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Muilenburg KM, Isder CC, Radhakrishnan P, Batra SK, Ly QP, Carlson MA, Bouvet M, Hollingsworth MA, Mohs AM. Mucins as contrast agent targets for fluorescence-guided surgery of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Lett 2023; 561:216150. [PMID: 36997106 PMCID: PMC10150776 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to resect due to its unique challenges, often leading to incomplete tumor resections. Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS), also known as intraoperative molecular imaging and optical surgical navigation, is an intraoperative tool that can aid surgeons in complete tumor resection through an increased ability to detect the tumor. To target the tumor, FGS contrast agents rely on biomarkers aberrantly expressed in malignant tissue compared to normal tissue. These biomarkers allow clinicians to identify the tumor and its stage before surgical resection and provide a contrast agent target for intraoperative imaging. Mucins, a family of glycoproteins, are upregulated in malignant tissue compared to normal tissue. Therefore, these proteins may serve as biomarkers for surgical resection. Intraoperative imaging of mucin expression in pancreatic cancer can potentially increase the number of complete resections. While some mucins have been studied for FGS, the potential ability to function as a biomarker target extends to the entire mucin family. Therefore, mucins are attractive proteins to investigate more broadly as FGS biomarkers. This review summarizes the biomarker traits of mucins and their potential use in FGS for pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M Muilenburg
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
| | - Carly C Isder
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
| | - Prakash Radhakrishnan
- Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
| | - Surinder K Batra
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
| | - Quan P Ly
- Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 983280 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-3280, USA.
| | - Mark A Carlson
- Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 983280 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-3280, USA.
| | - Michael Bouvet
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Dr, San Diego, CA, 92161, USA.
| | - Michael A Hollingsworth
- Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
| | - Aaron M Mohs
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 505 S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, S 45th St, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
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Pipek O, Vizkeleti L, Doma V, Alpár D, Bödör C, Kárpáti S, Timar J. The Driverless Triple-Wild-Type (BRAF, RAS, KIT) Cutaneous Melanoma: Whole Genome Sequencing Discoveries. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15061712. [PMID: 36980598 PMCID: PMC10046270 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15061712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The genetic makeup of the triple-wild-type melanoma (BRAF, NRAS and NF1) has been known for some time, but those studies grouped together rare histopathological versions with common ones, as well as mucosal and even uveal ones. Here we used whole genome sequencing to genetically characterize the triple-wild-type melanoma (TWM), termed here as BRAF, RAS and KIT wild type (the most frequent oncogenic drivers of skin melanoma), using the most common histological forms and excluding rare ones. All these tumors except one were clearly induced by UV based on the mutational signature. The tumor mutational burden was low in TWM, except in the NF1 mutant forms, and a relatively high frequency of elevated LOH scores suggested frequent homologue recombination deficiency, but this was only confirmed by the mutation signature in one case. Furthermore, all these TWMs were microsatellite-stabile. In this driverless setting, we revealed rare oncogenic drivers known from melanoma or other cancer types and identified rare actionable tyrosine kinase mutations in NTRK1, RET and VEGFR1. Mutations of TWM identified genes involved in antitumor immunity (negative and positive predictors of immunotherapy), Ca++ and BMP signaling. The two regressed melanomas of this cohort shared a 17-gene mutation signature, containing genes involved in antitumor immunity and several cell surface receptors. Even with this comprehensive genomic approach, a few cases remained driverless, suggesting that unrecognized drivers are hiding among passenger mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsolya Pipek
- Department of Physics of Complex Systems, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1053 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Laura Vizkeleti
- Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Bioinformatics, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Viktória Doma
- Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Donát Alpár
- Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Csaba Bödör
- Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Sarolta Kárpáti
- Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Jozsef Timar
- Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
- Correspondence:
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Kim J, Choi H. The mucin protein MUCL1 regulates melanogenesis and melanoma genes in a manner dependent on threonine content. Br J Dermatol 2021; 186:532-543. [PMID: 34545566 PMCID: PMC9299140 DOI: 10.1111/bjd.20761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Background The regulation of melanogenesis has been investigated as a long‐held aim for pharmaceutical manipulations with denotations for malignancy of melanoma. Mucins have a protective function in epithelial organs; however, in the most outer organ, the skin, the role of mucins has not been studied enough. Objectives Our initial hypothesis developed from the identification of correlations between pigmentation and expressions of skin mucins, particularly those existing in skin tissue. We aimed to investigate the action of mucins in human melanocytic cells. Materials and methods The expression of mucin proteins in human skin was investigated using microarray data from the Human Protein Atlas consortium (HPA) and the Genotype‐Tissue Expression consortium (GTEx) database. Mucin expression was measured at RNA and protein levels in melanoma cells. The findings were further validated and confirmed by analysis of independent experiments. Results We found that the several mucin proteins showed expression in human skin cells and among these, mucin‐like protein 1 (MUCL1) showed the highest expression and also clear negative correlation with melanogenesis in epidermal melanocytes. We confirmed the correlations between melanogenesis and MUCL1 by revealing negative correlations in melanocytes with different melanin production, resulting from increased composition of threonine, mucin‐conforming amino acid, and increased autophagy‐related forkhead‐box O signalling. Furthermore, threonine itself affects melanogenesis and metastatic activity in melanoma cells. Conclusions We identified a significant association between MUCL1 and threonine with melanogenesis and metastasis‐related genes in melanoma cells. Our results define a novel mechanism of mucin regulation, suggesting diagnostic and preventive roles of MUCL1 in cutaneous melanoma. Whatis already known about this topic? Despite considerable advances in radioactive therapeutics or chemotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of abnormal melanogenesis, there are still many caveats to delivery, effectiveness and safety, thus leaving a necessity for more immediate pharmaceutical targets. Mucins have protective and chemical barrier functions in epithelial organs; however, in the skin, mucin has scarce expression and is known only as a diagnostic aid in skin disorders such as mucinosis.
Whatdoes this study add? We provide detailed analysis demonstrating the potential of mucin‐like protein 1 (MUCL1), which showed negative correlations in melanocytes with different melanin production, resulting from increased composition of threonine and increased autophagy‐related forkhead‐box O signalling in epidermal melanocytes and melanoma cells. We established that through an alternative pathway for MUCL1 biosynthesis, threonine supplementation recovers MUCL1 levels in melanoma. Changes, brought on by the essential amino acid threonine, resulted in substantial modulations in melanogenesis and reduced metastasis‐related genes.
Whatis the translational message? This study demonstrates for the first time that the mucin protein of skin cells is compounded by distorted mucin homeostasis, with major effects on melanogenesis and metastasis‐related genes in melanoma. We anticipate that these novel findings will be of keen interest to the community of scientists and medical practitioners examining skin dysfunction.
Linked Comment: C. Casalou and D.J. Tobin. Br J Dermatol 2022; 186:388–389. Plain language summary available online
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kim
- Amorepacific R&D Center, 1920 Yonggu-daero, Giheung-gu, Gyeonggi-do, 17074, Korea
| | - H Choi
- Amorepacific R&D Center, 1920 Yonggu-daero, Giheung-gu, Gyeonggi-do, 17074, Korea
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Liu M, Liu Y, Wu MC, Hsu L, He Q. A Method for Subtype Analysis with Somatic Mutations. Bioinformatics 2021; 37:50-56. [PMID: 33416828 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa1090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION Cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, and virtually all types of cancer have subtypes. Understanding the association between cancers subtypes and genetic variations is fundamental to the development of targeted therapies for patients. Somatic mutation plays important roles in tumor development and has emerged as a new type of genetic variations for studying the association with cancer subtypes. However, the low prevalence of individual mutations poses a tremendous challenge to the related statistical analysis. RESULTS In this article, we propose an approach, SASOM, for the association analysis of cancer subtypes with somatic mutations. Our approach tests the association between a set of somatic mutations (from a genetic pathway) and subtypes, while incorporating functional information of the mutations into the analysis. We further propose a robust p-value combination procedure, DAPC, to synthesize statistical significance from different sources. Simulation studies show that the proposed approach has correct type I error and tends to be more powerful than possible alternative methods. In a real data application, we examine the somatic mutations from a cutaneous melanoma dataset, and identify a genetic pathway that is associated with immune-related subtypes. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The SASOM R package is available at https://github.com/rksyouyou/SASOM-pkg. R scripts and data are available at https://github.com/rksyouyou/SASOM-analysis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meiling Liu
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109, U.S.A
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 45435, U.S.A
| | - Michael C Wu
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109, U.S.A
| | - Li Hsu
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109, U.S.A
| | - Qianchuan He
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109, U.S.A
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Smart JA, Oleksak JE, Hartsough EJ. Cell Adhesion Molecules in Plasticity and Metastasis. Mol Cancer Res 2021; 19:25-37. [PMID: 33004622 PMCID: PMC7785660 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-20-0595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Prior to metastasis, modern therapeutics and surgical intervention can provide a favorable long-term survival for patients diagnosed with many types of cancers. However, prognosis is poor for patients with metastasized disease. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, yet in situ and localized, thin melanomas can be biopsied with little to no postsurgical follow-up. However, patients with metastatic melanoma require significant clinical involvement and have a 5-year survival of only 34% to 52%, largely dependent on the site of colonization. Melanoma metastasis is a multi-step process requiring dynamic changes in cell surface proteins regulating adhesiveness to the extracellular matrix (ECM), stroma, and other cancer cells in varied tumor microenvironments. Here we will highlight recent literature to underscore how cell adhesion molecules (CAM) contribute to melanoma disease progression and metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Smart
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Julia E Oleksak
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Edward J Hartsough
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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