UBE2C serves as a prognosis biomarker of uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma via promoting tumor migration and invasion

A novel mitochondrial-related risk model for predicting prognosis and immune checkpoint blockade therapy response in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma

Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma (UCEC) represents a common malignant neoplasm in women, with its prognosis being intricately associated with available therapeutic interventions. In the past few decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in the role of mitochondria within the context of UCEC. Nevertheless, the development and application of prognostic models predicated on mitochondrial-related genes (MRGs) in UCEC remains in the exploratory stages. This study utilized RNA sequencing data and clinical information from the TCGA database to identify differentially expressed MRGs (DEMRGs) between UCEC and normal groups that are associated with overall survival (OS). Patients were randomly assigned to training and testing cohorts in a 1:1 ratio. In the training cohort, a risk model based on DEMRGs was developed using Lasso Cox regression analysis. Subsequently, patients in both cohorts were stratified into high-risk and low-risk groups based on their median risk scores. The prognostic performance of the model was validated through Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, ROC curves, and nomograms. Additionally, further analyses including functional enrichment, immune landscape assessment, prediction of response to ICB therapy, mutation profiling, and drug sensitivity analysis elucidated biological distinctions between the identified risk groups. We established a risk model incorporating eight MRGs. Patients classified within he high-risk group exhibited significantly poorer prognoses relative to those in the low-risk group. Functional enrichment analysis identified substantial differences in biological processes and signaling pathways between the high-risk and low-risk cohorts. Immune landscape analysis showed that patients with elevated risk scores exhibited significant immunosuppressive and immune evasion mechanisms. Conversely, low-risk patients exhibited higher expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) family members and immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) compared to their high-risk counterparts.Consequently, low-risk patients showed greater responsiveness to immunotherapy and potential small molecule drugs, whereas high-risk patients were more susceptible to chemotherapy. The mitochondrial-related risk model formulated in this study demonstrates efficacy in predicting both prognosis and response to immunotherapy in patients with UCEC, thereby providing a scientific basis for personalized treatment strategies. Future research endeavors should focus on further validating the clinical utility of this model and investigate the specific mechanisms of the identified MRGs in UCEC.

UBE2J1 promotes ALV-A proviral DNA synthesis through the STAT3/IRF1 signaling pathway

The ubiquitin-binding enzyme E2J1 is located on the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. It plays a role in transport throughout the process of ubiquitination. In mammals, UBE2J1 can promote RNA virus replication. However, the biological function of chicken UBE2J1 is unclear. In this study, chicken UBE2J1 was cloned for the first time, and UBE2J1 overexpression and shRNA knockdown plasmids were constructed. In chicken embryo fibroblasts, overexpression of UBE2J1 promoted the replication of subtype A avian leukosis virus, while knockdown of UBE2J1 inhibited the replication of ALV-A virus. In addition, we divided virus replication into virus adsorption and invasion into DF-1 cells, synthesis of proviral DNA, and release of viral particles. UBE2J1 promoted the replication of ALV-A virus by promoting the synthesis of proviral DNA. This result was caused by UBE2J1 inhibiting the production of interferon by inhibiting the STAT3/IRF1 pathway. We mutated ser at position 184 of UBE2J1 to Gly and found that this site plays a role as the phosphorylation site of UBE2J1. We confirmed that UBE2J1 promotes ALV-A replication in chicken embryo fibroblasts by inhibiting the STAT3/IRF1 pathway. This study provides new ideas and insights into ubiquitin-related proteins and antiviral immunity.

Development and validation of a circulating tumor cells-related signature focusing on biochemical recurrence and immunotherapy response in prostate cancer

Background

Studies have shown that the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) play a key role for invasion and formation of distant metastases in prostate cancer (PCa). However, few CTCs-related genes (CRGs) have been developed for biochemical recurrence (BCR) prediction and clinical applications of PCa patients.

Materials and methods

Bioinformatics analysis with public PCa datasets were used to investigate the relationship between the differentially expressed CRGs and BCR. Lasso-COX regression analysis was used to constructed and validated a CRGs-based BCR prediction signature for PCa. Single-cell data were used to validate the expression levels of signature genes in different cell types and then explored the cell-cell communication relationships. Finally, the expression levels of signature genes were verified and the CRGs involved in immunotherapy response were further identified.

Results

Thirteen CRGs were differentially expressed and closely associated with BCR in PCa. Then we constructed and validated a BCR prediction signature for PCa patients based on 3 differentially expressed CRGs (EMID1, SPP1 and UBE2C), and the signature was an independent factor to predict BCR for PCa. Single-cell data showed the specific expression patterns of the signature genes, while the SPP1 pathway plays an important role in cell-cell communication. Further analyses suggested UBE2C was highly expressed in BCR group and high expression of UBE2C had a better response for patients who received immunotherapy. Moreover, the expression levels of UBE2C in CTCs were higher than other cells and tissues, indicated that UBE2C may affect the BCR event of PCa patients through CTCs.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrated that CRGs were significantly associated with BCR and immunotherapy efficacy in PCa and CRGs may influence the BCR event through CTCs.