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Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common tumor-predisposing genetic disorders. Neurofibromas are NF1-associated benign tumors. A hallmark feature of neurofibromas is an abundant collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM) that constitutes more than 50% of the tumor dry weight. However, little is known about the mechanism underlying ECM deposition during neurofibroma development and treatment response. We performed a systematic investigation of ECM enrichment during plexiform neurofibroma (pNF) development and identified basement membrane (BM) proteins, rather than major collagen isoforms, as the most upregulated ECM component. Following MEK inhibitor treatment, the ECM profile displayed an overall downregulation signature, suggesting ECM reduction as a therapeutic benefit of MEK inhibition. Through these proteomic studies, TGF-β1 signaling was identified as playing a role in ECM dynamics. Indeed, TGF-β1 overexpression promoted pNF progression in vivo. Furthermore, by integrating single-cell RNA sequencing, we found that immune cells including macrophages and T cells produce TGF-β1 to induce Schwann cells to produce and deposit BM proteins for ECM remodeling. Following Nf1 loss, neoplastic Schwann cells further increased BM protein deposition in response to TGF-β1. Our data delineate the regulation governing ECM dynamics in pNF and suggest that BM proteins could serve as biomarkers for disease diagnosis and treatment response.

Dry eye disease affects over 16 million adults in the US, and the majority of cases are due to Meibomian gland dysfunction. Unfortunately, the identity of the stem cells involved in Meibomian gland development and homeostasis is not well elucidated. Here, we report that loss of Krox20, a zinc finger transcription factor involved in the development of ectoderm-derived tissues, or deletion of KROX20-expressing epithelial cells disrupted Meibomian gland formation and homeostasis, leading to dry eye disease secondary to Meibomian gland dysfunction. Ablation of Krox20-lineage cells in adult mice also resulted in dry eye disease, implicating Krox20 in homeostasis of the mature Meibomian gland. Lineage-tracing and expression analyses revealed a restricted KROX20 expression pattern in the ductal areas of the Meibomian gland, although Krox20-lineage cells generate the full, mature Meibomian gland. This suggests that KROX20 marks a stem/progenitor cell population that differentiates to generate the entire Meibomian gland. Our Krox20 mouse models provide a powerful system that delineated the identity of stem cells required for Meibomian gland development and homeostasis and can be used to investigate the factors underlying these processes. They are also robust models of Meibomian gland dysfunction–related dry eye disease, with a potential for use in preclinical therapeutic screening.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common neurocutaneous genetic disorders, presenting with different cutaneous features such as café-au-lait macules, intertriginous skin freckling, and neurofibromas. Although most of the disease manifestations are benign, patients are at risk for a variety of malignancies, including malignant transformation of plexiform neurofibromas. Numerous studies have investigated the mechanisms by which these characteristic neurofibromas develop, with progress made toward unraveling the various players involved in their complex pathogenesis. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the cells that give rise to NF1 neoplasms as well as the molecular mechanisms and cellular changes that confer tumorigenic potential. We also discuss the role of the tumor microenvironment and the key aspects of its various cell types that contribute to NF1-associated tumorigenesis. An increased understanding of these intrinsic and extrinsic components is critical for developing novel therapeutic approaches for affected patients.

Abstract Background Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) correlates with a worse prognosis, but whether it also predicts responsiveness to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy remains unclear. Most studies of PD-L1 are limited by evaluation in primary rather than metastatic sites, and in biopsy samples, which may not be representative. These limitations may be overcome with immuno–positron emission tomography (iPET), an emerging tool allowing the detection of cell surface proteins with radiolabeled antibodies. Here, we report iPET studies of PD-L1 in a preclinical tumorgraft model of clear cell RCC (ccRCC) from a patient who had a favorable response to anti-PD-1 therapy. Case presentation A 49-year-old man underwent a cytoreductive nephrectomy in 2017 of a right kidney tumor invading into the adrenal gland that was metastatic to the lungs and a rib. Histological analyses revealed a ccRCC of ISUP grade 4 with extensive sarcomatoid features. IMDC risk group was poor. Within two hours of surgery, a tumor sample was implanted orthotopically into NOD/SCID mice. Consistent with an aggressive tumor, a renal mass was detected 18 days post-implantation. Histologically, the tumorgraft showed sarcomatoid differentiation and high levels of PD-L1, similar to the patient’s tumor. PD-L1 was evaluated in subsequently transplanted mice using iPET and the results were compared to control mice implanted with a PD-L1-negative tumor. We labeled atezolizumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody with a mutant Fc, with zirconium-89. iPET revealed significantly higher 89Zr-atezolizumab uptake in index than control tumorgrafts. The patient was treated with high-dose IL2 initially, and subsequently with pazopanib, with rapidly progressive disease, but had a durable response with nivolumab. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report of non-invasive detection of PD-L1 in renal cancer using molecular imaging. This study supports clinical evaluation of iPET to identify RCC patients with tumors deploying the PD-L1 checkpoint pathway who may be most likely to benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 disrupting drugs.

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a particularly challenging tumor type because of its extensive phenotypic variability as well as intra-tumoral heterogeneity (ITH). Clinically, this complexity has been reduced to a handful of pathological variables such as stage, grade and necrosis, but these variables fail to capture the breadth of the disease. How different phenotypes affect patient prognosis and influence therapeutic response is poorly understood. Extensive ITH illustrates remarkable plasticity, providing a framework to study tumor evolution. While multiregional genomic analyses have shown evolution from an ancient clone that acquires metastatic competency over time, these studies have been conducted agnostic to morphological cues and phenotypic plasticity. Methods: We established a systematic ontology of ccRCC phenotypic variability by developing a multi-scale framework along three fundamental axes: tumor architecture, cytology and the microenvironment. We defined 33 parameters, which we comprehensively evaluated in 549 consecutive ccRCCs retrospectively. We systematically evaluated the impact of each parameter on patient outcomes, and assessed their contribution through multivariate analyses. We measured therapeutic impact in the context of anti-angiogenic therapies. We applied dimensionality reduction by t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) algorithms to tumor architectures for the study of tumor evolution superimposing tumor size and grade vectors. Evolutionary models were refined through empirical analyses of directed evolution of tumor intravascular extensions, and metastatic competency (as determined by tumor reconstitution in a heterologous host). Findings: We discovered several novel ccRCC phenotypes, developed an integrated taxonomy, and identified features that improve current prognostic models. We identified a subset of ccRCCs refractory to anti-angiogenic therapies. We developed a model of tumor evolution, which revealed converging evolutionary trajectories into an aggressive type. Interpretation: This work serves as a paradigm for deconvoluting tumor complexity and illustrates how morphological analyses can improve our understanding of ccRCC pleiotropy. We identified several subtypes associated with aggressive biology, and differential response to targeted therapies. By analyzing patterns of spatial and temporal co-occurrence, intravascular tumor extensions and metastatic competency, we were able to identify distinct trajectories of convergent phenotypic evolution. Keywords: ccRCC, Morphologic heterogeneity, Prognosis, Tumor evolution, Angiogenesis inhibitors, TKIs, Immune checkpoint inhibitors