IL1B gene polymorphisms, age and the risk of non-small cell lung cancer in a Chinese population

Toxic effect and mRNA mechanism of moon dust simulant induced pulmonary inflammation in rats

Moon dust presents a significant hazard to manned moon exploration missions, yet our understanding of its toxicity remains limited. The objective of this study is to investigate the pattern and mechanism of lung inflammation induced by subacute exposure to moon dust simulants (MDS) in rats. SD rats were exposed to MDS and silica dioxide through oral and nasal inhalation for 6 hours per day continuously for 15 days. Pathological analysis indicated that the toxicity of MDS was lower than that of silica dioxide. MDS led to a notable recruitment and infiltration of macrophages in the rat lungs. Material characterization and biochemical analysis revealed that SiO2, Fe2O3, and TiO2 could be crucial sources of MDS toxicity. The study revealed that MDS-induced oxidative stress response can lead to pulmonary inflammation, which potentially may progress to lung fibrosis. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that MDS suppresses the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, triggers the Tnfr2 non-classical NF-kB pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway, ultimately causing lung inflammation and activating predominantly antioxidant immune responses. Moreover, the study identified the involvement of upregulated genes IL1b, csf2, and Sod2 in regulating immune responses in rat lungs, making them potential key targets for preventing pulmonary toxicity related to moon dust exposure. These findings are expected to aid in safeguarding astronauts against the hazardous effects of moon dust and offer fresh insights into the implications and mechanisms of moon dust toxicity.

Impact of IL-6 and IL-1β Gene Variants on Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Risk in Egyptian Patients

Lung cancer is a serious health and life issue, with the fastest-growing incidence and fatality rates worldwide. It is now clear that inflammation is a key factor involved in all aspects of carcinogenesis, notably lung cancer development. Genetic changes, including polymorphisms in inflammatory genes, are supposed to be a significant cause of increased lung cancer risk. The main idea of this research was to disclose the linkage between both IL-6 rs1800795 and IL-1β rs16944 variants and susceptibility to non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Egyptians. This case-control design was composed of 127 cases and 138 controls, which were genotyped using the ARMS-PCR technique. To examine the NSCLC susceptibility under various genetic models, the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined by logistic regression. Rs1800795 of the IL-6 gene was linked to higher odds of NSCLC under the allele model (adjusted, OR 2.28; 95% CI 1.2-4.33; p = 0.011). In the genetic models, IL-6 rs1800795 elevated the odds of NSCLC, while IL-1β rs16944 decreased the odds of NSCLC. Stratification analysis showed that IL-6 rs1800795 greatly increased the NSCLC risk in females and adenocarcinoma subtypes, whereas IL-1β rs16944 largely decreased the NSCLC risk for males, patients aged < 55, and nonsmokers. Regarding clinical data, the IL-6 variant was remarkably correlated with tumor size. This work primarily established that IL-6 and IL-1β variants have a great impact on NSCLC development in the Egyptian population; thus, it may be a supportive guide for earlier NSCLC prevention.

Bioinformatics approach to identify common gene signatures of patients with coronavirus 2019 and lung adenocarcinoma

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues as a global pandemic. Patients with lung cancer infected with COVID-19 may develop severe disease or die. Treating such patients severely burdens overwhelmed healthcare systems. Here, we identified potential pathological mechanisms shared between patients with COVID-19 and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Co-expressed, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in patients with COVID-19 and LUAD were identified and used to construct a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and to perform enrichment analysis. We used the NetworkAnalyst platform to establish a co-regulatory of the co-expressed DEGs, and we used Spearman’s correlation to evaluate the significance of associations of hub genes with immune infiltration and immune checkpoints. Analysis of three datasets identified 112 shared DEGs, which were used to construct a protein-PPI network. Subsequent enrichment analysis revealed co-expressed genes related to biological process (BP), molecular function (MF), and cellular component (CC) as well as to pathways, specific organs, cells, and diseases. Ten co-expressed hub genes were employed to construct a gene-miRNA, transcription factor (TF)-gene, and TF-miRNA network. Hub genes were significantly associated with immune infiltration and immune checkpoints. Finally, methylation level of hub genes in LUAD was obtained via UALCAN database. The present multi-dimensional study reveals commonality in specific gene expression by patients with COVID-19 and LUAD. These findings provide insights into developing strategies for optimising the management and treatment of patients with LUAD with COVID-19.

Interleukin polymorphisms and protein levels associated with lung cancer susceptibility and phenotypes

BACKGROUND

We conducted a comprehensive analysis to explore whether multiple interleukin (IL), IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, polymorphisms and IL proteins (IL-6, IL-10) relate to lung cancer (LC) susceptibility or clinical characteristics.

METHODS

We performed the standard meta-analysis procedures according to PRISMA. The odds ratio (OR) and mean difference (MD) were used for analysis.

RESULTS

We investigated 11 variants from 43 articles, and found that IL-1β rs16944 (p = 0.04) and IL-10 rs1800872 (p = 0.003) decreased while IL-10 rs1800896 (p = 0.007) increased LC risks. We also found that IL-1β rs1143627 decreased NSCLC risks (p = 0.03). The heterozygotes and homozygotes contributed differently. In addition, another 15 articles were involved to explore the relationship between IL proteins and LC. We found that LC patients accounted for higher serum IL-6 of 16.60 pg/mL (p < 0.00001) and higher serum IL-10 of 3.47 pg/mL (p = 0.02) than that of controls. Furthermore, IIIA-Ⅳ LC patients tended to have higher proportion of positive IL-6 staining in lung tumor tissue in contrast with IA-IIB patients by TNM stage (p = 0.0002).

CONCLUSIONS

Four variants from IL-1β and IL-10, and serum IL-6 and IL-10 levels are associated with LC risks.

Expression of inflammatory interleukins and selected miRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer

Tumours are characterised by an ability to avoid immune destruction and the presence of cancer-associated inflammation. Better understanding of the link between lung cancer and such inflammation is vital for early detection and personalized treatment. Thus, we examined the mRNA expression of interleukins IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17 and miR-9, miR-122 as potential useful biomarkers of NSCLC. Tumour tissues, non-cancerous tissue and blood samples were collected from 39 patients with primary NSCLC undergoing surgical treatment. The selected RNA was isolated from tissue samples and selected miRNAs from peripheral blood exosomes. This RNA was transcribed to cDNA and quantified using RT-qPCR. Significantly higher expression of the selected interleukins was observed in non-cancerous than tumour tissue, and IL-6 was significantly higher in the tumour tissue of patients with a history of ≤ 40 pack-years (PYs) (2.197, IQR: 0.821-4.415) than in those with > 40 PYs (0.461, IQR: 0.372-0.741; p = 0.037). It is clear that inflammatory processes play a role in NSCLC, as indicated by the upregulation of IL-1β and IL-6 in tumour and adjacent tissue, and that smoking has a strong influence on inflammation in tumourigenesis, demonstrated by the upregulation of IL-6 in tumour samples among patients with ≤ 40 PYs compared to > 40 PYs.

Higher order genes interaction in DNA repair and cytokine genes polymorphism and risk to lung cancer in North Indians

Context

Lung cancer pathological process involves cumulative effects exerted by gene polymorphism(s), epigenetic modifications, and alterations in DNA repair machinery. Further, DNA damage due to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and the interplay between genetic and environmental factors is also an etiologic milieu of this malignant disease.

Aims

The present study aims to assess the prognostic value of DNA repair, cytokines, and GST gene polymorphism in lung cancer patients who had not received any neoadjuvant therapy.

Materials and Methods

In this case-control study, 127 cases and 120 controls were enrolled. DNA from the blood samples of both patients and controls was used to genotype XRCC1Arg399Gln, XPDLys751Gln, and interleukin-1 (IL-1β) genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism method, whereas multiplex PCR was performed to genotype GSTT1 and GSTM1.

Results

Binary logistic regression analysis showed that XRCC1Arg399Gln-mutant genotype (Gln/Gln, odds ratio [OR] = 4.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.2-9.6) and GSTT1 null (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.6-4.5) were linked to cancer susceptibility. Generalized multidimensional reduction analysis of higher order gene-gene interaction using cross-validation testing (CVT) accuracy showed that GSTT1 (CVT 0.62, P = 0.001), XPD751 and IL-1β (CVT 0.6, P = 0.001), and XRCC1399, XPD751, and interleukin-1 receptor antagonists (IL-1RN) (CVT 0.98, P = 0.001) were single-, two-, and three-factor best model predicted, respectively, for lung cancer risk. Classification and regression tree analysis results showed that terminal nodes which contain XRCC1399-mutant genotype (AA) had increased the risk to lung cancer.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrated that XRCC1399 (Gln/Gln), GSTT1, and IL-1RN allele I, I/II served as the risk genotypes. These genes could serve as the biomarkers to predict lung cancer risk.

Identification of 10 Hub genes related to the progression of colorectal cancer by co-expression analysis

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. The present study is aimed at identifying hub genes associated with the progression of CRC.

Method

The data of the patients with CRC were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and assessed by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses performed in R by WGCNA, several hub genes that regulate the mechanism of tumorigenesis in CRC were identified. Differentially expressed genes in the data sets GSE28000 and GSE42284 were used to construct a co-expression network for WGCNA. The yellow, black and blue modules associated with CRC level were filtered. Combining the co-expression network and the PPI network, 15 candidate hub genes were screened.

Results

After validation using the TCGA-COAD dataset, a total of 10 hub genes (MT1X, MT1G, MT2A, CXCL8, IL1B, CXCL5, CXCL11, IL10RA, GZMB, KIT) closely related to the progression of CRC were identified. The expressions of MT1G, CXCL8, IL1B, CXCL5, CXCL11 and GZMB in CRC tissues were higher than normal tissues (p-value < 0.05). The expressions of MT1X, MT2A, IL10RA and KIT in CRC tissues were lower than normal tissues (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusions

By combinating with a series of methods including GO enrichment analysis, KEGG pathway analysis, PPI network analysis and gene co-expression network analysis, we identified 10 hub genes that were associated with the progression of CRC.

Association of the IL-1B rs1143623 Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Aim: To derive a more precise association between the interleukin-1 beta (IL-1B) gene polymorphism rs1143623 and cancer risk. Methods: Published case-control studies up to November 5, 2019, that met all inclusion criteria were identified using PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the strength of associations using multiple genetic models. Sensitivity analyses and publication biases were also performed. Results: Nine articles covering 11 case-control studies, with 4801 cases and 6116 controls, were included in this meta-analysis. No significant association between the IL-1B rs1143623 polymorphism and cancer risk was observed under the homozygous, heterozygous, dominant, recessive, or allelic genetic models (all p > 0.05). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity indicated that the IL-1B rs1143623 polymorphism may decrease the risk of cancer in Asians under the heterozygous and dominant genetic models (both p < 0.05). Sensitivity analyses showed that none of the individual studies significantly affected the overall results. No significant publication biases were detected in this meta-analysis. Conclusion: Our results suggest that there is no significant association between the IL-1B rs1143623 polymorphism and cancer risk in the overall human population, but that it may provide a protective affect among Asians.

GGCT promotes colorectal cancer migration and invasion via epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies, and the fourth most common cause of cancer-associated mortality globally. The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) serves an important function in metastatic dissemination and determines the aggressiveness of CRC. However, the regulatory mechanism of EMT in CRC has not yet been elucidated. γ-glutamylcyclotransferase (GGCT) is an important enzyme in glutathione metabolism and highly expressed in numerous forms of cancer, making it a promising therapeutic target. In the present study, GGCT was demonstrated to be highly expressed in CRC tissues, and patients with CRC with a higher expression of GGCT exhibited a worse prognosis compared with patients exhibiting a lower expression of GGCT. This result suggests that GGCT may serve as a novel prognostic marker for CRC. Furthermore, GGCT was indicated to promote CRC cell migration and invasion through regulating EMT-associated genes, including N-cadherin, Vimentin, snail family transcriptional repressor 2 and snail family transcriptional repressor 1. In conclusion, the present study provides novel insights into the mechanism governing CRC migration and invasion, and identified GGCT as a promising therapeutic target that may be used in the treatment of CRC.

Premalignant lesions of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung: The molecular make-up and factors affecting their progression

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), one of the most common forms of lung cancer, shows accelerated progression and aggressive growth and usually is observed at advanced stages. SCC originates from morphological changes in the bronchial epithelium that occur during chronic inflammation: basal cell hyperplasia, squamous metaplasia, and dysplasia I-III. However, the process is not inevitable; it can be stopped at any stage, remain in the stable state indefinitely and either progress or regress. The reasons and mechanisms of different scenarios of the evolution of premalignant lesions in the respiratory epithelium are not fully understood. In this review, we summarized the literature data (including our own data) regarding genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of the premalignant lesions and highlighted factors (environmental causes, inflammation, and gene polymorphism) that may govern their progression or regression. In conclusion, we reviewed strategies for lung cancer prevention and proposed new models and research directions for studying premalignant lesions and developing new tools to predict the risk of their malignant transformation.

Levels of peripheral blood polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells and selected cytokines are potentially prognostic of disease progression for patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Polymorphonuclear-MDSC (PMN-MDSC) have emerged as an independent prognostic factor for survival in NSCLC. Similarly, cytokine profiles have been used to identify subgroups of NSCLC patients with different clinical outcomes. This prospective study investigated whether the percentage of circulating PMN-MDSC, in conjunction with the levels of plasma cytokines, was more informative of disease progression than the analysis of either factor alone. We analyzed the phenotypic and functional profile of peripheral blood T-cell subsets (CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+), neutrophils (CD66b+) and polymorphonuclear-MDSC (PMN-MDSC; CD66b+CD11b+CD15+CD14-) as well as the concentration of 14 plasma cytokines (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 p70, IL-17A, IL-27, IL-29, IL-31, and IL-33, TNF-α, IFN-γ) in 90 treatment-naïve NSCLC patients and 25 healthy donors (HD). In contrast to HD, NSCLC patients had a higher percentage of PMN-MDSC and neutrophils (P < 0.0001) but a lower percentage of CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ cells. PMN-MDSC% negatively correlated with the levels of IL1-β, IL-2, IL-27 and IL-29. Two groups of patients were identified according to the percentage of circulating PMN-MDSC. Patients with low PMN-MDSC (≤ 8%) had a better OS (22.1 months [95% CI 4.3-739.7]) than patients with high PMN-MDSC (9.3 months [95% CI 0-18.8]). OS was significantly different among groups of patients stratified by both PMN-MDSC% and cytokine levels. In sum, our findings provide evidence suggesting that PMN-MDSC% in conjunction with the levels IL-1β, IL-27, and IL-29 could be a useful strategy to identify groups of patients with potentially unfavorable prognoses.

Inflammatory Gene Polymorphisms in Lung Cancer Susceptibility

INTRODUCTION

Chronic inflammation has been implicated in carcinogenesis, with increasing evidence of its role in lung cancer. We aimed to evaluate the role of genetic polymorphisms in inflammation-related genes in the risk for development of lung cancer.

METHODS

A nested case-control study design was used, and 625 cases and 625 well-matched controls were selected from participants in the β-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial, which is a large, prospective lung cancer chemoprevention trial. The association between lung cancer incidence and survival and 23 polymorphisms descriptive of 11 inflammation-related genes (interferon gamma gene [IFNG], interleukin 10 gene [IL10], interleukin 1 alpha gene [IL1A], interleukin 1 beta gene [IL1B], interleukin 2 gene [IL2], interleukin 4 receptor gene [IL4R], interleukin 4 gene [IL4], interleukin 6 gene [IL6], prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 gene [PTGS2] (also known as COX2), transforming growth factor beta 1 gene [TGFB1], and tumor necrosis factor alpha gene [TNFA]) was evaluated.

RESULTS

Of the 23 polymorphisms, two were associated with risk for lung cancer. Compared with individuals with the wild-type (CC) variant, individuals carrying the minor allele variants of the IL-1β-511C>T promoter polymorphism (rs16944) (CT and TT) had decreased odds of lung cancer (OR = 0.74, [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58-0.94] and OR = 0.71 [95% CI: 0.50-1.01], respectively, p = 0.03). Similar results were observed for the IL-1β-1464 C>G promoter polymorphism (rs1143623), with presence of the minor variants CG and CC having decreased odds of lung cancer (OR = 0.75 [95% CI: 0.59-0.95] and OR = 0.69 [95% CI: 0.46-1.03], respectively, p = 0.03). Survival was not influenced by genotype.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides further evidence that IL1B promoter polymorphisms may modulate the risk for development of lung cancer.

Interleukins as new prognostic genetic biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Surgery is the standard treatment for early-stage NSCLC, and platinum-based chemotherapy remains as the treatment of choice for advanced-stage NSCLC patients with naïve EGFR status. However, overall 5-years relative survival rates are low. Interleukins (ILs) are crucial for processes associated with tumor development. In NSCLC, IL1B, IL6, IL12A, IL13 and IL16 gene polymorphisms may contribute to individual variation in terms of patient survival. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between IL gene polymorphisms and survival in NSCLC patients.

METHODS

A prospective cohorts study was performed, including 170 NSCLC patients (114 Stage IIIB-IV, 56 Stage I-IIIA). IL1B (C > T; rs1143634), IL1B (C > T; rs12621220), IL1B (C > G; rs1143623), IL1B (A > G; rs16944), IL1B (C > T; rs1143627), IL6 (C > G; rs1800795), IL12A (C > T; rs662959), IL13 (A > C; rs1881457) and IL16 (G > T; rs7170924) gene polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR Real-Time.

RESULTS

Patients with IL16 rs7170924-GG genotype were in higher risk of death (p = 0.0139; HR = 1.82; CI_95% = 1.13-2.94) Furthermore, carriers of the TT genotype for IL12A rs662959 presented higher risk of progression in the non-resected NSCLC patient subgroup (p = 0.0412; HR = 4.49; CI_95% = 1.06-18.99). The rest of polymorphisms showed no effect of on outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that IL16 rs7170924-GG and IL12A rs662959-TT genotypes predict higher risk of death and progression, respectively, in NSCLC patients. No influence of IL1B rs12621220, IL1B rs1143623, IL1B rs16944, IL1B rs1143627, IL6 rs1800795, IL13 rs1881457 on NSCLC clinical outcomes was found in our patients.

An integrated method for the identification of novel genes related to oral cancer

Cancer is a significant public health problem worldwide. Complete identification of genes related to one type of cancer facilitates earlier diagnosis and effective treatments. In this study, two widely used algorithms, the random walk with restart algorithm and the shortest path algorithm, were adopted to construct two parameterized computational methods, namely, an RWR-based method and an SP-based method; based on these methods, an integrated method was constructed for identifying novel disease genes. To validate the utility of the integrated method, data for oral cancer were used, on which the RWR-based and SP-based methods were trained, thereby building two optimal methods. The integrated method combining these optimal methods was further adopted to identify the novel genes of oral cancer. As a result, 85 novel genes were inferred, among which eleven genes (e.g., MYD88, FGFR2, NF-κBIA) were identified by both the RWR-based and SP-based methods, 70 genes (e.g., BMP4, IFNG, KITLG) were discovered only by the RWR-based method and four genes (L1R1, MCM6, NOG and CXCR3) were predicted only by the SP-based method. Extensive analyses indicate that several novel genes have strong associations with cancers, indicating the effectiveness of the integrated method for identifying disease genes.