Co-expression of DDR2 and IFITM1 promotes breast cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion and inhibits apoptosis

The role and mechanism of IFITM1 in developing acquired cisplatin resistance in small cell lung cancer

Platinum-based chemotherapies, historically the cornerstone of first-line treatment for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), face a major hurdle: the frequent emergence of chemoresistance, notably to cisplatin (CDDP). Current understanding of the mechanisms driving CDDP resistance in SCLC is incomplete. Notably, Interferon inducible transmembrane protein1 (IFITM1) has been identified as a key player in the distant metastasis of SCLC. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database revealed that IFITM1 expression is markedly elevated in tumor tissues as compared to that from adjacent normal tissues, correlating with a worse prognosis for patients with SCLC. Our research focused on investigating the role of IFITM1 in the acquisition of cisplatin resistance in SCLC. Further clinical sample analysis highlighted a significant increase in IFITM1 levels in SCLC tissues from cisplatin-resistant patients versus those were responsive to CCDP treatment, with similar trends observed in cisplatin-resistant SCLC cells. Crucially, overexpression of IFITM1 reduced the sensitivity of SCLC cells to cisplatin, while silencing IFITM1 enhanced chemosensitivity in cisplatin-resistant strains. Our in vivo studies further confirmed that silencing IFITM1 significantly boosted the efficacy of cisplatin in inhibiting growth of subcutaneous tumors of NCI-H466/CDDP cells (cisplatin-resistant SCLC cells) in a mouse model. Mechanistically, IFITM1 appears to foster cisplatin resistance through activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In summary, our findings suggest that targeting IFITM1, alongside cisplatin treatment, could offer a promising therapeutic strategy to overcome resistance and improve outcomes for SCLC patients.

DDR2 signaling and mechanosensing orchestrate neuroblastoma cell fate through different transcriptome mechanisms

The extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates carcinogenesis by interacting with cancer cells via cell surface receptors. Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 (DDR2) is a collagen-activated receptor implicated in cell survival, growth, and differentiation. Dysregulated DDR2 expression has been identified in various cancer types, making it as a promising therapeutic target. Additionally, cancer cells exhibit mechanosensing abilities, detecting changes in ECM stiffness, which is particularly important for carcinogenesis given the observed ECM stiffening in numerous cancer types. Despite these, whether collagen-activated DDR2 signaling and ECM stiffness-induced mechanosensing exert similar effects on cancer cell behavior and whether they operate through analogous mechanisms remain elusive. To address these questions, we performed bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells cultured on collagen-coated substrates. Our results show that DDR2 downregulation induces significant changes in the cell transcriptome, with changes in expression of 15% of the genome, specifically affecting the genes associated with cell division and differentiation. We validated the RNA-seq results by showing that DDR2 knockdown redirects the cell fate from proliferation to senescence. Like DDR2 knockdown, increasing substrate stiffness diminishes cell proliferation. Surprisingly, RNA-seq indicates that substrate stiffness has no detectable effect on the transcriptome. Furthermore, DDR2 knockdown influences cellular responses to substrate stiffness changes, highlighting a crosstalk between these two ECM-induced signaling pathways. Based on our results, we propose that the ECM could activate DDR2 signaling and mechanosensing in cancer cells to orchestrate their cell fate through distinct mechanisms, with or without involving gene expression, thus providing novel mechanistic insights into cancer progression.

Multifaceted collagen-DDR1 signaling in cancer

In addition to immune cells and fibroblasts, the tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises an extracellular matrix (ECM) which contains collagens (COLs) whose architecture and remodeling dictate cancer development and progression. COL receptors expressed by cancer cells sense signals generated by microenvironmental alterations in COL state to regulate cell behavior and metabolism. Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a key sensor of COL fiber state and composition that controls tumor cell metabolism and growth, response to therapy, and patient survival. This review focuses on DDR1 to NRF2 signaling, its modulation of autophagy and macropinocytosis (MP), and its role in cancer and other diseases. Elucidating the regulation of DDR1 activity and expression under different pathophysiological conditions will facilitate the discovery of new therapeutics.

Upregulation of CELSR1 expression promotes ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion

Cadherin epidermal growth factor and laminin-G seven-pass G-type receptor 1 (CELSR1) is a planar cell polarity protein involved in the transmission of directional cues to align either individual cells within an epithelial sheet or multicellular clusters. CELSR1 has been suggested to play a role in glioma, breast cancer, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia development; however, whether it has a role in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer remains unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the role of CELSR1 in ovarian cancer and elucidate its underlying molecular mechanisms. By analyzing gene expression data downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas database, we found that CELSR1 expression was upregulated in ovarian cancer tissues compared to that in normal ovarian tissues. High CELSR1 expression levels were associated with poor prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer. Cell proliferation, scratch, and transwell assays revealed that CELSR1 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ovarian cancer cells in vitro. In addition, transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that CELSR1 knockdown in T29H cells resulted in the dysregulation of the expression of 1320 genes. Further analysis revealed that genes involved in proliferation- and migration-associated signaling pathways were regulated by CELSR1. Our study demonstrates that CELSR1 is highly expressed in ovarian cancer cells and regulates their proliferation and migration, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target.

Risk prediction for dermatomyositis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To explore dermatomyositis signature genes as potential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and their associated molecular regulatory mechanisms.

METHODS

Based on the mRNA-Seq data of dermatomyositis and hepatocellular carcinoma in public databases, five dermatomyositis signature genes were screened by LASSO regression analysis and support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, and their biological functions in dermatomyositis with hepatocellular carcinoma were investigated, and a nomogram risk prediction model for hepatocellular carcinoma was constructed and its predictive efficiency was initially evaluated. The immune profile in hepatocellular carcinoma was examined based on the CIBERSORT and ssGSEA algorithms, and the correlation between five dermatomyositis signature genes and tumor immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoints in hepatocellular carcinoma was investigated.

RESULTS

The expression levels of five dermatomyositis signature genes were significantly altered in hepatocellular carcinoma and showed good diagnostic efficacy for hepatocellular carcinoma, suggesting that they may be potential predictive targets for hepatocellular carcinoma, and the risk prediction model based on five dermatomyositis signature genes showed good risk prediction efficacy for hepatocellular carcinoma and has good potential for clinical application. In addition, we also found that the upregulation of SPP1 expression may activate the PI3K/ART signaling pathway through integrin-mediated activation, which in turn regulates the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.

CONCLUSION

LY6E, IFITM1, GADD45A, MT1M, and SPP1 are potential predictive targets for new-onset hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with dermatomyositis, and the upregulation of SPP1 expression may activate the PI3K/ART signaling pathway through the mediation of integrins to promote the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.