Publications (117) View all
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Article: Lyophilized brain tumor specimens can be used for histologic, nucleic acid, and protein analyses after 1 year of room temperature storage.
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ABSTRACT: Frozen tissue, a gold standard biospecimen, can yield well preserved nucleic acids and proteins after over a decade but is vulnerable to thawing and has substantial fiscal, spatial, and environmental costs. A long-term room temperature biospecimen storage alternative that preserves broad analytical utility can potentially empower tissue-based research. As there is scant data on the analytical utility of lyophilized brain tumor biospecimens, we evaluated lyophilized (freeze-dried) samples stored for 1 year at room temperature. Lyophilized tumor tissue processed into paraffin sections produced good histology. Yields of extracted DNA, RNA, and protein approximated those of frozen tissue. After 1 year, lyophilized samples yielded high molecular weight DNA that permitted copy number variation analysis, IDH 1 mutation detection, and MGMT promoter methylation PCR. A 27 % decrease in RIN scores over the 1 year suggests that RNA degradation was inhibited though incompletely. Nevertheless, RT-PCR studies on lyophilized tissue performed similarly to frozen tissue. In contrast to FFPE tissues where protein bands were absent or shifted to a lower molecular weight, lyophilized samples showed similar protein bands as frozen tissue on SDS-PAGE analysis. Lyophilized tissue performed similarly to frozen tissue for Western blots and enzyme activity assays. Immunohistochemistry of lyophilized tissue that were processed into FFPE blocks often required longer incubation times for staining than standard FFPE samples but generally provided robust antigen detection. This preliminary study suggests that lyophilization has promise for long-term room temperature storage while permitting varied tests; however, further work is required to better stabilize nucleic acids particularly RNA.Journal of Neuro-Oncology 05/2013; · 3.21 Impact Factor -
Article: Arsenic reverses glioblastoma resistance to mTOR-targeted therapies.
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) 04/2013; 12(10). · 5.36 Impact Factor -
Article: De-repression of PDGFRβ transcription promotes acquired resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in glioblastoma patients.
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ABSTRACT: Acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) represents a major challenge for personalized cancer therapy. Multiple genetic mechanisms of acquired TKI resistance have been identified in several types of human cancer. However, the possibility that cancer cells may also evade treatment by co-opting physiologically regulated receptors has not been addressed. Here we demonstrate the first example of this alternate mechanism in brain tumors by showing that EGFR-mutant glioblastomas (GBMs) evade EGFR TKIs by transcriptionally de-repressing PDGFRβ. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that EGFRvIII signaling actively suppresses PDGFRβ transcription in an mTORC1 and ERK-dependent manner. Genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of oncogenic EGFR renders GBMs dependent on the consequently de-repressed PDGFRβ signaling for growth and survival. Importantly, combined inhibition of EGFR and PDGFRβ signaling potently suppresses tumor growth in vivo. These data identify a novel, non-genetic TKI resistance mechanism in brain tumors and provide compelling rationale for combination therapy.Cancer discovery. 03/2013; -
Article: A Tale of Two Approaches: Complementary Mechanisms of Cytotoxic and Targeted Therapy Resistance May Inform Next Generation Cancer Treatments.
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ABSTRACT: Chemotherapy and molecularly targeted approaches represent two very different modes of cancer treatment and each is associated with unique benefits and limitations. Both types of therapy share the overarching limitation of the emergence of drug resistance, which prevents these drugs from eliciting lasting clinical benefit. This review will provide an overview of the various mechanisms of resistance to each of these classes of drugs and examples of drug combinations that have been tested clinically. This analysis supports the contention that understanding modes of resistance to both chemo- and molecularly-targeted therapies may be very useful in selecting those drugs of each class that will have complementing mechanisms of sensitivity and thereby represent reasonable combination therapies.Carcinogenesis 03/2013; · 5.70 Impact Factor -
Article: An essential requirement for the SCAP/SREBP signaling axis to protect cancer cells from lipotoxicity.
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ABSTRACT: SREBPs are key transcriptional regulators of lipid metabolism and cellular growth. It has been proposed that SREBP signaling regulates cellular growth through its ability to drive lipid biosynthesis. Unexpectedly, we find that loss of SREBP activity inhibits cancer cell growth and viability by uncoupling fatty acid synthesis from desaturation. Integrated lipid profiling and metabolic flux analysis revealed that cancer cells with attenuated SREBP activity maintain long-chain saturated fatty acid synthesis, while losing fatty acid desaturation capacity. We traced this defect to the uncoupling of Fatty Acid Synthase activity from SCD1-mediated desaturation. This deficiency in desaturation drives an imbalance between the saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid pools resulting in severe lipotoxicity. Importantly, replenishing the monounsaturated fatty acid pool restored growth to SREBP-inhibited cells. These studies highlight the importance of fatty acid desaturation in cancer growth and provide a novel mechanistic explanation for the role of SREBPs in cancer metabolism.Cancer Research 02/2013; · 7.86 Impact Factor
