We observed that while both embryonal and alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (ERMS and ARMS, respectively) show LOI of the DMR at the IGF2-H19 locus, imprinting of the DMR at the DLK1-GTL2 locus varies in association with the histological subtype of RMS.
Further, these analyses identify two syntenic clusters of muscle-associated genes on the short arm of human chromosome 11, one in the region of rhabdomyosarcoma locus that includes IGF2 and TH and the second the tightly linked MYOD1 and LDHA loci, which have been evolutionarily conserved in homologous regions of both the mouse and the rat genomes.
Rhabdomyosarcomas are malignancies associated with a rhabdomyoblastic phenotype which can be demonstrated morphologically or by immunohistochemistry for MYOD1 and myogenin.
Further, these analyses identify two syntenic clusters of muscle-associated genes on the short arm of human chromosome 11, one in the region of rhabdomyosarcoma locus that includes IGF2 and TH and the second the tightly linked MYOD1 and LDHA loci, which have been evolutionarily conserved in homologous regions of both the mouse and the rat genomes.
Cases were wild type for MYOD1 and no other mutations or rearrangements characteristic of a known subtype of rhabdomyoma or rhabdomyosarcoma were identified.
Because this region frequently is altered in neoplasms and in the genetic disease Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, we carried out a mutational analysis in tumor cell lines and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome samples that resulted in the identification of genetic alterations in the BWR1A gene: an insertion that introduced a stop codon in the breast cancer cell line BT549 and a point mutation in the rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE125-T.
Expression of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene [Kras(G12V)] and disruption of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A; p16p19) in prospectively isolated satellite cells gave rise to pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcomas (MyoD-, Myogenin- and Desmin-positive), whereas introduction of the same oncogenetic hits in nonmyogenic progenitors induced pleomorphic sarcomas lacking myogenic features.
Expression of the p16INK4A (p16), p15INK4B (p15), and p14ARF genes, located at 9p21, was examined in pediatric neuroblastoma (NB), Ewing's sarcoma (ES), and rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). p16 expression was absent in 4 of 5 ESs, and 2 of these 4 cases died. p16 expression was reduced or absent in 10 of 12 RMSs, and 4 of these 10 cases died.
To confirm the significance of p16 gene deletion in tumour biology of RMS, a temperature-sensitive p16 mutant (E119G) gene was retrovirally transfected into the human RMS cell line RD, which has homozygous gene deletion of p16 gene.
We looked for homozygous deletions of CDKN2A, CDKN2B (p15INK4B), and CDKN2C (p18) in 12 primary rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) specimens and in five cell lines established from this cancer type.
In the RMS samples, we also detected mutations of NRAS in 1 cell line and 1 patient; both mutations were in embryonal RMSs and had no PTPN11 mutations.
We identified a large deletion in the NF1 gene in a patient with a rhabdomyosarcoma as well as a variation in intron 22 in a patient with an optic glioma.
Two of these inhibitors, PD98059 and TPCK, had anti-tumor activity as single agents in both zebrafish embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and a human cell line of rhabdomyosarcoma that harbored activated mutations in NRAS.
Standard cytogenetic analyses and RT-PCR testing for the classic gene rearrangements seen in RMS [t(2;13)-PAX3/FKHR] and EWS ([t(11;22) & t(21;22)-EWS/FLI-1 & EWS/ERG), were used for characterization of the MEM, with gene expression microarray analyses on all tumor types.
The authors applied reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis (RT-PCR) to analyze tumor samples from 14 children with rhabdomyosarcoma for the presence of the chimeric PAX3-FKHR transcript resulting from the translocation t(2;13)(q35,q14).
Expression of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene [Kras(G12V)] and disruption of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A; p16p19) in prospectively isolated satellite cells gave rise to pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcomas (MyoD-, Myogenin- and Desmin-positive), whereas introduction of the same oncogenetic hits in nonmyogenic progenitors induced pleomorphic sarcomas lacking myogenic features.
Our results have demonstrated the strong association of genotoxic-stress inducible splice forms MDM2-ALT1 (91.6% Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group stage 4 tumors) and MDM4-ALT2 (90.9% MDM4-ALT2-positive T2 stage tumors) with high-risk metastatic RMS.
Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMSs) are the most frequent soft tissue sarcoma in children and adolescents, defined by skeletal muscle differentiation and the status of FOXO1 fusions.
We evaluated amplification and overrepresentation of CDK4, MDM2, GLI and SAS genes of the 12q13-15 region, in a group of soft tissue sarcomas including leiomyosarcomas (LMS), alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (ARMS) and embryonal (anaplastic and classic variants) rhabdomyosarcomas (ERMS), to ascertain genomic alterations and possible differences within histologic subtypes of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).