👤 Kaitlyn Saunders

Osteochondromas characterize the rare pediatric disorder hereditary multiple osteochondromas (HMO). The tumors originate from the growth plate perichondrium along skeletal elements, appear first as ectopic cartilage, and then grow unidirectionally, colliding with and damaging surrounding structures. HMO is caused by mutations that affect the heparan sulfate (HS) synthases EXT1 or EXT2, leading to HS deficiency and aberrant activity of HS-binding growth factors. We investigated the signaling pathways and mechanisms underlying tumor growth in HMO using mice with conditional Show less

Breast cancer metastases exhibit many different genetic alterations, including copy number amplifications (CNA). CNA are genetic alterations that are increasingly becoming relevant to breast oncology clinical practice. Here we identify CNA in metastatic breast tumor samples using publicly available datasets and characterize their expression and function using a metastatic mouse model of breast cancer. Our findings demonstrate that our organoid generation can be implemented to study clinically relevant features that reflect the genetic heterogeneity of individual tumors. Show less

Endometriosis is a common condition associated with debilitating pelvic pain and infertility. A genome-wide association study meta-analysis, including 60,674 cases and 701,926 controls of European and East Asian descent, identified 42 genome-wide significant loci comprising 49 distinct association signals. Effect sizes were largest for stage 3/4 disease, driven by ovarian endometriosis. Identified signals explained up to 5.01% of disease variance and regulated expression or methylation of genes in endometrium and blood, many of which were associated with pain perception/maintenance (SRP14/BMF, GDAP1, MLLT10, BSN and NGF). We observed significant genetic correlations between endometriosis and 11 pain conditions, including migraine, back and multisite chronic pain (MCP), as well as inflammatory conditions, including asthma and osteoarthritis. Multitrait genetic analyses identified substantial sharing of variants associated with endometriosis and MCP/migraine. Targeted investigations of genetically regulated mechanisms shared between endometriosis and other pain conditions are needed to aid the development of new treatments and facilitate early symptomatic intervention. Show less

Current therapies for high-grade gliomas, particularly glioblastomas (GBM), do not extend patient survival beyond 16-22 months. OKN-007 (OKlahoma Nitrone 007), which is currently in phase II (multi-institutional) clinical trials for GBM patients, and has demonstrated efficacy in several rodent and human xenograft glioma models, shows some promise as an anti-glioma therapeutic, as it affects most aspects of tumorigenesis (tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, migration, and apoptosis). Combined with the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide (TMZ), OKN-007 is even more effective by affecting chemo-resistant tumor cells. In this study, mass spectrometry (MS) methodology ESI-MS, mass peak analysis (Leave One Out Cross Validation (LOOCV) and tandem MS peptide sequence analyses), and bioinformatics analyses (Ingenuity Show less

Recent studies suggest that mitochondria can be transferred between cells to support the survival of metabolically compromised cells. However, whether intercellular mitochondria transfer occurs in white adipose tissue (WAT) or regulates metabolic homeostasis in vivo remains unknown. We found that macrophages acquire mitochondria from neighboring adipocytes in vivo and that this process defines a transcriptionally distinct macrophage subpopulation. A genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screen revealed that mitochondria uptake depends on heparan sulfates (HS). High-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice exhibit lower HS levels on WAT macrophages and decreased intercellular mitochondria transfer from adipocytes to macrophages. Deletion of the HS biosynthetic gene Ext1 in myeloid cells decreases mitochondria uptake by WAT macrophages, increases WAT mass, lowers energy expenditure, and exacerbates HFD-induced obesity in vivo. Collectively, this study suggests that adipocytes and macrophages employ intercellular mitochondria transfer as a mechanism of immunometabolic crosstalk that regulates metabolic homeostasis and is impaired in obesity. Show less

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are nucleic acid structures found enriched within gene regulatory sequences. G4s control fundamental cellular processes, including replication, transcription, and translation. Proto-oncogenes are enriched with G4 sequences, while tumor-suppressor genes are depleted, suggesting roles for G4s in cell survival and proliferation. Specialized helicases participate in G4-mediated gene regulation via enzymatic unwinding activity. One such enzyme, DHX36/G4R1, is the major G4-helicase and is a master regulator of G4-DNAs and mRNAs. G4-resolution promotes the expression of proproliferative genes; as such, DHX36/G4R1 promotes cell proliferation. Little is known about how DHX36/G4R1 itself is regulated in nondividing cells. We hypothesized that DHX36/G4R1 protein binding partners are altered when a cell transitions from a dividing to a quiescent state. We found that DHX36/G4R1 co-purifies with a distinct set of proteins under quiescent conditions, which may represent a novel complex that regulates DHX36/G4R1 during cell cycle transitions and have implications for development and cancer. Show less

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecological malignancy. Obesity is a major risk factor for EC and is associated with elevated cholesterol. 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) is a cholesterol metabolite that functions as an endogenous agonist for Liver X receptor (LXR) and a selective oestrogen receptor modulator (SERM). Exposure to oestrogenic ligands increases risk of developing EC; however, the impact of 27HC on EC is unknown. Samples of stage 1 EC ( Show less

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a high-grade glioma with poor prognosis. Identification of new biomarkers specific to GBM could help in disease diagnosis. We have developed and validated a bioinformatics method to predict proteins likely to be suitable as glioma biomarkers via a global microarray meta-analysis to identify uncharacterized genes consistently coexpressed with known glioma-associated genes. A novel bioinformatics method was implemented called global microarray meta-analysis, using approximately 16,000 microarray experiments to identify uncharacterized genes consistently coexpressed with known glioma-associated genes. These novel biomarkers were validated as proteins highly expressed in human gliomas varying in tumor grades using immunohistochemistry. Glioma gene databases were used to assess delineation of expression of these markers in varying glioma grades and subtypes of GBM. We have identified 5 potential biomarkers-spondin1, Plexin-B2, SLIT3, fibulin-1, and LINGO1-that were validated as proteins highly expressed on the surface of human gliomas using immunohistochemistry. Expression of spondin1, Plexin-B2, and SLIT3 was significantly higher (P < .01) in high-grade gliomas than in low-grade gliomas. These biomarkers were significant discriminators in grade IV gliomas compared with either grade III or II tumors and also distinguished between GBM subclasses. This study strongly suggests that this type of bioinformatics approach has high translational potential to rapidly discern which poorly characterized proteins may be of clinical relevance. Show less