TY - JOUR A1 - Wegert, Jenny A1 - Vokuhl, Christian A1 - Collord, Grace A1 - Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, Martin A1 - Farndon, Sarah J. A1 - Guzzo, Charlotte A1 - Jorgensen, Mette A1 - Anderson, John A1 - Slater, Olga A1 - Duncan, Catriona A1 - Bausenwein, Sabrina A1 - Streitenberger, Heike A1 - Ziegler, Barbara A1 - Furtwängler, Rhoikos A1 - Graf, Norbert A1 - Stratton, Michael R. A1 - Campbell, Peter J. A1 - Jones, David TW A1 - Koelsche, Christian A1 - Pfister, Stefan M. A1 - Mifsud, William A1 - Sebire, Neil A1 - Sparber-Sauer, Monika A1 - Koscielniak, Ewa A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Behjati, Sam T1 - Recurrent intragenic rearrangements of EGFR and BRAF in soft tissue tumors of infants JF - Nature Communications N2 - Soft tissue tumors of infancy encompass an overlapping spectrum of diseases that pose unique diagnostic and clinical challenges. We studied genomes and transcriptomes of cryptogenic congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN), and extended our findings to five anatomically or histologically related soft tissue tumors: infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS), nephroblastomatosis, Wilms tumor, malignant rhabdoid tumor, and clear cell sarcoma of the kidney. A key finding is recurrent mutation of EGFR in CMN by internal tandem duplication of the kinase domain, thus delineating CMN from other childhood renal tumors. Furthermore, we identify BRAF intragenic rearrangements in CMN and IFS. Collectively these findings reveal novel diagnostic markers and therapeutic strategies and highlight a prominent role of isolated intragenic rearrangements as drivers of infant tumors. KW - cancer KW - genetics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233446 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Solimando, A G A1 - Brandl, A A1 - Mattenheimer, K A1 - Graf, C A1 - Ritz, M A1 - Ruckdeschel, A A1 - Stühmer, T A1 - Mokhtari, Z A1 - Rudelius, M A1 - Dotterweich, J A1 - Bittrich, M A1 - Desantis, V A1 - Ebert, R A1 - Trerotoli, P A1 - Frassanito, M A A1 - Rosenwald, A A1 - Vacca, A A1 - Einsele, H A1 - Jakob, F A1 - Beilhack, A T1 - JAM-A as a prognostic factor and new therapeutic target in multiple myeloma JF - Leukemia N2 - Cell adhesion in the multiple myeloma (MM) microenvironment has been recognized as a major mechanism of MM cell survival and the development of drug resistance. Here we addressed the hypothesis that the protein junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) may represent a novel target and a clinical biomarker in MM. We evaluated JAM-A expression in MM cell lines and in 147 MM patient bone marrow aspirates and biopsies at different disease stages. Elevated JAM-A levels in patient-derived plasma cells were correlated with poor prognosis. Moreover, circulating soluble JAM-A (sJAM-A) levels were significantly increased in MM patients as compared with controls. Notably, in vitro JAM-A inhibition impaired MM migration, colony formation, chemotaxis, proliferation and viability. In vivo treatment with an anti-JAM-A monoclonal antibody (αJAM-A moAb) impaired tumor progression in a murine xenograft MM model. These results demonstrate that therapeutic targeting of JAM-A has the potential to prevent MM progression, and lead us to propose JAM-A as a biomarker in MM, and sJAM-A as a serum-based marker for clinical stratification. KW - haematological cancer KW - myeloma Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239069 VL - 32 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - López, Cristina A1 - Kleinheinz, Kortine A1 - Aukema, Sietse M. A1 - Rohde, Marius A1 - Bernhart, Stephan H. A1 - Hübschmann, Daniel A1 - Wagener, Rabea A1 - Toprak, Umut H. A1 - Raimondi, Francesco A1 - Kreuz, Markus A1 - Waszak, Sebastian M. A1 - Huang, Zhiqin A1 - Sieverling, Lina A1 - Paramasivam, Nagarajan A1 - Seufert, Julian A1 - Sungalee, Stephanie A1 - Russell, Robert B. A1 - Bausinger, Julia A1 - Kretzmer, Helene A1 - Ammerpohl, Ole A1 - Bergmann, Anke K. A1 - Binder, Hans A1 - Borkhardt, Arndt A1 - Brors, Benedikt A1 - Claviez, Alexander A1 - Doose, Gero A1 - Feuerbach, Lars A1 - Haake, Andrea A1 - Hansmann, Martin-Leo A1 - Hoell, Jessica A1 - Hummel, Michael A1 - Korbel, Jan O. A1 - Lawerenz, Chris A1 - Lenze, Dido A1 - Radlwimmer, Bernhard A1 - Richter, Julia A1 - Rosenstiel, Philip A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Schilhabel, Markus B. A1 - Stein, Harald A1 - Stilgenbauer, Stephan A1 - Stadler, Peter F. A1 - Szczepanowski, Monika A1 - Weniger, Marc A. A1 - Zapatka, Marc A1 - Eils, Roland A1 - Lichter, Peter A1 - Loeffler, Markus A1 - Möller, Peter A1 - Trümper, Lorenz A1 - Klapper, Wolfram A1 - Hoffmann, Steve A1 - Küppers, Ralf A1 - Burkhardt, Birgit A1 - Schlesner, Matthias A1 - Siebert, Reiner T1 - Genomic and transcriptomic changes complement each other in the pathogenesis of sporadic Burkitt lymphoma JF - Nature Communications N2 - Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is the most common B-cell lymphoma in children. Within the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), we performed whole genome and transcriptome sequencing of 39 sporadic BL. Here, we unravel interaction of structural, mutational, and transcriptional changes, which contribute to MYC oncogene dysregulation together with the pathognomonic IG-MYC translocation. Moreover, by mapping IGH translocation breakpoints, we provide evidence that the precursor of at least a subset of BL is a B-cell poised to express IGHA. We describe the landscape of mutations, structural variants, and mutational processes, and identified a series of driver genes in the pathogenesis of BL, which can be targeted by various mechanisms, including IG-non MYC translocations, germline and somatic mutations, fusion transcripts, and alternative splicing. KW - cancer genomics KW - lymphocytes KW - lymphoid tissues KW - oncology Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-237281 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gröbner, Susanne N. A1 - Worst, Barbara C. A1 - Weischenfeldt, Joachim A1 - Buchhalter, Ivo A1 - Kleinheinz, Kortine A1 - Rudneva, Vasilisa A. A1 - Johann, Pascal D. A1 - Balasubramanian, Gnana Prakash A1 - Segura-Wang, Maia A1 - Brabetz, Sebastian A1 - Bender, Sebastian A1 - Hutter, Barbara A1 - Sturm, Dominik A1 - Pfaff, Elke A1 - Hübschmann, Daniel A1 - Zipprich, Gideon A1 - Heinold, Michael A1 - Eils, Jürgen A1 - Lawerenz, Christian A1 - Erkek, Serap A1 - Lambo, Sander A1 - Waszak, Sebastian A1 - Blattmann, Claudia A1 - Borkhardt, Arndt A1 - Kuhlen, Michaela A1 - Eggert, Angelika A1 - Fulda, Simone A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Wegert, Jenny A1 - Kappler, Roland A1 - Baumhoer, Daniel A1 - Stefan, Burdach A1 - Kirschner-Schwabe, Renate A1 - Kontny, Udo A1 - Kulozik, Andreas E. A1 - Lohmann, Dietmar A1 - Hettmer, Simone A1 - Eckert, Cornelia A1 - Bielack, Stefan A1 - Nathrath, Michaela A1 - Niemeyer, Charlotte A1 - Richter, Günther H. A1 - Schulte, Johannes A1 - Siebert, Reiner A1 - Westermann, Frank A1 - Molenaar, Jan J. A1 - Vassal, Gilles A1 - Witt, Hendrik A1 - Burkhardt, Birgit A1 - Kratz, Christian P. A1 - Witt, Olaf A1 - van Tilburg, Cornelis M. A1 - Kramm, Christof M. A1 - Fleischhack, Gudrun A1 - Dirksen, Uta A1 - Rutkowski, Stefan A1 - Frühwald, Michael A1 - Hoff, Katja von A1 - Wolf, Stephan A1 - Klingebeil, Thomas A1 - Koscielniak, Ewa A1 - Landgraf, Pablo A1 - Koster, Jan A1 - Resnick, Adam C. A1 - Zhang, Jinghui A1 - Liu, Yanling A1 - Zhou, Xin A1 - Waanders, Angela J. A1 - Zwijnenburg, Danny A. A1 - Raman, Pichai A1 - Brors, Benedikt A1 - Weber, Ursula D. A1 - Northcott, Paul A. A1 - Pajtler, Kristian W. A1 - Kool, Marcel A1 - Piro, Rosario M. A1 - Korbel, Jan O. A1 - Schlesner, Matthias A1 - Eils, Roland A1 - Jones, David T. W. A1 - Lichter, Peter A1 - Chavez, Lukas A1 - Zapatka, Marc A1 - Pfister, Stefan M. T1 - The landscape of genomic alterations across childhood cancers JF - Nature N2 - Pan-cancer analyses that examine commonalities and differences among various cancer types have emerged as a powerful way to obtain novel insights into cancer biology. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of genetic alterations in a pan-cancer cohort including 961 tumours from children, adolescents, and young adults, comprising 24 distinct molecular types of cancer. Using a standardized workflow, we identified marked differences in terms of mutation frequency and significantly mutated genes in comparison to previously analysed adult cancers. Genetic alterations in 149 putative cancer driver genes separate the tumours into two classes: small mutation and structural/copy-number variant (correlating with germline variants). Structural variants, hyperdiploidy, and chromothripsis are linked to TP53 mutation status and mutational signatures. Our data suggest that 7–8% of the children in this cohort carry an unambiguous predisposing germline variant and that nearly 50% of paediatric neoplasms harbour a potentially druggable event, which is highly relevant for the design of future clinical trials. KW - cancer genomics KW - oncogenesis KW - paediatric cancer KW - predictive markers KW - translational research Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229579 VL - 555 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Giampaolo, Sabrina A1 - Wójcik, Gabriela A1 - Klein-Hessling, Stefan A1 - Serfling, Edgar A1 - Patra, Amiya K. T1 - B cell development is critically dependent on NFATc1 activity JF - Cellular & Molecular Immunology N2 - B cell development in bone marrow is a precisely regulated complex process. Through successive stages of differentiation, which are regulated by a multitude of signaling pathways and an array of lineage-specific transcription factors, the common lymphoid progenitors ultimately give rise to mature B cells. Similar to early thymocyte development in the thymus, early B cell development in bone marrow is critically dependent on IL-7 signaling. During this IL-7-dependent stage of differentiation, several transcription factors, such as E2A, EBF1, and Pax5, among others, play indispensable roles in B lineage specification and maintenance. Although recent studies have implicated several other transcription factors in B cell development, the role of NFATc1 in early B cell developmental stages is not known. Here, using multiple gene-manipulated mouse models and applying various experimental methods, we show that NFATc1 activity is vital for early B cell differentiation. Lack of NFATc1 activity in pro-B cells suppresses EBF1 expression, impairs immunoglobulin gene rearrangement, and thereby preBCR formation, resulting in defective B cell development. Overall, deficiency in NFATc1 activity arrested the pro-B cell transition to the pre-B cell stage, leading to severe B cell lymphopenia. Our findings suggest that, along with other transcription factors, NFATc1 is a critical component of the signaling mechanism that facilitates early B cell differentiation. KW - differentiation KW - EBF1 KW - NFATc1 KW - pro-B KW - pre-B Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233006 VL - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - El-Mesery, Mohamed A1 - Rosenthal, Tina A1 - Rauert-Wunderlich, Hilka A1 - Schreder, Martin A1 - Stühmer, Thorsten A1 - Leich, Ellen A1 - Schlosser, Andreas A1 - Ehrenschwender, Martin A1 - Wajant, Harald A1 - Siegmund, Daniela T1 - The NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor MLN4924 sensitizes a TNFR1+ subgroup of multiple myeloma cells for TNF-induced cell death JF - Cell Death & Disease N2 - The NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE) inhibitor MLN4924 inhibits cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase complexes including the SKP1-cullin-F-box E3 ligase βTrCP. MLN4924 therefore inhibits also the βTrCP-dependent activation of the classical and the alternative NFĸB pathway. In this work, we found that a subgroup of multiple myeloma cell lines (e.g., RPMI-8226, MM.1S, KMS-12BM) and about half of the primary myeloma samples tested are sensitized to TNF-induced cell death by MLN4924. This correlated with MLN4924-mediated inhibition of TNF-induced activation of the classical NFκB pathway and reduced the efficacy of TNF-induced TNFR1 signaling complex formation. Interestingly, binding studies revealed a straightforward correlation between cell surface TNFR1 expression in multiple myeloma cell lines and their sensitivity for MLN4924/TNF-induced cell death. The cell surface expression levels of TNFR1 in the investigated MM cell lines largely correlated with TNFR1 mRNA expression. This suggests that the variable levels of cell surface expression of TNFR1 in myeloma cell lines are decisive for TNF/MLN4924 sensitivity. Indeed, introduction of TNFR1 into TNFR1-negative TNF/MLN4924-resistant KMS-11BM cells, was sufficient to sensitize this cell line for TNF/MLN4924-induced cell death. Thus, MLN4924 might be especially effective in myeloma patients with TNFR1+ myeloma cells and a TNFhigh tumor microenvironment. KW - cancer therapy KW - tumour-necrosis factors Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226666 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breun, Maria A1 - Flock, Katharina A1 - Feldheim, Jonas A1 - Nattmann, Anja A1 - Monoranu, Camelia M. A1 - Herrmann, Pia A1 - Ernestus, Ralf-Ingo A1 - Löhr, Mario A1 - Hagemann, Carsten A1 - Stein, Ulrike T1 - Metastasis associated in colorectal cancer 1 (MACC1) mRNA expression is enhanced in sporadic vestibular schwannoma and correlates to deafness JF - Cancers N2 - Vestibular schwannoma (VS) are benign cranial nerve sheath tumors of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Their incidence is mostly sporadic, but they can also be associated with NF2-related schwannomatosis (NF2), a hereditary tumor syndrome. Metastasis associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) is known to contribute to angiogenesis, cell growth, invasiveness, cell motility and metastasis of solid malignant cancers. In addition, MACC1 may be associated with nonsyndromic hearing impairment. Therefore, we evaluated whether MACC1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of VS. Sporadic VS, recurrent sporadic VS, NF2-associated VS, recurrent NF2-associated VS and healthy vestibular nerves were analyzed for MACC1 mRNA and protein expression by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. MACC1 expression levels were correlated with the patients’ clinical course and symptoms. MACC1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in sporadic VS compared to NF2-associated VS (p < 0.001). The latter expressed similar MACC1 concentrations as healthy vestibular nerves. Recurrent tumors resembled the MACC1 expression of the primary tumors. MACC1 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with deafness in sporadic VS patients (p = 0.034). Therefore, MACC1 might be a new molecular marker involved in VS pathogenesis. KW - vestibular schwannoma KW - metastasis associated in colorectal cancer 1 (MACC1) KW - pathogenesis KW - deafness KW - NF2-related schwannomatosis (NF2) KW - mRNA expression Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-362543 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 15 IS - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Murti, Krisna A1 - Fender, Hendrik A1 - Glatzle, Carolin A1 - Wismer, Rhoda A1 - Sampere-Birlanga, Salvador A1 - Wild, Vanessa A1 - Muhammad, Khalid A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Serfling, Edgar A1 - Avots, Andris T1 - Calcineurin-independent NFATc1 signaling is essential for survival of Burkitt lymphoma cells JF - Frontiers in Oncology N2 - In Burkitt lymphoma (BL), a tumor of germinal center B cells, the pro-apoptotic properties of MYC are controlled by tonic B cell receptor (BCR) signals. Since BL cells do not exhibit constitutive NF-κB activity, we hypothesized that anti-apoptotic NFATc1 proteins provide a major transcriptional survival signal in BL. Here we show that post-transcriptional mechanisms are responsible for the calcineurin (CN) independent constitutive nuclear over-expression of NFATc1 in BL and Eµ-MYC – induced B cell lymphomas (BCL). Conditional inactivation of the Nfatc1 gene in B cells of Eµ-MYC mice leads to apoptosis of BCL cells in vivo and ex vivo. Inhibition of BCR/SYK/BTK/PI3K signals in BL cells results in cytosolic re-location of NFATc1 and apoptosis. Therefore, NFATc1 activity is an integrated part of tonic BCR signaling and an alternative target for therapeutic intervention in BL. KW - apoptosis KW - Burkitt lymphoma KW - cyclosporin A KW - nuclear localization KW - NFATc1 KW - activated B cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL) KW - B cell receptor (BCR) KW - Burkitt lymphoma (BL) Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-323103 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seal, Rishav A1 - Schwab, Lara S. U. A1 - Chiarolla, Cristina M. A1 - Hundhausen, Nadine A1 - Klose, Georg Heinrich A1 - Reu-Hofer, Simone A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Wiest, Johannes A1 - Berberich-Siebelt, Friederike T1 - Delayed and limited administration of the JAKinib tofacitinib mitigates chronic DSS-induced colitis JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - In inflammatory bowel disease, dysregulated T cells express pro-inflammatory cytokines. Using a chronic azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model resembling ulcerative colitis, we evaluated whether and when treatment with the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib could be curative. Comparing the treatment with two and three cycles of tofacitinib medication in drinking water – intermittently with DSS induction – revealed that two cycles were not only sufficient but also superior over the 3-x regimen. The two cycles of the 2-x protocol paralleled the second and third cycles of the longer protocol. T cells were less able to express interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and the serum levels of IFN-γ, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-17, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were significantly reduced in sera, while those of IL-10 and IL-22 increased under the 2-x protocol. Likewise, the frequency and effector phenotype of regulatory T cells (Tregs) increased. This was accompanied by normal weight gain, controlled clinical scores, and restored stool consistency. The general and histologic appearance of the colons revealed healing and tissue intactness. Importantly, two phases of tofacitinib medication completely prevented AOM-incited pseudopolyps and the hyper-proliferation of epithelia, which was in contrast to the 3-x regimen. This implies that the initial IBD-induced cytokine expression is not necessarily harmful as long as inflammatory signaling can later be suppressed and that time-restricted treatment allows for anti-inflammatory and tissue-healing cytokine activities. KW - anti-inflammatory cytokines KW - AOM/DSS KW - pro-inflammatory cytokines KW - effector Treg (eTreg) KW - chronic IBD model KW - JAK inhibitor KW - tofacitinib KW - treatment regimens Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-317815 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hung, Sophia A1 - Kasperkowitz, Amelie A1 - Kurz, Florian A1 - Dreher, Liane A1 - Diessner, Joachim A1 - Ibrahim, Eslam S. A1 - Schwarz, Stefan A1 - Ohlsen, Knut A1 - Hertlein, Tobias T1 - Next-generation humanized NSG-SGM3 mice are highly susceptible to Staphylococcus aureus infection JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - Humanized hemato-lymphoid system mice, or humanized mice, emerged in recent years as a promising model to study the course of infection of human-adapted or human-specific pathogens. Though Staphylococcus aureus infects and colonizes a variety of species, it has nonetheless become one of the most successful human pathogens of our time with a wide armory of human-adapted virulence factors. Humanized mice showed increased vulnerability to S. aureus compared to wild type mice in a variety of clinically relevant disease models. Most of these studies employed humanized NSG (NOD-scid IL2Rgnull) mice which are widely used in the scientific community, but show poor human myeloid cell reconstitution. Since this immune cell compartment plays a decisive role in the defense of the human immune system against S. aureus, we asked whether next-generation humanized mice, like NSG-SGM3 (NOD-scid IL2Rgnull-3/GM/SF) with improved myeloid reconstitution, would prove to be more resistant to infection. To our surprise, we found the contrary when we infected humanized NSG-SGM3 (huSGM3) mice with S. aureus: although they had stronger human immune cell engraftment than humanized NSG mice, particularly in the myeloid compartment, they displayed even more pronounced vulnerability to S. aureus infection. HuSGM3 mice had overall higher numbers of human T cells, B cells, neutrophils and monocytes in the blood and the spleen. This was accompanied by elevated levels of pro-inflammatory human cytokines in the blood of huSGM3 mice. We further identified that the impaired survival of huSGM3 mice was not linked to higher bacterial burden nor to differences in the murine immune cell repertoire. Conversely, we could demonstrate a correlation of the rate of humanization and the severity of infection. Collectively, this study suggests a detrimental effect of the human immune system in humanized mice upon encounter with S. aureus which might help to guide future therapy approaches and analysis of virulence mechanisms. KW - humanized mice KW - Staphylococcus aureus KW - MRSA KW - NSG KW - NSG-SGM3 KW - staphylococcal abscess KW - Staphylococcus aureus immune response KW - humanized hemato-lymphoid mice Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-306966 VL - 14 ER -