Increased expression of NuSAP in recurrent prostate cancer is mediated by E2F1

SMEK1 promotes clear cell Renal Cell Carcinoma progression via EGFR tyrosine-kinase dependent pathway

Studying the mechanisms underlying clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common subtype of kidney cancer, may address an unmet need in ccRCC-targeted drug research. Growing evidences indicate that protein phosphatase 4 (PP4) plays an important role in cancer biology. Here, we characterized the upregulation of PP4 core component SMEK1 in ccRCC using tissue microarrays and revealed that its high expression is closely associated with reduced patient survival. We then conducted cell function experiments and animal experiments to prove the tumor-promoting effect of SMEK1. Next, RNA-seq was performed to explore its underlying mechanism, and the results revealed that SMEK1-regulated genes were extensively involved in cell motility, and the canonical tyrosine kinase receptor EGFR was one of its targets. Moreover, we verified the regulatory effect of SMEK1 on EGFR and its downstream MAPK and AKT pathway through molecular experiments, in which erlotinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, can partially block this regulation, demonstrating that SMEK1 mediates its effects dependent on the tyrosine kinase activity of EGFR. Mechanistically, SMEK1 bond to PRMT5 and facilitated PRMT5-mediated histone methylation to promote the transcription of EGFR. Furthermore, we studied the upstream regulators of SMEK1 and demonstrated that the transcription factor E2F1 could directly bind to the SMEK1 promoter by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Functionally, E2F1 could also induce ccRCC progression by manipulating the expression of SMEK1. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the overexpression of SMEK1 in ccRCC, and reveal a novel E2F1/SMEK1/PRMT5/EGFR-tyrosine-kinase-dependent pathway for ccRCC progression.

Predicting prostate cancer recurrence: Introducing PCRPS, an advanced online web server

Background

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in men. About 30% of PCa will develop a biochemical recurrence (BCR) following initial treatment, which significantly contributes to prostate cancer-related deaths. In clinical practice, accurate prediction of PCa recurrence is crucial for making informed treatment decisions. However, the development of reliable models and biomarkers for predicting PCa recurrence remains a challenge. In this study, the aim is to establish an effective and reliable tool for predicting the recurrence of PCa.

Methods

We systematically screened and analyzed potential datasets to predict PCa recurrence. Through quality control analysis, low-quality datasets were removed. Using meta-analysis, differential expression analysis, and feature selection, we identified key genes associated with recurrence. We also evaluated 22 previously published signatures for PCa recurrence prediction. To assess prediction performance, we employed nine machine learning algorithms. We compared the predictive capabilities of models constructed using clinical variables, expression data, and their combinations. Subsequently, we implemented these machine learning models into a user-friendly web server freely accessible to all researchers.

Results

Based on transcriptomic data derived from eight multicenter studies consisting of 733 PCa patients, we screened 23 highly influential genes for predicting prostate cancer recurrence. These genes were used to construct the Prostate Cancer Recurrence Prediction Signature (PCRPS). By comparing with 22 published signatures and four important clinicopathological features, the PCRPS exhibited a robust and significantly improved predictive capability. Among the tested algorithms, Random Forest demonstrated the highest AUC value of 0.72 in predicting PCa recurrence in the testing dataset. To facilitate access and usage of these machine learning models by all researchers and clinicians, we also developed an online web server (https://urology1926.shinyapps.io/PCRPS/) where the PCRPS model can be freely utilized. The tool can also be used to (1) predict the PCa recurrence by clinical information or expression data with high accuracy. (2) provide the possibility of PCa recurrence by nine machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, using the PCRPS scores, we predicted the sensitivity of 22 drugs from GDSC2 and 95 drugs from CTRP2 to the samples. These predictions provide valuable insights into potential drug sensitivities related to the PCRPS score groups.

Conclusion

Overall, our study provides an attractive tool to further guide the clinical management and individualized treatment for PCa.

Unveiling NUSAP1 as a common gene signature linking chronic HBV infection and HBV-related HCC

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a significant contributor to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chronic HBV infection (CHB) facilitates disease progression through various mechanisms. However, the specific factor responsible for the progression of HBV infection to HCC remains unresolved. This study aims to identify the hub gene linking CHB and HBV-related HCC through bioinformatic analysis and experimental verification.

METHODS

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in datasets encompassing CHB and HBV-HCC patients from the GEO database. Enriched pathways were derived from GO and KEGG analysis. Hub genes were screened by protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and different modules in Cytoscape software. The significance of the selected hub gene in prognosis was further assessed in validated datasets. The effects of hub genes on cell growth and apoptosis were further determined in functional experiments.

RESULTS

The study revealed upregulation of NUSAP1 in CHBs and HBV-HCCs. High expression of NUSAP1 served as an independent predictor for poor prognosis of liver cancers. Functional experiments demonstrated that NUSAP1 promotes cell growth, influences cell cycle process, and protects cells from apoptosis in HepG2.2.15 cells.

CONCLUSION

NUSAP1 serves as a poor prognostic indicator for liver cancers, and potentially plays a crucial role in HBV-HCC progression by promoting proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis.

Identification of common factors among fibrosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and osteosarcoma by network analysis

Sarcoma cancers are uncommon malignant tumors, and there are many subgroups, including fibrosarcoma (FS), which mainly affects middle-aged and older adults in deep soft tissues. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), on the other hand, is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children and is located in the head and neck area. Osteosarcomas (OS) is the predominant form of primary bone cancer among young adults, primarily resulting from sporadically random mutations. This frequently results in the dissemination of cancer cells to the lungs, commonly known as metastasis. Mesodermal cells are the origin of sarcoma cancers. In this study, a rather radical approach has been applied. Instead of comparing homogenous cancer types, we focus on three main subtypes of sarcoma: fibrosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and osteosarcoma, and compare their gene expression with normal cell groups to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Next, by applying protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, we determine the hub genes and crucial factors, such as transcription factors (TFs), affected by these types of cancer. Our findings indicate a modification in a range of pathways associated with cell cycle, extracellular matrix, and DNA repair in these three malignancies. Results showed that fibrosarcoma (FS), rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), and osteosarcoma (OS) had 653, 1270, and 2823 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. Interestingly, there were 24 DEGs common to all three types. Network analysis showed that the fibrosarcoma network had two sub-networks identified in FS that contributed to the catabolic process of collagen via the G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway. The rhabdomyosarcoma network included nine sub-networks associated with cell division, extracellular matrix organization, mRNA splicing via spliceosome, and others. The osteosarcoma network has 13 sub-networks, including mRNA splicing, sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair, etc. In conclusion, the common DEGs identified in this study have been shown to play significant and multiple roles in various other cancers based on the literature review, indicating their significance.

The SMYD3-MAP3K2 signaling axis promotes tumor aggressiveness and metastasis in prostate cancer

Aberrant activation of Ras/Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling is frequently linked to metastatic prostate cancer (PCa); therefore, the characterization of modulators of this pathway is critical for defining therapeutic vulnerabilities for metastatic PCa. The lysine methyltransferase SET and MYND domain 3 (SMYD3) methylates MAPK kinase kinase 2 (MAP3K2) in some cancers, causing enhanced activation of MAPK signaling. In PCa, SMYD3 is frequently overexpressed and associated with disease severity; however, its molecular function in promoting tumorigenesis has not been defined. We demonstrate that SMYD3 critically regulates tumor-associated phenotypes via its methyltransferase activity in PCa cells and mouse xenograft models. SMYD3-dependent methylation of MAP3K2 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition associated behaviors by altering the abundance of the intermediate filament vimentin. Furthermore, activation of the SMYD3-MAP3K2 signaling axis supports a positive feedback loop continually promoting high levels of SMYD3. Our data provide insight into signaling pathways involved in metastatic PCa and enhance understanding of mechanistic functions for SMYD3 to reveal potential therapeutic opportunities for PCa.

Bioinformatics-based screening of key genes for transformation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant lung adenocarcinoma to small cell lung cancer

Purpose

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common type of lung cancer. Cancer in a small number of patients with EGFR mutations will transform from LUAD to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) during epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) therapiesr. The purpose of the present study was to identify the core genes related to the transformation of LUAD into SCLC and to explore the associated molecular mechanisms.

Methods

GSE29016, GSE1037, GSE6044 and GSE40275 mRNA microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analyzed to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between LUAD and SCLC tissues, and the results were used for network analysis of protein-protein interactions (PPIs). After identifying the hub gene by STRING and Cytoscape platform, we explored the relationship between hub genes and the occurrence and development of SCLC. Finally, the obtained hub genes were validated in treated LUAD cells.

Results

A total of 41 DEGs were obtained, four hub genes (EZH2, NUSAP1, TTK and UBE2C) were identified, and related prognostic information was obtained. The coexpressed genes of the hub gene set were further screened, and the analysis identified many genes related to the cell cycle. Subsequently, LUAD cell models with TP53 and RB1 inactivation and overexpression of ASCL1 were constructed, and then the expression of hub genes was detected, the results showed that the four hub genes were all elevated in the established cell model.

Conclusion

EZH2, NUSAP1, TTK and UBE2C may affect the transformation of LUAD to SCLC and represent new candidate molecular markers for the occurrence and development of SCLC.

NUSAP1-LDHA-Glycolysis-Lactate feedforward loop promotes Warburg effect and metastasis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by hypoxia and hypovascular tumor microenvironment. Nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) is a microtubule-associated protein that is known to be involved in cancer biology. Our study aimed to investigate the role of NUSAP1 in glycolytic metabolism and metastasis in PDAC. Expression and prognostic value of NUSAP1 in PDAC and common gastrointestinal tumors was evaluated. The function of NUSAP1 in PDAC progression was clarified by single-cell RNA-seq and further experiments in vitro, xenograft mouse model, spontaneous PDAC mice model and human tissue microarray. The downstream genes and signaling pathways regulated by NUSAP1 were explored by RNA-Seq. And the regulation of NUSAP1 on Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA)-mediated glycolysis and its underlying mechanism was further clarified by CHIP-seq. NUSAP1 was an independent unfavorable predictor of PDAC prognosis that playing a critical role in metastasis of PDAC by regulating LDHA-mediated glycolysis. Mechanically, NUSAP1 could bind to c-Myc and HIF-1α that forming a transcription regulatory complex localized to LDHA promoter region and enhanced its expression. Intriguingly, lactate upregulated NUSAP1 expression by inhibiting NUSAP1 protein degradation through lysine lactylated (Kla) modification, thus forming a NUSAP1-LDHA-glycolysis-lactate feedforward loop. The NUSAP1-LDHA-glycolysis-lactate feedforward loop is one of the underlying mechanisms to explain the metastasis and glycolytic metabolic potential in PDAC, which also provides a novel insights to understand the Warburg effect in cancer. Targeting NUSAP1 would be an attractive paradigm for PDAC treatment.

NUSAP1 Binds ILF2 to Modulate R-Loop Accumulation and DNA Damage in Prostate Cancer

Increased expression of NUSAP1 has been identified as a robust prognostic biomarker in prostate cancer and other malignancies. We have previously shown that NUSAP1 is positively regulated by E2F1 and promotes cancer invasion and metastasis. To further understand the biological function of NUSAP1, we used affinity purification and mass spectrometry proteomic analysis to identify NUSAP1 interactors. We identified 85 unique proteins in the NUSAP1 interactome, including ILF2, DHX9, and other RNA-binding proteins. Using proteomic approaches, we uncovered a function for NUSAP1 in maintaining R-loops and in DNA damage response through its interaction with ILF2. Co-immunoprecipitation and colocalization using confocal microscopy verified the interactions of NUSAP1 with ILF2 and DHX9, and RNA/DNA hybrids. We showed that the microtubule and charged helical domains of NUSAP1 were necessary for the protein-protein interactions. Depletion of ILF2 alone further increased camptothecin-induced R-loop accumulation and DNA damage, and NUSAP1 depletion abolished this effect. In human prostate adenocarcinoma, NUSAP1 and ILF2 mRNA expression levels are positively correlated, elevated, and associated with poor clinical outcomes. Our study identifies a novel role for NUSAP1 in regulating R-loop formation and accumulation in response to DNA damage through its interactions with ILF2 and hence provides a potential therapeutic target.

LINC01393, a Novel Long Non-Coding RNA, Promotes the Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion through MiR-128-3p/NUSAP1 Axis in Glioblastoma

Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) is a potential molecular marker and intervention target for glioblastoma (GBM). In this study, we aim to investigate upstream regulatory lncRNAs and miRNAs of NUSAP1 through both experimental and bioinformatic methods. We screened upstream lncRNAs and miRNAs of NUSAP1 through multiple databases based on ceRNA theory. Then, in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to elucidate the relevant biological significance and regulatory mechanism among them. Finally, the potential downstream mechanism was discussed. LINC01393 and miR-128-3p were screened as upstream regulatory molecules of NUSAP1 by TCGA and ENCORI databases. The negative correlations among them were confirmed in clinical specimens. Biochemical studies revealed that overexpression or knockdown of LINC01393 respectively enhanced or inhibited malignant phenotype of GBM cells. MiR-128-3p inhibitor reversed LINC01393 knockdown-mediated impacts on GBM cells. Then, dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were conducted to validate LINC01393/miR-128-3p/NUSAP1 interactions. In vivo, LINC01393-knockdown decreased tumor growth and improved mice survival, while restoration of NUSAP1 partially reversed these effects. Additionally, enrichment analysis and western blot revealed that the roles of LINC01393 and NUSAP1 in GBM progression were associated with NF-κB activation. Our findings showed that LINC01393 sponged miR-128-3p to upregulate NUSAP1, thereby promoting GBM development and progression via activating NF-κB pathway. This work deepens understanding of GBM mechanisms and provides potential novel therapeutic targets for GBM.

Differentially expressed discriminative genes and significant meta-hub genes based key genes identification for hepatocellular carcinoma using statistical machine learning

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common lethal malignancy of the liver worldwide. Thus, it is important to dig the key genes for uncovering the molecular mechanisms and to improve diagnostic and therapeutic options for HCC. This study aimed to encompass a set of statistical and machine learning computational approaches for identifying the key candidate genes for HCC. Three microarray datasets were used in this work, which were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus Database. At first, normalization and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identification were performed using limma for each dataset. Then, support vector machine (SVM) was implemented to determine the differentially expressed discriminative genes (DEDGs) from DEGs of each dataset and select overlapping DEDGs genes among identified three sets of DEDGs. Enrichment analysis was performed on common DEDGs using DAVID. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING and the central hub genes were identified depending on the degree, maximum neighborhood component (MNC), maximal clique centrality (MCC), centralities of closeness, and betweenness criteria using CytoHubba. Simultaneously, significant modules were selected using MCODE scores and identified their associated genes from the PPI networks. Moreover, metadata were created by listing all hub genes from previous studies and identified significant meta-hub genes whose occurrence frequency was greater than 3 among previous studies. Finally, six key candidate genes (TOP2A, CDC20, ASPM, PRC1, NUSAP1, and UBE2C) were determined by intersecting shared genes among central hub genes, hub module genes, and significant meta-hub genes. Two independent test datasets (GSE76427 and TCGA-LIHC) were utilized to validate these key candidate genes using the area under the curve. Moreover, the prognostic potential of these six key candidate genes was also evaluated on the TCGA-LIHC cohort using survival analysis.

NUSAP1, a novel stemness-related protein, promotes early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma

Early recurrence (within 2 years after resection) is the primary cause of poor outcomes among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, and liver cancer stem cells are the main contributors to postsurgical HCC recurrence. Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) has been reported to be involved in tumor progression. We investigated the function and clinical value of NUSAP1 in early recurrence of HCC. Data from public datasets and our cohort were used to assess the association between NUSAP1 expression and early HCC recurrence. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were carried out in vivo and in vitro. The predictive effect of NUSAP1 on early HCC recurrence was further evaluated by a validation cohort. We found that elevated NUSAP1 expression in HCC specimens was correlated with poor outcome, especially in cases with postoperative early recurrence. Functional studies indicated that NUSAP1 significantly promotes HCC progression. A postsurgical recurrence murine model further revealed that upregulated NUSAP1 dramatically increased the likelihood of HCC early recurrence. RNA sequencing data revealed that the gene sets of cancer stemness and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway were enriched by NUSAP1 overexpression. Mechanistically, NUSAP1 enhanced cancer stemness through stimulating STAT3 nuclear translocation and activation through receptor of activated protein C kinase 1 (RACK1). In a validation cohort with 112 HCC patients, NUSAP1 effectively predicted HCC early recurrence. Our results indicated that NUSAP1 promotes early recurrence of HCC by sustaining cancer stemness and could serve as a valuable predictive indicator for postsurgical intervention in HCC patients.

E2F1 promotes cell cycle progression by stabilizing spindle fiber in colorectal cancer cells

BACKGROUND

E2F1 is a transcription factor that regulates cell cycle progression. It is highly expressed in most cancer cells and activates transcription of cell cycle-related kinases. Stathmin1 and transforming acidic coiled-coil-containing protein 3 (TACC3) are factors that enhance the stability of spindle fiber.

METHODS

The E2F1-mediated transcription of transforming acidic coiled-coil-containing protein 3 (TACC3) and stathmin1 was examined using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analysis, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), immunoblotting, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and luciferase reporter. Protein-protein interaction was studied using co-IP. The spindle structure was shown by immunofluorescence. Phenotype experiments were performed through MTS assay, flow cytometry, and tumor xenografts. Clinical colorectal cancer (CRC) specimens were analyzed based on immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

The present study showed that E2F1 expression correlates positively with the expression levels of stathmin1 and TACC3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, and that E2F1 transactivates stathmin1 and TACC3 in CRC cells. Furthermore, protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated phosphorylation of stathmin1 at Ser16 is essential to the phosphorylation of TACC3 at Ser558, facilitating the assembly of TACC3/clathrin/α-tubulin complexes during spindle formation. Overexpression of Ser16-mutated stathmin1, as well as knockdown of stathmin1 or TACC3, lead to ectopic spindle poles including disorganized and multipolar spindles. Overexpression of wild-type but not Ser16-mutated stathmin1 promotes cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Consistently, a high level of E2F1, stathmin1, or TACC3 not only associates with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and distant metastasis, but predicts poor survival in CRC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

E2F1 drives the cell cycle of CRC by promoting spindle assembly, in which E2F1-induced stathmin1 and TACC3 enhance the stability of spindle fiber.

Construction and validation of gastric cancer diagnosis model based on machine learning

Aim: To screen differentially expressed genes related to gastric cancer based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and construct a gastric cancer diagnosis model by machine learning. Methods: Transcriptional data, genomic data, and clinical information of gastric cancer tissues and non-gastric cancer tissues were downloaded from the TCGA database, and differentially expressed genes of gastric cancer messenger RNA (mRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) were screened out. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyzed the differentially expressed genes, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) of differentially expressed genes was constructed. Core differentially expressed genes were screened by Cytoscape software’s molecular complex detection (MCODE) plug-in. The differential genes of lncRNA were analyzed by univariate Cox regression analysis and lasso regression for further dimension reduction to obtain the core genes. The core genes were screened by machine learning to construct the gastric cancer diagnosis model. The efficiency of the gastric cancer diagnosis model was verified externally by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Results: Finally, 10 genes including long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1821 (LINC01821), AL138826.1, AC022164.1, adhesion G protein-coupled receptor D1-antisense RNA 1 (ADGRD1-AS1), cyclin B1 (CCNB1), kinesin family member 11 (KIF11), Aurora kinase B (AURKB), cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1), and TTK protein kinase (TTK) were screened as gastric cancer diagnostic model genes. After efficiency analysis, it was found that the random forest algorithm model had the best comprehensive evaluation, with an accuracy of 92% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9722, which was more suitable for building a gastric cancer diagnosis model. The GSE54129 data set was used to verify the gastric cancer diagnosis model with an AUC of 0.904, indicating that the gastric cancer diagnosis model had high accuracy. Conclusions: Machine learning can simplify the bioinformatics analysis process and improve efficiency. The core gene discovered in this study is expected to become a gene chip for the diagnosis of gastric cancer.

Deep Learning-Based Multi-Omics Integration Robustly Predicts Relapse in Prostate Cancer

Objective

Post-operative biochemical relapse (BCR) continues to occur in a significant percentage of patients with localized prostate cancer (PCa). Current stratification methods are not adequate to identify high-risk patients. The present study exploits the ability of deep learning (DL) algorithms using the H2O package to combine multi-omics data to resolve this problem.

Methods

Five-omics data from 417 PCa patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to construct the DL-based, relapse-sensitive model. Among them, 265 (63.5%) individuals experienced BCR. Five additional independent validation sets were applied to assess its predictive robustness. Bioinformatics analyses of two relapse-associated subgroups were then performed for identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), enriched pathway analysis, copy number analysis and immune cell infiltration analysis.

Results

The DL-based model, with a significant difference (P = 6e-9) between two subgroups and good concordance index (C-index = 0.767), were proven to be robust by external validation. 1530 DEGs including 678 up- and 852 down-regulated genes were identified in the high-risk subgroup S2 compared with the low-risk subgroup S1. Enrichment analyses found five hallmark gene sets were up-regulated while 13 were down-regulated. Then, we found that DNA damage repair pathways were significantly enriched in the S2 subgroup. CNV analysis showed that 30.18% of genes were significantly up-regulated and gene amplification on chromosomes 7 and 8 was significantly elevated in the S2 subgroup. Moreover, enrichment analysis revealed that some DEGs and pathways were associated with immunity. Three tumor-infiltrating immune cell (TIIC) groups with a higher proportion in the S2 subgroup (p = 1e-05, p = 8.7e-06, p = 0.00014) and one TIIC group with a higher proportion in the S1 subgroup (P = 1.3e-06) were identified.

Conclusion

We developed a novel, robust classification for understanding PCa relapse. This study validated the effectiveness of deep learning technique in prognosis prediction, and the method may benefit patients and prevent relapse by improving early detection and advancing early intervention.

Knockdown of NUSAP1 inhibits cell proliferation and invasion through downregulation of TOP2A in human glioblastoma

Nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1), an indispensable mitotic regulator, has been reported to be involved in the development, progression, and metastasis of several types of cancer. Here, we investigated the expression and biological function of NUSAP1 in human glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive brain tumor type with largely ineffective treatment options. Analysis of the molecular data in CGGA, TCGA and Rembrandt datasets demonstrated that NUSAP1 was significantly upregulated in GBM relative to low grade gliomas and non-neoplastic brain tissue samples. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with tumors showing high NUSAP1 expression exhibited significantly poorer survival in both CGGA (P = 0.002) and Rembrandt cohorts (P = 0.017). Analysis of RNA sequencing data from P3-cells with stable knockdown of NUSAP1 revealed topoisomerase 2A (TOP2A) as a possible molecule downregulated by the loss of NUSAP1. Molecular analysis of the CGGA data revealed a strong correlation between NUSAP1 and TOP2A expression in primary gliomas and recurrent gliomas samples. SiRNA knockdown of either NUSAP1 or TOP2A in U251, T98 and GBM derived patient P3 cells inhibited GBM cell proliferation and invasion, and induced cell apoptosis. Finally, stable knockdown of NUSAP1 with shRNA led to decreased tumor growth in an orthotopic xenograft model of GBM in mice. Taken together, NUSAP1 gene silencing induced apoptosis possibly through the downregulation of the candidate downstream molecule TOP2A. Interference with the expression of NUSAP1 might therefore inhibit malignant progression in GBM, and NUSAP1 might thus serve as a promising molecular target for GBM treatment.

Increased NUSAP1 expression is associated with lymph node metastasis and survival prognosis in bladder urothelial carcinoma

The main route of metastasis of bladder urothelial carcinoma is through lymph nodes; however, its exact mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we found an association of nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) expression with BUC tissues along with lymph node metastasis and the survival prognosis. A total of 178 pathological specimens following radical bladder cancer resection were obtained. NUSAP1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. We evaluated the correlation between clinicopathological characteristics and NUSAP1 expression. Logistic regression was used to determine the independent variables that influenced lymph node metastasis. Uni- and multi-factorial Cox regression methods were used to determine the prognostic value of NUSAP1 expression in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. High expression of NUSAP1 in BUC was not significantly related to the patient’s gender, age, or tumor number (p > 0.05), however was significantly associated with pathological grade, tumor diameter, pathological stage, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). Lymph node metastasis was significantly correlated with pathological stage, pathological grade, tumor number, tumor diameter, and NUSAP1 expression (p < 0.05); only NUSAP1 expression was an independent predictor of lymph node metastasis in BUC (OR:1.786, 95% CI 1.229–2.596, p = 0.002). In addition, high NUSAP1 expression was an independent prognostic predictor for BUC. In BUC, NUSAP1 showed high expression and was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, pathological stage, pathological grade, and tumor diameter. NUSAP1 was an independent predictor of lymph node metastasis and prognosis in BUC; higher expression indicated poorer prognosis of BUC patients.

Pre-existing Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer–like Cells in Primary Prostate Cancer Promote Resistance to Hormonal Therapy

BACKGROUND

Hormonal therapy targeting the androgen receptor inhibits prostate cancer (PCa), but the tumor eventually recurs as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

OBJECTIVE

To understand the mechanisms by which subclones within early PCa develop into CRPC.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

We isolated epithelial cells from fresh human PCa cases, including primary adenocarcinoma, locally recurrent CRPC, and metastatic CRPC, and utilized single-cell RNA sequencing to identify subpopulations destined to become either CRPC-adeno or small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC).

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

We revealed dynamic transcriptional reprogramming that promotes disease progression among 23226 epithelial cells using single-cell RNA sequencing, and validated subset-specific progression using immunohistochemistry and large cohorts of publically available genomic data.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

We identified a small fraction of highly plastic CRPC-like cells in hormone-naïve early PCa and demonstrated its correlation with biochemical recurrence and distant metastasis, independent of clinical characteristics. We show that progression toward castration resistance was initiated from subtype-specific lineage plasticity and clonal expansion of pre-existing neuroendocrine and CRPC-like cells in early PCa.

CONCLUSIONS

CRPC-like cells are present early in the development of PCa and are not exclusively the result of acquired evolutionary selection during androgen deprivation therapy. The lethal CRPC and SCNC phenotypes should be targeted earlier in the disease course of patients with PCa.

PATIENT SUMMARY

Here, we report the presence of pre-existing castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)-like cells in primary prostate cancer, which represents a novel castration-resistant mechanism different from the adaptation mechanism after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Patients whose tumors harbor increased pre-existing neuroendocrine and CRPC-like cells may become rapidly resistant to ADT and may require aggressive early intervention.

Nkx3-1 and Fech genes might be switch genes involved in pituitary non-functioning adenoma invasiveness

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are typical pituitary macroadenomas in adults associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Although pituitary adenomas are commonly considered slow-growing benign brain tumors, numerous of them possess an invasive nature. Such tumors destroy sella turcica and invade the adjacent tissues such as the cavernous sinus and sphenoid sinus. In these cases, the most critical obstacle for complete surgical removal is the high risk of damaging adjacent vital structures. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic strategies for either early diagnosis through biomarkers or medical therapies to reduce the recurrence rate of NFPAs is imperative. Identification of gene interactions has paved the way for decoding complex molecular mechanisms, including disease-related pathways, and identifying the most momentous genes involved in a specific disease. Currently, our knowledge of the invasion of the pituitary adenoma at the molecular level is not sufficient. The current study aimed to identify critical biomarkers and biological pathways associated with invasiveness in the NFPAs using a three-way interaction model for the first time. In the current study, the Liquid association method was applied to capture the statistically significant triplets involved in NFPAs invasiveness. Subsequently, Random Forest analysis was applied to select the most important switch genes. Finally, gene set enrichment (GSE) and gene regulatory network (GRN) analyses were applied to trace the biological relevance of the statistically significant triplets. The results of this study suggest that "mRNA processing" and "spindle organization" biological processes are important in NFAPs invasiveness. Specifically, our results suggest Nkx3-1 and Fech as two switch genes in NFAPs invasiveness that may be potential biomarkers or target genes in this pathology.

FOXO1 inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation via suppressing E2F1 activated NPRL2 expression

Previous studies in our lab suggest that nitrogen permease regulator 2-like (NPRL2) upregulation in prostate cancer is associated with malignant behavior and poor prognosis. However, the underlying mechanisms of NPRL2 dysregulation remain poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the transcription factors (TFs) contributing to NPRL2 dysregulation in prostate cancer. Potential TFs were identified using prostate tissue/cell-specific chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-seq data collected in the Cistrome Data Browser and Signaling Pathways Project. Dual-luciferase assay and ChIP-qPCR assay were conducted to assess the binding and activating effect of TFs on the gene promoter. Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation assays were performed to assess cell proliferation. Results showed that E2F1 is a TF that bound to the NPRL2 promoter and activated its transcription. NPRL2 inhibition significantly alleviated E2F1 enhanced cell proliferation. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that E2F1 upregulation was associated with unfavorable progression-free survival and disease-specific survival. FOXO1 interacted and E2F1 in both PC3 and LNCaP cells and weakened the binding of E2F1 to the NPRL2 promoter. Functionally, FOXO1 overexpression significantly slowed the proliferation of PC3 and LNCaP cells and also decreased E2F1 enhanced cell proliferation. In summary, this study revealed a novel FOXO1/E2F1-NPRL2 regulatory axis in prostate cancer. E2F1 binds to the NPRL2 promoter and activates its transcription, while FOXO1 interacts with E2F1 and weakens its transcriptional activating effects. These findings help expand our understanding of the prostate cancer etiology and suggest that the FOXO1/E2F1-NPRL2 signaling axis might be a potential target.

Gene Expression Profiling to Delineate the Anticancer Potential of a New Alkaloid Isopicrinine From Rhazya stricta

Background:Rhazya stricta has been used as a folkloric medicinal herb for treating various diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory disorders, and sore throat. Several studies have revealed the potential of this plant as an important source of phytochemicals with anticancer properties. Objective: The present study was designed to isolate a novel anticancer compound from Rhazya stricta and elucidate its mechanism of action using genomics approach. Methods:Rhazya stricta leaves extract was prepared, and several alkaloids were purified and characterized. These alkaloids were screened for their anticancer potential. One of the alkaloids, termed as isopicrinine, showed efficient cytotoxicity against MCF7 breast cancer cell line and was selected for further analysis. RNA-Seq transcription profiling was conducted to identify the affected genes and cellular pathways in MCF7 cells after treatment with isopicrinine alkaloid. Results: In vitro studies revealed that newly identified isopicrinine alkaloid possess efficient anticancer activity. Exposure of MCF7 cells with isopicrinine affected the expression of various genes involved in p53 signaling pathway. One of the crucial proapoptotic genes, significantly upregulated in MCF7 after exposure to alkaloid, was PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis), which is involved in p53-dependent and -independent apoptosis. Moreover, exposure of sublethal dose of isopicrinine alkaloid in breast cancer cell line led to the downregulation of survivin, which is involved in negative regulation of apoptosis. Besides, several genes involved in mitosis and cell proliferation were significantly downregulated. Conclusion: In this article, we report the determination of a new alkaloid isopicrinine from the aerial parts of Rhazya stricta with anticancer property. This compound has the potential to be developed as a drug for curing cancer.

Analyzing Roles of NUSAP1 From Clinical, Molecular Mechanism and Immune Perspectives in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common carcinomas worldwide. Our study aims to analyze how NUSAP1 affects progression of HCC from clinical, molecular mechanism and immune perspectives. Firstly, we downloaded GSE62232, GSE102079, GSE112790, and GSE121248 gene expression profile datasets from GEO database. R studio was used to screen DEGs of each dataset, and 86 overlapping DEGs of the four datasets were screened at last. Then, CytoHubba plug-in in Cytoscape software was used to screen out NUSAP1 from the 86 DEGs. Subsequently, survival analysis, clinical correlation analysis, independent prognostic analysis, and GSEA enrichment analysis of NUSAP1 were analyzed using HCC patients from GSE76427 dataset, ICGC database, and TCGA database. The results revealed that HCC patients with higher expression level of NUSAP1 had a worse prognosis. NUSAP1 was an independent prognostic factor of HCC, and it may promote HCC progress by regulating cell cycle. To further elucidate its underlying molecular mechanism, we used cBioProtal online data analysis tool to screen all co-expression genes of NUSAP1 and used top 300 co-expression genes to accomplish KEGG and GO enrichment analysis; the results confirmed that NUSAP1 accelerated progression of HCC by regulating cell cycle. We continued to draw KEGG pathway map of cell cycle using co-expression genes enriched in cell cycle pathway by KEGG online tool. The map depicted that most of co-expression genes of NUSAP1 were located in S phase and G2/M phase of the cell cycle, and they could regulate the genes in G1 phase. To further understand the mechanism of cell cycle, we also did qRT-PCR, Western blot, and flow cytometry; the results showed that NUSAP1 was closely associated with CDK4, CDK6, and cyclinD1, which could regulate G1 to S phase transition. Besides, we also analyzed correlation between NUSAP1 and immune cells using HCC patients from GSE76427 dataset, ICGC database, and TCGA database. NUSAP1 was associated with some immune cells, and we speculated that NUSAP1 could also promote HCC progression by influencing T cell CD4 memory resting and macrophage M0 through some underlying mechanism.

Nucleolar and spindle‑associated protein 1 promotes non‑small cell lung cancer progression and serves as an effector of myocyte enhancer factor 2D

As a potential oncogene, nucleolar and spindle‑associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) is involved in the regulation of tumor cell proliferation, metastasis and drug resistance. However, the role of NUSAP1 in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the biological function and underlying molecular mechanisms of NUSAP1 in NSCLC. NUSAP1 expression was measured in NSCLC tissues and cell lines via immunohistochemistry and western blotting, respectively. NSCLC cell lines stably inhibiting NUSAP1 were established to investigate its effects on cell proliferation, colony formation and invasion, and on in vivo tumorigenicity. Additionally, the upstream and downstream mechanisms of NUSAP1 in regulating NSCLC progression were investigated. The results indicated that NUSAP1 expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High NUSAP1 expression was associated with tumor size, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and poor patient survival, whereas knockdown of NUSAP1 inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation, colony formation and invasion. Furthermore, downregulation of NUSAP1 decreased the growth of NSCLC xenografts in vivo. In addition, myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D) directly targeted the NUSAP1 promoter, thereby enhancing the mRNA and protein expression levels of NUSAP1. Moreover, the results demonstrated that MEF2D expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and was positively correlated with NUSAP1 expression. MEF2D‑knockdown decreased NSCLC cell proliferation, colony formation and invasion. NUSAP1 upregulation reversed the effects of MEF2D‑knockdown on NSCLC progression. Furthermore, it was observed that MEF2D‑knockdown inhibited the accumulation and nuclear translocation of β‑catenin, thereby repressing the activation of the Wnt/β‑catenin signaling pathway in NSCLC cells, whereas NUSAP1 upregulation rescued the effects of MEF2D‑knockdown on the activation of the Wnt/β‑catenin signaling pathway. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicated that the MEF2D/NUSAP1 signaling pathway promoted NSCLC progression by inducing the activation of Wnt/β‑catenin signaling, and this novel mechanism may represent a potential treatment target for patients with NSCLC.

O-GlcNAcylation Enhances NUSAP1 Stability and Promotes Bladder Cancer Aggressiveness

Objective

NUSAPl and O-GlcNAcylation were reported to be hyper-activated in many kinds of cancers and involved in the advanced progression of cancers. In bladder cancer, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) expresses in patients' urine samples, with no expression in healthy individuals, indicating O-GlcNAcylation might involve in the occurrence and development of bladder cancer. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of O-GlcNAcylation in bladder cancer and if it can regulate NUSAP1 protein.

Materials and Methods

Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and PCR were used to evaluate the protein expression and mRNA level of NUSAP1; CCK-8 and flow cytometry used to evaluate the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of bladder cancer.

Results

The results showed that NUSAP1 was highly expressed in bladder cancer cells and tissue samples. NUSAP1 up-regulation significantly promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of bladder cancer HT-1376 and T24 cells. Besides, the expression of O-GlcNAc was elevated in bladder cancer tissues and cells, and up-regulation of O-GlcNAc with GlcNAc and PuGNAc obviously increased NUSAP1 protein expression and stability. Moreover, knockdown OGT significantly inhibited the proliferation and tumorigenesis and promoted the apoptosis of bladder cancer cells, confirmed by CCK-8, in vivo xenotransplantation, and flow cytometry, whereas these roles were impaired when NUSAP1 was up-regulated.

Conclusion

Overall, our study makes clear that hyper-O-GlcNAcylation accelerates bladder cancer progression through promotion of NUSAP1 expression and its stability.

NUSAP1 Promotes Gastric Cancer Tumorigenesis and Progression by Stabilizing the YAP1 Protein

The Yes-associated protein (YAP1) is a main effector of the canonical Hippo pathway, which contributes greatly to tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis in multiple cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). Due to limited knowledge of YAP1 upregulation in cancer, it is a great challenge of therapeutic targets toward the Hippo-YAP1 pathway. Here, we identify nucleolar spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) as a novel binding partner of YAP1. The upregulation of NUSAP1 is associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes in GC patients, and NUSAP1 depletion impairs its oncogenic properties in vitro and in a xenograft model. Mechanistically, we discovered that NUSAP1 functions as a positive regulator of YAP1 protein stability, thereby inducing the transcription of Hippo pathway downstream target genes, such as CTGF and CYR61. More interestingly, we find that the cancer-promoting effects of NUSAP1 on GC cell growth, migration, and invasion are mainly mediated by YAP1. Furthermore, aberrant expression of NUSAP1 and YAP1 is highly correlated in GC cell lines and tissues. We herein clarify the role of the oncogenic NUSAP1-YAP1 axis in GC tumorigenesis and progression and, therefore, provide novel therapeutic targets for GC treatment.

Histone methyltransferase DOT1L coordinates AR and MYC stability in prostate cancer

The histone methyltransferase DOT1L methylates lysine 79 (K79) on histone H3 and is involved in Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) fusion leukemogenesis; however, its role in prostate cancer (PCa) is undefined. Here we show that DOT1L is overexpressed in PCa and is associated with poor outcome. Genetic and chemical inhibition of DOT1L selectively impaired the viability of androgen receptor (AR)-positive PCa cells and organoids, including castration-resistant and enzalutamide-resistant cells. The sensitivity of AR-positive cells is due to a distal K79 methylation-marked enhancer in the MYC gene bound by AR and DOT1L not present in AR-negative cells. DOT1L inhibition leads to reduced MYC expression and upregulation of MYC-regulated E3 ubiquitin ligases HECTD4 and MYCBP2, which promote AR and MYC degradation. This leads to further repression of MYC in a negative feed forward manner. Thus DOT1L selectively regulates the tumorigenicity of AR-positive prostate cancer cells and is a promising therapeutic target for PCa.

Histone methyltransferase, DOTL1 is implicated in the pathogenesis of MLL-rearranged leukemia, however, not much is known of its role in prostate cancer (PCa). Here, the authors report that DOTL1 inhibition suppresses both androgen receptor and MYC pathways in a negative feed forward manner to reduce growth of AR-positive PCa.

SETD1A Promotes Proliferation of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Cells via FOXM1 Transcription

Androgen deprivation therapy eventually leads to the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the histone H3K4 methyltransferase SETD1A is a major regulator for the proliferation of metastatic CRPC (mCRPC). The expression of SETD1A was significantly correlated with the survival rate of patients with prostate cancer. SETD1A, which is expressed at a higher level in mCRPC than in primary prostate cancer cells, promotes the expression of FOXM1, a gene encoding a cell proliferation-specific transcription factor. SETD1A is recruited to the promoter region of FOXM1 (forkhead box M1) upon binding to E2F1, a protein that regulates the transcription of FOXM1 and contributes to the trimethylation of H3K4 in the FOXM1 promoter region. In addition, SETD1A is essential for the expression of stem cell factor (e.g., OCT4, octamer-binding transcription factor 4) and stem cell formation in mCRPC, suggesting the importance of SETD1A expression in mCRPC tumor formation. Notably, poor prognosis is associated with high expression of the SETD1A-FOXM1 pair in clinical data sets. Therefore, our study suggests that SETD1A plays an important role in the proliferation of mCRPC by regulating FOXM1 transcription.

MCM2 and NUSAP1 Are Potential Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most malignant tumors. Despite considerable progress in the treatment of PC, the prognosis of patients with PC is poor. The aim of this study was to identify potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of PC. First, the original data of three independent mRNA expression datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases and screened for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using the R software. Subsequently, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses of the DEGs were performed, and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to screen for hub genes. The hub genes were analyzed for genetic variations, as well as for survival, prognostic, and diagnostic value, using the cBioPortal and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases and the pROC package. After screening for potential biomarkers, the mRNA and protein levels of the biomarkers were verified at the tissue and cellular levels using the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, GEPIA, and the Human Protein Atlas. As a result, a total of 248 DEGs were identified. The GO terms enriched in DEGs were related to the separation of mitotic sister chromatids and the binding of the spindle to the extracellular matrix. The enriched pathways were associated with focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling. The top 20 genes were selected from the PPI network as hub genes, and based on the analysis of multiple databases, MCM2 and NUSAP1 were identified as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of PC. In conclusion, our results show that MCM2 and NUSAP1 can be used as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of PC. The study also provides new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of PC.

NUSAP1 potentiates chemoresistance in glioblastoma through its SAP domain to stabilize ATR

NUSAP1, which is a microtubule-associated protein involved in mitosis, plays essential roles in diverse biological processes, especially in cancer biology. In this study, NUSAP1 was found to be overexpressed in GBM tissues in a grade-dependent manner compared with normal brain tissues. NUSAP1 was also highly expressed in GBM patients, dead patients, and GBM cells. In addition, NUSAP1 was found to participate in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and DNA damage in GBM cells. Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein (ATR) are a primary sensor of DNA damage, and ATR is also a promising target in cancer therapy. Here, we found that NUSAP1 positively regulated the expression of ATR. Mechanistically, NUSAP1 suppressed the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of ATR. The SAP (SAF-A/B, Acinus, and PIAS) domain is a common motif of many SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) E3 ligases, and this domain is involved in substrate recognition and ligase activity. This study further demonstrated that the SAP domain of NUSAP1 promoted the sumoylation of ATR, and thereby antagonized the ubiquitination of ATR. These results suggest that NUSAP1 stabilizes ATR by sumoylation. Moreover, NUSAP1 potentiated chemotherapeutic resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) and doxorubicin (DOX) through its SAP domain. Overall, this study indicates that NUSAP1 is a promising therapeutic target in GBM.

STAT3-dependent analysis reveals PDK4 as independent predictor of recurrence in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) has a broad spectrum of clinical behavior; hence, biomarkers are urgently needed for risk stratification. Here, we aim to find potential biomarkers for risk stratification, by utilizing a gene co-expression network of transcriptomics data in addition to laser-microdissected proteomics from human and murine prostate FFPE samples. We show up-regulation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in PCa on the transcriptomic level and up-regulation of the TCA cycle/OXPHOS on the proteomic level, which is inversely correlated to STAT3 expression. We hereby identify gene expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), a key regulator of the TCA cycle, as a promising independent prognostic marker in PCa. PDK4 predicts disease recurrence independent of diagnostic risk factors such as grading, staging, and PSA level. Therefore, low PDK4 is a promising marker for PCa with dismal prognosis.

OXPHOS remodeling in high-grade prostate cancer involves mtDNA mutations and increased succinate oxidation

Rewiring of energy metabolism and adaptation of mitochondria are considered to impact on prostate cancer development and progression. Here, we report on mitochondrial respiration, DNA mutations and gene expression in paired benign/malignant human prostate tissue samples. Results reveal reduced respiratory capacities with NADH-pathway substrates glutamate and malate in malignant tissue and a significant metabolic shift towards higher succinate oxidation, particularly in high-grade tumors. The load of potentially deleterious mitochondrial-DNA mutations is higher in tumors and associated with unfavorable risk factors. High levels of potentially deleterious mutations in mitochondrial Complex I-encoding genes are associated with a 70% reduction in NADH-pathway capacity and compensation by increased succinate-pathway capacity. Structural analyses of these mutations reveal amino acid alterations leading to potentially deleterious effects on Complex I, supporting a causal relationship. A metagene signature extracted from the transcriptome of tumor samples exhibiting a severe mitochondrial phenotype enables identification of tumors with shorter survival times.

Alterations in the methylome of the stromal tumour microenvironment signal the presence and severity of prostate cancer

Background

Prostate cancer changes the phenotype of cells within the stromal microenvironment, including fibroblasts, which in turn promote tumour progression. Functional changes in prostate cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) coincide with alterations in DNA methylation levels at loci-specific regulatory regions. Yet, it is not clear how these methylation changes compare across CAFs from different patients. Therefore, we examined the consistency and prognostic significance of genome-wide DNA methylation profiles between CAFs from patients with different grades of primary prostate cancer.

Results

We used Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChips to evaluate genome-wide DNA methylation profiles from 18 matched CAFs and non-malignant prostate tissue fibroblasts (NPFs) from men with moderate to high grade prostate cancer, as well as five unmatched benign prostate tissue fibroblasts (BPFs) from men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. We identified two sets of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in patient CAFs. One set of DMRs reproducibly differed between CAFs and fibroblasts from non-malignant tissue (NPFs and BPFs). Indeed, more than 1200 DMRs consistently changed in CAFs from every patient, regardless of tumour grade. The second set of DMRs varied between CAFs according to the severity of the tumour. Notably, hypomethylation of the EDARADD promoter occurred specifically in CAFs from high-grade tumours and correlated with increased transcript abundance and increased EDARADD staining in patient tissue. Across multiple cohorts, tumours with low EDARADD DNA methylation and high EDARADD mRNA expression were consistently associated with adverse clinical features and shorter recurrence free survival.

Conclusions

We identified a large set of DMRs that are commonly shared across CAFs regardless of tumour grade and outcome, demonstrating highly consistent epigenome changes in the prostate tumour microenvironment. Additionally, we found that CAFs from aggressive prostate cancers have discrete methylation differences compared to CAFs from moderate risk prostate cancer. Together, our data demonstrates that the methylome of the tumour microenvironment reflects both the presence and the severity of the prostate cancer and, therefore, may provide diagnostic and prognostic potential.

Development of a four-gene prognostic model for pancreatic cancer based on transcriptome dysregulation

We systematically developed a prognostic model for pancreatic cancer that was compatible across different transcriptomic platforms and patient cohorts. After performing quality control measures, we used seven microarray datasets and two RNA sequencing datasets to identify consistently dysregulated genes in pancreatic cancer patients. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed to explore the associations between gene expression patterns and clinical features. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression were used to construct a prognostic model. We tested the predictive power of the model by determining the area under the curve of the risk score for time-dependent survival. Most of the differentially expressed genes in pancreatic cancer were enriched in functions pertaining to the tumor immune microenvironment. The transcriptome profiles were found to be associated with overall survival, and four genes were identified as independent prognostic factors. A prognostic risk score was then proposed, which displayed moderate accuracy in the training and self-validation cohorts. Furthermore, patients in two independent microarray cohorts were successfully stratified into high- and low-risk prognostic groups. Thus, we constructed a reliable prognostic model for pancreatic cancer, which should be beneficial for clinical therapeutic decision-making.

The Impact of Cand1 in Prostate Cancer

Evidence has accumulated asserting the importance of cullin-RING (really interesting new gene) ubiquitin ligases (CRLs) and their regulator Cullin-associated neural-precursor-cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated 8 (NEDD8) dissociated protein 1 (Cand1) in various cancer entities. However, the role of Cand1 in prostate cancer (PCa) has not been intensively investigated so far. Thus, in the present study, we aimed to assess the relevance of Cand1 in the clinical and preclinical setting. Immunohistochemical analyses of radical prostatectomy specimens of PCa patients showed that Cand1 protein levels are elevated in PCa compared to benign areas. In addition, high Cand1 levels were associated with higher Gleason Scores, as well as higher tumor recurrence and decreased overall survival. In line with clinical findings, in vitro experiments in different PCa cell lines revealed that knockdown of Cand1 reduced cell viability and proliferation and increased apoptosis, therefore underlining its role in tumor progression. We also found that the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 is significantly upregulated upon downregulation of Cand1. Using bioinformatic tools, we detected genes encoding for proteins linked to mRNA turnover, protein polyubiquitination, and proteasomal degradation to be significantly upregulated in Cand1^high tumors. Next generation sequencing of PCa cell lines resistant to the anti-androgen enzalutamide revealed that Cand1 is mutated in enzalutamide-resistant cells, however, with little functional and clinically relevant impact in the process of resistance development. To summarize the present study, we found that high Cand1 levels correlate with PCa aggressiveness.

CCNB2, NUSAP1 and TK1 are associated with the prognosis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma, as revealed by co-expression analysis

The mortality rate associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third highest among all digestive system tumors. However, the causes of HCC development and the underlying mechanisms have remained to be fully elucidated. In the present bioinformatics study, genetic markers were identified and their association with HCC was determined. The mRNA expression datasets GSE87630, GSE74656 and GSE76427 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A total of 96 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened from the 3 GEO datasets, including 25 upregulated and 71 downregulated genes. DEGs were uploaded to the database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery to screen for enriched Gene Ontology terms in various categories and the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins was used to identify the interactions and functions of the DEGs. A total of 3 genetic markers were identified in a stepwise pathway and functional analysis in a previous study. The association of the genetic markers with prognosis was analysed using the UALCAN online analysis tool. Regression analysis was also performed to identify the relationship between HCC grade and disease recurrence and the expression of genetic markers using The Cancer Genome Atlas HCC dataset. In addition, the expression of the 3 genetic markers in HCC tissues was determined using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, the Oncomine database and the Human Protein Atlas database. The expression levels of the 3 genetic markers cyclin B2 (CCNB2), nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) and thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) were significantly correlated with each other and high mRNA expression of CCNB2 was significantly associated with poor overall survival of patients with HCC. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that NUSAP1 and TK1 were capable of distinguishing between recurrent and non-recurrent HCC. Furthermore, CCNB2, NUSAP1 and TK1 were highly correlated with the HCC grade. It was also indicated that the mRNA expression of CCNB2, NUSAPA and TK1 was increased in primary HCC tissues when compared with that in adjacent tissues. The present study identified that the CCNB2, NUSAP1 and TK1 genes may serve as prognostic markers for HCC, and may be of value from the perspectives of basic research and clinical treatment of HCC.

Nucleolar and Spindle Associated Protein 1 (NUSAP1) Promotes Bladder Cancer Progression Through the TGF-β Signaling Pathway

Purpose

NUSAP1 has been reported to be involved in the progression of several types of cancer. However, its expression and exact role in bladder cancer (BLCA) remains elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the expression and role of NUSAP1 in BLCA.

Methods

Tissue microarray, real-time PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry assays were carried out to determine NUSAP1 expression in BLCA tissues and cells. The biological roles of NUSAP1 were investigated using CCK-8, EdU labeling, flow cytometry, Transwell, and wound healing assays. Additionally, the effect of NUSAP1 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was investigated by Western blotting and real-time PCR.

Results

We found that NUSAP1 was upregulated in BLCA, and its expression was closely related to the poor prognosis of patients. Subsequently, we transfected 5637 and T24 cell lines with NUSAP1 siRNA and an NUSAP1 overexpression plasmid, respectively. NUSAP1 downregulation in 5637 cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasiveness and enhanced chemosensitivity to gemcitabine, while NUSAP1 overexpression in T24 cells resulted in the inverse effects. Moreover, NUSAP1 regulated EMT via the TGF-β signaling pathway, and when TGF-beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1) was inhibited with the inhibitor SB525334, the invasion and metastasis ability of BLCA cells was significantly suppressed, as well as p-Smad2/3 and vimentin expression.

Conclusion

Our above data demonstrate that NUSAP1 contributes to BLCA progression via the TGF-β signaling pathway.

MicroRNA-769-5p suppresses cell growth and migration via targeting NUSAP1 in bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) has been identified to be strongly implicated in the carcinogenesis of cervical carcinoma, breast cancer, and liver cancer, and shows a high expression level in bladder cancer, indicating that NUSAP1 might be a potent target for cancer treatment. Using bioinformatics methods, we found that NUSAP1 was a putative target of miR-769-5p. Here, we aimed to explore whether miR-769-5p is involved in bladder cancer progression via targeting NUSAP1.

METHODS

MiR-769-5p expression patterns in bladder cancer tissues and cells were detected by RT-PCR. Kaplan-Meier was used to determine the clinical effects of miR-769-5p expression levels on the overall survival of bladder cancer patients. Bioinformatics methods were used to predict the binding sites between miR-769-5p and NUSAP1, which was verified by the luciferase gene reporter assay. CCK-8, flow cytometry, wound healing and transwell chamber experiments were performed to test cell growth, apoptosis, migration and invasion capacities.

RESULTS

miR-769-5p was lowly expressed in bladder cancer tissues and cells, which was closely associated with poor prognosis. Overexpression of miR-769-5p induced significant repressions in cell growth, migration, and invasion and caused an obvious increase in cell apoptosis, whereas these tendencies were reversed when NUSAP1 was upregulated.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that miR-769-5p functions as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer via targeting NUSAP1.

The conflicting role of E2F1 in prostate cancer: A matter of cell context or interpretational flexibility?

The transcription factor E2F1 plays a crucial role in mediating multiple cancer hallmark capabilities that regulate cell cycle, survival, apoptosis, metabolism, and metastasis. Aberrant activation of E2F1 is closely associated with a poor clinical outcome in various human cancers. However, E2F1 has conflictingly been reported to exert tumor suppressive activity, raising a question as to the nature of its substantive role in the control of cell fate. In this review, we summarize deregulated E2F1 activity and its role in prostate cancer. We highlight the recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanism by which E2F1 regulates the development and progression of prostate cancer, providing insight into how cell context or data interpretation shapes the role of E2F1 in prostate cancer. This review will aid in translating biomedical knowledge into therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer.

Prognostic Value of CD1B in Localised Prostate Cancer

Cluster of differentiation (CD) antigens are cell surface markers used to differentiate haematopoietic cell types. These antigens are present in various malignancies and are reportedly linked to patient prognosis; however, they have not been implemented as prostate cancer progression markers. Here, we aimed to assess the impact of genetic variation in haematopoietic cell CD markers on clinical outcomes in patients with prostate cancer. An association study of 458 patients with prostate cancer was conducted to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 11 candidate CD marker genes associated with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy. Identified predictors were further evaluated in an additional cohort of 185 patients. Joint population analyses showed that CD1B rs3181082 is associated with BCR (adjusted hazard ratio 1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.09-1.85, p = 0.010). In addition, rs3181082 overlapped with predicted transcriptional regulatory elements and affected CD1B expression. Furthermore, low CD1B expression correlated with poorer BCR-free survival. Our results indicated that CD1B rs3181082 confers prostate cancer progression and may help improve clinical prognostic stratification.

Identification of potential hub genes related to the progression and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma through integrated bioinformatics analysis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among cancer patients. Genes correlated with the progression and prognosis of HCC are critically needed to be identified. In the present study, 3 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE46408, GSE65372 and GSE84402) were used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between HCC and non-tumor liver tissues. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted to clarify the functional roles of DEGs. A protein-protein interaction network was established to screen the hub genes associated with HCC. The prognostic values of hub genes in HCC patients were analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The expression levels of hub genes were validated based on ONCOMINE, TCGA and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) databases. Notably, 56 upregulated and 33 downregulated DEGs were markedly enriched under various GO terms and four KEGG terms. Among these DEGs, 10 hub genes with high connectivity degree were identified, including cyclin B1, cyclin A2, cyclin B2, condensin complex subunit 3, PDZ binding kinase, nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1, aurora kinase A, ZW10 interacting kinetochore protein, protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 and kinesin family member 4A. The upregulated expression levels of these hub genes in HCC tissues were further confirmed by ONCOMINE, TCGA, and HPA databases. Additionally, the increased mRNA expression of each hub gene was related to the unfavorable disease-free survival and overall survival of HCC patients. The present study identified ten genes associated with HCC, which may help to provide candidate targets for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

NUSAP1 knockdown inhibits cell growth and metastasis of non-small-cell lung cancer through regulating BTG2/PI3K/Akt signaling

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common malignancy along with high mortality rate worldwide. Recently, nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) has been reported to be involved in the malignant progression of several cancers. However, in NSCLC, the biological function of NUSAP1 and its molecular mechanism have not been reported. Here, our findings indicated that the NUSAP1 messenger RNA expression level was remarkably upregulated in NSCLC tissues compared with that of adjacent normal tissues. We also found that NUSAP1 gene expression was notably upregulated in NSCLC cell lines (A549, 95-D, H358, and H1299) compared with that of normal human bronchial epithelial cell line (16HBE). Subsequently, the biological function of NUSAP1 was investigated in A549 and H358 cells transfected with NUSAP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA), respectively. Results showed that NUSAP1 knockdown inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation, and promoted cell apoptosis. Furthermore, the number of cell migration and invasion was significantly suppressed by NUSAP1 knockdown. In addition, our results indicated that NUSAP1 knockdown increased the gene expression of B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2), but decreased the expression levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and phosphorylated serine/threonine kinase (p-AKT). BTG2 siRNA partly abrogates the effect of NUSAP1 knockdown on BTG2 gene expression. Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a AKT activator, reversed the effect of NUSAP1 knockdown on the biological function in NSCLC. Taken together, NUSAP1 knockdown promotes NSCLC cell apoptosis, and inhibits cell proliferation, cell migration, and invasion, which is associated with regulating BTG2/PI3K/Akt signal pathway. Our findings suggest that NUSAP1 is a promising molecular target for NSCLC treatment.

Identification of the PTEN-ARID4B-PI3K pathway reveals the dependency on ARID4B by PTEN-deficient prostate cancer

PTEN is frequently mutated in prostate cancer. The tumor suppressor function of PTEN is attributed to its lipid phosphatase activity that counters PI3K action. Here, we report a PTEN-ARID4B-PI3K axis in which PTEN inhibits expression of ARID4B, while ARID4B is a transcriptional activator of the PI3K subunit genes PIK3CA and PIK3R2 that are crucial for activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway. Reciprocal binding of ARID4B and histone H1 to the PIK3CA and PIK3R2 promoters modulates chromatin condensation, suggesting a mechanism by which ARID4B activates these promoters. Functional analyses reveals that ARID4B is required for prostate tumorigenesis when PTEN is deficient. The biological significance is further substantiated by the existence of a PTEN/ARID4B/PIK3CA three-gene signature that improves the predictive power for prostate cancer recurrence in patients. In summary, we identify ARID4B as a master regulator in the PTEN-PI3K pathway, thus providing a potential therapeutic target for prostate cancer carrying PTEN mutations.

The identification of synthetic essential genes of PTEN is of therapeutic potential for PTEN-deficient prostate cancers. Here, the authors show that ARID4B is a synthetic essential gene in these cancers in which deficiency of PTEN prompts the AKT-ARID4B feedback loop required for activation of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

Circular RNA hsa_circ_0002124 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation through the MAPK pathway

Background

Hsa_circ_0002124, which was first reported in 2013, is derived from NuSAP1. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its regulatory mechanisms remain to be investigated.

Methods

First, hsa_circ_0002124 was structurally validated via specific convergent and divergent primer amplification. The hsa_circ_0002124 expression in the liver cancer tissues and multiple HCC cell lines were determined using qPCR. Further, the cell functions of hsa_circ_0002124 in HCC cells were examined using knockdown and overexpressed hsa_circ_0002124 in 97H cells. The cell proliferation was assessed using MTS assay, cell proliferation and invasion capacities were evaluated using Transwell culture system, and cell cycle progression and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry. Further, GO and KEGG analyses were performed to uncover the key function and pathways in HCC. The interaction networks between hsa_circ_0002124 and its downstream miRNAs and genes were constructed using Cytoscape software. The key protein expressions (p-JNK, JNK, p-ERK, ERK, p-P38, P38, and c-Myc) of the MAPK pathway in 97H cells with knockdown and overexpressed hsa_circ_0002124 treatments were detected using Western blotting.

Results

Hsa_circ_0002124 was highly expressed in the HCC cells and liver cancer tissues. Moreover, the knockdown hsa_circ_0002124 in 97H cells resulted in the repression of cell proliferation, cell invasion, and migration, with simultaneous promotion of cell apoptosis and cell cycle transformation. The opposing situations of cell function could be detected in overexpressed hsa_circ_0002124 in 97H cells. KEGG and interaction network analysis of hsa_circ_0002124 indicated that hsa_circ_0002124 could be a molecular sponge of miRNAs, which regulates the key protein expressions in the MAPK pathway. The p-JNK/JNK, p-ERK/ERK, p-P38/P38, and c-Myc expressions in knockdown hsa_circ_0002124-treated 97H cells were significantly lower than in normal 97H cells, whereas these expressions in overexpressed hsa_circ_0002124-treated 97H cells were significantly higher than in mock vector-treated 97H cells.

Conclusions

Hsa_circ_0002124 could be a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

A four-gene signature for prognosis in breast cancer patients with hypermethylated IL15RA

Previous studies have revealed that upregulation of interleukin 15 receptor α (IL15RA) contributes to improved prognosis of breast cancer. The present study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor effect induced by IL15RA upregulation, and to identify a gene signature capable of predicting the survival of patients with breast cancer. Using paired gene expression and methylation data of breast cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas data portal, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in hypermethylated and hypomethylated IL15RA breast cancer samples. Furthermore, a gene signature-based risk-scoring model was developed according to the Cox regression coefficients of survival-associated DEGS. The gene signature was applied to classify patients with breast cancer and hypermethylated IL15RA into two risk groups via Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of overall survival (OS) time. Functional enrichment analysis was conducted to decipher the biological roles of the DEGs between the two risk groups. A total of 326 DEGs were present in the hypomethylation and hypermethylation samples compared with in the normal samples. A four-gene signature [SH3 and cysteine rich domain 2 (STAC2), proline rich 11 (PRR11), homeobox C11 (HOXC11) and nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1)] was identified as able to successfully separate patients with breast cancer and hypermethylated IL15RA into two risk groups with significantly different OS time. The signature revealed similar predictive performance in an independent set. Significant enrichment of the ‘receptor interaction’ and ‘cell adhesion molecules (CAM)’ pathways, which involved the DEGs, occurred between the two risk groups. These findings suggested that IL15RA may participate in the regulation of STAC2, PRR11, HOXC11, NUSAP1, and ‘ECM-receptor interaction’ and ‘cell adhesion molecules’ pathways, and therefore in the suppression of breast cancer development and progression. The four-gene signature may have potential prognostic value for breast cancer.

Downregulation of nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 expression suppresses liver cancer cell function

The aim of the present study was to determine the role of nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NuSAP1) in human liver cancer. NuSAP1 expression was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent tissues. The expression of NuSAP1 gene was detected by RT-qPCR in liver cancer cell lines. Expression information for NuSAP1 was determined using the UALCAN and Oncomine databases. The Kaplan-Meier plotter and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases were used to obtain overall survival data for liver cancer. Liver cancer cell lines HepG2 and Huh-7 were transfected with lentiviral particles to silence the endogenous NuSAP1 gene expression. RT-qPCR and western blotting were performed to confirm the silencing efficiency. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to estimate the effects of NuSAP1 silencing on HepG2 and Huh-7 cell proliferation. Cell cycle and apoptosis analyses were performed using flow cytometry. Cell invasion was assessed using the Transwell assay with microscopy imaging. The results revealed that the NuSAP1 expression levels in HCC tissues were significantly increased compared with the adjacent tissues. The survival time of patients with HCC with a high NuSAP1 expression was markedly decreased compared with that of patients with HCC with a low expression level of NuSAP1. Functional studies revealed that NuSAP1 silencing significantly reduced HepG2 and Huh-7 cell proliferation and invasion. Increased apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase were observed following NuSAP1 knockdown. NuSAP1 silencing significantly inhibited the mRNA expression of DNA methyltransferase but not glioma-associated oncogene. NuSAP1 contributed to liver cancer development by reducing apoptosis and promoting cell cycle progression. The abnormal expression level of NuSAP1 may serve a role in promoting liver cancer progression.

Therapeutic Targeting of CD146/MCAM Reduces Bone Metastasis in Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in males. When prostate cancer acquires castration resistance, incurable metastases, primarily in the bone, occur. The aim of this study is to test the applicability of targeting melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM; CD146) with a mAb for the treatment of lytic prostate cancer bone metastasis. We evaluated the effect of targeting MCAM using in vivo preclinical bone metastasis models and an in vitro bone niche coculture system. We utilized FACS, cell proliferation assays, and gene expression profiling to study the phenotype and function of MCAM knockdown in vitro and in vivo. To demonstrate the impact of MCAM targeting and therapeutic applicability, we employed an anti-MCAM mAb in vivo. MCAM is elevated in prostate cancer metastases resistant to androgen ablation. Treatment with DHT showed MCAM upregulation upon castration. We investigated the function of MCAM in a direct coculture model of human prostate cancer cells with human osteoblasts and found that there is a reduced influence of human osteoblasts on human prostate cancer cells in which MCAM has been knocked down. Furthermore, we observed a strongly reduced formation of osteolytic lesions upon bone inoculation of MCAM-depleted human prostate cancer cells in animal model of prostate cancer bone metastasis. This phenotype is supported by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis. Importantly, in vivo administration of an anti-MCAM human mAb reduced the tumor growth and lytic lesions. These results highlight the functional role for MCAM in the development of lytic bone metastasis and suggest that MCAM is a potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer bone metastasis. IMPLICATIONS: This study highlights the functional application of an anti-MCAM mAb to target prostate cancer bone metastasis.

Alternatively activated NUSAP1 promotes tumor growth and indicates poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies with high mortality. The key genes involved in initiation and development of HCC is not entirely clear.

METHODS

We performed a meta-analysis of available transcriptome data from 6 independent HCC datasets [5 datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and 1 dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)]. The associations of the nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) expression level with clinicopathological factors and survival times were analyzed. Two representative HCC cell models were built to observe the proliferation capacity of HCC cells when NUSAP1 expression was inhibited by shNUSAP1.

RESULTS

Based on the transcriptome and survival data in the GEO and TCGA databases, NUSAP1 gene was markedly upregulated in HCC. High expression of NUSAP1 in HCC is related to the iCluster1 molecular subgroup, poor survival, poor tumor differentiation and TNM stage. Additionally, pathway analysis based on RNAseq data suggested that NUSAP1 could activate the expression of genes involves in cell proliferation. Furthermore, downregulation of NUSAP1 expression could significantly inhibit the proliferation of SMMC-7721 and Huh7 cells in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides evidence that NUSAP1 may serve as a candidate prognostic marker and a target for future therapeutic intervention in HCC.

Nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 promotes metastasis of cervical carcinoma cells by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Background

The primary obstacle to treat cervical cancer is its high prevalence of metastasis, which severely affects patients’ quality of life and survival time. Nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) has been implicated in the development, progression, and metastasis in several types of cancer. However, its oncogenic role in cervical cancer remains unclear.

Methods

Western blot assay and immunohistochemistry were used to determine the expression of NUSAP1 in 21 clinical fresh Cervical cancer tissues and 233 clinicopathologically characterized cervical cancer specimens. The biological roles of NUSAP1 in the metastasis of cervical cancer were investigated both in vitro by EMT, Side population analysis and Transwell assays and so on, and in vivo using a mouse 4w model of hematogenous metastasis and lymph node metastasis. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter analysis, immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting of nuclear and cytoplasmic cellular fractions were applied to discern and examine the relationshipbetween NUSAP1 and its potential targets.

Results

The results demonstrated that NUSAP1 was upregulated in cervical cancer cells and tissues, correlated positively with metastasis and poor clinical outcome of patients. High expression of NUSAP1 promoted metastasis by enhancing cancer stem cell (CSC) traits and epithelial-mesenchyme transition (EMT) progression, while silencing of NUSAP1 reduced CSC traits and EMT progression. Mechanistically, upregulation of NUSAP1 induced SUMOylation of TCF4 via interacting with SUMO E3 ligase Ran-binding protein 2 (RanBP2) and hyperactivated Wnt/β-catenin signaling in cervical cancer cells. Additionally, NUSAP1-induced cervical cancer cells metastasis and the cancer stem cell phenotype were abrogated with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling inhibitor XAV-939 treatment. Importantly, co-therapy of conventional treatment and XAV-939 will provide a novel and effective treatment for NUSAP1-ovexpressed cervical cancer patients.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate thatNUSAP1 upregulation contributes to metastasis of cervical cancer by promoting CSC properties and EMT via Wnt/β-catenin signaling and XAV-939 might serve as a potential tailored therapeutic option for patients with NUSAP1-ovexpressed cervical cancer.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1037-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

microRNA 193a-5p Regulates Levels of Nucleolar- and Spindle-Associated Protein 1 to Suppress Hepatocarcinogenesis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

We performed an integrated analysis to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with altered expression in liver tumors from 3 mouse models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and human tumor tissues.

METHODS

We analyzed miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of liver tissues from mice with diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, conditional expression of lymphotoxin alpha and lymphotoxin beta, or inducible expression of a Myc transgene (Tet-O-Myc mice), as well as male C57BL/6 mice (controls). miRNA mimics were expressed and miRNAs and mRNAs were knocked down in human (Huh7, Hep3B, JHH2) hepatoma cell lines; cells were analyzed for viability, proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Cells were grown as xenograft tumors in nude mice and analyzed. We combined in silico target gene prediction with mRNA profiles from all 3 mouse models. We quantified miRNA levels in 146 fresh-frozen tissues from patients (125 HCCs, 17 matched nontumor tissues, and 4 liver samples from patients without cancer) and published human data sets and tested correlations with patient survival times using Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test. Levels of NUSAP1 mRNA were quantified in 237 HCCs and 5 nontumor liver samples using the TaqMan assay.

RESULTS

Levels of the miRNA 193a-5p (MIR193A-5p) were reduced in liver tumors from all 3 mouse tumor models and in human HCC samples, compared with nontumor liver tissues. Expression of a MIR193A-5p mimic in hepatoma cells reduced proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion and their growth as xenograft tumors in nude mice. We found nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) to be a target of MIR193A-5p; HCC cells and tissues with low levels of MIR193A-5p had increased expression of NUSAP1. Increased levels of NUSAP1 in HCC samples correlated with shorter survival times of patients. Knockdown of NUSAP1 in Huh7 cells reduced proliferation, survival, migration, and growth as xenograft tumors in nude mice. Hydrodynamic tail-vein injections of a small hairpin RNA against NUSAP1 reduced growth of Akt1-Myc-induced tumors in mice.

CONCLUSIONS

MIR193A-5p appears to prevent liver tumorigenesis by reducing levels of NUSAP1. Levels of MIR193A-5p are reduced in mouse and human HCC cells and tissues, leading to increased levels of NUSAP1, associated with shorter survival times of patients. Integrated analyses of miRNAs and mRNAs in tumors from mouse models can lead to identification of therapeutic targets in humans. The currently reported miRNA and mRNA profiling data have been submitted to the Gene Expression Omnibus (super-series accession number GSE102418).

Nucleolar and Spindle Associated Protein 1 (NUSAP1) Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Enhances Susceptibility to Epirubicin In Invasive Breast Cancer Cells by Regulating Cyclin D Kinase (CDK1) and DLGAP5 Expression

Background

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of IBC were selected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) chip data: GSE21422 and GSE21974. Network analysis of the DEGs and IBC-related genes was performed in STRING database to find the core gene. Thus, this study aimed to determine the role of NUSAP1 in invasive breast cancer (IBC) and to investigate its effect on drug susceptibility to epirubicin (E-ADM).

Material/Methods

The mRNA expression of NUSAP1 was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR). The protein expression was detected by Western blotting. Cell growth and growth cycle were detected by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Cell migration and invasion were tested by Transwell assay.

Results

Through use of gene network analysis, we found that NUSAP1 interacts with IBC-related genes. NUSAP1 presented high expression in IBC tissue samples and MCF-7 cells. NUSAP1 overexpression promoted the growth, migration, and invasion of MCF-7 cells. While NUSAP1 gene silencing downregulated the expression of genes associated with cell cycle progression in G2/M phase, cyclin D kinase (CDK1) and DLGAP5 arrested cells in G2/M phase and significantly inhibited the growth, migration, and invasion of MCF-7 cells. si-NUSAP1 increased the susceptibility of MCF-7 cells to E-ADM-induced apoptosis.

Conclusions

Our study provides evidence that downregulation of NUSAP1 can inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of IBC cells by regulating CDK1 and DLGAP5 expression and enhances the drug susceptibility to E-ADM.