The nuclear lamins are type V intermediate filament proteins that are critically important for the structural properties of the nucleus. In addition, they are involved in the regulation of numerous nuclear processes, including DNA replication, transcription and chromatin organization. The developmentally regulated expression of lamins suggests that they are involved in cellular differentiation. Their assembly dynamic properties throughout the cell cycle, particularly in mitosis, are influenced by posttranslational modifications. Lamins may regulate nuclear functions by direct interactions with chromatin and determining the spatial organization of chromosomes within the nuclear space. They may also regulate chromatin functions by interacting with factors that epigenetically modify the chromatin or directly regulate replication or transcription.

Numerous mutations in the humancomprising the major structural components of the nuclear lamina, the fibrous meshwork underlying the inner nuclear membrane (1). They are major determinants of nuclear size and shape and are involved in essential functions such as DNA replication and transcription (1). Lamins A (LA) and C (LC) are alternatively spliced products of the LMNA gene, whereas lamins LB1 and LB2 are encoded by LMNB1 and LMNB2. Structurally, the lamins have a conserved central ␣-helical rod domain flanked by globular head and tail domains. The central rod is responsible for the formation of in-parallel and in-register coiled-coil dimers, the building blocks of lamin polymers. In vitro, lamin dimers form head-to-tail chains, which further interact laterally in an anti-parallel orientation to form highly ordered paracrystals (PCs) (2). However, little is known about the assembly of lamins into higher order structures in vivo.There are Ͼ250 mutations in human LMNA causing a wide range of diseases [for detail, see http//www.umd.be/LMNA/ and (3)]. Among these is the rare premature aging disease, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). HGPS children typically appear normal at birth, but show growth retardation before the age of 2 years. Further manifestations include loss of hair, lipodystrophy, sclerodermatous skin, osteolysis, and progressive atherosclerosis leading to death at an average age of 13 years due to myocardial infarcts and strokes (4). Most HGPS patients carry the 1824CϾT mutation (G608G), which activates a cryptic splice site resulting in the expression of LA with 50 amino acids deleted near its C terminus (LA⌬50/progerin) (5). As a result, LA⌬50/ progerin remains permanently farnesylated (6, 7), and its accumulation in patients' cells is correlated with the loss of heterochromatin and changes in histone methylation (1).In addition to 1824CϾT, there are 21 other LMNA mutations causing progeria (http://www.umd.be/LMNA/). Some of these are located in the central rod domain, where they could directly impact the assembly of lamins into dimers and higher order structures. Here, we have studied the alterations in nuclear architecture and chromatin organization in one of these mutations, 433GϾA (E145K), located in segment 1B of the central rod domain of LA/C (5). A patient bearing this mutation showed earlier onset cardiovascular defects, only partial loss of hair and ample s.c. fat (5). We show that fibroblasts derived from an E145K patient have severely misshapen nuclei and multiple defects in chromatin organization as reflected by centromere clustering and an abnormal distribution of telomeres throughout the cell cycle. These abnormalities are established during cell division as nuclei assemble in daughter cells. The results demonstrate that the nuclear changes in E145K progeria cells are significantly different from those seen in cells expressing LA⌬50/ progerin, and they also emphasize the essential role of lamins in establishing and maintaining nuclear architecture.

Mutations of the tumor suppressor TP53 are present in many forms of human cancer and are associated with increased tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Several mechanisms have been identified for promoting dissemination of cancer cells with TP53 mutations, including increased targeting of integrins to the plasma membrane. Here, we demonstrate a role for the filopodia-inducing motor protein Myosin-X (Myo10) in mutant p53-driven cancer invasion. Analysis of gene expression profiles from 2 breast cancer data sets revealed that MYO10 was highly expressed in aggressive cancer subtypes. Myo10 was required for breast cancer cell invasion and dissemination in multiple cancer cell lines and murine models of cancer metastasis. Evaluation of a Myo10 mutant without the integrin-binding domain revealed that the ability of Myo10 to transport β 1 integrins to the filopodia tip is required for invasion. Introduction of mutant p53 promoted Myo10 expression in cancer cells and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in mice, whereas suppression of endogenous mutant p53 attenuated Myo10 levels and cell invasion. In clinical breast carcinomas, Myo10 was predominantly expressed at the invasive edges and correlated with the presence of TP53 mutations and poor prognosis. These data indicate that Myo10 upregulation in mutant p53-driven cancers is necessary for invasion and that plasma-membrane protrusions, such as filopodia, may serve as specialized metastatic engines.

Purpose To evaluate in a multi-institutional study whether radiomic features useful for prostate cancer (PCa) detection from 3 Tesla (T) multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) in the transition zone (TZ) differ from those in the peripheral zone (PZ). Materials and Methods 3T mpMRI, including T2-weighted (T2w), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), were retrospectively obtained from 80 patients at three institutions. This study was approved by the institutional review board of each participating institution. First-order statistical, co-occurrence, and wavelet features were extracted from T2w MRI and ADC maps, and contrast kinetic features were extracted from DCE-MRI. Feature selection was performed to identify ten features for PCa detection in the TZ and PZ, respectively. Two logistic regression classifiers used these features to detect PCa and were evaluated by area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). Classifier performance was compared with a zone-ignorant classifier. Results Radiomic features that were identified as useful for PCa detection differed between TZ and PZ. When classification was performed on a per-voxel basis, a PZ-specific classifier detected PZ tumors on an independent test set with significantly higher accuracy (AUC = 0.61-0.71) than a zone-ignorant classifier trained to detect cancer throughout the entire prostate (p<0.05). When classifiers were evaluated on MRI data from multiple institutions, statistically similar AUC values (p > 0.14) were obtained for all institutions. Conclusions A zone-aware classifier significantly improves the accuracy of cancer detection in the PZ.