Eukaryotic initiation factor-2, gamma subunit, suppresses proliferation and regulates the cell cycle via the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in acute myeloid leukemia

LSP1 promotes the progression of acute myelogenous leukemia by regulating KSR/ERK signaling pathway and cell migration

We aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of LSP1 in the progression of acute myelogenous leukemia. In this study, we established shLSP1 cell line to analyze the function of LSP1 in AML. We observed high expression of LSP1 in AML patients, whereas it showed no expression in normal adults. Furthermore, we found that LSP1 expression was associated with disease prognosis. Our results indicate that LSP1 plays a crucial role in mediating proliferation and survival of leukemia cells through the KSR/ERK signaling pathway. Additionally, LSP1 promotes cell chemotaxis and homing by enhancing cell adhesion and migration. We also discovered that LSP1 confers chemotactic ability to leukemia cells in vivo. Finally, our study identified 12 genes related to LSP1 in AML, which indicated poor survival outcome in AML patients and were enriched in Ras and cell adhesion signaling pathways. Our results revealed that the overexpression of LSP1 is related to the activation of the KSR/ERK signaling pathway, as well as cell adhesion and migration in AML patients. Reducing LSP1 expression impair AML progression, suggesting that LSP1 may serve as a potential drug therapy target for more effective treatment of AML.

Knockdown of neurotrophin receptor-interacting melanoma-associated antigen homolog inhibits acute myeloid leukemia cell growth via the ERK pathway

Neurotrophin receptor-interacting melanoma-associated antigen homolog (NRAGE), a type II melanoma-associated antigen, plays a critical role in cell processes that are involved in the tumorigenesis of various cancers. However, the effect of NRAGE on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is rarely reported. The expression of NRAGE in AML tissues and the survival rates between different AML groups were obtained from the GEPIA tool. Human AML cell lines were cultured and transfected with siRNA targeting NRAGE. The ability of AML cells to proliferate and cell cycle were examined. Western blotting was performed to detect the activity of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in AML cells. NRAGE expression was enhanced in AML tissues relative to control tissues, and the high NRAGE expression in AML patients is associated with a poor prognosis. The capacity of AML cells to survive and proliferate was significantly decreased and its cell cycle was arrested at the G1 phase after NRAGE was silenced. Furthermore, silencing NRAGE induced the inactivation of the ERK signaling pathway. Furthermore, supplement of tert-Butylhydroquinone, an ERK activator, improved the reduced ability of AML cell survival and proliferation as well as cell cycle arrest induced by NRAGE knockdown. In this study, NRAGE was identified as a tumor promoter in AML, which had an effect on cell proliferation, cell survival, and cell cycle through the ERK signaling pathway in AML cells.

Developmental programming: adverse sexually dimorphic transcriptional programming of gestational testosterone excess in cardiac left ventricle of fetal sheep

Adverse in-utero insults during fetal life alters offspring's developmental trajectory, including that of the cardiovascular system. Gestational hyperandrogenism is once such adverse in-utero insult. Gestational testosterone (T)-treatment, an environment of gestational hyperandrogenism, manifests as hypertension and pathological left ventricular (LV) remodeling in adult ovine offspring. Furthermore, sexual dimorphism is noted in cardiomyocyte number and morphology in fetal life and at birth. This study investigated transcriptional changes and potential biomarkers of prenatal T excess-induced adverse cardiac programming. Genome-wide coding and non-coding (nc) RNA expression were compared between prenatal T-treated (T propionate 100 mg intramuscular twice weekly from days 30 to 90 of gestation; Term: 147 days) and control ovine LV at day 90 fetus in both sexes. Prenatal T induced differential expression of mRNAs in the LV of female (2 down, 5 up) and male (3 down, 1 up) (FDR < 0.05, absolute log2 fold change > 0.5); pathways analysis demonstrated 205 pathways unique to the female, 382 unique to the male and 23 common pathways. In the male, analysis of ncRNA showed differential regulation of 15 lncRNAs (14 down, 1 up) and 27 snoRNAs (26 down and 1 up). These findings suggest sexual dimorphic modulation of cardiac coding and ncRNA with gestational T excess.

Gene-Function-Based Clusters Explore Intricate Networks of Gene Expression of Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a complex disease characterized by dynamically deregulated gene expression and crosstalk between signaling pathways. In this study, a new approach based on gene-function-based clusters was introduced to explore the CRC-associated networks of gene expression. Each cluster contained genes involved in coordinated regulatory activity, such as RAS signaling, the cell cycle process, transcription, or translation. A retrospective case-control study was conducted with the inclusion of 119 patients with histologically confirmed colorectal cancer and 308 controls. The quantitative expression data of 15 genes were obtained from the peripheral blood samples of all participants to investigate cluster-gene and gene-gene interactions. DUSP6, MDM2, and EIF2S3 were consistently selected as CRC-associated factors with high significance in all logistic models. CPEB4 became an insignificant factor only when combined with the clusters for cell cycle processes and for transcription. The CPEB4/DUSP6 complex was a prerequisite for the significance of MMD, whereas EXT2, RNF4, ZNF264, WEE1, and MCM4 were affected by more than two clusters. Intricate networks among MMD, RAS signaling factors (DUSP6, GRB2, and NF1), and translation factors (EIF2S3, CPEB4, and EXT2) were also revealed. Our results suggest that limited G1/S transition, uncontrolled DNA replication, and the cap-independent initiation of translation may be dominant and concurrent scenarios in circulating tumor cells derived from colorectal cancer. This gene-function-based cluster approach is simple and useful for revealing intricate CRC-associated gene expression networks. These findings may provide clues to the metastatic mechanisms of circulating tumor cells in patients with colorectal cancer.

NCAPG2 Maintains Cancer Stemness and Promotes Erlotinib Resistance in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Simple Summary

This study investigated the relationship between erlotinib resistance and stemness in lung adenocarcinoma. NCAPG2 was identified as an erlotinib resistance gene and maintained the stemness of lung adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

Erlotinib is a highly specific and reversible epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), but resistance inevitably develops as the disease progresses. Erlotinib resistance and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are poor factors hindering the prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Although studies have shown that erlotinib resistance and CSCs can jointly promote cancer development, the mechanism is currently unclear. Here, we investigated the potential biomarker and molecular mechanism of erlotinib resistance and cancer stemness in LUAD. An erlotinib resistance model based on four genes was constructed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the GEO database, the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC). Through multiple bioinformatic analyses, NCAPG2 was identified as a key gene for erlotinib resistance and stemness in LUAD. Further in vitro experiments demonstrated that NCAPG2 maintains stemness and contributes to erlotinib resistance in LUAD. In summary, NCAPG2 plays a vital role in stemness and erlotinib resistance in LUAD.