scholarly journals Roles of mTOR-regulating GTPases in regulating drug resistance in senescence-like hepatoma cells

Author(s):  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Zhenglin Ou ◽  
Qin Zhu ◽  
Yuanbing Yao ◽  
Hongyan Zai

Abstract Radiotherapy and chemotherapy can arrest cancer cells in a senescence-like state, which can lead to therapy resistance and cancer relapse. Despite the cell cycle arrest, senescence-like cells have persistent mTOR activity that is insensitive to nutrient starvation. The mechanisms and functions of mTOR activation in senescence-like cells remains unclear. mTOR is regulated by several small GTPases including the lysosome-localized Rag complex, ER-Golgi-localized Arf1 and Rab1, and endosome-localized Rab5. In this study, we knocked down these GTPases in both proliferating and senescence-like HepG2 cells induced by X-ray radiation. We then compared mTOR activity and drug resistance to MEK inhibitors. We also examined the roles of autophagy and lysosomal activity in mTOR activation. In addition, by analyzing the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we studied the relationship between the expression levels of these GTPases and the survival of liver hepatoma carcinoma (LIHC) patients. Our results showed that although all GTPases were required for optimal mTOR activation in proliferating HepG2 cells, only Rag is required in senescent-like counterparts. Consistently, the drug resistance of senescent-like cells can be reduced by knocking down of Rag but not other GTPases. Autophagic and lysosomal activity were increased in senescent cells; pharmacological inhibition of autophagy-lysosome decreased mTOR activity and preferentially sensitized the senescence-like HepG2 cells to MEK inhibitors. Therefore, recycling of intracellular materials could be a key mechanism to maintain mTOR activity and promote drug resistance in senescence-like state. In LIHC patients, expression of Rag but not Rab5 or Arf1 was associated with unfavorable prognosis. Our study therefore has defined a key role of Rag GTPase in mediating mTOR activation and drug resistance in senescent-like HepG2 cells, which could have important implications in developing second-line treatments for liver cancer.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Liu ◽  
Yuetong Wang ◽  
Hongbin Ji ◽  
Kazuyuki Aihara ◽  
Luonan Chen

ABSTRACTA complex disease generally results not from malfunction of individual molecules but from dysfunction of the relevant system or network, which dynamically changes with time and conditions. Thus, estimating a condition-specific network from a sample is crucial to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of complex diseases at the system level. However, there is currently no effective way to construct such an individual-specific network by expression profiling of a single sample because of the requirement of multiple samples for computing correlations. We developed here with a statistical method, i.e., a sample-specific network method, which allows us to construct individual-specific networks based on molecular expression of a single sample. Using this method, we can characterize various human diseases at a network level. In particular, such sample-specific networks can lead to the identification of individual-specific disease modules as well as driver genes, even without gene sequencing information. Extensive analysis by using the Cancer Genome Atlas data not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the method, but also found new individual-specific driver genes and network patterns for various cancers. Biological experiments on drug resistance further validated one important advantage of our method over the traditional methods, i.e., we even identified those drug resistance genes that actually have no clearly differential expression between samples with and without the resistance, due to the additional network information.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiao-Pieng Lee ◽  
Pei-Ling Hsieh ◽  
Chih-Yuan Fang ◽  
Pei-Ming Chu ◽  
Yi-Wen Liao ◽  
...  

Accumulating studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in the regulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are crucial in tumor initiation, metastasis, relapse, and therapy resistance. In the current study, RT-PCR analysis was employed to evaluate the expression of LINC00963 in tumor tissues and oral CSCs. Stemness phenotypes and the expression of CSCs markers in oral cancer cells transfected with sh-LINC00963 were examined. Our results showed that the expression of the lncRNA LINC00963 was up-regulated in oral cancer tissues and CSCs. We found that the downregulation of LINC00963 inhibited CSC hallmarks, such as migration, invasion and colony formation capacity. Moreover, suppression of LINC00963 reduced the activity of stemness marker ALDH1, the percentage of self-renewal, chemoresistance and the expression of multidrug-resistance transporter ABCB5. Most importantly, we demonstrated that knockdown of LINC00963 decreased self-renewal, invasion and colony formation ability via ABCB5. Analysis of TCGA (the Cancer Genome Atlas) datasets suggested that the level of LINC00963 was positively correlated with the expression of the cancer stemness markers (Sox2 and CD44) and drug resistance markers (ABCG2 and ABCB5). Altogether, our results showed that suppression of LINC00963 may be beneficial to inhibit chemoresistance and cancer relapse in oral cancer patients.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3894
Author(s):  
Marie-Isabelle Glückstein ◽  
Sebastian Dintner ◽  
Tim Tobias Arndt ◽  
Dmytro Vlasenko ◽  
Gerhard Schenkirsch ◽  
...  

The SWI/SNF complex has important functions in the mobilization of nucleosomes and consequently influences gene expression. Numerous studies have demonstrated that mutations or deficiency of one or more subunits can have an oncogenic effect and influence the development, progression, and eventual therapy resistance of tumor diseases. Genes encoding subunits of the SWI/SNF complex are mutated in approximately 20% of all human tumors. This study aimed to investigate the frequency, association with clinicopathological characteristics, and prognosis of immunohistochemical expression of proteins of the SWI/SNF complexes, SMARCA2, SMARCA4 SMARCB1, ARID1A, ARID1B, and PBRM1 in 477 adenocarcinomas of the stomach and gastroesophageal junction. Additionally, the tumors were classified immunohistochemically in analogy to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) classification. Overall, 32% of cases demonstrated aberrant expression of the SWI/SNF complex. Complete loss of SMARCA4 was detected in three cases (0.6%) and was associated with adverse clinical characteristics. SWI/SNF aberration emerged as an independent negative prognostic factor for overall survival in genomically stable patients in analogy to TCGA. In conclusion, determination of SWI/SNF status could be suggested in routine diagnostics in genomically stable tumors to identify patients who might benefit from new therapeutic options.


Epigenomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qijie Zhao ◽  
Jinan Guo ◽  
Yueshui Zhao ◽  
Jing Shen ◽  
Parham Jabbarzadeh Kaboli ◽  
...  

Background: PD-L1 and PD-L2 are ligands of PD-1. Their overexpression has been reported in different cancers. However, the underlying mechanism of PD-L1 and PD-L2 dysregulation and their related signaling pathways are still unclear in gastrointestinal cancers. Materials & methods: The expression of PD-L1 and PD-L2 were studied in The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases. The gene and protein alteration of PD-L1 and PD-L2 were analyzed in cBioportal. The direct transcription factor regulating PD-L1/ PD-L2 was determined with ChIP-seq data. The association of PD-L1/PD-L2 expression with clinicopathological parameters, survival, immune infiltration and tumor mutation burden were investigated with data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Potential targets and pathways of PD-L1 and PD-L2 were determined by protein enrichment, WebGestalt and gene ontology. Results: Comprehensive analysis revealed that PD-L1 and PD-L2 were significantly upregulated in most types of gastrointestinal cancers and their expressions were positively correlated. SP1 was a key transcription factor regulating the expression of PD-L1. Conclusion: Higher PD-L1 or PD-L2 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival, higher tumor mutation burden and more immune and stromal cell populations. Finally, HIF-1, ERBB and mTOR signaling pathways were most significantly affected by PD-L1 and PD-L2 dysregulation. Altogether, this study provided comprehensive analysis of the dysregulation of PD-L1 and PD-L2, its underlying mechanism and downstream pathways, which add to the knowledge of manipulating PD-L1/PD-L2 for cancer immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 3021-3036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Yu ◽  
Jun Ding ◽  
Hongwen Zhu ◽  
Yao Jing ◽  
Hu Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract The lysyl oxidase (LOX) family is closely related to the progression of glioma. To ensure the clinical significance of LOX family in glioma, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was mined and the analysis indicated that higher LOXL1 expression was correlated with more malignant glioma progression. The functions of LOXL1 in promoting glioma cell survival and inhibiting apoptosis were studied by gain- and loss-of-function experiments in cells and animals. LOXL1 was found to exhibit antiapoptotic activity by interacting with multiple antiapoptosis modulators, especially BAG family molecular chaperone regulator 2 (BAG2). LOXL1-D515 interacted with BAG2-K186 through a hydrogen bond, and its lysyl oxidase activity prevented BAG2 degradation by competing with K186 ubiquitylation. Then, we discovered that LOXL1 expression was specifically upregulated through the VEGFR-Src-CEBPA axis. Clinically, the patients with higher LOXL1 levels in their blood had much more abundant BAG2 protein levels in glioma tissues. Conclusively, LOXL1 functions as an important mediator that increases the antiapoptotic capacity of tumor cells, and approaches targeting LOXL1 represent a potential strategy for treating glioma. In addition, blood LOXL1 levels can be used as a biomarker to monitor glioma progression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (22) ◽  
pp. 5697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle E. Pewarchuk ◽  
Mateus C. Barros-Filho ◽  
Brenda C. Minatel ◽  
David E. Cohn ◽  
Florian Guisier ◽  
...  

Recent studies have uncovered microRNAs (miRNAs) that have been overlooked in early genomic explorations, which show remarkable tissue- and context-specific expression. Here, we aim to identify and characterize previously unannotated miRNAs expressed in gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). Raw small RNA-sequencing data were analyzed using the miRMaster platform to predict and quantify previously unannotated miRNAs. A discovery cohort of 475 gastric samples (434 GA and 41 adjacent nonmalignant samples), collected by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), were evaluated. Candidate miRNAs were similarly assessed in an independent cohort of 25 gastric samples. We discovered 170 previously unannotated miRNA candidates expressed in gastric tissues. The expression of these novel miRNAs was highly specific to the gastric samples, 143 of which were significantly deregulated between tumor and nonmalignant contexts (p-adjusted < 0.05; fold change > 1.5). Multivariate survival analyses showed that the combined expression of one previously annotated miRNA and two novel miRNA candidates was significantly predictive of patient outcome. Further, the expression of these three miRNAs was able to stratify patients into three distinct prognostic groups (p = 0.00003). These novel miRNAs were also present in the independent cohort (43 sequences detected in both cohorts). Our findings uncover novel miRNA transcripts in gastric tissues that may have implications in the biology and management of gastric adenocarcinoma.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengwu Xiao ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Meimian Hua ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Bin Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The tripartite motif (TRIM) family proteins exhibit oncogenic roles in various cancers. The roles of TRIM27, a member of the TRIM super family, in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remained unexplored. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the clinical impact and roles of TRIM27 in the development of RCC. Methods The mRNA levels of TRIM27 and Kaplan–Meier survival of RCC were analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to measure the mRNA and protein levels of TRIM27 both in vivo and in vitro. siRNA and TRIM27 were exogenously overexpressed in RCC cell lines to manipulate TRIM27 expression. Results We discovered that TRIM27 was elevated in RCC patients, and the expression of TRIM27 was closely correlated with poor prognosis. The loss of function and gain of function results illustrated that TRIM27 promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in RCC cell lines. Furthermore, TRIM27 expression was positively associated with NF-κB expression in patients with RCC. Blocking the activity of NF-κB attenuated the TRIM27-mediated enhancement of proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. TRIM27 directly interacted with Iκbα, an inhibitor of NF-κB, to promote its ubiquitination, and the inhibitory effects of TRIM27 on Iκbα led to NF-κB activation. Conclusions Our results suggest that TRIM27 exhibits an oncogenic role in RCC by regulating NF-κB signaling. TRIM27 serves as a specific prognostic indicator for RCC, and strategies targeting the suppression of TRIM27 function may shed light on future therapeutic approaches.


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