Wang Ling, Yao Zhi Q, Moorman Jonathan P, Xu Yanji, Ning Shunbin
Center for Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, United States of America.
Center for Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, United States of America; HIV/HCV Program, James H. Quillen VA Medical Center, Johnson City, Tennessee, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 10;9(9):e106788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106788. eCollection 2014.
The lymphocyte-specific transcription factor Interferon (IFN) Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) is implicated in certain types of lymphoid and myeloid malignancies. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its interactions with these malignancies are largely unknown. In this study, we have first profiled molecular signatures associated with IRF4 expression in associated cancers, by analyzing existing gene expression profiling datasets. Our results show that IRF4 is overexpressed in melanoma, in addition to previously reported contexts including leukemia, myeloma, and lymphoma, and that IRF4 is associated with a unique gene expression pattern in each context. A pool of important genes involved in B-cell development, oncogenesis, cell cycle regulation, and cell death including BATF, LIMD1, CFLAR, PIM2, and CCND2 are common signatures associated with IRF4 in non-Hodgkin B cell lymphomas. We confirmed the correlation of IRF4 with LIMD1 and CFLAR in a panel of cell lines derived from lymphomas. Moreover, we profiled the IRF4 transcriptome in the context of EBV latent infection, and confirmed several genes including IFI27, IFI44, GBP1, and ARHGAP18, as well as CFLAR as novel targets for IRF4. These results provide valuable information for understanding the IRF4 regulatory network, and improve our knowledge of the unique roles of IRF4 in different hematological malignancies.
淋巴细胞特异性转录因子干扰素(IFN)调节因子4(IRF4)与某些类型的淋巴和髓系恶性肿瘤有关。然而,其与这些恶性肿瘤相互作用的分子机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。在本研究中,我们首先通过分析现有的基因表达谱数据集,描绘了与相关癌症中IRF4表达相关的分子特征。我们的结果表明,IRF4在黑色素瘤中过表达,此外还包括先前报道的白血病、骨髓瘤和淋巴瘤等情况,并且IRF4在每种情况下都与独特的基因表达模式相关。在非霍奇金B细胞淋巴瘤中,一组参与B细胞发育、肿瘤发生、细胞周期调控和细胞死亡的重要基因,包括BATF、LIMD1、CFLAR、PIM2和CCND2,是与IRF4相关的常见特征。我们在一组源自淋巴瘤的细胞系中证实了IRF4与LIMD1和CFLAR的相关性。此外,我们在EBV潜伏感染的背景下描绘了IRF4转录组,并证实了包括IFI27、IFI44、GBP1和ARHGAP18以及CFLAR在内的几个基因是IRF4的新靶点。这些结果为理解IRF4调控网络提供了有价值的信息,并增进了我们对IRF4在不同血液系统恶性肿瘤中独特作用的认识。