Knockdown of AURKA sensitizes the efficacy of radiation in human colorectal cancer

Evaluation of the Efficacy of OSU-2S in the Treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer and Screening of Potential Targets of Action

(1) Background: OSU-2S is a derivative of FTY720 and exhibits significant inhibitory effects on various cancer cells. There is currently no research on the mechanism of the impact of OSU-2S on NSCLC development. We analysed and validated the hub genes and pharmacodynamic effects of OSU-2S to treat NSCLC. (2) Methods: The hub genes of OSU-2S for the treatment of NSCLC were screened in PharmMapper, genecard, and KM Plotter database by survival and expression analysis. The effect of OSU-2S on hub gene expression was verified by Western blot analysis. The ex vivo and in vivo efficacy of OSU-2S on tumour growth was verified using A549 cells and a xenografted animal model. (3) Results: A total of 7 marker genes for OSU-2S treatment of NSCLC were obtained. AURKA and S1PR1 were screened as hub genes. Significant differences in the expression of AURKA and S1PR1 between normal and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tissues were found in the GEPIA2 database; Western blot showed that OSU-2S could affect p-AURKA and S1PR1 protein expression. OSU-2S significantly inhibited tumour growth in A549 cells and xenografted animal models. (4) Conclusions: Our study confirms the inhibitory effect of OSU-2S on NSCLC, screens and demonstrates its potential targets AURKA(p-AURKA) and S1PR1, and provides a research basis for treating NSCLC with OSU-2S.

AURKA Gene Variants rs1047972, and rs8173 Are Associated With Breast Cancer

PURPOSE

Association between variants rs1047972 and rs8173 of the AURKA gene in healthy women and breast cancer (BC) in a Mexican population.

METHODS

Genomic DNA samples from 409 healthy women and 572 patients with BC were analyzed for variants rs1047972 and rs8173 of the AURKA gene by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.

RESULTS

TT genotype (odds ratio [OR], 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-5.11; p = 0.0015) and the T allele (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.23-2.12; p = 0.0007) of the rs1047972 variant were associated as risk susceptibility for BC relative to the control group. Contrarily, the GG genotype (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43-0.94; p = 0.029) was associated as a protective factor of susceptibility of BC of the variant rs8173 of the AURKA gene. Differences were observed in the patients with BC who were carriers of the CT genotype of the rs1047972 variant with overweight, obesity, estrogen receptor-positive plus obesity, Ki-67 (≥ 20%) plus history familial positive of cancer; and for variant rs8173 the BC patients who were CG carriers and presented chemotherapy gastric toxicity, hormonal receptor positive plus chemotherapy gastric toxicity, and menopause status plus chemotherapy gastric toxicity (p < 0.05). Two common haplotypes were identified in the study groups: CG and TC genotypes, were associated as a protective and risk factor, respectively (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Variants rs1047972 and rs8173 of the AURKA gene and the TC haplotype were associated as risk susceptibility factors for BC in this population.

Pharmacological inhibition of the ubiquitin-specific protease 8 effectively suppresses glioblastoma cell growth

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant brain tumor. The purpose of this study is to estimate the potential effects and underlying mechanisms of a ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8) small-molecule inhibitor on the phenotypic characteristics of GBM cells. The growth, migration, invasion, and stemness of GBM LN229 and T98G cells were evaluated by conducting cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing, transwell, Ki-67 staining, spheroid formation, and ionizing radiation assays, and the results collectively showed the suppressive effects of USP8 inhibition on GBM cells. Furthermore, transcriptomic profiling of GBM cells treated with the USP8 inhibitor deubiquitinase (DUB)-IN-1 revealed significantly altered mRNA expression induced by pharmacological USP8 inhibition, from which we confirmed downregulated Aurora kinase A (AURKA) protein levels using immunoblotting assays. Our findings indicated that the proliferation, invasion, and stemness of LN229 and T98G cells were markedly suppressed by USP8 inhibition. Pharmacological USP8 suppression elicits multiple tumor-inhibitory effects, likely through dysregulating various mRNA expression events, including that of the key cell cycle regulator and oncogenic protein AURKA. Therefore, our observations corroborate the GBM-supportive roles of USP8 and suggest pharmacological USP8 inhibition is a viable therapeutic approach to target GBM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of action of the USP8 inhibitor DUB-IN-1 on GBM.

Predicting AURKA as a novel therapeutic target for NPC: A comprehensive analysis based on bioinformatics and validation

This study comprehensively explored the clinical function of Aurora kinase A (AURKA) gene in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and analyzed its potential as a therapeutic target in cancer. Data were downloaded from GEO, STRING, GTEx, and CellMiner databases, and subjected to multiple bioinformatic analyses, including differential expression analysis, WCGNA, gene ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), gene set variation analysis (GSVA), miRNA-hub gene regulatory network analysis, immune cell infiltration, and drug sensitivity analysis. In-depth analysis of AURKA gene expression in NPC and its corresponding clinicopathological features was performed to explore its potential as a therapeutic target. Moreover, AURKA gene expression in NPC was validated by qRT-PCR in 21 NPC tissues and 17 normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues. AURKA was highly expressed in NPC tissues. Enrichment analysis of AURKA and its co-expressed hub genes indicated their oncogenic role in NPC and their potential involvement in cancer-promoting processes through histone kinase activity and microtubule motility activity, cell cycle, and p53 signaling pathways. AURKA high expression group had greater infiltration of neutrophils, macrophages M2, and dendritic cells resting and less infiltration of T cells CD4⁺ naïve and T cells γδ. Drug susceptibility analysis found that dacarbazine, R-306465, vorinostat, and other antitumor drugs that act on the cell cycle were closely related to AURKA. qRT-PCR verified the high expression of AURKA in NPC tissues (p < 0.05). We confirmed upregulation of AURKA in NPC tissues. Our results support an oncogenic role of AURKA in the context of NPC, and indicate its potential role as a novel therapeutic target.

A Novel Five-Gene Signature for Prognosis Prediction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been a global health issue and attracted wide attention due to its high incidence and poor outcomes. In this study, our purpose was to explore an effective prognostic marker for HCC. Five cohort profile datasets from GEO (GSE25097, GSE36376, GSE62232, GSE76427 and GSE101685) were integrated with TCGA-LIHC and GTEx dataset to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between normal and cancer tissues in HCC patients, then 5 upregulated differentially expressed genes and 32 downregulated DEGs were identified as common DEGs in total. Next, we systematically explored the relationship between the expression of 37 common DEGs in tumor tissues and overall survival (OS) rate of HCC patients in TCGA and constructed a novel prognostic model composed of five genes (AURKA, PZP, RACGAP1, ACOT12 and LCAT). Furthermore, the predicted performance of the five-gene signature was verified in ICGC and another independent clinical samples cohort, and the results demonstrated that the signature performed well in predicting the OS rate of patients with HCC. What is more, the signature was an independent hazard factor for HCC patients when considering other clinical factors in the three cohorts. Finally, we found the signature was significantly associated with HCC immune microenvironment. In conclusion, the prognostic five-gene signature identified in our present study could efficiently classify patients with HCC into subgroups with low and high risk of longer overall survival time and help clinicians make decisions for individualized treatment.