Introduction of G1 phase arrest in Human Hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HHCC) by APMCF1 gene transfection through the down-regulation of TIMP3 and up-regulation of the CDK inhibitors p21

Establishment of a Prognostic Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Related Gene Analysis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide and its incidence continues to increase year by year. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) caused by protein misfolding within the secretory pathway in cells and has an extensive and deep impact on cancer cell progression and survival. Growing evidence suggests that the genes related to ERS are closely associated with the occurrence and progression of HCC. This study aimed to identify an ERS-related signature for the prospective evaluation of prognosis in HCC patients. RNA sequencing data and clinical data of patients from HCC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). Using data from TCGA as a training cohort (n=424) and data from ICGC as an independent external testing cohort (n=243), ERS-related genes were extracted to identify three common pathways IRE1, PEKR, and ATF6 using the GSEA database. Through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, 5 gene signals in the training cohort were found to be related to ERS and closely correlated with the prognosis in patients of HCC. A novel 5-gene signature (including HDGF, EIF2S1, SRPRB, PPP2R5B and DDX11) was created and had power as a prognostic biomarker. The prognosis of patients with high-risk HCC was worse than that of patients with low-risk HCC. Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that the signature was an independent prognostic biomarker for HCC. The results were further validated in an independent external testing cohort (ICGC). Also, GSEA indicated a series of significantly enriched oncological signatures and different metabolic processes that may enable a better understanding of the potential molecular mechanism mediating the progression of HCC. The 5-gene biomarker has a high potential for clinical applications in the risk stratification and overall survival prediction of HCC patients. In addition, the abnormal expression of these genes may be affected by copy number variation, methylation variation, and post-transcriptional regulation. Together, this study indicated that the genes may have potential as prognostic biomarkers in HCC and may provide new evidence supporting targeted therapies in HCC.

Combined Aberrant Expression of NDRG2 and LDHA Predicts Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prognosis and Mediates the Anti-tumor Effect of Gemcitabine

The Warburg effect is one of the important hallmarks of cancer. The activation of oncogene and inactivation of tumor suppressor gene contribute to the enhancement of glycolytic enzymes and the Warburg effect. The N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a tumor suppressor gene and is frequently lost in various types of cancer. However, little is known about glycolytic function and therapeutic value of NDRG2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we found that NDRG2 and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) were aberrantly expressed in HCC and were closely related to the Warburg effect. The correlation between NDRG2 and LDHA expression predicted HCC prognosis and the clinical response to chemotherapy. NDRG2 expression was significantly decreased while LDHA expression was increased in HCC specimens. NDRG2 and LDHA expression was significantly correlated with differentiation status, vascular invasion, and TNM stage of HCC. NDRG2 inhibited LDHA expression, the Warburg effect and the growth of HCC cells. Furthermore, NDRG2 mediated gemcitabine-induced inhibition of LDHA expression and the Warburg effect in HCC cells. Taken together, our data suggest that NDRG2 plays an important role in inhibiting the Warburg effect and the malignant growth of HCC via LDHA. NDRG2 combined with LDHA might be powerful prognostic biomarkers and targets for chemotherapy treatment of HCC.

SERP1 is a novel marker of poor prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients via anti-apoptosis and regulating SRPRB/NF-κB axis

Stress associated endoplasmic reticulum protein 1 (SERP1), can cause accumulation of unfolded proteins in ER stress. However, studies on the role of SERP1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are still incomplete. The present study aimed at identifying whether SERP1 acts as a potential novel prognostic marker of PDAC, and analyzed its possible mechanism. GEO database analysis showed SERP1 was significantly upregulated in PDAC tissues, and strongly associated with advanced clinical stage of PDAC patients from TCGA database. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis further revealed SERP1 high expression was an independent factor for the prognosis of PDAC. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that SERP1 was mainly involved in regulating cell apoptosis and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, and downregulated SERP1 significantly promoted PANC-1 cell apoptosis. To further explore its possible mechanism, protein-protein interaction (PPI) and gene ontology (GO) analysis showed the functions of proteins interacting with SERP1 were mainly enriched in regulating cell apoptosis, and SRP receptor β subunit (SRPRB) was the core of the whole PPI network. The expression of SERP1 was negatively correlated with SRPRB expression. In vitro, downregulated SERP1 significantly increased SRPRB expression. Furthermore, upregulated SRPRB could increase cell apoptosis rate and decreased the expression level of NF-κB and the phosphorylation NF-κB. The above results indicated that SERP1 as a potential novel prognostic marker of PDAC probably via regulating cell apoptosis and NF-κB activation, which may be associated with SRPRB.

Overexpression of osteopontin in hepatocellular carcinoma and its relationships with metastasis, invasion of tumor cells

Osteopontin (OPN) plays an important role in metastasis and relapse of human cancer. However, the whole story of OPN relating to cancer has been far from clear untill now. To investigate the expression of OPN in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its relationships with recurrence and metastasis of HCC, normal and malignant liver tissues from patients with HCC were analyzed using immunohistochemical staining. OPN expression was inhibited by small interfering RNA (siRNA) in HCC cells lines, and then colony formation and matrigel invasion were examined. The results showed that expression of OPN was associated with metastasis of HCC with a positive rate of OPN in the tissue of HCC (70.00%), which was highly more obvious than those in paracarcinoma tissue and normal liver tissue (P < 0.01). In HCC cell lines, OPN depletion could reduce formed colony and metastasizing numbers in vitro. In conclusion, Expression of OPN in the tissue of HCC is related to metastasis or metastases. Specific siRNA could decrease expressions of OPN at both mRNA and protein levels, and abates the invasiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, suggesting that OPN might be a promising agent for treatment of metastasis and recurrence of HCC.

An update on cholangiocarcinoma associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. The most feared complication is the presence or development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The present review summarizes recent data with regards to diagnosis, pathobiology and treatment.

RECENT FINDINGS

Several investigations have focused on aspects of the molecular biology of CCA in general; such data should be explored now in the context of PSC-related CCA to yield new diagnostic markers and approaches for therapy.

SUMMARY

CCA has to be suspected in any new PSC patient presenting with jaundice. Exploration should include carbohydrate antigen19-9 and two imaging techniques. Endoscopic cholangioscopy might become very rewarding. Important progress has been achieved in liver transplantation by the use of preoperative radio-chemotherapy. Molecular biology points to inflammation-induced cytokines with mutagenic action and to the relevance of extracellular matrix proteins for invasion but also for proliferation. Micro-RNAs prove to be very important in the control of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Mutated p53, cyclins, wnt/beta-catenin signaling, proliferation indices, mucins, carbohydrate antigen19-9, CRP and aneuploidy appear to hold significant potential as predictors of outcome in CCA. It is expected that the further unraveling of these molecular processes will ultimately lead to development of tests allowing early diagnosis and to development of medical approaches to retard tumor formation or recurrence following surgical interventions.

Loss of heterozygosity of the tumor suppressor gene Tg737 in the side population cells of hepatocellular carcinomas is associated with poor prognosis

Analysis of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is a useful method for finding genetic alterations in tumor and precancerous lesion tissues. In this study, we analyzed LOH of the tumor suppressor gene Tg737 in side population cells of human hepatocellular carcinomas. Side population cells were sorted and identification by flow cytometry from suspensions of hepatocarcinoma or normal liver cells generated from 95 hepatocellular carcinoma and normal tissues, respectively. DNA was extracted from the two groups of side population cells and peripheral blood specimens. Five microsatellite markers on the Tg737 gene were used to analyze the frequency of loss of heterozygosity in the side population cells of the hepatocellular carcinoma. Twenty-four (25.30%) tumor samples had a large deletion in more than three microsatellite markers. The highest frequency of loss of heterozygosity was observed with the G64212 marker (78.75%) and the SHGC-57879 marker (75.95%). Statistical analysis of the correlation between loss of heterozygosity of Tg737 and clinicopathological features indicated a strong correlation between the two markers associated with the highest frequency of loss of heterozygosity and survival. The results indicate that loss of heterozygosity of the tumor suppressor gene Tg737 may play an important role in the carcinogenetic mechanism of liver cancer stem cells. In addition, the independent association between loss of heterozygosity at the SHGC-57879 and G64212 markers and worsened short-term survival in patients could be used as a novel prognostic predictor. Further studies of side population cells may contribute to the establishment of novel therapeutic strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Novel ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction mediated short hairpin RNA plasmid transfection targeting survivin inhibits gene expression and induces apoptosis of HeLa cells

Survivin is an attractive target for tumor growth inhibition and represents a significant approach to anticancer therapy. RNA interference is an important tool for specifically down-regulating the expression of cellular genes. However, the efficiency of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) on the expression of survivin gene and the influence on the cell apoptosis transfected by the non-viral gene transfer system of ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction was not explored. In this work, recombinant expression plasmid of shRNA targeting survivin gene was constructed and added to cultured cervical cancer cells followed by ultrasound exposure and SonoVue((R)) microbubble. Expression of survivin mRNA and protein were assessed by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. Apoptosis ratio was quantified by flow cytometry marked with annexin V and 7-AAD. After transfected for 48 h, the expression of survivin mRNA and protein were (16.67 +/- 2.73)% and (21.33 +/- 3.55)%, respectively. The apoptosis rate was (45.41 +/- 1.47)%. The differences were significant as compared with other groups (P < 0.01). In conclusion, we suggested that survivin could be regarded as an ideal anticancer target of cervical cancer. Recombinant expression plasmid of shRNA targeting survivin gene mediated by ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction technique could effectively inhibit the expression of target gene and induce cell apoptosis. This novel method for RNA interference represents a powerful, promising non-viral technology that can be used in the tumor gene therapy and research.

Subcellular localization of APMCF1 and its biological significance of expression pattern in normal and malignant human tissues

Background

APMCF1 is a novel human gene first cloned from apoptotic MCF-7 cells. Our previous study found ectogenic APMCF1 could induce G1 arrest in hepatocarcinoma cell line HHCC. In order to search its broad expression profile for further understanding of its mechanism in tumor, we investigated a subcellular location of APMCF1 and performed an immunohistochemistry study including various tumor and normal tissues. Discovery from the expression characterization of AMPCF1 may have applicability in the analysis of its biological function in tumor.

Methods

We investigated subcellular localization of APMCF1 by transient transfection in green monkey kidney epithelial cells (COS-7) with a fusion protein vector pEGFP-APMCF1 and detected expression profile in a broad range of normal and malignant human tissues via tissue microarray (TMA) by immunohistochemistry with polyclonal antibody first produced in our laboratory.

Results

EGFP-APMCF1 was generally localized in the cytoplasm of COS-7 cell. Positive staining of APMCF1 was found in liver, lung, breast, colon, stomach, esophagus and testis, exhibited a ubiquitous expression pattern while its expression was up-regulated in tumor tissues compared with corresponding normal tissues. Normal brain neuron cells also showed expression of APMCF1, but negative in gliocyte cells and glioma. Both the normal and tumor tissues of ovary were absent of APMCF1 expression. Positive immunostaining for APMCF1 with large samples in liver, colon, esophagus, lung and breast carcinomas were 96% (51/53), 80% (44/55), 57% (30/53), 58% (33/57) and 34% (16/47) respectively.

Conclusion

These results revealed a cytoplastic expression pattern of APMCF1 and up-regulated in tumour tissues suggesting APMCF1 may have potential relationship with oncogenesis. The data presented should serve as a useful reference for further studies of APMCF1 functions in tumorigenesis and might provide a potential anti-tumor target.