Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptor Gene Expression in HER2-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients: A Post-hoc Analysis of the NCCTG-N9831 (Alliance) Trial

Personalized differential expression analysis in triple-negative breast cancer

Identification of individual-level differentially expressed genes (DEGs) is a pre-step for the analysis of disease-specific biological mechanisms and precision medicine. Previous algorithms cannot balance accuracy and sufficient statistical power. Herein, RankCompV2, designed for identifying population-level DEGs based on relative expression orderings, was adjusted to identify individual-level DEGs. Furthermore, an optimized version of individual-level RankCompV2, named as RankCompV2.1, was designed based on the assumption that the rank positions of genes and relative rank differences of gene pairs would influence the identification of individual-level DEGs. In comparison to other individualized analysis algorithms, RankCompV2.1 performed better on statistical power, computational efficiency, and acquired coequal accuracy in both simulation and real paired cancer-normal data from ten cancer types. Besides, single sample GSEA and Gene Set Variation Analysis analysis showed that pathways enriched with up-regulated and down-regulated genes presented higher and lower enrichment scores, respectively. Furthermore, we identified 16 genes that were universally deregulated in 966 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) samples and interacted with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs or antineoplastic agents, indicating notable therapeutic targets for TNBC. In addition, we also identified genes with highly variable deregulation status and used these genes to cluster TNBC samples into three subgroups with different prognoses. The subgroup with the poorest outcome was characterized by down-regulated immune-regulated pathways, signal transduction pathways, and apoptosis-related pathways. Protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed that OAS family genes may be promising drug targets to activate tumor immunity in this subgroup. In conclusion, RankCompV2.1 is capable of identifying individual-level DEGs with high accuracy and statistical power, analyzing mechanisms of carcinogenesis and exploring therapeutic strategy.

Role of autonomic nervous system in BDE-209 maternal exposure induced immunotoxicity in female offspring

Decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) is a typical persistent organic pollutant that can cross the placental barrier, increasing the exposure risk for offspring. Norepinephrine (NE) from nerve terminals and acetylcholine (Ach) can bind to specific receptors on immune cells, inhibit the immune function of the body then cause immunotoxicity. However, whether maternal exposure to BDE-209 could lead to immunotoxicity in the offspring by acting on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems remains unclear. In view of this, the pregnancy and lactation rat BDE-209 exposure model was established and the results demonstrated that pregnancy and lactation BDE-209 exposure could induce immunotoxicity to female offspring via affecting immunopathology (hematological and biochemical parameters, organ indices, and spleen histopathological), decreasing humoral immunity (serum hemolysin, immunoglobulins, and cytokine productions), damaging cellular immunity (splenic lymphocytes and spleen cytokine productions), and restraining nonspecific immunity. Moreover, a dramatically significant correlation was observed between spleen nerve indices and immunity indices. Additionally, the mechanism revealed that maternal BDE-209 exposure caused offspring immunotoxicity through (1) activating MHC/PKCθ/NF-κB pathway; (2) promoting sympathetic nervous pathway, by upregulating the expression of β2AR protein, which in turn elevating cAMP, following activate PKA and phosphorylate CREB, ultimately leading to immunotoxicity;(3) activating parasympathetic nerve pathway by reducing the binding with Ach and α7nAchR, upregulating the expression of JAK2 and phosphorylating STAT3, induced immunotoxicity of female offspring.

The Secretome of Parental and Bone Metastatic Breast Cancer Elicits Distinct Effects in Human Osteoclast Activity after Activation of β2 Adrenergic Signaling

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), particularly through the β2 adrenergic receptor (β2-AR), has been linked with breast cancer (BC) and the development of metastatic BC, specifically in the bone. Nevertheless, the potential clinical benefits of exploiting β2-AR antagonists as a treatment for BC and bone loss-associated symptoms remain controversial. In this work, we show that, when compared to control individuals, the epinephrine levels in a cohort of BC patients are augmented in both earlier and late stages of the disease. Furthermore, through a combination of proteomic profiling and functional in vitro studies with human osteoclasts and osteoblasts, we demonstrate that paracrine signaling from parental BC under β2-AR activation causes a robust decrease in human osteoclast differentiation and resorption activity, which is rescued in the presence of human osteoblasts. Conversely, metastatic bone tropic BC does not display this anti-osteoclastogenic effect. In conclusion, the observed changes in the proteomic profile of BC cells under β-AR activation that take place after metastatic dissemination, together with clinical data on epinephrine levels in BC patients, provided new insights on the sympathetic control of breast cancer and its implications on osteoclastic bone resorption.

Innovative targets of the lncRNA-miR-mRNA network in response to low-dose aspirin in breast cancer patients

This study aimed to investigate innovative targets in breast cancer patients by considering the interaction of the lncRNA-miR-mRNA network in response to low-dose aspirin. The candidate miRs were first taken from the GEO and TCGA databases. Then, the candidate network was constructed using the high-throughput sequencing data. The expression levels of candidate targets were finally measured using Real-Time PCR in luminal A breast cancer patients undergoing aspirin (80 mg daily for three months) and non-aspirin groups during chemotherapy after surgery. The expression levels of TGFβ, IL-17, IFNγ, and IL-β proteins were measured using the ELISA technique. 5 lncRNAs, 12 miRs, and 10 genes were obtained in the bioinformatic phase. A significant expression increase of the candidate tumor suppressor lncRNAs, miRs, and genes and a substantial expression decrease of the candidate onco-lncRNAs, oncomiRs, and oncogenes were achieved after the aspirin consumption. Unlike the non-aspirin group, the expression levels of TGFβ, IL-17, IFNγ, and IL-β proteins were significantly decreased following aspirin consumption. The Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated a longer overall survival rate in the patients after aspirin consumption. Our results showed that the lncRNA-miR-mRNA network might be a significant target for aspirin; their expression changes may be a new strategy with potential efficacy for cancer therapy or prevention.