scholarly journals The Role of NKL Homeobox Genes in T-Cell Malignancies

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1676
Author(s):  
Stefan Nagel

Homeobox genes encode transcription factors controlling basic developmental processes. The homeodomain is encoded by the homeobox and mediates sequence-specific DNA binding and interaction with cofactors, thus operating as a basic regulatory platform. Similarities in their homeobox sequences serve to arrange these genes in classes and subclasses, including NKL homeobox genes. In accordance with their normal functions, deregulated homeobox genes contribute to carcinogenesis along with hematopoietic malignancies. We have recently described the physiological expression of eleven NKL homeobox genes in the course of hematopoiesis and termed this gene expression pattern NKL-code. Due to the developmental impact of NKL homeobox genes these data suggest a key role for their activity in the normal regulation of hematopoietic cell differentiation including T-cells. On the other hand, aberrant overexpression of NKL-code members or ectopical activation of non-code members has been frequently reported in lymphoid and myeloid leukemia/lymphoma, demonstrating their oncogenic impact in the hematopoietic compartment. Here, we provide an overview of the NKL-code in normal hematopoiesis and discuss the oncogenic role of deregulated NKL homeobox genes in T-cell malignancies.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
VG Frings ◽  
L Jopp ◽  
M Srivastava ◽  
D Presser ◽  
M Goebeler ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe underlying pathogenetic factors generating the innate immune signal necessary for T cell activation, initiation and chronification of Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS, also known as Acne inversa) are still poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that defective keratinocyte function critically contributes to HS disease development and progression.ObjectivesTo elucidate the role of keratinocytes in HS lesion formation, we compared the transcriptomes of isolated lesional and perilesional HS epidermis by RNA sequencing.MethodsLesional and perilesional HS skin samples of at least 3 different donors were obtained. Isolated epidermal keratinocytes were further processed for cell culture, protein extraction, immunostaining procedures or RNA isolation and RNA sequencing. For large scale promotor site analysis, DEGs were analyzed for overrepresented transcription factor binding sites. Functional annotation clustering for analyzing enriched functional-related gene groups was performed employing the DAVID Bioinformatics Resources.ResultsWe show that HS is characterized by a strong epidermal stress state as evident by a significant overrepresentation of an AP-1-driven stress signature in the overall gene expression pattern of lesional keratinocytes and a substantial activation of the stress-activated cJun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway in lesional HS epidermis. Additionally, our data reveal a strong induction of STAT1 activation in lesional HS epidermis that likely results from IFNγ production and governs the expression of key inflammatory genes that coordinate activation of innate immunity and the adaptive T cell response in HS.ConclusionsTaken together, these data implicate a new role of combined stress signaling and JAK/STAT1 pathway activation in disease progression of HS suggesting interference with JAK/STAT1 signaling as a potentially promising therapeutic approach for HS.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 2090-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Kienle ◽  
Axel Benner ◽  
Alexander Kröber ◽  
Dirk Winkler ◽  
Daniel Mertens ◽  
...  

The mutation status and usage of specific VH genes such as V3-21 and V1-69 are potentially independent pathogenic and prognostic factors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). To investigate the role of antigenic stimulation, we analyzed the expression of genes involved in B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling/activation, cell cycle, and apoptosis control in CLL using these specific VH genes compared to VH mutated (VH-MUT) and VH unmutated (VH-UM) CLL not using these VH genes. V3-21 cases showed characteristic expression differences compared to VH-MUT (up: ZAP70 [or ZAP-70]; down: CCND2, P27) and VH-UM (down: PI3K, CCND2, P27, CDK4, BAX) involving several BCR-related genes. Similarly, there was a marked difference between VH unmutated cases using the V1-69 gene and VH-UM (up: FOS; down: BLNK, SYK, CDK4, TP53). Therefore, usage of specific VH genes appears to have a strong influence on the gene expression pattern pointing to antigen recognition and ongoing BCR stimulation as a pathogenic factor in these CLL subgroups.


2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilda Mandel ◽  
Michael Gurevich ◽  
Gad Lavie ◽  
Irun R. Cohen ◽  
Anat Achiron

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease where T-cells activated against myelin antigens are involved in myelin destruction. Yet, healthy subjects also harbor T-cells responsive to myelin antigens, suggesting that MS patient-derived autoimmune T-cells might bear functional differences from T-cells derived from healthy individuals. We addressed this issue by analyzing gene expression patterns of myelin oligodendrocytic glycoprotein (MOG) responsive T-cell lines generated from MS patients and healthy subjects. We identified 150 transcripts that were differentially expressed between MS patients and healthy controls. The most informative 43 genes exhibited >1.5-fold change in expression level. Eighteen genes were up-regulated including BCL2, lifeguard, IGFBP3 and VEGF. Twenty five genes were down-regulated, including apoptotic activators like TNF and heat shock protein genes. This gene expression pattern was unique to MOG specific T-cell lines and was not expressed in T-cell lines reactive to tetanus toxin (TTX). Our results indicate that activation in MS that promotes T-cell survival and expansion, has its own state and that the unique gene expression pattern that characterize autoreactive T-cells in MS represent a constellation of factors in which the chronicity, timing and accumulation of damage make the difference between health and disease.


Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 4116-4125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet J. Bijl ◽  
Johan W. van Oostveen ◽  
Jan M.M. Walboomers ◽  
Anja Horstman ◽  
Adriaan J.C. van den Brule ◽  
...  

Abstract Most of the 39 members of the homeobox (HOX) gene family are believed to control blood cell development. HOXC4 and HOXC6 gene expression levels increase with differentiation of lymphoid cells. In contrast, HOXC5 is not expressed in the lymphoid lineage, but was found in lymphoid cell lines, representing the neoplastic equivalents of various differentiation stages of T and B lymphocytes. In the present study, we investigated the HOXC4, HOXC5, and HOXC6 gene expression pattern in 89 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) of different histologic subtypes and originating from different sites. Using RNA in situ hybridization and semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, we found expression of HOXC4 in 83 of 88 and HOXC6 in 77 of 88 NHLs and leukemias investigated. In contrast, HOXC5 expression was found in only 26 of 87 NHLs and appeared to be preferentially expressed by two specific subsets of lymphomas, ie, primary cutaneous anaplastic T-cell lymphomas (9 of 9) and extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphomas (maltomas; 7 of 9). These results indicate that, in contrast to HOXC4 and HOXC6, HOXC5 shows a type- and site-restricted expression pattern in both T- and B-cell NHLs.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Neemat M. Kassem ◽  
Alya M. Ayad ◽  
Noha M. El Husseiny ◽  
Doaa M. El-Demerdash ◽  
Hebatallah A. Kassem ◽  
...  

Purpose Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) cytokine stimulates growth, differentiation, and function of myeloid progenitors. We aimed to study the role of GM-CSF gene expression, its protein, and antibodies in patients with acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndromes (AML/MDS) and their correlation to disease behavior and treatment outcome. The study included 50 Egyptian patients with AML/MDS in addition to 20 healthy volunteers as control subjects. Patients and Methods Assessment of GM-CSF gene expression was performed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. GM-CSF proteins and antibodies were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results There was significant decrease in GM-CSF gene expression ( P = .008), increase in serum level of GM-CSF protein ( P = .0001), and increase in anti–GM-CSF antibodies ( P = .001) in patients with AML/MDS compared with healthy control subjects. In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between serum levels of GM-CSF protein and initial peripheral blood blasts, percentage as well as response to therapy. Conclusion Any alteration in GM-CSF gene expression could have implications in leukemogenesis. In addition, GM-CSF protein serum levels could be used to predict outcome of therapy. GM-CSF antibodies may also play a role in the pathogenesis of AML/MDS. The use of these GM-CSF parameters for disease monitoring and as markers of disease activity needs further research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 175883592092382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Sun ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Xinhua Wang ◽  
...  

Aim: To compare the outcomes of GDPT [gemcitabine (G), cisplatin (D), prednisone (P), thalidomide (T)] versus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in treating newly diagnosed PTCL (peripheral T-cell lymphoma). Methods: An open-label prospective clinical trial with 153 newly diagnosed PTCL patients conducted between January 2010 and December 2018 was designed. Patients were randomly assigned to the GDPT (77 cases) and CHOP (76 cases) groups. Patients in each group were further divided into four subgroups: PTCL, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS); anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL), and other types subgroup, in accordance with pathological patterns. Based on expression of RRM1, TOP2A, TUBB3, and ERCC1, patients were divided into groups with high and low gene expression levels. Clinical characteristics, side effects, efficacy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared. Results: There were no significant differences in the basic clinical features or side effects between the GDPT and CHOP groups. The overall response rate (ORR) of the GDPT group was better than that of the CHOP group (66.3% versus 50.0%, p = 0.042), as was the complete remission (CR) rate (42.9% versus 27.6%, p = 0.049). Patients in the GDPT group had a longer PFS and OS than the CHOP group. The 4-year PFS and OS rates in the GDPT group were both superior to those in the CHOP group (63.6% versus 53.0% for PFS, p = 0.035; 66.8% versus 53.6% for OS, p = 0.039). In the GDPT group, the difference in CR between the four subgroups was statistically significant ( p = 0.046). In the CHOP group, differences in both CR and ORR among the four subgroups were statistically significant ( p < 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). There were also statistically significant differences in CR between patients treated with CHOP and GDPT in the PTCL-NOS subgroup, AITL subgroup, and the other types subgroup ( p = 0.015; p = 0.003; p = 0.005, respectively). The data also showed a significant difference in OS among the four subgroups within the GDPT group ( p = 0.001). The OS of AITL was shorter than that of the other three subgroups. Four subgroups of CHOP showed a significant difference in PFS ( p = 0.019). There was no statistical association between responses and the gene expression levels of RRM1, ERCC1, TUBB3, and TOP2A. Conclusion: The GDPT group had better response rates and prolonged patient PFS and OS. As a promising new regimen, GDPT is expected to become the first-line therapy for PTCL. New agents should be applied to patients who do not achieve good responses with previous treatment, such as those diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma. Trial registration: This open randomized prospective clinical trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01664975).


Blood ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 2470-2477 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Park ◽  
L Levitt

Abstract Transfected Jurkat cells overexpressing extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1), also referred to as mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, were selected by Western blotting assay using anti-ERK1 and antiphosphotyrosine antibodies in combination with a functional MAP kinase assay. We then asked whether enhanced ERK1 expression had any effect on induction of T-cell cytokine genes. The results show that overexpression of ERK1 enhances expression of T-cell interleukin-2 (IL- 2), IL-3, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor mRNA; no change was seen in expression of the alpha-actin gene. DNA-binding activities of the transcription factors AP1, NF-AT, and NF-kB were specifically increased twofold to fourfold in ERK1-overexpressing clones relative to nontransformed or vector-transformed cells, whereas no enhancement of CK1-CK2 protein DNA binding activity was detected after ERK1 overexpression. Additionally, increased NF-AT DNA binding activity was associated with functional enhancement of NF-AT transactivating activity in ERK1-overexpressing cells. These results provide direct evidence for the role of MAP kinase in the regulation of cytokine gene expression and indicate that such regulation is likely mediated through the enhanced DNA binding activity of specific nuclear transcription factors.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (24) ◽  
pp. 2195-2208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Sasca ◽  
Haiyang Yun ◽  
George Giotopoulos ◽  
Jakub Szybinski ◽  
Theo Evan ◽  
...  

Cohesin mutations are common in myeloid malignancy. Sasca et al elucidate the potential role of cohesin loss in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML). They demonstrate that cohesin binding is critical for erythroid-specific gene expression and that reduction in cohesin impairs terminal erythroid maturation and promotes myeloid malignancy.


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