Higher AURKA and PLK1 expression are associated with inferior overall survival in patients with myelofibrosis

Integrated bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing identifies an aneuploidy-based gene signature to predict sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma to traditional chemotherapy drugs and patients' prognosis

Background

Patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) often develop a poor prognosis. Currently, researches on prognostic and immunotherapeutic capacity of aneuploidy-related genes in LUAD are limited.

Methods

Genes related to aneuploidy were screened based on bulk RNA sequencing data from public databases using Spearman method. Next, univariate Cox and Lasso regression analyses were performed to establish an aneuploidy-related riskscore (ARS) model. Results derived from bioinformatics analysis were further validated using cellular experiments. In addition, typical LUAD cells were identified by subtype clustering, followed by SCENIC and intercellular communication analyses. Finally, ESTIMATE, ssGSEA and CIBERSORT algorithms were employed to analyze the potential relationship between ARS and tumor immune environment.

Results

A five-gene ARS signature was developed. These genes were abnormally high-expressed in LUAD cell lines, and in particular the high expression of CKS1B promoted the proliferative, migratory and invasive phenotypes of LUAD cell lines. Low ARS group had longer overall survival time, higher degrees of inflammatory infiltration, and could benefit more from receiving immunotherapy. Patients in low ASR group responded more actively to traditional chemotherapy drugs (Erlotinib and Roscovitine). The scRNA-seq analysis annotated 17 cell subpopulations into seven cell clusters. Core transcription factors (TFs) such as CREB3L1 and CEBPD were enriched in high ARS cell group, while TFs such as BCLAF1 and UQCRB were enriched in low ARS cell group. CellChat analysis revealed that high ARS cell groups communicated with immune cells via SPP1 (ITGA4-ITGB1) and MK (MDK-NCl) signaling pathways.

Conclusion

In this research, integrative analysis based on the ARS model provided a potential direction for improving the diagnosis and treatment of LUAD.

Pan-cancer analysis and in vitro validation of the oncogenic and prognostic roles of AURKA in human cancers

Background

Aurora kinase A (AURKA) plays a pivotal role in regulating cell mitosis and tumor progression. However, its prognostic significance across diverse cancer types remains relatively unexplored.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive analysis of AURKA expression in various cancers using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression, and The Human Protein Atlas databases. Our investigation encompassed an exploration of the associations between AURKA expression and clinical characteristics, shedding light on potential functional roles of AURKA. Additionally, we delved into the relationship between AURKA and the tumor microenvironment. To substantiate the role of AURKA, we carried out in vitro experiments in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), prostate cancer (PRAD), and pancreatic cancer (PAAD) cells.

Results

Our analysis revealed that AURKA is prominently overexpressed in a majority of the cancer types under investigation. Elevated AURKA expression correlated closely with poorer prognosis and advanced tumor stages. AURKA was found to be associated with key pathways involved in the cell cycle and arachidonic acid metabolism. Moreover, AURKA expression exhibited significant correlations with immunoregulatory genes and immune cell profiles. Notably, in vitro experiments demonstrated that silencing AURKA expression resulted in reduced cell viability in EAC, PRAD, and PAAD cells, as well as a decrease in clone formation, cell cycle elongation, diminished cell invasion and reduced spheroid size in EAC cells (OE33 and OE19).

Conclusion

Our study elucidates the oncogenic role of AURKA and underscores its prognostic value across a spectrum of cancers, including EAC. These findings suggest that AURKA holds promise as a predictive biomarker for EAC and various other tumor types.

Integrated Analysis of Transcriptome Data Revealed AURKA and KIF20A as Critical Genes in Medulloblastoma Progression

Medulloblastoma is the neuroepithelial tumor with the highest degree of malignancy in the central nervous system, accounting for about 8% to 10% of children’s brain tumors. It has a high degree of malignancy and is easily transmitted through cerebrospinal fluid, with a relatively poor prognosis. Although medulloblastoma has been widely studied and treated, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. To determine which gene plays a crucial role in medulloblastoma development and progression, we analyzed three microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were used to detect and evaluate differentially expressed genes. Protein interaction network was established, and the hub genes were determined in cytoHubba through various assessment methods, while the target genes were screened out using survival analysis. Ultimately, human medulloblastoma samples were utilized to confirm target gene expression. In conclusion, This study found that aurora kinase A (AURKA) and kinesin family member 20A (KIF20A) may be involved in the initiation and development of medulloblastoma, have a close association with prognosis, and may become a potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker of MED.

Integrated pan-cancer of AURKA expression and drug sensitivity analysis reveals increased expression of AURKA is responsible for drug resistance

Introduction

The AURKA gene encodes a protein kinase involved in cell cycle regulation and plays an oncogenic role in many cancers. The main objective of this study is to analyze AURKA expression in 13 common cancers and its role in prognostic and drug resistance.

Method

Using the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) as well as CCLE and GDSC data, the level of AURKA gene expression and its role in prognosis and its association with drug resistance were evaluated, respectively. In addition, the expression level of AURKA was assessed in colorectal cancer (CRC) and gastric cancer (GC) samples. Besides, using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data, drugs that could affect the expression level of this gene were also identified.

Results

The results indicated that the expression level of AURKA gene in 13 common cancers increased significantly compared to normal samples or it survived poorly (HR >1, p < 0.01) in lung, prostate, kidney, bladder, and uterine cancers. Also, the gene expression data showed increased expression in CRC and GC samples compared to normal ones. The level of AURKA was significantly associated with the resistance to SB 505124, NU‐7441, and irinotecan drugs (p < 0.01). Eventually, GEO data showed that JQ1, actinomycin D1, and camptothecin could reduce the expression of AURKA gene in different cancer cell lines (logFC < 1, p < 0.01).

Conclusion

Increased expression of AURKA is observed in prevalent cancers and associated with poor prognostic and the development of drug resistance. In addition, some chemotherapy drugs can reduce the expression of this gene.

CDC25c expression in patients with myelofibrosis is associated with stronger myeloproliferation and shorter overall survival

BACKGROUND

Cell division cycle 25c (CDC25c) is a gene coding a phosphatase controlling entry into mitosis upon activation through Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) and serves as a key regulator of cell division. The CDC25c was reported to be dysregulated in some malignant diseases, but its role in myelofibrosis has not yet been elucidated.

METHODS

We have retrospectively investigated CDC25c mRNA expression in bone marrow aspirates of 43 patients with myelofibrosis (28 primary [PMF] and 15 secondary myelofibrosis [SMF]) and 12 controls.

RESULTS

CDC25c mRNA expression did not significantly differ between PMF, SMF and controls (median ∆CT 3.08 vs 2.86 vs 2.29 for PMF, SMF and controls, respectively; P = 0.162). Patients presenting with higher CDC25c mRNA expression were of older age (P = 0.037), had statistically significantly higher white-blood-cells (P = 0.017), larger liver size (P = 0.022), higher absolute neutrophil (P = 0.010), monocyte (P = 0.050), basophil (P = 0.012), and eosinophil counts (P = 0.013). Patients presenting with high CDC25c mRNA expression had statistically significantly inferior overall survival compared to low CDC25c expression group (HR = 2.99; P = 0.049). Median overall survival was not reached in patients with low and was 44 months in patients with high CDC25c expression.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that higher CDC25c expression is associated with more proliferative phenotype of myelofibrosis and is prognostic of worse survival. Future studies investigating these interesting associations are warranted.