scholarly journals Evaluation of an aldo-keto reductase gene signature with prognostic significance in colon cancer via activation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition and the p70S6K pathway

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1219-1228
Author(s):  
Seçil Demirkol Canlı ◽  
Esin Gülce Seza ◽  
Ilir Sheraj ◽  
Ismail Gömçeli ◽  
Nesrin Turhan ◽  
...  

Abstract AKR1B1 and AKR1B10, members of the aldo-keto reductase family of enzymes that participate in the polyol pathway of aldehyde metabolism, are aberrantly expressed in colon cancer. We previously showed that high expression of AKR1B1 (AKR1B1HIGH) was associated with enhanced motility, inflammation and poor clinical outcome in colon cancer patients. Using publicly available datasets and ex vivo gene expression analysis (n = 51, Ankara cohort), we have validated our previous in silico finding that AKR1B1HIGH was associated with worse overall survival (OS) compared with patients with low expression of AKR1B1 (AKR1B1LOW) samples. A combined signature of AKR1B1HIGH and AKR1B10LOW was significantly associated with worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) in microsatellite stable (MSS) patients and in patients with distal colon tumors as well as a higher mesenchymal signature when compared with AKR1B1LOW/AKR1B10HIGH tumors. When the patients were stratified according to consensus molecular subtypes (CMS), AKR1B1HIGH/AKR1B10LOW samples were primarily classified as CMS4 with predominantly mesenchymal characteristics while AKR1B1LOW/AKR1B10HIGH samples were primarily classified as CMS3 which is associated with metabolic deregulation. Reverse Phase Protein Array carried out using protein samples from the Ankara cohort indicated that AKR1B1HIGH/AKR1B10LOW tumors showed aberrant activation of metabolic pathways. Western blot analysis of AKR1B1HIGH/AKR1B10LOW colon cancer cell lines also suggested aberrant activation of nutrient-sensing pathways. Collectively, our data suggest that the AKR1B1HIGH/AKR1B10LOW signature may be predictive of poor prognosis, aberrant activation of metabolic pathways, and can be considered as a novel biomarker for colon cancer prognostication.

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (01) ◽  
pp. 053-069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Mancarella ◽  
Antonio Cigliano ◽  
Annarita Chieti ◽  
Gianluigi Giannelli ◽  
Francesco Dituri

AbstractTherapeutic attempts to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently result in a poor response or treatment failure. The efficacy of approved drugs and survival expectancies is affected by an ample degree of variability that can be explained at least in part by the enormous between-patient cellular and molecular heterogeneity of this neoplasm. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is hyperactivated in a large fraction of HCCs, where it influences complex interactive networks covering multiple cell types and a plethora of other local soluble ligands, ultimately establishing several malignancy traits. This cytokine boosts the invasiveness of cancerous epithelial cells through promoting the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition program, but also skews the phenotype of immune cells toward a tumor-supporting status. Here, we discuss recent strategies pursued to offset TGF-β-dependent processes that promote metastatic progression and immune surveillance escape in solid cancers, including HCC. Moreover, we report findings indicating that TGF-β reduces the expression of the proinflammatory factors CCL4 and interleukin-1β (IL-1β in human ex vivo treated HCC tissues. While this is consistent with the anti-inflammatory properties of TGF-β, whether it is an outright tumor promoter or suppressor is still a matter of some debate. Indeed, IL-1β has also been shown to support angiogenesis and cell invasiveness in some cancers. In addition, we describe an inhibitory effect of TGF-β on the secretion of CCL2 and CXCL1 by HCC-derived fibroblasts, which suggests the existence of an indirect stroma-mediated functional link between TGF-β and downstream immunity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. S-132
Author(s):  
Annette Eyking ◽  
Birgit Ey ◽  
Michael W. Rünzi ◽  
Andres I. Roig ◽  
Guido Gerken ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2199
Author(s):  
Titus Ime Ekanem ◽  
Chi-Chen Huang ◽  
Ming-Heng Wu ◽  
Ding-Yen Lin ◽  
Wen-Fu T. Lai ◽  
...  

Acrylamide (AA) and glycidamide (GA) can be produced in carbohydrate-rich food when heated at a high temperature, which can induce a malignant transformation. It has been demonstrated that GA is more mutagenic than AA. It has been shown that the proliferation rate of some cancer cells are increased by treatment with GA; however, the exact genes that are induced by GA in most cancer cells are not clear. In the present study, we demonstrated that GA promotes the growth of prostate cancer cells through induced protein expression of the cell cycle regulator. In addition, we also found that GA promoted the migratory ability of prostate cancer cells through induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated protein expression. In order to understand the potential prognostic relevance of GA-mediated regulators of the cell cycle and EMT, we present a three-gene signature to evaluate the prognosis of prostate cancer patients. Further investigations suggested that the three-gene signature (CDK4, TWIST1 and SNAI2) predicted the chances of survival better than any of the three genes alone for the first time. In conclusion, we suggested that the three-gene signature model can act as marker of GA exposure. Hence, this multi-gene panel may serve as a promising outcome predictor and potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer patients.


2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Jiménez-Heffernan ◽  
A. Cirugeda ◽  
M.A. Bajo ◽  
G. Del Peso ◽  
M.L. Pérez-Lozano ◽  
...  

Objective To evaluate the utility of peritoneal pathologic samples, unrelated to peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment, for the study of peritoneal fibrosis and inflammation. Methods Comparative morphologic and immunohistochemical study of peritoneal pathologic samples unrelated to PD with peritoneal biopsies from PD patients with special emphasis on the expression of myofibroblastic and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers. Results Regarding morphology, PD-related simple fibrosis was less cellular, with greater stromal hyalinization, determining a homogeneous, hypocellular aspect of the submesothelium. In contrast, non-PD fibrosis was more cellular with an extracellular matrix showing a dense and fibrillar quality with wide bundles of collagen. Hylinazing vasculopathy was only present in PD samples. Myofibroblastic differentiation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition were common findings in all situations of peritoneal fibrosis. Calponin and calretinin are useful cellular markers to study such fibrogenic mechanisms and correlate with other well-known markers such as α-SMA and cytokeratins. Their expression was much more intense in those samples showing acute inflammation (peritonitis). Conclusions Non-PD models of peritoneal fibrosis seem very useful to evaluate important features of human peritoneal pathology such us fibrogenesis, and inflammation. Fibrogenic events such as myofibroblastic differentiation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition are evident in these tissue samples allowing us to use them as an accessible source for in vivo and ex vivo studies. Both events show their maximal expression in situations of acute inflammation supporting the important role that peritonitis episodes play in the progression of fibrosis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1168-1174
Author(s):  
Weiwei Liu ◽  
Meixiang Huang ◽  
Wanyi Lin ◽  
Qiuqiong Zou ◽  
Jinfang Chen ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (52) ◽  
pp. 13792-13797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary R. Doherty ◽  
HyeonJoo Cheon ◽  
Damian J. Junk ◽  
Shaveta Vinayak ◽  
Vinay Varadan ◽  
...  

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the deadliest form of this disease, lacks a targeted therapy. TNBC tumors that fail to respond to chemotherapy are characterized by a repressed IFN/signal transducer and activator of transcription (IFN/STAT) gene signature and are often enriched for cancer stem cells (CSCs). We have found that human mammary epithelial cells that undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) following transformation acquire CSC properties. These mesenchymal/CSCs have a significantly repressed IFN/STAT gene expression signature and an enhanced ability to migrate and form tumor spheres. Treatment with IFN-beta (IFN-β) led to a less aggressive epithelial/non–CSC-like state, with repressed expression of mesenchymal proteins (VIMENTIN, SLUG), reduced migration and tumor sphere formation, and reexpression of CD24 (a surface marker for non-CSCs), concomitant with an epithelium-like morphology. The CSC-like properties were correlated with high levels of unphosphorylated IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (U-ISGF3), which was previously linked to resistance to DNA damage. Inhibiting the expression of IRF9 (the DNA-binding component of U-ISGF3) reduced the migration of mesenchymal/CSCs. Here we report a positive translational role for IFN-β, as gene expression profiling of patient-derived TNBC tumors demonstrates that an IFN-β metagene signature correlates with improved patient survival, an immune response linked with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and a repressed CSC metagene signature. Taken together, our findings indicate that repressed IFN signaling in TNBCs with CSC-like properties is due to high levels of U-ISGF3 and that treatment with IFN-β reduces CSC properties, suggesting a therapeutic strategy to treat drug-resistant, highly aggressive TNBC tumors.


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