Survivin and its spliced isoform gene expression is associated with proliferation of renal cancer cells and clinical stage of renal cancer

A new semisynthetic cardenolide analog 3β-[2-(1-amantadine)- 1-on-ethylamine]-digitoxigenin (AMANTADIG) affects G2/M cell cycle arrest and miRNA expression profiles and enhances proapoptotic survivin-2B expression in renal cell carcinoma cell lines

Cardiac glycosides are well known in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases; however, their application as treatment option for cancer patients is under discussion. We showed that the cardiac glycoside digitoxin and its analog AMANTADIG can inhibit the growth of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines and increase G2/M cell cycle arrest. To identify the signaling pathways and molecular basis of this G2/M arrest, microRNAs were profiled using microRNA arrays. Cardiac glycoside treatment significantly deregulated two microRNAs, miR-2278 and miR-670-5p. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that all cardiac glycoside treatments affected the MAPK and the axon guidance pathway. Within these pathways, three genes, MAPK1, NRAS and RAC2, were identified as in silico targets of the deregulated miRNAs. MAPK1 and NRAS are known regulators of G2/M cell cycle arrest. AMANTADIG treatment enhanced the expression of phosphorylated MAPK1 in 786-O cells. Secondly, we studied the expression of survivin known to be affected by cardiac glycosides and to regulate the G2/M cell phase. AMANTADIG treatment upregulated the expression of the pro-apoptotic survivin-2B variant in Caki-1 and 786-O cells. Moreover, treatment with AMANTADIG resulted in significantly lower survivin protein expression compared to 786-O control cells. Summarizing, treatment with all cardiac glycosides induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and downregulated the miR-2278 and miR-670-5p in microarray analysis. All cardiac glycosides affected the MAPK-pathway and survivin expression, both associated with the G2/M phase. Because cells in the G2/M phase are radio- and chemotherapy sensitive, cardiac glycosides like AMANTADIG could potentially improve the efficacy of radio- and/or chemotherapy in RCCs.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of survivin expression in renal cancer patients: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Survivin has been reported to play a role in the diagnosis and prognosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, published data on this subject are conflicting.

AIM

To conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of survivin as a prognostic marker and its association with clinicopathological variables in patients with RCC.

METHOD

Comprehensive searches of electronic databases (PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge Embase, Google Scholar Web and the Cochrane Library) were updated to June 2016 to retrieve eligible studies. The association strength was measured with relative risks (RRs) and pooled HRs with 95% CIs, which were extracted and pooled to determine the association between survivin expression and patient survival and clinicopathological features.

RESULTS

Ten studies with 1063 cases of RCC were included. Positive survivin expression in RCC was associated with the TNM stage (pooled RR 1.49; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.07) or Fuhrman grade (pooled RR 1.63; 95% CI 1.15 to 2.32) in patients. The correlation between survivin expression and gender was not significant (pooled RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.83 to 1.15). In addition, a considerable association was found between survivin expression and overall survival for patients with RCC (pooled HR 1.94; 95% CI 1.24 to 3.05 (multivariate model) and 5.41; 95% CI 4.08 to 7.17 (univariate model)).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that survivin is of prognostic significance in patients with RCC.

High expression of survivin and its splice variants survivin ΔEx3 and survivin 2 B in oral cancers

OBJECTIVES

We have previously reported inactivation of p53 in 46% of Indian patients with oral cancer. Survivin, a p53 target gene and an inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP), is overexpressed in several cancers, including oral cancers. Studies assessing the role of survivin and its splice variants in oral cancers are, however, rare.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The expression of 6 survivin isoforms in 4 oral cancer cell lines (AW8507, AW13516, UPCI-SCC040, UPCI-SCC029 B), a dysplastic oral cell line (DOK), 75 paired oral tumor and adjacent normal tissues, and 12 normal oral tissue samples from healthy individuals was analyzed by real-time PCR. The expression was correlated with clinicopathologic parameters, which included age, sex, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging, tobacco and/or alcohol consumption, site, and differentiation status of tumor.

RESULTS

This is the first study to find overexpression of the 6 characterized survivin isoforms in oral cancers compared with normal tissues (P < .05). Additionally, a significant (P < .05) correlation among the fold changes of all 6 survivin isoforms was observed. Survivin wild type (wt) was the predominantly expressed isoform in oral cell lines and tumor tissues versus normal tissues (P < .05). Among the minor isoforms, survivin ΔEx3 and survivin 2 B were dominantly expressed, whereas survivin 2 α and survivin 3 α overexpression was found for the first time. Further high survivin 3 B expression exhibited a significant association (P < .05) with poorly differentiated tumors. Interestingly the combined expression of the antiapoptotic survivin isoforms, survivin wt, survivin ΔEx3, and survivin 3 B, exhibited a significant association with TNM staging of the tumor.

CONCLUSIONS

Our studies thus indicate that oral cancers overexpress the antiapoptotic survivin variants, which exhibit an association with advanced tumor stage, implying a role for these variants in oral tumorigenesis.

Nuclear Receptor 4A1 (NR4A1) as a Drug Target for Renal Cell Adenocarcinoma

The orphan nuclear receptor NR4A1 exhibits pro-oncogenic activity in cancer cell lines. NR4A1 activates mTOR signaling, regulates genes such as thioredoxin domain containing 5 and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 that maintain low oxidative stress, and coactivates specificity protein 1 (Sp1)-regulated pro-survival and growth promoting genes. Transfection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) ACHN and 786-O cells with oligonucleotides that target NR4A1 results in a 40–60% decrease in cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, knockdown of NR4A1 in RCC cells decreased bcl-2, survivin and epidermal growth factor receptor expression, inhibited of mTOR signaling, induced oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress, and decreased TXNDC5 and IDH1. We have recently demonstrated that selected 1,1-bis(3'-indolyl)-1-(p-substituted phenyl)methane (C-DIM) compounds including the p-hydroxyphenyl (DIM-C-pPhOH) and p-carboxymethyl (DIM-C-pPhCO₂Me) analogs bind NR4A1 and act as antagonists. Both DIM-C-pPhOH and DIM-C-pPhCO₂Me inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in ACHN and 786-O cells, and the functional and genomic effects of the NR4A1 antagonists were comparable to those observed after NR4A1 knockdown. These results indicate that NR4A1 antagonists target multiple growth promoting and pro-survival pathways in RCC cells and in tumors (xenograft) and represent a novel chemotherapy for treating RCC.

Epistatic interaction between adiponectin and survivin gene polymorphisms in endometrial carcinoma

Adiponectin appears to play an important role in the development and progression of several obesity-related malignancies. Also, overexpression of survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis protein, is associated with increased risk of cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between two polymorphisms in the adiponectin gene and endometrial cancer (EC) risk. We also investigated whether epistasis between surviving and adiponectin gene polymorphisms are associated with EC risk in an Iranian population. The samples comprised formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections obtained from the archive of the pathology department, Imam-Khomeini Hospital and Firouzgar hospital. After DNA extraction the genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP technique. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in adiponectin (rs1063539, rs2241766) and survivin (rs9904341) gene were evaluated in the study. The increased frequency of ADIPOQ rs1063539C allele (CC+CG genotype) was associated with decreased EC risk [OR: 0.39(0.17-0.90)]. Survivin rs9904341C allele (CC+CG genotype) was associated with increased EC risk [crude OR: 2.75(1.27-5.95), adjusted OR: 2.93(1.27-6.76)]. We observed an epistatic interaction between survivin rs9904341 CC+CG genotype and ADIPOQ rs1063539 GG genotype increasing the risk of EC compared to those with other genotypes [OR: 4.86(1.88-12.54), P=0.001]. Our findings indicate that adiponectin might have a modulatory effect on survivin role and function in EC, which requires further investigation.

Preparation of camptothecin-loaded targeting nanoparticles and their antitumor effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cell line H22

Camptothecin (CPT) is an effective anticancer agent against various cancers but the clinical application is limited because of its poor water solubility, low bioavailability and severe toxic side effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using targeted NPs as a high-performance CPT delivery system that targets liver cancer cells through intravenous (i.v.) administration route. CPT was incorporated into biotin-F127-PLA or F127-PLA polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) by a dialysis method. The preparation of the targeting NPs was performed by conjugating biotin-F127-PLA NPs with anti-3A5 antibody. The antitumor effect of the CPT-loaded nanoparticles against H22 cells in vitro was determined using an MTT assay. Tissue distribution and tumor inhibition in vivo were also evaluated. Survivin mRNA expression was assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that the targeted CPT NPs exhibited regular spherical shapes with a mean diameter of approximately 180 nm. In vitro release of the targeted CPT NPs exhibited an initial burst (40%) within 12 h, followed by a slow release. Cytotoxicity test against H22 cells indicated that the targeted CPT NPs exerted significant antitumor effects. Compared with free CPT and non-targeted CPT NPs, the targeted CPT NPs showed superior inhibition ratio against tumor in vivo, which may be associated with reduced survivin mRNA expression. The results suggested that the new targeted CPT NPs may be a promising injectable delivery system for cancer therapy.

Gene and isoform expression signatures associated with tumor stage in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

Background

Identification of expression alternations between early and late stage cancers is helpful for understanding cancer development and progression. Much research has been done focusing on stage-dependent gene expression profiles. In contrast, relatively fewer studies on isoform expression profiles have been performed due to the difficulty of quantification and noisy splicing. Here we conducted both gene- and isoform-level analysis on RNA-seq data of 234 stage I and 81 stage IV kidney renal clear cell carcinoma patients, aiming to uncover the stage-dependent expression signatures and investigate the advantage of isoform expression profiling for identifying advanced stage cancers and predicting clinical outcome.

Results

Both gene and isoform expression signatures are useful for distinguishing cancer stages. They provide common and unique information associated with cancer progression and metastasis. Combining gene and isoform signatures even improves the classification performance and reveals additional important biological processes, such as angiogenesis and TGF−beta signaling pathway. Moreover, expression abundance of a number of genes and isoforms is predictive of the risk of cancer death in an independent dataset, such as gene and isoform expression of ITPKA, the expression of a functional important isoform of UPS19.

Conclusion

Isoform expression profiling provides unique and important information which cannot be detected by gene expression profiles. Combining gene and isoform expression signatures helps to identify advanced stage cancers, predict clinical outcome, and present a comprehensive view of cancer development and progression.

Functional promoter -31G>C variant in survivin gene is associated with risk and progression of renal cell cancer in a Chinese population

Background

Survivin is an inhibitor of apoptosis protein and is involved in the occurrence and progression of human malignancies. Recently, a functional polymorphism (−31G>C, rs9904341) in the promoter of survivin has been shown to influence its expression and confer susceptibility to different types of cancer. The present study was aimed to investigate whether the polymorphism also influences susceptibility and progression of renal cell cancer (RCC) in a Chinese population.

Methods

We genotyped this polymorphism using the TaqMan assay in a case-control study comprised of 710 RCC patients and 760 controls. The logistic regression was used to assess the genetic association with occurrence and progression of RCC.

Results

Compared with the genotypes containing G allele (GG and GC), we found a statistically significant increased occurrence of RCC associated with the CC genotype [P = 0.006, adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–1.76]. The polymorphism was associated with risk of developing advanced stage (OR = 2.02, 95%CI = 1.34–3.07) and moderately differentiated (OR = 1.75; 95%CI = 1.20–2.54) RCC. Furthermore, the patients carrying the CC genotype had a significantly greater prevalence of high clinical stage disease (P_trend = 0.003). Similar results were also observed when we restricted the analysis to clear cell RCC, a major histological type of RCC.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the functional −31G>C polymorphism in the promoter of survivin may influence the susceptibility and progression of RCC in the Chinese population. Large population-based prospective studies are required to validate our findings.

Therapeutic vaccines in renal cell carcinoma

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is a lethal disease. The advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has changed the disease process, yet the majority of patients will develop treatment-resistant disease. IL-2 based immunotherapy in mRCC is the only US FDA-approved treatment with curative results. Immunotherapeutic vaccine approaches to mRCC have been under investigation for several decades with mixed results. The recent FDA-approval of the first cellular immunotherapy in prostate cancer (Provenge(®)) has reinvigorated the search for similar vaccines approaches in mRCC. This review introduces the concepts and different features required for a successful anticancer vaccine approach.