Combined transcriptome and genome analysis of single micrometastatic cells.
In human cancer, early systemic spread of tumor cells is recognized as a leading cause of death. Adjuvant therapies are administered to patients after complete resectioning of their primary tumors to eradicate the few residual and latent metastatic cells. These therapeutic regimens, however, are currently designed without direct information about the presence or nature of the latent cells. To address this problem, we developed a PCR-based technique to analyze the transcriptome of individual tumor cells isolated from the bone marrow of cancer patients. From the same cells, genomic aberrations were identified by comparative genomic hybridization. The utility of this approach for understanding the biology of occult disseminated cells and for the identification of new therapeutic targets is demonstrated here by the detection of frequent extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN; CD147) expression which was verified by immunostaining.
Klein
Christoph A
CA
Institut für Immunologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D-80336 Munich, Germany. christoph.klein@ifi.med.uni-muenchen.de
Seidl
Stefan
S
Petat-Dutter
Karina
K
Offner
Sonja
S
Geigl
Jochen B
JB
Schmidt-Kittler
Oleg
O
Wendler
Nicole
N
Passlick
Bernward
B
Huber
Rudolf M
RM
Schlimok
Günter
G
Baeuerle
Patrick A
PA
Riethmüller
Gert
G
D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D015894:Genome, Human; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm