LMTK3 promotes tumorigenesis in bladder cancer via the ERK/MAPK pathway

MiR-205-3p suppresses bladder cancer progression via GLO1 mediated P38/ERK activation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to serve as potential biomarkers in bladder cancer and play important roles in cancer progression. This study aimed to investigate the biological role of miR-205-3p in bladder cancer. We showed that miR-205-3p was significantly down-regulated in bladder cancer tissues and cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-205-3p inhibited bladder cancer progression in vitro. Then we confirmed that GLO1, a downstream target of miR-205-3p, mediated the effect of miR-205-3p on bladder cancer cells. In addition, we found that miR-205-3p inhibits P38/ERK activation through repressing GLO1. Eventually, we confirmed that miR-205-3p inhibits the occurrence and progress of bladder cancer by targeting GLO1 in vivo by nude mouse tumorigenesis and immunohistochemistry. In a word, miR-205-3p inhibits proliferation and metastasis of bladder cancer cells by activating the GLO1 mediated P38/ERK signaling pathway and that may be a potential therapeutic target for bladder cancer.

Establishment of a nomogram model for prediction of postoperative heterochronous liver metastasis in young and middle-aged patients with rectal cancer

BACKGROUND

The incidence of rectal cancer is increasing year by year. Radical surgery is often used for the treatment of rectal cancer in clinical practice, but postoperative liver metastasis has become an important reason for the increase in mortality. Therefore, establishing a model to predict the trend of metachronous liver metastasis has become a research focus. Nomogram model has been widely used in the medical field, but there has been no widely accepted nomogram model available for prediction of metachronous liver metastasis after rectal cancer surgery.

AIM

To constuct a nomogram model based on the risk factors for postoperative metachronous liver metastasis in young and middle-aged patients with rectal cancer, and to evaluate the performance of the model for predicting the risk of postoperative metachronous liver metastasis, so as to provide some guidance for clinical prevention and treatment.

METHODS

A total of 120 young and middle-aged patients with rectal cancer admitted to our hospital from March 2019 to February 2022 were selected as research subjects to observe the incidence of postoperative heterochronous liver metastasis. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for postoperative heterochronous liver metastasis and to construct a nomogram model. ROC curve, decision curve, and correction curve analyses were used to verify the value of nomogram model for the prediction of postoperative heterochronous liver metastasis.

RESULTS

The incidence of anomalous liver metastasis 1 year after surgery was 23.33% in 120 young and middle-aged patients with rectal cancer. Low differentiation, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion (T3/T4), margin width of primary cancer < 2 cm, high expression of peripheral blood telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), and elevated serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), lemur tyrosine kinase-3 (LMTK3), squamous cell carcinoma-associated antigen (SCC-Ag), and axon-guided factor-1 (Netrin-1) were identified to be risk factor for postoperative hetero-chronic liver metastasis (P < 0.05). The C-index and area under the curve of the nomogram model were 0.860 and 0.957, respectively, and the net benefit value was high (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Low differentiation, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion (T3/T4), margin width of primary cancer < 2 cm, high expression of hTERT in peripheral blood, and elevated levels of serum CEA, VEGF, LMTK3, SC-AG and Netrin-1 are risk factors for postoperative xenotemporal liver metastasis in young and middle-aged patients with rectal cancer. Based on the above risk factors, a nomogram model has been established to predict postoperative heterochronous liver metastasis in such patients.

Recent advances in the understanding of urothelial tumorigenesis

INTRODUCTION

Patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder tumor suffer from disease recurrence following transurethral surgery even with intravesical pharmacotherapy, while muscle-invasive disease is often deadly. It is therefore critical to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for not only bladder tumor progression but also its tumorigenesis. Indeed, various molecules and/or signaling pathways have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of bladder cancer.

AREAS COVERED

We summarize the progress during the last few years on the initiation or development, but not progression, of urothelial cancer. The clinical implications of these available data, including prognostic significance and possible application for the prevention of the recurrence of non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors, are also discussed.

EXPERT OPINION

Bladder cancer is a heterogeneous group of neoplasms. The establishment of personalized therapeutic options based on the molecular profile in each case should thus be considered. On that account, further accumulation of data on urothelial tumorigenesis is warranted to identify promising targets for the prevention of postoperative tumor recurrence or tumor development in otherwise high-risk patients.

The Inhibitory Properties of a Novel, Selective LMTK3 Kinase Inhibitor

Recently, the oncogenic role of lemur tyrosine kinase 3 (LMTK3) has been well established in different tumor types, highlighting it as a viable therapeutic target. In the present study, using in vitro and cell-based assays coupled with biophysical analyses, we identify a highly selective small molecule LMTK3 inhibitor, namely C36. Biochemical/biophysical and cellular studies revealed that C36 displays a high in vitro selectivity profile and provides notable therapeutic effect when tested in the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-60 cancer cell line panel. We also report the binding affinity between LMTK3 and C36 as demonstrated via microscale thermophoresis (MST). In addition, C36 exhibits a mixed-type inhibition against LMTK3, consistent with the inhibitor overlapping with both the adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)- and substrate-binding sites. Treatment of different breast cancer cell lines with C36 led to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis, further reinforcing the prospective value of LMTK3 inhibitors for cancer therapy.

HAPLN3 inhibits apoptosis and promotes EMT of clear cell renal cell carcinoma via ERK and Bcl-2 signal pathways

Hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein 3 (HAPLN3) is a member of the hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein family expressed in the extracellular matrix closely associated with the development and occurrence of various malignant tumors; yet, its function in clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) is still poorly understood. The following study investigated the progress and mechanism of HAPLN3 on ccRCC using bioinformatics analysis and in vitro experiments. In order to determine whether HAPLN3 is differentially expressed in ccRCC, we analyzed data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GSE40435 and further validated them in the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. Simultaneously, the TCGA dataset was utilized to study the relationship between HAPLN3 expression and the progression of ccRCC and its prognostic value in ccRCC. Gene enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore HAPLN3-related signaling pathways in ccRCC. The TIMER database investigates the link for both HAPLN3 and immune cell infiltration. Different ccRCC cell lines the role of HAPLN3 on cell biological behavior in vitro. HAPLN3 was increased in ccRCC, and its high expression was related to the patients' survival rates and clinical characteristics. GSEA showed that HAPLN3 is mainly enriched in proliferative and metastatic pathways. In addition, HAPLN3 was an independently associated significant predictor in patients with ccRCC. Functional experiments demonstrated that HAPLN3 could promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ccRCC cells through the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. To sum up, our data suggest that HAPLN3 may serve as a new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for ccRCC.

NCAPH promotes cell proliferation and inhibits cell apoptosis of bladder cancer cells through MEK/ERK signaling pathway

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers world-wide with a poor prognosis. Non-SMC (Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes)-condensin I complex subunit H (NCAPH) is a regulatory subunit of the condensin I complex and plays an important role in tumorigenesis and progression in several types of cancers. However, the role of NCAPH in BC remains unknown. In this study, we tried to reveal the biological functions of NCAPH in BC. We detected the expressions of NCAPH in BC and adjacent tissues, and BC cells lines. Subsequently, the gain- and loss-of-function experiments were performed to determine the effects of NCAPH on BC cell proliferation, apoptosis, and activation of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway in vitro. Moreover, we used BALB/c nude mice and established a xenograft model to investigate whether silence NCAPH using shRNA targeting NCAPH (shNCAPH) can inhibit BC tumor growth in vivo. The results showed NCAPH was overexpressed in BC tissues compared to adjacent tissues and highly expressed in BC cell lines. Additionally, overexpression of NCAPH promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis in SW780 cells. Conversely, knockdown of NCAPH reduced cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis in UMUC3 cells. Furthermore, we found that the NCAPH activated the MEK/ERK signaling pathway in BC cells. MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126 blocked the increase of cell proliferation regulated by NCAPH overexpression. Knockdown of NCAPH significantly inhibited tumor growth in mice. Our results suggest that NCAPH might play an important role in BC progression and provide the potential marker in the diagnosis of BC.

Knockdown of LMTK3 in the Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma Cell Line Ishikawa: Inhibition of Growth and Estrogen Receptor α

Objective

The curative effect of high-efficiency progesterone and other therapeutic drugs for endometrioid adenocarcinoma patients with preservation of reproductive capacity has not been satisfactory so far. Novel therapeutic drugs need to be explored.

Methods

We investigated the cytoplastic and nuclear expression levels of LMTK3 between endometrioid adenocarcinoma tissues and adjacent endometrial tissues by immunohistochemistry. We detected the effects of LMTK3 on cell viability of Ishikawa cells by CCK-8. We detected the effects of LMTK3 on cell cycle and apoptosis of Ishikawa cells by flow cytometry. We also detected the effects of LMTK3 knockdown on mRNA and protein levels of ERα by qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. We also used the cBioPortal online database to analyze the coexpression of LMTK3 and ESR1 in 1647 UCEC samples.

Results

We used TMAs to identify that LMTK3 was mainly detected in the cytoplasm of endometrioid tissues, and cytoplasmic LMTK3 expression in endometrioid tissues was higher than that in adjacent endometrial tissues (P < 0.05). LMTK3 knockdown decreased the proliferation of Ishikawa cells through decreasing cell viability (P < 0.01), increasing G1 (P < 0.001) arrest, and promoting apoptosis (P < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between the mRNA expression levels of LMTK3 and ESR1 (Spearman: P=2.011e-5, R=0.13; Pearson: P=7.18e-8, R=0.17). Knockdown of LMTK3 also reduced the mRNA (P < 0.001) and protein (P < 0.001) levels of ERα.

Conclusions

Inhibitors of LMTK3 may be a possible future treatment for ERα and LMTK3 highly expressed endometrioid adenocarcinoma following appropriate studies.

Comprehensive Molecular Analyses of a Six-Gene Signature for Predicting Late Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

A larger number of patients with stages I-III hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) experience late recurrence (LR) after surgery. We sought to develop a novel tool to stratify patients with different LR risk for tailoring decision-making for postoperative recurrence surveillance and therapy modalities. We retrospectively enrolled two independent public cohorts and 103 HCC tissues. Using LASSO logical analysis, a six-gene model was developed in the The Cancer Genome Atlas liver hepatocellular carcinoma (TCGA-LIHC) and independently validated in GSE76427. Further experimental validation using qRT-PCR assays was performed to ensure the robustness and clinical feasible of this signature. We developed a novel LR-related signature consisting of six genes. This signature was validated to be significantly associated with dismal recurrence-free survival in three cohorts TCGA-LIHC, GSE76427, and qPCR assays [HR: 2.007 (1.200-3.357), p = 0.008; HR: 2.171 (1.068, 4.412), p-value = 0.032; HR: 3.383 (2.100, 5.450), p-value <0.001]. More importantly, this signature displayed robust discrimination in predicting the LR risk, with AUCs being 0.73 (TCGA-LIHC), 0.93 (GSE76427), and 0.85 (in-house cohort). Furthermore, we deciphered the specific landscape of molecular alterations among patients in nonrecurrence (NR) and LR group to analyze the mechanism contributing to LR. For high-risk group, we also identified several potential drugs with specific sensitivity to high- and low-risk groups, which is vital to improve prognosis of LR-HCC after surgery. We discovered and experimentally validated a novel gene signature with powerful performance for identifying patients at high LR risk in stages I-III HCC.

The multifaceted role of lemur tyrosine kinase 3 in health and disease

In the last decade, LMTK3 (lemur tyrosine kinase 3) has emerged as an important player in breast cancer, contributing to the advancement of disease and the acquisition of resistance to therapy through a strikingly complex set of mechanisms. Although the knowledge of its physiological function is largely limited to receptor trafficking in neurons, there is mounting evidence that LMTK3 promotes oncogenesis in a wide variety of cancers. Recent studies have broadened our understanding of LMTK3 and demonstrated its importance in numerous signalling pathways, culminating in the identification of a potent and selective LMTK3 inhibitor. Here, we review the roles of LMTK3 in health and disease and discuss how this research may be used to develop novel therapeutics to advance cancer treatment.

Circ_0030586 inhibits cell proliferation and stemness in bladder cancer by inactivating the ERK signaling via miR-665/NR4A3 axis

Increasing evidence reveals that circular RNAs (circRNAs) serve as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in the development of various tumors including bladder cancer (BCa). In this study, we explored the function and mechanism of circ_0030586 (also named circABCC4, ATP binding cassette subfamily C member 4) in BCa. The expression of circ_0030586 was significantly decreased in BCa tissues and cells, as suggested by RT-qPCR. The circular characteristics of circ_0030586 were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis and RNase R treatment. Colony formation, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine and sphere formation assays revealed that overexpression of circ_0030586 suppressed BCa cell proliferation and stemness in vitro. According to xenograft experiment, circ_0030586 overexpression suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA pulldown and luciferase reporter assays were carried out to explore the interaction between genes. Circ_0030586 served as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for hsa-miR-665 to upregulate the expression of nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 3 (NR4A3) which is a downstream target gene of miR-665 in BCa. MiR-665 exhibited high expression in BCa tissues and cells while NR4A3 expression was downregulated in BCa. MiR-665 overexpression or NR4A3 silencing reversed the suppressive effect of circ_0030586 overexpression on BCa cell proliferation and stemness. Moreover, western blot analysis revealed that circ_0030586 inactivated the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway by upregulating NR4A3 expression. In conclusion, circ_0030586 inhibits BCa cell proliferation and stemness by serving as a ceRNA for miR-665 to upregulate NR4A3 expression and thus inactivate the ERK signaling.

Lemur Tyrosine Kinases and Prostate Cancer: A Literature Review

The members of the Lemur Tyrosine Kinases (LMTK1-3) subfamily constitute a group of three membrane-anchored kinases. They are known to influence a wide variety of key cellular events, often affecting cell proliferation and apoptosis. They have been discovered to be involved in cancer, in that they impact various signalling pathways that influence cell proliferation, migration, and invasiveness. Notably, in the context of genome-wide association studies, one member of the LMTK family has been identified as a candidate gene which could contribute to the development of prostate cancer. In this review, of published literature, we present evidence on the role of LMTKs in human prostate cancer and model systems, focusing on the complex network of interacting partners involved in signalling cascades that are frequently activated in prostate cancer malignancy. We speculate that the modulators of LMTK enzyme expression and activity would be of high clinical relevance for the design of innovative prostate cancer treatment.