High-Throughput Omics Technologies: Potential Tools for the Investigation of Influences of EMF on Biological Systems

The mode of action of a huge amount of agents on biological systems is still unknown. One example where more questions than answers exist is covered by the term electromagnetic fields (EMF). Use of wireless communication, e.g. mobile phones, has been escalated in the last few years. Due to this fact, a lot of discussions dealt with health consequences of EMF emitted by these devices and led to an increased investigation of their effects to biological systems, mainly by using traditional methods. Omics technologies have the advantage to contain methods for investigations on DNA-, RNA- and protein level as well as changes in the metabolism

Chimeric polyomavirus-derived virus-like particles: the immunogenicity of an inserted peptide applied without adjuvant to mice depends on its insertion site and its flanking linker sequence

We inserted the sequence of the carcinoembryonic antigen-derived T cell epitope CAP-1-6D (CEA) into different positions of the hamster polyomavirus major capsid protein VP1. Independently from additional flanking linkers, yeast-expressed VP1 proteins harboring the CEA insertion between VP1 amino acid residues 80 and 89 (site 1) or 288 and 295 (site 4) or simultaneously at both positions assembled to chimeric virus-like particles (VLPs). BALB/c mice immunized with adjuvant-free VLPs developed VP1- and epitope-specific antibodies. The level of the CEA-specific antibody response was determined by the insertion site, the number of inserts, and the flanking linker. The strongest CEA-specific antibody response was observed in mice immunized with VP1 proteins harboring the CEA insert at site 1. Moreover, the CEA-specific antibodies in these mice were still detectable 6 mo after the final booster immunization. Our results indicate that hamster polyomavirus-derived VLPs represent a highly immunogenic carrier for foreign insertions that might be useful for clinical and therapeutic applications

A molecularly characterized preclinical platform of subcutaneous renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patient-derived xenograft models to evaluate novel treatment strategies

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a kidney cancer with an onset mainly during the sixth or seventh decade of the patient’s life. Patients with advanced, metastasized RCC have a poor prognosis. The majority of patients develop treatment resistance towards Standard of Care (SoC) drugs within months. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the backbone of first-line therapy and have been partnered with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) recently. Despite the most recent progress, the development of novel therapies targeting acquired TKI resistance mechanisms in advanced and metastatic RCC remains a high medical need. Preclinical models with high translational relevance can significantly support the development of novel personalized therapies. It has been demonstrated that patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models represent an essential tool for the preclinical evaluation of novel targeted therapies and their combinations. In the present project, we established and molecularly characterized a comprehensive panel of subcutaneous RCC PDX models with well-conserved molecular and pathological features over multiple passages. Drug screening towards four SoC drugs targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and PI3K/mTOR pathway revealed individual and heterogeneous response profiles in those models, very similar to observations in patients. As unique features, our cohort includes PDX models from metastatic disease and multi-tumor regions from one patient, allowing extended studies on intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH). The PDX models are further used as basis for developing corresponding in vitro cell culture models enabling advanced high-throughput drug screening in a personalized context. PDX models were subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Characterization of cancer-relevant features including driver mutations or cellular processes was performed using mutational and gene expression data in order to identify potential biomarker or treatment targets in RCC. In summary, we report a newly established and molecularly characterized panel of RCC PDX models with high relevance for translational preclinical research

Clusters of Conserved Beta Cell Marker Genes for Assessment of Beta Cell Phenotype

The aim of this study was to establish a gene expression blueprint of pancreatic beta cells conserved from rodents to humans and to evaluate its applicability to assess shifts in the beta cell differentiated state. Genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of isolated beta cells were compared to those of a large panel of other tissue and cell types, and transcripts with beta cell-abundant and -selective expression were identified. Iteration of this analysis in mouse, rat and human tissues generated a panel of conserved beta cell biomarkers. This panel was then used to compare isolated versus laser capture microdissected beta cells, monitor adaptations of the beta cell phenotype to fasting, and retrieve possible conserved transcriptional regulators.Journal ArticleSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Antimetastatic gene expression profiles mediated by retinoic acid receptor beta 2 in MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: The retinoic acid receptor beta 2 (RARβ2) gene modulates proliferation and survival of cultured human breast cancer cells. Previously we showed that ectopic expression of RARβ2 in a mouse xenograft model prevented metastasis, even in the absence of the ligand, all-trans retinoic acid. We investigated both cultured cells and xenograft tumors in order to delineate the gene expression profiles responsible for an antimetastatic phenotype. METHODS: RNA from MDA-MB-435 human breast cancer cells transduced with RARβ2 or empty retroviral vector (LXSN) was analyzed using Agilent Human 1A Oligo microarrays. The one hundred probes with the greatest differential intensity (p < 0.004, jointly) were determined by selecting the top median log ratios from eight-paired microarrays. Validation of differences in expression was done using Northern blot analysis and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). We determined expression of selected genes in xenograft tumors. RESULTS: RARβ2 cells exhibit gene profiles with overrepresentation of genes from Xq28 (p = 2 × 10(-8)), a cytogenetic region that contains a large portion of the cancer/testis antigen gene family. Other functions or factors impacted by the presence of exogenous RARβ2 include mediators of the immune response and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Thirteen of fifteen (87%) of the genes evaluated in xenograft tumors were consistent with differences we found in the cell cultures (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Antimetastatic RARβ2 signalling, direct or indirect, results in an elevation of expression for genes such as tumor-cell antigens (CTAG1 and CTAG2), those involved in innate immune response (e.g., RIG-I/DDX58), and tumor suppressor functions (e.g., TYRP1). Genes whose expression is diminished by RARβ2 signalling include cell adhesion functions (e.g, CD164) nutritional or metabolic processes (e.g., FABP6), and the transcription factor, JUN