scholarly journals Telomere and Telomerase-Associated Proteins in Endometrial Carcinogenesis and Cancer-Associated Survival

2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 626
Author(s):  
Lucy Button ◽  
Bryony Rogers ◽  
Emily Thomas ◽  
Alice Bradfield ◽  
Rafah Alnafakh ◽  
...  

Risk of relapse of endometrial cancer (EC) after surgical treatment is 13% and recurrent disease carries a poor prognosis. Research into prognostic indicators is essential to improve EC management and outcome. “Immortality” of most cancer cells is dependent on telomerase, but the role of associated proteins in the endometrium is poorly understood. The Cancer Genome Atlas data highlighted telomere/telomerase associated genes (TTAGs) with prognostic relevance in the endometrium, and a recent in silico study identified a group of TTAGs and proteins as key regulators within a network of dysregulated genes in EC. We characterise relevant telomere/telomerase associated proteins (TTAPs) NOP10, NHP2, NOP56, TERF1, TERF2 and TERF2IP in the endometrium using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). qPCR data demonstrated altered expression of multiple TTAPs; specifically, increased NOP10 (p = 0.03) and reduced NHP2 (p = 0.01), TERF2 (p = 0.01) and TERF2IP (p < 0.003) in EC relative to post-menopausal endometrium. Notably, we report reduced NHP2 in EC compared to post-menopausal endometrium in qPCR and IHC (p = 0.0001) data; with survival analysis indicating high immunoscore is favourable in EC (p = 0.0006). Our findings indicate a potential prognostic role for TTAPs in EC, particularly NHP2. Further evaluation of the prognostic and functional role of the examined TTAPs is warranted to develop novel treatment strategies.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8837
Author(s):  
Anni Kääriäinen ◽  
Vilma Pesola ◽  
Annalena Dittmann ◽  
Juho Kontio ◽  
Jarkko Koivunen ◽  
...  

The expression and regulation of matrisome genes—the ensemble of extracellular matrix, ECM, ECM-associated proteins and regulators as well as cytokines, chemokines and growth factors—is of paramount importance for many biological processes and signals within the tumor microenvironment. The availability of large and diverse multi-omics data enables mapping and understanding of the regulatory circuitry governing the tumor matrisome to an unprecedented level, though such a volume of information requires robust approaches to data analysis and integration. In this study, we show that combining Pan-Cancer expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with genomics, epigenomics and microenvironmental features from TCGA and other sources enables the identification of “landmark” matrisome genes and machine learning-based reconstruction of their regulatory networks in 74 clinical and molecular subtypes of human cancers and approx. 6700 patients. These results, enriched for prognostic genes and cross-validated markers at the protein level, unravel the role of genetic and epigenetic programs in governing the tumor matrisome and allow the prioritization of tumor-specific matrisome genes (and their regulators) for the development of novel therapeutic approaches.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1490
Author(s):  
Osama M. Elzamzamy ◽  
Brandon E. Johnson ◽  
Wei-Chih Chen ◽  
Gangqing Hu ◽  
Reinhold Penner ◽  
...  

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a currently incurable hematologic cancer. Patients that initially respond to therapeutic intervention eventually relapse with drug resistant disease. Thus, novel treatment strategies are critically needed to improve patient outcomes. Our group has developed a novel cyclic peptide referred to as MTI-101 for the treatment of MM. We previously reported that acquired resistance to HYD-1, the linear form of MTI-101, correlated with the repression of genes involved in store operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE): PLCβ, SERCA, ITPR3, and TRPC1 expression. In this study, we sought to determine the role of TRPC1 heteromers in mediating MTI-101 induced cationic flux. Our data indicate that, consistent with the activation of TRPC heteromers, MTI-101 treatment induced Ca2+ and Na+ influx. However, replacing extracellular Na+ with NMDG did not reduce MTI-101-induced cell death. In contrast, decreasing extracellular Ca2+ reduced both MTI-101-induced Ca2+ influx as well as cell death. The causative role of TRPC heteromers was established by suppressing STIM1, TRPC1, TRPC4, or TRPC5 function both pharmacologically and by siRNA, resulting in a reduction in MTI-101-induced Ca2+ influx. Mechanistically, MTI-101 treatment induces trafficking of TRPC1 to the membrane and co-immunoprecipitation studies indicate that MTI-101 treatment induces a TRPC1-STIM1 complex. Moreover, treatment with calpeptin inhibited MTI-101-induced Ca2+ influx and cell death, indicating a role of calpain in the mechanism of MTI-101-induced cytotoxicity. Finally, components of the SOCE pathway were found to be poor prognostic indicators among MM patients, suggesting that this pathway is attractive for the treatment of MM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7374
Author(s):  
Changwu Wu ◽  
Yingjuan Duan ◽  
Siming Gong ◽  
Sonja Kallendrusch ◽  
Nikolas Schopow ◽  
...  

Regulator of Chromatin Condensation 1 (RCC1) is the only known guanine nucleotide exchange factor that acts on the Ras-like G protein Ran and plays a key role in cell cycle regulation. Although there is growing evidence to support the relationship between RCC1 and cancer, detailed pancancer analyses have not yet been performed. In this genome database study, based on The Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, the potential role of RCC1 in 33 tumors’ entities was explored. The results show that RCC1 is highly expressed in most human malignant neoplasms in contrast to healthy tissues. RCC1 expression is closely related to the prognosis of a broad variety of tumor patients. Enrichment analysis showed that some tumor-related pathways such as “cell cycle” and “RNA transport” were involved in the functional mechanism of RCC1. In particular, the conducted analysis reveals the relation of RCC1 to multiple immune checkpoint genes and suggests that the regulation of RCC1 is closely related to tumor infiltration of cancer-associated fibroblasts and CD8+ T cells. Coherent data demonstrate the association of RCC1 with the tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability in various tumors. These findings provide new insights into the role of RCC1 in oncogenesis and tumor immunology in various tumors and indicate its potential as marker for therapy prognosis and targeted treatment strategies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 111 (7) ◽  
pp. 664-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongqiang Yang ◽  
Steven W Li ◽  
Zirong Chen ◽  
Xin Zhou ◽  
Wei Ni ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The LKB1 tumor suppressor gene is commonly inactivated in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), a major form of lung cancer. Targeted therapies for LKB1-inactivated lung cancer are currently unavailable. Identification of critical signaling components downstream of LKB1 inactivation has the potential to uncover rational therapeutic targets. Here we investigated the role of INSL4, a member of the insulin/IGF/relaxin superfamily, in LKB1-inactivated NSCLCs. Methods INSL4 expression was analyzed using global transcriptome profiling, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and RNA in situ hybridization in human NSCLC cell lines and tumor specimens. INSL4 gene expression and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas lung adenocarcinomas (n = 515) were analyzed using log-rank and Fisher exact tests. INSL4 functions were studied using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown, overexpression, transcriptome profiling, cell growth, and survival assays in vitro and in vivo. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results INSL4 was identified as a novel downstream target of LKB1 deficiency and its expression was induced through aberrant CRTC-CREB activation. INSL4 was highly induced in LKB1-deficient NSCLC cells (up to 543-fold) and 9 of 41 primary tumors, although undetectable in all normal tissues except the placenta. Lung adenocarcinomas from The Cancer Genome Atlas with high and low INSL4 expression (with the top 10th percentile as cutoff) showed statistically significant differences for advanced tumor stage (P < .001), lymph node metastasis (P = .001), and tumor size (P = .01). The INSL4-high group showed worse survival than the INSL4-low group (P < .001). Sustained INSL4 expression was required for the growth and viability of LKB1-inactivated NSCLC cells in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model (n = 5 mice per group). Expression profiling revealed INSL4 as a critical regulator of cell cycle, growth, and survival. Conclusions LKB1 deficiency induces an autocrine INSL4 signaling that critically supports the growth and survival of lung cancer cells. Therefore, aberrant INSL4 signaling is a promising therapeutic target for LKB1-deficient lung cancers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junwei Zou ◽  
Yong Huang ◽  
Zhaoying Wu ◽  
Hao Xie ◽  
Rongsheng Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Stomach adenocarcinoma(STAD) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world. The expression levels of family members of mex-3 RNA that bound MEX3A (member A) and MEX3B (member B) were high expressions in different cancers and interconnected to deficient prognosis. The present research assessed the potential regarding the expression of MEX3A and MEX3B in STAD by analysing the facts of STAD (viz. The Cancer Genome Atlas). TCGA, MEX3A and MEX3B in the cancers were analyzed using TIMER2.0, Kaplan Meier Plotter, and cBioPortal. The data was visualized using version 4.0.3 of R. We found MEX3A and MEX3B had various expressions regarding major cancer and relevant common tissues. Especially, high expression of MEX3A and MEX3B had relationships with the OS (namely overall survival) with deficiency and RFS (viz. relapse-free survival) concerning STAD. The expressions of MEX3B had correlations to T stage with P being 0.012 and to the race with P being 0.049. MEX3B was highly expressed in T3 and T4 stages, and was highly expressed in the white race. MEX3A mutation had a better survival without diseases, with P being 0.0205. However, the situation was different with non-overall survival, with P being 0.194, in comparison with the patients who did not have MEX3A change. MEX3A and MEX3B on tumor pathogenesis might be related to "RNA splicing" and "spliceosomal complex" and "single-stranded RNA binding". We further investigated the association between MEX3A and MEX3B and immune cells. The mast cells of the most connections to MEX3A (R=-0.300, P<0.001) and the NK cells were positively correlation with MEX3B (R=0.590, P<0.001). It showed that they might be potential prognostic molecular biomarkers in patients with STAD.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wancheng Zhao ◽  
Lili Yin

Abstract Background: Hypoxia-related genes have been reported to play important roles in a variety of cancers. However, their roles in ovarian cancer (OC) have remained unknown. The aim of our research was to explore the significance of hypoxia-related genes in OC patients.Methods: In this study, 15 hypoxia-related genes were screened from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to group the ovarian cancer patients using the consensus clustering method. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to calculate the hypoxia score for each patient to quantify the hypoxic status. Results: The OC patients from TCGA-OV dataset were divided into two distinct hypoxia statuses (cluster.A and cluster.B) based on the expression level of the 15 hypoxia-related genes. Most hypoxia-related genes were expressed more highly in the cluster.A group than in the cluster.B group. We also found that patients in the cluster.A group exhibited higher expression of immune checkpoint-related genes, epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related genes, and immune activation-related genes, as well as elevated immune infiltrates. PCA algorithm indicated that patients in the cluster.A group had higher hypoxia scores than that in in the cluster.B group.Conclusions: In summary, our research elucidated the vital role of hypoxia-related genes in immune infiltrates of OC. Our investigation of hypoxic status may be able to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy for OC.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1065-1073
Author(s):  
Verena Wieser ◽  
Samira Abdel Azim ◽  
Susanne Sprung ◽  
Katharina Knoll ◽  
Johanna Kögl ◽  
...  

Abstract Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecologic tumour in the Western world. Previous studies have implicated an imbalance of oestrogens and progestogens in the development of most ECs, while the role of low-grade tissue inflammation remains largely unexplored. We investigated the impact of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), a central mediator of inflammation and spermatogenesis-associated protein 2 (SPATA2), a regulator of TNF receptor signalling, on clinical outcomes in EC. We evaluated TNFA and SPATA2 transcript levels in 239 EC patients and 25 non-malignant control tissues. Findings were validated in a cohort of 332 EC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Expression of TNFA and SPATA2 was increased in EC when compared with control tissues (P &lt; 0.001). TNFA expression correlated with SPATA2 expression in non-malignant (P = 0.003, rS = 0.568) and EC tissue (P = 0.005, rS = 0.179). High TNFA and SPATA2 expression were associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS; P = 0.049 and P = 0.018) and disease-specific (P = 0.034 and P = 0.002) survival. Increased SPATA2 expression was also associated with decreased overall survival (OS; P = 0.013). In multivariate analysis, both TNFA and SPATA2 were predictors of clinical outcome. The impact of SPATA2 on RFS and OS could be validated in the TCGA cohort. Our study demonstrates that ECs exhibit a TNF signature which predicts clinical outcome. These findings indicate that TNF signalling modulates the course of EC, which could be therapeutically utilized in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingjia Mao ◽  
Panfeng Fu ◽  
Linlin Wang ◽  
Chuan Xiang

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common and disabling joint disorder that is mainly characterized by cartilage degeneration and narrow joint spaces. The role of mitochondrial dysfunction in promoting the development of OA has gained much attention. Targeting endogenous molecules to improve mitochondrial function is a potential treatment for OA. Moreover, research on exogenous drugs to improve mitochondrial function in OA based on endogenous molecular targets has been accomplished. In addition, stem cells and exosomes have been deeply researched in the context of cartilage regeneration, and these factors both reverse mitochondrial dysfunctions. Thus, we hypothesize that biomedical approaches will be applied to the treatment of OA. Furthermore, we have summarized the global status of mitochondria and osteoarthritis research in the past two decades, which will contribute to the research field and the development of novel treatment strategies for OA.


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