PARTICLE - The RNA podium for genomic silencers.

Radiation exposure can evoke cellular stress responses. Emerging recognition that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) act as regulators of gene expression has broadened the spectra of molecules controlling the genomic landscape upon alterations in environmental conditions. Knowledge of the mechanisms responding to low dose irradiation (LDR) exposure is very limited yet most likely involve subtle ancillary molecular pathways other than those protecting the cell from direct cellular damage. The discovery that transcription of the lncRNA PARTICLE (promoter of MAT2A- antisense radiation-induced circulating lncRNA; PARTICL) becomes dramatically instigated within a day after LDR exposure introduced a new gene regulator onto the biological landscape. PARTICLE affords an RNA binding platform for genomic silencers such as DNA methyltransferase 1 and histone tri-methyltransferases to reign in the expression of tumor suppressors such as its neighboring MAT2A in cis as well as WWOX in trans. In silico evidence offers scope to speculate that PARTICLE exploits the abundance of Hoogsten bonds that exist throughout mammalian genomes for triplex formation, presumably a vital feature within this RNA silencer. PARTICLE may provide a buffering riboswitch platform for S-adenosylmethionine. The correlation of PARTICLE triplex formation sites within tumor suppressor genes and their abundance throughout the genome at cancer-related hotspots offers an insight into potential avenues worth exploring in future therapeutic endeavors.

Integrative multiomics study for validation of mechanisms in radiation-induced ischemic heart disease in Mayak workers.

Previous studies have suggested that exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD). The data from the Mayak nuclear worker cohort have indicated enhanced risk for IHD incidence. The goal of this study was to elucidate molecular mechanisms of radiation-induced IHD by integrating proteomics data with a transcriptomics study on post mortem cardiac left ventricle samples from Mayak workers categorized in four radiation dose groups (0 Gy, < 100 mGy, 100-500 mGy, > 500 mGy). The proteomics data that were newly analysed here, originated from a label-free analysis of cardiac samples. The transcriptomics analysis was performed on a subset of these samples. Stepwise linear regression analyses were used to correct the age-dependent changes in protein expression, enabling the separation of proteins, the expression of which was dependent only on the radiation dose, age or both of these factors. Importantly, the majority of the proteins showed only dose-dependent expression changes. Hierarchical clustering of the proteome and transcriptome profiles confirmed the separation of control and high-dose samples. Restrictive (separate p-values) and integrative (combined p-value) approaches were used to investigate the enrichment of biological pathways. The integrative method proved superior in the validation of the key biological pathways found in the proteomics analysis, namely PPAR signalling, TCA cycle and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. This study presents a novel, improved, and comprehensive statistical approach of analysing biological effects on a limited number of samples.

The long non-coding RNA PARTICLE is associated with WWOX and the absence of FRA16D breakage in osteosarcoma patients.

Breakage of the fragile site FRA16D disrupts the WWOX (WW Domain Containing Oxidoreductase) tumor suppressor gene in osteosarcoma. However, the frequency of breakage is not sufficient to explain the rate of WWOX loss in pathogenesis. The involvement of non-coding RNA transcripts is proposed due to their accumulation at fragile sites, where they are advocated to influence specific chromosomal regions associated with malignancy. The long ncRNA PARTICLE (promoter of MAT2A antisense radiation-induced circulating long non-coding RNA) is transiently elevated in response to irradiation and influences epigenetic silencing modification within WWOX. It now emerges that elevated PARTICLE levels are significantly associated with FRA16D non-breakage in OS patients. Although not associated with overall survival, high PARTICLE levels were found to be significantly linked to metastasis free outcome. The transcription of both PARTICLE and WWOX are transiently responsive to exposure to low doses of radiation in osteosarcoma cell lines. Herein, a relationship between WWOX and PARTICLE transcription is suggested in human osteosarcoma cell lines representing alternative genetic backgrounds. PARTICLE over-expression ameliorated WWOX promoter activity in U2OS harboring FRA16D non-breakage. It can be concluded that the lncRNA PARTICLE influences the WWOX tumor suppressor and in the absence of WWOX FRA16D breakage, it is associated with OS metastasis-free survival.

The circRNA interactome-innovative hallmarks of the intra- and extracellular radiation response.

Generated by Quaking (QKI), circular RNAs (circRNAs) are newly recognised non-coding RNA (ncRNA) members characterised by tissue specificity, increased stability and enrichment within exosomes. Studies have shown that ionizing radiation (IR) can influence ncRNA transcription. However, it is unknown whether circRNAs or indeed QKI are regulated by IR. Microarray circRNA profiling and next generation sequencing revealed that circRNA expression was altered by low and medium dose exposure sourced predominantly from genes influencing the p53 pathway. CircRNAs KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73 transcribed from the WWOX (WW Domain Containing Oxidoreductase) tumor suppressor (a p53 regulator) responded within hours to IR. KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73 were present in exosomes yet exhibited differential transcript clearance between irradiated cell lines. Dual-quasar labelled probes and in-situ hybridization demonstrated the intercellular distribution of KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73 predominantly within the perinucleus. QKI knockdown removed nuclear expression of these circRNAs with no significant effect on cytosolic KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73. Distinct QKI transcription between cell lines and its augmented interaction with KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73 was noted post IR. This foremost study provides evidence that QKI and circRNAs partake in the cellular irradiation response. KIRKOS-71 and KIRKOS-73 as stable secreted circRNAs may afford vital characteristics worth syphoning as promising diagnostic radiotherapy biomarkers.

PARTICLE triplexes cluster in the tumor suppressor WWOX and may extend throughout the human genome.

The long non-coding RNA PARTICLE (Gene PARTICL- 'Promoter of MAT2A-Antisense RadiaTion Induced Circulating LncRNA) partakes in triple helix (triplex) formation, is transiently elevated following low dose irradiation and regulates transcription of its neighbouring gene - Methionine adenosyltransferase 2A. It now emerges that PARTICLE triplex sites are predicted in many different genes across all human chromosomes. In silico analysis identified additional regions for PARTICLE triplexes at >1600 genomic locations. Multiple PARTICLE triplexes are clustered predominantly within the human and mouse tumor suppressor WW Domain Containing Oxidoreductase (WWOX) gene. Surface plasmon resonance diffraction and electrophoretic mobility shift assays were consistent with PARTICLE triplex formation within human WWOX with high resolution imaging demonstrating its enrichment at this locus on chromosome 16. PARTICLE knockdown and over-expression resulted in inverse changes in WWOX transcripts levels with siRNA interference eliminating PARTICLEs elevated transcription to irradiation. The evidence for a second functional site of PARTICLE triplex formation at WWOX suggests that PARTICLE may form triplex-mediated interactions at multiple positions in the human genome including remote loci. These findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the ability of lncRNAs to regulate the expression of numerous genes distributed across the genome.

Long non-coding RNA PARTICLE bridges histone and DNA methylation.

PARTICLE (Gene PARTICL- 'Promoter of MAT2A-Antisense RadiaTion Induced Circulating LncRNA) expression is transiently elevated following low dose irradiation typically encountered in the workplace and from natural sources. This long non-coding RNA recruits epigenetic silencers for cis-acting repression of its neighbouring Methionine adenosyltransferase 2A gene. It now emerges that PARTICLE operates as a trans-acting mediator of DNA and histone lysine methylation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and immunological evidence established elevated PARTICLE expression linked to increased histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation. Live-imaging of dbroccoli-PARTICLE revealing its dynamic association with DNA methyltransferase 1 was confirmed by flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation and direct competitive binding interaction through electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Acting as a regulatory docking platform, the long non-coding RNA PARTICLE serves to interlink epigenetic modification machineries and represents a compelling innovative component necessary for gene silencing on a global scale.

Genome-wide analysis of somatic copy number alterations and chromosomal breakages in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. It is characterized by highly complex karyotypes with structural and numerical chromosomal alterations. The observed OS-specific characteristics in localization and frequencies of chromosomal breakages strongly implicate a specific set of responsible driver genes or a specific mechanism of fragility induction. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) was performed in 160 OS samples using whole-genome CytoScan High Density arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Genes or regions frequently targeted by SCNAs were identified. Breakage analysis revealed OS specific unstable regions in which well-known OS tumor suppressor genes, including TP53, RB1, WWOX, DLG2 and LSAMP are located. Certain genomic features, such as transposable elements and non-B DNA-forming motifs were found to be significantly enriched in the vicinity of chromosomal breakage sites. A complex breakage pattern-chromothripsis-has been suggested as a widespread phenomenon in OS. It was further demonstrated that hyperploidy and in particular chromothripsis were strongly correlated with OS patient clinical outcome. The revealed OS-specific fragility pattern provides novel clues for understanding the biology of OS.

Exome sequencing of osteosarcoma reveals mutation signatures reminiscent of BRCA deficiency.

Osteosarcomas are aggressive bone tumours with a high degree of genetic heterogeneity, which has historically complicated driver gene discovery. Here we sequence exomes of 31 tumours and decipher their evolutionary landscape by inferring clonality of the individual mutation events. Exome findings are interpreted in the context of mutation and SNP array data from a replication set of 92 tumours. We identify 14 genes as the main drivers, of which some were formerly unknown in the context of osteosarcoma. None of the drivers is clearly responsible for the majority of tumours and even TP53 mutations are frequently mapped into subclones. However, >80% of osteosarcomas exhibit a specific combination of single-base substitutions, LOH, or large-scale genome instability signatures characteristic of BRCA1/2-deficient tumours. Our findings imply that multiple oncogenic pathways drive chromosomal instability during osteosarcoma evolution and result in the acquisition of BRCA-like traits, which could be therapeutically exploited.

New small molecules targeting apoptosis and cell viability in osteosarcoma.

Despite the option of multimodal therapy in the treatment strategies of osteosarcoma (OS), the most common primary malignant bone tumor, the standard therapy has not changed over the last decades and still involves multidrug chemotherapy and radical surgery. Although successfully applied in many patients a large number of patients eventually develop recurrent or metastatic disease in which current therapeutic regimens often lack efficacy. Thus, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. In this study, we performed a phenotypic high-throughput screening campaign using a 25,000 small-molecule diversity library to identify new small molecules selectively targeting osteosarcoma cells. We could identify two new small molecules that specifically reduced cell viability in OS cell lines U2OS and HOS, but affected neither hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) nor primary human osteoblasts (hOB). In addition, the two compounds induced caspase 3 and 7 activity in the U2OS cell line. Compared to conventional drugs generally used in OS treatment such as doxorubicin, we indeed observed a greater sensitivity of OS cell viability to the newly identified compounds compared to doxorubicin and staurosporine. The p53-negative OS cell line Saos-2 almost completely lacked sensitivity to compound treatment that could indicate a role of p53 in the drug response. Taken together, our data show potential implications for designing more efficient therapies in OS.

Genomic heterogeneity of osteosarcoma - shift from single candidates to functional modules.

Osteosarcoma (OS), a bone tumor, exhibit a complex karyotype. On the genomic level a highly variable degree of alterations in nearly all chromosomal regions and between individual tumors is observable. This hampers the identification of common drivers in OS biology. To identify the common molecular mechanisms involved in the maintenance of OS, we follow the hypothesis that all the copy number-associated differences between the patients are intercepted on the level of the functional modules. The implementation is based on a network approach utilizing copy number associated genes in OS, paired expression data and protein interaction data. The resulting functional modules of tightly connected genes were interpreted regarding their biological functions in OS and their potential prognostic significance. We identified an osteosarcoma network assembling well-known and lesser-known candidates. The derived network shows a significant connectivity and modularity suggesting that the genes affected by the heterogeneous genetic alterations share the same biological context. The network modules participate in several critical aspects of cancer biology like DNA damage response, cell growth, and cell motility which is in line with the hypothesis of specifically deregulated but functional modules in cancer. Further, we could deduce genes with possible prognostic significance in OS for further investigation (e.g. EZR, CDKN2A, MAP3K5). Several of those module genes were located on chromosome 6q. The given systems biological approach provides evidence that heterogeneity on the genomic and expression level is ordered by the biological system on the level of the functional modules. Different genomic aberrations are pointing to the same cellular network vicinity to form vital, but already neoplastically altered, functional modules maintaining OS. This observation, exemplarily now shown for OS, has been under discussion already for a longer time, but often in a hypothetical manner, and can here be exemplified for OS.

TP53 intron 1 hotspot rearrangements are specific to sporadic osteosarcoma and can cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

Somatic mutations of TP53 are among the most common in cancer and germline mutations of TP53 (usually missense) can cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). Recently, recurrent genomic rearrangements in intron 1 of TP53 have been described in osteosarcoma (OS), a highly malignant neoplasm of bone belonging to the spectrum of LFS tumors. Using whole-genome sequencing of OS, we found features of TP53 intron 1 rearrangements suggesting a unique mechanism correlated with transcription. Screening of 288 OS and 1,090 tumors of other types revealed evidence for TP53 rearrangements in 46 (16%) OS, while none were detected in other tumor types, indicating this rearrangement to be highly specific to OS. We revisited a four-generation LFS family where no TP53 mutation had been identified and found a 445 kb inversion spanning from the TP53 intron 1 towards the centromere. The inversion segregated with tumors in the LFS family. Cancers in this family had loss of heterozygosity, retaining the rearranged allele and resulting in TP53 expression loss. In conclusion, intron 1 rearrangements cause p53-driven malignancies by both germline and somatic mechanisms and provide an important mechanism of TP53 inactivation in LFS, which might in part explain the diagnostic gap of formerly classified "TP53 wild-type" LFS.

Upregulation of the miR-17-92 cluster and its two paraloga in osteosarcoma - reasons and consequences.

Osteosarcomas (OS) are aggressive bone tumors characterized by complex karyotypes with highly variable structural and numerical chromosomal aberrations. Although several genes and pathways commonly altered in malignant tumors have also been identified in OS, the molecular pathogenesis and driving genetic events eventually leading to tumor development are still poorly understood. The microRNA (miRNA) cluster 17-92 and its two paraloga 106a-363 and 106b-25 are known to have diverse oncogenic properties and have been shown to be constantly upregulated in several established OS cell lines. In this study we analyzed a series of 75 well characterized pretherapeutic OS samples for their expression of cluster-related miRNAs and correlated our findings with clinico-pathological parameters including prognosis, metastases and response to neoadjuvant therapy. Interestingly, higher expression levels of specific miRNAs were significantly associated with an adverse outcome of patients and were also higher in patients with systemic spread. We could furthermore show a direct correlation between the expression of cluster activators (MYC, E2F1-3), inhibitors (TP53), individual miRNAs, and pro-apoptotic targets (FAS, BIM). Our findings therefore underline a critical role of the miR-17-92 cluster and its two paraloga in OS biology with pathogenetic and prognostic impact.

Structuring osteosarcoma knowledge: an osteosarcoma-gene association database based on literature mining and manual annotation.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer exhibiting high genomic instability. This genomic instability affects multiple genes and microRNAs to a varying extent depending on patient and tumor subtype. Massive research is ongoing to identify genes including their gene products and microRNAs that correlate with disease progression and might be used as biomarkers for OS. However, the genomic complexity hampers the identification of reliable biomarkers. Up to now, clinico-pathological factors are the key determinants to guide prognosis and therapeutic treatments. Each day, new studies about OS are published and complicate the acquisition of information to support biomarker discovery and therapeutic improvements. Thus, it is necessary to provide a structured and annotated view on the current OS knowledge that is quick and easily accessible to researchers of the field. Therefore, we developed a publicly available database and Web interface that serves as resource for OS-associated genes and microRNAs. Genes and microRNAs were collected using an automated dictionary-based gene recognition procedure followed by manual review and annotation by experts of the field. In total, 911 genes and 81 microRNAs related to 1331 PubMed abstracts were collected (last update: 29 October 2013). Users can evaluate genes and microRNAs according to their potential prognostic and therapeutic impact, the experimental procedures, the sample types, the biological contexts and microRNA target gene interactions. Additionally, a pathway enrichment analysis of the collected genes highlights different aspects of OS progression. OS requires pathways commonly deregulated in cancer but also features OS-specific alterations like deregulated osteoclast differentiation. To our knowledge, this is the first effort of an OS database containing manual reviewed and annotated up-to-date OS knowledge. It might be a useful resource especially for the bone tumor research community, as specific information about genes or microRNAs is quick and easily accessible. Hence, this platform can support the ongoing OS research and biomarker discovery. Database URL: http://osteosarcoma-db.uni-muenster.de.

Osteosarcomas of the jaws differ from their peripheral counterparts and require a distinct treatment approach. Experiences from the DOESAK Registry.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to emphasize crucial differences between osteosarcomas of the jaws (OSj) and those of the peripheral skeleton (OSp) and to question current therapeutic concepts in presenting a comprehensive study on 214 patients. BACKGROUND: OSj account for only 6% of all osteosarcomas (OS) but seem to represent a clinically and prognostically distinct subgroup. Due to the limited experience with this rare disease it is still a matter of debate if (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy can improve the outcome of patients like in OSp or if OSj patients can be cured by surgical treatment only. METHODS: 214 well characterized OSj patients with long-term follow up are presented and the influence of clinico-pathological parameters affecting the prognosis of patients is discussed. RESULTS: The OSj patients in our series showed metastatic spread far less frequently (17.6% of cases) and later in the course of the disease (26months after diagnosis on average) compared to OSp. Consequently, complete resection of the tumors resulted in an excellent long-term survival (83.2% after 10years). Neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment applied in a smaller subset of patients, furthermore, failed to show any additional favorable effect. CONCLUSION: Whereas OSp is regarded as systemic disease at the time of diagnosis in which >90% of patients develop lung metastases without multimodality treatment, the vast majority of OSj patients seem to be curable by complete resection only. Based on the findings presented here, multimodality treatment should be critically scrutinized in OSj patients.

How microRNA and transcription factor co-regulatory networks affect osteosarcoma cell proliferation.

Osteosarcomas (OS) are complex bone tumors with various genomic alterations. These alterations affect the expression and function of several genes due to drastic changes in the underlying gene regulatory network. However, we know little about critical gene regulators and their functional consequences on the pathogenesis of OS. Therefore, we aimed to determine microRNA and transcription factor (TF) co-regulatory networks in OS cell proliferation. Cell proliferation is an essential part in the pathogenesis of OS and deeper understanding of its regulation might help to identify potential therapeutic targets. Based on expression data of OS cell lines divided according to their proliferative activity, we obtained 12 proliferation-related microRNAs and corresponding target genes. Therewith, microRNA and TF co-regulatory networks were generated and analyzed regarding their structure and functional influence. We identified key co-regulators comprising the microRNAs miR-9-5p, miR-138, and miR-214 and the TFs SP1 and MYC in the derived networks. These regulators are implicated in NFKB- and RB1-signaling and focal adhesion processes based on their common or interacting target genes (e.g., CDK6, CTNNB1, E2F4, HES1, ITGA6, NFKB1, NOTCH1, and SIN3A). Thus, we proposed a model of OS cell proliferation which is primarily co-regulated through the interactions of the mentioned microRNA and TF combinations. This study illustrates the benefit of systems biological approaches in the analysis of complex diseases. We integrated experimental data with publicly available information to unravel the coordinated (post)-transcriptional control of microRNAs and TFs to identify potential therapeutic targets in OS. The resulting microRNA and TF co-regulatory networks are publicly available for further exploration to generate or evaluate own hypotheses of the pathogenesis of OS (http://www.complex-systems.uni-muenster.de/co_networks.html).

MicroRNA profiling with correlation to gene expression revealed the oncogenic miR-17-92 cluster to be up-regulated in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcomas are genetically complex tumors with abundant structural and numerical alterations. The molecular pathogenesis of the disease is, however, still poorly understood. Aside from various oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, deregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to influence tumor development and biology. We therefore investigated six well-established osteosarcoma cell lines (HOS58, U2-OS, Saos-2, MNNG/HOS, SJSA-1, and MG-63) for genome-wide miRNA expression (miRBase Version 15.0, http://www.mirbase.org/) and correlated our findings with gene expression. Cultured osteoblasts (hFOB 1.19) and mesenchymal stem cells (L87/4) were used as normal references. Focusing only on miRNAs that were deregulated in the majority of osteosarcoma cell lines, we identified several miRNAs with oncogenic and tumor suppressor properties, including various members of the oncogenic miR-17-92 cluster. In addition, several genes involved in differentiation (RGMB, LRRC17), cell cycle control (CCNE1), and apoptosis (LIMA1, CAMK2N1) were found to be deregulated in osteosarcoma cell lines, most likely due to altered miRNA expression patterns. Our findings indicate a crucial impact of deregulated miRNAs with consecutive changes in gene expression in osteosarcomas, which strongly suggests pathogenetic and potentially therapeutic implications.

Secondary radiation-induced bone tumours demonstrate a high degree of genomic instability predictive of a poor prognosis.

Secondary bone tumours arising in the field of a preceding radiotherapy are a serious late effect, in particular considering the increasing survival times in patients treated for paediatric malignancies. In general, therapy associated tumours are known to show a more aggressive behaviour and a limited response to chemotherapy compared with their primary counterparts. It is not clear however whether this less favourable outcome is caused by inherent genetic factors of the tumour cells or by a general systemic condition of the patient. To elucidate this we analysed a series of bone sarcomas with a history of prior irradiation for the presence of genomic alterations and compared them with the alterations identified earlier in primary osteosarcomas. We analysed seven radiation induced bone sarcomas for genome-wide losses of heterozygosity (LOH) using Affymetrix 10K2 high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. Additionally, copy number changes were analysed at two distinct loci on 10q that were recently found to be of major prognostic significance in primary osteosarcomas. All the investigated tumours showed a LOH at 10q21.1 with 86% of cases (6/7) revealing a total genome-wide LOH score above 2400 and more than 24% of the genome being affected. Our results indicate similar genetic alterations in radiation induced sarcomas of bone and primary osteosarcomas with a poor prognosis. We speculate that the high degree of genomic instability found in these tumours causes the poor prognosis irrespective of the initiating event.

Strong expression of CXCL12 is associated with a favorable outcome in osteosarcoma.

Hematogenous spread determines the outcome of osteosarcoma (OS) patients, but the pathogenesis of developing metastatic disease is still unclear. Chemokines are critical regulators of cell trafficking and adhesion, and have been reported to be aberrantly expressed and to correlate with an unfavorable prognosis and metastatic spread in several malignant tumors. The chemokine receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 together with their common ligand CXCL12 form one of the most important chemokine axes in this context. To investigate a potential role of these chemokines in OSs, we analyzed their expression in a series of 223 well-characterized and pretherapeutic OS samples. Interestingly, we found the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 to correlate with a better long-term outcome and with a lower prevalence of metastases. These findings suggest a distinct role of CXCR4/CXCR7/CXCL12 signaling in the tumors of bone, as has also been previously described in acute leukemia. As many malignant tumors metastasize to bone, and tumor cells are thought to be directed to bone in response to CXCL12, OS cells expressing both CXCL12 and the corresponding receptors might be detained at their site of origin. The disruption of CXCR4/CXCR7/CXCL12 signaling could therefore be crucial in OSs for the migration of tumor cells from bone into circulation and for developing systemic disease.

CRIP1 expression is correlated with a favorable outcome and less metastases in osteosarcoma patients.

Predicting the clinical course of osteosarcoma patients is a crucial prerequisite for a better treatment stratification in these highly aggressive neoplasms of bone. In search of new and reliable biomarkers we recently identified cysteine-rich intestinal protein 1 (CRIP1) to have significant prognostic impact in gastric cancer and therefore decided to investigate its role also in osteosarcoma. For this purpose we analyzed 223 pretherapeutic and well characterized osteosarcoma samples for their immunohistochemical expression of CRIP1 and correlated our findings with clinico-pathological parameters including follow­up, systemic spread and response to chemotherapy. Interestingly and contrarily to gastric cancer, we found CRIP1 expression more frequently in patients with long­term survival (10-year survival 73% in positive vs. 54% in negative cases, p = 0.0433) and without metastases (p = 0.0108) indicating a favorable prognostic effect. CRIP1 therefore seems to represent a promising new biomarker in osteosarcoma patients which should be considered for a prospective validation.

The nature of the characteristic cementum-like matrix deposits in the walls of simple bone cysts.

AIMS: Simple bone cysts (SBC) are benign tumour-like lesions, generally occurring in the metaphyses of long bones before skeletal maturity. Remarkably, in 10-70% of cases, a peculiar, amorphous and hypocellular matrix is found in the walls of SBCs which is usually regarded to consist of (calcified) fibrin clots in the literature. Because these deposits are strongly fuchsinophilic in routine van Gieson stains, the aim of this study was to investigate a series of SBCs using immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. METHODS AND RESULTS: A comprehensive panel of antibodies against fibrin as well as collageneous and non-collageneous proteins of bone was used, and detected substantial amounts of collagen and decorin as the main components of the investigated matrix. Electron microscopy clearly underlined the immunohistochemical results and also showed abundant fibrils with a periodic banding characteristic of collagen. Adjacent to and in between these collagen deposits runx-2- and osterix-expressing cells were detectable, most probably representing immature osteoprogenitor cells. CONCLUSIONS: Although still stated in the literature and most current textbooks, we were not able to detect any evidence of fibrin as a component of the respective matrix deposits that seem to consist predominantly of collagen and decorin.