Ratner Lab
Alterations in NF1 Mutant Schwann Cells

Alterations in NF1 Mutant Schwann Cells

The lab led an international effort to define the differences between normal Schwann cells and NF1 mutant Schwann cells that may be relevant to neurofibroma formation and to the development of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST). Our initial approach was to use large-scale microarray analysis to identify deregulated genes, and then to test their effect on tumorigenesis in transgenic mice. This has been extended to screens in collaboration with several outside laboratories using shRNAs, oncolytic viruses and sleeping beauty insertional mutagenesis screen.

Related Publications

Ramkissoon A, Chaney KE, Milewski D, Williams KB, Williams RL, Choi K, Miller A, Kalin TV, Pressey JG, Szabo S, Azam M, Largaespada DA, Ratner N. Targeted Inhibition of the Dual Specificity Phosphatases DUSP1 and DUSP6 Suppress MPNST Growth via JNK. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jul 1;25(13):4117-4127.

Choi K, Ratner N. iGEAK: an interactive gene expression analysis kit for seamless workflow using the R/shiny platform. BMC Genomics. 2019 Mar 6;20(1):177.

Currier MA, Sprague L1, Rizvi TA, Nartker B, Chen CY, Wang PY, Hutzen BJ, Franczek MR, Patel AV, Chaney KE, Streby KA, Ecsedy JA, Conner J, Ratner N, Cripe TP. Aurora A kinase inhibition enhances oncolytic herpes virotherapy through cytotoxic synergy and innate cellular immune modulation. Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 14;8(11):17412-17427.

Patel AV, Chaney KE, Choi K, Largaespada DA, Kumar AR, Ratner N. An ShRNA Screen Identifies MEIS1 as a Driver of Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors. EBioMedicine. 2016 Jul;9:110-119.

Wu J, Keng VW, Patmore DM, Kendall JJ, Patel AV, Jousma E, Jessen WJ, Choi K, Tschida BR, Silverstein KA, Fan D, Schwartz EB, Fuchs JR, Zou Y, Kim MO, Dombi E, Levy DE, Huang G, Cancelas JA, Stemmer-Rachamimov AO, Spinner RJ, Largaespada DA, Ratner N. Insertional Mutagenesis Identifies a STAT3/Arid1b/β-catenin Pathway Driving Neurofibroma Initiation. Cell Rep. 2016 Mar 1;14(8):1979-90.

Miller SJ, Lan ZD, Hardiman A, Wu J, Kordich JJ, Patmore DM, Hegde RS, Cripe TP, Cancelas JA, Collins MH, Ratner N. Inhibition of Eyes Absent Homolog 4 expression induces malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor necrosis. Oncogene. 2010 Jan 21;29(3):368-79.

Miller SJ, Jessen WJ, Mehta T, Hardiman A, Sites E, Kaiser S, Jegga AG, Li H, Upadhyaya M, Giovannini M, Muir D, Wallace MR, Lopez E, Serra E, Nielsen GP, Lazaro C, Stemmer-Rachamimov A, Page G, Aronow BJ, Ratner N. Integrative genomic analyses of neurofibromatosis tumours identify SOX9 as a biomarker and survival gene. EMBO Mol Med. 2009 Jul;1(4):236-48.

Miller SJ, Rangwala F, Williams J, Ackerman P, Kong S, Jegga AG, Kaiser S, Aronow BJ, Frahm S, Kluwe L, Mautner V, Upadhyaya M, Muir D, Wallace M, Hagen J, Quelle DE, Watson MA, Perry A, Gutmann DH, Ratner N. Large-scale molecular comparison of human schwann cells to malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor cell lines and tissues. Cancer Res. 2006 Mar 1;66(5):2584-91.

Alterations in NF1 Mutant Schwann Cells.
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For more information about the lab, contact Nancy Ratner, PhD, at 513-636-9469.
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