This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Evaluation and validation of a robust single cell RNA-amplification protocol through transcriptional profiling of enriched lung cancer initiating cells.
Specimen part, Disease, Cell line
View SamplesAccurate profiling of RNA expression of single cells is a valuable approach for broadening our understanding of cancer biology and mechanisms of dissemination, but requires the development of reliable methods for their molecular characterization. Here we evaluate a single cell methodology which generates microgram amounts of cDNA suitable for next generation sequencing (RNA-Seq), high throughput RT-qPCR and Affymetrix array analysis. The approach was tested by comparing expression profiles of amplified single MCF7 and MCF10A cells to profiles generated from unamplified RNA. The expression profiles were compared by Affymetrix-U133 arrays, RNA-Seq and high-density qPCR. There were strong cross-platform correlations of >80% and concordance between single cell and unamplified material of >70%. We exemplify the approach through analysis of rare sorted cancer initiating cells (CICs) derived from a NSCLC patient-derived xenograft. Populations of 10 cells from total tumour and two distinct subsets of CIC, putatively involved in primary tumor maintenance or metastasis formation were FACS sorted then directly amplified. CIC expression profiles strongly correlated with published stem-cell and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signatures. Our results confirm the utility of the amplification system and our methodology to detect and distinguish RNA profiles in rare cell populations that inform on EMT and stem-cell characteristics. This GEO dataset comprises the Affymetrix U-133 Plus 2.0 data for MCF7 and MCF10A cDNA amplified from 1ng RNA and single cell samples.
Evaluation and validation of a robust single cell RNA-amplification protocol through transcriptional profiling of enriched lung cancer initiating cells.
Disease, Cell line
View SamplesHierarchical maintenance of MLL myeloid leukemia stem cells employs a transcriptional program shared with embryonic rather than adult stem cells
No associated publication
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe genetic programs that promote retention of self-renewing leukemia stem cells (LSCs) at the apex of cellular hierarchies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are not known. In a mouse model of human AML, LSCs exhibit variable frequencies that correlate with the initiating MLL oncogene and are maintained in a self-renewing state by a transcriptional sub-program more akin to that of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) than adult stem cells. The transcription/chromatin regulatory factors Myb, Hmgb3 and Cbx5 are critical components of the program and suffice for Hoxa/Meis-independent immortalization of myeloid progenitors when co-expressed, establishing the cooperative and essential role of an ESC-like LSC maintenance program ancillary to the leukemia initiating MLL/Hox/Meis program. Enriched expression of LSC maintenance and ESC-like program genes in normal myeloid progenitors and poor prognosis human malignancies links the frequency of aberrantly self-renewing progenitor-like cancer stem cells to prognosis in human cancer.
No associated publication
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesDegradation and chemical modification of RNA in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples hamper their use in expression profiling studies. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of gene expression signature generation from archival FFPE materials. Nineteen cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and nine adenocarcinoma (AC) 10~16-year-old FFPE samples were profiled using Affymetrix Exon 1.0 ST arrays. A comparison of the global gene expression changes between SCC and AC revealed 1217 differentially expressed genes. Of these, 1062 showed significantly higher expression levels in SCC relative to AC, and 155 genes were found to be specifically upregulated in AC. When the 1217-gene signature was tested on a fresh-frozen human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) series, it correctly separated the 58 NSCLC samples into SCC and AC. In conclusion, our results showed that clinically and biologically relevant gene expression profiles can be derived from FFPE samples with Exon array profiling.
Exon-array profiling unlocks clinically and biologically relevant gene signatures from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour samples.
Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Frequent Derepression of the Mesenchymal Transcription Factor Gene FOXC1 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Specimen part
View SamplesPatients diagnosed with breast cancer were recruited to an important trial, the Tamoxifen Window Trial, in two series, series A during 1988-1989 and series B during 1989-1990. Some patients received tamoxifen for short windows. Clinical samples (biopsies) for this trial were collected before and after treatment. These biopsies were available as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks.
No associated publication
Sex, Specimen part, Disease stage, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesNormal myeloid lineage cell populations (C57BL/6 mice, aged 4-10 weeks, male or female) with three distinct immunophenotypes were prospectively isolated and characterized. In preparation for FACS sorting, bone marrow cells were separated into c-kit+ and c-kit- fractions using an AutoMACS device. C-kit+ cells were further fractionated based on Gr1 and Mac1 expression, and absence of lineage antigen expression (B220, TER119, CD3, CD4, CD8 and IL7R), by cell sorting. C-kit+ Gr1+ Mac1lo/- and c-kit+ Gr1+ Mac1+ displayed cytologic features of undifferentiated hematopoietic cells or myeloblasts, whereas c-kit- Gr1+ Mac1+ cells were mature neutrophils.
Hierarchical maintenance of MLL myeloid leukemia stem cells employs a transcriptional program shared with embryonic rather than adult stem cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesLeukemia cells from mice with MLL-AF10 AML were fractionated into separate sub-populations on the basis of c-kit expression, which correlates with MLL LSC frequency (Somervaille and Cleary, 2006). The sorted AML sub-populations exhibited substantial differences in their frequencies of AML CFCs/LSCs (mean 14-fold) and morphologic features, consistent with a leukemia cell hierarchy with maturation through to terminally differentiated neutrophils.
Hierarchical maintenance of MLL myeloid leukemia stem cells employs a transcriptional program shared with embryonic rather than adult stem cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesBone marrow samples from normal adult male donors were collected into EDTA. Red cells were removed by ammonium chloride lysis. Leukocytes were washed in SM buffer and CD34+ cells were separated from CD34- cells using an AutoMACS device and anti-CD34 immunomagnetic beads (Miltenyi Biotec), according to manufacturers instructions. For mature cell populations, CD34- cells were FACS purified according to the following immunophenotypes, with 7-AAD used to exclude dead cells: Neutrophils: side scatter high CD15+ CD16+. Monocytes: side scatter low-intermediate CD14+ CD16- CD15-. See also Huang et al., 2014.
Frequent Derepression of the Mesenchymal Transcription Factor Gene FOXC1 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Specimen part
View Samples