Vinylidene Chloride has been widely used in the production of plastics and flame retardants. Exposure of B6C3F1 to VDC in the 2-year National Toxicology Program carcinogenicity bioassay resulted in a dose-dependent increase in renal cell hyperplasias, adenomas, and carcinomas (RCCs). Global gene expression analysis showed overrepresentation of pathways associated with chronic xenobiotic and oxidative stress in RCCs from VDC-exposed B6C3F1 mice, as well as cMyc overexpression and dysregulation of Tp53 cell cycle checkpoint and DNA damage repair pathways. Trend analysis comparing RCC, VDC-exposed kidney, and vehicle control kidney showed a conservation of pathway dysregulation in terms of overrepresentation of xenobiotic and oxidative stress, and DNA damage and cell cycle checkpoint pathways in both VDC-exposed kidney and RCC, suggesting that these mechanisms play a role in the development of RCC in VDC-exposed mice.
Renal Cell Carcinomas in Vinylidene Chloride-exposed Male B6C3F1 Mice Are Characterized by Oxidative Stress and TP53 Pathway Dysregulation.
Specimen part
View SamplesHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although the risk factors of human HCC are well known, the molecular characterization of this disease is complex, and treatment options in general remain poor. The use of rodent models to study human cancer has been extensively pursued both through genetically engineered rodents and rodent models used in carcinogenicity and toxicology studies. In particular, the B6C3F1 mouse used in the National Toxicology Program (NTP) 2-year bioassay has been used to evaluate the carcinogenic effects of environmental and occupational chemicals, and other compounds. The high incidence of spontaneous HCC in the B6C3F1 mouse has challenged its use as a model for chemically induced HCC in terms of relevance to the human disease. Using global gene expression profiling, we identify the dysregulation of several mediators similarly altered in human HCC, including re-expression of fetal oncogenes, upregulation of protooncogenes, downregulation of tumor suppressor genes, and abnormal expression of cell cycle mediators, growth factors, apoptosis regulators, and angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling factors. Although important differences in etiology and pathogenesis remain between human and mouse HCC, there are important similarities in global gene expression and the types of signaling networks dysregulated in mouse and human HCC. These data provide further relevance for the use of this model in hazard identification of compounds with potential human carcinogenicity risk, and may help in better understanding mechanisms of tumorigenesis due to chemical exposure in the NTP 2-year carcinogenicity bioassay.
Global gene profiling of spontaneous hepatocellular carcinoma in B6C3F1 mice: similarities in the molecular landscape with human liver cancer.
Specimen part
View SamplesIntroduction: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in people. There are several chemically induced and genetically modified mouse models used to study lung cancer. We hypothesized that spontaneous murine (B6C3F1) lung tumors can serve as a model to study human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: RNA was extracted from untreated 2-year-old B6C3F1 mouse spontaneous lung (SL) tumors and age-matched normal lung tissue from a chronic inhalation NTP study. Global gene expression analysis was performed using Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 GeneChip arrays. After data normalization, for each probe set, pairwise comparisons between groups were made using a bootstrap t-test while controlling the mixed directional false discovery rate (mdFDR) to generate a differential gene expression list. IPA, KEGG, and EASE software tools were used to evaluate the overrepresented cancer genes and pathways. Results: MAPK and TGF-beta pathways were overrepresented within the dataset. Almost all of the validated genes by quantitative real time RT-PCR had comparable directional fold changes with the microarray data. The candidate oncogenes included Kras, Braf, Raf1, Id2, Hmga1, Cks1b, and Foxf1. The candidate tumor suppressor genes included Rb1, Cdkn2a, Hnf4a, Tcf21, Ptprd, Hpgd, Hopx, Ogn, Id4, Hoxa5, Smad6, Smad7, Zbtb16, Cyr61, Dusp4, and Ifi16. In addition, several genes important in lung development were also differentially expressed, such as Smad6, Hopx, Sox4, Sox9 and Mycn. Conclusion: In this study, we have demonstrated that several cancer genes and signaling pathways relevant for human NSCLC were similarly altered in spontaneous murine lung tumors.
Differential transcriptomic analysis of spontaneous lung tumors in B6C3F1 mice: comparison to human non-small cell lung cancer.
Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesGinkgo biloba leaf extract (GBE) has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine and today is used as an herbal supplement for various indications such as improving neural function, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer effects. As part of the herbal supplement industry, these compounds are largely unregulated, and may be consumed in large concentrations over extended periods of time. This is of particular concern, because the long-term effects in terms of toxicity and carcinogenicity data is lacking for many herbal products, including GBE. The 2-year B6C3F1 mouse carcinogenicity bioassay indicated a marked dose-related increase in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development associated with exposure to GBE. We have shown that the mechanism of this increase in tumorigenesis is related to a marked increase in the incidence of -catenin mutation, and report a novel mechanism of constitutive -catenin activation through post-translational modification leading to constitutive Wnt signaling and unregulated growth signaling and oncogenesis. Furthermore, using global gene expression profiling, we show that GBE-induced HCC exhibit overrepresentation of gene categories associated with human cancer and HCC signaling including upregulation of relevant oncogenes and suppression of critical tumor suppressor genes, as well as chronic oxidative stress, a known inducer of calpain-mediated degradation and promoter of hepatocarcinogenesis in humans. These data provide a molecular mechanism to GBE-induced HCC in B6C3F1 mice that is relevant to human cancer, and provides relevant molecular data that will provide the groundwork for further risk assessment of unregulated compounds, including herbal supplements.
Hepatocellular carcinomas in B6C3F1 mice treated with Ginkgo biloba extract for two years differ from spontaneous liver tumors in cancer gene mutations and genomic pathways.
Specimen part
View SamplesCocaine-mediated repression of the histone methyltransferase (HMT) G9a has recently been implicated in transcriptional, morphological, and behavioral responses to chronic cocaine administration. Here, using a ribosomal affinity purification approach, we find that G9a repression by cocaine occurs in both Drd1 (striatonigral)- and Drd2 (striatopallidal)-expressing medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Conditional knockout and overexpression of G9a within these distinct cell types, however, reveals divergent behavioral phenotypes in response to repeated cocaine treatment. Our studies further indicate that such developmental deletion of G9a selectively in Drd2 neurons results in the unsilencing of transcriptional programs normally specific to striatonigral neurons, and the acquisition of Drd1-associated projection and electrophysiological properties. This partial striatopallidal to striatonigral switching phenotype in mice indicates a novel role for G9a in contributing to neuronal subtype identity, and suggests a critical function for cell-type specific histone methylation patterns in the regulation of behavioral responses to environmental stimuli.
G9a influences neuronal subtype specification in striatum.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesOvarian cancer is one of the most deadly cancers accounting for only 3% of diagnosed cancers, but is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among woman; however, the progression of ovarian cancer is poorly understood. To study and further understand the early events that lead to epithelial derived ovarian cancer, we previously developed a cell model of progressive ovarian cancer. Mouse ovarian surface epithelial (MOSE) cells have undergone spontaneous transformation in cell culture and represent pre-neoplastic, non-tumorigenic to an aggressive malignant phenotype.
Changes in gene expression and cellular architecture in an ovarian cancer progression model.
Specimen part
View SamplesPolycomb protein group (PcG)-dependent trimethylation on H3-K27(H3K27me3) regulates identity of embryonic stem cells (SCs). How H3K27me3 governs adult SCs and tissue development is unclear. Here, we conditionally target H3-K27-methyltransferases Ezh2 and Ezh1 to address their roles in mouse skin homeostasis. Postnatal phenotypes appear only in doubly-targeted skin, where H3K27me3 is abolished, revealing functional redundancy in EZH1/2 proteins. Surprisingly, while Ezh1/2-null hair follicles (HFs) arrest morphogenesis and degenerate due to defective proliferation and increased apoptosis, epidermis hyperproliferates and survives engraftment. mRNA-microarray studies reveal that despite these striking phenotypic differences, similar genes are upregulated in HF and epidermal Ezh1/2-null progenitors. Featured prominently are a) PcG-controlled non-skin lineage genes, whose expression is still significantly lower than in native tissues, and b) the PcG-regulated Ink4a/Inkb/Arf locus. Interestingly, even though Ink4a/Arf/Ink4b genes are fully activated in HF cells, they only partially so in epidermal-progenitors. Importantly, transduction of Ink4b/Ink4a/Arf shRNAs restores proliferation/survival of Ezh1/2-null HF progenitors in vitro, pointing towards the relevance of this locus to the observed HF phenotypes. Our findings reveal new insights into Polycomb-dependent tissue control and provide a new twist to how different progenitors within one tissue respond to loss of H3K27me3.
EZH1 and EZH2 cogovern histone H3K27 trimethylation and are essential for hair follicle homeostasis and wound repair.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesNOD mice are an inbred strain that display enhanced MZ B cell differentiation from an early age. Interestingly, several lines of evidence implicate MZ B cells in this strain as important contributors to the T cell mediated beta cell destruction associated with the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D). In order to develop a better understanding of the underlying causes for augmented MZ B cell production in NOD mice, we obtained the transcriptional profiles of FO and MZ subsets and TR precursors from NOD mice and compared them to those of the B6 strain.
Intrinsic molecular factors cause aberrant expansion of the splenic marginal zone B cell population in nonobese diabetic mice.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesAntagonism of microRNA-122 in mice by systemically administered LNA-antimiR leads to up-regulation of a large set of predicted target mRNAs in the liver
Antagonism of microRNA-122 in mice by systemically administered LNA-antimiR leads to up-regulation of a large set of predicted target mRNAs in the liver.
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View SamplesUsing EphB2 or the ISC marker Lgr5, we have FACS-purified and profiled intestinal stem cells (ISCs), crypt proliferative progenitors and late transient amplifying cells to define a gene expression program specific for normal ISCs.
The intestinal stem cell signature identifies colorectal cancer stem cells and predicts disease relapse.
Specimen part
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