T cell factor-4 functions as a co-activator to promote NF-κB-dependent MMP-15 expression in lung carcinoma cells

NF-κB p65 and TCF-4 interactions are associated with LPS-stimulated IL-6 secretion of macrophages

Proinflammatory cytokine plays a central role in host defense and acute inflammatory responses. Both positive and negative correlations of NF-κB and Wnt/β-catenin pathways have been reported depending on cell types in response to inflammatory stimuli for IL-6 cytokine production. Macrophages are vital to the regulation of immune responses and the development of inflammation, but the crosstalk between two pathways has not been elucidated so far in macrophages. We observed a positive cross-regulation between the NF-κB and Wnt/β-catenin pathways for IL-6 production in human macrophages. To verify the functional validity of this interaction, LY294002 or PNU74654, representative blockers of each pathway, were treated. IL-6 secretion was reduced to the basal level by both inhibitor treatments, even when stimulated by LPS. We also found that NF-κB p65 migrated to the nucleus and interacted with the transcription factor TCF-4 in macrophages upon LPS stimulation.

Organoid modeling reveals the tumorigenic potential of the alveolar progenitor cell state

Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells, the epithelial progenitor cells of the distal lung, are known to be the prominent cell of origin for lung adenocarcinoma. The regulatory programs that control chromatin and gene expression in AT2 cells during the early stages of tumor initiation are not well understood. Here, we dissected the response of AT2 cells to Kras activation and p53 loss (KP) using combined single cell RNA and ATAC sequencing in an established tumor organoid system. Multi-omic analysis showed that KP tumor organoid cells exhibit two major cellular states: one more closely resembling AT2 cells (SPC-high) and another with loss of AT2 identity (hereafter, Hmga2-high). These cell states are characterized by unique transcription factor (TF) networks, with SPC-high states associated with TFs known to regulate AT2 cell fate during development and homeostasis, and distinct TFs associated with the Hmga2-high state. CD44 was identified as a marker of the Hmga2-high state, and was used to separate organoid cultures for functional comparison of these two cell states. Organoid assays and orthotopic transplantation studies indicated that SPC-high cells have higher tumorigenic capacity in the lung microenvironment compared to Hmga2-high cells. These findings highlight the utility of understanding chromatin regulation in the early oncogenic versions of epithelial cells, which may reveal more effective means to intervene the progression of Kras-driven lung cancer.

The positive regulatory loop of TCF4N/p65 promotes glioblastoma tumourigenesis and chemosensitivity

Background

NF‐κB signaling is widely linked to the pathogenesis and treatment resistance in cancers. Increasing attention has been paid to its anti‐oncogenic roles, due to its key functions in cellular senescence and the senescence‐associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Therefore, thoroughly understanding the function and regulation of NF‐κB in cancers is necessary prior to the application of NF‐κB inhibitors.

Methods

We established glioblastoma (GBM) cell lines expressing ectopic TCF4N, an isoform of the β‐catenin interacting transcription factor TCF7L2, and evaluated its functions in GBM tumorigenesis and chemotherapy in vitro and in vivo. In p65 knock‐out or phosphorylation mimic (S536D) cell lines, the dual role and correlation of TCF4N and NF‐κB signaling in promoting tumorigenesis and chemosensitivity was investigated by in vitro and in vivo functional experiments. RNA‐seq and computational analysis, immunoprecipitation and ubiquitination assay, minigene splicing assay and luciferase reporter assay were performed to identify the underlying mechanism of positive feedback regulation loop between TCF4N and the p65 subunit of NF‐κB. A eukaryotic cell‐penetrating peptide targeting TCF4N, 4N, was used to confirm the therapeutic significance.

Results

Our results indicated that p65 subunit phosphorylation at Ser 536 (S536) and nuclear accumulation was a promising prognostic marker for GBM, and endowed the dual functions of NF‐κB in promoting tumorigenesis and chemosensitivity. p65 S536 phosphorylation and nuclear stability in GBM was regulated by TCF4N. TCF4N bound p65, induced p65 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, inhibited its ubiquitination/degradation, and subsequently promoted NF‐κB activity. p65 S536 phosphorylation was essential for TCF4N‐led senescence‐independent SASP, GBM tumorigenesis, tumor stem‐like cell differentiation and chemosensitivity. Activation of p65 was closely connected to alterative splicing of TCF4N, a likely positive feedback regulation loop between TCF4N and p65 in GBM. 4N increased chemosensitivity, highlighting a novel anti‐cancer strategy.

Conclusion

Our study defined key roles of TCF4N as a novel regulator of NF‐κB through mutual regulation with p65 and provided a new avenue for GBM inhibition.

An MMP-based risk score strongly distinguishes prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma after resection

Aim: To first explore the prognostic value of MMP11 and MMP15 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: MMP11/MMP15 expression was immunohistochemically detected and correlated with clinicopathologic variables and survival and confirmed in publicly available databases. An MMP-based risk score (MMPRS) was established. Results: Tumoral MMP11/MMP15 expression was higher and univariately associated with crucial clinicopathologic parameters, overall survival and disease-free survival in all patients and/or many subsets. Multivariately, MMP11/MMP15 expression remained significant. Their overexpression and prognostic value were confirmed in the Ualcan and Kaplan-Meier plotter databases. Critically, the novel MMPRS integrating MMP11, MMP15 and tumor-node-metastasis stage identified subgroups with the best and worst prognoses, with much higher predictive power. Conclusion: MMP11 and MMP15 served as prognosticators in hepatocellular carcinoma. MMPRS might work more accurately.

Dissecting the cellular landscape and transcriptome network in viral myocarditis by single-cell RNA sequencing

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis is commonly employed to study viral pathogenesis in mice. Chronically affected mice may develop dilated cardiomyopathy, which may involve the mediation of immune and nonimmune cells. To dissect this complexity, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on heart cells from healthy and myocarditic mice, leading us to note significant proportions of myeloid cells, T cells, and fibroblasts. Although the transcriptomes of myeloid cells were mainly of M2 phenotype, the Th17 cells, CTLs, and Treg cells had signatures critical for cytotoxic functions. Fibroblasts were heterogeneous expressing genes important in fibrosis and regulation of inflammation and immune responses. The intercellular communication networks revealed unique interactions and signaling pathways in the cardiac cellulome, whereas myeloid cells and T cells had upregulated unique transcription factors modulating cardiac remodeling functions. Together, our data suggest that M2 cells, T cells, and fibroblasts may cooperatively or independently participate in the pathogenesis of viral myocarditis.

TNIK influence the effects of antipsychotics on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

RationaleTraf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK), a member of germinal center kinase (GCK) family, has been implicated as a risk factor in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as the action of antipsychotics. TNIK is an essential activator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway which has been identified involved in the mechanism underlying the effects of antipsychotics. Thus, the effects of TNIK on antipsychotics may be achieved by influencing Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway proteins.Objectives and methodsIn the current study, the effects of up- or downregulated TNIK on β-catenin, T-cell factor 4 (TCF-4), glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β), and phosphorylated GSK3β (p-GSK3β) were examined in the human glioma U251 cells. Then, we observed the effects of antipsychotics (clozapine and risperidone) on the above proteins and evaluated the role of differentially expressed TNIK on antipsychotic-treated cell groups.ResultsThe result showed that clozapine treatment decreased β-catenin and TCF-4 levels in U251 cells, and risperidone had the similar effects on β-catenin and p-GSK3β. The downregulated TNIK using siRNA impeded the regulation of antipsychotics on Wnt pathway proteins via increasing the expression levels of TCF-4, β-catenin, or p-GSK3β, whereas the upregulated TNIK made no significant change.ConclusionsThe influence of TNIK on the effects of antipsychotics may be partly through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

miR-137 targets the inhibition of TCF4 to reverse the progression of osteoarthritis through the AMPK/NF-κB signaling pathway

Purpose: To explore the regulatory mechanism of miR-137 and transcription factor 4 (TCF4) in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA).

Patients and Methods: The expressions of miR-137 and TCF4 were detected in OA cartilage tissue, chondrocytes and OA rat cartilage tissue. miR-137 and TCF4 were up-regulated or down-regulated and transfected into chondrocytes and OA rat cartilage tissue. The gene expression, protein level, cell proliferation, apoptosis and inflammatory factors were detected, respectively. LPS and anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) on the right knee were used to induce chondrocyte inflammation and establish rat OA model, respectively.

Results: miR-137 was low expressed in cartilage tissue of OA group, while TCF4 expression and protein level were significantly higher, showing significant negative correlation. In LPS group, chondrocyte activity was significantly inhibited, cell apoptosis ability was significantly enhanced, and the levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 were significantly increased. However, the above results were significantly improved after the up-regulation of miR-137 or down-regulation of TCF4. Double luciferase report revealed that miR-137 and TCF4 had targeted relationship. LPS induced activation of AMPK/NF-κB pathway and higher level of apoptosis. AMPK/NF-κB pathway inhibitor C could inhibit activation of this pathway, and up-regulation of miR-137 or down-regulation of TCF4 could significantly weaken the regulation of LPS on the pathway and apoptosis. Analysis of OA rat model showed that over-expression of miR-137 could inhibit up-regulation of inflammatory factors and activation of AMPK/NF-κB pathway.

Conclusion: miR-137 targets the inhibition of TCF4 to reverse the progression of OA through the AMPK/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Matrix metalloproteinase-7, -8, -9, -15, and -25 in minor salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma

Knowledge on the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is limited. MMPs are capable of degrading almost all extracellular and pericellular components to promote invasion and metastasis. This study aimed to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of MMP-7, -8, -9, -15, and -25 in ACC and to relate the results with clinicopathological factors and survival. The study included 68 patients with minor salivary gland ACC treated at the Helsinki University Hospital (Helsinki, Finland) in 1974-2012. Samples from 52 patients were available, consisting of 44 primary tumours and eight recurrent tumours. We scored immunostaining of MMP-7, -8, -9, -15, and -25 and analysed the immunoscore against clinical and pathological parameters using statistical correlation test. MMP-9 immunoexpression in pseudocysts of ACC and in peritumoural inflammatory cells associated with better survival and fewer treatment failures. High tumoural MMP-7 and -25 associated with better survival. High tumoural MMP-15 associated with poorer survival and high tumoural MMP-9 with advanced stage and regional recurrences. Tumour cells did not show MMP-8 immunopositivity. These results suggest that MMP-9 may contribute to ACC carcinogenesis in different roles. MMP-7, -8, and -9 can stimulate signalling pathways that may promote tissue modulation and metastatic potential. MMP-15 and -25 may reflect prognosis.

Long non-coding RNAs: How to regulate the metastasis of non-small-cell lung cancer

Non–small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become the most lethal human cancer because of the high rate of metastasis. Hence, clarifying the molecular mechanism underlying NSCLC metastasis is very important to improve the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Long non‐coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules longer than 200 nucleotides, which can participate in diverse biological processes. About 18% of human LncRNAs were recently found to be associated with tumours. Many studies indicated that aberrant expression of LncRNAs played key roles in the progression and metastasis of NSCLC. According to the function in tumours, LncRNAs can be divided into two classes: oncogenic LncRNAs and tumour‐suppressor LncRNAs. In this review, we summarized the main molecular mechanism of LncRNAs regulating NSCLC metastasis, including three aspects: (a) LncRNAs interact with miRNAs as ceRNAs; (b) LncRNAs bind with target proteins; and (c) LncRNAs participate in the transduction of different signal pathways. Then, LncRNAs can exert their function to regulate the metastasis of NSCLC through influencing the progression of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the properties of cancer stem cell (CSC). But, it is necessary to do some further research to demonstrate the LncRNAs particular regulatory mechanism of inhibiting the metastasis of NSCLC and explore new drugs targeting LncRNAs.

The Impact of High-mobility Group Box Mutation of T-cell Factor 4 on Its Genomic Binding Pattern in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

T-cell factor 4 (TCF-4) is determined to play a crucial role in Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway activation. The mutations and alternative splice isoforms of TCF-4 can cause cancers and other diseases. The high-mobility group (HMG) box domain of TCF-4 contributes to interacting with DNA motif for transcriptional regulation. However, the impact of the mutations within HMG box of TCF-4 on the genomic binding pattern is poorly investigated. Herein, we generated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549 with stably overexpressed TCF-4 with HMG box hot spot mutation (10th exon partial deletion), and conducted TCF-4 and β-catenin chromatin immunoprecipitation sequence to explore the differential genomic binding patterns. Our results revealed that TCF-4 lost 19365 but gained 1724 peaks, and β-catenin lost 4035 but gained 5287 peaks upon mutant TCF-4 compared with the wild type (log2FC > 1 or < -1, FDR<0.01). The transcriptional levels of the genes associated with these differential peaks such as H3F3C, KRT1, KRT14, MMp1, and MMP15 were all found to strongly change responding to TCF-4 binding (P < 0.05). Furthermore, A549 cells with TCF-4 mutation displayed a more compromising tumor characterization on cell proliferation and invasion. Our data determined the important role of TCF-4 in gene transcription controlling and provided the gain function evidence of TCF-4 caused by the TCF-4 mutation in NSCLC.

The prognostic value of matrix metalloproteinase-7 and matrix metalloproteinase-15 in acute myeloid leukemia

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases, are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. We analyzed 11 data sets from Gene Expression Omnibus Database and found that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed in multiple carcinomas. GSE13204 showed that MMP7 and MMP15 were overexpressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. The Cancer Genome Atlas data set exhibited that high expression of MMP7 or MMP15 in bone marrow (BM) of AML patients predicted poor overall survival. The χ ² test results indicated that high expression level of MMP7 and MMP15 were correlated with high-risk stratification and high BM blast cell percentage in AML patients. To confirm these findings, we performed reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and found that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed in three AML cell lines. Further study showed that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed both in BM and peripheral blood in collected AML samples compared with healthy individuals. Additionally, long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) microarray of BM samples of AML patients revealed that multiple lncRNAs were correlated with MMP7 and MMP15, suggesting that lncRNAs might be involved in the pathogenesis of AML via modulating MMPs. In conclusion, our study uncovers the potential roles of MMP7 and MMP15 in the prognosis of AML.

LncRNA MAFG-AS1 facilitates the migration and invasion of NSCLC cell via sponging miR-339-5p from MMP15

Non-small-cell carcinoma (NSCLC) is the most common cancer along with high mortality rate worldwide. In the present study, our data showed that lncRNA MAF BZIP Transcription Factor G Antisense RNA 1 (MAFG-AS1) was over-expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of MAFG-AS1 promoted the migration, invasion and enhanced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of NSCLC cell. In addition, miR-339-5p was predicted to be a target of MAFG-AS1 and the level of miR-339-5p was down-regulated in NSCLC. Over-expression of MAFG-AS1 significantly decreased the level of miR-339-5p in NSCLC cell. Moreover, the matrix metalloproteinase 15 (MMP15) was identified to be a target of miR-339-5p. The level of MMP15 was negatively regulated by miR-339-5p whereas positively controlled by MAFG-AS1. In addition, up-regulation of miR-339-5p neutralized the promoting impact of MAFG-AS1 on the migration, invasion and EMT of NSCLC cell. Finally, the xenograft model suggested that MAFG-AS1 promoted the metastasis of NSCLC cell in vivo. Altogether, we proved that MAFG-AS1-miR-339-5p-MMP15 axis might be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with NSCLC.

Identifying a Membrane-Type 2 Matrix Metalloproteinase-Targeting Peptide for Human Lung Cancer Detection and Targeting Chemotherapy with Functionalized Mesoporous Silica

Membrane-type 2 matrix metalloproteinase (MT2-MMP) is critical for the aggressive lung tumor growth, progression, and metastasis. Here, to obtain the peptides in binding specifically to MT2-MMP, a phage-displayed 12 peptide library was used and the affinity of peptides toward MT2-MMP was identified by multitest methods. The results showed that a specific MT2-MMP-targeting peptide with the sequence of HHRLHSAPPPQA (MT2-AF5p) exhibited a high specificity and strong affinity against lung tumors. To further achieve specific targeting and precise therapeutic effects, MT2-AF5p was conjugated onto fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles (FMSN-NH₂) and loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to construct a chemotherapeutic drug-targeting delivery system (DOX-loaded FMSN@MT2-AF5p). The DOX-loaded FMSN@MT2-AF5p achieved a boost in DOX release in an acidic environment. Most importantly, FMSN@MT2-AF5p efficiently targeted the tumor area, as seen in the fluorescent imaging ex vivo. The novel peptide-functionalized nanoparticles with a good biocompatibility are promising for clinical use as a precise targeting nanodrug for lung cancer diagnosis and therapy.

A serine in exon 11 determines the full transcriptional activity of TCF-4 in lung carcinoma cells

Activation of T cell factor-4 (TCF-4) is causally linked to the development of lung carcinoma, while the mechanism of sequence-dependent TCF-4 activity is still obscure. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), here, we demonstrated that sequences of exon 11 in TCF-4 were present in lung carcinoma cells but not in normal lung epithelial cells. Loss of exon 11 in TCF-4 inhibited TCF-4-induced cell growth of lung carcinoma and prolonged the survival time of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor-bearing mice. Mechanistically, loss of exon 11 in TCF-4 attenuated the binding activity between TCF-4 protein and its canonical binding site, inhibited TOP/FOP luciferase activity and suppressed mRNA expression of Wnt signaling targets. By performing truncated and site-directed mutations, we further demonstrated that the 16th amino acid serine in exon 11 was responsible for TCF-4-mediated Wnt signaling. In vivo experiments indicated that a mutation of the 16th amino acid serine in exon 11 of TCF-4 could mimic the anti-tumor effect of Wnt signaling inhibitor. Taken together, we identified a serine determining the transcriptional activity of TCF-4 in lung carcinoma cells, and sequencing of TCF-4 mRNA might be an effective strategy to evaluate the Wnt pathway activation and prognosis in lung cancer.