scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 identifies immuno-hot tumors in breast cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Mei ◽  
Yun Cai ◽  
Rui Xu ◽  
Xinqian Yu ◽  
Lingyan Chen ◽  
...  

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is known as a host cell receptor for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is identified to be dysregulated in multiple tumors. Although the characterization of abnormal ACE2 expression in malignancies has been preliminarily explored, in-depth analysis of ACE2 in breast cancer (BRCA) has not been elucidated. A systematic pan-cancer analysis was conducted to assess the expression pattern and immunological role of ACE2 based on RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Next, correlations between ACE2 expression immunological characteristics in the BRCA tumor microenvironment (TME) were evaluated. Also, the role of ACE2 in predicting the clinical features and the response to therapeutic options in BRCA was estimated. These findings were subsequently validated in another public transcriptomic cohort as well as a recruited cohort. ACE2 was lowly expressed in most cancers compared with adjacent tissues. ACE2 was positively correlated with immunomodulators, tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), cancer immunity cycles, immune checkpoints, and tumor mutation burden (TMB). Besides, high ACE2 levels indicated the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype of BRCA, lower response to endocrine therapy and higher response to chemotherapy, anti-ERBB therapy, antiangiogenic therapy and immunotherapy. To sum up, ACE2 correlates with an inflamed TME and identifies immuno-hot tumors, which may be used as an auxiliary biomarker for the identification of immunological characteristics in BRCA.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengshui Xu ◽  
Chao Qu ◽  
Jing Guo ◽  
Xiaopeng Li ◽  
Yunhua Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Backgroud:Tumor mutation burden has become a powerful bio-marker to predict prognosis and immunotherapy responsiveness to patients in various cancers, but the role of TMB in colon cancer is still unclear.Methods:The transcriptome profiling data of colon patients and the simple nucleotide variation data of colon cases were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The groups were divided into high TMB and low TMB group according to the median of TMB. Then we explored the relationship between immune checkpoints, immune cells and TMB, respectively. Results: Mutation profiles of 399 colon cancer samples were analyzed in TCGA database. The senior (age>65) had a strong relationship with higher-TMB level(p=0.001). Low-TMB group correlated with advanced N stage (P<0.001), M stage (P<0.001), and pathologic stage(P<0.001). High-TMB group had significantly higher mRNA level of PD-L1, TIGIT, HAVCR2, and LAG3 than low-TMB group, which indicated high-TMB referred to better immunotherapy responsiveness in colon cancer. And high-TMB level correlated with higher fractions of CD8T cells (p=0.021), higher CD4 memory T cells(p=0.039), follicular helper T cells (p=0.002)and M1 macrophages (p<0.001), while the low-TMB groups correlated with higher regulator T cells (p=0.002). So high-TMB correlated with stronger immune cell infiltrationConclusions:The high TMB referred to better clinical pathologic features, better immunotherapy responsiveness and stronger immune cells infiltration in colon cancer. Hence TMB may be a very promising bio-marker to predict prognosis and immunotherapy responsiveness to patients in colon cancer.


Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Christina Mertens ◽  
Matthias Schnetz ◽  
Claudia Rehwald ◽  
Stephan Grein ◽  
Eiman Elwakeel ◽  
...  

Macrophages supply iron to the breast tumor microenvironment by enforced secretion of lipocalin-2 (Lcn-2)-bound iron as well as the increased expression of the iron exporter ferroportin (FPN). We aimed at identifying the contribution of each pathway in supplying iron for the growing tumor, thereby fostering tumor progression. Analyzing the expression profiles of Lcn-2 and FPN using the spontaneous polyoma-middle-T oncogene (PyMT) breast cancer model as well as mining publicly available TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO Series(GSE) datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO), we found no association between tumor parameters and Lcn-2 or FPN. However, stromal/macrophage-expression of Lcn-2 correlated with tumor onset, lung metastases, and recurrence, whereas FPN did not. While the total iron amount in wildtype and Lcn-2−/− PyMT tumors showed no difference, we observed that tumor-associated macrophages from Lcn-2−/− compared to wildtype tumors stored more iron. In contrast, Lcn-2−/− tumor cells accumulated less iron than their wildtype counterparts, translating into a low migratory and proliferative capacity of Lcn-2−/− tumor cells in a 3D tumor spheroid model in vitro. Our data suggest a pivotal role of Lcn-2 in tumor iron-management, affecting tumor growth. This study underscores the role of iron for tumor progression and the need for a better understanding of iron-targeted therapy approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Yang ◽  
Geng-Xi Cai ◽  
Bo-Wei Han ◽  
Zhi-Wei Guo ◽  
Ying-Song Wu ◽  
...  

AbstractGene expression signatures have been used to predict the outcome of chemotherapy for breast cancer. The nucleosome footprint of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) carries gene expression information of the original tissues and thus may be used to predict the response to chemotherapy. Here we carried out the nucleosome positioning on cfDNA from 85 breast cancer patients and 85 healthy individuals and two cancer cell lines T-47D and MDA-MB-231 using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing (LCWGS) method. The patients showed distinct nucleosome footprints at Transcription Start Sites (TSSs) compared with normal donors. In order to identify the footprints of cfDNA corresponding with the responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients, we mapped on nucleosome positions on cfDNA of patients with different responses: responders (pretreatment, n = 28; post-1 cycle, post-3/4 cycles, and post-8 cycles of treatment, n = 12) and nonresponders (pretreatment, n = 10; post-1 cycle, post-3/4 cycles, and post-8 cycles of treatment, n = 10). The coverage depth near TSSs in plasma cfDNA differed significantly between responders and nonresponders at pretreatment, and also after neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment cycles. We identified 232 TSSs with differential footprints at pretreatment and 321 after treatment and found enrichment in Gene Ontology terms such as cell growth inhibition, tumor suppressor, necrotic cell death, acute inflammatory response, T cell receptor signaling pathway, and positive regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor production. These results suggest that cfDNA nucleosome footprints may be used to predict the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer patients and thus may provide help in decision making for individual patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeng-Hong Wu ◽  
Yun Tang ◽  
Hong Yu ◽  
Hua-Dong Li

AbstractBreast cancer (BC) affects the breast tissue and is the second most common cause of mortalities among women. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death mode that is characterized by intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We constructed a prognostic multigene signature based on ferroptosis-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Moreover, we comprehensively analyzed the role of ferroptosis-associated miRNAs, lncRNAs, and immune responses. A total of 259 ferroptosis-related genes were extracted. KEGG function analysis of these genes revealed that they were mainly enriched in the HIF-1 signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, central carbon metabolism in cancer, and PPAR signaling pathway. Fifteen differentially expressed genes (ALOX15, ALOX15B, ANO6, BRD4, CISD1, DRD5, FLT3, G6PD, IFNG, NGB, NOS2, PROM2, SLC1A4, SLC38A1, and TP63) were selected as independent prognostic factors for BC patients. Moreover, T cell functions, including the CCR score, immune checkpoint, cytolytic activity, HLA, inflammation promotion, para-inflammation, T cell co-stimulation, T cell co-inhibition, and type II INF responses were significantly different between the low-risk and high-risk groups of the TCGA cohort. Immune checkpoints between the two groups revealed that the expressions of PDCD-1 (PD-1), CTLA4, LAG3, TNFSF4/14, TNFRSF4/8/9/14/18/25, and IDO1/2 among others were significantly different. A total of 1185 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs and 219 ferroptosis-related miRNAs were also included in this study. From the online database, we identified novel ferroptosis-related biomarkers for breast cancer prognosis. The findings of this study provide new insights into the development of new reliable and accurate cancer treatment options.


mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Boll ◽  
Jorge Ayala-Lujan ◽  
Rose L. Szabady ◽  
Christopher Louissaint ◽  
Rachel Z. Smith ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTEnteroaggregativeEscherichia coli(EAEC) causes diarrhea and intestinal inflammation worldwide. EAEC strains are characterized by the presence of aggregative adherence fimbriae (AAF), which play a key role in pathogenesis by mediating attachment to the intestinal mucosa and by triggering host inflammatory responses. Here, we identify the epithelial transmembrane mucin MUC1 as an intestinal host cell receptor for EAEC, demonstrating that AAF-mediated interactions between EAEC and MUC1 facilitate enhanced bacterial adhesion. We further demonstrate that EAEC infection also causes elevated expression of MUC1 in inflamed human intestinal tissues. Moreover, we find that MUC1 facilitates AAF-dependent migration of neutrophils across the epithelium in response to EAEC infection. Thus, we show for the first time a proinflammatory role for MUC1 in the host response to an intestinal pathogen.IMPORTANCEEAEC is a clinically important intestinal pathogen that triggers intestinal inflammation and diarrheal illness via mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. Our findings provide new insight into how EAEC triggers host inflammation and underscores the pivotal role of AAFs—the principal adhesins of EAEC—in driving EAEC-associated disease. Most importantly, our findings add a new dimension to the signaling properties of the transmembrane mucin MUC1. Mostly studied for its role in various forms of cancer, MUC1 is widely regarded as playing an anti-inflammatory role in response to infection with bacterial pathogens in various tissues. However, the role of MUC1 during intestinal infections has not been previously explored, and our results describe the first report of MUC1 as a proinflammatory factor following intestinal infection.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Liu ◽  
Yihang Qi ◽  
Jie Zhai ◽  
Xiangyi Kong ◽  
Xiangyu Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite the promising impact of cancer immunotherapy targeting CTLA4 and PD1/PDL1, a large number of cancer patients fail to respond. LAG3 (Lymphocyte Activating 3), also named CD233, is a protein Coding gene served as alternative inhibitory receptors to be targeted in the clinic. The impact of LAG3 on immune cell populations and co-regulation of immune response in breast cancer remained largely unknown. Methods To characterize the role of LAG3 in breast cancer, we investigated transcriptome data and associated clinical information derived from a total of 2994 breast cancer patients. Results We observed that LAG3 was closely correlated with major molecular and clinical characteristics, and was more likely to be enriched in higher malignant subtype, suggesting LAG3 was a potential biomarker of triple-negative breast cancer. Furthermore, we estimated the landscape of relationship between LAG3 and ten types of cell populations in breast cancer. Gene ontology analysis revealed LAG3 were strongly correlated with immune response and inflammatory activities. We investigated the correlation pattern between LAG3 and immune modulators in pan-cancer, especially the synergistic role of LAG3 with other immune checkpoints members in breast cancer. Conclusions LAG3 expression was closely related to malignancy of breast cancer and might serve as a potential biomarker; LAG3 might plays an important role in regulating tumor immune microenvironment, not only T cells, but also other immune cells. More importantly, LAG3 might synergize with CTLA4, PD1/ PDL1 and other immune checkpoints, thereby lending more evidences to combination cancer immunotherapy by targeting LAG3, PD1/PDL1, and CTLA4 together.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Baxter ◽  
Karolina Windloch ◽  
Greg Kelly ◽  
Jason S Lee ◽  
Frank Gannon ◽  
...  

Up to 80% of endometrial and breast cancers express oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα). Unlike breast cancer, anti-oestrogen therapy has had limited success in endometrial cancer, raising the possibility that oestrogen has different effects in both cancers. We investigated the role of oestrogen in endometrial and breast cancers using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) in conjunction with cell line studies. Using phosphorylation of ERα (ERα-pSer118) as a marker of transcriptional activation of ERα in TCGA datasets, we found that genes associated with ERα-pSer118 were predominantly unique between tumour types and have distinct regulators. We present data on the alternative and novel roles played by SMAD3, CREB-pSer133 and particularly XBP1 in oestrogen signalling in endometrial and breast cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leiyu Hao ◽  
Fengru Huang ◽  
Xinqian Yu ◽  
Bujie Xu ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Early growth response family members (EGRs), EGR1-4, have increasingly attracted attention in multiple cancers. However, the exact expression patterns and prognostic values of EGRs in the progress of breast cancer (BRCA) remain largely unknown. Methods: The mRNA expression and prognostic characteristics of EGRs were examined by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Oncomine and Kaplan-Meier plotter. Enrichment analyses were conducted based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database and MethSurv were further explored. The protein expression level of EGR1 and cell migration were measured by Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, wound-healing assay and Boyden chamber assay in BRCA. Results: The transcriptional levels of EGR1/2/3 displayed significantly low expression in BRCA compared to that in normal tissues, while EGR4 was shown adverse expression pattern. Survival analysis revealed up-regulated EGR1-4 were remarkably associated with favorable relapse-free survival (RFS). A close correlation with specific tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and several CpG sites of EGRs were exhibited. Immunohistochemistry assays showed that the protein expression of EGR1 was remarkably downregulated in BRCA compared to that in paracancerous tissues. Cell migration of MCF10A cells was increased after the silence of EGR1 by siRNA transfection.Conclusions: This study provides a novel insight to the role of EGR1 in the prognostic value and cell migration of BRCA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyong Zhang ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Aimin Huang

BackgroundHistone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) regulates cytoplasmic signaling networks through the deacetylation of various cytoplasmic substrates. Recent studies have identified the role of HDAC6 in tumor development and immune metabolism, but its specific function remains unclear.MethodsThe current study determined the role of HDAC6 in tumor metabolism and tumor immunity through a multi-database pan-cancer analysis. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) datasets were used to determine the expression levels, prognosis, tumor progression, immune checkpoints, and immune metabolism of HDAC6 in 33 tumors. Pathways, immune checkpoints, immune neoantigens, immune microenvironment, tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), DNA mismatch repair (MMR), and the value of methyltransferases. The R package was used for quantitative analysis and panoramic description.ResultsIn the present study, we determined that HDAC6 is differentially expressed in pan carcinomas, and by survival, we found that HDAC6 was generally associated with the prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, Thymoma, and uveal melanoma, where low expression of HDAC6 had a significantly worse prognosis. Secondly, through this experiment, we confirmed that HDAC6 expression level was associated with tumor immune infiltration and tumor microenvironment, especially in PAAD. Finally, HDAC6 was associated with immune neoantigen and immune checkpoint gene expression profiles in all cancers in addition to TMB and MSI in pan-cancers.ConclusionHDAC6 is differentially expressed in pan-cancers and plays an essential role in tumor metabolism and immunity. HDAC6 holds promise as a tumor potential prognostic marker, especially in colon cancer.


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