Expression profiling of ubiquitin-related genes in LKB1 mutant lung adenocarcinoma

Establishment and validation of a ubiquitination-related gene signature associated with prognosis in pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma

Background

Patients with pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have varied prognoses that depend on numerous variables. However, additional research is required to uncover the latent impact of ubiquitination-related genes (URGs) on determining PDAC patients' prognoses.

Methods

The URGs clusters were discovered via consensus clustering, and the prognostic differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across clusters were utilized to develop a signature using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis of data from TCGA-PAAD. Verification analyses were conducted across TCGA-PAAD, GSE57495 and ICGC-PACA-AU to show the robustness of the signature. RT-qPCR was used to verify the expression of risk genes. Lastly, we formulated a nomogram to improve the clinical efficacy of our predictive tool.

Results

The URGs signature, comprised of three genes, was developed and was shown to be highly correlated with the prognoses of PAAD patients. The nomogram was established by combining the URGs signature with clinicopathological characteristics. We discovered that the URGs signature was remarkably superior than other individual predictors (age, grade, T stage, et al). Also, the immune microenvironment analysis indicated that ESTIMATEscore, ImmuneScores, and StromalScores were elevated in the low-risk group. The immune cells that infiltrated the tissues were different between the two groups, as did the expression of immune-related genes.

Conclusion

The URGs signature could act as the biomarker of prognosis and selecting appropriate therapeutic drugs for PDAC patients.

6-Shogaol Inhibits Oxidative Stress-Induced Rat Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Apoptosis by Regulating OXR1-p53 Axis

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is closely related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, and oxidative stress is an important cause of VSMCs' death. Inhibiting VSMCs apoptosis is an effective preventive strategy in slowing down the development of cardiovascular disease, especially for atherosclerosis. In this study, we found that oxidation resistance protein 1 (OXR1), a crucial participator for responding to oxidative stress, could modulate the expression of p53, the key regulator of cell apoptosis. Our results revealed that oxidative stress promoted VSMCs apoptosis by overexpression of the OXR1-p53 axis, and 6-shogaol (6S), a major biologically active compound in ginger, could effectively attenuate cell death by preventing the upregulated expression of the OXR1-p53 axis. Quantitative proteomics analysis revealed that the degradation of p53 mediated by OXR1 might be related to the enhanced assembly of SCF ubiquitin ligase complexes, which is reported to closely relate to the modification of ubiquitination or neddylation and subsequent degradation of p53.

The therapeutic significance of the novel photodynamic material TPE-IQ-2O in tumors

Combination therapies based on photodynamic therapy (PDT) have received much attention in various cancers due to their strong therapeutic effects. Here, we aimed to explore the safety and effectiveness of a new mitochondria-targeting photodynamic material, TPE-IQ-2O, in combination therapies (combined with surgery or immunotherapy). The safety and effectiveness of TPE-IQ-2O PDT were verified with cytotoxicity evaluation in vitro and a zebrafish xenograft model in vivo, respectively. The effectiveness of TPE-IQ-2O PDT combined with surgery or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) was verified in tumor-bearing mice. Small animal in vivo imaging, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry were used to determine the underlying mechanism. TPE-IQ-2O PDT can not only reduce tumor recurrence in surgical treatment but also effectively improve the response to ICIs in immunotherapy without obvious toxicity. It was also found to ameliorate the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and promote the antitumor immunity induced by ICIs by increasing CD8⁺ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte accumulation. Thus, TPE-IQ-2O PDT is a safe and effective antitumor therapy that can be combined with surgery or immunotherapy.