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Biomedical subjects

Tatiana V Karpinets

Publications and source records attributed to Tatiana V Karpinets.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Paired analysis of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma and derived cell lines reveals a mesenchymal and stem-like shift associated with therapy resistance.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a salivary gland malignancy characterized by slow but persistent growth, frequent local recurrence, and late metastatic progression. Patients with unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic disease have limited therapeutic options. Efforts to identify effective therapeutic targets have been hindered by the limited availability of well-characterized ACC models. In this study, we established 11 ACC cell lines and performed RNA sequencing of nine cell lines and their matched primary tumors to evaluate the preservation and evolution of molecular and lineage-associated characteristics during cell line establishment. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed reduced epithelial and luminal differentiation programs in the cell lines, accompanied by enrichment of myoepithelial, EMT-, and cancer stem cell-associated transcriptional programs. Digital deconvolution and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis supported enrichment of hybrid EMT/stem-like states during in vitro propagation, while comparison with publicly available primary-recurrent ACC data demonstrated partial preservation of recurrence-associated plasticity and invasion programs. Protein-level validation of representative epithelial, myoepithelial, EMT, and stemness markers supported the major transcriptomic changes. In addition, a cell line with a higher stemness signature showed reduced sensitivity to cisplatin. Together, these findings indicate that ACC cell line establishment is associated with transcriptional reprogramming and enrichment of plastic, EMT/stem-like states while retaining selected ACC lineage characteristics. These models provide experimentally tractable platforms for investigating ACC progression, therapeutic response, and mechanisms of treatment resistance.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma↗

Feasibility of a novel non-invasive swab technique for serial whole-exome sequencing of cervical tumors during chemoradiation therapy.

BACKGROUND: Clinically relevant genetic predictors of radiation response for cervical cancer are understudied due to the morbidity of repeat invasive biopsies required to obtain genetic material. Thus, we aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel noninvasive cervical swab technique to (1) collect tumor DNA with adequate throughput to (2) perform whole-exome sequencing (WES) at serial time points over the course of chemoradiation therapy (CRT). METHODS: Cervical cancer tumor samples from patients undergoing chemoradiation were collected at baseline, at week 1, week 3, and at the completion of CRT (week 5) using a noninvasive swab-based biopsy technique. Swab samples were analyzed with whole-exome sequencing (WES) with mutation calling using a custom pipeline optimized for shallow whole-exome sequencing with low tumor purity (TP). Tumor mutation changes over the course of treatment were profiled. RESULTS: 216 samples were collected and successfully sequenced for 70 patients (94% of total number of tumor samples collected). A total of 33 patients had a complete set of samples at all four time points. The mean mapping rate was 98% for all samples, and the mean target coverage was 180. Estimated TP was greater than 5% for all samples. Overall mutation frequency decreased during CRT but mapping rate and mean target coverage remained at >98% and >180 reads at week 5. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility and application of a noninvasive swab-based technique for WES analysis which may be applied to investigate dynamic tumor mutational changes during treatment to identify novel genes which confer radiation resistance.

Exome↗

RNA:protein ratio of the unicellular organism as a characteristic of phosphorous and nitrogen stoichiometry and of the cellular requirement of ribosomes for protein synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Mean phosphorous:nitrogen (P:N) ratios and relationships of P:N ratios with the growth rate of organisms indicate a surprising similarity among and within microbial species, plants, and insect herbivores. To reveal the cellular mechanisms underling this similarity, the macromolecular composition of seven microorganisms and the effect of specific growth rate (SGR) on RNA:protein ratio, the number of ribosomes, and peptide elongation rate (PER) were analyzed under different conditions of exponential growth. RESULTS: It was found that P:N ratios calculated from RNA and protein contents in these particular organisms were in the same range as the mean ratios reported for diverse organisms and had similar positive relationships with growth rate, consistent with the growth-rate hypothesis. The efficiency of protein synthesis in microorganisms is estimated as the number of active ribosomes required for the incorporation of one amino acid into the synthesized protein. This parameter is calculated as the SGR:PER ratio. Experimental and theoretical evidence indicated that the requirement of ribosomes for protein synthesis is proportional to the RNA:protein ratio. The constant of proportionality had the same values for all organisms, and was derived mechanistically from the characteristics of the protein-synthesis machinery of the cell (the number of nucleotides per ribosome, the average masses of nucleotides and amino acids, the fraction of ribosomal RNA in the total RNA, and the fraction of active ribosomes). Impairment of the growth conditions decreased the RNA:protein ratio and increased the overall efficiency of protein synthesis in the microorganisms. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the decrease in RNA:protein and estimated P:N ratios with decrease in the growth rate of the microorganism is a consequence of an increased overall efficiency of protein synthesis in the cell resulting from activation of the general stress response and increased transcription of cellular maintenance genes at the expense of growth related genes. The strong link between P:N stoichiometry, RNA:protein ratio, ribosomal requirement for protein synthesis, and growth rate of microorganisms indicated by the study could be used to characterize the N and P economy of complex ecosystems such as soils and the oceans.

Escherichia coli↗

Histone H3 lysine 9 and H4 lysine 20 trimethylation and the expression of Suv4-20h2 and Suv-39h1 histone methyltransferases in hepatocarcinogenesis induced by methyl deficiency in rats.

The field of cancer epigenetics has received much attention in recent years. However, the relationship of cancer epigenetics with cancer etiology is not clear. Recent studies suggest the involvement of altered DNA methylation and histone modifications in the emergence of epigenetically reprogrammed cells with specific tumor-related phenotypes at premalignant stages of tumor development. In this study, we used a methyl-deficient model of rodent hepatocarcinogenesis to examine the roles of DNA, histone H3 lysine 9 and histone H4 lysine 20 methylation, and the level of the expression of Suv39h1 and Suv4-20h2 histone methyltransferases in the carcinogenic process. We demonstrated that the development of liver tumors was characterized by progressive demethylation of DNA repeats, decrease in histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation, and a gradual decrease in the expression of Suv4-20h2 histone methyltransferase. A prominent increase in the trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 9 and in the expression of Suv39h1 histone methyltransferase was observed in preneoplastic nodules and liver tumors indicating the promotional role of these epigenetic alterations at later stages of carcinogenesis. The appearance of tumor-specific epigenetic alterations (demethylation of repetitive elements, loss of histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation, altered expression of Suv4-20h2 and Suv39h1 histone methyltransferases) at preneoplastic stages of hepatocarcinogenesis provides experimental support for the epigenetic hypothesis of tumorigenesis that considers stress-induced epigenetic reprogramming of the cell as an important prerequisite to succeeding mutations.

Animals↗

Tumorigenesis: the adaptation of mammalian cells to sustained stress environment by epigenetic alterations and succeeding matched mutations.

Recent studies indicate that during tumorigenic transformations, cells may generate mutations by themselves as a result of error-prone cell division with participation of error-prone polymerases and aberrant mitosis. These mechanisms may be activated in cells by continuing proliferative and survival signaling in a sustained stress environment (SSE). The paper hypothesizes that long-term exposure to this signaling epigenetically reprograms the genome of some cells and, in addition, leads to their senescence. The epigenetic reprogramming results in: (i) hypermethylation of tumor-suppressor genes involved in the onset of cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis and DNA repair; (ii) hypomethylation of proto-oncogenes associated with persistent proliferative activity; and (iii) the global demethylation of the genome and activation of DNA repeats. These epigenetic changes in the proliferating cells associate with their replicative senescence and allow the reprogrammed senescent cells to overcome the cell-cycle arrest and to activate error-prone replications. It is hypothesized that the generation of mutations in the error-prone replications of the epigenetically reprogrammed cells is not random. The mutations match epigenetic alterations in the cellular genome, namely gain of function mutations in the case of hypomethylation and loss of functions in the case of hypermethylation. In addition, continuing proliferation of the cells imposed by signaling in SSE speeds up the natural selection of the mutant cells favoring the survival of the cells with mutations that are beneficial in the environment. In this way, a stress-induced replication of the cells epigenetically reprograms their genome for quick adaptation to stressful environments providing an increased rate of mutations, epigenetic tags to beneficial mutations and quick selection process. In combination, these processes drive the origin of the transformed mammalian cells, cancer development and progression. Support from genomic, biochemical and medical studies for the proposed hypothesis, and its implementations are discussed.

Acclimatization↗

Model of the developing tumorigenic phenotype in mammalian cells and the roles of sustained stress and replicative senescence.

The molecular mechanisms that drive mammalian cells to the development of cancer are the subject of intense biochemical, genetic and medical studies. But for the present, there is no comprehensive model that might serve as a general framework for the interpretation of experimental data. This paper is an attempt to create a conceptual model of the mechanism of the developing tumorigenic phenotype in mammalian cells, defined as having high genomic instability and proliferative activity. The basic statement in the model is that mutations acquired by tumor cells are not caused directly by external DNA damaging agents, but instead are produced by the cell itself as an output of a Mutator Response similar to the bacterial "SOS response" and characterized by the initiation of error-prone cell cycle progression and an elevated rate of mutation. This response may be induced in arrested mammalian cells by intracellular and extracellular proliferative signals combined with blocked apoptosis. The mutant cells originated by this response are subjected to natural selection via apoptosis and turnover. This selection process favors the survival of cells with high proliferative activity and the suppression of apoptosis resulting in the long run in the appearance of immortalized cells with high proliferative activity. Either a sustained stressful environment accompanied by continuing apoptotic cell death, or replicative senescence, provides conditions suitable for activation of the Mutator Response, namely the emergence of arrested cells with blocked apoptosis and the induction of proliferative signal. It also accelerates the selection process by providing continuing cell turnover. The proposed mechanism is described at the level of involved metabolic pathways and proteins and substantiated by the related experimental data available in the literature.

Animals↗

Tailored gene array databases: applications in mechanistic toxicology.

MOTIVATION: The development of an annotated global database suitable for a wide range of investigations is a challenging and labor-intensive task. Thus, the development of databases tailored for specific applications remains necessary. For example, in the field of toxicology, no annotated gene array databases are now available that may assist in the correlation of changes in gene activity to cellular functions and processes associated with the toxic response. RESULTS: As an example of a tailored annotated database, an attempt was made to systematize available biological information on genes present on the Affymetrix Rat Toxicology U34 GeneChip, with a focus on how the gene products relate to liver cells and their response to chemical toxins. The information collected was imbedded in a local relational database to analyze data obtained in toxicological gene array experiments with hydrazine-exposed hepatocytes. The advantages and benefits of the tailored database in the biological interpretation of the results are demonstrated.

Abstracting and Indexing↗