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Sosa J, Oyelakin A, Sinha S. The Reign of Follistatin in Tumors and Their Microenvironment: Implications for Drug Resistance. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:130. [PMID: 38392348 PMCID: PMC10887188 DOI: 10.3390/biology13020130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Follistatin (FST) is a potent neutralizer of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily and is associated with normal cellular programs and various hallmarks of cancer, such as proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, and immune evasion. The aberrant expression of FST by solid tumors is a well-documented observation, yet how FST influences tumor progression and therapy response remains unclear. The recent surge in omics data has revealed new insights into the molecular foundation underpinning tumor heterogeneity and its microenvironment, offering novel precision medicine-based opportunities to combat cancer. In this review, we discuss these recent FST-centric studies, thereby offering an updated perspective on the protean role of FST isoforms in shaping the complex cellular ecosystem of tumors and in mediating drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Sosa
- Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
| | - Akinsola Oyelakin
- Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
- Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Satrajit Sinha
- Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
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2
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Wu Y, Clark KC, Niranjan B, Chüeh AC, Horvath LG, Taylor RA, Daly RJ. Integrative characterisation of secreted factors involved in intercellular communication between prostate epithelial or cancer cells and fibroblasts. Mol Oncol 2023; 17:469-486. [PMID: 36608258 PMCID: PMC9980303 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Reciprocal interactions between prostate cancer cells and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) mediate cancer development and progression; however, our understanding of the signalling pathways mediating these cellular interactions remains incomplete. To address this, we defined secretome changes upon co-culture of prostate epithelial or cancer cells with fibroblasts that mimic bi-directional communication in tumours. Using antibody arrays, we profiled conditioned media from mono- and co-cultures of prostate fibroblasts, epithelial and cancer cells, identifying secreted proteins that are upregulated in co-culture compared to mono-culture. Six of these (CXCL10, CXCL16, CXCL6, FST, PDGFAA, IL-17B) were functionally screened by siRNA knockdown in prostate cancer cell/fibroblast co-cultures, revealing a key role for follistatin (FST), a secreted glycoprotein that binds and bioneutralises specific members of the TGF-β superfamily, including activin A. Expression of FST by both cell types was required for the fibroblasts to enhance prostate cancer cell proliferation and migration, whereas FST knockdown in co-culture grafts decreased tumour growth in mouse xenografts. This study highlights the complexity of prostate cancer cell-fibroblast communication, demonstrates that co-culture secretomes cannot be predicted from individual cultures, and identifies FST as a tumour-microenvironment-derived secreted factor that represents a candidate therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunjian Wu
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Kimberley C. Clark
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Birunthi Niranjan
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Anatomy and Developmental BiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Anderly C. Chüeh
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Lisa G. Horvath
- Garvan Institute of Medical ResearchDarlinghurstNew South WalesAustralia
- University of SydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Chris O'Brien LifehouseSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Renea A. Taylor
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of PhysiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Cancer Research Division, Peter MacCallum Cancer CentreThe University of MelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Roger J. Daly
- Cancer Program, Biomedicine Discovery InstituteMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
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3
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Ge L, Liu SF. Lentivirus-Mediated Short Hairpin RNA for Follistatin Downregulation Suppresses Tumor Progression in Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma. Curr Med Sci 2022; 42:832-840. [DOI: 10.1007/s11596-022-2615-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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4
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Barany N, Rozsas A, Megyesfalvi Z, Grusch M, Hegedus B, Lang C, Boettiger K, Schwendenwein A, Tisza A, Renyi-Vamos F, Schelch K, Hoetzenecker K, Hoda MA, Paku S, Laszlo V, Dome B. Clinical relevance of circulating activin A and follistatin in small cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer 2021; 161:128-135. [PMID: 34583221 DOI: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2021.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Circulating levels of activin A (ActA) and follistatin (FST) have been investigated in various disorders including malignancies. However, to date, their diagnostic and prognostic relevance is largely unknown in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Our aim was to evaluate circulating ActA and FST levels as potential biomarkers in this devastating disease. METHODS Seventy-nine Caucasian SCLC patients and 67 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included in this study. Circulating ActA and FST concentrations were measured by ELISA and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and long-term outcomes. RESULTS Plasma ActA and FST concentrations were significantly elevated in SCLC patients when compared to healthy volunteers (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, extensive-stage SCLC patients had significantly higher circulating ActA levels than those with limited-stage disease (p = 0.0179). Circulating FST concentration was not associated with disease stage (p = 0.6859). Notably, patients with high (≥548.8 pg/ml) plasma ActA concentration exhibited significantly worse median overall survival (OS) compared to those with low (<548.8 pg/ml) ActA levels (p = 0.0009). Moreover, Cox regression analysis adjusted for clinicopathological parameters revealed that high ActA concentration is an independent predictor of shorter OS (HR: 1.932; p = 0.023). No significant differences in OS have been observed with regards to plasma FST levels (p = 0.1218). CONCLUSION Blood ActA levels are elevated and correlate with disease stage in SCLC patients. Measurement of circulating ActA levels might help in the estimation of prognosis in patients with SCLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandor Barany
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anita Rozsas
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsolt Megyesfalvi
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Semmelweis University and National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Michael Grusch
- Department of Medicine I, Institute of Cancer Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Balazs Hegedus
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ruhrlandklinik, University Clinic Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Christian Lang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Kristiina Boettiger
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna Schwendenwein
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna Tisza
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ferenc Renyi-Vamos
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Semmelweis University and National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Karin Schelch
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Medicine I, Institute of Cancer Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Konrad Hoetzenecker
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mir Alireza Hoda
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sandor Paku
- 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Viktoria Laszlo
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Balazs Dome
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Semmelweis University and National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary.
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5
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Wang T, Li L, Qin W, Gao Y. Early urine proteome changes in an implanted bone cancer rat model. Bone Rep 2020; 12:100238. [PMID: 31886325 PMCID: PMC6921149 DOI: 10.1016/j.bonr.2019.100238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, Walker 256 cells were implanted into rat tibiae. Urine samples were then collected on days 3, 5, 7, and 13 and were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). With label-free quantification, 25 proteins were found to change significantly in the urine of the tumor group rats compared with the proteins in the urine of the control group rats; this was even the case when there were no significant lesions identified in the Computed Tomography (CT) examination. Among these differentially proteins, 7 were reported to be associated with tumor bone metastasis. GO analysis shows that the differential proteins on day 3 were involved in several responses, including the acute phase response, the adaptive immune response and the innate immune response. The differentially proteins on day 7 were involved in the mineral absorption pathway. The differentially proteins on day 13 were involved in vitamin D binding and calcium ion binding. These processes may be associated with bone metastasis. Our results demonstrate that urine could sensitively reflect the changes in the early stage of implanted bone cancer; this provides valuable clues for future studies of urine biomarkers for tumor bone metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Lujun Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Weiwei Qin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao 266011, China
| | - Youhe Gao
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
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Janik S, Bekos C, Hacker P, Raunegger T, Schiefer AI, Müllauer L, Veraar C, Dome B, Klepetko W, Ankersmit HJ, Moser B. Follistatin impacts Tumor Angiogenesis and Outcome in Thymic Epithelial Tumors. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17359. [PMID: 31757999 PMCID: PMC6874542 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53671-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor angiogenesis is a key factor in the progression of thymic epithelial tumors (TETs). Activin A, a member of the TGFβ family, and its antagonist Follistatin are involved in several human malignancies and angiogenesis. We investigated Activin A and Follistatin in serum and tumor tissue of patients with TETs in relation to microvessel density (MVD), WHO histology classification, tumor stage and outcome. Membranous Activin A expression was detected in all tumor tissues of TETs, while Follistatin staining was found in tumor nuclei and cytoplasm. Patients with TETs presented with significantly higher Activin A and Follistatin serum concentrations compared to healthy volunteers, respectively. Follistatin serum concentrations correlated significantly with tumor stage and decreased to physiologic values after complete tumor resection. Follistatin serum concentrations correlated further with MVD and were associated with significantly worse freedom from recurrence (FFR). Low numbers of immature tumor vessels represented even an independent worse prognostic factor for FFR at multivariable analysis. To conclude, the Activin A - Follistatin axis is involved in the pathogenesis of TETs. Further study of Follistatin and Activin A in TETs is warranted as the molecules may serve as targets to inhibit tumor angiogenesis and tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Janik
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christine Bekos
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of General Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Philipp Hacker
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Raunegger
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ana-Iris Schiefer
- Clinical Institute of Pathology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Leonhard Müllauer
- Clinical Institute of Pathology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Cecilia Veraar
- Department of Anaesthesiology, General Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Balazs Dome
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Centre Vienna, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Walter Klepetko
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hendrik Jan Ankersmit
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Head FFG Project "APOSEC", FOLAB Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bernhard Moser
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Diagnosis and Regeneration of Cardiac and Thoracic Diseases, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria. .,Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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7
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Hoda MA, Rozsas A, Lang E, Klikovits T, Lohinai Z, Torok S, Berta J, Bendek M, Berger W, Hegedus B, Klepetko W, Renyi-Vamos F, Grusch M, Dome B, Laszlo V. High circulating activin A level is associated with tumor progression and predicts poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. Oncotarget 2017; 7:13388-99. [PMID: 26950277 PMCID: PMC4924649 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.7796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2015] [Accepted: 02/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Activin A (ActA)/follistatin (FST) signaling has been shown to be deregulated in different tumor types including lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). Here, we report that serum ActA protein levels are significantly elevated in LADC patients (n=64) as compared to controls (n=46, p=0.015). ActA levels also correlated with more advanced disease stage (p<0.0001) and T (p=0.0035) and N (p=0.0002) factors. M1 patients had significantly higher ActA levels than M0 patients (p<0.001). High serum ActA level was associated with poor overall survival (p<0.0001) and was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor (p=0.004). Serum FST levels were increased only in female LADC patients (vs. female controls, p=0.031). Two out of five LADC cell lines secreted biologically active ActA, while FST was produced in all of them. Transcripts of both type I and II ActA receptors were detected in all five LADC cell lines. In conclusion, our study does not only suggest that measuring blood ActA levels in LADC patients might improve the prediction of prognosis, but also indicates that this parameter might be a novel non-invasive biomarker for identifying LADC patients with organ metastases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mir Alireza Hoda
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anita Rozsas
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Elisabeth Lang
- Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Klikovits
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Zoltan Lohinai
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Szilvia Torok
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Judit Berta
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Matyas Bendek
- National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Walter Berger
- Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Balazs Hegedus
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,MTA-SE Molecular Oncology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Walter Klepetko
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ferenc Renyi-Vamos
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Institute of Oncology and Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Michael Grusch
- Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Balazs Dome
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Institute of Oncology and Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Viktoria Laszlo
- Translational Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Follistatin is a metastasis suppressor in a mouse model of HER2-positive breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res 2017; 19:66. [PMID: 28583174 PMCID: PMC5460489 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-017-0857-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 05/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Follistatin (FST) is an intrinsic inhibitor of activin, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily of ligands. The prognostic value of FST and its family members, the follistatin-like (FSTL) proteins, have been studied in various cancers. However, these studies, as well as limited functional analyses of the FSTL proteins, have yielded conflicting results on the role of these proteins in disease progression. Furthermore, very few have been focused on FST itself. We assessed whether FST may be a suppressor of tumorigenesis and/or metastatic progression in breast cancer. Methods Using publicly available gene expression data, we examined the expression patterns of FST and INHBA, a subunit of activin, in normal and cancerous breast tissue and the prognostic value of FST in breast cancer metastases, recurrence-free survival, and overall survival. The functional effects of activin and FST on in vitro proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells were also examined. FST overexpression in an autochthonous mouse model of breast cancer was then used to assess the in vivo impact of FST on metastatic progression. Results Examination of multiple breast cancer datasets revealed that FST expression is reduced in breast cancers compared with normal tissue and that low FST expression predicts increased metastasis and reduced overall survival. FST expression was also reduced in a mouse model of HER2/Neu-induced metastatic breast cancer. We found that FST blocks activin-induced breast epithelial cell migration in vitro, suggesting that its loss may promote breast cancer aggressiveness. To directly determine if FST restoration could inhibit metastatic progression, we transgenically expressed FST in the HER2/Neu model. Although FST had no impact on tumor initiation or growth, it completely blocked the formation of lung metastases. Conclusions These data indicate that FST is a bona fide metastasis suppressor in this mouse model and support future efforts to develop an FST mimetic to suppress metastatic progression. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13058-017-0857-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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9
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Shi L, Resaul J, Owen S, Ye L, Jiang WG. Clinical and Therapeutic Implications of Follistatin in Solid Tumours. Cancer Genomics Proteomics 2017; 13:425-435. [PMID: 27807065 DOI: 10.21873/cgp.20005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Follistatin (FST), as a single-chain glycosylated protein, has two major isoforms, FST288 and FST315. The FST315 isoform is the predominant form whilst the FST288 variant accounts for less than 5% of the encoded mRNA. FST is differentially expressed in human tissues and aberrant expression has been observed in a variety of solid tumours, including gonadal, gastric and lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and melanoma. Based on the current evidence, FST is an antagonist of transforming growth factor beta family members, such as activin and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). FST plays a role in tumourigenesis, metastasis and angiogenesis of solid tumours through its interaction with activin and BMPs, thus resulting in pathophysiological function. In terms of diagnosis, prognosis and therapy, FST has shown strong promise. Through a better understanding of its biological functions, potential clinical applications may yet emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Shi
- Urology Department, Yantai Yu Huang Ding Hospital, Yantai, Shandong Province, P.R. China.,Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, U.K
| | - Jeyna Resaul
- Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, U.K
| | - Sioned Owen
- Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, U.K
| | - Lin Ye
- Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, U.K
| | - Wen G Jiang
- Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, U.K.
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10
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Hansen JS, Plomgaard P. Circulating follistatin in relation to energy metabolism. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2016; 433:87-93. [PMID: 27264073 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2015] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Recently, substantial evidence has emerged that the liver contributes significantly to the circulating levels of follistatin and that circulating follistatin is tightly regulated by the glucagon-to-insulin ratio. Both observations are based on investigations of healthy subjects. These novel findings challenge the present view of circulating follistatin in human physiology, being that circulating follistatin is a result of spill-over from para/autocrine actions in various tissues and cells. Follistatin as a liver-derived protein under the regulation of glucagon-to-insulin ratio suggests a relation to energy metabolism. In this narrative review, we attempt to reconcile the existing findings on circulating follistatin with the novel concept that circulating follistatin is a liver-derived molecule regulated by the glucagon-to-insulin ratio. The picture emerging is that conditions associated with elevated levels of circulating follistatin have a metabolic denominator with decreased insulin sensitivity and/or hyperglucagoneimia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Schiøler Hansen
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; The Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism, Centre for Physical Activity Research, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Plomgaard
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; The Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism, Centre for Physical Activity Research, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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11
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Expression profiling of prostate cancer tissue delineates genes associated with recurrence after prostatectomy. Sci Rep 2015; 5:16018. [PMID: 26522007 PMCID: PMC4629186 DOI: 10.1038/srep16018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death amongst males. The main clinical dilemma in treating prostate cancer is the high number of indolent cases that confer a significant risk of overtreatment. In this study, we have performed gene expression profiling of tumor tissue specimens from 36 patients with prostate cancer to identify transcripts that delineate aggressive and indolent cancer. Key genes were validated using previously published data and by tissue microarray analysis. Two molecular subgroups were identified with a significant overrepresentation of tumors from patients with biochemical recurrence in one of the groups. We successfully validated key transcripts association with recurrence using two publically available datasets totaling 669 patients. Twelve genes were found to be independent predictors of recurrence in multivariate logistical regression analysis. SFRP4 gene expression was consistently up regulated in patients with recurrence in all three datasets. Using an independent cohort of 536 prostate cancer patients we showed SFRP4 expression to be an independent predictor of recurrence after prostatectomy (HR = 1.35; p = 0.009). We identified SFRP4 to be associated with disease recurrence. Prospective studies are needed in order to assess the clinical usefulness of the identified key markers in this study.
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12
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Datta-Mannan A, Huang L, Pereira J, Yaden B, Korytko A, Croy JE. Insights into the Impact of Heterogeneous Glycosylation on the Pharmacokinetic Behavior of Follistatin-Fc–Based Biotherapeutics. Drug Metab Dispos 2015; 43:1882-90. [DOI: 10.1124/dmd.115.064519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Accepted: 09/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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Dreikhausen L, Blank S, Sisic L, Heger U, Weichert W, Jäger D, Bruckner T, Giese N, Grenacher L, Falk C, Ott K, Schmidt T. Association of angiogenic factors with prognosis in esophageal cancer. BMC Cancer 2015; 15:121. [PMID: 25885021 PMCID: PMC4362831 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-015-1120-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Accepted: 02/24/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Despite multimodal therapy esophageal cancer often presents with poor prognosis. To improve outcome, tumor angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapeutic agents have recently gained importance. However, patient subgroups who benefit from anti-angiogenic therapy are not yet defined. In this retrospective exploratory study we investigated 9 angiogenic factors in patients’ serum and tissue samples with regard to their association with clinicopathological parameters, prognosis and response in patients with locally advanced preoperatively treated esophageal cancer. Methods From 2007 to 2012 preoperative serum and corresponding tumor tissue (n = 54), only serum (n = 20) or only tumor tissue (n = 4) were collected from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (n = 34) and adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) (n = 44) staged cT3/4NanyM0/x after preoperative chemo(radio)therapy. Angiogenic cytokine levels in both tissue and serum were measured by multiplex immunoassay. Results Median survival in all patients was 28.49 months. No significant difference was found in survival between SCC and AEG (p = 0.90). 26 patients were histopathological responders. Histopathological response was associated with prognosis (p = 0.05). Angiogenic factors were associated with the following clinicopathological factors: tumor tissue expression of Angiopoietin-2 and Follistatin was higher in SCC compared to AEG (p = 0.022 and p = 0.001). High HGF and Follistatin expression in the tumor tissue was associated with poor prognosis in all patients (p = 0.037 and p = 0.036). No association with prognosis was found in the patients’ serum. Neither patients’ serum nor tumor tissue showed an association between angiogenic factors and response to neoadjuvant therapy. Conclusion Two angiogenic factors (HGF and Follistatin) in posttherapeutic tumor tissue are associated with prognosis in esophageal cancer patients. Biological differences of AEG and SCC with respect to angiogenesis were evident by the different expression of 2 angiogenic factors. Results are promising and should be pursued prospectively, optimally sequentially pre- and posttherapeutically. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1120-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Dreikhausen
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Susanne Blank
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Leila Sisic
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Ulrike Heger
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Wilko Weichert
- Department of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Dirk Jäger
- National Center of Tumor Diseases, University of Heidelberg, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Thomas Bruckner
- Institute of Medical Biometry, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Natalia Giese
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Lars Grenacher
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Christine Falk
- Institute for Transplant Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Katja Ott
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Thomas Schmidt
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
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14
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Chen F, Ren P, Feng Y, Liu H, Sun Y, Liu Z, Ge J, Cui X. Follistatin is a novel biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma in humans. PLoS One 2014; 9:e111398. [PMID: 25347573 PMCID: PMC4210220 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2014] [Accepted: 08/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Follistatin (FST), a single chain glycoprotein, is originally isolated from follicular fluid of ovary. Previous studies have revealed that serum FST served as a biomarker for pregnancy and ovarian mucinous tumor. However, whether FST can serve as a biomarker for diagnosis in lung adenocarcinoma of humans remains unclear. Methods and Results The study population consisted of 80 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, 40 patients with ovarian adenocarcinoma and 80 healthy subjects. Serum FST levels in patients and healthy subjects were measured using ELISA. The results showed that the positive ratio of serum FST levels was 51.3% (41/80), which was comparable to the sensitivity of FST in 40 patients with ovarian adenocarcinoma (60%, 24/40) using the 95th confidence interval for the healthy subject group as the cut-off value. FST expressions in lung adenocarcinoma were examined by immunohistochemical staining, we found that lung adenocarcinoma could produce FST and there was positive correlation between the level of FST expression and the differential degree of lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, the results showed that primary cultured lung adenocarcinoma cells could secrete FST, while cells derived from non-tumor lung tissues almost did not produce FST. In addition, the results of CCK8 assay and flow cytometry showed that using anti-FST monoclonal antibody to neutralize endogenous FST significantly augmented activin A-induced lung adenocarcinoma cells apoptosis. Conclusions These data indicate that lung adenocarcinoma cells can secret FST into serum, which may be beneficial to the survival of adenocarcinoma cells by neutralizing activin A action. Thus, FST can serve as a promising biomarker for diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and a useful biotherapy target for lung adenocarcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangfang Chen
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Ping Ren
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Ye Feng
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Haiyan Liu
- Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Zhonghui Liu
- Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Jingyan Ge
- Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
- * E-mail: (CX); (GJ)
| | - Xueling Cui
- Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
- * E-mail: (CX); (GJ)
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15
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Le Bras GF, Loomans HA, Taylor C, Revetta F, Andl CD. Activin A balance regulates epithelial invasiveness and tumorigenesis. J Transl Med 2014; 94:1134-46. [PMID: 25068654 PMCID: PMC4309391 DOI: 10.1038/labinvest.2014.97] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2014] [Revised: 06/03/2014] [Accepted: 06/23/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Activin A (Act A) is a member of the TGFβ superfamily. Act A and TGFβ have multiple common downstream targets and have been described to merge in their intracellular signaling cascades and function. We have previously demonstrated that coordinated loss of E-cadherin and TGFβ receptor II (TβRII) results in epithelial cell invasion. When grown in three-dimensional organotypic reconstruct cultures, esophageal keratinocytes expressing dominant-negative mutants of E-cadherin and TβRII showed activated Smad2 in the absence of functional TβRII. However, we could show that increased levels of Act A secretion was able to induce Smad2 phosphorylation. Growth factor secretion can activate autocrine and paracrine signaling, which affects crosstalk between the epithelial compartment and the surrounding microenvironment. We show that treatment with the Act A antagonist Follistatin or with a neutralizing Act A antibody can increase cell invasion in organotypic cultures in a fibroblast- and MMP-dependent manner. Similarly, suppression of Act A with shRNA increases cell invasion and tumorigenesis in vivo. Therefore, we conclude that maintaining a delicate balance of Act A expression is critical for homeostasis in the esophageal microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grégoire F. Le Bras
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
| | - Holli A. Loomans
- Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
| | - Chase Taylor
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
| | - Frank Revetta
- Department of Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
- Department of Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
- Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
| | - Claudia D. Andl
- Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
- Department of Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
- Department of Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-6840, USA
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16
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Jasuja R, Costello JC, Singh R, Gupta V, Spina CS, Toraldo G, Jang H, Li H, Serra C, Guo W, Chauhan P, Narula NS, Guarneri T, Ergun A, Travison TG, Collins JJ, Bhasin S. Combined administration of testosterone plus an ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor as a selective prostate-sparing anabolic therapy. Aging Cell 2014; 13:303-10. [PMID: 24305501 PMCID: PMC4331775 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Because of its anabolic effects on muscle, testosterone is being explored as a function-promoting anabolic therapy for functional limitations associated with aging; however, concerns about testosterone's adverse effects on prostate have inspired efforts to develop strategies that selectively increase muscle mass while sparing the prostate. Testosterone's promyogenic effects are mediated through upregulation of follistatin. We show here that the administration of recombinant follistatin (rFst) increased muscle mass in mice, but had no effect on prostate mass. Consistent with the results of rFst administration, follistatin transgenic mice with constitutively elevated follistatin levels displayed greater muscle mass than controls, but had similar prostate weights. To elucidate signaling pathways regulated differentially by testosterone and rFst in prostate and muscle, we performed microarray analysis of mRNAs from prostate and levator ani of castrated male mice treated with vehicle, testosterone, or rFst. Testosterone and rFst shared the regulation of many transcripts in levator ani; however, in prostate, 593 transcripts in several growth-promoting pathways were differentially expressed after testosterone treatment, while rFst showed a negligible effect with only 9 transcripts differentially expressed. Among pathways that were differentially responsive to testosterone in prostate, we identified ornithine decarboxylase (Odc1), an enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, as a testosterone-responsive gene that is unresponsive to rFst. Accordingly, we administered testosterone with and without α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an Odc1 inhibitor, to castrated mice. DFMO selectively blocked testosterone's effects on prostate, but did not affect testosterone's anabolic effects on muscle. Co-administration of testosterone and Odc1 inhibitor presents a novel therapeutic strategy for prostate-sparing anabolic therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ravi Jasuja
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - James C. Costello
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute Center for BioDynamics Boston University Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Rajan Singh
- Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles CA 90059 USA
| | - Vandana Gupta
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Catherine S. Spina
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute Center for BioDynamics Boston University Boston MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering Harvard University Boston MA 02215 USA
| | - Gianluca Toraldo
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Hyeran Jang
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Hu Li
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute Center for BioDynamics Boston University Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Carlo Serra
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Wen Guo
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Pratibha Chauhan
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Navjot S. Narula
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Tyler Guarneri
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Ayla Ergun
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute Center for BioDynamics Boston University Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Thomas G. Travison
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - James J. Collins
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute Center for BioDynamics Boston University Boston MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering Harvard University Boston MA 02215 USA
| | - Shalender Bhasin
- Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for Function Promoting Anabolic Therapies Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02115 USA
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17
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[Pilot study on predictive value of plasmatic levels of 9 angiogenetic biomarkers in selection of patients candidate to prostate biopsy]. Urologia 2014; 80:297-301. [PMID: 24419924 DOI: 10.5301/urologia.5000023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
To reduce the number of negative prostate biopsies in patients with elevated PSA serum levels represents a major challenge in urological oncology. Angiogenetic factors might be involved in initial stages of prostate cancer and might represent useful tools in patients' selection for prostate biopsy. The plasmatic levels of Angiopoietin-2, Follistatin, G-CSF, HGF, IL-8, Leptin, PDGF-BB, PECAM-1 and VEGF were measured by BioPlex immunoassay in patients undergoing prostate biopsy for palpable prostate nodule and/or elevated PSA levels (≥4 ng/mL). They were related with biopsy results. ROC curve analysis was exploited to test the diagnostic accuracy of each biomarker by AUC calculation. A potential cut-off level was computed. Fifty patients were entered. Median PSA was 6.8 ng/mL. A prostate nodule was palpable in 18 (36%) patients. The median number of biopsy cores was 12. Prostate cancer was detected in 25 (50%) and ASAP and PIN in 2 more patients (4%) respectively. Among the 9 considered biomarkers, only leptin showed an interesting diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.781, at a cut-off value of 2.11 ng/mL, demonstrating a sensitivity of 78%, a specificity of 77% and a positive predictive value of 85%. Main limitations of our study are the exploratory design and the criteria adopted for patients' selection determining a detection rate for prostate cancer above the usual range. Leptin only, in our preliminary study, shows promising diagnostic accuracy for the selection of patients candidate to prostate biopsy. Further studies are required to confirm its diagnostic value and its relation with BMI.
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18
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Tomoda T, Nouso K, Miyahara K, Kobayashi S, Kinugasa H, Toyosawa J, Hagihara H, Kuwaki K, Onishi H, Nakamura S, Ikeda F, Miyake Y, Shiraha H, Takaki A, Yamamoto K. Prognotic impact of serum follistatin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2013; 28:1391-6. [PMID: 23432377 DOI: 10.1111/jgh.12167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/04/2013] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Follistatin (FST) is a glycoprotein expressed in most organs, which interacts with activins or other members of the transforming growth factor beta family. Recently, several reports have shown that FST regulates a variety of processes during tumor progression. Here, serum FST in patients with liver diseases was measured, and its clinical utility as a biomarker was assessed. METHODS Serum was collected from 162 patients (91 hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], 43 liver cirrhosis, and 28 chronic hepatitis) as well as from 16 healthy volunteers. FST was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and levels were compared with clinical parameters including survival of the HCC patients. RESULTS Median serum FST levels in HCC, liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, and healthy volunteers were 1168, 1606, 1324, and 1661 pg/mL, respectively, not significantly different. In HCC patients, higher serum FST was associated with greater age, hepatitis C virus antibody-negativity, large tumor size, g-glutamyl transpeptidase, des-gamma carboxyprothrombin and presence of portal vein tumor thrombus. Survival of HCC patients with high FST levels was significantly shorter than for those with low levels (P = 0.004). Multivariate analysis revealed that in addition to large tumor size and presence of portal vein thrombus, high FST levels were independently correlated with poor prognosis (hazard ratio = 2.41, 95% confidence interval = 1.16-5.00, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Serum FST levels are significantly associated with HCC prognosis and could represent a predictive biomarker in this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Tomoda
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama City, Okayama, Japan.
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19
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Sepporta MV, Tumminello FM, Flandina C, Crescimanno M, Giammanco M, La Guardia M, di Majo D, Leto G. Follistatin as potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer. Target Oncol 2013; 8:215-23. [PMID: 23456439 DOI: 10.1007/s11523-013-0268-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2012] [Accepted: 02/05/2013] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Follistatin is a single-chain glycosylated protein whose primary function consists in binding and neutralizing some members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily such as activin and bone morphogenic proteins. Emerging evidence indicates that this molecule may also play a role in the malignant progression of several human tumors including prostate cancer. In particular, recent findings suggest that, in this tumor, follistatin may also contribute to the formation of bone metastasis through multiple mechanisms, some of which are not related to its specific activin or bone morphogenic proteins' inhibitory activity. This review provides insight into the most recent advances in understanding the role of follistatin in the prostate cancer progression and discusses the clinical and therapeutic implications related to these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Vittoria Sepporta
- Operative Unit of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Palermo, via Augusto Elia, 3, 90127, Palermo, Italy
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20
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Gold E, Risbridger G. Activins and activin antagonists in the prostate and prostate cancer. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2012; 359:107-12. [PMID: 21787836 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2011.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2011] [Revised: 07/01/2011] [Accepted: 07/01/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Activins are members of the TGF-β super-family. There are 4 mammalian activin subunits (β(A), β(B), β(C) and β(E)) that combine to form functional proteins. The role of activin A (β(A)β(A)) is well characterized and known to be a potent growth and differentiation factor. Two of the activin subunits (β(C) and β(E)) were discovered more recently and little is known about their biological functions. In this review the evidence that activin-β(C) is a significant regulator of activin A bioactivity is presented and discussed. It is concluded that activin-β(C), like other antagonists of activin A, is an important growth regulator in prostate health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elspeth Gold
- Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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21
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Ottley E, Gold E. Insensitivity to the growth inhibitory effects of activin A: An acquired capability in prostate cancer progression. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 2012; 23:119-25. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2012.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2012] [Accepted: 04/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Havard M, Dautry F, Tchénio T. A dormant state modulated by osmotic pressure controls clonogenicity of prostate cancer cells. J Biol Chem 2011; 286:44177-44186. [PMID: 22039055 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m111.262709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell dormancy constitutes a limiting step of the metastatic process by preventing the proliferation of isolated cancer cells disseminated at distant sites from the primary tumor. The study of cancer cell dormancy is severely hampered by the lack of biological samples so that the mechanisms that regulate cell dormancy have not been extensively explored. In this work, we describe the rapid induction in vitro of a dormant state in prostate cancer cells by exposure to a slightly hypertonic growth medium. This quiescence is observed only when cells are seeded at low density and, once established, requires additional stimuli besides osmotic pressure to be reversed. Media conditioned by cells grown at high density can partially prevent or reverse dormancy, a phenomenon which can be reproduced with citric acid. In addition to this role of small metabolites, inactivation of the p53 and smad pathways also counters the entry into dormancy, whereas exposure to activin A induces it to some extent. Thus, this easily inducible dormancy reproduces several features associated with the dormancy of stem cells and cancer cells in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryline Havard
- Laboratoire de Biologie et de Pharmacologie Appliquée, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8113, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 94235 Cachan Cedex, France
| | - François Dautry
- Laboratoire de Biologie et de Pharmacologie Appliquée, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8113, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 94235 Cachan Cedex, France
| | - Thierry Tchénio
- Laboratoire de Biologie et de Pharmacologie Appliquée, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8113, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 94235 Cachan Cedex, France.
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