박웅양 교수

Single-cell transcriptome profiling of tumour tissue isolates allows the characterization of heterogeneous tumour cells along with neighbouring stromal and immune cells. Here we adopt this powerful approach to breast cancer and analyse 515 cells from 11 patients. Inferred copy number variations from the single-cell RNA-seq data separate carcinoma cells from non-cancer cells. At a single-cell resolution, carcinoma cells display common signatures within the tumour as well as intratumoral heterogen

BACKGROUND: Intra-tumoral genetic and functional heterogeneity correlates with cancer clinical prognoses. However, the mechanisms by which intra-tumoral heterogeneity impacts therapeutic outcome remain poorly understood. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of single tumor cells can provide comprehensive information about gene expression and single-nucleotide variations in individual tumor cells, which may allow for the translation of heterogeneous tumor cell functional responses into customized anti-cancer

Senescent human diploid fibroblasts do not respond to growth factors like epidermal growth factor (EGF), although they have a normal level of receptors and downstream signaling molecules. To examine the mechanism of signaling attenuation, we investigated Erk activation after EGF stimulation in senescent cells. Senescent cells did not phosphorylate Erk-1/2 after EGF stimulation, whereas young cells did. In those senescent cells, we found an increased level of caveolin proteins and strong interact

BACKGROUND: Intratumoral heterogeneity hampers the success of marker-based anticancer treatment because the targeted therapy may eliminate a specific subpopulation of tumor cells while leaving others unharmed. Accordingly, a rational strategy minimizing survival of the drug-resistant subpopulation is essential to achieve long-term therapeutic efficacy. RESULTS: Using single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we examine the intratumoral heterogeneity of a pair of primary renal cell carcinoma and its

Accurate detection of genomic alterations using high-throughput sequencing is an essential component of precision cancer medicine. We characterize the variant allele fractions (VAFs) of somatic single nucleotide variants and indels across 5095 clinical samples profiled using a custom panel, CancerSCAN. Our results demonstrate that a significant fraction of clinically actionable variants have low VAFs, often due to low tumor purity and treatment-induced mutations. The percentages of mutations und

BACKGROUND: Tumor cell-intrinsic mechanisms and complex interactions with the tumor microenvironment contribute to therapeutic failure via tumor evolution. It may be possible to overcome treatment resistance by developing a personalized approach against relapsing cancers based on a comprehensive analysis of cell type-specific transcriptomic changes over the clinical course of the disease using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). METHODS: Here, we used scRNA-seq to depict the tumor landscape

Identification of causative genes for hereditary nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL) is important to decide treatment modalities and to counsel the patients. Due to the genetic heterogeneity in sensorineural genetic disorders, the high-throughput method can be adapted for the efficient diagnosis. To this end, we designed a new diagnostic pipeline to screen all the reported candidate genes for NSHL. For validation of the diagnostic pipeline, we focused upon familial NSHL cases that are most likely t

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important parameter related to breast cancer survival. Among several microRNAs predicted to target EMT-related genes, miR-506 is a novel miRNA found to be significantly related to breast cancer patient survival in a meta-analysis. miR-506 suppressed the expression of mesenchymal genes such as Vimentin, Snai2, and CD151 in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. Moreover, NF-κB bound to the upstream promoter region of miR-506 to suppress transcripti

The activation of nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NFkB1) in cancer cells may confer resistance to ionizing radiation (IR). To enhance the therapeutic efficiency of IR in lung cancer, we screened for microRNAs (miRNAs) that suppress NFkB1 and observed their effects on radiosensitivity in a human lung cancer cell line. From time series data of miRNA expression in γ-irradiated H1299 human lung cancer cells, we found that the expression of miR-9 was inversely correlated with that of NFκB1. Overexpression o

Hu protein R (HuR) binds to the AU-rich element (ARE) in the 3UTR to stabilize TNF-alpha mRNA. Here, we identified chemical inhibitors of the interaction between HuR and the ARE of TNF-alpha mRNA using RNA electrophoretic mobility gel shift assay (EMSA) and filter binding assay. Of 179 chemicals screened, we identified three with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) below 10 microM. The IC(50) of quercetin, b-40, and b-41 were 1.4, 0.38, and 6.21 microM, respectively, for binding of

PURPOSE: In multiple myeloma, extramedullary progression is associated with treatment resistance and a high mortality rate. To understand the molecular mechanisms controlling the devastating progression of myeloma, we applied single-cell RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to myeloma in the bone marrow and myelomatous pleural effusions or ascites. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Bone marrow or extramedullary myeloma samples were collected from 15 patients and subjected to single-cell RNA-seq. The single-cell transcri

BACKGROUND: Targeted deep sequencing is increasingly used to detect low-allelic fraction variants; it is therefore essential that errors that constitute baseline noise and impose a practical limit on detection are characterized. In the present study, we systematically evaluate the extent to which errors are incurred during specific steps of the capture-based targeted sequencing process. RESULTS: We removed most sequencing artifacts by filtering out low-quality bases and then analyze the remainin