scholarly journals Phenotypic and Functional Analyses of B7S1 in Ovarian Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongli Cai ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Changgang Wang ◽  
Liping Jin

Background: Although programmed death (PD) ligand 1 (PD-L1)/PD-1 inhibitors show potent and durable antitumor effects in a variety of tumors, their efficacy in patients with OvCa is modest. Thus, additional immunosuppressive mechanisms beyond PD-L1/PD-1 need to be identified.Methods: The mRNA expression profiles of OvCa patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The expression and clinical characteristics of VTCN1 (encoding B7S1) in OvCa were analyzed. The molecular interaction network, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were used to functionally annotate and predict signaling pathways of VTCN1 in OvCa. Moreover, 32 treatment-naïve patients with OvCa were recruited to assess B7S1 expression. The cytotoxic immune phenotypes in distinct subgroups were analyzed.Results: B7S1 expression was increased in tumor sections compared with that in normal tissues from OvCa patients at both the mRNA and protein levels. VTCN1 expression was significantly correlated with the mRNA expression levels of several other co-inhibitory immune checkpoints. B7S1 protein was found to be highly expressed in CD45+CD68+ myeloid cells, whereas its putative receptor was expressed in CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Furthermore, expression of B7S1 in antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was significantly correlated with the cytolytic function of CD8+ TILs. Functional annotations indicated that VTCN1 was involved in regulating T cell-mediated immune responses and participated in the activation of a variety of classic signaling pathways related to the progression of human cancer.Conclusion: In OvCa, B7S1 was highly expressed and may initiate dysfunction of CD8+ TILs, which could be targeted for cancer immunotherapy.

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Cava ◽  
Gloria Bertoli ◽  
Isabella Castiglioni

Previous studies reported that Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the main cell receptor of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. It plays a key role in the access of the virus into the cell to produce the final infection. In the present study we investigated in silico the basic mechanism of ACE2 in the lung and provided evidences for new potentially effective drugs for Covid-19. Specifically, we used the gene expression profiles from public datasets including The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and Genotype-Tissue Expression, Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analysis to investigate the main functions of ACE2-correlated genes. We constructed a protein-protein interaction network containing the genes co-expressed with ACE2. Finally, we focused on the genes in the network that are already associated with known drugs and evaluated their role for a potential treatment of Covid-19. Our results demonstrate that the genes correlated with ACE2 are mainly enriched in the sterol biosynthetic process, Aryldialkylphosphatase activity, adenosylhomocysteinase activity, trialkylsulfonium hydrolase activity, acetate-CoA and CoA ligase activity. We identified a network of 193 genes, 222 interactions and 36 potential drugs that could have a crucial role. Among possible interesting drugs for Covid-19 treatment, we found Nimesulide, Fluticasone Propionate, Thiabendazole, Photofrin, Didanosine and Flutamide.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10414
Author(s):  
Yousheng Wei ◽  
Tingyu Ou ◽  
Yan Lu ◽  
Guangteng Wu ◽  
Ying Long ◽  
...  

Background Ovarian cancer is a highly fatal gynecological malignancy and new, more effective treatments are needed. Immunotherapy is gaining attention from researchers worldwide, although it has not proven to be consistently effective in the treatment of ovarian cancer. We studied the immune landscape of ovarian cancer patients to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy as a treatment option. Methods We obtained expression profiles, somatic mutation data, and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Ovarian cancer was classified based on 29 immune-associated gene sets, which represented different immune cell types, functions, and pathways. Single-sample gene set enrichment (ssGSEA) was used to quantify the activity or enrichment levels of the gene sets in ovarian cancer, and the unsupervised machine learning method was used sort the classifications. Our classifications were validated using Gene Expression Omnibus datasets. Results We divided ovarian cancer into three subtypes according to the ssGSEA score: subtype 1 (low immunity), subtype 2 (median immunity), and subtype 3 (high immunity). Most tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune checkpoint molecules were upgraded in subtype 3 compared with those in the other subtypes. The tumor mutation burden (TMB) was not significantly different among the three subtypes. However, patients with BRCA1 mutations were consistently detected in subtype 3. Furthermore, most immune signature pathways were hyperactivated in subtype 3, including T and B cell receptor signaling pathways, PD-L1 expression and PD-1 checkpoint pathway the NF-κB signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation and interleukin-17 signaling pathways, and the TNF signaling pathway. Conclusion Ovarian cancer subtypes that are based on immune biosignatures may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic treatment strategies for ovarian cancer.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
junbai fan ◽  
Dan Wu ◽  
Yi Ding

Abstract Background: Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is a malignant tumor with high invasiveness and mortality. Autophagy has multiple roles in the development of cancer; however, there are limited data on autophagy genes associated with long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in ESCA. The purpose of this study was to screen potential diagnostic and prognostic molecules, and to identify gene co-expression networks associated with autophagy in ESCA. Methods: We downloaded transcriptome expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas and autophagy-related gene data from the Human Autophagy Database, and analyzed the co-expression of mRNAs and lncRNAs. In addition, the diagnostic and prognostic value of autophagy-related lncRNAs was analyzed by multivariate Cox regression. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis was carried out for high-risk patients, and enriched pathways were analyzed by gene set enrichment analysis. Results: The results showed that genes of high-risk patients were enriched in protein export and spliceosome. Based on Cox stepwise regression and survival analysis, we identified seven autophagy-related lncRNAs with prognostic and diagnostic value, with the potential to be used as a combination to predict the prognosis of patients with ESCA. Finally, a co-expression network related to autophagy was constructed. Conclusion: These results suggest that autophagy-related lncRNAs and the spliceosome play important parts in the pathogenesis of ESCA. Our findings provide new insight into the molecular mechanism of ESCA and suggest a new method for improving its treatment.


Author(s):  
Dan Wu ◽  
Yi Ding ◽  
JunBai Fan

Background: Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is a malignant tumor with high invasiveness and mortality. Autophagy has multiple roles in the development of cancer; however, there are limited data on autophagy genes associated with long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in ESCA. The purpose of this study was to screen potential diagnostic and prognostic molecules and to identify gene co-expression networks associated with autophagy in ESCA. Methods: We downloaded transcriptome expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas and autophagy-related gene data from the Human Autophagy Database and analyzed the co-expression of mRNAs and lncRNAs. In addition, the diagnostic and prognostic value of autophagy-related lncRNAs was analyzed by multivariate Cox regression. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis was carried out for high-risk patients, and enriched pathways were analyzed by gene set enrichment analysis. Results: The results showed that genes of high-risk patients were enriched in protein export and spliceosome. Based on Cox stepwise regression and survival analysis, we identified seven autophagy-related lncRNAs with prognostic and diagnostic value, with the potential to be used as a combination to predict the prognosis of patients with ESCA. Finally, a co-expression network related to autophagy was constructed. Conclusion: These results suggest that autophagy-related lncRNAs and the spliceosome play important parts in the pathogenesis of ESCA. Our findings provide new insight into the molecular mechanism of ESCA and suggest a new method for improving its treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyu Liang ◽  
Gefei Guan ◽  
Xue Li ◽  
Chunmi Wei ◽  
Jianqi Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Molecular classification has laid the framework for exploring glioma biology and treatment strategies. Pro-neural to mesenchymal transition (PMT) of glioma is known to be associated with aggressive phenotypes, unfavorable prognosis, and treatment resistance. Recent studies have highlighted that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key mediators in cancer mesenchymal transition. However, the relationship between lncRNAs and PMT in glioma has not been systematically investigated. Methods Gene expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), GSE16011, and Rembrandt with available clinical and genomic information were used for analyses. Bioinformatics methods such as weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), Cox analysis, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis were performed. Results According to PMT scores, we confirmed that PMT status was positively associated with risky behaviors and poor prognosis in glioma. The 149 PMT-related lncRNAs were identified by WGCNA analysis, among which 10 (LINC01057, TP73-AS1, AP000695.4, LINC01503, CRNDE, OSMR-AS1, SNHG18, AC145343.2, RP11-25K21.6, RP11-38L15.2) with significant prognostic value were further screened to construct a PMT-related lncRNA risk signature, which could divide cases into two groups with distinct prognoses. Multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that the signature was an independent prognostic factor for high-grade glioma. High-risk cases were more likely to be classified as the mesenchymal subtype, which confers enhanced immunosuppressive status by recruiting macrophages, neutrophils, and regulatory T cells. Moreover, six lncRNAs of the signature could act as competing endogenous RNAs to promote PMT in glioblastoma. Conclusions We profiled PMT status in glioma and established a PMT-related 10-lncRNA signature for glioma that could independently predict glioma survival and trigger PMT, which enhanced immunosuppression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Chen ◽  
Liulin Xiong ◽  
Weinan Chen ◽  
Lizhe An ◽  
Huanrui Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of most common urinary tract malignant tumor and immunotherapy have generated a great deal of interest in BLCA. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has significantly progressed the treatment of BLCA. Multiple studies have suggested that specific genetic mutations may serve as immune biomarkers for ICB therapy. Objective In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of mutations genes and subtypes in prognosis and immune checkpoint prediction in BLCA. Method Mutation information and expression profiles were acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Integrated bioinformatics analysis was carried out to explore the mutation genes of BLCA. Functional enrichment analysis Gene Ontology (GO) and Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted. The infiltrating immune cells and the prediction of ICB between different subtypes group were explored using immuCellAI algorithm. Results The mutation genes Filaggrin (FLG) gene were identified. Following the study on its subtypes and functional enrichment analysis, Sub2 of FLG-wide type was found to have relationships with poor prognosis and immune infiltration BLCA. What’s more, Sub2 of FLG-wide type may be used as a biomarker to predict the prognosis of BLCA patients receiving ICB. Conclusion This research provides a new basis and ideas for guiding the clinical application of BLCA immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Wu ◽  
Peian Cai ◽  
Zhenhui Lu ◽  
Zhi Zhang ◽  
Xixi He ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into adipogenesis (AD) rather than osteogenesis (OS) is an important pathological feature of osteoporosis. Illuminating the detailed mechanisms of the differentiation of BMSCs into OS and AD would contribute to the interpretation of osteoporosis pathology.Methods: To identify the regulated mechanism in lineage commitment of the BMSCs into OS and AD in the early-stages, the gene expression profiles with temporal series were downloaded to reveal the distinct fates when BMSCs adopt a committed lineage. For both OS and AD lineages, the profiles of day 2–4 were compared with day 0 to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. Next, the functional enrichment analysis was utilized to find out the biological function, and Protein-Protein Interaction network to predict the central genes. Finally, experiments were performed to verify our finding.Results: FoxO signaling pathway with central genes like FoxO3, IL6 and CAT, is the crucial mechanism of OS, while Rap1 signaling pathway of VEGFA and FGF2 enrichment is more significant for AD. Besides, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway might serves as the latent mechanism about the initiation of differentiation of BMSCs into multiple lineages.Conclusion: Above hub genes and early-responder signaling pathways control osteogenic and adipogenic fates of BMSCs, which maybe mechanistic models clarifying the changes of bone metabolism in the clinical progress of osteoporosis. The findings provide a crucial reference for the prevention and therapy of osteoporosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhu ◽  
Fugui Yang ◽  
Lingwei Wang ◽  
Lin Dong ◽  
Zhiyuan Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Ferroptosis is a recently recognized non-apoptotic cell death that is distinct from the apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis. Considerable studies have demonstrated ferroptosis is involved in the biological process of various cancers. However, the role of ferroptosis in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) remains unclear. This study aims to explore the ferroptosis-related genes (FRG) expression profiles and their prognostic values in EAC. Methods The FRG data and clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Univariate and multivariate cox regressions were used to identify the prognostic FRG, and the predictive ROC model was established using the independent risk factors. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to investigate the bioinformatics functions of significantly different genes (SDG) of ferroptosis. Additionally, the correlations of ferroptosis and immune cells were assessed through the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and TIMER database. Finally, SDG were verified in clinical EAC specimens and normal esophageal mucosal tissues. Results Twenty-eight significantly different FRG were screened from 78 EAC and 9 normal tissues. Enrichment analyses showed these SDG were mainly related to the iron-related pathways and metabolisms of ferroptosis. Gene network demonstrated the TP53, G6PD, NFE2L2 and PTGS2 were the hub genes in the biology of ferroptosis. Cox regression analyses demonstrated four FRG (CARS1, GCLM, GLS2 and EMC2) had prognostic values for overall survival (OS) (all P < 0.05). ROC curve showed better predictive ability using the risk score (AUC = 0.744). Immune cell enrichment analysis demonstrated that the types of immune cells and their expression levels in the high-risk group were significant different with those in the low-risk group (all P < 0.05). The experimental results confirmed the ALOX5, NOX1 were upregulated and the MT1G was downregulated in the EAC tissues compared with the normal esophageal mucosal tissues (all P < 0.05). Conclusions We identified differently expressed ferroptosis-related genes that may involve in EAC. These genes have significant values in predicting the patients’ OS and targeting ferroptosis may be an alternative for therapy. Further studies are necessary to verify these results of our study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Han Cui ◽  
Qiu-Ju Peng ◽  
Peng Gao ◽  
Xu-Dong Zhang ◽  
Ren-Zhi Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Cancer is one of the most common causes of death, and the morbidity and mortality are gradually increasing in the world. KIF20A plays an important role in tumors, but its immune relevance in pan-cancer needs to be further studied.Methods: KIF20A-related information was download from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Collecting RNA-seq data is fragments per kilobase million (FPKM) style data. The ESTIMATE algorithm was used for estimating the stromal and immune scores for 33 tumors. Then, we analyzed the correlation between KIF20A in pan-cancer and immune checkpoints and performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) analysis on the co-expressed genes of KIF20A in pan-cancer.Results: We have confirmed that the expression of KIF20A has a intensive correlation with prognosis in 33 kinds of tumors. Its expression of KIF20A was related to a variety of immune cells and immune checkpoints. Based on the results of GSEA for further analysis, in multiple tumors, KIF20A is related to immune-related pathways.Conclusion: We have demonstrated that KIF20A played an important role in pan-cancer and could affect the occurrence or development of a variety of tumors. Moreover, KIF20A was related to immunity, and KIF20A- related immune research in pan-cancer also needs to be further demonstrate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Wu ◽  
Peian Cai ◽  
Zhenhui Lu ◽  
Zhi Zhang ◽  
Xixi He ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into adipogenesis (AD) rather than osteogenesis (OS) is an important pathological feature of osteoporosis. Illuminating the detailed mechanisms of the differentiation of BMSCs into OS and AD would contribute to the interpretation of osteoporosis pathology. Methods To identify the regulated mechanism in lineage commitment of the BMSCs into OS and AD in the early stages, the gene expression profiles with temporal series were downloaded to reveal the distinct fates when BMSCs adopt a committed lineage. For both OS and AD lineages, the profiles of days 2–4 were compared with day 0 to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. Next, the functional enrichment analysis was utilized to find out the biological function, and protein-protein interaction network to predict the central genes. Finally, experiments were performed to verify our finding. Results FoxO signaling pathway with central genes like FoxO3, IL6, and CAT is the crucial mechanism of OS, while Rap1 signaling pathway of VEGFA and FGF2 enrichment is more significant for AD. Besides, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway might serve as the latent mechanism about the initiation of differentiation of BMSCs into multiple lineages. Conclusion Above hub genes and early-responder signaling pathways control osteogenic and adipogenic fates of BMSCs, which maybe mechanistic models clarifying the changes of bone metabolism in the clinical progress of osteoporosis. The findings provide a crucial reference for the prevention and therapy of osteoporosis.


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