TGFBI expression is an independent predictor of survival in adjuvant-treated lung squamous cell carcinoma patients

Novel ectopic expression of zona pellucida 3 glycoprotein in lung cancer promotes tumor growth

Zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) expression is classically found in the ZP-layer of the oocytes, lately shown in ovarian and prostate cancer. A successful ZP3 ovarian cancer immunotherapy in transgenic mice suggested its use as an attractive therapeutic target. The biological role of ZP3 in cancer growth and progression is still unknown. We found that ~88% of the analyzed adenocarcinoma, squamous and small cell lung carcinomas to express ZP3. Knockout of ZP3 in a ZP3-expressing lung adenocarcinoma cell line, significantly decreased cell viability, proliferation, and migration rates in vitro. Zona pellucida 3 knock out (ZP3-KO) cell tumors inoculated in vivo in immunodeficient non-obese diabetic, severe combined immunodeficient mice showed significant inhibition of tumor growth and mitigation of the malignant phenotype. RNA sequencing revealed the deregulation of cell migration/adhesion signaling pathways in ZP3-KO cells. This novel functional relevance of ZP3 in lung cancer emphasized the suitability of ZP3 as a target in cancer immunotherapy and as a potential cancer biomarker.

VSTM2L is a promising therapeutic target and a prognostic soluble-biomarker in cholangiocarcinoma

The aim of the present study is to provide a rational background for silencing the V-set and transmembrane domain containing 2 like (VSTM2L) in consort with recognising soluble VSTM2L against cholangiocarcinoma. A therapeutic target against cholangiocarcinoma was selected using iterative patient partitioning (IPP) calculation, and it was verified by in vitro and in silico analyses. VSTM2L was selected as a potential therapeutic target against cholangiocarcinoma. Silencing the VSTM2L expression significantly attenuated the viability and survival of cholangiocarcinoma cells through blockade of the intracellular signalling pathway. In silico analysis showed that VSTM2L affected the positive regulation of cell growth in cholangiocarcinoma. Liptak's z value revealed that the expression of VSTM2L worsened the prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma patients. In addition, soluble VSTM2L was significantly detected in the whole blood of cholangiocarcinoma patients compared with that of healthy donors. Our report reveals that VSTM2L might be the potential therapeutic target and a soluble prognostic biomarker against cholangiocarcinoma. [BMB Reports 2024; 57(7): 324-329].

Integrated Analysis Identified TGFBI as a Biomarker of Disease Severity and Prognosis Correlated with Immune Infiltrates in Patients with Sepsis

Background

Sepsis is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. This study aims to identify markers associated with the severity and prognosis of sepsis, providing new approaches for its management and treatment.

Methods

Data were mined from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases and were analyzed by multiple statistical methods like the Spearman correlation coefficient, Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression analysis, and functional enrichment analysis. Candidate indicator' associations with immune infiltration and roles in sepsis development were evaluated. Additionally, we employed techniques such as flow cytometry and neutral red staining to evaluate its impact on macrophage functions like polarization and phagocytosis.

Results

Twenty-eight genes were identified as being closely linked to the severity of sepsis, among which transforming growth factor beta induced (TGFBI) emerged as a distinct marker for predicting clinical outcomes. Notably, reductions in TGFBI expression during sepsis correlate with poor prognosis and rapid disease progression. Elevated expression of TGFBI has been observed to mitigate abnormalities in sepsis-related immune cell infiltration that are critical to the pathogenesis and prognosis of the disease, including but not limited to type 17 T helper cells and activated CD8 T cells. Moreover, the protein-protein interaction network revealed the top ten genes that interact with TGFBI, showing significant involvement in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix-receptor interactions, and phagosomes. These are pivotal elements in the formation of phagocytic cups by macrophages, squaring the findings of the Human Protein Atlas. Additionally, we discovered that TGFBI expression was significantly higher in M2-like macrophages, and its upregulation was found to inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced polarization and phagocytosis in M1-like macrophages, thereby playing a role in preventing the onset of inflammation.

Conclusion

TGFBI warrants additional exploration as a promising biomarker for assessing illness severity and prognosis in patients with sepsis, considering its significant association with immunological and inflammatory responses in this condition.

Soluble TGFBI aggravates the malignancy of cholangiocarcinoma through activation of the ITGB1 dependent PPARγ signalling pathway

BACKGROUND

Cholangiocarcinoma is a devastating cancer with a poor prognosis. Previous reports have presented conflicting results on the role of transforming growth factor-β-induced protein (TGFBI) in malignant cancers. Currently, our understanding of the role of TGFBI in cholangiocarcinoma is ambiguous. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of TGFBI in human cholangiocarcinoma.

METHODS

Iterative patient partitioning (IPP) scoring and consecutive elimination methods were used to select prognostic biomarkers. mRNA and protein expression levels were determined using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Western blot and ELISA analyses. Biological activities of selected biomarkers were examined using both in vitro and in vivo assays. Prognostic values were assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Liptak's z score analyses.

RESULTS

TGFBI was selected as a candidate cholangiocarcinoma biomarker. GEO database analysis revealed significantly higher TGFBI mRNA expression levels in cholangiocarcinoma tissues compared to matched normal tissues. TGFBI protein was specifically detected in a soluble form in vitro and in vivo. TGFBI silencing evoked significant anti-cancer effects in vitro. Soluble TGFBI treatment aggravated the malignancy of cholangiocarcinoma cells both in vitro and in vivo through activation of the integrin beta-1 (ITGB1) dependent PPARγ signalling pathway. High TGFBI expression was associated with a poor prognosis in patients with cholangiocarcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that TGFBI may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for cholangiocarcinoma.

Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Associations of TGFBI Expression With Prognosis and Immune Characteristics

Transforming growth factor-beta-induced (TGFBI) protein has important roles in tumor growth, metastasis, and immunity. However, there is currently no pan-cancer evidence regarding TGFBI. In this study, we conducted a pan-cancer analysis of TGFBI mRNA and protein expression and prognoses of various cancer types using public databases. We also investigated the associations of TGFBI expression with tumor microenvironment (TME) components, immune cell infiltration, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI), along with the TGFBI genetic alteration types. The results showed that TGFBI expression varied among different cancer types, and it was positively or negatively related to prognosis in various cancers. TGFBI expression was also significantly correlated with TME components, TMB, MSI, immune cell infiltration, and immunoinhibitory and immunostimulatory gene subsets. These findings indicate that TGFBI participates in various immune responses and it may function as a prognostic marker in various cancers. The findings may be useful for developing immunotherapies that target TGFBI.

TGFBI Expression Predicts the Survival of Patients With Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIM

This study was conducted to investigate transforming growth factor beta-induced protein (TGFBI) expression and analyze the clinical and prognostic significance of TGFBI in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We evaluated TGFBI expression by immunohistochemistry in 94 patients with OPSCC. For comprehensive analysis, TGFBI expression was subdivided into tumor cell score (T), stroma score (S), and the sum of two scores (TS) calculated using H-score. Clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were compared between groups of high expression and low expression of TGFBI in each area.

RESULTS

Overall, 12 patients (12.8%) showed high T score, and 41 patients (43.6%) revealed high S score. Although T score showed no significant difference both in overall survival (OS) (p=0.080) and recurrence free survival (RFS) (p=0.272), high S score patients had significantly worse OS (p=0.003) and worse RFS (p=0.043). High TS score also showed significant association with worse OS (p=0.011) and worse RFS (p=0.021). High S score was an independent prognostic factor predicting shorter OS (HR=6.352, 95%CI=1.206-40.050, p=0.029) and RFS (HR=18.843, 95%CI=1.030-344.799, p=0.048) in the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

High S score of TGFBI was a significant predictor of poor prognosis in OPSCC. TGFBI could be a useful new predictive and prognostic biomarker in OPSCC.

The role of the extracellular matrix protein TGFBI in cancer

The secreted extracellular protein, transforming growth factor beta induced (TGFBI or βIGH3), has roles in regulating numerous biological functions, including cell adhesion and bone formation, both during embryonic development and during the pathogenesis of human disease. TGFBI has been most studied in the context of hereditary corneal dystrophies, where mutations in TGFBI result in accumulation of TGFBI in the cornea. In cancer, early studies focused on TGFBI as a tumor suppressor, in part by promoting chemotherapy sensitivity. However, in established tumors, TGFBI largely has a role in promoting tumor progression, with elevated levels correlating to poorer clinical outcomes. As an important regulator of cancer progression, TGFBI expression and function is tightly regulated by numerous mechanisms including epigenetic silencing through promoter methylation and microRNAs. Mechanisms to target TGFBI have potential clinical utility in treating advanced cancers, while assessing TGFBI levels could be a biomarker for chemotherapy resistance and tumor progression.

Identification of Hub Genes Associated With Sensitivity of 5-Fluorouracil Based Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer by Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been used for the standard first-line treatment for CRC patients for several decades. Although 5-FU based chemotherapy has increased overall survival (OS) of CRC patients, the resistance of CRC to 5-FU based chemotherapy is the principal cause for treatment failure. Thus, identifying novel biomarkers to predict response to 5-FU based chemotherapy is urgently needed. In the present study, the gene expression profile of GSE3964 from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was used to explore the potential genes related to intrinsic resistance to 5-FU. A gene module containing 81 genes was found to have the highest correlation with chemotherapy response using Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). Then a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and ten hub genes (TGFBI, NID, LEPREL2, COL11A1, CYR61, PCOLCE, IGFBP7, COL4A2, CSPG2, and VTN) were identified using the CytoHubba plugin of Cytoscape. Seven of these hub genes showed significant differences in expression between chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant samples. The prognostic value of these seven genes was evaluated using TCGA COAD (Colorectal Adenocarcinoma) data. The results showed that TGFBI was highly expressed in chemotherapy-sensitive patients, and patients with high TGFBI expression have better survival.

Inhibition of activin signaling in lung adenocarcinoma increases the therapeutic index of platinum chemotherapy

Resistance to platinum chemotherapy is a long-standing problem in the management of lung adenocarcinoma. Using a whole-genome synthetic lethal RNA interference screen, we identified activin signaling as a critical mediator of innate platinum resistance. The transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) superfamily ligands activin A and growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) mediated resistance via their cognate receptors through TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), rather than through the SMAD family of transcription factors. Inhibition of activin receptor signaling or blockade of activin A and GDF11 by the endogenous protein follistatin overcame this resistance. Consistent with the role of activin signaling in acute renal injury, both therapeutic interventions attenuated acute cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, its major dose-limiting side effect. This cancer-specific enhancement of platinum-induced cell death has the potential to dramatically improve the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy in lung cancer patients.

Epigenetic silencing of TGFBI confers resistance to trastuzumab in human breast cancer

Background

Acquired resistance to trastuzumab is a major clinical problem in the treatment of HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer patients. The selection of trastuzumab-resistant patients is a great challenge of precision oncology. The aim of this study was to identify novel epigenetic biomarkers associated to trastuzumab resistance in HER2+ BC patients.

Methods

We performed a genome-wide DNA methylation (450K array) and a transcriptomic analysis (RNA-Seq) comparing trastuzumab-sensitive (SK) and trastuzumab-resistant (SKTR) HER2+ human breast cancer cell models. The methylation and expression levels of candidate genes were validated by bisulfite pyrosequencing and qRT-PCR, respectively. Functional assays were conducted in the SK and SKTR models by gene silencing and overexpression. Methylation analysis in 24 HER2+ human BC samples with complete response or non-response to trastuzumab-based treatment was conducted by bisulfite pyrosequencing.

Results

Epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis revealed the consistent hypermethylation and downregulation of TGFBI, CXCL2, and SLC38A1 genes in association with trastuzumab resistance. The DNA methylation and expression levels of these genes were validated in both sensitive and resistant models analyzed. Of the genes, TGFBI presented the highest hypermethylation-associated silencing both at the transcriptional and protein level. Ectopic expression of TGFBI in the SKTR model suggest an increased sensitivity to trastuzumab treatment. In primary tumors, TGFBI hypermethylation was significantly associated with trastuzumab resistance in HER2+ breast cancer patients.

Conclusions

Our results suggest for the first time an association between the epigenetic silencing of TGFBI by DNA methylation and trastuzumab resistance in HER2+ cell models. These results provide the basis for further clinical studies to validate the hypermethylation of TGFBI promoter as a biomarker of trastuzumab resistance in HER2+ breast cancer patients.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13058-019-1160-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Development and validation of a prognostic index for efficacy evaluation and prognosis of first-line chemotherapy in stage III-IV lung squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

To establish a pre-therapy prognostic index model (PIM) of the first-line chemotherapy aiming to achieve accurate prediction of time to progression (TTP) and overall survival among the patients diagnosed with locally advanced (stage III) or distant metastasis (stage IV) lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

METHODS

Ninety-six LSCC patients treated with first-line chemotherapy were retrospectively enrolled to build the model. Fourteen epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant LSCC patients treated with first-line EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy were enrolled for validation dataset. From CT images, 56,000 phenotype features were initially computed. PIM was constructed by integrating a CT phenotype signature selected by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and the significant blood-based biomarkers selected by multivariate Cox regression. PIM was then compared with other four prognostic models constructed by the CT phenotype signature, clinical factors, post-therapy tumor response, and Glasgow Prognostic Score.

RESULTS

The signature includes eight optimal features extracted from co-occurrence, run length, and Gabor features. By using PIM, chemotherapy efficacy of patients categorized in the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk progression subgroups (median TTP = 7.2 months, 3.4 months, and 1.8 months, respectively) was significantly different (p < 0.0001, log-rank test). Chemotherapy efficacy of the low-risk progression subgroup was comparable with EGFR-TKI therapy (p = 0.835, log-rank test). Prognostic prediction of chemotherapy efficacy by PIM was significantly higher than other models (p < 0.05, z test).

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrated that the PIM yielded significantly higher performance to identify individual stage III-IV LSCC patients who can potentially benefit most from first-line chemotherapy, and predict the risk of failure from chemotherapy for individual patients.

KEY POINTS

• TTP and OS of first-line chemotherapy in individual stage III-IV LSCC patients could be predicted by pre-therapy blood-based biomarkers and image-based signatures. • Risk status of pre-therapy indicators affected the efficacy of first-line chemotherapy in stage III-IV LSCC patients. • Those stage III-IV LSCC patients who were able to achieve similar efficacy to EGFR-TKI therapy through chemotherapy were identified.

TGFBI Promoter Methylation is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and has high rates of metastasis. Transforming growth factor beta-inducible protein (TGFBI) is an extracellular matrix component involved in tumour growth and metastasis. However, the exact role of TGFBI in NSCLC remains controversial. Gene silencing via DNA methylation of the promoter region is common in lung tumorigenesis and could thus be used for the development of molecular biomarkers. We analysed the methylation status of the TGFBI promoter in 138 NSCLC specimens via methylation-specific PCR and evaluated the correlation between TGFBI methylation and patient survival. TGFBI promoter methylation was detected in 25 (18.1%) of the tumours and was demonstrated to be associated with gene silencing. We observed no statistical correlation between TGFBI methylation and clinicopathological characteristics. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that TGFBI methylation is significantly associated with poor survival outcomes in adenocarcinoma cases (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.88, 95% confidence interval = 1.19-6.99, P = 0.019), but not in squamous cell cases. Our findings suggest that methylation in the TGFBI promoter may be associated with pathogenesis of NSCLC and can be used as a predictive marker for lung adenocarcinoma prognosis. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Transcriptome profiling reveals PDZ binding kinase as a novel biomarker in peritumoral brain zone of glioblastoma

PURPOSE

Peritumoural brain zone (PT) of glioblastoma (GBM) is the area where tumour recurrence is often observed. We aimed to identify differentially regulated genes between tumour core (TC) and PT to understand the underlying molecular characteristics of infiltrating tumour cells in PT.

METHODS

17 each histologically characterised TC and PT tissues of GBM along with eight control tissues were subjected to cDNA Microarray. PT tissues contained 25-30% infiltrating tumour cells. Data was analysed using R Bioconductor software. Shortlisted genes were validated using qRT-PCR. Expression of one selected candidate gene, PDZ Binding Kinase (PBK) was correlated with patient survival, tumour recurrence and functionally characterized in vitro using gene knock-down approach.

RESULTS

Unsupervised hierarchical clustering showed that TC and PT have distinct gene expression profiles compared to controls. Further, comparing TC with PT, we observed a significant overlap in gene expression profile in both, despite PT having fewer infiltrating tumour cells. qRT-PCR for 13 selected genes validated the microarray data. Expression of PBK was higher in PT as compared to TC and recurrent when compared to newly diagnosed GBM tumours. PBK knock-down showed a significant reduction in cell proliferation, migration and invasion with increase in sensitivity to radiation and Temozolomide treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

We show that several genes of TC are expressed even in PT contributing to the vulnerability of PT for tumour recurrence. PBK is identified as a novel gene up-regulated in PT of GBM with a strong role in conferring aggressiveness, including radio-chemoresistance, thus contributing to recurrence in GBM tumours.

Dysregulation of the MiR-449b target TGFBI alters the TGFβ pathway to induce cisplatin resistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Despite the improvement in locoregional control of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), distant metastasis (DM), and chemoresistance persist as major causes of mortality. This study identified a novel role for miR-449b, an overexpressed gene in a validated four-miRNA signature for NPC DM, leading to chemoresistance via the direct targeting of transforming growth factor beta-induced (TGFBI). In vitro shRNA-mediated downregulation of TGFBI induced phosphorylation of PTEN and AKT, increasing cisplatin resistance. Conversely, the overexpression of TGFBI sensitized the NPC cells to cisplatin. In NPC patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT), the overall survival (OS) was significantly inversely correlated with miR-449b, and directly correlated with both TGFBI mRNA and protein expression, as assessed by RNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Mechanistically, co-immunoprecipitation demonstrated that TGFBI competes with pro-TGFβ1 for integrin receptor binding. Decreased TGFBI led to increased pro-TGFβ1 activation and TGFβ1 canonical/noncanonical pathway-induced cisplatin resistance. Thus, overexpression of miR-449b decreases TGFBI, thereby altering the balance between TGFBI and pro-TGFβ1, revealing a novel mechanism of chemoresistance in NPC.

Epigenetic alterations leading to TMPRSS4 promoter hypomethylation and protein overexpression predict poor prognosis in squamous lung cancer patients

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, which highlights the need of innovative therapeutic options. Although targeted therapies can be successfully used in a subset of patients with lung adenocarcinomas (ADC), they are not appropriate for patients with squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). In addition, there is an unmet need for the identification of prognostic biomarkers that can select patients at risk of relapse in early stages. Here, we have used several cohorts of NSCLC patients to analyze the prognostic value of both protein expression and DNA promoter methylation status of the prometastatic serine protease TMPRSS4. Moreover, expression and promoter methylation was evaluated in a panel of 46 lung cancer cell lines. We have demonstrated that a high TMPRSS4 expression is an independent prognostic factor in SCC. Similarly, aberrant hypomethylation in tumors, which correlates with high TMPRSS4 expression, is an independent prognostic predictor in SCC. The inverse correlation between expression and methylation status was also observed in cell lines. In vitro studies showed that treatment of cells lacking TMPRSS4 expression with a demethylating agent significantly increased TMPRSS4 levels. In conclusion, TMPRSS4 is a novel independent prognostic biomarker regulated by epigenetic changes in SCC and a potential therapeutic target in this tumor type, where targeted therapy is still underdeveloped.

TGFBI functions similar to periostin but is uniquely dispensable during cardiac injury

Extracellular matrix production and accumulation stabilize the heart under normal conditions as well as form a protective scar after myocardial infarction injury, although excessive extracellular matrix accumulation with long-standing heart disease is pathological. In the current study we investigate the role of the matricellular protein, transforming growth factor beta-induced (TGFBI), which is induced in various forms of heart disease. Additionally, we sought to understand whether TGFBI is functionally redundant to its closely related family member periostin, which is also induced in the diseased heart. Surgical models of myocardial infarction and cardiac pressure overload were used in mice with genetic loss of Postn and/or Tgfbi to examine the roles of these genes during the fibrotic response. Additionally, cardiac-specific TGFBI transgenic mice were generated and analyzed. We observed that deletion of Tgfbi did not alter cardiac disease after myocardial infarction in contrast to greater ventricular wall rupture in Postn gene-deleted mice. Moreover, Tgfbi and Postn double gene-deleted mice showed a similar post-myocardial infarction disease phenotype as Postn-deleted mice. Over-expression of TGFBI in the hearts of mice had a similar effect as previously shown in mice with periostin over-expression. Thus, TGFBI and periostin act similarly in the heart in affecting fibrosis and disease responsiveness, although TGFBI is not seemingly necessary in the heart after myocardial infarction injury and is fully compensated by the more prominently expressed effector periostin.

Typing of colon and lung adenocarcinoma by high throughput imaging mass spectrometry

In advanced tumor stages, diagnosis is frequently made from metastatic tumor tissue. In some cases, the identification of the tumor of origin may be difficult by histology alone. In this setting, immunohistochemical and molecular biological methods are often required. In a subset of tumors definite diagnosis cannot be achieved. Thus, additional new diagnostic methods are required for precise tumor subtyping. Mass spectrometric methods are of special interest for the discrimination of different tumor types. We investigated whether it is possible to discern adenocarcinomas of colon and lung using high-throughput imaging mass spectrometry on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue microarrays. 101 primary adenocarcinoma of the colon and 91 primary adenocarcinoma of the lung were used to train a Linear Discriminant Analysis model. Results were validated on an independent set of 116 colonic and 75 lung adenocarcinomas. In the validation cohort 109 of 116 patients with colonic and 67 of 75 patients with lung adenocarcinomas were correctly classified. The ability to define proteomic profiles capable to discern different tumor types promises a valuable tool in cancer diagnostics and might complement current approaches. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: MALDI Imaging, edited by Dr. Corinna Henkel and Prof. Peter Hoffmann.

Comparative proteome analysis across non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines are widely used model systems to study molecular aspects of lung cancer. Comparative and in-depth proteome expression data across many NSCLC cell lines has not been generated yet, but would be of utility for the investigation of candidate targets and markers in oncogenesis. We employed a SILAC reference approach to perform replicate proteome quantifications across 23 distinct NSCLC cell lines. On average, close to 4000 distinct proteins were identified and quantified per cell line. These included many known targets and diagnostic markers, indicating that our proteome expression data represents a useful resource for NSCLC pre-clinical research. To assess proteome diversity within the NSCLC cell line panel, we performed hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis of proteome expression data. Our results indicate that general proteome diversity among NSCLC cell lines supersedes potential effects common to K-Ras or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) oncoprotein expression. However, we observed partial segregation of EGFR or KRAS mutant cell lines for certain principal components, which reflected biological differences according to gene ontology enrichment analyses. Moreover, statistical analysis revealed several proteins that were significantly overexpressed in KRAS or EGFR mutant cell lines.

Critical review about MDM2 in cancer: Possible role in malignant mesothelioma and implications for treatment

The tumor suppressor p53 regulates genes involved in DNA repair, metabolism, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and senescence. p53 is mutated in about 50% of the human cancers, while in tumors with wild-type p53 gene, the protein function may be lost because of overexpression of Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2). MDM2 targets p53 for ubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation. p53 reactivation through MDM2 inhibitors seems to be a promising strategy to sensitize p53 wild-type cancer cells to apoptosis. Moreover, additional p53-independent molecular functions of MDM2, such as neoangiogenesis promotion, have been suggested. Thus, MDM2 might be a target for anticancer treatment because of its antiapoptotic and proangiogenetic role. Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive asbestos-related tumor where wild-type p53 might be present. The present review gives a complete landscape about the role of MDM2 in cancer pathogenesis, prognosis and treatment, with particular focus on Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Membranous expressions of Lewis y and CAM-DR-related markers are independent factors of chemotherapy resistance and poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND

Chemotherapy resistance is a common problem faced by patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Currently there are no specific or sensitive clinical biomarkers that maybe implemented to identify chemotherapy resistance and give insight to prognosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the roles of Lewis y antigen and the markers associated with cell-adhesion-mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR) in patients with EOC.

METHODS

92 EOC patients who were treated with systemic chemotherapy after cytoreductive surgery were included in this analysis. Patients were divided into two groups, chemotherapy sensitive (n = 56) and resistant (n = 36). Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for Lewis y and CAM-DR-related cell surface proteins including CD44, CD147, HE4 (Human epididymis protein 4), integrin α5, β1, αv and β3 were conducted on tissues collected during primary debulking surgery. Using multivariate logistic regressions, IHC results were compared to clinical variables and chemotherapy resistance to determine possible correlations. The relationships between IHC expression and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS

Membranous expression of Lewis y and all these CAM-DR-related markers were significantly higher in the resistant group than that of the sensitive group (all P < 0.01). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that high expression of Lewis y, CD44, HE4, integrin α5 and β1 as well as advanced FIGO stage were independent risk factors for chemotherapy resistance (all P < 0.05). Advanced FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis and high expression of Lewis y, CD44, CD147, HE4, integrin α5, β1 were associated with a shorter PFS and OS (all P < 0.05). Moreover, multivariate COX analysis demonstrated that the following variates were independent predictors of worse PFS and OS survival: late FIGO stage (P = 0.013, 0.049), high expressions of Lewis y (P = 0.010, 0.036), HE4 (P = 0.006, 0.013) and integrin β1 (PFS, P = 0.003), integrin α5 (OS, P = 0.019).

CONCLUSION

Membranous expression of Lewis y and CAM-DR-related markers including CD44, CD147, HE4, integrin α5, β1, αv and β3 are associated with the development of chemotherapy resistance. High expression of Lewis y antigen and CAM-DR-related markers including CD44, CD147, HE4, integrin α5 and β1 are independent markers for PFS and OS, in which Lewis y and HE4 are the most significant.

High p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts predicts poor survival in patients with clinical stage I to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence indicates that the TGFβ/Smad signaling pathway plays a prominent role in tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. Therefore, we investigate the expression of p-Smad2 in surgical resection specimens from non-small cell lung cancer, and evaluate the prognostic significance of p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts and cancer cells for patients with clinical stage I to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer.

METHODS

The immunohistochemical expression of p-Smad2 was evaluated in 78 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded surgical resection specimens from clinical stage I to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer. Correlations between p-Smad2 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics were determined by Chi-square test. The prognostic significance of p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts and cancer cells with regard to overall survival was determined by Kaplan-Meier.

RESULTS

There were 38.5% (30/78) and 92.3% (72/78) patients with high p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts and cancer cells, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the p-Smad2 expression level in stromal fibroblasts and the p-Smad2 expression level in cancer cells (χ2=4.176, P=0.045). No significant correlation of p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts or cancer cells with any of clinicopathologic characteristics was found. The 3-year overall survival rates with low and high p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts were 53.7% and 37.7%, respectively (χ2=3.86, P=0.049). No significant association was found between low and high p-Smad2 expression in cancer cells with respect to overall survival, respectively (χ2=0.34, P=0.562).

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that high p-Smad2 expression in stromal fibroblasts predicted poor survival in patients with clinical stage I to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer.

Disruption of microRNA-21 by TALEN leads to diminished cell transformation and increased expression of cell-environment interaction genes

MicroRNA-21 is dysregulated in many cancers and fibrotic diseases. Since miR-21 suppresses several tumor suppressor and anti-apoptotic genes, it is considered a cancer therapeutic target. Antisense oligonucleotides are commonly used to inhibit a miRNA; however, blocking miRNA function via an antagomir is temporary, often only achieves a partial knock-down, and may be complicated by off-target effects. Here, we used transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) to disrupt miR-21 in cancerous cells. Individual deletion clones were screened and isolated without drug selection. Sequencing and quantitative RT-PCR identified clones with no miR-21 expression. The loss of miR-21 led to subtle but global increases of mRNAs containing miR-21 target sequences. Cells without miR-21 became more sensitive to cisplatin and less transformed in culture and in mouse xenografts. In addition to the increase of PDCD4 and PTEN protein, mRNAs for COL4A1, JAG1, SERPINB5/Maspin, SMAD7, and TGFBI - all are miR-21 targets and involved in TGFβ and fibrosis regulation - were significantly upregulated in miR-21 knockout cells. Gene ontology and pathway analysis suggested that cell-environment interactions involving extracellular matrix can be an important miR-21 pathogenic mechanism. The study also demonstrates the value of using TALEN-mediated microRNA gene disruption in human pathobiological studies.