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Liu X, Ren B, Fang Y, Ren J, Wang X, Gu M, Zhou F, Xiao R, Luo X, You L, Zhao Y. Comprehensive analysis of bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data reveals a novel signature associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress, lipid metabolism, and liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer. J Transl Med 2024; 22:393. [PMID: 38685045 PMCID: PMC11057100 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-024-05158-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal malignancy with high probability of recurrence and distant metastasis. Liver metastasis is the predominant metastatic mode developed in most pancreatic cancer cases, which seriously affects the overall survival rate of patients. Abnormally activated endoplasmic reticulum stress and lipid metabolism reprogramming are closely related to tumor growth and metastasis. This study aims to construct a prognostic model based on endoplasmic reticulum stress and lipid metabolism for pancreatic cancer, and further explore its correlation with tumor immunity and the possibility of immunotherapy. METHODS Transcriptomic and clinical data are acquired from TCGA, ICGC, and GEO databases. Potential prognostic genes were screened by consistent clustering and WGCNA methods, and the whole cohort was randomly divided into training and testing groups. The prognostic model was constructed by machine learning method in the training cohort and verified in the test, TCGA and ICGC cohorts. The clinical application of this model and its relationship with tumor immunity were analyzed, and the relationship between endoplasmic reticulum stress and intercellular communication was further explored. RESULTS A total of 92 characteristic genes related to endoplasmic reticulum stress, lipid metabolism and liver metastasis were identified in pancreatic cancer. We established and validated a prognostic model for pancreatic cancer with 7 signatures, including ADH1C, APOE, RAP1GAP, NPC1L1, P4HB, SOD2, and TNFSF10. This model is considered to be an independent prognosticator and is a more accurate predictor of overall survival than age, gender, and stage. TIDE score was increased in high-risk group, while the infiltration levels of CD8+ T cells and M1 macrophages were decreased. The number and intensity of intercellular communication were increased in the high ER stress group. CONCLUSIONS We constructed and validated a novel prognostic model for pancreatic cancer, which can also be used as an instrumental variable to predict the prognosis and immune microenvironment. In addition, this study revealed the effect of ER stress on cell-cell communication in the tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohong Liu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo Ren
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Fang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Ren
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Xing Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Minzhi Gu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Feihan Zhou
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruiling Xiao
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiyuan Luo
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei You
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yupei Zhao
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Research in Pancreatic Tumor, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
- National Science and Technology Key Infrastructure On Translational Medicine in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100023, People's Republic of China.
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Henderson EA, Ivey A, Choi SJ, Santiago S, McNitt D, Liu TW, Lukomski S, Boone BA. Group A streptococcal collagen-like protein 1 restricts tumor growth in murine pancreatic adenocarcinoma and inhibits cancer-promoting neutrophil extracellular traps. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1363962. [PMID: 38515758 PMCID: PMC10955053 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1363962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer associated with an immunosuppressive environment. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were initially described in the context of infection but have more recently been implicated in contributing to the tolerogenic immune response in PDAC. Thus, NETs are an attractive target for new therapeutic strategies. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) has developed defensive strategies to inhibit NETs. Methods In the present work, we propose utilizing intra-tumoral GAS injection to stimulate anti-tumor activity by inhibiting cancer-promoting NETs. Mice harboring Panc02 or KPC subcutaneous tumors injected with three different M-type GAS strains. Tumors and spleens were harvested at the endpoint of the experiments to assess bacterial colonization and systemic spread, while sera were analyzed for humoral responses toward the streptococcal antigens, especially the M1 and Scl1 proteins. Role of the streptococcal collagen-like protein 1 (Scl1) in anti-PDAC activity was assessed in vivo after intratumoral injection with M1 GAS wild-type, an isogenic mutant strain devoid of Scl1, or a complemented mutant strain with restored scl1 expression. In addition, recombinant Scl1 proteins were tested for NET inhibition using in vitro and ex vivo assays assessing NET production and myeloperoxidase activity. Results Injection of three different M-type GAS strains reduced subcutaneous pancreatic tumor volume compared to control in two different murine PDAC models. Limitation of tumor growth was dependent on Scl1, as isogenic mutant strain devoid of Scl1 did not reduce tumor size. We further show that Scl1 plays a role in localizing GAS to the tumor site, thereby limiting the systemic spread of bacteria and off-target effects. While mice did elicit a humoral immune response to GAS antigens, tested sera were weakly immunogenic toward Scl1 antigen following intra-tumoral treatment with Scl1-expressing GAS. M1 GAS inhibited NET formation when co-cultured with neutrophils while Scl1-devoid mutant strain did not. Recombinant Scl1 protein inhibited NETs ex vivo in a dose-dependent manner by suppressing myeloperoxidase activity. Discussion Altogether, we demonstrate that intra-tumoral GAS injections reduce PDAC growth, which is facilitated by Scl1, in part through inhibition of cancer promoting NETs. This work offers a novel strategy by which NETs can be targeted through Scl1 protein and potentiates its use as a cancer therapeutic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily A. Henderson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Abby Ivey
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Soo Jeon Choi
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Stell Santiago
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Dudley McNitt
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Tracy W. Liu
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Slawomir Lukomski
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Brian A. Boone
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- Department of Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
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Henderson EA, Ivey A, Choi S, Santiago S, McNitt D, Liu TW, Lukomski S, Boone BA. Group A Streptococcal Collagen-like Protein 1 Restricts Tumor Growth in Murine Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and Inhibits Cancer-Promoting Neutrophil Extracellular Traps. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.17.576060. [PMID: 38293049 PMCID: PMC10827155 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.17.576060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer associated with an immunosuppressive environment. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were initially described in the context of infection but have more recently been implicated in contributing to the tolerogenic immune response in PDAC. Thus, NETs are an attractive target for new therapeutic strategies. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) has developed defensive strategies to inhibit NETs. In the present work, we propose utilizing intra-tumoral GAS injection to stimulate anti-tumor activity by inhibiting cancer-promoting NETs. Injection of three different M-type GAS strains reduced subcutaneous pancreatic tumor volume compared to control in two different murine PDAC models. Limitation of tumor growth was dependent on streptococcal collagen-like protein 1 (Scl1), as isogenic mutant strain devoid of Scl1 did not reduce tumor size. We further show that Scl1 plays a role in localizing GAS to the tumor site, thereby limiting the systemic spread of bacteria and off-target effects. While mice did elicit a humoral immune response to GAS antigens, tested sera were negative toward Scl1 antigen following intra-tumoral treatment with Scl1-expressing GAS. M1 GAS inhibited NET formation when co-cultured with neutrophils while Scl1-devoid mutant strain did not. Recombinant Scl1 protein inhibited NETs ex vivo in a dose-dependent manner by suppressing myeloperoxidase activity. Altogether, we demonstrate that intra-tumoral GAS injections reduce PDAC growth, which is facilitated by Scl1, in part through inhibition of cancer promoting NETs. This work offers a novel strategy by which NETs can be targeted through Scl1 protein and potentiates its use as a cancer therapeutic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily A. Henderson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Abby Ivey
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Soo Choi
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Stell Santiago
- Department of Pathology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Dudley McNitt
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Tracy W. Liu
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Slawomir Lukomski
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
| | - Brian A. Boone
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
- Department of Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
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