scholarly journals BDNF Acts as a Prognostic Factor Associated with Tumor-Infiltrating Th2 Cells in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Yanan Zhu ◽  
Cangang Zhang ◽  
Dongyu Zhao ◽  
Wenhua Li ◽  
Zhe Zhao ◽  
...  

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is an extremely lethal disease worldwide. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a critical member of the neurotrophin polypeptide superfamily that plays an important role in multiple cancers. However, the association among BDNF expression, tumor immunity, and PAAD prognosis remains unclear. BDNF expression and its influence on patient prognosis were explored based on The Cancer Genome Atlas, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, Genotype-Tissue Expression, and Kaplan-Meier plotter. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed to understand the biological roles of BDNF. The role of BDNF in tumor-infiltrating immune cells was determined using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database and the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis and xCell algorithm. The correlation among BDNF and chemokines, chemokine receptors, chemotherapeutic efficacy, and immune checkpoints was analyzed based on RStudio. BDNF expression was remarkably higher in PAAD compared to their paired normal tissues, and high BDNF expression was associated with unfavorable prognosis. Enrichment analysis revealed that BDNF was significantly enriched in major oncogenic pathways in PAAD. BDNF expression was positively correlated with immune infiltration, especially Th2 cells. Moreover, BDNF expression was positively correlated with Th2 cell-related chemokine/chemokine receptors, indicating that BDNF might modulate the migration of Th2 cells in PAAD. We also found that BDNF expression was correlated with high chemotherapeutics sensitivity and highly expressed immune checkpoints, making it a valuable biomarker in predicting the therapeutic benefits for chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer patients. In summary, BDNF might affect patient prognosis by interacting with tumor-infiltrating Th2 cells, thus serving as a potential prognostic biomarker in PAAD.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhou ◽  
Limin Zhang ◽  
Sirong Song ◽  
Lixia Xu ◽  
Yan Yan ◽  
...  

BackgroundGrowth arrest–specific 2 like 3 (GAS2L3) is a cytoskeleton-associated protein that interacts with actin filaments and tubulin. Abnormal GAS2L3 expression has been reported to be associated with carcinogenesis. However, the biological role of GAS2L3 in glioma remains to be determined.MethodsThe transcriptome level of GAS2L3 and its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed among multiple public databases and clinical specimens. Bioinformatics analyses were conducted to explore biological functions and prognostic value of GAS2L3 in glioma.ResultsGAS2L3 was substantially expressed in glioma, and high GAS2L3 expression correlated with shorter overall survival time and poor clinical variables. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis, and CIBERSORT algorithm analyses showed that GAS2L3 expression was closely linked to immune-related pathways, inflammatory activities, and immune cell infiltration. Moreover, GAS2L3 was synergistic with T cell–inflamed gene signature, immune checkpoints, T-cell receptor diversities, and neoantigen numbers.ConclusionThis study suggests that GAS2L3 is a prognostic biomarker for glioma, providing a reference for further study of the potential role of GAS2L3 in the immunomodulation of glioma.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoung Min Moon ◽  
Kyueng-Whan Min ◽  
Mi-Hye Kim ◽  
Dong-Hoon Kim ◽  
Byoung Kwan Son ◽  
...  

Ninety percent of patients with scrub typhus (SC) with vasculitis-like syndrome recover after mild symptoms; however, 10% can suffer serious complications, such as acute respiratory failure (ARF) and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Predictors for the progression of SC have not yet been established, and conventional scoring systems for ICU patients are insufficient to predict severity. We aimed to identify simple and robust indicators to predict aggressive behaviors of SC. We evaluated 91 patients with SC and 81 non-SC patients who were admitted to the ICU, and 32 cases from the public functional genomics data repository for gene expression analysis. We analyzed the relationships between several predictors and clinicopathological characteristics in patients with SC. We performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to identify SC-specific gene sets. The acid-base imbalance (ABI), measured 24 h before serious complications, was higher in patients with SC than in non-SC patients. A high ABI was associated with an increased incidence of ARF, leading to mechanical ventilation and worse survival. GSEA revealed that SC correlated to gene sets reflecting inflammation/apoptotic response and airway inflammation. ABI can be used to indicate ARF in patients with SC and assist with early detection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Fang ◽  
Brian Richardson ◽  
Cheryl M. Cameron ◽  
Jean-Eudes Dazard ◽  
Mark J. Cameron

Abstract Background In this study, we demonstrate that our modified Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) method, drug perturbation GSEA (dpGSEA), can detect phenotypically relevant drug targets through a unique transcriptomic enrichment that emphasizes biological directionality of drug-derived gene sets. Results We detail our dpGSEA method and show its effectiveness in detecting specific perturbation of drugs in independent public datasets by confirming fluvastatin, paclitaxel, and rosiglitazone perturbation in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cells. In drug discovery experiments, we found that dpGSEA was able to detect phenotypically relevant drug targets in previously published differentially expressed genes of CD4+T regulatory cells from immune responders and non-responders to antiviral therapy in HIV-infected individuals, such as those involved with virion replication, cell cycle dysfunction, and mitochondrial dysfunction. dpGSEA is publicly available at https://github.com/sxf296/drug_targeting. Conclusions dpGSEA is an approach that uniquely enriches on drug-defined gene sets while considering directionality of gene modulation. We recommend dpGSEA as an exploratory tool to screen for possible drug targeting molecules.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3856-3887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q.Y. Ning ◽  
J.Z. Wu ◽  
N. Zang ◽  
J. Liang ◽  
Y.L. Hu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan-Qi Xu ◽  
Kui-Sheng Yang ◽  
Shu-Xian Zhao ◽  
Jian Lv

Abstract Objective: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most malignant tumors. Cytosolic DNA sensing have been found to play an essential role in tumor. In this study, a cytosolic DNA sensing-related genes (CDSRGs) signature was constructed and the potential mechanisms also been discussed.Methods: The RNA expression and clinical data of PC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Subsequently, univariate (UCR) and multivariate Cox regression (MCR) analyses were conducted to establish a prognostic model in the TCGA patients, which was verified by GEO patients. Cancer immune infiltrates were investigated via single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER). Finally, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to investigate the related signaling pathways.Results: A prognostic model comprising four genes (POLR2E,IL18, MAVS, and FADD) was established. The survival rate of patients in the low-risk group was significantly higher than that of patients in the high-risk group. In addition, CDSRGs-risk score was proved as an independent prognostic factor in PC. Immune infiltrates and drug sensitivity are associated with POLR2E,IL18, MAVS, and FADD expression.Conclusions: In summary, we present and validated a CDSRGs risk model that is an independent prognostic factor and indicates the immune characteristics of PC. This prognostic model may facilitate the personalized treatment and monitoring.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. e201900332
Author(s):  
Elena A Afanasyeva ◽  
Moritz Gartlgruber ◽  
Tatsiana Ryl ◽  
Bieke Decaesteker ◽  
Geertrui Denecker ◽  
...  

The migrational propensity of neuroblastoma is affected by cell identity, but the mechanisms behind the divergence remain unknown. Using RNAi and time-lapse imaging, we show that ADRN-type NB cells exhibit RAC1- and kalirin-dependent nucleokinetic (NUC) migration that relies on several integral components of neuronal migration. Inhibition of NUC migration by RAC1 and kalirin-GEF1 inhibitors occurs without hampering cell proliferation and ADRN identity. Using three clinically relevant expression dichotomies, we reveal that most of up-regulated mRNAs in RAC1- and kalirin–GEF1–suppressed ADRN-type NB cells are associated with low-risk characteristics. The computational analysis shows that, in a context of overall gene set poverty, the upregulomes in RAC1- and kalirin–GEF1–suppressed ADRN-type cells are a batch of AU-rich element–containing mRNAs, which suggests a link between NUC migration and mRNA stability. Gene set enrichment analysis–based search for vulnerabilities reveals prospective weak points in RAC1- and kalirin–GEF1–suppressed ADRN-type NB cells, including activities of H3K27- and DNA methyltransferases. Altogether, these data support the introduction of NUC inhibitors into cancer treatment research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang-Jie Wu ◽  
Ai-Tao Nai ◽  
Gui-Cheng He ◽  
Fei Xiao ◽  
Zhi-Min Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Dihydropyrimidinase like 2 (DPYSL2) has been linked to tumor metastasis. However, the function of DPSY2L in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is yet to be explored. Methods Herein, we assessed DPYSL2 expression in various tumor types via online databases such as Oncomine and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER). Further, we verified the low protein and mRNA expressions of DPYSL2 in LUAD via the ULCAN, The TCGA and GEPIA databases. We applied the ROC curve to examine the role of DPYSL2 in diagnosis. The prognostic significance of DPYSL2 was established through the Kaplan–Meier plotter and the Cox analyses (univariate and multivariate). TIMER was used to explore DPYSL2 expression and its connection to immune infiltrated cells. Through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, the possible mechanism of DPYSL2 in LUAD was investigated. Results In this study, database analysis revealed lower DPYSL2 expression in LUAD than in normal tissues. The ROC curve suggested that expression of DPYSL2 had high diagnostic efficiency in LUAD. The DPYSL2 expression had an association with the survival time of LUAD patients in the Kaplan–Meier plotter and the Cox analyses. The results from TIMER depicted a markedly positive correlation of DPYSL2 expression with immune cells infiltrated in LUAD, such as macrophages, dendritic cells, CD4+ T cells, and neutrophils. Additionally, many gene markers for the immune system had similar positive correlations in the TIMER analysis. In Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, six immune-related signaling pathways were associated with DPYSL2. Conclusions In summary, DPYSL2 is a novel biomarker with diagnostic and prognostic potential for LUAD as well as an immunotherapy target. Highlights Expression of DPYSL2 was considerably lower in LUAD than in normal tissues. Investigation of multiple databases showed a high diagnostic value of DPYSL2 in LUAD. DPYSL2 can independently predict the LUAD outcomes. Immune-related mechanisms may be potential ways for DPYSL2 to play a role in LUAD.


F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony R. Colombo ◽  
Timothy J. Triche Jr ◽  
Giridharan Ramsingh

The recently introduced Kallisto pseudoaligner has radically simplified the quantification of transcripts in RNA-sequencing experiments.  We offer cloud-scale RNAseq pipelines Arkas-Quantification, which deploys Kallisto for parallel cloud computations, and Arkas-Analysis, which annotates the Kallisto results by extracting structured information directly from source FASTA files with per-contig metadata and calculates the differential expression and gene-set enrichment analysis on both coding genes and transcripts. The biologically informative downstream gene-set analysis maintains special focus on Reactome annotations while supporting ENSEMBL transcriptomes. The Arkas cloud quantification pipeline includes support for custom user-uploaded FASTA files, selection for bias correction and pseudoBAM output. The option to retain pseudoBAM output for structural variant detection and annotation provides a middle ground between de novo transcriptome assembly and routine quantification, while consuming a fraction of the resources used by popular fusion detection pipelines.  Illumina's BaseSpace cloud computing environment, where these two applications are hosted, offers a massively parallel distributive quantification step for users where investigators are better served by cloud-based computing platforms due to inherent efficiencies of scale.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Rong Lee ◽  
Jong Cheol Kim ◽  
So Eun Park ◽  
Se Jin Lee ◽  
Woo Jin Kim ◽  
...  

The longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae), is a hard tick and a vector for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus. The number of patients infected with SFTS is rapidly increasing. Recently, the invertebrate pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae JEF-290 was reported to be useful to control the tick as an alternative to chemical acaricides, which are not easily applicable in human living areas where the tick is widely spread. In this study, we analyzed how the tick and the fungal pathogen interact at the transcriptional level. Field-collected tick nymphs were treated with JEF-290 conidia at 1 × 108 conidia/ml. In the early stage of infection with 2.5% mortality, the infected ticks were subjected to RNA sequencing, and non-infected ticks and fungal masses served as controls. Fungus and tick genes were mostly up-regulated at the early stage of infection. In the gene set enrichment analysis of the infecting fungus, catabolic processes that included lipids, phospholipids, and detoxification processes, the response to oxidative stress, and toxic substances were significantly up-regulated. In this fungal up-regulation, various lipase, antioxidant enzyme, and hydrolase genes were highly transcribed. The gene set enrichment analysis of the infected tick showed that many peptide synthesis processes including translation, peptide metabolism, ribonucleotide metabolism, and energy production processes that included ATP generation and ADP metabolism were significantly up-regulated. Structurally, mitochondria and ribosome subunit genes in ticks were highly transcribed to upregulate these processes. Together these results indicate that JEF-290 initiates process that infects the tick while the tick actively defends against the fungal attack. This work provides background to improve our understanding of the early stage of fungal infection in longhorned tick.


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