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Blackburn NB, Leandro AC, Nahvi N, Devlin MA, Leandro M, Martinez Escobedo I, Peralta JM, George J, Stacy BA, deMaar TW, Blangero J, Keniry M, Curran JE. Transcriptomic Profiling of Fibropapillomatosis in Green Sea Turtles ( Chelonia mydas) From South Texas. Front Immunol 2021; 12:630988. [PMID: 33717164 PMCID: PMC7943941 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.630988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sea turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor promoting disease that is one of several threats globally to endangered sea turtle populations. The prevalence of FP is highest in green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations, and historically has shown considerable temporal growth. FP tumors can significantly affect the ability of turtles to forage for food and avoid predation and can grow to debilitating sizes. In the current study, based in South Texas, we have applied transcriptome sequencing to FP tumors and healthy control tissue to study the gene expression profiles of FP. By identifying differentially expressed turtle genes in FP, and matching these genes to their closest human ortholog we draw on the wealth of human based knowledge, specifically human cancer, to identify new insights into the biology of sea turtle FP. We show that several genes aberrantly expressed in FP tumors have known tumor promoting biology in humans, including CTHRC1 and NLRC5, and provide support that disruption of the Wnt signaling pathway is a feature of FP. Further, we profiled the expression of current targets of immune checkpoint inhibitors from human oncology in FP tumors and identified potential candidates for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B. Blackburn
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
| | - Ana Cristina Leandro
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
| | - Nina Nahvi
- Sea Turtle Inc., South Padre Island, TX, United States
| | | | - Marcelo Leandro
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
| | | | - Juan M. Peralta
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
| | - Jeff George
- Sea Turtle Inc., South Padre Island, TX, United States
| | - Brian A. Stacy
- National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | | | - John Blangero
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
| | - Megan Keniry
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, United States
| | - Joanne E. Curran
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States
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Yetsko K, Farrell JA, Blackburn NB, Whitmore L, Stammnitz MR, Whilde J, Eastman CB, Ramia DR, Thomas R, Krstic A, Linser P, Creer S, Carvalho G, Devlin MA, Nahvi N, Leandro AC, deMaar TW, Burkhalter B, Murchison EP, Schnitzler C, Duffy DJ. Molecular characterization of a marine turtle tumor epizootic, profiling external, internal and postsurgical regrowth tumors. Commun Biol 2021; 4:152. [PMID: 33526843 PMCID: PMC7851172 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-01656-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Sea turtle populations are under threat from an epizootic tumor disease (animal epidemic) known as fibropapillomatosis. Fibropapillomatosis continues to spread geographically, with prevalence of the disease also growing at many longer-affected sites globally. However, we do not yet understand the precise environmental, mutational and viral events driving fibropapillomatosis tumor formation and progression.Here we perform transcriptomic and immunohistochemical profiling of five fibropapillomatosis tumor types: external new, established and postsurgical regrowth tumors, and internal lung and kidney tumors. We reveal that internal tumors are molecularly distinct from the more common external tumors. However, they have a small number of conserved potentially therapeutically targetable molecular vulnerabilities in common, such as the MAPK, Wnt, TGFβ and TNF oncogenic signaling pathways. These conserved oncogenic drivers recapitulate remarkably well the core pan-cancer drivers responsible for human cancers. Fibropapillomatosis has been considered benign, but metastatic-related transcriptional signatures are strongly activated in kidney and established external tumors. Tumors in turtles with poor outcomes (died/euthanized) have genes associated with apoptosis and immune function suppressed, with these genes providing putative predictive biomarkers.Together, these results offer an improved understanding of fibropapillomatosis tumorigenesis and provide insights into the origins, inter-tumor relationships, and therapeutic treatment for this wildlife epizootic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey Yetsko
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Jessica A Farrell
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Nicholas B Blackburn
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Liam Whitmore
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Maximilian R Stammnitz
- Transmissible Cancer Group, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK
| | - Jenny Whilde
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Catherine B Eastman
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Devon Rollinson Ramia
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Rachel Thomas
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Aleksandar Krstic
- Systems Biology Ireland & Precision Oncology Ireland, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, 4, Ireland
| | - Paul Linser
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Simon Creer
- Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK
| | - Gary Carvalho
- Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK
| | | | - Nina Nahvi
- Sea Turtle Inc., South Padre Island, TX, USA
| | - Ana Cristina Leandro
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute, School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
| | | | - Brooke Burkhalter
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Elizabeth P Murchison
- Transmissible Cancer Group, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK
| | - Christine Schnitzler
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - David J Duffy
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA.
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
- Systems Biology Ireland & Precision Oncology Ireland, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, 4, Ireland.
- Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK.
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Abstract
We previously demonstrated that TSH activates phospholipase D (PLD) in Fischer rat thyroid line (FRTL)-5 cells. To date, two types of mammalian phosphatidylcholine-specific PLD cDNAs, designated as PLD-1 and PLD-2, have been cloned. The present study determined the PLD isoform composition in FRTL-5 thyroid cells and which isoform is regulated by TSH. PLD-1 is activated by small molecular weight G-proteins, such as ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) and RhoA family members, while PLD-2 is relatively independent of such stimuli. We established the presence of PLD-1 and PLD-2 by Western blot analysis and compared PLD activity in cytosol, membranes and combined fractions in the presence and absence of GTPgammaS. The membrane fraction showed very little activity in the absence of GTPgammaS, but this activity increased approximately 5-fold (P<0.05, ANOVA) in the presence of GTPgammaS. Maximal PLD activity was seen with the combination of membrane plus cytosolic fractions (which contained ARF and RhoA) where the addition of GTPgammaS increased PLD activity approximately 8-fold (P<0.05, ANOVA). To determine the relative activities of PLD-1 and PLD-2 in FRTL-5 thyroid cells, cell-free PLD assays were performed in the presence of GTPgammaS or GDPbetaS with varying concentrations of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). PLD-2 contributed only approximately 19% of the total amount of PLD activity in the membranes and PLD-1 was the predominant PLD isoform. TSH stimulated PLD-1 activity by up to 2. 3-fold over control values (P<0.01, ANOVA). To establish the dependence of PLD-1 on small molecular weight G-proteins, the translocations of ARF and RhoA to the membrane fractions was determined after stimulation by TSH. Both ARF and RhoA were maximally translocated to the membrane fraction after 10 min incubation with 100 microU/ml TSH by approximately 1.7- and 2.3-fold over control values, respectively (P<0.02 and P<0.03, ANOVA). It is concluded that TSH stimulates PLD-1 activity in FRTL-5 thyroid cells and this is accompanied by the translocation of ARF and RhoA to the membrane fraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Devlin
- Department of Medicine, Signal Transduction Laboratories, University of Alberta, Alta, T6G2S2, Edmonton, Canada
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