Person:
Francis, Joshua M.

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Francis

First Name

Joshua M.

Name

Francis, Joshua M.
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.648ed24f-39f7-4b2c-8c97-24a131fcad20

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Angiomatous meningiomas have a distinct genetic profile with multiple chromosomal polysomies including polysomy of chromosome 5
    (Impact Journals LLC, 2014) Abedalthagafi, Malak; Merrill, Parker H.; Bi, Wenya; Jones, Robert T.; Listewnik, Marc L.; Ramkissoon, Shakti H.; Thorner, Aaron R.; Dunn, Ian; Beroukhim, Rameen; Alexander, Brian; Brastianos, Priscilla; Francis, Joshua M.; Folkerth, Rebecca D.; Ligon, Keith; Hummelen, Paul Van; Ligon, Azra; Santagata, Sandro
    Meningiomas are a diverse group of tumors with a broad spectrum of histologic features. There are over 12 variants of meningioma, whose genetic features are just beginning to be described. Angiomatous meningioma is a World Health Organization (WHO) meningioma variant with a predominance of blood vessels. They are uncommon and confirming the histopathologic classification can be challenging. Given a lack of biomarkers that define the angiomatous subtype and limited understanding of the genetic changes underlying its tumorigenesis, we compared the genomic characteristics of angiomatous meningioma to more common meningioma subtypes. While typical grade I meningiomas demonstrate monosomy of chromosome 22 or lack copy number aberrations, 13 of 14 cases of angiomatous meningioma demonstrated a distinct copy number profile – polysomies of at least one chromosome, but often of many, especially in chromosomes 5, 13, and 20. WHO grade II atypical meningiomas with angiomatous features have both polysomies and genetic aberrations characteristic of other atypical meningiomas. Sequencing of over 560 cancer-relevant genes in 16 cases of angiomatous meningioma showed that these tumors lack common mutations found in other variants of meningioma. Our study demonstrates that angiomatous meningiomas have distinct genomic features that may be clinically useful for their diagnosis.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    CHROMOTHRIPSIS FROM DNA DAMAGE IN MICRONUCLEI
    (2015) Zhang, Cheng-Zhong; Spektor, Alexander; Cornils, Hauke; Francis, Joshua M.; Jackson, Emily K.; Liu, Shiwei; Meyerson, Matthew; Pellman, David
    Genome sequencing has uncovered a new mutational phenomenon in cancer and congenital disorders called chromothripsis. Chromothripsis is characterized by extensive genomic rearrangements and an oscillating pattern of DNA copy number levels, all curiously restricted to one or a few chromosomes. The mechanism for chromothripsis is unknown, but we previously proposed that it could occur through the physical isolation of chromosomes in aberrant nuclear structures called micronuclei. Here, using a combination of live-cell imaging and single-cell genome sequencing, we demonstrate that micronucleus formation can indeed generate a spectrum of genomic rearrangements, some of which recapitulate all known features of chromothripsis. These events are restricted to the missegregated chromosome and occur within one cell division. We demonstrate that the mechanism for chromothripsis can involve the fragmentation and subsequent reassembly of a single chromatid from a micronucleus. Collectively, these experiments establish a new mutational process of which chromothripsis is one extreme outcome.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Constitutive asymmetric dimerization drives oncogenic activation of epidermal growth factor receptor carboxyl-terminal deletion mutants
    (Impact Journals LLC, 2015) Park, Angela K.J.; Francis, Joshua M.; Park, Woong-Yang; Park, Joon-Oh; Cho, Jeonghee
    Genomic alterations targeting the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene have been strongly associated with cancer pathogenesis. The clinical effectiveness of EGFR targeted therapies, including small molecules directed against the kinase domain such as gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib, have been proven successful in treating non-small cell lung cancer patients with tumors harboring EGFR kinase domain mutations. Recent large-scale genomic studies in glioblastoma and lung cancer have identified an additional class of oncogenic mutations caused by the intragenic deletion of carboxy-terminal coding regions. Here, we report that combinations of exonic deletions of exon 25 to 28 lead to the oncogenic activation of EGF receptor in the absence of ligand and consequent cellular transformation, indicating a significant role of C-terminal domain in modulating EGFR activation. Furthermore, we show that the oncogenic activity of the resulting C-terminal deletion mutants are efficiently inhibited by EGFR-targeted drugs including erlotinib, afatinib, dacomitinib as well as cetuximab, expanding the therapeutic rationale of cancer genome-based EGFR targeted approaches. Finally, in vivo and in vitro preclinical studies demonstrate that constitutive asymmetric dimerization in mutant EGFR is a key mechanism for oncogenic activation and tumorigenesis by C-terminal deletion mutants. Therefore, our data provide compelling evidence for oncogenic activation of C-terminal deletion mutants at the molecular level and we propose that C-terminal deletion status of EGFR can be considered as a potential genomic marker for EGFR-targeted therapy.