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Amani MS, Peymani M. Investigating the impact of SMAD2 and SMAD4 downregulation in colorectal cancer and their correlation with immune markers, prognosis, and drug resistance and sensitivity. Mol Biol Rep 2024; 51:831. [PMID: 39037563 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09697-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While many genes linked to colorectal cancer (CRC) contribute to cancer development, a thorough investigation is needed to explore crucial hub genes yet to be fully studied. A pivotal pathway in CRC is transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β). This study aimed to assess SMAD2 and SMAD4 gene expression from this pathway. METHODS AND RESULTS Counted data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were examined, comparing 483 tumor and 41 normal samples. Using clinical data, genes impacting overall survival (OS) were evaluated. GSE39582 was employed to confirmed the levels of genes in CRC compared to the normal samples. Additionally, employing unhealthy samples and the RT-qPCR means our outcomes was validated. Finally, PharmacoGx information were utilized to connect the levels of potential genes to drug tolerance and susceptibility. Our findings showed SMAD2 and SMAD4 levels in TGF-β signaling were more significant than other pathway genes. Our findings indicated that the protein levels of these genes were lower in malignant tissues than in healthy tissues. Results revealed a significant correlation between low levels of SMAD2 and unfavorable OS in CRC individuals. RT-qPCR results demonstrated decreased expressions of both SMAD2 and SMAD4 in cancer tissues compared to elevated levels in adjacent normal samples. Our results showed significant association between selected genes and immune cell infiltration markers such as CD8+, and B-cells. Our results indicated a potential association among the levels of SMAD2 and SMAD4 genes and tolerance and susceptibility to Nilotinib and Panobinostat drugs. CONCLUSION Reduced expression of SMAD2 and SMAD4 may be pivotal in CRC progression, impacting downstream genes unrelated to patient OS. These findings suggest a potential role for SMAD2 and SMAD4 as predictive markers for drug response in CRC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melika Saadat Amani
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
| | - Maryam Peymani
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran.
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Wu H, Yang Z, Chang C, Wang Z, Zhang D, Guo Q, Zhao B. A novel disulfide death-related genes prognostic signature identifies the role of IPO4 in glioma progression. Cancer Cell Int 2024; 24:168. [PMID: 38734657 PMCID: PMC11088110 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-024-03358-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND "Disulfide death," a form of cellular demise, is triggered by the abnormal accumulation of intracellular disulfides under conditions of glucose deprivation. However, its role in the prognosis of glioma remains undetermined. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to establish prognostic signature based on disulfide death-related genes (DDRGs) and to provide new solutions in choosing the effective treatment of glioma. METHODS The RNA transcriptome, clinical information, and mutation data of glioma samples were sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), while normal samples were obtained from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). DDRGs were compiled from previous studies and selected through differential analysis and univariate Cox regression analysis. The molecular subtypes were determined through consensus clustering analysis. Further, LASSO analysis was employed to select characteristic genes, and subsequently, a risk model comprising seven DDRGs was constructed based on multivariable Cox analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were employed to assess survival differences between high and low-risk groups. Additionally, functional analyses (GO, KEGG, GSEA) were conducted to explore the potential biological functions and signaling pathways of genes associated with the model. The study also explored immune checkpoint (ICP) genes, immune cell infiltration levels, and immune stromal scores. Finally, the effect of Importin-4(IPO4) on glioma has been further confirmed through RT-qPCR, Western blot, and cell functional experiments. RESULTS 7 genes associated with disulfide death were obtained and two subgroups of patients with different prognosis and clinical characteristics were identified. Risk signature was subsequently developed and proved to serve as an prognostic predictor. Notably, the high-risk group exhibited an immunosuppressive microenvironment characterized by a high concentration of M2 macrophages and regulatory T cells (Tregs). In contrast, the low-risk group showed lower half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values. Therefore, patients in the high-risk group may benefit more from immunotherapy, while patients in the low-risk group may benefit more from chemotherapy. In addition, in vitro experiments have shown that inhibition of the expression of IPO4 leads to a significant reduction in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells. CONCLUSION This study identified two glioma subtypes and constructed a prognostic signature based on DDRGs. The signature has the potential to optimize the selection of patients for immune- and chemotherapy and provided a potential therapeutic target for glioma.
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Affiliation(s)
- HaoYuan Wu
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - ZhiHao Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - ChenXi Chang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - ZhiWei Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - DeRan Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - QingGuo Guo
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China
| | - Bing Zhao
- Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, 678 Fu Rong Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230601, China.
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Deng L, Zhao Y, Liu W. PFKP is upregulated in 5-fluorouracil-resistant patients and suppresses the antitumor activity of 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer in vitro and in vivo. J Chemother 2023:1-13. [PMID: 38044588 DOI: 10.1080/1120009x.2023.2288742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
As a long-established chemotherapy drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is widely used to clinically manage colorectal cancer (CRC). However, a substantial portion of patients develop 5-FU resistance at some stage, which poses a great challenge. Therefore, revealing the mechanisms that could guide the development of effective strategies to overcome 5-FU resistance is required. Here, we report that the expression of PFKP was higher in HCT116/5-FU CRC. Furthermore, genetic suppression of PFKP suppresses glycolysis, NF-κB activation, and expression of GLUT1 and HK2 in HCT116/5-FU cells. PFKP overexpression promotes glycolysis and expression of GLUT1 and HK2 via the NF-κB signaling pathway in HCT116 cells. Our functional assays demonstrated that PFKP silencing could sensitize HCT116/5-FU cells to 5-FU with an elevated population of apoptotic cells. In contrast, forced expression of PFKP conferred 5-FU resistance in HCT116 cells. Furthermore, PFKP silencing significantly inhibited CRC xenograft tumor growth. Notably, the combination of PFKP silencing and 5-FU inhibited tumor growth. Therefore, our results demonstrated that PFKP enhances 5-FU resistance by promoting glycolysis, indicating that PFKP could be a novel candidate for targeted therapy for 5-FU-resistant CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Deng
- Department of Radiology, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yan Zhao
- Department of Radiology, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Radiology, Chongming Branch, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen Liu
- Department of Radiology, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Mi K, Zeng L, Chen Y, Yang S. Integrative Analysis of Single-Cell and Bulk RNA Sequencing Reveals Prognostic Characteristics of Macrophage Polarization-Related Genes in Lung Adenocarcinoma. Int J Gen Med 2023; 16:5031-5050. [PMID: 37942473 PMCID: PMC10629586 DOI: 10.2147/ijgm.s430408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a group of cancers with poor prognosis. The combination of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) can identify important genes involved in cancer development and progression from a broader perspective. Methods The scRNA-seq data and bulk RNA-seq data of LUAD were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Analyzing scRNA-seq for core cells in the GSE131907 dataset, and the uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) was used for dimensionality reduction and cluster identification. Macrophage polarization-associated subtypes were acquired from the TCGA-LUAD dataset after analysis, followed by further identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the TCGA-LUAD dataset (normal/LUAD tissue samples, two subtypes). Venn diagrams were utilized to visualize differentially expressed and highly variable macrophage polarization-related genes. Subsequently, a prognostic risk model for LUAD patients was constructed by univariate Cox and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), and the model was investigated for stability in the external data GSE72094. After analyzing the correlation between the trait genes and significantly mutated genes, the immune infiltration between the high/low-risk groups was then examined. The Monocle package was applied to analyze the pseudo-temporal trajectory analysis of different cell clusters in macrophage clusters. Subsequently, cell clusters of data macrophages were selected as key cell clusters to explore the role of characteristic genes in different cell populations and to identify transcription factors (TFs) that affect signature genes. Finally, qPCR were employed to validate the expression levels of prognosis signature genes in LUAD. Results 424 macrophage highly variable genes, 3920 DEGs, and 9561 DEGs were obtained from macrophage clusters, the macrophage polarization-related subtypes, and normal/LUAD tissue samples, respectively. Twenty-eight differentially expressed and highly mutated MPRGs were obtained. A prognostic risk model with 7 DE-MPRGs (RGS13, ADRB2, DDIT4, MS4A2, ALDH2, CTSH, and PKM) was constructed. This prognostic model still has a good prediction effect in the GSE72094 dataset. ZNF536 and DNAH9 were mutated in the low-risk group, while COL11A1 was mutated in the high-risk group, and they were highly correlated with the characteristic genes. A total of 11 immune cells were significantly different in the high/low-risk groups. Five cell types were again identified in the macrophage cluster, and then NK cells: CD56hiCD62L+ differentiated earlier and were present mainly on 2 branches. While macrophages were present on 2 branches and differentiated later. It was found that the expression levels of BCLAF1 and MAX were higher in cluster 1, which might be the TFs affecting the expression of the characteristic genes. Moreover, qPCR confirmed that the expression of the prognosis genes was generally consistent with the results of the bioinformatic analysis. Conclusion Seven MPRGs (RGS13, ADRB2, DDIT4, MS4A2, ALDH2, CTSH, and PKM) were identified as prognostic genes for LUAD and revealed the mechanisms of MPRGs at the single-cell level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Mi
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
| | - Lizhong Zeng
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yang Chen
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shuanying Yang
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
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Lei T, Shen M, Deng X, Shi Y, Peng Y, Wang H, Chen T. Genomic characteristics of two breast malignant phyllodes tumors during pregnancy and lactation identified through whole-exome sequencing. Orphanet J Rare Dis 2022; 17:382. [PMID: 36271373 PMCID: PMC9587670 DOI: 10.1186/s13023-022-02537-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The genomic landscape of breast malignant phyllodes tumors (PTs) is not well defined, especially pregnancy-related malignant PTs. To clarify this topic, whole-exome next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on tumor samples and paired normal breast tissues from two pregnancy-related malignant PTs, followed by a functional analysis of the genetic alterations. Methods DNA from malignant PT samples and matched normal breast tissues of both patients were subjected to molecular profiling. NGS of the whole-exome was performed in a commercial molecular pathology laboratory. Predictive tools were used to estimate genetic variation in somatic and germline genes. Results In total, 29 somatic genomic alterations and 18 germline alterations were found in both patients. In Patient 1, 12 aberrations were identified in the tumor tissue, and 9 alterations were identified in matched normal breast tissue. One pathogenic variant in tumor suppressor genes (TP53) was detected in patient 1. In Patient 2, 18 and 10 variants were found in the tumor and matched normal breast tissue, respectively. In Patient 2, pathogenic alterations were identified in two tumor suppressor genes (PTEN and TP53). PTEN and TP53 may be potential drug targets. The functional predictive tools showed that genes of unknown significance for PTs, including FCHO1 in Patient 1, and LRP12 and PKM in Patient 2, were pathogenic. Several genes, including FCHO1, LRP12 and PKM, were shown for the first time to be altered in malignant PTs. A potentially pathogenic germline variant in PRF1, was detected in Patient 1. Conclusion Our study first demonstrated somatic and germline gene alterations in two malignant PTs during pregnancy and lactation. These two PTs shared major genetic events, including TP53 mutation, which commonly occurs in malignant PTs; additionally, we identified two potential genes for targeted therapy, TP53 and PTEN. One germline mutation in PRF1 was also detected. These results provide clues regarding tumor pathogenesis and precision therapy development. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13023-022-02537-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tinge Lei
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
| | - Mengjia Shen
- Department of Pathology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guo Xue Xiang, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Xu Deng
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
| | - Yongqiang Shi
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
| | - Yan Peng
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
| | - Hui Wang
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
| | - Tongbing Chen
- Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 213003, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China.
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