Author Identifier
Carlos Aya-Bonilla
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6122-783X
Elin Gray
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8613-3570
James Freeman
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8065-8416
Pauline Zaenker
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0807-1968
David Reid
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9736-1029
Mel Ziman
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Cancers
PubMed ID
29807461
Publisher
MDPI AG
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
28779
Grant Number
NHMRC Number : 1013349
Abstract
Cutaneous melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are phenotypically and molecularly heterogeneous. We profiled the gene expression of CTC subpopulations immunomagnetic-captured by targeting either the melanoma-associated marker, MCSP, or the melanoma-initiating marker, ABCB5. Firstly, the expression of a subset of melanoma genes was investigated by RT-PCR in MCSP-enriched and ABCB5-enriched CTCs isolated from a total of 59 blood draws from 39 melanoma cases. Of these, 6 MCSP-and 6 ABCB5-enriched CTC fractions were further analysed using a genome-wide gene expression microarray. The transcriptional programs of both CTC subtypes included cell survival maintenance, cell proliferation, and migration pathways. ABCB5-enriched CTCs were specifically characterised by up-regulation of genes involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), suggesting an invasive phenotype. These findings underscore the presence of at least two distinct melanoma CTC subpopulations with distinct transcriptional programs, which may have distinct roles in disease progression and response to therapy. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
DOI
10.3390/cancers11020157
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Aya-Bonilla, C., Gray, E. S., Manikandan, J., Freeman, J. B., Zaenker, P., Reid, A. L., . . . Ziman, M. (2019). Immunomagnetic-enriched subpopulations of melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs) exhibit distinct transcriptome profiles. Cancers, 11(2). Available here.