results: Differential expressions of 23 genes were significantly associated with response, based on a single gene approach (p-value < 0.05). 13 of these were located on Chromosome 17 (p < 0.001). Among these, the top 5 ranked genes included NPEPPS, MBTD1, CEP44, LTA4H and CPNE4 which are involved in metal ion binding and aminopeptidase activity. GSA revealed only 44 out of 3272 gene sets were significantly associated with response, with a false discovery rate less than 25%. Increased expression of B-lymphocyte differentiation and Ras-signalling-related gene sets was associated with responders while mTOR signaling and hematopoietic stem cell-related genes set were associated with non-responders. Conclusions: Our data showed that differential biological pathways could be identified to predict response to FOLFOX therapy for CRC patients. Analysis may be useful to help define clinically relevant biologic subtypes among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 317-317
Author(s):  
Xiao J. Yan ◽  
Wentian Li ◽  
Sophia Yancopoulos ◽  
Igor Dozmorov ◽  
Carlo Calissano ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 317 By using reciprocal densities of surface membrane CXCR4 and CD5, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells can be divided into 3 fractions indicating time since last division (proliferative, intermediate, and resting). It has been suggested that cells in these fractions represent a continuum from resting to intermediate to proliferative. In this study, we made intraclonal gene expression profile (GEP) comparisons of these fractions from 17 CLL patients to try to confirm this notion and interclonal comparisons between U-CLL and M-CLL patients to determine if pathways involved in the actions of these fractions differed between patient subgroups. PBMCs from 8 U-CLL and 9 M-CLL patients were sorted into 3 fractions (CD19+CD3−CD5hiCXCR4lo, PROLIF), (CD19+CD3−CD5intCXCR4int, INTERM), and (CD19+CD3−CD5loCXCR4hi, REST); RNA was purified from each, and gene expression microarrays using Illumina HumanHT12 beadchips performed. To determine differentially expressed genes in intraclonal comparisons, expression value ratios for fractions from each patient were computed, log-transformed, and Student t-test performed using R (www.r-project.org); for interclonal comparisons, raw GEP data between subpopulations were compared: U-PROLIF and M-PROLIF, and U-REST and M-REST. Sets of significant genes (≥1.5 fold change and P<0.01) were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). Upon plotting intraclonal average log ratios of PROLIF/INTERM vs INTERM/REST, it was clear that gene expression levels changed in the same direction, i.e. PROLIF>INTERM>REST, or PROLIF<INTERM<REST, consistent with a continuum between the 3 fractions. Within this pattern, 36 genes were significant for both plotted ratios. Of these, 29 were overexpressed, along with CD5; CD68, ITGAX, CCND2, CRIP1 and LGALS1 were the highest. Functional analysis using IPA showed these genes to be related to NFkB signaling and cell trafficking. Seven genes (ADARB1, BACH2, CNTNAP2, HRK, RHPN2, PRPML, and RXPA) were significantly downregulated, along with CXCR4. Next we characterized GEP differences between the PROLIF and REST fractions, identifying 390 genes up-regulated in PROLIF and 244 in REST. The top 5 upregulated PROLIF genes were CD68, LY96, ITGAX, CCND2 and CRIP1, and the top 5 REST genes were BACH2, CXCR4, ADARB1, RHPN2 and HRK. Functionally, the upregulated PROLIF genes were related to BCR signaling, cytokines (IFNa, IL12), NFkB, and Akt, whereas the upregulated REST genes related to BCL2, cell death and cell movement. By GSEA, 813/881 gene sets, defined by expression neighborhoods centered on cancer associated genes, were upregulated in the PROLIF with 436 gene sets significant at a false discovery rate (FDR) <10%; 206 sets were significantly enriched with p value <0.01. For the REST, 68/881 gene sets were upregulated, with none significant even at FDR <25%. Finally, we examined PROLIF and REST fractions from U-CLL vs M-CLL patients. In this interclonal analysis, 93 genes were significantly different between U-PROLIF and M-PROLIF. The top 5 in U-PROLIF were MSI2, TGFBR3, TP53I3, RGCC and IGSF3, and the top 5 in M-PROLIF were MTSS1, BACE2, BRI3BP, AP3B1 and UBE2G2. Similarly, there were 125 genes that were significantly different between U-REST and M-REST. The top 5 in U-REST were DUSP26, CLEC2B, MDK, and EGR2 and in M-REST were NAPSA, RAB24, TARDBP, KCNN4 and ADD3. Interestingly, U-PROLIF and M-PROLIF differed in pathway assignments, with upregulated genes in U-PROLIF contributing to cell signaling and activation, particularly implicating Akt, ERK and P38MAPK. The intraclonal gene GEP analysis on these 3 fractions confirms that CLL clones contain a spectrum of cells that transition in a sequential manner from PROLIF to INTERM to REST fractions. Functional analyses show that genes upregulated in PROLIF correlate with cell signaling and proliferation, while genes upregulated in REST relate to cell death. Thus the PROLIF fraction is enriched in recently divided cells that likely exit from lymphoid tissue and the REST in older, less vital cells that either traffic to lymphoid tissue or die. The interclonal analysis implies that the stimuli and/or the responses of cells in the PROLIF and REST fractions differ between U-CLL and M-CLL. This last novel finding suggests either distinct cells of origin or distinct activation pathways for the IGHV-defined CLL subsets. Disclosures: Barrientos: gilead and pharmacyclics research funding: Research Funding.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 558-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sangmin Lee ◽  
Benjamin Garrett Vincent ◽  
Autumn Jackson McRee ◽  
Hanna Kelly Sanoff

558 Background: Different immune cell infiltrates into colorectal cancer (CRC) tumors are associated with different prognoses. Tumor-associated macrophages contribute to immune evasion and accelerated tumor progression. Conversely, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes at the invasive margin of CRC liver metastases are associated with improved outcomes with chemotherapy. Cetuximab is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and stimulates antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro. However, it is unclear in humans if response to cetuximab is modulated by the immune response. We hypothesized that different immune patterns detected in gene expression profiles of CRC metastases are associated with different responses to cetuximab. Methods: We retrieved gene expression data from biopsies of metastases from 80 refractory CRC patients treated with cetuximab monotherapy (GEO GSE5851). Samples were dichotomized by cetuximab response as having either disease control (DC) or progressive disease (PD). We performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) with GenePattern 3.9.4 using gene sets of immunologic signatures obtained from the Molecular Signatures Database v5.0. Results: Among the 68 patients with response annotated, 25 had DC and 43 had PD. In the PD cohort, 59/1910 immunologic gene sets had false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.1. Notably, multiple gene sets upregulated in monocyte signatures were associated with PD. Also, gene sets consistent with PD1-ligated T cells compared to control activated T cells (FDR = 0.052) or IL4-treated CD4 T cells compared to controls (FDR = 0.087) were associated with PD. Conclusions: Cetuximab-resistant patients tended to have baseline increased expression of gene signatures reflective of monocytic infiltrates, consistent with also having increased expression of the IL4-treated T-cell signature. Cetuximab resistance was also associated with increased expression of the PD1-ligated T cell signature. These preliminary findings support further evaluation of the effect of differential immune infiltrates in prognosis of metastatic CRC treated with cetuximab.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Standahl Olsen ◽  
Marko Lukic ◽  
Kristin Benjaminsen Borch

Abstract Objectives The influence of physical activity (PA) on the immune system has emerged as a new field of research. Regular PA may promote an anti-inflammatory state in the body, thus contributing to the down-regulation of pro-inflammatory processes related to the onset and progression of multiple diseases. We aimed to assess whether overall PA levels were associated with differences in blood gene expression profiles, in a cohort of middle-aged Norwegian women. We used information from 977 women included in the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) Post-genome cohort. Information on PA and covariates was extracted from the NOWAC database. Blood samples were collected using the PAXgene Blood RNA collection system, and gene expression profiles were measured using Illumina microarrays. The R-package limma was used for the single-gene level analysis. For a target gene set analysis, we used the global test R-package with 48 gene sets, manually curated from the literature and relevant molecular databases. Results We found no associations between overall PA levels and gene expression profiles at the single-gene level. Similarly, no gene sets reached statistical significance at adjusted p < 0.05. In our analysis of healthy, middle-aged Norwegian women, self-reported overall PA was not associated with differences in blood gene expression profiles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-83
Author(s):  
Tzu-Hung Hsiao ◽  
Yu-Chiao Chiu ◽  
Yu-Heng Chen ◽  
Yu-Ching Hsu ◽  
Hung-I Harry Chen ◽  
...  

Aim and Objective: The number of anticancer drugs available currently is limited, and some of them have low treatment response rates. Moreover, developing a new drug for cancer therapy is labor intensive and sometimes cost prohibitive. Therefore, “repositioning” of known cancer treatment compounds can speed up the development time and potentially increase the response rate of cancer therapy. This study proposes a systems biology method for identifying new compound candidates for cancer treatment in two separate procedures. Materials and Methods: First, a “gene set–compound” network was constructed by conducting gene set enrichment analysis on the expression profile of responses to a compound. Second, survival analyses were applied to gene expression profiles derived from four breast cancer patient cohorts to identify gene sets that are associated with cancer survival. A “cancer–functional gene set– compound” network was constructed, and candidate anticancer compounds were identified. Through the use of breast cancer as an example, 162 breast cancer survival-associated gene sets and 172 putative compounds were obtained. Results: We demonstrated how to utilize the clinical relevance of previous studies through gene sets and then connect it to candidate compounds by using gene expression data from the Connectivity Map. Specifically, we chose a gene set derived from a stem cell study to demonstrate its association with breast cancer prognosis and discussed six new compounds that can increase the expression of the gene set after the treatment. Conclusion: Our method can effectively identify compounds with a potential to be “repositioned” for cancer treatment according to their active mechanisms and their association with patients’ survival time.


2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
BERTALAN MESKO ◽  
SZILARD POLISKA ◽  
SZILVIA SZAMOSI ◽  
ZOLTAN SZEKANECZ ◽  
JANOS PODANI ◽  
...  

Objective.Tocilizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, has recently been approved as a biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases. It is not known if there are characteristic changes in gene expression and immunoglobulin G glycosylation during therapy or in response to treatment.Methods.Global gene expression profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 13 patients with RA and active disease at Week 0 (baseline) and Week 4 following treatment were obtained together with clinical measures, serum cytokine levels using ELISA, and the degree of galactosylation of the IgG N-glycan chains. Gene sets separating responders and nonresponders were tested using canonical variates analysis. This approach also revealed important gene groups and pathways that differentiate responders from nonresponders.Results.Fifty-nine genes showed significant differences between baseline and Week 4 and thus correlated with treatment. Significantly, 4 genes determined responders after correction for multiple testing. Ten of the 12 genes with the most significant changes were validated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. An increase in the terminal galactose content of N-linked glycans of IgG was observed in responders versus nonresponders, as well as in treated samples versus samples obtained at baseline.Conclusion.As a preliminary report, gene expression changes as a result of tocilizumab therapy in RA were examined, and gene sets discriminating between responders and nonresponders were found and validated. A significant increase in the degree of galactosylation of IgG N-glycans in patients with RA treated with tocilizumab was documented.


2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
An-Ting T. Lu ◽  
Shelley R. Salpeter ◽  
Anthony E. Reeve ◽  
Steven Eschrich ◽  
Patrick G. Johnston ◽  
...  

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1610
Author(s):  
Mohammad Vatanparast ◽  
Youngjin Park

Solenopsis japonica, as a fire ant species, shows some predatory behavior towards earthworms and woodlice, and preys on the larvae of other ant species by tunneling into a neighboring colony’s brood chamber. This study focused on the molecular response process and gene expression profiles of S. japonica to low (9 °C)-temperature stress in comparison with normal temperature (25 °C) conditions. A total of 89,657 unigenes (the clustered non-redundant transcripts that are filtered from the longest assembled contigs) were obtained, of which 32,782 were annotated in the NR (nonredundant protein) database with gene ontology (GO) terms, gene descriptions, and metabolic pathways. The results were 81 GO subgroups and 18 EggNOG (evolutionary genealogy of genes: Non-supervised Orthologous Groups) keywords. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with log2fold change (FC) > 1 and log2FC < −1 with p-value ≤ 0.05 were screened for cold stress temperature. We found 215 unigenes up-regulated and 115 unigenes down-regulated. Comparing transcriptome profiles for differential gene expression resulted in various DE proteins and genes, including fatty acid synthases and lipid metabolism, which have previously been reported to be involved in cold resistance. We verified the RNA-seq data by qPCR on 20 up- and down-regulated DEGs. These findings facilitate the basis for the future understanding of the adaptation mechanisms of S. japonica and the molecular mechanisms underlying the response to low temperatures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Róbert Pálovics ◽  
Andreas Keller ◽  
Nicholas Schaum ◽  
Weilun Tan ◽  
Tobias Fehlmann ◽  
...  

Slowing or reversing biological ageing would have major implications for mitigating disease risk and maintaining vitality. While an increasing number of interventions show promise for rejuvenation, the effectiveness on disparate cell types across the body and the molecular pathways susceptible to rejuvenation remain largely unexplored. We performed single-cell RNA-sequencing on 13 organs to reveal cell type specific responses to young or aged blood in heterochronic parabiosis. Adipose mesenchymal stromal cells, hematopoietic stem cells, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells from multiple tissues appear especially responsive. On the pathway level, young blood invokes novel gene sets in addition to reversing established ageing patterns, with the global rescue of genes encoding electron transport chain subunits pinpointing a prominent role of mitochondrial function in parabiosis-mediated rejuvenation. Intriguingly, we observed an almost universal loss of gene expression with age that is largely mimicked by parabiosis: aged blood reduces global gene expression, and young blood restores it. Altogether, these data lay the groundwork for a systemic understanding of the interplay between blood-borne factors and cellular integrity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 5225-5237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Haffa ◽  
Andreana N Holowatyj ◽  
Mario Kratz ◽  
Reka Toth ◽  
Axel Benner ◽  
...  

Abstract Context Adipose tissue inflammation and dysregulated energy homeostasis are key mechanisms linking obesity and cancer. Distinct adipose tissue depots strongly differ in their metabolic profiles; however, comprehensive studies of depot-specific perturbations among patients with cancer are lacking. Objective We compared transcriptome profiles of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) from patients with colorectal cancer and assessed the associations of different anthropometric measures with depot-specific gene expression. Design Whole transcriptomes of VAT and SAT were measured in 233 patients from the ColoCare Study, and visceral and subcutaneous fat area were quantified via CT. Results VAT compared with SAT showed elevated gene expression of cytokines, cell adhesion molecules, and key regulators of metabolic homeostasis. Increased fat area was associated with downregulated lipid and small molecule metabolism and upregulated inflammatory pathways in both compartments. Comparing these patterns between depots proved specific and more pronounced gene expression alterations in SAT and identified unique associations of integrins and lipid metabolism–related enzymes. VAT gene expression patterns that were associated with visceral fat area poorly overlapped with patterns associated with self-reported body mass index (BMI). However, subcutaneous fat area and BMI showed similar associations with SAT gene expression. Conclusions This large-scale human study demonstrates pronounced disparities between distinct adipose tissue depots and reveals that BMI poorly correlates with fat mass–associated changes in VAT. Taken together, these results provide crucial evidence for the necessity to differentiate between distinct adipose tissue depots for a correct characterization of gene expression profiles that may affect metabolic health of patients with colorectal cancer.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. e1-e9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isao Kobayashi ◽  
Hiromasa Ono ◽  
Tadaaki Moritomo ◽  
Koichiro Kano ◽  
Teruyuki Nakanishi ◽  
...  

Abstract Hematopoiesis in teleost fish is maintained in the kidney. We previously reported that Hoechst dye efflux activity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is highly conserved in vertebrates, and that Hoechst can be used to purify HSCs from teleost kidneys. Regulatory molecules that are strongly associated with HSC activity may also be conserved in vertebrates. In this study, we identified evolutionarily conserved molecular components in HSCs by comparing the gene expression profiles of zebrafish, murine, and human HSCs. Microarray data of zebrafish kidney side population cells (zSPs) showed that genes involved in cell junction and signal transduction tended to be up-regulated in zSPs, whereas genes involved in DNA replication tended to be down-regulated. These properties of zSPs were similar to those of mammalian HSCs. Overlapping gene expression analysis showed that 40 genes were commonly up-regulated in these 3 HSCs. Some of these genes, such as egr1, gata2, and id1, have been previously implicated in the regulation of HSCs. In situ hybridization in zebrafish kidney revealed that expression domains of egr1, gata2, and id1 overlapped with that of abcg2a, a marker for zSPs. These results suggest that the overlapping genes identified in this study are regulated in HSCs and play important roles in their functions.


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