CRHBP is degraded via autophagy and exerts anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effects by reducing cyclin B2 expression and dissociating cyclin B2-CDK1 complex

Brain Specific RagA Overexpression Triggers Depressive-Like Behaviors in Mice via Activating ADORA2A Signaling Pathway

Neuroinflammation hallmarks the pathology of depression although the etiological complexity has not yet been resolved. Previous studies demonstrate that bacterial lipopolysaccharide induces depressive-like behaviors by activating RagA-mTOR-p70S6K signaling pathway. The current project aims to investigate whether and how brain-specific RagA overexpression triggers depressive-like behaviors in mice. Full-length RagA cDNA is cloned into the mammalian expression vector under the control of brain specific promoter, and subsequently overexpressed in the brain of mouse embryos. Indeed, RagA transgenic mice exhibit depressive-like behaviors and memory impairments. RNA-seq profiling of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) transcriptome highlights adenosine A2a receptor (ADORA2A) as a key differentially expressed gene (DEG). Western blotting confirms that ADORA2A and phospho-p70S6K are markedly elevated in RagA transgenic mice. Behavioral assessments demonstrate that ADORA2A inhibitor istradefylline markedly attenuates depressive-like behaviors. Further metabolomics reveals that N-acetylserotonin and several depression-related metabolites are downregulated while proteomic profiling showed that OLIG1 and other proteins are significantly regulated in RagA transgenic mice. Collectively, RagA overexpression alters the expression patterns of signaling proteins and the metabolism of depression-associated metabolites. RagA may cause depressive-like behaviors in mice via activating p70S6K/ADORA2A signaling pathway. Thus, RagA-p70S6K-ADORA2A signaling pathway may be a target for the development of new antidepressant therapies.

A pan-cancer analysis uncovering the function of CRHBP in tumor immunity, prognosis and drug response: especially its function in LIHC

Corticotropin-releasing hormone-binding protein (CRHBP) is involved in many physiological processes. However, it is still unclear what role CRHBP has in tumor immunity and prognosis prediction. Using databases such as the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Tumor Protein Database, Timer Database, and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), we evaluated the potential role of CRHBP in diverse cancers. Further research looked into the relationships between CRHBP and tumor survival prognosis, immune infiltration, immune checkpoint (ICP) indicators, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), mismatch repair (MMR), DNA methylation, tumor microenvironment (TME), and drug responsiveness. The anticancer effect of CRHBP in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) was shown by Western blotting, EdU staining, JC-1 staining, transwell test, and wound healing assays. CRHBP expression is significantly low in the majority of tumor types and is associated with survival prognosis, ICP markers, TMB, and microsatellite instability (MSI). The expression of CRHBP was found to be substantially related to the quantity of six immune cell types, as well as the interstitial and immunological scores, showing that CRHBP has a substantial impact in the TME. We also noticed a link between the IC50 of a number of anticancer medicines and the degree of CRHBP expression. CRHBP-related signaling pathways were discovered using functional enrichment. Cox regression analysis showed that CRHBP expression was an independent prognostic factor for LIHC. CRHBP has a tumor suppressor function in LIHC, according to cell and molecular biology trials. CRHBP has a significant impact on tumor immunity, treatment, and prognosis, and has the potential as a cancer treatment target and prognostic indicator.

Prognostic Lysosome-Related Biomarkers for Predicting Drug Candidates in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Insilco Analysis

Background

Lysosomes play an important role in enhancing tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, a detailed analysis of the role of lysosome-related genes could improve the poor prognosis of HCC patients.

Methods

Lysosome-associated genes were downloaded from the GO and Genome Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) databases. After analyzing lysosome-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the TCGA and GTEx cohorts, we used univariate Cox regression, LASSO-Cox regression, stepwise Cox regression, and multivariate Cox regression analyses to build a predictive risk model. The ICGC cohort was used as a test cohort for the prognostic signature's validation. It was also assessed how significantly the signature affected the tumor microenvironment (TME) and sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors. To investigate the expression of this signature in clinical samples, qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were carried out in 50 normal tissues and 59 HCC tissues.

Results

A total of 894 lysosome-associated genes were obtained. After identifying 113 lysosome-associated DEGs, we constructed a five-gene prognostic signature (RRAGD, AP1M2, CRHBP, NCSTN, and SLCO4C1) that can be effectively applied to the prognostic classification of HCC patients in TCGA and ICGC cohorts. Additionally, we discovered that this signature can affect the proportion of macrophage infiltration in TME. We also evaluated several tumor-sensitive medicines that affect this signature. Finally, we discovered that HCC tissues had lower amounts of CRHBP compared to normal tissues by the qRT-PCR and IHC assay.

Conclusion

We developed and validated a predictive signature of five lysosome-related genes for HCC patients and verified the downregulation of CRHBP expression in clinical samples, which may provide fresh perspectives for customized immunotherapy.