Frontiers in Oncology: Preclinical Childhood Sarcoma Models: Drug Efficacy Biomarker Identification and Validation

August 26, 2015

Over the past 35 years, cure rates for pediatric cancers have increased dramatically. However, it is clear that further dose intensification using cytotoxic agents or radiation therapy is not possible without enhancing morbidity and long-term effects. Consequently, novel, less genotoxic, agents are being sought to complement existing treatments. Here, we discuss preclinical human tumor xenograft […]

Pathobiology of Aging & Age-related Diseases: Rapamycin improves motor function, reduces 4-hydroxynonenal adducted protein in brain, and attenuates synaptic injury in a mouse model of synucleinopathy

August 24, 2015

Xiang Bai, Margaret Chia-Ying Wey, Elizabeth Fernandez, Matthew J. Hart, Jonathan Gelfond, Alex F. Bokov, Sheela Rani & Randy Strong Abstract Background Synucleinopathy is any of a group of age-related neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy Bodies, which is characterized by α-synuclein inclusions and parkinsonian motor deficits affecting millions of patients […]

Molecular Cancer Research: ZBTB7A Suppresses Melanoma Metastasis by Transcriptionally Repressing MCAM

August 1, 2015

Xue-Song Liu, Matthew D. Genet, Jenna E. Haines, Elie K. Mehanna, Shaowei Wu, Hung-I Harry Chen, Yidong Chen, Abrar A. Qureshi, Jiali Han, Xiang Chen, David E. Fisher, Pier Paolo Pandolfi, and Zhi-Min Yuan Abstract The excessive metastatic propensity of melanoma makes it the most deadly form of skin cancer, yet the underlying mechanism of metastasis remains elusive. Here, mining of cancer genome datasets discovered a frequent loss of chromosome 19p13.3 and associated downregulation of the zinc finger transcription factor ZBTB7A […]

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship: Guest Post: Oncologist and Cancer Survivor Greg Aune Talks Multi-Disciplinary Care

July 31, 2015

The Importance of Multidisciplinary Survivorship Care and Research Post by Greg Aune, MD, PhD, Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Survivors of cancer are a growing population in the United States that is expected to surpass 18 million by 2020. As a 25-year survivor of Hodgkin’s disease, […]

Biology of Reproduction: Rhox8 Ablation in the Sertoli Cells Using a Tissue-Specific RNAi Approach Results in Impaired Male Fertility in Mice

July 1, 2015

Joshua P. Welborn, Matthew G. Davis, Steven D. Ebers, Genna R. Stodden, Kanako Hayashi, Joseph L. Cheatwood, Manjeet K. Rao, James A. MacLean, II Abstract The reproductive homeobox X-linked, Rhox, genes encode transcription factors that are selectively expressed in reproductive tissues. While there are 33 Rhox genes in mice, only Rhox and Rhox8 are expressed in Sertoli cells, suggesting that they may regulate the expression of somatic-cell gene products […]

BMC Genomics: Co-modulation analysis of gene regulation in breast cancer reveals complex interplay between ESR1 and ERBB2 genes

June 11, 2015

Yu-Chiao Chiu, Chin-Ting Wu, Tzu-Hung Hsiao, Yi-Pin Lai, Chuhsing Kate Hsiao, Yidong Chen & Eric Y Chuang Abstract Background Gene regulation is dynamic across cellular conditions and disease subtypes. From the aspect of regulation under modulation, regulation strength between a pair of genes can be modulated by (dependent on) expression abundance of another gene (modulator gene). […]

BMC Genomics: Differential expression analysis of RNA sequencing data by incorporating non-exonic mapped reads

June 11, 2015

Hung-I Harry Chen, Yuanhang Liu, Yi Zou, Zhao Lai, Devanand Sarkar, Yufei Huang & Yidong Chen Abstract Background RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a powerful tool for genome-wide expression profiling of biological samples with the advantage of high-throughput and high resolution. There are many existing algorithms nowadays for quantifying expression levels and detecting differential gene expression, but […]

Endocrine-Related Cancer: Integrity of the pheochromocytoma susceptibility TMEM127 gene in patients with pediatric malignancies

June 1, 2015

Authors: E E King 1 , Y Qin 1 , R A Toledo 1 , A Luo 1 , E Ball 1 , F R Faucz 1 , K A Janeway1 , C A Stratakis 1 , G E Tomlinson 1 , 1 , 1 , and P L M Dahia 1 , 1 , 1 Dear Editor, Germline mutations of the tumor suppressor gene TMEM127 occur in the neural-crest-derived tumors, pheochromocytomas, and paragangliomas (Qin et al. 2010, Yao et al. 2010, Neumann et al. 2011), and have also been detected in renal cell […]

RNA Biology: microRNA-449a functions as a tumor suppressor in neuroblastoma through inducing cell differentiation and cell cycle arrest

May 6, 2015

Zhenze ZhaoGreehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute; ,Xiuye Ma,Derek Sung,Monica Li,Adam Kosti,Gregory Lin,Yidong Chen,Alexander Pertsemlidis,Tzu-Hung Hsiao &Liqin Du Abstract microRNA-449a (miR-449a) has been identified to function as a tumor suppressor in several types of cancers. However, the role of miR-449a in neuroblastoma has not been intensively investigated. We recently found that the overexpression of miR-449a significantly induces […]