The insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 and its death receptor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma poor prognosis

Clinicopathological correlation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 and their death receptor in patients with gastric cancer

Background and purpose

The insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) and its novel death receptor (IGFBP-3R) have been exhibited to have tumor suppressor effects. Despite their prognostic value in some cancers, they have not been elucidated in gastric cancer.

Experimental approach

We collected 68 samples from patients with gastric cancer. IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-3R expression levels were evaluated with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting in patients. The relationship between prognostic factors and IGFBP-3/IGFBP-3R expression was also evaluated.

Findings/Results

Our results showed that IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-3R expression was reduced significantly in tumor tissues. We found that there was an association between the reduction of IGFBP-3 with lymph node metastasis and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging. Besides, IGFBP-3R expression was associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, differentiation, and TNM classification. Interestingly, we presented that the downregulation of IGFBP-3R was stage-dependent. In survival analysis, our findings showed that low levels of IGFBP-3R mRNA expression exhibited a close correlation with survival rate.

Conclusion and implications

The findings of this study showed that the expression levels of IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-3R are valuable prognostic factors. Despite the potential of IGFBP-3, IGFBP-3R plays a significant role as a prognostic factor in gastric cancer. However, these findings need to be developed and confirmed by further studies.

Expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in HELLP syndrome

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3) in HELLP syndrome and its possible role in the pathogenesis of this disease.

METHODS

1) 87 subjects were enrolled, including 29 patients with HELLP syndrome, 29 patients with pre-eclampsia (PE), and 29 healthy gravidae as control. The levels of IGFBP-3, IGF-1, TGF-β1, and VEGF in maternal and umbilical blood of them were detected using ELISA. Correlation analysis was used to observe the correlation between IGFBP-3 and IGF-1/TGF-β1/VEGF in maternal and umbilical blood, as well as that between maternal serum IGFBP-3 and clinical diagnostic indicators of HELLP syndrome. 2) Human hepatic sinusoid endothelial cells (HLSEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cultured with different concentrations of IGFBP-3. After 72 h of culture, cell apoptosis and the normal living cells rate were detected and compared.

RESULTS

1) In both maternal and umbilical blood of HELLP group, levels of IGFBP-3 and TGF-β1 were higher than control and PE group, IGF-1was lower than control group, VEGF was lower than control and PE group. IGFBP-3 in maternal blood was correlated with IGF-1/TGF-β1/ VEGF, while IGFBP-3 in umbilical blood was linked to IGF-1/TGF-β1. In maternal blood, there was a negative correlation between PLT and IGFBP-3, and a positive correlation between ALT/AST/LDH and IGFBP-3. 2) After cultured with IGFBP-3, the total apoptosis rate of either HLSEC or HUVEC was considerably elevated, while the normal living rate was decreased.

CONCLUSION

The expression of IGFBP-3 is elevated in HELLP syndrome, which may subsequently promote cell apoptosis by affecting the expression and function of IGF-1, VEGF, and TGFβ1 in the IGF/PI3K/Akt, TGF-β1/Smad3, and VEGF/eNOS/NO pathways. IGFBP-3 aggravates inflammatory reactions of the vascular endothelium and liver under hypoxia, affects the normal function of cells, and plays a role in the pathogenesis of diseases.

Cancer-associated fibroblast-related prognostic signature predicts prognosis and immunotherapy response in pancreatic adenocarcinoma based on single-cell and bulk RNA-sequencing

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) influence many aspects of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) carcinogenesis, including tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. A six-gene prognostic signature was constructed for PAAD based on the 189 CAF marker genes identified in single-cell RNA-sequencing data. Multivariate analyses showed that the risk score was independently prognostic for survival in the TCGA (P < 0.001) and ICGC (P = 0.004) cohorts. Tumor infiltration of CD8 T (P = 0.005) cells and naïve B cells (P = 0.001) was greater in the low-risk than in the high-risk group, with infiltration of these cells negatively correlated with risk score. Moreover, the TMB score was lower in the low-risk than in the high-risk group (P = 0.0051). Importantly, patients in low-risk group had better immunotherapy responses than in the high-risk group in an independent immunotherapy cohort (IMvigor210) (P = 0.039). The CAV1 and SOD3 were highly expressed in CAFs of PAAD tissues, which revealed by immunohistochemical staining. In summary, this comprehensive analysis resulted in the development of a novel prognostic signature, which was associated with immune cell infiltration, drug sensitivity, and TMB, and could predict the prognosis and immunotherapy response of patients with PAAD.

Expression characteristics and their functional role of IGFBP gene family in pan-cancer

BACKGROUND

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) are critical regulators of the biological activities of insulin-like growth factors. The IGFBP family plays diverse roles in different types of cancer, which we still lack comprehensive and pleiotropic understandings so far.

METHODS

Multi-source and multi-dimensional data, extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Oncomine, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), and the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) was used for bioinformatics analysis by R language. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were performed to validate the results of the database analysis results. Bibliometrics and literature review were used for summarizing the research progress of IGFBPs in the field of tumor.

RESULTS

The members of IGFBP gene family are differentially expressed in various cancer types. IGFBPs expression can affect prognosis of different cancers. The expression of IGFBPs expression is associated with multiple signal transduction pathways. The expression of IGFBPs is significantly correlated with tumor mutational burden, microsatellite instability, tumor stemness and tumor immune microenvironment. The qRT-PCR experiments verified the lower expression of IGFBP2 and IGFBP6 in gastric cancer and the lower expression of IGFBP6 in colorectal cancer. Immunohistochemistry validated a marked downregulation of IGFBP2 protein in gastric cancer tissues. The keywords co-occurrence analysis of IGFBP related publications in cancer showed relative research have been more concentrating on the potential of IGFBPs as tumor diagnostic and prognostic markers and developing cancer therapies.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide frontier trend of IGFBPs related research and new clues for identifying novel therapeutic targets for various cancers.

IGFBP3 Enhances Treatment Outcome and Predicts Favorable Prognosis in ABC-DLBCL

Chemoresistance is a key obstacle in the clinical treatment and management of activated B cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL), which leads to the poor prognosis of patients. Exploring novel biomarkers to early warn drug resistance and ameliorate the patients' outcome in ABC-DLBCL is urgent and crucial. Previously, we found that insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) was remarkably associated with immunochemotherapy treatment response through microarray screening. Based on a retrospective cohort (n = 160) and a GEO cohort (n = 292), here we determined the positive expression rate of IGFBP3 and analyzed the role of IGFBP3 in treatment response and prognostics in ABC-DLBCL. The results demonstrated that the complete response (CR) rate of R-CHOP treatment was higher in ABC-DLBCL with IGFBP3 positive expression than those with IGFBP3 negative expression (42.0% vs 26.4%), and IGFBP3 positive expression in ABC-DLBCL was significantly correlated with enhanced therapeutic response (P = 0.037). High level of IGFBP3 was negatively correlated with tumorigenesis and development and predicted favorable survival time in ABC-DLBCL. In conclusion, IGFBP3 may be utilized as a promising biomarker for prognosis evaluation and a potential therapy target in ABC-DLBCL patients.

Gene expression profiling of perineural invasion in head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Perineural invasion (PNI) is frequently associated with aggressive clinical behaviour in head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (HNcSCC) leading to local recurrence and treatment failure. This study evaluates the gene expression profiles of HNcSCC with PNI using a differential expression analysis approach and constructs a tailored gene panel for sensitivity and specificity analysis. 45 cases of HNcSCC were stratified into three groups (Extensive, Focal and Non PNI) based on predefined clinicopathological criteria. Here we show HNcSCC with extensive PNI demonstrates significant up- and down-regulation of 144 genes associated with extracellular matrix interactions, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, cell adhesion, cellular motility, angiogenesis, and cellular differentiation. Gene expression of focal and non PNI cohorts were indistinguishable and were combined for further analyses. There is clinicopathological correlation between gene expression analysis findings and disease behaviour and a tailored panel of 10 genes was able to identify extensive PNI with 96% sensitivity and 95% specificity.

Novel Approach to Overcome Defects of Cell-SELEX in Developing Aptamers against Aspartate β-Hydroxylase

Cell-based aptamer selection (Cell-SELEX) against predefined protein targets that benefits using the native form of the targets is the most promising approach to achieve aptamer probes capable of recognizing targets under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The major disadvantages in Cell-SELEX are the imperfectness of the negative selection step and the lengthy procedure of selection. Here, we introduced the Counter-SELEX as part of our modified Cell-SELEX and implemented deep sequencing to overcome these shortcomings in developing aptamers against aspartate β-hydroxylase (ASPH) as a known tumor marker. In parallel with the conventional Cell-SELEX, five consecutive cycles of counter selection were accomplished using sequences bound to negative cells (the Counter-SELEX) to detect oligos that are not specific for ASPH. After high-throughput sequencing, the representative of each promising achieved family was subjected to further confirmatory analysis via flow cytometry, followed by the fluorescence immunostaining of histopathological sections. Implementing our innovative complementary method, annoying mis-selected sequences in Cell-SELEX enriched pools were effectively identified and removed. According to the affinity assay on the cells displaying ASPH, three aptamers, AP-Cell 1, AP-Cell 2, and AP-Cell 3, with K _d values of 47.51, 39.38, and 65.23 nM, respectively, were obtained, while AP-Cell 1 and 3 could then successfully spot ASPH displayed on the tissues. Our study showed that the Counter-SELEX could be considered as a complementary method for Cell-SELEX to overcome the imperfectness of the negative selection step. Moreover, high-throughput nucleotide sequencing could help to shorten the overall process.

The Prognostic Values of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein Family in Ovarian Cancer

Purpose

To assess the expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) family and its prognostic impact in ovarian cancer (OC) patients.

Materials and Methods

The mRNA expression and protein expression of individual IGFBPs in healthy ovarian samples and OC tissues were explored through Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, and Human Protein Atlas database. Additionally, the prognostic values of the six IGFBP members in patients with OC were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier plotter.

Results

IGFBP2 and IGFBP4 mRNA expression were remarkably upregulated in patients with OC. To be specific, the mRNA expression of IGFBP2 was upregulated in patients with serous ovarian cancer (SOC), while IGFBP1/3/4/5/6 mRNA levels were downregulated. In addition, the IGFBP4 protein expression was upregulated in SOC, and the IGFBP6 protein expression was upregulated in both of SOC and endometrioid ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues. High IGFBP1 mRNA levels showed favorable overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in all OC. Meanwhile, increased IGFBP5/6 mRNA levels revealed worsen OS and PFS in all OC patients. IGFBP4/6 mRNA levels predicted unfavorable OS and PFS only in SOC patients. Moreover, the aberrant mRNA expression of IGFBP1/2/4/5/6 was correlated with significantly prognosis in patients receiving different chemotherapeutic regimens.

Conclusion

This study indicates that the IGFBP family reveals distinct prognosis in patients with OC. IGFBP1/2/4/5/6 are useful prognostic predictors for chemotherapeutic effect in OC patients, and IGFBP2/4 are potential tumor markers for the diagnosis of OC.

An innovative cell selection approach in developing human cells overexpressing aspartyl/asparaginyl β-hydroxylase

Background and purpose:

Aspartyl/asparaginyl β-hydroxylase (ASPH) is abundantly expressed in malignant neoplastic cells. The establishment of a human cell line overexpressing ASPH could provide the native-like recombinant protein needed for developing theranostic probes. In the process of transfection, the obtained cells normally contain a range of cells expressing the different levels of the target of interest. In this paper, we report on our simple innovative approach in the selection of best-transfected cells with the highest expression of ASPH using subclone selection, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and gradual increment of hygromycin concentration.

Experimental approach:

To achieve this goal, human embryonic kidney (HEK 293T) cells were transfected with an ASPH-bearing pcDNA3.1/Hygro(+) vector. During antibiotic selection, single accumulations of the resistant cells were separately cultured and the ASPH mRNA levels of each flask were evaluated. The best subclones were treated with a gradually increasing amount of hygromycin. The ASPH protein expression of the obtained cells was finally evaluated using flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry.

Findings / Results:

The results showed that different selected subclones expressed different levels of ASPH. Furthermore, the gradual increment of hygromycin (up to 400mg/mL) improved the expression of ASPH. The best relative fold change in mRNA levels was 57.59 ± 4.11. Approximately 90.2% of HEK^ASPH cells overexpressed ASPH on their surface.

Conclusion and implications:

The experiments indicated that we have successfully constructed and evaluated a recombinant human cell line overexpressing ASPH on the surface. Moreover, our innovative selection approach provided an effective procedure for enriching highly expressing recombinant cells.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 chemosensitizes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma through its death receptor

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal human malignancies. Gemcitabine and doxorubicin are commonly used as the chemotherapy agents, but most of PDAC tumors eventually acquired resistance to chemotherapy. Accumulating evidence indicates that Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) plays a key role against tumor growth but its expression has commonly suppressed. The present study was designed to evaluate IGFBP-3 effects in chemotherapy sensitization of PDAC cells. Here, we report that the re-sensitization of chemoresistant PDAC cells was occurred by IGFBP-3 through recruitment of its death receptor (IGFBP-3R). Using gemcitabine, doxorubicin-resistant PDAC cell lines, we found that IGFBP-3 sensitized chemoresistant cells by activating apoptosis (as evaluated by Bax up-regulation, Bcl-2 down-regulation as well as Caspase-3 and Caspase 8 activation). IGFBP-3R was also found to have higher expression level in resistant AsPc-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cells in comparison to parental cells. IGFBP-3R was also highly expressed in PDAC tumor which exposed to chemotherapy in comparison to un-treated PDAC tumors. In addition, we confirmed our finding by using specific siRNA to knocking down of IGFBP-3R which prevents IGFBP-3 Chemosensitization. Taken together, the present study for the first time indicates the clinical relevance for combining IGFBP-3 with chemotherapy to reduce chemoresistance in PDAC.

IGFBP3 as an indicator of lymph node metastasis and unfavorable prognosis for papillary thyroid carcinoma

Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a usual event in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients, which usually leads to poor prognosis. However, the molecular mechanisms of LNM remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to screen the possible key genes in the progression of LNM in PTC patients and further validate their roles. The study involved two phases: a discovery phase and a validation one. In the former phase, the candidate genes were screened by using bioinformatics methods. In the latter one, the genes were firstly assessed in a cohort from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) to evaluate the associations of their expressions with clinical features and the prognostic values, and then, they were assessed at protein levels by using an immunohistochemical assay. Consequently, IGHBP3 was selected as the candidate gene, which might be enriched in several metabolism-related pathways and cancer progression-related pathways. High expressions of IGHBP3 have an association with gender, advanced clinical stages, high T stages, and the presence of LNM. Survival analysis indicated that IGHBP3 may affect the prognosis of PTC patients. The use of a tissue chip confirmed the view that IGHBP3 might play a crucial role in the LNM of PTC. In conclusion, IGHBP3 might be involved in the development of LNM in PTC patients. IGHBP3 over-expression might be a novel indicator and a potential target for PTC therapy.

Aptamer-based approaches for in vitro molecular detection of cancer

Cancer is typically associated with abnormal production of various tumor-specific molecules known as tumor markers. Probing these markers by utilizing efficient approaches could be beneficial for cancer diagnosis. The current widely-used biorecognition probes, antibodies, suffer from some undeniable shortcomings. Fortunately, novel oligonucleotide-based molecular probes named aptamers are being emerged as alternative detection tools with distinctive advantages compared to antibodies. All of the existing strategies in cancer diagnostics, including those of in vitro detection, can potentially implement aptamers as the detecting moiety. Several studies have been performed in the field of in vitro cancer detection over the last decade. In order to direct future studies, it is necessary to comprehensively summarize and review the current status of the field. Most previous studies involve only a few cancer diagnostic strategies. Here, we thoroughly review recent significant advances on the applications of aptamer in various in vitro detection strategies. Furthermore, we will discuss the status of diagnostic aptamers in clinical trials.