Researchers Sequence Complete Genome Of Brain Cancer Cell Line

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Genetics
Article Date: 02 Feb 2010 - 0:00 PDT

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Cancer researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have performed the complete sequencing of the much-studied brain cancer cell line, U87, a discovery that may lead to targeted treatments for glioblastoma based on the unique biological signature of an individual's disease, the development of more effective and less toxic drug therapies for this aggressive tumor, and the tools to monitor for disease recurrence. The study findings are published January 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

Using powerful new technologies, the sequencing was done in less than a month and at a fraction of the cost of sequencing efforts to date, opening the door to applying similar sequencing analysis to reveal complete genomes of other cancer cell lines in a highly accurate and cost-effective way.

"Cancer is at its heart a genetic disease," said co-author Dr. Stan Nelson. "Cancer cells have acquired mutations that allow them to invade tissues and to not live by normal rules. The changes from normal that have given the cancer these special properties are in the DNA, and the entire DNA sequence has just been too complex and costly to decode until now."

Armed with this new "map" of the U87 genome, scientists who have long studied this cancer cell line may now reinterpret their previous findings and better direct future studies on this and other malignancies for which whole genome sequencing has not been completed. This knowledge may also prompt clinicians to develop tests and tools to determine when treatment has been successful, thus preventing overtreatment with harmful drugs that can later cause debilitating health problems.

Financial Disclosure: The work was supported by grants from the NINDS (U24NS), the Dani Saleh Brain Tumor Fund, and the Henry Singleton Brain Tumor Fund. Sequencing was performed within the UCLA site of the NIH Neuroscience Microarray Consortium. BDO acknowledges support from the USHHS Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32 CA009056). MJC acknowledges support from the USHHS Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32 GM007104-33). NH acknowledges the University of California Systemwide Biotechnology Research and Education Program GREAT Training Grant 2007-10. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:
"U87MG Decoded: The Genomic Sequence of a Cytogenetically Aberrant Human Cancer Cell Line."
Clark MJ, Homer N, O'Connor BD, Chen Z, Eskin A, et al. (2010)
PLoS Genet 6(1): e1000832. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000832

Source
PLoS Genetics

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