PDF file - 12MB, Movie of SCp2 cells infected with vector (left movie) or Znf217 (right movie) following a scratch with a pipette tip. This movie ran for 20.25 hours

PDF file - 117K, Microarray target genes from MCF7 siRNA. Target genes identified by microarray expression analysis from MCF7 cells Znf217 siRNA

PDF file - 37K, Drug list identified in silico. List of drugs identified in silico to inhibit breast cancer cell lines that overexpress ZNF217. Correlation of ZNF217 expression in the cell line panel with the drug panel of ~50,000 drugs generated by the NCI Developmental Therapeutics Program (dtp.nci.nih.gov) identified several drugs that selectively inhibited growth of cells, assessed by GI50, expressing high levels of ZNF217 with a low drug concentration

PDF file - 233K, This file contains supplemental materials and methods, including cell lines, antibodies and staining procedures used in this study

PDF file - 29K, Overlapping adult stem cell signature genes. List of overlapping genes between our dataset (this study) and our adult stem cell signature, which is downregulated in many epithelial cancers relative to normal tissue. Primary MECs overexpressing Znf217 significantly repressed genes of the adult stem cell signature (P=1.89x10-10)

PDF file - 50K, Human microarray summary. Summary of correlations between ZNF217 and selected genes from ChIP-chip and gene expression microarray datasets. ZNF217 expression levels correlated with expression of K19 and K8/18, genes that have ZNF217 enriched at their promoters, in human breast cancer cell lines, tumors, and after knockdown in MCF7 cells

PDF file - 46K, Gene ontology for microarray gene sets. List of gene ontology (GO) terms from the microarray gene expression datasets of primary MECs Znf217 using DAVID software

PURPOSEHow herpes simplex virus (HSV) is transported from the infected neuron cell body to the axon terminal is poorly understood. Several viral proteins are candidates for regulating the process, but the evidence is controversial. We compared the results of Us9 deletions in two HSV strains (F and NS) using a novel quantitative assay to test the hypothesis that the viral protein Us9 regulates the delivery of viral DNA to the distal axon of retinal ganglion cells in vivo. We also deleted a nine-amino acid motif in the Us9 protein of F strain (Us9-30) to define the role of this domain in DNA delivery.METHODSThe vitreous chambers of murine eyes were infected with equivalent amounts of F or NS strains of HSV. At 3, 4, or 5 days post infection (dpi), both optic tracts (OT) were dissected and viral genome was quantified by qPCR.RESULTSAt 3 dpi, the F strain Us9- and Us9-30 mutants delivered less than 10% and 1%, respectively, of the viral DNA delivered after infection with the Us9R (control) strain. By 4 and 5 dpi, delivery of viral DNA had only partially recovered. Deletion of Us9 in NS-infected mice has a less obvious effect on delivery of new viral DNA to the distal OT. By 3 dpi the NS Us9-strain delivered 22% of the DNA that was delivered by the NS wt, and by 4 and 5 dpi the amount of Us9-viral DNA was 96% and 81%, respectively.CONCLUSIONSA highly conserved acidic cluster within the Us9 protein plays a critical role for genome transport to the distal axon. The transport is less dependent on Us9 expression in the NS than in the F strain virus. This assay can be used to compare transport efficiency in other neurotropic viral strains.

Abstract The transcription factor ZNF217 is a candidate oncogene in the amplicon on chromosome 20q13 that occurs in 20% to 30% of primary human breast cancers and that correlates with poor prognosis. We show that Znf217 overexpression drives aberrant differentiation and signaling events, promotes increased self-renewal capacity, mesenchymal marker expression, motility, and metastasis, and represses an adult tissue stem cell gene signature downregulated in cancers. By in silico screening, we identified candidate therapeutics that at low concentrations inhibit growth of cancer cells expressing high ZNF217. We show that the nucleoside analogue triciribine inhibits ZNF217-induced tumor growth and chemotherapy resistance and inhibits signaling events [e.g., phospho-AKT, phospho-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)] in vivo. Our data suggest that ZNF217 is a biomarker of poor prognosis and a therapeutic target in patients with breast cancer and that triciribine may be part of a personalized treatment strategy in patients overexpressing ZNF217. Because ZNF217 is amplified in numerous cancers, these results have implications for other cancers. Significance: This study finds that ZNF217 is a poor prognostic indicator and therapeutic target in patients with breast cancer and may be a strong biomarker of triciribine treatment efficacy in patients. Because previous clinical trials for triciribine did not include biomarkers of treatment efficacy, this study provides a rationale for revisiting triciribine in the clinical setting as a therapy for patients with breast cancer who overexpress ZNF217. Cancer Discov; 2(7); 638–51. ©2012 AACR. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 569.

BACKGROUND:The genomes of many epithelial tumors exhibit extensive chromosomal rearrangements. All classes of genome rearrangements can be identified using end sequencing profiling, which relies on paired-end sequencing of cloned tumor genomes. RESULTS:In the present study brain, breast, ovary, and prostate tumors, along with three breast cancer cell lines, were surveyed using end sequencing profiling, yielding the largest available collection of sequence-ready tumor genome breakpoints and providing evidence that some rearrangements may be recurrent. Sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed translocations and complex tumor genome structures that include co-amplification and packaging of disparate genomic loci with associated molecular heterogeneity. Comparison of the tumor genomes suggests recurrent rearrangements. Some are likely to be novel structural polymorphisms, whereas others may be bona fide somatic rearrangements. A recurrent fusion transcript in breast tumors and a constitutional fusion transcript resulting from a segmental duplication were identified. Analysis of end sequences for single nucleotide polymorphisms revealed candidate somatic mutations and an elevated rate of novel single nucleotide polymorphisms in an ovarian tumor. CONCLUSION:These results suggest that the genomes of many epithelial tumors may be far more dynamic and complex than was previously appreciated and that genomic fusions, including fusion transcripts and proteins, may be common, possibly yielding tumor-specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

The transcription factor ZNF217 is often amplified in ovarian cancer, but its role in neoplastic progression is unknown. We introduced ZNF217‐HA by adenoviral and retroviral infection into normal human ovarian surface epithelial cells (OSE), i.e., the source of ovarian cancer, and into SV40 Tag/tag expressing, p53/pRB‐deficient OSE with extended but finite life spans (IOSE). In OSE, ZNF217‐HA reduced cell–substratum adhesion and accelerated loss of senescent cells, but caused no obvious proneoplastic changes. In contrast, ZNF217‐HA transduction into IOSE yielded two permanent lines, I‐80RZ and I‐144RZ, which exhibited telomerase activity, stable telomere lengths, anchorage independence and reduced serum dependence, but were not tumorigenic in SCID mice. This immortalization required short‐term EGF treatment near the time of crisis. The permanent lines were EGF‐independent, but ZNF217‐dependent since siRNA to ZNF217 inhibited anchorage independence and arrested growth. Array CGH revealed genomic changes resembling those of ovarian carcinomas, such as amplicons at 3q and 20q, and deletions at 4q and 18, associated with underexpressed annexin A10, N‐cadherin, desmocollin 3 and PAI‐2, which have been reported as tumor suppressors. The lines overexpressed EEF1A2, SMARA3 and STAT1 and underexpressed other oncogenes, tumor suppressors and extracellular matrix/adhesion genes. The results implicate ZNF217 as an ovarian oncogene, which is detrimental to senescing normal OSE cells but contributes to neoplastic progression in OSE with inactivated p53/RB. The resemblance of the genomic changes in the ZNF217‐overexpressing lines to ovarian carcinomas provides a unique model to investigate interrelationships between these changes and ovarian neoplastic phenotypes. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Access the most recent version at doi: 2006 16: 394-404; originally published online Feb 3, 2006; Genome Res. Collins A. Shagin, Irina A. Shagina, Joe W. Gray, Jan-Fang Cheng, Pieter J. de Jong, Pavel Pevzner and Colin John H. Brebner, Krystyna Bajsarowicz, Pamela L. Paris, Quanzhou Tao, David Kowbel, Anna Lapuk, Dmitri Stanislav Volik, Benjamin J. Raphael, Guiqing Huang, Michael R. Stratton, Graham Bignel, John Murnane, transcriptome Decoding the fine-scale structure of a breast cancer genome and

A comprehensive understanding of cancer is predicated upon knowledge of the structure of malignant genomes underlying its many variant forms and the molecular mechanisms giving rise to them. It is well established that solid tumor genomes accumulate a large number of genome rearrangements during tumorigenesis. End Sequence Profiling (ESP) maps and clones genome breakpoints associated with all types of genome rearrangements elucidating the structural organization of tumor genomes. Here we extend the ESP methodology in several directions using the breast cancer cell line MCF-7. First, targeted ESP is applied to multiple amplified loci, revealing a complex process of rearrangement and coamplification in these regions reminiscent of breakage/fusion/bridge cycles. Second, genome breakpoints identified by ESP are confirmed using a combination of DNA sequencing and PCR. Third, in vitro functional studies assign biological function to a rearranged tumor BAC clone, demonstrating that it encodes antiapoptotic activity. Finally, ESP is extended to the transcriptome identifying four novel fusion transcripts and providing evidence that expression of fusion genes may be common in tumors. These results demonstrate the distinct advantages of ESP including: (1) the ability to detect all types of rearrangements and copy number changes; (2) straightforward integration of ESP data with the annotated genome sequence; (3) immortalization of the genome; (4) ability to generate tumor-specific reagents for in vitro and in vivo functional studies. Given these properties, ESP could play an important role in a tumor genome project.

Chromosome 20q13.2 is amplified in 20-30% of early-stage breast tumors and is associated with poor prognosis. Detailed mapping of the amplified region using molecular cytogenetics, positional cloning and genomic sequencing culminated in a detailed molecular description of the candidate oncogene ZNF217. ZNF217 proteins resemble Kruppel-like transcription factors, localize predominately to the nucleus and associate with proteins involved in transcriptional repression. The findings that ZNF217 can immortalize human mammary epithelial cells and that its amplification is associated with poor prognosis suggest that it may play roles in both early- and late-stage breast cancer. We present evidence that ZNF217 can attenuate apoptotic signals resulting from telomere dysfunction as well as from doxorubicin-induced DNA damage and that silencing ZNF217 with siRNA restores sensitivity to doxorubicin. Moreover, elevated ZNF217 leads to increased phosphorylation of Akt, whereas inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase pathway and Akt phosphorylation decreases ZNF217 protein levels and increases sensitivity to doxorubicin. These results suggest that ZNF217 may promote neoplastic transformation by increasing cell survival during telomeric crisis and may promote later stages of malignancy by increasing cell survival during chemotherapy.

Genome rearrangements are important in evolution, cancer, and other diseases. Precise mapping of the rearrangements is essential for identification of the involved genes, and many techniques have been developed for this purpose. We show here that end-sequence profiling (ESP) is particularly well suited to this purpose. ESP is accomplished by constructing a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from a test genome, measuring BAC end sequences, and mapping end-sequence pairs onto the normal genome sequence. Plots of BAC end-sequences density identify copy number abnormalities at high resolution. BACs spanning structural aberrations have end pairs that map abnormally far apart on the normal genome sequence. These pairs can then be sequenced to determine the involved genes and breakpoint sequences. ESP analysis of the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 demonstrated its utility for analysis of complex genomes. End sequencing of ≈8,000 clones (0.37-fold haploid genome clonal coverage) produced a comprehensive genome copy number map of the MCF-7 genome at better than 300-kb resolution and identified 381 genome breakpoints, a subset of which was verified by fluorescence in situ hybridization mapping and sequencing.

Crystals of the formula K2[VO(O2)NTA] with NTA = nitrilotriacetate have been prepared and characterized by IR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The structure of the anion of the complex shows that the vanadium atom has a distorted pentagonal bipyramidal environment surrounded by one oxo group, one peroxo group, three oxygen atoms and one nitrogen atom from the NTA ligand.