Nucleophosmin 1 overexpression correlates with 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters and improves diagnostic accuracy in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

The Nucleolar Protein C1orf131 Is a Novel Gene Involved in the Progression of Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells through the AKT Signalling Pathway

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most widespread cancer in the world, and its development is associated with complex biological mechanisms that are poorly understood. Here, we revealed a marked upregulation in the mRNA level of C1orf131 in LUAD samples compared to non-tumor tissue samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Depletion of C1orf131 suppressed cell proliferation and growth, whereas it stimulated apoptosis in LUAD cells. Mechanistic investigations revealed that C1orf131 knockdown induced cell cycle dysregulation via the AKT and p53/p21 signalling pathways. Additionally, C1orf131 knockdown blocked cell migration through the modulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung adenocarcinoma. Notably, we identified the C1orf131 protein nucleolar localization sequence, which included amino acid residues 137-142 (KKRKLT) and 240-245 (KKKRKG). Collectively, C1orf131 has potential as a novel therapeutic marker for patients in the future, as it plays a vital role in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma.

Computational Modeling to Identify Drugs Targeting Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Characterized by Heightened Glycolysis

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains a deadly disease due to a lack of efficacious treatments. The reprogramming of cancer metabolism toward elevated glycolysis is a hallmark of mCRPC. Our goal is to identify therapeutics specifically associated with high glycolysis. Here, we established a computational framework to identify new pharmacological agents for mCRPC with heightened glycolysis activity under a tumor microenvironment, followed by in vitro validation. First, using our established computational tool, OncoPredict, we imputed the likelihood of drug responses to approximately 1900 agents in each mCRPC tumor from two large clinical patient cohorts. We selected drugs with predicted sensitivity highly correlated with glycolysis scores. In total, 77 drugs predicted to be more sensitive in high glycolysis mCRPC tumors were identified. These drugs represent diverse mechanisms of action. Three of the candidates, ivermectin, CNF2024, and P276-00, were selected for subsequent vitro validation based on the highest measured drug responses associated with glycolysis/OXPHOS in pan-cancer cell lines. By decreasing the input glucose level in culture media to mimic the mCRPC tumor microenvironments, we induced a high-glycolysis condition in PC3 cells and validated the projected higher sensitivity of all three drugs under this condition (p < 0.0001 for all drugs). For biomarker discovery, ivermectin and P276-00 were predicted to be more sensitive to mCRPC tumors with low androgen receptor activities and high glycolysis activities (AR(low)Gly(high)). In addition, we integrated a protein-protein interaction network and topological methods to identify biomarkers for these drug candidates. EEF1B2 and CCNA2 were identified as key biomarkers for ivermectin and CNF2024, respectively, through multiple independent biomarker nomination pipelines. In conclusion, this study offers new efficacious therapeutics beyond traditional androgen-deprivation therapies by precisely targeting mCRPC with high glycolysis.

Cell cycle associated protein 1 associates with immune infiltration and ferroptosis in gastrointestinal cancer

Background

Cell Cycle-Associated Protein 1 (CAPRIN1) play an important role in cell proliferation, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response. Nonetheless, its role in tumor immunity and ferroptosis is largely unknown in gastrointestinal cancer patients.

Methods

Through comprehensive bioinformatics, we investigate CAPRIN1 expression patterns and its role in diagnosis, functional signaling pathways, tumor immune infiltration and ferroptosis of different gastrointestinal cancer subtypes. Besides, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immune blot were used to validate our esophagus cancer clinical data. The ferroptotic features of CAPRIN1 in vitro were assessed through knockdown assays in esophagus cancer cells.

Results

CAPRIN1 expression was significantly upregulated, correlated with poor prognosis, and served as an independent risk factor for most gastrointestinal cancer. Moreover, CAPRIN1 overexpression positively correlated with gene markers of most infiltrating immune cells, and immune checkpoints. CAPRIN1 knockdown significantly decreased the protein level of major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. We also identified a link between CAPRIN1 and ferroptosis-related genes in gastrointestinal cancer. Knockdown of CAPRIN1 significantly increased the production of lipid reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde. Inhibition of CAPRIN1 expression promoted ferroptotic cell death induced by RAS-selective lethal 3 and erastin in human esophagus cancer cells.

Conclusion

Collectively, our results demonstrate that CAPRIN1 is aberrantly expressed in gastrointestinal cancer, is associated with poor prognosis, and could potentially influence immune infiltration and ferroptosis.

SFXN1 as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of LUAD is associated with 18F-FDG metabolic parameters

BACKGROUND

Sideroflexin 1 (SFXN1) has been discovered as a novel tumor marker for lung adenocarcinoma, but data on its importance in the development of lung adenocarcinoma is still limited. This study evaluated the correlation between SFXN1 and parameters related to 18F-flurodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), and further explored the role of SFXN1 in the value-added and glycolytic processes of LUAD.

METHOD

The expression and prognostic value of SFXN1 mRNA in LUAD were analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data base. Retrospective analysis of 18F-FDG PET imaging and metabolic parameters in 42 patients to explore the relationship between the expression of SFXN1 and glucose metabolism levels in lung adenocarcinoma and its clinical significance. H1975 cells were selected as the in vitro research object, and the biological effects of SFXN1 on LUAD were further elucidated through Edu proliferation assay, CCK8 activity assay, wound healing experiment, and cell flow cytometry.

RESULT

SFXN1 is highly expressed in various tumors, including LUAD, and its high expression can serve as an independent predictor of overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma. In addition, the expression of SFXN1 in LUAD was significantly correlated with 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters: maximum and average standardized uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean), as well as total lesion glycolysis (TLG) (rho = 0.574, 0.589, and 0.338, p < 0.05), which can predict the expression of SFXN1 with an accuracy of 0.934. In vitro functional experiments have shown that knocking down SFXN1 inhibits the proliferation and migration of LUAD cells, promotes cell apoptosis, and may inhibit tumor activity by regulating the expression of glycolytic related genes SLC2A1, HK2, GPI, ALDOA, GAPDH, ENO1, PKM, and LDHA.

CONCLUSION

The overexpression of SFXN1 is closely related to FDG uptake, and SFXN1, as a promising prognostic biomarker, may mediate the development of LUAD through the glycolytic pathway.

Caprin-1 plays a role in cell proliferation and Warburg metabolism of esophageal carcinoma by regulating METTL3 and WTAP

BACKGROUND

Cytoplasmic activation/proliferation-associated protein-1 (Caprin-1) is implicated in cancer cell proliferation and tumorigenesis; however, its role in the development of esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) has not been examined.

METHODS

Biological methods and data analysis were used to investigate the expression of Caprin-1 in ESCA tissue and cell lines. We comprehensively analyzed the mRNA expression and prognostic values, signalling pathways of CAPRIN1 in ESCA using public databases online. Biological functions of CAPRIN1 were performed by clorimetric growth assay, EdU staining, colony formation, flow cytometry, apoptosis analysis, Western blot, lactate detection assay, extracellular acidification rates. The underlying mechanism was determined via flow cytometric analysis, Western blot and rescue experiments. In addition, xenograft tumor model was constructed to verify the phenotypes upon CAPRIN1 silencing.

RESULTS

Caprin-1 expression was significantly elevated in both ESCA tumor tissues and cell lines compared with that in normal adjacent tissues and fibroblasts. Increased CAPRIN1 mRNA expression was significantly associated with clinical prognosis and diagnostic accuracy. The GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis CAPRIN1 might be related to immune-related terms, protein binding processes, and metabolic pathways. A significant positive correlation was observed between high Caprin-1 protein levels and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.031), ki-67 (P = 0.023), and 18F- FDG PET/CT parameters (SUVmax (P = 0.002) and SUV mean (P = 0.005)) in 55 ESCA patients. At cut-off values of SUVmax 17.71 and SUVmean 10.14, 18F- FDG PET/CT imaging predicted Caprin-1 expression in ESCA samples with 70.8% sensitivity and 77.4% specificity. In vitro and in vivo assays showed that Caprin-1 knockdown affected ESCA tumor growth. Silencing Caprin-1 inhibited ESCA cell proliferation and glycolysis, and decreased the expression of methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) and Wilms' tumor 1-associating protein (WTAP). However, this effect could be partially reversed by the restoration of METTL3 and WTAP expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that Caprin-1 could serve as a prognostic biomarker and has an oncogenic role in ESCA.

Nucleophosmin 1 is a prognostic marker of gastrointestinal cancer and is associated with m6A and cuproptosis

Background: NPM1 is highly expressed in a variety of solid tumors and promotes tumor development. However, there are few comprehensive studies on NPM1 analysis in gastrointestinal cancer.

Methods: We used bioinformatics tools to study the expression difference of NPM1 between gastrointestinal cancer and control group, and analyzed the relationship between its expression level and the diagnosis, prognosis, functional signaling pathway, immune infiltration, m6A and cuproptosis related genes of gastrointestinal cancer. At the same time, the expression difference of NPM1 between esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) samples and control samples was verified by in vitro experiments.

Results: NPM1 was overexpressed in gastrointestinal cancer. In vitro experiments confirmed that the expression of NPM1 in ESCA samples was higher than that in normal samples. The expression of NPM1 has high accuracy in predicting the outcome of gastrointestinal cancer. The expression of NPM1 is closely related to the prognosis of multiple gastrointestinal cancers. Go and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that NPM1 co-expressed genes involved in a variety of biological functions. NPM1 expression is potentially associated with a variety of immune cell infiltration, m6A and cuproptosis related genes in gastrointestinal cancers.

Conclusion: NPM1 can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of gastrointestinal cancer, which is related to the immune cell infiltration and the regulation of m6A and cuproptosis.

eIF6 is potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker that associated with 18F-FDG PET/CT features and immune signatures in esophageal carcinoma

Background

Although eukaryotic initiation factor 6 (eIF6) is a novel therapeutic target, data on its importance in the development of esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) remains limited. This study evaluated the correlation between eIF6 expression and metabolic analysis using fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) -Positron emission tomography (PET) and immune gene signatures in ESCA.

Methods

This study employed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to analyze the expression and prognostic value of eIF6, as well as its relationship with the immune gene signatures in ESCA patients. The qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses were used to profile the expression of eIF6 in ESCA tissues and different ESCA cell lines. The expression of tumor eIF6 and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) was examined using immunohistochemical tools in fifty-two ESCA patients undergoing routine ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before surgery. In addition, the cellular responses to eIF6 knockdown in human ESCA cells were assessed via the MTS, EdU, flow cytometry and wound healing assays.

Results

Our data demonstrated that compared with the normal esophageal tissues, eIF6 expression was upregulated in ESCA tumor tissues and showed a high diagnostic value with an area under curve of 0.825 for predicting ESCA. High eIF6 expression was significantly correlated with shorter overall survival of patients with esophagus adenocarcinoma (p = 0.038), but not in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (p = 0.078). In addition, tumor eIF6 was significantly associated with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT parameters: maximal and mean standardized uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) (rho = 0.458, 0.460, and 0.300, respectively, p < 0.01) as well as GLUT1 expression (rho = 0.453, p < 0.001). A SUVmax cutoff of 18.2 led to prediction of tumor eIF6 expression with an accuracy of 0.755. Functional analysis studies demonstrated that knockdown of eIF6 inhibited ESCA cell growth and migration, and fueled cell apoptosis. Moreover, the Bulk RNA gene analysis revealed a significant inverse association between eIF6 and the tumor-infiltrating immune cells (macrophages, T cells, or Th1 cells) and immunomodulators in the ESCA microenvironment.

Conclusion

Our study suggested that eIF6 might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker associated with metabolic variability and immune gene signatures in ESCA tumor microenvironment.

Could nucleolin and nucleophosmin levels be prognostic indicators in non-small cell lung cancer?

Aim: Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality from cancer across the world. In this study, the use of serum nucleolin (NCL) and nucleophosmin (NPM1) levels as a marker in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response evaluation in lung cancer was investigated. Materials and Method: NCL and NPM1 levels of serum samples taken before chemotherapy and after 3-4 courses of chemotherapy from the control group and the patients diagnosed with lung cancer were studied using ELISA method. Results: Serum NCL and NPM1 levels of the patients were higher than of the controls (p = 0.085 for NCL, p = 0.000 for NPM1). NCL and NPM1 levels by histopathologic type were significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.05 for each). In view of the treatment responses to chemotherapeutic agents, there was a statistically insignificant difference between the values before and after chemotherapy (p > 0.05 for each). Conclusion: High serum NCL and NPM1 levels were found to correlate with poor prognosis, poor treatment response and low survival rate. It can be concluded that serum NCL and NPM1 levels in lung cancer can be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers for the disease.

18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters correlate with EIF2S2 expression status in colorectal cancer

Background: We sought to investigate whether the expression of the gene EIF2S2 is related to ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Materials and methods: The expression of EIF2S2 in CRC and its relationship with clinicopathological features were obtained through the ONCOMINE, UALCAN and GEPIA databases. EIF2S2 and GLUT1 expression were examined by immunohistochemistry in 42 CRC patients undergoing preoperative PET-CT examination. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between EIF2S2 and GLUT1 levels and clinical parameters. Correlation analysis between EIF2S2 and Reactome-Glycolysis signatures was performed using GEPIA2. We describe the effect of EIF2S2 knockdown on lactate production and the mRNA levels of glycolysis-related genes in human colon cancer SW480 cells.

Results: Immunohistochemistry revealed an upregulation of EIF2S2 protein expression in tumor tissues of colorectal cancer patients, which is consistent with the significant upregulation of EIF2S2 transcript levels in the database. These colorectal cancer patients included 24 cases of colon cancer and 18 cases of rectal cancer, ranging in age from 31 to 78 years. The transcription was significantly related to histological subtypes and TP53 mutations (P <0.05). The value of SUVmax in CRC significantly correlated with the expression of EIF2S2 (rho = 0.462, P <0.01). Although SUVmax and SUVmean was not correlate with the expression of GLUT1 (P <0.05), a significant correlation was observed between the expression of GLUT1 and the volumetric PET parameters, such as MTV and TLG (P < 0.01). GLUT1 expression in CRC was positively correlated with EIF2S2 status (rho = 0.470, P <0.01). In SW480 cells, RNAi-mediated depletion of EIF2S2 inhibited lactic acid production (P <0.05) and SLC2A1, SLC2A3, SLC2A10, HK2, PKM2, LDHA mRNA level (P <0.01).

Conclusions: Primary CRC FDG uptake is strongly associated with the overexpression of EIF2S2, and EIF2S2 may promote glycolysis in CRC by mediating GLUT1.

NPM1 Is a Prognostic Biomarker Involved in Immune Infiltration of Lung Adenocarcinoma and Associated With m6A Modification and Glycolysis

Background

Overexpression of NPM1 can promote the growth and proliferation of various tumor cells. However, there are few studies on the comprehensive analysis of NPM1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

Methods

TCGA and GEO data sets were used to analyze the expression of NPM1 in LUAD and clinicopathological analysis. The GO/KEGG enrichment analysis of NPM1 co-expression and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were performed using R software package. The relationship between NPM1 expression and LUAD immune infiltration was analyzed using TIMER, GEPIA database and TCGA data sets, and the relationship between NPM1 expression level and LUAD m6A modification and glycolysis was analyzed using TCGA and GEO data sets.

Results

NPM1 was overexpressed in a variety of tumors including LUAD, and the ROC curve showed that NPM1 had a certain accuracy in predicting the outcome of tumors and normal samples. The expression level of NPM1 in LUAD is significantly related to tumor stage and prognosis. The GO/KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that NPM1 was closely related to translational initiation, ribosome, structural constituent of ribosome, ribosome, Parkinson disease, and RNA transport. GSEA showed that the main enrichment pathway of NPM1-related differential genes was mainly related to mTORC1 mediated signaling, p53 hypoxia pathway, signaling by EGFR in cancer, antigen activates B cell receptor BCR leading to generation of second messengers, aerobic glycolysis and methylation pathways. The analysis of TIMER, GEPIA database and TCGA data sets showed that the expression level of NPM1 was negatively correlated with B cells and NK cells. The TCGA and GEO data sets analysis indicated that the NPM1 expression was significantly correlated with one m6A modifier related gene (HNRNPC) and five glycolysis related genes (ENO1, HK2, LDHA, LDHB and SLC2A1).

Conclusion

NPM1 is a prognostic biomarker involved in immune infiltration of LUAD and associated with m6A modification and glycolysis. NPM1 can be used as an effective target for diagnosis and treatment of LUAD.

Single-cell transcriptomics reveals heterogeneous progression and EGFR activation in pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma

Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (PASC) — a rare pathological pancreatic cancer (PC) type — has a poor prognosis due to high malignancy. To examine the heterogeneity of PASC, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) profiling with sample tissues from a healthy donor pancreas, an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, and a patient with PASC. Of 9,887 individual cells, ten cell subpopulations were identified, including myeloid, immune, ductal, fibroblast, acinar, stellate, endothelial, and cancer cells. Cancer cells were divided into five clusters. Notably, cluster 1 exhibited stem-like phenotypes expressing UBE2C, ASPM, and TOP2A. We found that S100A2 is a potential biomarker for cancer cells. LGALS1, NPM1, RACK1, and PERP were upregulated from ductal to cancer cells. Furthermore, the copy number variations in ductal and cancer cells were greater than in the reference cells. The expression of EREG, FCGR2A, CCL4L2, and CTSC increased in myeloid cells from the normal pancreas to PASC. The gene sets expressed by cancer-associated fibroblasts were enriched in the immunosuppressive pathways. We demonstrate that EGFR-associated ligand-receptor pairs are activated in ductal-stromal cell communications. Hence, this study revealed the heterogeneous variations of ductal and stromal cells, defined cancer-associated signaling pathways, and deciphered intercellular interactions following PASC progression.

Imaging characteristics of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary nodules

Introduction: Nontuberculous mycobacteriosis (NTM) of the lungs can develop nodules. In order to clarify some of the characteristics of lung NTM nodules, we examined volume doubling time (VDT) and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in positron emission tomography (PET) of pathologically diagnosed NTM nodules.Methods: From November 2012 to August 2018, clinical and radiological information were retrospectively investigated in 8 patients who were surgically resected and diagnosed as NTM. These eight patients were followed up until November 2020 and were confirmed to have no appearance of lung cancer or reappearance of lung NTM nodules. The VDT was calculated using the Schwartz formula.Results: The median maximum diameter of the nodule at the time of the first CT scan was 16.0 (range: 9.9-20.0) mm. The median maximum diameter of the nodule on CT performed before the surgical biopsy was 18.8 (range: 10.4-32.8) mm. The median doubling time calculated from these results was 203 (range: 20-568) days. Caseous granulomas and acid-fast bacilli were histologically confirmed in all 8 patients. Culture of excised nodules revealed Mycobacterium intracellulare in 5 patients and Mycobacterium avium in 3 patients. Six patients received PET, and median SUVmax was: 7.0 (range: 3.3-21.0). Median VDT was around 200 days. Some patients had irregular-shaped nodules.Conclusions: CT/PET-CT characteristics of lung nodules are not reliable in differentiating lung NTM nodules from malignant ones. To avoid unnecessary resection, it may be better to collect various information on imaging findings in the nodule itself and in opacities other than the nodule.