0000000000752272
AUTHOR
Robert Geffers
The CpG island methylator phenotype in breast cancer is associated with the lobular subtype
Background: Aberrations in DNA methylation patterns are well-described in human malignancies. However, the existence of the ‘CpG island methylator phenotype’ (CIMP) in human breast cancer is still controversial. Materials & methods: Illumina's HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip was used to analyze genome-wide DNA methylation patterns. Chromosomal abnormalities were determined by array-based CGH. Results: Invasive lobular breast carcinomas exhibit the highest number of differentially methylated CpG sites and a strong inverse correlation of aberrant DNA hypermethylation and copy number alterations. Nine differentially methylated regions within seven genes discriminating the investigated subg…
Lentivirus-induced dendritic cells for immunization against high-risk WT1(+) acute myeloid leukemia.
Wilms' tumor 1 antigen (WT1) is overexpressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a high-risk neoplasm warranting development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches. Unfortunately, clinical immunotherapeutic use of WT1 peptides against AML has been inconclusive. With the rationale of stimulating multiantigenic responses against WT1, we genetically programmed long-lasting dendritic cells capable of producing and processing endogenous WT1 epitopes. A tricistronic lentiviral vector co-expressing a truncated form of WT1 (lacking the DNA-binding domain), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interleukin-4 (IL-4) was used to transduce human monocytes ex vivo. Overnight transd…