Person:
Freeman, Michael R.

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Freeman

First Name

Michael R.

Name

Freeman, Michael R.
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.5b80f71f-85cd-438a-9c2e-dfb51b78db04

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 13
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Urinary Metabolite Profiling Combined with Computational Analysis Predicts Interstitial Cystitis-Associated Candidate Biomarkers
    (American Chemical Society, 2014) Wen, He; Lee, Tack; You, Sungyong; Park, Soo-Hwan; Song, Hosook; Eilber, Karyn S.; Anger, Jennifer T.; Freeman, Michael R.; Park, Sunghyouk; Kim, Jayoung
    Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC) is a chronic syndrome of unknown etiology that presents with bladder pain, urinary frequency, and urgency. The lack of specific biomarkers and a poor understanding of underlying molecular mechanisms present challenges for disease diagnosis and therapy. The goals of this study were to identify noninvasive biomarker candidates for IC from urine specimens and to potentially gain new insight into disease mechanisms using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based global metabolomics analysis of urine from female IC patients and controls. Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that the urinary metabolome of IC and controls was clearly different, with 140 NMR peaks significantly altered in IC patients (FDR < 0.05) compared to that in controls. On the basis of strong correlation scores, fifteen metabolite peaks were nominated as the strongest signature of IC. Among those signals that were higher in the IC group, three peaks were annotated as tyramine, the pain-related neuromodulator. Two peaks were annotated as 2-oxoglutarate. Levels of tyramine and 2-oxoglutarate were significantly elevated in urine specimens of IC subjects. An independent analysis using mass spectrometry also showed significantly increased levels of tyramine and 2-oxoglutarate in IC patients compared to controls. Functional studies showed that 2-oxoglutarate, but not tyramine, retarded growth of normal bladder epithelial cells. These preliminary findings suggest that analysis of urine metabolites has promise in biomarker development in the context of IC.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Trading in your spindles for blebs: the amoeboid tumor cell phenotype in prostate cancer
    (Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd, 2014) Morley, Samantha; Hager, Martin H; Pollan, Sara G; Knudsen, Beatrice; Di Vizio, Dolores; Freeman, Michael R.
    Prostate cancer (PCa) remains a principal cause of mortality in developed countries. Because no clinical interventions overcome resistance to androgen ablation therapy, management of castration resistance and metastatic disease remains largely untreatable. Metastasis is a multistep process in which tumor cells lose cell-cell contacts, egress from the primary tumor, intravasate, survive shear stress within the vasculature and extravasate into tissues to colonize ectopic sites. Tumor cells reestablish migratory behaviors employed during nonneoplastic processes such as embryonic development, leukocyte trafficking and wound healing. While mesenchymal motility is an established paradigm of dissemination, an alternate, ‘amoeboid’ phenotype is increasingly appreciated as relevant to human cancer. Here we discuss characteristics and pathways underlying the phenotype, and highlight our findings that the cytoskeletal regulator DIAPH3 governs the mesenchymal-amoeboid transition. We also describe our identification of a new class of tumor-derived microvesicles, large oncosomes, produced by amoeboid cells and with potential clinical utility in prostate and other cancers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Assess the expression of ubiquitin specific protease USP2a for bladder cancer diagnosis
    (BioMed Central, 2015) Jeong, Pildu; Ha, Yun-Sok; Yun, Seok-Joong; Yoon, Hyung Yoon; Freeman, Michael R.; Kim, Jayoung; Kim, Wun-Jae
    Background: Given that a deubiquitinating enzyme, ubiquitin-specific protease 2a (USP2a), regulates ubiquitination, trafficking, and degradation of EGFR, which plays a critical role in bladder cancer, in this study, we aimed to quantify the USP2a gene expression, and to determine the possibility that USP2a can be used for bladder cancer diagnosis. Methods: Using two independent cohorts (cohort 1, n = 339 in total; cohort 2, n = 140 in total) consisting of human bladder tissues from BC patients and normal controls, we analyzed the gene expression levels of USP2a. A quantitative real-time PCR amplification was performed using a Rotor Gene 6000 instrument to quantify the expression of USP2a mRNA. Results: A comparison of 305 bladder cancers and 34 age-matched controls showed an 81.4 % reduction in USP2a expression in bladder cancers as compared to normal bladder tissues (p < 0.001). In the independent cohort consisting of 140 BC tissues and matched adjacent normal bladder tissues, the levels of USP2a in the specimens of BC patients were reduced by 86.9 % as compared to matched surrounding normal specimens from the same patients (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was 36.3 % reduction of USP2a gene expression in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC, n = 121), compared to non muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC, n = 184) (p = 0.004). Lastly, USP2a mRNA expression was significantly reduced in higher stages of MIBC patients (p = 0.024), but not in NMIBC patients. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that USP2a mRNA may be considered as a diagnostic marker candidate for bladder cancer, in particular, to stratify MIBC patients with a more invasive phenotype.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Regulation of microtubule dynamics by DIAPH3 influences amoeboid tumor cell mechanics and sensitivity to taxanes
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2015) Morley, Samantha; You, Sungyong; Pollan, Sara; Choi, Jiyoung; Zhou, Bo; Hager, Martin H.; Steadman, Kenneth; Spinelli, Cristiana; Rajendran, Kavitha; Gertych, Arkadiusz; Kim, Jayoung; Adam, Rosalyn; Yang, Wei; Krishnan, Ramaswamy; Knudsen, Beatrice S.; Di Vizio, Dolores; Freeman, Michael R.
    Taxanes are widely employed chemotherapies for patients with metastatic prostate and breast cancer. Here, we show that loss of Diaphanous-related formin-3 (DIAPH3), frequently associated with metastatic breast and prostate cancers, correlates with increased sensitivity to taxanes. DIAPH3 interacted with microtubules (MT), and its loss altered several parameters of MT dynamics as well as decreased polarized force generation, contractility, and response to substrate stiffness. Silencing of DIAPH3 increased the cytotoxic response to taxanes in prostate and breast cancer cell lines. Analysis of drug activity for tubulin-targeted agents in the NCI-60 cell line panel revealed a uniform positive correlation between reduced DIAPH3 expression and drug sensitivity. Low DIAPH3 expression correlated with improved relapse-free survival in breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapeutic regimens containing taxanes. Our results suggest that inhibition of MT stability arising from DIAPH3 downregulation enhances susceptibility to MT poisons, and that the DIAPH3 network potentially reports taxane sensitivity in human tumors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Integration of proteomic and transcriptomic profiles identifies a novel PDGF-MYC network in human smooth muscle cells
    (BioMed Central, 2014) Yang, Wei; Ramachandran, Aruna; You, Sungyong; Jeong, HyoBin; Morley, Samantha; Mulone, Michelle D; Logvinenko, Tanya; Kim, Jayoung; Hwang, Daehee; Freeman, Michael R.; Adam, Rosalyn
    Background: Platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) has been implicated in the proliferation, migration and synthetic activities of smooth muscle cells that characterize physiologic and pathologic tissue remodeling in hollow organs. However, neither the molecular basis of PDGFR-regulated signaling webs, nor the extent to which specific components within these networks could be exploited for therapeutic benefit has been fully elucidated. Results: Expression profiling and quantitative proteomics analysis of PDGF-treated primary human bladder smooth muscle cells identified 1,695 genes and 241 proteins as differentially expressed versus non-treated cells. Analysis of gene expression data revealed MYC, JUN, EGR1, MYB, RUNX1, as the transcription factors most significantly networked with up-regulated genes. Forty targets were significantly altered at both the mRNA and protein levels. Proliferation, migration and angiogenesis were the biological processes most significantly associated with this signature, and MYC was the most highly networked master regulator. Alterations in master regulators and gene targets were validated in PDGF-stimulated smooth muscle cells in vitro and in a model of bladder injury in vivo. Pharmacologic inhibition of MYC and JUN confirmed their role in SMC proliferation and migration. Network analysis identified the diaphanous-related formin 3 as a novel PDGF target regulated by MYC and JUN, which was necessary for PDGF-stimulated lamellipodium formation. Conclusions: These findings provide the first systems-level analysis of the PDGF-regulated transcriptome and proteome in normal smooth muscle cells. The analyses revealed an extensive cohort of PDGF-dependent biological processes and connected key transcriptional effectors to their regulation, significantly expanding current knowledge of PDGF-stimulated signaling cascades. These observations also implicate MYC as a novel target for pharmacological intervention in fibroproliferative expansion of smooth muscle, and potentially in cancers in which PDGFR-dependent signaling or MYC activation promote tumor progression.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Drug delivery systems in urology—getting “smarter”
    (Elsevier BV, 2006) Farokhzad, Omid; Dimitrakov, Jordan D.; Karp, Jeffrey; Khademhosseini, Ali; Freeman, Michael R.; Langer, Robert
    Urology holds the most enviable position in the medical firmament. Unique among specialties in bringing the surgeon in contact with humans throughout the spectrum of human life—from newborn to geriatric patients—urologists need to be adept at both medical and surgical therapies alike. In this context, drug delivery in urology has had a long, and sometimes far from illustrious, history. Traditionally, many genitourinary conditions have been treated with medications administered orally, which requires larger doses, with the concomitant side effects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Large oncosomes contain distinct protein cargo and represent a separate functional class of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles
    (Impact Journals LLC, 2015) Minciacchi, Valentina R.; You, Sungyong; Spinelli, Cristiana; Morley, Samantha; Zandian, Mandana; Aspuria, Paul-Joseph; Cavallini, Lorenzo; Ciardiello, Chiara; Sobreiro, Mariana Reis; Morello, Matteo; Kharmate, Geetanjali; Jang, Su Chul; Kim, Dae-Kyum; Hosseini-Beheshti, Elham; Guns, Emma Tomlinson; Gleave, Martin; Gho, Yong Song; Mathivanan, Suresh; Yang, Wei; Freeman, Michael R.; Di Vizio, Dolores
    Large oncosomes (LO) are atypically large (1-10μm diameter) cancer-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), originating from the shedding of membrane blebs and associated with advanced disease. We report that 25% of the proteins, identified by a quantitative proteomics analysis, are differentially represented in large and nano-sized EVs from prostate cancer cells. Proteins enriched in large EVs included enzymes involved in glucose, glutamine and amino acid metabolism, all metabolic processes relevant to cancer. Glutamine metabolism was altered in cancer cells exposed to large EVs, an effect that was not observed upon treatment with exosomes. Large EVs exhibited discrete buoyant densities in iodixanol (OptiPrepTM) gradients. Fluorescent microscopy of large EVs revealed an appearance consistent with LO morphology, indicating that these structures can be categorized as LO. Among the proteins enriched in LO, cytokeratin 18 (CK18) was one of the most abundant (within the top 5th percentile) and was used to develop an assay to detect LO in the circulation and tissues of mice and patients with prostate cancer. These observations indicate that LO represent a discrete EV type that may play a distinct role in tumor progression and that may be a source of cancer-specific markers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A Synthetic Form of Frizzled 8-Associated Antiproliferative Factor Enhances p53 Stability through USP2a and MDM2
    (Public Library of Science, 2012) Kim, Jayoung; Keay, Susan K.; You, Sungyong; Loda, Massimo; Freeman, Michael R.
    Frizzled 8-associated Antiproliferative Factor (APF) is a sialoglycopeptide urinary biomarker of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), a chronic condition of unknown etiology with variable symptoms that generally include pelvic and/or perineal pain, urinary frequency, and urgency. We previously reported that native human APF suppresses the proliferation of normal bladder epithelial cells through a mechanism that involves increased levels of p53. The goal of this study was to delineate the regulatory mechanism whereby p53 expression is regulated by APF. Two APF-responsive cell lines (T24 bladder carcinoma cells and the immortalized human bladder epithelial cell line, TRT-HU1) were treated with asialo-APF (as-APF), a chemically synthesized form of APF. Biochemical analysis revealed that as-APF increased p53 levels in two ways: by decreasing ubiquitin specific protease 2a (USP2a) expression leading to enhanced ubiquitination of murine double minute 2 E3 ubiquitin ligase (MDM2), and by suppressing association of p53 with MDM2, thus impairing p53 ubiquitination. Biological responses to as-APF were suppressed by increased expression of wild type, but not mutant USP2a, which enhanced cell growth via upregulation of a cell cycle mediator, cyclin D1, at both transcription and protein levels. Consistent with this, gene silencing of USP2a with siRNA arrested cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that APF upregulates cellular p53 levels via functional attenuation of the USP2a-MDM2 pathway, resulting in p53 accumulation and growth arrest. These data also imply that targeting USP2a, MDM2, p53 and/or complex formation by these molecules may be relevant in the development of novel therapeutic approaches to IC/PBS.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    DIAPH3 Governs the Cellular Transition to the Amoeboid Tumour Phenotype
    (WILEY-VCH Verlag, 2012) Hager, Martin H; Morley, Samantha; Bielenberg, Diane; Gao, Sizhen; Morello, Matteo; Holcomb, Ilona N; Liu, Wennuan; Mouneimne, Ghassan; Demichelis, Francesca; Kim, Jayoung; Solomon, Keith R.; Adam, Rosalyn; Isaacs, William B; Higgs, Henry N; Vessella, Robert L; Di Vizio, Dolores; Freeman, Michael R.
    Therapies for most malignancies are generally ineffective once metastasis occurs. While tumour cells migrate through tissues using diverse strategies, the signalling networks controlling such behaviours in human tumours are poorly understood. Here we define a role for the Diaphanous-related formin-3 (DIAPH3) as a non-canonical regulator of metastasis that restrains conversion to amoeboid cell behaviour in multiple cancer types. The DIAPH3 locus is close to RB1, within a narrow consensus region of deletion on chromosome 13q in prostate, breast and hepatocellular carcinomas. DIAPH3 silencing in human carcinoma cells destabilized microtubules and induced defective endocytic trafficking, endosomal accumulation of EGFR, and hyperactivation of EGFR/MEK/ERK signalling. Silencing also evoked amoeboid properties, increased invasion and promoted metastasis in mice. In human tumours, DIAPH3 down-regulation was associated with aggressive or metastatic disease. DIAPH3-silenced cells were sensitive to MEK inhibition, but showed reduced sensitivity to EGFR inhibition. These findings have implications for understanding mechanisms of metastasis, and suggest that identifying patients with chromosomal deletions at DIAPH3 may have prognostic value.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Antiproliferative Factor Signaling and Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome
    (Korean Continence Society, 2011) Kim, Jayoung; Freeman, Michael R.
    A unique glycopeptide, antiproliferative factor (APF), has been suggested as a urinary biomarker and potential mediator of long-term bladder disorder Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome. There is no known cause for this disease. Several mechanistic approaches have been employed to address the underlying mechanism whereby APF regulates cellular responses in the bladder epithelium. A summary of recent literature is provided, and is focused on signal transduction pathways and networks that are responsive to APF.