@article{SchmittKellerNourkamiTutdibietal.2011, author = {Schmitt, Jana and Keller, Andreas and Nourkami-Tutdibi, Nasenien and Heisel, Sabrina and Habel, Nunja and Leidinger, Petra and Ludwig, Nicole and Gessler, Manfred and Graf, Norbert and Berthold, Frank and Lenhof, Hans-Peter and Meese, Eckart}, title = {Autoantibody Signature Differentiates Wilms Tumor Patients from Neuroblastoma Patients}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {6}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {12}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0028951}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133794}, pages = {e28951}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Several studies report autoantibody signatures in cancer. The majority of these studies analyzed adult tumors and compared the seroreactivity pattern of tumor patients with the pattern in healthy controls. Here, we compared the autoimmune response in patients with neuroblastoma and patients with Wilms tumor representing two different childhood tumors. We were able to differentiate untreated neuroblastoma patients from untreated Wilms tumor patients with an accuracy of 86.8\%, a sensitivity of 87.0\% and a specificity of 86.7\%. The separation of treated neuroblastoma patients from treated Wilms tumor patients' yielded comparable results with an accuracy of 83.8\%. We furthermore identified the antigens that contribute most to the differentiation between both tumor types. The analysis of these antigens revealed that neuroblastoma was considerably more immunogenic than Wilms tumor. The reported antigens have not been found to be relevant for comparative analyses between other tumors and controls. In summary, neuroblastoma appears as a highly immunogenic tumor as demonstrated by the extended number of antigens that separate this tumor from Wilms tumor.}, language = {en} } @article{WilliamsChagtaiAlcaideGermanetal.2015, author = {Williams, Richard D. and Chagtai, Tasnim and Alcaide-German, Marisa and Apps, John and Wegert, Jenny and Popov, Sergey and Vujanic, Gordan and Van Tinteren, Harm and Van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M and Kool, Marcel and De Kraker, Jan and Gisselsson, David and Graf, Norbert and Gessler, Manfred and Pritchard-Jones, Kathy}, title = {Multiple mechanisms of MYCN dysregulation in Wilms tumour}, series = {Oncotarget}, volume = {6}, journal = {Oncotarget}, number = {9}, doi = {10.18632/oncotarget.3377}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143471}, pages = {7232-7243}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Genomic gain of the proto-oncogene transcription factor gene MYCN is associated with poor prognosis in several childhood cancers. Here we present a comprehensive copy number analysis of MYCN in Wilms tumour (WT), demonstrating that gain of this gene is associated with anaplasia and with poorer relapse-free and overall survival, independent of histology. Using whole exome and gene-specific sequencing, together with methylation and expression profiling, we show that MYCN is targeted by other mechanisms, including a recurrent somatic mutation, P44L, and specific DNA hypomethylation events associated with MYCN overexpression in tumours with high risk histologies. We describe parallel evolution of genomic copy number gain and point mutation of MYCN in the contralateral tumours of a remarkable bilateral case in which independent contralateral mutations of TP53 also evolve over time. We report a second bilateral case in which MYCN gain is a germline aberration. Our results suggest a significant role for MYCN dysregulation in the molecular biology of Wilms tumour. We conclude that MYCN gain is prognostically significant, and suggest that the novel P44L somatic variant is likely to be an activating mutation.}, language = {en} } @article{WegertVokuhZiegleretal.2017, author = {Wegert, Jenny and Vokuh, Christian and Ziegler, Barbara and Ernestus, Karen and Leuschner, Ivo and Furtw{\"a}ngler, Rhoikos and Graf, Norbert and Gessler, Manfred}, title = {TP53 alterations in Wilms tumour represent progression events with strong intratumour heterogeneity that are closely linked but not limited to anaplasia}, series = {The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research}, volume = {3}, journal = {The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research}, doi = {10.1002/cjp2.77}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158302}, pages = {234-248}, year = {2017}, abstract = {TP53 mutations have been associated with anaplasia in Wilms tumour, which conveys a high risk for relapse and fatal outcome. Nevertheless, TP53 alterations have been reported in no more than 60\% of anaplastic tumours, and recent data have suggested their presence in tumours that do not fulfil the criteria for anaplasia, questioning the clinical utility of TP53 analysis. Therefore, we characterized the TP53 status in 84 fatal cases of Wilms tumour, irrespective of histological subtype. We identified TP53 alterations in at least 90\% of fatal cases of anaplastic Wilms tumour, and even more when diffuse anaplasia was present, indicating a very strong if not absolute coupling between anaplasia and deregulation of p53 function. Unfortunately, TP53 mutations do not provide additional predictive value in anaplastic tumours since the same mutation rate was found in a cohort of non-fatal anaplastic tumours. When classified according to tumour stage, patients with stage I diffuse anaplastic tumours still had a high chance of survival (87\%), but this rate dropped to 26\% for stages II-IV. Thus, volume of anaplasia or possible spread may turn out to be critical parameters. Importantly, among non-anaplastic fatal tumours, 26\% had TP53 alterations, indicating that TP53 screening may identify additional cases at risk. Several of these non-anaplastic tumours fulfilled some criteria for anaplasia, for example nuclear unrest, suggesting that such partial phenotypes should be under special scrutiny to enhance detection of high-risk tumours via TP53 screening. A major drawback is that these alterations are secondary changes that occur only later in tumour development, leading to striking intratumour heterogeneity that requires multiple biopsies and analysis guided by histological criteria. In conclusion, we found a very close correlation between histological signs of anaplasia and TP53 alterations. The latter may precede development of anaplasia and thereby provide diagnostic value pointing towards aggressive disease.}, language = {en} } @article{TuChenLimetal.2012, author = {Tu, Xiaolin and Chen, Jianquan and Lim, Joohyun and Karner, Courtney M. and Lee, Seung-Yon and Heisig, Julia and Wiese, Cornelia and Surendran, Kameswaran and Kopan, Raphael and Gessler, Manfred and Long, Fanxin}, title = {Physiological Notch Signaling Maintains Bone Homeostasis via RBPjk and Hey Upstream of NFATc1}, series = {PLoS Genetics}, volume = {8}, journal = {PLoS Genetics}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1002577}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133490}, pages = {e1002577}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Notch signaling between neighboring cells controls many cell fate decisions in metazoans both during embryogenesis and in postnatal life. Previously, we uncovered a critical role for physiological Notch signaling in suppressing osteoblast differentiation in vivo. However, the contribution of individual Notch receptors and the downstream signaling mechanism have not been elucidated. Here we report that removal of Notch2, but not Notch1, from the embryonic limb mesenchyme markedly increased trabecular bone mass in adolescent mice. Deletion of the transcription factor RBPjk, a mediator of all canonical Notch signaling, in the mesenchymal progenitors but not the more mature osteoblast-lineage cells, caused a dramatic high-bone-mass phenotype characterized by increased osteoblast numbers, diminished bone marrow mesenchymal progenitor pool, and rapid age-dependent bone loss. Moreover, mice deficient in Hey1 and HeyL, two target genes of Notch-RBPjk signaling, exhibited high bone mass. Interestingly, Hey1 bound to and suppressed the NFATc1 promoter, and RBPjk deletion increased NFATc1 expression in bone. Finally, pharmacological inhibition of NFAT alleviated the high-bone-mass phenotype caused by RBPjk deletion. Thus, Notch-RBPjk signaling functions in part through Hey1-mediated inhibition of NFATc1 to suppress osteoblastogenesis, contributing to bone homeostasis in vivo.}, language = {en} } @article{StefanovicBarnettvanDuijvenbodenetal.2014, author = {Stefanovic, Sonia and Barnett, Phil and van Duijvenboden, Karel and Weber, David and Gessler, Manfred and Christoffels, Vincent M.}, title = {GATA-dependent regulatory switches establish atrioventricular canal specificity during heart development}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {5}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {3680}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms4680}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121437}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The embryonic vertebrate heart tube develops an atrioventricular canal that divides the atrial and ventricular chambers, forms atrioventricular conduction tissue and organizes valve development. Here we assess the transcriptional mechanism underlying this localized differentiation process. We show that atrioventricular canal-specific enhancers are GATA-binding site-dependent and act as switches that repress gene activity in the chambers. We find that atrioventricular canal-specific gene loci are enriched in H3K27ac, a marker of active enhancers, in atrioventricular canal tissue and depleted in H3K27ac in chamber tissue. In the atrioventricular canal, Gata4 activates the enhancers in synergy with Bmp2/Smad signalling, leading to H3K27 acetylation. In contrast, in chambers, Gata4 cooperates with pan-cardiac Hdac1 and Hdac2 and chamber-specific Hey1 and Hey2, leading to H3K27 deacetylation and repression. We conclude that atrioventricular canal-specific enhancers are platforms integrating cardiac transcription factors, broadly active histone modification enzymes and localized co-factors to drive atrioventricular canal-specific gene activity.}, language = {en} } @article{SalatWinklerUrlaubetal.2015, author = {Salat, Daniela and Winkler, Anja and Urlaub, Henning and Gessler, Manfred}, title = {Hey bHLH Proteins Interact with a FBXO45 Containing SCF Ubiquitin Ligase Complex and Induce Its Translocation into the Nucleus}, series = {PLoS One}, volume = {10}, journal = {PLoS One}, number = {6}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0130288}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125769}, pages = {e0130288}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The Hey protein family, comprising Hey1, Hey2 and HeyL in mammals, conveys Notch signals in many cell types. The helix-loop-helix (HLH) domain as well as the Orange domain, mediate homo- and heterodimerization of these transcription factors. Although distinct interaction partners have been identified so far, their physiological relevance for Hey functions is still largely unclear. Using a tandem affinity purification approach and mass spectrometry analysis we identified members of an ubiquitin E3-ligase complex consisting of FBXO45, PAM and SKP1 as novel Hey1 associated proteins. There is a direct interaction between Hey1 and FBXO45, whereas FBXO45 is needed to mediate indirect Hey1 binding to SKP1. Expression of Hey1 induces translocation of FBXO45 and PAM into the nucleus. Hey1 is a short-lived protein that is degraded by the proteasome, but there is no evidence for FBXO45-dependent ubiquitination of Hey1. On the contrary, Hey1 mediated nuclear translocation of FBXO45 and its associated ubiquitin ligase complex may extend its spectrum to additional nuclear targets triggering their ubiquitination. This suggests a novel mechanism of action for Hey bHLH factors.}, language = {en} } @article{SchmittBackesNourkamiTutdibietal.2012, author = {Schmitt, Jana and Backes, Christina and Nourkami-Tutdibi, Nasenien and Leidinger, Petra and Deutscher, Stephanie and Beier, Markus and Gessler, Manfred and Graf, Norbert and Lenhof, Hans-Peter and Keller, Andreas and Meese, Eckart}, title = {Treatment-independent miRNA signature in blood of wilms tumor patients}, series = {BMC Genomics}, volume = {13}, journal = {BMC Genomics}, number = {379}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2164-13-379}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-124034}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Background Blood-born miRNA signatures have recently been reported for various tumor diseases. Here, we compared the miRNA signature in Wilms tumor patients prior and after preoperative chemotherapy according to SIOP protocol 2001. Results We did not find a significant difference between miRNA signature of both groups. However both, Wilms tumor patients prior and after chemotherapy showed a miRNA signature different from healthy controls. The signature of Wilms tumor patients prior to chemotherapy showed an accuracy of 97.5\% and of patients after chemotherapy an accuracy of 97.0\%, each as compared to healthy controls. Conclusion Our results provide evidence for a blood-born Wilms tumor miRNA signature largely independent of four weeks preoperative chemotherapy treatment.}, language = {en} } @article{HeisigWeberEnglbergeretal.2012, author = {Heisig, Julia and Weber, David and Englberger, Eva and Winkler, Anja and Kneitz, Susanne and Sung, Wing-Kin and Wolf, Elmar and Eilers, Martin and Wei, Chia-Lin and Gessler, Manfred}, title = {Target Gene Analysis by Microarrays and Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Identifies HEY Proteins as Highly Redundant bHLH Repressors}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-75341}, year = {2012}, abstract = {HEY bHLH transcription factors have been shown to regulate multiple key steps in cardiovascular development. They can be induced by activated NOTCH receptors, but other upstream stimuli mediated by TGFß and BMP receptors may elicit a similar response. While the basic and helix-loop-helix domains exhibit strong similarity, large parts of the proteins are still unique and may serve divergent functions. The striking overlap of cardiac defects in HEY2 and combined HEY1/HEYL knockout mice suggested that all three HEY genes fulfill overlapping function in target cells. We therefore sought to identify target genes for HEY proteins by microarray expression and ChIPseq analyses in HEK293 cells, cardiomyocytes, and murine hearts. HEY proteins were found to modulate expression of their target gene to a rather limited extent, but with striking functional interchangeability between HEY factors. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed a much greater number of potential binding sites that again largely overlap between HEY factors. Binding sites are clustered in the proximal promoter region especially of transcriptional regulators or developmental control genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that HEY proteins primarily act as direct transcriptional repressors, while gene activation seems to be due to secondary or indirect effects. Mutagenesis of putative DNA binding residues supports the notion of direct DNA binding. While class B E-box sequences (CACGYG) clearly represent preferred target sequences, there must be additional and more loosely defined modes of DNA binding since many of the target promoters that are efficiently bound by HEY proteins do not contain an Ebox motif. These data clearly establish the three HEY bHLH factors as highly redundant transcriptional repressors in vitro and in vivo, which explains the combinatorial action observed in different tissues with overlapping expression.}, subject = {Biologie}, language = {en} } @article{WegertBausenweinKneitzetal.2011, author = {Wegert, Jenny and Bausenwein, Sabrina and Kneitz, Susanne and Roth, Sabine and Graf, Norbert and Geissinger, Eva and Gessler, Manfred}, title = {Retinoic acid pathway activity in Wilms tumors and characterization of biological responses in vitro}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-69137}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Background: Wilms tumor (WT) is one of the most common malignancies in childhood. With current therapy protocols up to 90\% of patients can be cured, but there is still a need to improve therapy for patients with aggressive WT and to reduce treatment intensity where possible. Prior data suggested a deregulation of the retinoic acid (RA) signaling pathway in high-risk WT, but its mode of action remained unclear. Results: The association of retinoid signaling and clinical parameters could be validated in a large independent tumor set, but its relevance in primary nephrectomy tumors from very young children may be different. Reduced RA pathway activity and MYCN overexpression were found in high risk tumors as opposed to tumors with low/ intermediate risk, suggesting a beneficial impact of RA especially on advanced WT. To search for possible modes of action of retinoids as novel therapeutic options, primary tumor cell cultures were treated in vitro with all-trans-RA (ATRA), 9cis-RA, fenretinide and combinations of retinoids and a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. Genes deregulated in high risk tumors showed opposite changes upon treatment suggesting a positive effect of retinoids. 6/7 primary cultures tested reduced proliferation, irrespective of prior RA signaling levels. The only variant culture was derived from mesoblastic nephroma, a distinct childhood kidney neoplasm. Retinoid/HDAC inhibitor combinations provided no synergistic effect. ATRA and 9cis-RA induced morphological changes suggestive of differentiation, while fenretinide induced apoptosis in several cultures tested. Microarray analysis of ATRA treated WT cells revealed differential expression of many genes involved in extracellular matrix formation and osteogenic, neuronal or muscle differentiation. The effects documented appear to be reversible upon drug withdrawal, however. Conclusions: Altered retinoic acid signaling has been validated especially in high risk Wilms tumors. In vitro testing of primary tumor cultures provided clear evidence of a potential utility of retinoids in Wilms tumor treatment based on the analysis of gene expression, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.}, subject = {Krebs}, language = {en} } @article{GesslerBarnekow1984, author = {Gessler, Manfred and Barnekow, Angelika}, title = {Differential expression of the cellular oncogenes c-src and c-yes in embryonal and adult chicken tissues}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-59289}, year = {1984}, abstract = {The cellular onc-genes c-src and c-yes are expressed very differently during chicken embryonic development. The c-src mRNA and its translational product are detectable at high levels in brain extracts of chicken embryos and adult chickens, whereas muscle extracts show an age-dependent decrease in the amounts of c-src-specific mRNA and pp60c-src kinase activity. In contrast, the Ievels of c-yes mRNA in brain, heart, and muscle are relatively low in early embryonic stages and increase later on to values comparable to those found for liver, while in adult animals the pattern of c-yes expression is similar to that of the c-src gene. From the close correlation between the Ievels of pp60c-src, its enzymatic activity, and its corresponding mRNA at a given stage of development and in given tissues, it appears that the expression of pp60c-src is primarily controlled at the level of transcription. It is suggested that because of the different patterns of expression, the two cellular oncogenes, c-src and c-yes, play different roles in cell proliferation during early embryonic stages as weil as in ensuing differentiation processes.}, subject = {Biochemie}, language = {en} }