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Bai M, Shen Q, Wu Y, Ma Z, Wang Y, Chen M, Liu D, Zhou L. Evaluation of transport mechanisms of methotrexate in human choriocarcinoma cell lines by LC-MS/MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2024; 247:116268. [PMID: 38823222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2024.116268] [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: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 05/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX) is commonly prescribed as the initial treatment for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), but MTX monotherapy may not be effective for high-risk GTN and choriocarcinoma. The cellular uptake of MTX is essential for its pharmacological activity. Thus, our study aimed to investigate the cellular pharmacokinetics and transport mechanisms of MTX in choriocarcinoma cells. For the quantification of MTX concentrations in cellular matrix, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was created and confirmed initially. MTX accumulation in BeWo, JEG-3, and JAR cells was minimal. Additionally, the mRNA levels of folate receptor α (FRα) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) were relatively high in the three choriocarcinoma cell lines, whereas proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT), reduced folate carrier (RFC), and organic anion transporter (OAT) 4 were low. Furthermore, the expression of other transporters was either very low or undetectable. Notably, the application of inhibitors and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting FRα, RFC, and PCFT led to a notable decrease in the accumulation of MTX in BeWo cells. Conversely, the co-administration of multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) and BCRP inhibitors increased MTX accumulation. In addition, inhibitors of OATs and organic-anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) reduced MTX accumulation, while peptide transporter inhibitors had no effect. Results from siRNA knockdown experiments and transporter overexpression cell models indicated that MTX was not a substrate of nucleoside transporters. In conclusion, the results indicate that FRα and multiple transporters such as PCFT, RFC, OAT4, and OATPs are likely involved in the uptake of MTX, whereas MDR1 and BCRP are implicated in the efflux of MTX from choriocarcinoma cells. These results have implications for predicting transporter-mediated drug interactions and offer potential directions for further research on enhancing MTX sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengru Bai
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310006, PR China
| | - Qian Shen
- Key Laboratory for Core Technology of Generic Drug Evaluation National Medical Product Administration, Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control, Hangzhou 310052, PR China
| | - Yong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310006, PR China
| | - Zhiyuan Ma
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310006, PR China
| | - Yuqing Wang
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310006, PR China
| | - Mingyang Chen
- Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China
| | - Dan Liu
- Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co., Ltd, Shanghai 200050, PR China
| | - Lin Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310006, PR China.
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2
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Kwantwi LB. SLAM family-mediated crosstalk between tumor and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment: a promising biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for immune checkpoint therapies. Clin Transl Oncol 2024:10.1007/s12094-024-03675-2. [PMID: 39212911 DOI: 10.1007/s12094-024-03675-2] [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: 07/13/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Immune cells infiltrating the tumor microenvironment are physiologically important in controlling cancers. However, emerging studies have shown that cancer cells can evade immune surveillance and establish a balance in which these immune cells support tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family members have been recognized as mediators of tumor microenvironment interactions, and a promising therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy. This review is focused on the role of SLAM family in tumor and immune cell interactions and discusses how such crosstalk affects tumor behavior. This will shed insight into the next step toward improving cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis Boafo Kwantwi
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, College of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, 44272, USA.
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3
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He J, Hao F, Song S, Zhang J, Zhou H, Zhang J, Li Y. METTL Family in Healthy and Disease. MOLECULAR BIOMEDICINE 2024; 5:33. [PMID: 39155349 PMCID: PMC11330956 DOI: 10.1186/s43556-024-00194-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Transcription, RNA splicing, RNA translation, and post-translational protein modification are fundamental processes of gene expression. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, RNA modifications, and protein modifications, play a crucial role in regulating gene expression. The methyltransferase-like protein (METTL) family, a constituent of the 7-β-strand (7BS) methyltransferase subfamily, is broadly distributed across the cell nucleus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria. Members of the METTL family, through their S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) binding domain, can transfer methyl groups to DNA, RNA, or proteins, thereby impacting processes such as DNA replication, transcription, and mRNA translation, to participate in the maintenance of normal function or promote disease development. This review primarily examines the involvement of the METTL family in normal cell differentiation, the maintenance of mitochondrial function, and its association with tumor formation, the nervous system, and cardiovascular diseases. Notably, the METTL family is intricately linked to cellular translation, particularly in its regulation of translation factors. Members represent important molecules in disease development processes and are associated with patient immunity and tolerance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Moreover, future research directions could include the development of drugs or antibodies targeting its structural domains, and utilizing nanomaterials to carry miRNA corresponding to METTL family mRNA. Additionally, the precise mechanisms underlying the interactions between the METTL family and cellular translation factors remain to be clarified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiejie He
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China
| | - Fengchen Hao
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China
| | - Shiqi Song
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China
| | - Junli Zhang
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China
| | - Hongyu Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Department of Urology Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, No. 29, Tongren Road, West of the City, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China.
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University & Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Qinghai University, No. 29, Tongren Road, West of the City, Xining, 810000, Qinghai Province, China.
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4
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Robey RW, Fitzsimmons CM, Guiblet WM, Frye WJ, Dalmasy JMG, Wang L, Russell DA, Huff LM, Perciaccante AJ, Ali-Rahmani F, Lipsey CC, Wade HM, Mitchell AV, Maligireddy SS, Terrero D, Butcher D, Edmondson EF, Jenkins LM, Nikitina T, Zhurkin VB, Tiwari AK, Piscopio AD, Totah RA, Bates SE, Arda HE, Gottesman MM, Batista PJ. The Methyltransferases METTL7A and METTL7B Confer Resistance to Thiol-Based Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors. Mol Cancer Ther 2024; 23:464-477. [PMID: 38151817 PMCID: PMC11223745 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-23-0144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are part of a growing class of epigenetic therapies used for the treatment of cancer. Although HDACis are effective in the treatment of T-cell lymphomas, treatment of solid tumors with this class of drugs has not been successful. Overexpression of the multidrug resistance protein P-glycoprotein (P-gp), encoded by ABCB1, is known to confer resistance to the HDACi romidepsin in vitro, yet increased ABCB1 expression has not been associated with resistance in patients, suggesting that other mechanisms of resistance arise in the clinic. To identify alternative mechanisms of resistance to romidepsin, we selected MCF-7 breast cancer cells with romidepsin in the presence of the P-gp inhibitor verapamil to reduce the likelihood of P-gp-mediated resistance. The resulting cell line, MCF-7 DpVp300, does not express P-gp and was found to be selectively resistant to romidepsin but not to other HDACis such as belinostat, panobinostat, or vorinostat. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed upregulation of the mRNA coding for the putative methyltransferase, METTL7A, whose paralog, METTL7B, was previously shown to methylate thiol groups on hydrogen sulfide and captopril. As romidepsin has a thiol as the zinc-binding moiety, we hypothesized that METTL7A could inactivate romidepsin and other thiol-based HDACis via methylation of the thiol group. We demonstrate that expression of METTL7A or METTL7B confers resistance to thiol-based HDACis and that both enzymes are capable of methylating thiol-containing HDACis. We thus propose that METTL7A and METTL7B confer resistance to thiol-based HDACis by methylating and inactivating the zinc-binding thiol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W. Robey
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Christina M. Fitzsimmons
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Wilfried M. Guiblet
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Present address: Advanced Biomedical Computational Science, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD
| | - William J.E. Frye
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - José M. González Dalmasy
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Li Wang
- Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, Developmental Genomics Group, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Drake A. Russell
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - Lyn M. Huff
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Andrew J. Perciaccante
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Fatima Ali-Rahmani
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Present Address: Taiho Pharmaceutical, Princeton, NJ
| | - Crystal C. Lipsey
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Heidi M. Wade
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Allison V. Mitchell
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Siddhardha S. Maligireddy
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - David Terrero
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Cancer Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
| | - Donna Butcher
- Molecular Histopathology Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Elijah F. Edmondson
- Molecular Histopathology Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Lisa M. Jenkins
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Tatiana Nikitina
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Victor B. Zhurkin
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Amit K. Tiwari
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Cancer Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
| | | | - Rheem A. Totah
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - Susan E. Bates
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY and Hematology/Oncology Research Department, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, New York, NY
| | - H. Efsun Arda
- Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, Developmental Genomics Group, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Michael M. Gottesman
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Pedro J. Batista
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
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Gunes M, Rosen ST, Shachar I, Gunes EG. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family receptors as potential immune therapeutic targets in solid tumors. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1297473. [PMID: 38476238 PMCID: PMC10927787 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1297473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Recently, cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. Various forms of immunotherapy have a manageable safety profile and result in prolongation of overall survival in patients with solid tumors, but only in a proportion of patients. Various factors in the tumor microenvironment play critical roles and may be responsible for this lack of therapeutic response. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family (SLAMF) members are increasingly being studied as factors impacting the tumor immune microenvironment. SLAMF members consist of nine receptors mainly expressed in immune cells. However, SLAMF receptors have also been detected in cancer cells, and they may be involved in a spectrum of anti-tumor immune responses. Here, we review the current knowledge of the expression of SLAMF receptors in solid tumors and tumor-infiltrating immune cells and their association with patient outcomes. Furthermore, we discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting SLAMF receptors to improve outcomes of cancer therapy in solid tumors. We believe the research on SLAMF receptor-targeted strategies may enhance anti-cancer immunity in patients with solid tumors and improve clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Metin Gunes
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Steven T. Rosen
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Idit Shachar
- Department of System Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - E. Gulsen Gunes
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center, City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Wang B, Jiang J, Luo D, Wang X. Pan-cancer analysis reveals potential immunological and prognostic roles of METTL7A in human cancers. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3476. [PMID: 38342956 PMCID: PMC10859372 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54255-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Methyltransferase-like protein 7A (METTL7A) is an m6A RNA methyltransferase that has been linked to cancer prognosis and drug resistance. However, a comprehensive analysis of METTL7A is lacking. The expression of METTL7A, prognostic performance, correlation with microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutational burden (TMB), and immune infiltration was investigated in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Immunohistochemistry staining was applied to detect METTL7A in 6 tumors. METTL7A was significantly decreased in 19 cancers in TCGA including LUAD. Alterations of METTL7A include amplification and mutation, and epigenetic alterations revealed increased promoter methylation may result in down-regulation of METTL7A in LUAD. We also found that METTL7A was linked to both TMB and MSI in LUAD. METTL7A was increasingly correlated with invasive immune cells, while being negatively associated with Macrophages M0, Mast cells activated, activated memory CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, and follicular helper T cells in several tumors. Additionally, METTL7A showed similar correlation with immune therapy-related genes across cancers. Our biological validation found that the protein levels of METTL7A were down-regulated in breast cancer (BRCA), endometrioid cancer (UCEC), colon cancer (COAD), prostate cancer (PRAD), and kidney clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), as detected by immunohistochemistry staining. Overall, our work indicates that METTL7A may serve as promising diagnostic and prognostic indicator of LUAD, and our work sheds light on the potential immunological and prognostic roles of METTL7A in human cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jingjing Jiang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Danju Luo
- Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
| | - Xiong Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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Jin J, Shang Y, Zheng S, Dai L, Tang J, Bian X, He Q. Exosomes as nanostructures deliver miR-204 in alleviation of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic nephropathy through suppressing methyltransferase-like 7A-mediated CIDEC N6-methyladenosine methylation. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:3302-3331. [PMID: 38334961 PMCID: PMC10929828 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205535] [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: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The exosomal cargo mainly comprises proteins, lipids, and microRNAs (miRNAs). Among these, miRNAs undertake multiple biological effects of exosomes (Exos). Some stem cell-derived exosomal miRNAs have shown the potential to treat diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, there is little research into the therapeutic effects of adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC)-derived exosomal miRNAs on DN. We aimed to explore the potential of miR-204-modified ADSC-derived Exos to mitigate DN. METHODS Exos were extracted and identified from ADSCs. Histopathological injury, oxidative stress (OS), mitochondrial function, cell viability, and apoptosis were assessed to explore the effects of ADSC-derived Exos on DN. For mechanism exploration, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting were used to measure miR-204, methyltransferase (METTL3, METTL14, and METTL7A), and CIDEC. Also, CIDEC m6A methylation and miR-204-METTL7A, and METTL7A-CIDEC interactions were determined. RESULTS Initially, OS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction was observed in DN rats. ADSC-derived Exos inhibited histopathological injury, cell apoptosis, OS, and mitochondrial dysfunction in DN rats. The similar therapeutic effects of ADSC-derived Exos were detected in the in vitro model. Intriguingly, miR-204 was released by ADSC-derived Exos and its upregulation enhanced the anti-DN effects of Exos. Mechanically, miR-204 reduced METTL7A expression to CIDEC m6A methylation, thus suppressing OS and mitochondrial dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS ADSC-derived exosomal miR-204 rescued OS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction by inhibiting METTL7A-mediated CIDEC m6A methylation. This study first revealed the significant role of ADSC-derived exosomal miR-204 in DN, paving the way for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to improve the clinical outcomes of DN patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Jin
- Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
| | - Yiwei Shang
- Clinical School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310004, China
| | - Siqiang Zheng
- Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
| | - Limiao Dai
- Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
| | - Jiyu Tang
- Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
| | - Xueyan Bian
- Department of Nephrology, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315010, China
| | - Qiang He
- Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
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Zhang D, Zou T, Liu Q, Chen J, Xiao M, Zheng A, Zhang Z, Du F, Dai Y, Xiang S, Wu X, Li M, Chen Y, Zhao Y, Shen J, Chen G, Xiao Z. Transcriptomic characterization revealed that METTL7A inhibits melanoma progression via the p53 signaling pathway and immunomodulatory pathway. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15799. [PMID: 37547717 PMCID: PMC10404031 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
METTL7A is a protein-coding gene expected to be associated with methylation, and its expression disorder is associated with a range of diseases. However, few research have been carried out to explore the relationship between METTL7A and tumor malignant phenotype as well as the involvement potential mechanism. We conducted our research via a combination of silico analysis and molecular biology techniques to investigate the biological function of METTL7A in the progression of cancer. Gene expression and clinical information were extracted from the TCGA database to explore expression variation and prognostic value of METTL7A. In vitro, CCK8, transwell, wound healing and colony formation assays were conducted to explore the biological functions of METT7A in cancer cell. GSEA was performed to explore the signaling pathway involved in METTL7A and validated via western blotting. In conclusion, METTL7A was downregulated in most cancer tissues and its low expression was associated with shorter overall survival. In melanoma, METTL7A downregulation was associated with poorer clinical staging, lower levels of TIL infiltration, higher IC50 levels of chemotherapeutic agents, and poorer immunotherapy outcomes. QPCR results confirm that METTL7A is down-regulated in melanoma cells. Cell function assays showed that METTL7A knockdown promoted proliferation, invasion, migration and clone formation of melanoma cells. Mechanistic studies showed that METTL7A inhibits tumorigenicity through the p53 signaling pathway. Meanwhile, METTL7A is also a potential immune regulatory factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duoli Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Tao Zou
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Qingsong Liu
- Department of Pathology, The First People’s Hospital of Neijiang, Neijiang, China
| | - Jie Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Mintao Xiao
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Anfu Zheng
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Zhuo Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
| | - Fukuan Du
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Yalan Dai
- Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Shixin Xiang
- Department of Pharmacy, University-Town Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xu Wu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Mingxing Li
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Yueshui Zhao
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Jing Shen
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Guiquan Chen
- Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhangang Xiao
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Luzhou, China
- Cell Therapy & Cell Drugs of Luzhou Key Laboratory, Luzhou, China
- South Sichuan Institute of Translational Medicine, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
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9
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Qi YN, Liu Z, Hong LL, Li P, Ling ZQ. Methyltransferase-like proteins in cancer biology and potential therapeutic targeting. J Hematol Oncol 2023; 16:89. [PMID: 37533128 PMCID: PMC10394802 DOI: 10.1186/s13045-023-01477-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA modification has recently become a significant process of gene regulation, and the methyltransferase-like (METTL) family of proteins plays a critical role in RNA modification, methylating various types of RNAs, including mRNA, tRNA, microRNA, rRNA, and mitochondrial RNAs. METTL proteins consist of a unique seven-beta-strand domain, which binds to the methyl donor SAM to catalyze methyl transfer. The most typical family member METTL3/METTL14 forms a methyltransferase complex involved in N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of RNA, regulating tumor proliferation, metastasis and invasion, immunotherapy resistance, and metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells. METTL1, METTL4, METTL5, and METTL16 have also been recently identified to have some regulatory ability in tumorigenesis, and the rest of the METTL family members rely on their methyltransferase activity for methylation of different nucleotides, proteins, and small molecules, which regulate translation and affect processes such as cell differentiation and development. Herein, we summarize the literature on METTLs in the last three years to elucidate their roles in human cancers and provide a theoretical basis for their future use as potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Nan Qi
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, P.R. China
| | - Zhu Liu
- Zhejiang Cancer Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, No.1 Banshan East Rd., Gongshu District, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, P.R. China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, P.R. China
| | - Lian-Lian Hong
- Zhejiang Cancer Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, No.1 Banshan East Rd., Gongshu District, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, P.R. China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, P.R. China
| | - Pei Li
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, P.R. China.
| | - Zhi-Qiang Ling
- Zhejiang Cancer Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, No.1 Banshan East Rd., Gongshu District, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
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10
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Zhou X, Mitra R, Hou F, Zhou S, Wang L, Jiang W. Genomic Landscape and Potential Regulation of RNA Editing in Drug Resistance. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 10:e2207357. [PMID: 36912579 PMCID: PMC10190536 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202207357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing critically affects the response of cancer therapies. However, comprehensive identification of drug resistance-related RNA editing events and systematic understanding of how RNA editing mediates anticancer drug resistance remain unclear. Here, 7157 differential editing sites (DESs) are identified from 98 127 informative RNA editing sites in tumor tissues, many of which are validated in cancer cell lines. Diverse editing patterns of DESs are discovered in resistant samples, which could not be fully explained by adenosine deaminase acting on RNA enzymes. Some RNA-binding proteins are identified that potentially regulate these editing events. Notably, the DESs are significantly enriched in 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTRs). The impact of DESs in 3'-UTR on the microRNA (miRNA) regulations is explored, and some triplets (DES, miRNA, and gene) that may contribute to drug resistance are identified. In addition, it is determined that the functions of genes enriched with DESs are associated with drug resistance, such as apoptosis, drug metabolism, and DNA synthesis involved in DNA repair. An online resource (http://www.jianglab.cn/REDR/) to support convenient retrieval of DESs is also built. The findings reveal the landscape and potential regulatory mechanism of RNA editing in drug resistance, providing new therapeutic targets for reversing drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Zhou
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringNanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsNanjing211106P. R. China
| | - Ramkrishna Mitra
- Department of PharmacologyPhysiology, and Cancer BiologySidney Kimmel Cancer CenterThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPennsylvania19107USA
| | - Fei Hou
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringNanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsNanjing211106P. R. China
| | - Shunheng Zhou
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringNanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsNanjing211106P. R. China
| | - Lihong Wang
- Department of PathophysiologySchool of MedicineSoutheast UniversityNanjing210009P. R. China
| | - Wei Jiang
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringNanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsNanjing211106P. R. China
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11
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Yang Z, Zhang W, Li L, Hu N, Dong X, Chen Y, Cai W, Yin L, Liu F, Tang D, Dai Y. The novel putative methyltransferase METTL7A as one prognostic biomarker potentially associated with immune infiltration in human renal cancer. Heliyon 2023; 9:e15371. [PMID: 37123902 PMCID: PMC10133759 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15371] [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: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Among urological cancers, renal cancer has the highest fatality rate. In a previous pan-cancer study of the METTL family, we observed a stronger association between the METTL family members and the risk of renal cancer compared to other cancers. Among these members, METTL7A, a potential methyltransferase, was identified as a protective factor, although its role and mechanism in renal cancer remain unclear. In this study, we utilized public databases to examine the expression of METTL7A in renal cancer tissues and normal tissues and found that METTL7A expression was much lower in renal cancer tissues. We also noticed a link between low METTL7A expression and poor prognosis for patients. According to the results of our functional enrichment analysis, METTL7A may have a role in immunological functions in renal cancer. METTL7A expression was strongly linked with the degrees of immune cell infiltration and expression of numerous immunological components. METTL7A had significantly different effects on the survival times of renal cancer patients with high or low immune infiltration. Our findings suggest that METTL7A may be used as both a prognostic biomarker and an immunological target for kidney cancer. In conclusion, our study sheds light on the importance of METTL7A in renal cancer and emphasizes the potential of targeting METTL7A as a novel therapeutic strategy for kidney cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqian Yang
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Guangdong Fapon Biopharma Inc, Innovative Markers Department, Dongguan 523808, China
| | - Lintai Li
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Guangdong Fapon Biopharma Inc, Innovative Markers Department, Dongguan 523808, China
| | - Nan Hu
- Key Renal Laboratory of Shenzhen, Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, China
| | - Xiangnan Dong
- Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Yumei Chen
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
| | - Wanxia Cai
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
| | - Lianghong Yin
- Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Fanna Liu
- Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
- Corresponding author.
| | - Donge Tang
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Corresponding author.
| | - Yong Dai
- Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
- Key Renal Laboratory of Shenzhen, Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, China
- Corresponding author. Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China.
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12
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Drug-tolerant persister B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.28.530540. [PMID: 36909619 PMCID: PMC10002708 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.28.530540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2023]
Abstract
Reduced responsiveness of precursor B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) to chemotherapy can be inferred when leukemia cells persist after 28 days of initial treatment. Survival of these long-term persister (LTP) / minimal residual disease (MRD) cells is partly due to bone marrow stromal cells that protect them under conditions of chemotherapy stress. We used RNA-seq to analyse BCP-ALL cells that survived a long-term, 30-day vincristine chemotherapy treatment while in co-culture with bone marrow stromal cells. RNAs of as many as 10% of the protein-encoding genes were differentially expressed. There was substantial overlap with genes associated with MRD cell persistence reported in other studies. The top pathway regulated in the LTP cells was that involving p53, a master regulator of a spectrum of responses relevant to drug resistance and cytotoxic drug exposure including control of autophagy. We tested a select number of genes for contribution to BCP-ALL cell survival using Cas9/CRISPR in a 2-step selection, initially for overall effect on cell fitness, followed by 21 days of exposure to vincristine. Many genes involved in autophagy and lysosomal function were found to contribute to survival both at steady-state and during drug treatment. We also identified MYH9, NCSTN and KIAA2013 as specific genes contributing to fitness of BCP-ALL cells. CD44 was not essential for growth under steady state conditions but was needed for survival of vincristine treatment. Finally, although the drug transporter ABCC1/MRP1 is not overexpressed in BCP-ALL, a functional gene was needed for DTP cells to survive treatment with vincristine. This suggests that addition of possible ABCC1 inhibitors during induction therapy could provide benefit in eradication of minimal residual disease in patients treated with a chemotherapy regimen that includes vincristine.
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13
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Wang Y, Jiang Y, Guo W, Tang K, Fu Y, Liu R, Chen L. dl-THP recovered the decreased NKp44 expression level on CD56 dim CD16 + natural killer cells partially in choriocarcinoma microenvironment. Immunobiology 2023; 228:152363. [PMID: 36870142 DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2023.152363] [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: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Natural killer cell-based immunotherapy has become a leading-edge tool against cancer, but still faces a variety of challenges, such as phenotype shift and dysfunction of NK cells in tumor microenvironment. Thus, finding potent agents that could inhibit the phenotype shift and incapacity of NK cells in the tumor microenvironment is essential for improving antitumor effects. dl-tetrahydropalmatine (dl-THP), one of the active alkaloids of Chinese herb Corydalis Rhizoma, has been proven to possess antitumor activity. However, whether dl-THP acts on NK cells to enhance antitumor activity remains unknown. In this study, we found that the proportion of blood CD56dimCD16+ NK cells was decreased while the proportion of CD56brightCD16- NK cells was increased when the cells were cultured in conditional medium (CM, medium from the human choriocarcinoma cell lines JEG-3). dl-THP could alter the varied proportion of CD56dimCD16+ NK cells and CD56brightCD16- NK cells in CM respectively. Importantly, the expression level of NKp44 on CD56dimCD16+ NK cells was dramatically reduced when the cells were cultured in CM, which could also be reversed by dl-THP. Furthermore, dl-THP increased the decreased NK-cell cytotoxicity when cells were cultured in CM. In summary, our study demonstrated that dl-THP could recover the decreased NKp44 expression level on CD56dimCD16+ NK cells and restore the cytotoxicity of NK cells in tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yazhen Wang
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yuan Jiang
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China; School of Medical Technology, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, Shaanxi, China
| | - Wenwei Guo
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Gongli Hospital, The Second Military Medical University. Shanghai 200135, China
| | - Kang Tang
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yue Fu
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China
| | - Ruiyan Liu
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China
| | - Lihua Chen
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China.
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14
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Evidence Based on an Integrative Analysis of Multi-Omics Data on METTL7A as a Molecular Marker in Pan-Cancer. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13020195. [PMID: 36830565 PMCID: PMC9952925 DOI: 10.3390/biom13020195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Methyltransferase-like protein 7A (METTL7A), an RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase, has attracted much attention as it has been found to be closely associated with various types of tumorigenesis and progression. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of METTL7A from a pan-cancer perspective using multi-omics data. The gene ontology enrichment analysis of METTL7A-binding proteins revealed a close association with methylation and lipid metabolism. We then explored the expression of METTL7A in normal tissues, cell lines, different subtypes and cancers, and found that METTL7A was differentially expressed in various cancer species, tumor molecular subtypes and immune subtypes. Evaluation of the diagnostic and prognostic value of METTL7A in pan-cancer revealed that METTL7A had high accuracy in tumor prediction. Moreover, the low expression of METTL7A significantly correlated with the poor prognosis, including kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), mesothelioma and sarcoma, indicating that METTL7A could be a potential biomarker for tumor diagnosis and prognosis. We focused on KIRC after pre-screening and analyzed its expression and prognostic value in various clinical subgroups. We found that METTL7A was significantly related to tumor stage, metastasis stage, pathologic stage, primary therapy outcome, histologic grade and gender, and that low METTL7A expression was associated with poorer outcomes. Finally, we analyzed the immune infiltration and co-expressed genes of METTL7A as well as the differentially expressed genes in the high and low expression groups. In conclusion, METTL7A is a better molecular marker for pan-cancer diagnosis and prognosis and has high potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for KIRC.
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15
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Abstract
The methyltransferase-like (METTL) family is a diverse group of methyltransferases that can methylate nucleotides, proteins, and small molecules. Despite this diverse array of substrates, they all share a characteristic seven-beta-strand catalytic domain, and recent evidence suggests many also share an important role in stem cell biology. The most well characterized family members METTL3 and METTL14 dimerize to form an N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methyltransferase with established roles in cancer progression. However, new mouse models indicate that METTL3/METTL14 are also important for embryonic stem cell (ESC) development and postnatal hematopoietic and neural stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. METTL1, METTL5, METTL6, METTL8, and METTL17 also have recently identified roles in ESC pluripotency and differentiation, while METTL11A/11B, METTL4, METTL7A, and METTL22 have been shown to play roles in neural, mesenchymal, bone, and hematopoietic stem cell development, respectively. Additionally, a variety of other METTL family members are translational regulators, a role that could place them as important players in the transition from stem cell quiescence to differentiation. Here we will summarize what is known about the role of METTL proteins in stem cell differentiation and highlight the connection between their growing importance in development and their established roles in oncogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- John G Tooley
- Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 955 Main St., Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - James P Catlin
- Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 955 Main St., Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Christine E Schaner Tooley
- Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 955 Main St., Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
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16
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Pan YQ, Xiao Y, Li Z, Tao L, Chen G, Zhu JF, Lv L, Liu JC, Qi JQ, Shao A. Comprehensive analysis of the significance of METTL7A gene in the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1071100. [PMID: 36620541 PMCID: PMC9817104 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1071100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The most common subtype of lung cancer, called lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), is also the largest cause of cancer death in the world. The aim of this study was to determine the importance of the METTL7A gene in the prognosis of patients with LUAD. Methods This particular study used a total of four different LUAD datasets, namely TCGA-LUAD, GSE32863, GSE31210 and GSE13213. Using RT-qPCR, we were able to determine METTL7A expression levels in clinical samples. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify factors with independent effects on prognosis in patients with LUAD, and nomograms were designed to predict survival in these patients. Using gene set variation analysis (GSVA), we investigated differences in enriched pathways between METTL7A high and low expression groups. Microenvironmental cell population counter (MCP-counter) and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) methods were used to study immune infiltration in LUAD samples. Using the ESTIMATE technique, we were able to determine the immune score, stromal score, and estimated score for each LUAD patient. A competing endogenous RNA network, also known as ceRNA, was established with the help of the Cytoscape program. Results We detected that METTL7A was down-regulated in pan-cancer, including LUAD. The survival study indicates that METTL7A was a protective factor in the prognosis of LUAD. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that METTL7A was a robust independent prognostic indicator in survival prediction. Through the use of GSVA, several immune-related pathways were shown to be enriched in both the high-expression and low-expression groups of METTL7A. Analysis of the tumor microenvironment revealed that the immune microenvironment of the group with low expression was suppressed, which may be connected to the poor prognosis. To explore the ceRNA regulatory mechanism of METTL7A, we finally constructed a regulatory network containing 1 mRNA, 2 miRNAs, and 5 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Conclusion In conclusion, we presented METTL7A as a potential and promising prognostic indicator of LUAD. This biomarker has the potential to offer us with a comprehensive perspective of the prediction of prognosis and treatment for LUAD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Qiang Pan
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Ying Xiao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhenhua Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yan’an Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Long Tao
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Ge Chen
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jing-Feng Zhu
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Lu Lv
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jian-Chao Liu
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jun-Qing Qi
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - AiZhong Shao
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China,*Correspondence: AiZhong Shao,
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17
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Kemin L, Mengpei Z, Rutie Y. Monotherapy for low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia with score 5-6. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1035170. [PMID: 36439425 PMCID: PMC9682040 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1035170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective To investigate the monotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients with FIGO/WHO prognostic score of 5–6. Methods The low-risk GTN patients from 2012 to 2019 were enrolled. The study is a retrospective report to analyze the efficacy and safety of single-agent chemotherapy and combination chemotherapy in patients with a high FIGO/WHO prognostic score of 5–6. Results 75 cases (33.5%) were included. Complete remission was in all patients. Among the 29 cases taking single-agent chemotherapy, 22 cases (75.9%) developed drug resistance. Among the 46 cases taking combination chemotherapy, 7 patients (15.2%) developed drug resistance. There was a statistically significant difference in the drug resistance rate between these two subgroups (P < 0.05), but there was not statistically significant difference in the total number of chemotherapy courses (<2mIU/ml) (P < 0.05). Conclusion Monotherapy showed remarkable advantages in GTN patients with FIGO/WHO prognostic score of 5–6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Kemin
- The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Sichuan University, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhang Mengpei
- The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Sichuan University, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Yin Rutie
- The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Sichuan University, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- *Correspondence: Yin Rutie,
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18
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Briata P, Caputo L, Zapparoli E, Marcaccini E, Passalacqua M, Brondolo L, Bordo D, Rossi A, Nicoletti C, Bucci G, Puri PL, Inga A, Gherzi R. LncRNA EPR-induced METTL7A1 modulates target gene translation. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:7608-7622. [PMID: 35748870 PMCID: PMC9303270 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
EPR is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that controls cell proliferation in mammary gland cells by regulating gene transcription. Here, we report on Mettl7a1 as a direct target of EPR. We show that EPR induces Mettl7a1 transcription by rewiring three-dimensional chromatin interactions at the Mettl7a1 locus. Our data indicate that METTL7A1 contributes to EPR-dependent inhibition of TGF-β signaling. METTL7A1 is absent in tumorigenic murine mammary gland cells and its human ortholog (METTL7A) is downregulated in breast cancers. Importantly, re-expression of METTL7A1 in 4T1 tumorigenic cells attenuates their transformation potential, with the putative methyltransferase activity of METTL7A1 being dispensable for its biological functions. We found that METTL7A1 localizes in the cytoplasm whereby it interacts with factors implicated in the early steps of mRNA translation, associates with ribosomes, and affects the levels of target proteins without altering mRNA abundance. Overall, our data indicates that METTL7A1-a transcriptional target of EPR-modulates translation of select transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Briata
- Correspondence may also be addressed to Paola Briata. Tel: +39 010555540;
| | | | - Ettore Zapparoli
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS Ospedale, San Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Elisa Marcaccini
- Gene Expression Regulation Laboratory, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | - Mario Passalacqua
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy,Inter-University Center for the Promotion of the 3Rs Principles in Teaching & Research (3R Center), 56122 Pisa, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Brondolo
- Gene Expression Regulation Laboratory, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | - Domenico Bordo
- Gene Expression Regulation Laboratory, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | - Annalisa Rossi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Chiara Nicoletti
- Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Gabriele Bucci
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS Ospedale, San Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Pier Lorenzo Puri
- Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | | | - Roberto Gherzi
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +39 010555402; Emails: ;
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19
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RGS20 Promotes Tumor Progression through Modulating PI3K/AKT Signaling Activation in Penile Cancer. JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2022; 2022:1293622. [PMID: 35498542 PMCID: PMC9042636 DOI: 10.1155/2022/1293622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Regulator of G protein signaling 20 (RGS20) plays an important role in regulating neuronal G protein-coupled receptor signaling; however, its expression and oncogenic function in penile cancer (PC) remains unclear. Here, we observed high RGS20 expression in PC tissues compared to normal/adjacent penile tissues, which was closely associated with tumor stage, nodal status, and pelvic metastasis in our PC cohort. The cellular functional analysis of RGS20 revealed that manipulation of the RGS20 expression markedly affected cell viability, BrdU incorporation, soft agar clonogenesis, caspase-3 activity, and cell migration/invasion in PC cell models. Moreover, RGS20 could interact with PI3K p85α subunit and regulate PI3K/AKT signaling activation in PC cell lines. Knockdown of the PI3K p85α or p110α subunit attenuated cell viability, BrdU incorporation, soft agar clonogenesis, and cell migration/invasion in PC cell lines. In contrast, the overexpression of constitutively activated PI3K p110α mutant restored cell proliferation and cell migration/invasion caused by RGS20 depletion in PC cells. Consistent with the in vitro findings, RGS20 depletion attenuated PI3K/AKT signaling activation and suppressed tumor growth in a murine xenograft model. Importantly, the high RGS20 expression was associated with PI3K/AKT signaling activation and unfavorable progression-free/overall survival, highlighting the clinical relevance of RGS20/PI3K/AKT signaling in PC. In conclusion, the aberrant RGS20 expression may serve as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for PC. RGS20 may promote PC progression through modulating PI3K/AKT signaling activation, which may assist with the development of RGS20-targeting therapeutics in the future.
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20
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Zarrineh M, Ashrafian S, Jensen P, Nawrocki A, Ansari AM, Rezadoost H, Ghassempour A, Larsen MR. Comprehensive proteomics and sialiomics of the anti-proliferative activity of safranal on triple negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. J Proteomics 2022; 259:104539. [PMID: 35240313 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2022.104539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with no efficient treatment. Researchers have indicated the importance of quantitative approaches on proteome and different post-translation modifications studies both in diagnosis and treatment purposes. Sialic acid-containing glycopeptides (the sialiome) is one of these modifications which can be used as a tool in cancer diagnosis or therapeutic strategies since the sialylation is strongly associated with cancer migration and metastasis. Based on our study, safranal, which is a non-toxic compound in orally intakes, exhibits a significant cytotoxic effect on MDA-MB-231 in comparison to normal cells. We conducted a comprehensive proteomics and sialiomics analysis of safranal treated MDA-MB-231 cells by using a combination of TMT labeling and titanium dioxide enrichment of sialylated N-linked glycopeptides to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism behind safranal-induced apoptosis. Safranal has main effect on the inhibition of metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction. It regulates proteins considered as activator of DNA fragmentation and apoptosis mediators. Moreover, safranal regulates sialylation of glycoproteins involving in cellular adhesion, migration and survival. It suppresses cell survival and metastasis through the alteration of the sialylation level on important signaling receptors. These results highlight the impact of safranal as a potent anticancer compound on TNBCs which also can be strongly used in daily diets. SIGNIFICANCE: In first step, we evaluated the cell viability of MDA-MB-231 cell lines against the purified saffron components (total crocin, picrocrocin, crocin I and safranal). Safranal was the only compound demonstrated the anti-proliferation effect. In order to obtain an understanding of safranal cytotoxic effect on MDA-MB-231, we designed the three set of treated cell lines in 30 min, 12 h and 24 h time-points in three replicates and a combination of TMT-based labeling quantitative proteomics and titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based enrichment of sialylated N-linked glycopeptides for sialiomics analysis as a strategy to follow the more detailed mechanisms of safranal effect. The results of bioinformatics analysis revealed the multifunction role of safranal on MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Safranal mainly dysregulates mitochondrial function, inhibits metabolism and starts initial signaling of apoptosis which lead to DNA fragmentation. Moreover, safranal caused the majority of down-regulation in sialylation profile in all time-points. Safranal also declines the cell survival, adhesion and migration by dysregulation of the sialylation level in important proteins including integrins, tumor necrosis factor receptor and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). The results provide a set of therapeutic targets for triple negative breast cancer which can help designing of effective anticancer drugs specially in targeted therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahshid Zarrineh
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran
| | - Shahrbanou Ashrafian
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran
| | - Pia Jensen
- Protein research group, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Arkadiusz Nawrocki
- Protein research group, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Alireza Madjid Ansari
- Integrative Oncology Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hassan Rezadoost
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran
| | - Alireza Ghassempour
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran.
| | - Martin R Larsen
- Protein research group, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark.
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21
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Therapeutical interference with the epigenetic landscape of germ cell tumors: a comparative drug study and new mechanistical insights. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:5. [PMID: 34996497 PMCID: PMC8742467 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-021-01223-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Type II germ cell tumors (GCT) are the most common solid cancers in males of age 15 to 35 years. Treatment of these tumors includes cisplatin-based therapy achieving high cure rates, but also leading to late toxicities. As mainly young men are suffering from GCTs, late toxicities play a major role regarding life expectancy, and the development of therapy resistance emphasizes the need for alternative therapeutic options. GCTs are highly susceptible to interference with the epigenetic landscape; therefore, this study focuses on screening of drugs against epigenetic factors as a treatment option for GCTs.
Results We present seven different epigenetic inhibitors efficiently decreasing cell viability in GCT cell lines including cisplatin-resistant subclones at low concentrations by targeting epigenetic modifiers and interactors, like histone deacetylases (Quisinostat), histone demethylases (JIB-04), histone methyltransferases (Chaetocin), epigenetic readers (MZ-1, LP99) and polycomb-repressive complexes (PRT4165, GSK343). Mass spectrometry-based analyses of the histone modification landscape revealed effects beyond the expected mode-of-action of each drug, suggesting a wider spectrum of activity than initially assumed. Moreover, we characterized the effects of each drug on the transcriptome of GCT cells by RNA sequencing and found common deregulations in gene expression of ion transporters and DNA-binding factors. A kinase array revealed deregulations of signaling pathways, like cAMP, JAK-STAT and WNT. Conclusion Our study identified seven drugs against epigenetic modifiers to treat cisplatin-resistant GCTs. Further, we extensively analyzed off-target effects and modes-of-action, which are important for risk assessment of the individual drugs. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13148-021-01223-1.
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Yuan W, Yong W, Zhu J, Shi D. DPP4 Regulates DHCR24-Mediated Cholesterol Biosynthesis to Promote Methotrexate Resistance in Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplastic Cells. Front Oncol 2021; 11:704024. [PMID: 34926239 PMCID: PMC8675944 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.704024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolic reprogramming could promote cellular adaptation in response to chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells. Herein, we aimed to characterize the metabolomic profiles regulated by Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 (DPP4) in methotrexate (MTX)-resistant gestational trophoblastic neoplastic (GTN) cells. A total of eighty metabolites were found to be commonly altered in DPP4-depleted JAR/MTX and JEG3/MTX cells. Cholesterol biosynthesis-related metabolites were markedly impacted by DPP4 knockdown in MTX-resistant sublines. Manipulation of DPP4 expression remarkably affected the level of cellular cholesterol in GTN cells. Our analysis also identified 24-Dehydrocholesterol Reductase (DHCR24) as a potential downstream effector of DPP4. Manipulation of DHCR24 expression affected cellular cholesterol level, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, and chemosensitivity to MTX in GTN cell models. In addition, over-expression of DHCR24 could markedly restore cellular cholesterol level and rescue cell survival in DPP4-depleted MTX-resistant GTN cells. Highly correlated expression of DPP4 and DHCR24 was observed in clinical GTN specimens. Further, DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin effectively inhibited cholesterol biosynthesis, reduced DHCR24 expression and enhanced MTX-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our findings suggested that DPP4 might regulate DHCR24-mediated cholesterol biosynthesis to promote methotrexate resistance in GTN cells. Targeting DPP4/DHCR24 signaling might help to sensitize MTX-resistant GTN to MTX treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weijie Yuan
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.,The Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment for Gastrointestinal Tumor, Changsha, China
| | - Wenjing Yong
- Department of Obstetrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jing Zhu
- Department of Gynecology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Dazun Shi
- Department of Gynecology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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Lacalamita A, Piccinno E, Scalavino V, Bellotti R, Giannelli G, Serino G. A Gene-Based Machine Learning Classifier Associated to the Colorectal Adenoma-Carcinoma Sequence. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9121937. [PMID: 34944753 PMCID: PMC8698794 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9121937] [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: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) carcinogenesis is generally the result of the sequential mutation and deletion of various genes; this is known as the normal mucosa–adenoma–carcinoma sequence. The aim of this study was to develop a predictor-classifier during the “adenoma-carcinoma” sequence using microarray gene expression profiles of primary CRC, adenoma, and normal colon epithelial tissues. Four gene expression profiles from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, containing 465 samples (105 normal, 155 adenoma, and 205 CRC), were preprocessed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between adenoma tissue and primary CRC. The feature selection procedure, using the sequential Boruta algorithm and Stepwise Regression, determined 56 highly important genes. K-Means methods showed that, using the selected 56 DEGs, the three groups were clearly separate. The classification was performed with machine learning algorithms such as Linear Model (LM), Random Forest (RF), k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The best classification method in terms of accuracy (88.06 ± 0.70) and AUC (92.04 ± 0.47) was k-NN. To confirm the relevance of the predictive models, we applied the four models on a validation cohort: the k-NN model remained the best model in terms of performance, with 91.11% accuracy. Among the 56 DEGs, we identified 17 genes with an ascending or descending trend through the normal mucosa–adenoma–carcinoma sequence. Moreover, using the survival information of the TCGA database, we selected six DEGs related to patient prognosis (SCARA5, PKIB, CWH43, TEX11, METTL7A, and VEGFA). The six-gene-based classifier described in the current study could be used as a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Lacalamita
- National Institute of Gastroenterology “S. de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, 70013 Bari, Italy; (A.L.); (E.P.); (V.S.); (G.G.)
| | - Emanuele Piccinno
- National Institute of Gastroenterology “S. de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, 70013 Bari, Italy; (A.L.); (E.P.); (V.S.); (G.G.)
| | - Viviana Scalavino
- National Institute of Gastroenterology “S. de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, 70013 Bari, Italy; (A.L.); (E.P.); (V.S.); (G.G.)
| | - Roberto Bellotti
- Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, 70126 Bari, Italy;
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Giannelli
- National Institute of Gastroenterology “S. de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, 70013 Bari, Italy; (A.L.); (E.P.); (V.S.); (G.G.)
| | - Grazia Serino
- National Institute of Gastroenterology “S. de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, 70013 Bari, Italy; (A.L.); (E.P.); (V.S.); (G.G.)
- Correspondence:
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Wang N, Han X, Yang H, Xia D, Fan Z. miR-6807-5p Inhibited the Odontogenic Differentiation of Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells Through Directly Targeting METTL7A. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:759192. [PMID: 34790668 PMCID: PMC8591228 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.759192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Tooth tissue regeneration mediated by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has become the most ideal treatment. Although the known regulatory mechanism and some achievements have been discovered, directional differentiation cannot effectively induce regeneration of tooth tissue. In this study, we intended to explore the function and mechanism of miR-6807-5p and its target gene METTL7A in odontogenic differentiation. Methods: In this study, human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were used. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Alizarin red staining (ARS), and calcium ion quantification were used to detect the odontogenic differentiation of miR-6807-5p and METTL7A. Real-time RT-PCR, western blot, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and pull-down assay with biotinylated miRNA were used to confirm that METTL7A was the downstream gene of miR-6807-5p. Protein mass spectrometry and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) were used to detect that SNRNP200 was the co-binding protein of METTL7A. Results: After mineralized induction, the odontogenic differentiation was enhanced in the miR-6807-5p-knockdown group and weakened in the miR-6807-5p-overexpressed group compared with the control group. METTL7A was the downstream target of miR-6807-5p. After mineralized induction, the odontogenic differentiation was weakened in the METTL7A-knockdown group and enhanced in the METTL7A-overexpressed group compared with the control group. SNRNP200 was the co-binding protein of METTL7A. The knockdown of SNRNP200 inhibited the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. Conclusion: This study verified that miR-6807-5p inhibited the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. The binding site of miR-6807-5p was the 3′UTR region of METTL7A, which was silenced by miR-6807-5p. METTL7A promoted the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. SNRNP200, a co-binding protein of METTL7A, promoted the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ning Wang
- Laboratory of Molecular Signaling and Stem Cells Therapy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Tooth Regeneration and Function Reconstruction, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao Han
- Laboratory of Molecular Signaling and Stem Cells Therapy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Tooth Regeneration and Function Reconstruction, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Haoqing Yang
- Laboratory of Molecular Signaling and Stem Cells Therapy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Tooth Regeneration and Function Reconstruction, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Dengsheng Xia
- Department of General Dentistry and Integrated Emergency Dental Care, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Zhipeng Fan
- Laboratory of Molecular Signaling and Stem Cells Therapy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Tooth Regeneration and Function Reconstruction, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China.,Research Unit of Tooth Development and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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25
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Wu S, Shao M, Zhang Y, Shi D. Activation of RSK2 upregulates SOX8 to promote methotrexate resistance in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. J Transl Med 2021; 101:1494-1504. [PMID: 34373588 DOI: 10.1038/s41374-021-00651-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Resistance to chemotherapy is frequently driven by aberrantly activated kinases in cancer. Herein, we characterized the global phosphoproteomic alterations associated with methotrexate (MTX) resistance in gestational trophoblastic neoplastic (GTN) cells. A total of 1111 phosphosites on 713 proteins were significantly changed, with highly elevated Ribosomal S6 Kinase 2 (RSK2) phosphorylation (pS227) observed in MTX-resistant GTN cells. Activation of RSK2 promoted cell proliferation and survival after MTX treatment in GTN cell models. Interestingly, RSK2 might play an important role in the regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, as manipulation of RSK2 activation affected ROS accumulation and SOX8 expression in GTN cells. In addition, overexpression of SOX8 partly rescued cell proliferation and survival in RSK2-depleted MTX-resistant GTN cells, suggesting that SOX8 might serve as a downstream effector of RSK2 to promote MTX resistance in GTN cells. Highly activated RSK2/SOX8 signaling was observed in MTX-resistant GTN specimens. Further, the RSK2 inhibitor BIX02565 effectively reduced SOX8 expression, induced ROS accumulation, and enhanced MTX-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our findings suggested that RSK2 activation could promote MTX resistance via upregulating SOX8 and attenuating MTX-induced ROS in GTN cells, which may help to develop experimental therapeutics to treat MTX-resistant GTN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaobin Wu
- Department of General Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Mingjie Shao
- Department of General Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Gynecology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Dazun Shi
- Department of Gynecology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
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Yang Y, Zhu Y, Li X, Zhang X, Yu B. Identification of potential biomarkers and metabolic pathways based on integration of metabolomic and transcriptomic data in the development of breast cancer. Arch Gynecol Obstet 2021; 303:1599-1606. [PMID: 33791842 DOI: 10.1007/s00404-021-06015-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of malignant tumor and the most common cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Metabolic reprogramming is considered a hallmark of cancer, and the study of BC metabolism may be the key to the development of new strategies for diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential metabolites and gene biomarkers for BC through the integration of metabolomics and transcriptomic data, which could further understand BC tumor biology. METHODS Transcriptome dataset GSE139038 was downloaded to explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between BC and normal control (NC) samples. Metabolomics dataset MTBLS326 was downloaded and preprocessed to obtain altered metabolites. Then, the principal component analysis (PCA) and linear models were used to reveal DEGs-metabolites relations. Finally, the pathway enrichment analysis of altered metabolites was performed. RESULTS A total of 280 DEGs and eight metabolites were explored between BC and NC samples. The liner module analysis investigated 28 DEGs-metabolites interactions including WASP family member 3 (WASF3)-lactate, ras-related protein Rab-7B (RAB7B)-lactate, and methyltransferase-like 7A (METTL7A)-pyruvate. Finally, pathways analysis showed that these metabolites (such as lactate and pyruvate) were mainly enriched in pathways like disorders of the Krebs cycle. CONCLUSIONS Combining with the transcriptomic and metabolomics data, we found that lactate, pyruvate, WASF3, RAB7B, and METTL7A might be used as novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for BC. In addition, the disorders of the Krebs cycle pathway might affect the progression of BC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifei Yang
- Department of Thyroid Mammary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yuhang, No. 369 Yingbin Road, Linping, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 330110, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yunhua Zhu
- Department of Thyroid Mammary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yuhang, No. 369 Yingbin Road, Linping, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 330110, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiaoyan Li
- Department of Thyroid Mammary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yuhang, No. 369 Yingbin Road, Linping, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 330110, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiuxia Zhang
- Department of Thyroid Mammary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yuhang, No. 369 Yingbin Road, Linping, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 330110, Zhejiang, China
| | - Bin Yu
- Department of Thyroid Mammary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yuhang, No. 369 Yingbin Road, Linping, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 330110, Zhejiang, China.
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Xu C, Zhang Y, Shen Y, Shi Y, Zhang M, Zhou L. Integrated Analysis Reveals ENDOU as a Biomarker in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression. Front Oncol 2021; 10:522332. [PMID: 33614471 PMCID: PMC7894080 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.522332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a leading cancer with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim is to identify genes with clinical significance by integrated bioinformatics analysis and investigate their function in HNSCC. Methods We downloaded and analyzed two gene expression datasets of GSE6631 and GSE107591 to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in HNSCC. Common DEGs were functionally analyzed by Gene ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed with STRING database and Cytoscape. ENDOU was overexpressed in FaDu and Cal-27 cell lines, and cell proliferation and migration capability were evaluated with MTT, scratch and transwell assay. The prognostic performance of ENDOU and expression correlation with tumor infiltrates in HNSCC were validated with TCGA HNSCC datasets. Results Ninety-eight genes shared common differential expression in both datasets, with core functions like extracellular matrix organization significantly enriched. 15 genes showed prognostic significance, and COBL and ENDOU serve as independent survival markers in HNSCC. In-vitro ENDOU overexpression inhibited FaDu and Cal-27 cells proliferation and migration, indicating its tumor-suppressing role in HNSCC progression. GSEA analysis indicated ENDOU down-stream pathways like DNA replication, mismatch repair, cell cycle and IL-17 signaling pathway. ENDOU showed relative lower expression in HNSCC, especially HPV-positive HNSCC samples. At last, ENDOU showed negative correlation with tumor purity and tumor infiltrating macrophages, especially M2 macrophages. Conclusion This study identified ENDOU as a biomarker with prognostic significance in HNSCC progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengzhi Xu
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yunbin Zhang
- Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,Department of Respirology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yupeng Shen
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Yong Shi
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ming Zhang
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Liang Zhou
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Shi D, Zhang Y, Tian Y. SLAMF1 Promotes Methotrexate Resistance via Activating Autophagy in Choriocarcinoma Cells. Cancer Manag Res 2020; 12:13427-13436. [PMID: 33408515 PMCID: PMC7779304 DOI: 10.2147/cmar.s278012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective The acquisition of chemoresistance to methotrexate (MTX) still remains one of the major challenges for choriocarcinoma treatment. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the potential role of Signaling Lymphocytic Activation Molecule Family Member 1 (SLAMF1) as a possible regulator of chemoresistance to MTX in choriocarcinoma. Material and Methods MTX-resistant JEG3 and JAR sublines (JEG3/MTX, JAR/MTX) were used to study SLAMF1 function. CCK8 assay and soft agar assay were conducted to measure the cell viability and clonogenesis of choriocarcinoma cells, respectively; MDC incorporation assay was conducted for the quantification of intracellular autophagy; BrdU labeling was used to assess the proliferative potential of choriocarcinoma cells; SLAMF1 protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting. Results Upregulation of SLAMF1 expression was observed in MTX-resistant JEG3/MTX and JAR/MTX sublines compared to their parental JEG3 and JAR cell lines, respectively. Knockdown of SLAMF1 markedly attenuated cell viability and soft agar clonogenesis after incubation with MTX in JEG3/MTX and JAR/MTX cells. In contrast, constitutive expression of SLAMF1 rescued cell survival soft agar clonogenesis in JEG3 and JAR cells treated with MTX. Moreover, autophagy is apparently activated in MTX-resistant JEG3/MTX and JAR/MTX sublines compared to their parental cell lines. Autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine and bafilomycin A1 enhanced MTX-induced cytotoxicity in MTX-resistant JEG3 and JAR sublines. Further, SLAMF1 might activate autophagy-related mechanism to promote resistance to MTX in choriocarcinoma cells. Depletion of SLAMF1 suppressed autophagy and induced apoptosis in MTX-treated JEG3/MTX and JAR/MTX cells. Conclusion SLAMF1 might promote MTX resistance via activating protective autophagy in choriocarcinoma cell lines. Targeting SLAMF1 might be a useful therapeutic strategy to sensitize choriocarcinoma cells to MTX-based regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dazun Shi
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Zhang
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Tian
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, People's Republic of China
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