FOXA1 inhibits hypoxia programs through transcriptional repression of HIF1A

Tumor-intrinsic regulators of the immune-cold microenvironment of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PC) is a notoriously immune-cold tumor in that it often lacks substantial infiltration by antitumor immune cells, and in advanced diseases such as neuroendocrine PC, it could be devoid of immune cells. A majority of PC patients thus have, unfortunately, been unable to benefit from recent advances in immunotherapies. What causes this immunosuppressive microenvironment around PC? In this review, we discuss various genetic and epigenetic regulators intrinsic to prostate tumor cells that could have profound effects on the tumor microenvironment, thus contributing to this immune-cold status. It will be essential to target the cancer cells themselves in order to change the tumor microenvironment to harness existing and developing immunotherapies that had great success in other tumors.

Pectolinarigenin alleviates calcium oxalate-induced renal inflammation and oxidative stress by binding to HIF-1α

Calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals are the main constituents of renal crystals in humans and induce tubular lumen damage in renal tubules, leading to renal calcium deposition and kidney stone formation. Oxidative stress and inflammation play important roles in regulating calcium oxalate-induced injury. Here, we evaluated the efficacy in inhibiting oxidation and inflammation of pectinolinarigenin, a biologically active natural metabolite, in CaOx nephrocalcinosis and further explored its targets of action. First, we developed cellular and mouse models of calcium oxalate renal nephrocalcinosis and identified the onset of oxidative stress and inflammation according to experimental data. We found that pectolinarigenin inhibited this onset while reducing renal crystal deposition. Network pharmacology was subsequently utilized to screen for hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), a regulator involved in the body's release and over-oxidation of inflammatory factors. Finally, molecular docking, cellular thermal shift assay, and other experiments to detect HIF-1α expression showed that pectolinarigenin directly combined with HIF-1α and prevented downstream reactive oxygen species activation and release. Our results indicate that pectolinarigenin can target and inhibit HIF-1α-mediated inflammatory responses and oxidative stress damage and be a novel drug for CaOx nephrocalcinosis treatment.

Redirecting the pioneering function of FOXA1 with covalent small molecules

Pioneer transcription factors (TFs) bind to and open closed chromatin, facilitating engagement by other regulatory factors involved in gene activation or repression. Chemical probes are lacking for pioneer TFs, which has hindered their mechanistic investigation in cells. Here, we report the chemical proteomic discovery of electrophilic compounds that stereoselectively and site-specifically bind the pioneer TF forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1) at a cysteine (C258) within the forkhead DNA-binding domain. We show that these covalent ligands react with FOXA1 in a DNA-dependent manner and rapidly remodel its pioneer activity in prostate cancer cells reflected in redistribution of FOXA1 binding across the genome and directionally correlated changes in chromatin accessibility. Motif analysis supports a mechanism where the ligands relax the canonical DNA-binding preference of FOXA1 by strengthening interactions with suboptimal sequences in predicted proximity to C258. Our findings reveal a striking plasticity underpinning the pioneering function of FOXA1 that can be controlled by small molecules.

FOXA1 and FOXA2: the regulatory mechanisms and therapeutic implications in cancer

FOXA1 (Forkhead Box A1) and FOXA2 (Forkhead Box A2) serve as pioneering transcription factors that build gene expression capacity and play a central role in biological processes, including organogenesis and differentiation, glycolipid metabolism, proliferation, migration and invasion, and drug resistance. Notably, FOXA1 and FOXA2 may exert antagonistic, synergistic, or complementary effects in the aforementioned biological processes. This article focuses on the molecular mechanisms and clinical relevance of FOXA1 and FOXA2 in steroid hormone-induced malignancies and highlights potential strategies for targeting FOXA1 and FOXA2 for cancer therapy. Furthermore, the article describes the prospect of targeting upstream regulators of FOXA1/FOXA2 to regulate its expression for cancer therapy because of the drug untargetability of FOXA1/FOXA2.

Exploration of a hypoxia-immune-related microenvironment gene signature and prediction model for hepatitis C-induced early-stage fibrosis

BACKGROUND

Liver fibrosis contributes to significant morbidity and mortality in Western nations, primarily attributed to chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Hypoxia and immune status have been reported to be significantly correlated with the progression of liver fibrosis. The current research aimed to investigate the gene signature related to the hypoxia-immune-related microenvironment and identify potential targets for liver fibrosis.

METHOD

Sequencing data obtained from GEO were employed to assess the hypoxia and immune status of the discovery set utilizing UMAP and ESTIMATE methods. The prognostic genes were screened utilizing the LASSO model. The infiltration level of 22 types of immune cells was quantified utilizing CIBERSORT, and a prognosis-predictive model was established based on the selected genes. The model was also verified using qRT-PCR with surgical resection samples and liver failure samples RNA-sequencing data.

RESULTS

Elevated hypoxia and immune status were linked to an unfavorable prognosis in HCV-induced early-stage liver fibrosis. Increased plasma and resting NK cell infiltration were identified as a risk factor for liver fibrosis progression. Additionally, CYP1A2, CBS, GSTZ1, FOXA1, WDR72 and UHMK1 were determined as hypoxia-immune-related protective genes. The combined model effectively predicted patient prognosis. Furthermore, the preliminary validation of clinical samples supported most of the conclusions drawn from this study.

CONCLUSION

The prognosis-predictive model developed using six hypoxia-immune-related genes effectively predicts the prognosis and progression of liver fibrosis. The current study opens new avenues for the future prediction and treatment of liver fibrosis.

The role of HIF in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and tumor microenvironment in urological cancers

Typically associated with solid tumors, hypoxia contributes to tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis through various molecular mechanisms. Accumulating studies indicate that hypoxia-inducible factor is the key transcription factor coordinating endothelial cells to respond to hypoxia in urological cancers, mainly renal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer. Moreover, it has been suggested that tumor hypoxia in tumor microenvironment simultaneously recruits stromal cells to suppress immune activities. This review summarizes the mechanisms by which HIF regulates tumorigenesis and elaborates on the associations between HIF and angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and tumor microenvironment in urological cancers.

Sirtuin4 alleviates severe acute pancreatitis by regulating HIF-1α/HO-1 mediated ferroptosis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common emergency of the digestive system and serious cases can develop into severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), which ortality rates up to 30%. Sirtuin4 (SIRT4) is a member of the sirtuin family, and plays a key role in inflammation and oxidative stress. However, the potential role of SIRT4 in SAP has yet to be elucidated. In the present study, we found that the expression level of SIRT4 in human AP was downregulated by screening a public database, suggesting that SIRT4 may play a role in AP. Subsequently, we used L-arginine (L-Arg) to induce SAP in SIRT4 knockout (SIRT4_KO) and SIRT4 overexpression (AAV_SIRT4) mice. The results showed that the pancreatic tissue injury and related lung and kidney injury were serious in SIRT4_KO mice after SAP induction, but were significantly reduced in AAV_SIRT4 mice. More importantly, we found that the levels of antioxidant factors GSH and SOD were decreased in SIRT4_KO mice, and the production of oxidative products and lipid peroxidation markers was increased, suggesting that SIRT4 was involved in inflammation and oxidative stress during SAP. Further studies showed that the absence or overexpression of SIRT4 affected the expression level of Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) after SAP induction, and regulated the expression of ferroptosis related proteins by mediating HIF-1α/HO-1 pathway. Collectively, our study revealed that SIRT4 plays a protective role in SAP by regulating the HIF-1α/HO-1 pathway to inhibit ferroptosis.

A compendium of Androgen Receptor Variant 7 target genes and their role in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer

Persistent androgen receptor (AR) signalling is the main driver of prostate cancer (PCa). Truncated isoforms of the AR called androgen receptor variants (AR-Vs) lacking the ligand binding domain often emerge during treatment resistance against AR pathway inhibitors such as Enzalutamide. This review discusses how AR-Vs drive a more aggressive form of PCa through the regulation of some of their target genes involved in oncogenic pathways, enabling disease progression. There is a pressing need for the development of a new generation of AR inhibitors which can repress the activity of both the full-length AR and AR-Vs, for which the knowledge of differentially expressed target genes will allow evaluation of inhibition efficacy. This review provides a detailed account of the most common variant, AR-V7, the AR-V7 regulated genes which have been experimentally validated, endeavours to understand their relevance in aggressive AR-V driven PCa and discusses the utility of the downstream protein products as potential drug targets for PCa treatment.

CC Chemokine Ligand-2: A Promising Target for Overcoming Anticancer Drug Resistance

Simple Summary

Drug resistance is an obstacle to cancer therapy, and the underlying mechanisms are still being explored. CC chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2) is one of the key proinflammatory chemokines that regulate the migration and infiltration of multiple inflammatory cells, such as monocytes and macrophages. CCL2 can be secreted by tumor cells and multiple cell types, mediating the formation of the tumor-promoting and immunosuppressive microenvironment to promote cancer development, progression, and anticancer drug resistance. Notably, CCL2 is also frequently overexpressed in drug-resistant cancer cells. Here, we review recent findings regarding the role of CCL2 in the development of resistance to multiple anticancer reagents. In addition, the possible mechanisms by which CCL2 participates in anticancer drug resistance are discussed, which may provide new therapeutic targets for reversing cancer resistance.

Abstract

CC chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2), a proinflammatory chemokine that mediates chemotaxis of multiple immune cells, plays a crucial role in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and promotes tumorigenesis and development. Recently, accumulating evidence has indicated that CCL2 contributes to the development of drug resistance to a broad spectrum of anticancer agents, including chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. It has been reported that CCL2 can reduce tumor sensitivity to drugs by inhibiting drug-induced apoptosis, antiangiogenesis, and antitumor immunity. In this review, we mainly focus on elucidating the relationship between CCL2 and resistance as well as the underlying mechanisms. A comprehensive understanding of the role and mechanism of CCL2 in anticancer drug resistance may provide new therapeutic targets for reversing cancer resistance.