A functional insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of the NFKB1 gene increases the risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Germline Genetic Variants of Viral Entry and Innate Immunity May Influence Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Toward a Polygenic Risk Score for Risk Stratification

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has affected all aspects of human society with a special focus on healthcare. Although older patients with preexisting chronic illnesses are more prone to develop severe complications, younger, healthy individuals might also exhibit serious manifestations. Previous studies directed to detect genetic susceptibility factors for earlier epidemics have provided evidence of certain protective variations. Following SARS-CoV-2 exposure, viral entry into cells followed by recognition and response by the innate immunity are key determinants of COVID-19 development. In the present review our aim was to conduct a thorough review of the literature on the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as key agents affecting the viral entry of SARS-CoV-2 and innate immunity. Several SNPs within the scope of our approach were found to alter susceptibility to various bacterial and viral infections. Additionally, a multitude of studies confirmed genetic associations between the analyzed genes and autoimmune diseases, underlining the versatile immune consequences of these variants. Based on confirmed associations it is highly plausible that the SNPs affecting viral entry and innate immunity might confer altered susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complex clinical consequences. Anticipating several COVID-19 genomic susceptibility loci based on the ongoing genome wide association studies, our review also proposes that a well-established polygenic risk score would be able to clinically leverage the acquired knowledge.

Inherited variant in NFκB-1 promoter is associated with increased risk of IBD in an Algerian population and modulates SOX9 binding

BACKGROUND

The link between inflammation and cancer development was intensively studied in the last decade. To date, few studies explored the association between inflammatory genes and colorectal cancer (CRC) development.

AIM

The present study aimed to evaluate the implication of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs28362491 ins/del -94 ATTG in NFκB1, rs6920220 (G/A) in TNFAIP3, and rs419598 (C/T) in IL1RN, which play a role in inflammation regulation in CRC development.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A case-control study was conducted on an Algerian cohort of 358 subjects (147 healthy people, 89 individuals affected by inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], and 122 CRC patients enrolled at the University Hospital Center Ben Badis of Constantine). SNPs genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination TaqMan assay. The rs28362491 ins/del heterozygous genotype in NFκB1 conferred an increased risk of IBD compared with ins/ins homozygous genotype, with an increase of twofold (OR = 2.34 [1.29-4.21]; 95% CI, 1.29-4.21, P value = 0.004). No significant association was detected for the other two variants. Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System performed in LoVo cells showed a significantly higher activity of the construct with ins allele of rs28362491 compared with the one harboring the del allele. Computational analysis nominated SOX9 as putative transcription factor (TF) with higher probability to bind the NFκB1 promoter at the SNP site, and we demonstrated in the in vitro assay that its overexpression modulates NFκB1 promoter activity in allele-specific manner.

CONCLUSION

We speculate that SOX9 may modulate the NFκB1 activity by binding its promoter at the SNP site in allelic specific manner.

Meta-analysis of NFKB1-94 ATTG Ins/Del Polymorphism and Risk of Breast Cancer

Background:

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for one of the most prevalent malignancies in the world. Inflammatory molecules modulate tumor microenvironment in BC that promotes tumor growth and metastasis. NF-κB (a transcription factor) that regulates multiple immune functions and acts as a crucial mediator of inflammatory responses.

Objective:

The present study is aimed to quantitatively summarize the relation of NFKB1-94 ATTG (I, insertion/D, deletion) variant and risk of BC.

Methods:

Further, the meta-analysis includes three independent case-control investigations that focus on NFKB1-94, ATTG I/D polymorphism, and BC patients. Web of Science, PubMed and Embase databases were used to retrieve relevant data. OR and 95% confidence interval of pooled studies were analyzed by using the MetaGenyo web tool.

Results:

This study revealed a high heterogeneity. In all three genetic comparison models, the NFKB1-94 ATTG I/D variant is not related to the risk of BC. Further, no publication bias on the connection between NFKB1-94 ATTG I/D variant and risk of BC was observed.

Conclusion:

To summarize, our meta-analysis demonstrates that the NFKB1-94 ATTG I/D polymorphism is not a major risk factor for BC.

Long Noncoding RNA HULC Promoter Polymorphism rs1041279 Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma upregulated long noncoding RNA (HULC), identified as an oncogene in cervical cancer, is involved in not only the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and depth of cervical invasion but also outcome. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between 3 polymorphisms (i.e., rs1041279, rs3005167, and rs7770772) in the promoter of HULC and the risk of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). The polymorphisms were genotyped using the multiplex ligase detection reaction assay. The promoter activity was measured using the dual-luciferase reporter assay kit. The rs1041279 GG genotype and G allele revealed a significantly higher risk of CSCC compared with the rs1041279 CC genotype and C allele (GG vs. CC, adjusted OR = 1.79, 95% CI, 1.17-2.73, P = 0.007; G vs. C, adjusted OR = 1.36, 95% CI, 1.09-1.69, P = 0.006). Haplotype analysis revealed that the rs3005167C-rs7770772G-rs1041279C or rs3005167C-rs7770772G-rs1041279G haplotype had a significantly higher risk of CSCC compared to the rs3005167G-rs7770772G-rs1041279C haplotype (CGC vs. GGC, OR = 2.38, 95% CI, 1.53-3.75, P < 0.001; CGG vs. GGC, OR = 3.76, 95% CI, 2.12-6.68, P < 0.001). Dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that the rs1041279 G promoter resulted in higher transcriptional activity compared with the rs1041279 C (P < 0.01). Additionally, the rs1041279 GG genotype carriers had an increased level of HULC expression (P = 0.03). These findings suggest that the HULC rs1041279 may be a useful marker for the etiology of CSCC.

Association of IRAK1 Gene Polymorphism rs3027898 With Papillary Cancer Restricted to the Thyroid Gland: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND/AIM

The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased predominantly due to an increase in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Alteration of toll-like receptor function has been reported to play a crucial role in carcinogenesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate predisposition to PTC associated with genetic markers of toll-like receptor and interleukin-1 receptor pathways involving nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-ĸB) stimulation. Specifically, the study focused on the following genes: interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1, rs3027898), NF-ĸB inhibitor alpha (NFKBIA, rs696), NF-ĸB subunit 1 (NFKB1, rs28362491), and microRNA-146a (miR-146a, rs2910164).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Forty-eight unrelated patients with papillary cancer restricted to the thyroid gland and 93 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study.

RESULTS

A strong statistically significant difference was observed between patients with PTC and controls for IRAK1 rs3027898 variant. When the statistical analysis was replicated taking into account patient's sex, the rs3027898 A allele was revealed to be the risky variant in males.

CONCLUSION

Additional studies in larger groups of patients of various origins are needed to validate these preliminary findings.

NFKB1 and Cancer: Friend or Foe?

Current evidence strongly suggests that aberrant activation of the NF-κB signalling pathway is associated with carcinogenesis. A number of key cellular processes are governed by the effectors of this pathway, including immune responses and apoptosis, both crucial in the development of cancer. Therefore, it is not surprising that dysregulated and chronic NF-κB signalling can have a profound impact on cellular homeostasis. Here we discuss NFKB1 (p105/p50), one of the five subunits of NF-κB, widely implicated in carcinogenesis, in some cases driving cancer progression and in others acting as a tumour-suppressor. The complexity of the role of this subunit lies in the multiple dimeric combination possibilities as well as the different interacting co-factors, which dictate whether gene transcription is activated or repressed, in a cell and organ-specific manner. This review highlights the multiple roles of NFKB1 in the development and progression of different cancers, and the considerations to make when attempting to manipulate NF-κB as a potential cancer therapy.

Genetic variation on the NFKB1 genes associates with the outcomes of HCV infection among Chinese Han population

AIM

To investigate whether nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NFKB1) gene polymorphisms are associated with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in a Chinese high-risk population.

METHODS

In this case-control study, 984 HCV-uninfected controls, 221 infected individuals with spontaneous HCV clearance, and 456 with persistent HCV infection were enrolled. Rs28362491 and rs72696119 were genotyped using the ABI TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. The functional annotation of the identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were further evaluated by bioinformatics analysis.

RESULTS

Significant differences were observed among the three groups (P < 0.001) in terms of the frequency of rs28362491 SNP. In logistic regression analysis, rs28362491-ATTG deleted (D) was associated with a significantly increased risk of HCV infection compared to the major-type rs28362491-ATTG inserted (I) (dominant model: adjusted OR = 1.332, 95% CI = 1.059-1.674, P = 0.014; additive model: adjusted OR = 1.181, 95% CI = 1.021-1.367, P = 0.025), after adjusting for age, gender, and route of infection. Based on the in silico prediction, the RegulomeDB score for SNP rs28362491 was 3a, indicating that it can potentially regulate the transcription and expression of NFKB1 gene.

CONCLUSION

NFKB1 rs28362491-D allele was functionally associated with the increased risk of susceptibility to HCV infection in the Chinese Han population.

An updated meta-analysis of 37 case-control studies on the association between NFKB1 -94ins/del ATTG promoter polymorphism and cancer susceptibility

As a cell survival signal, nuclear factor-kappa B (NFKB) is associated with the pathogenesis of numerous malignancies. According to several studies, NFKB1 −94ins/del ATTG promoter polymorphism is associated with the risk of different malignancies, but the results were not consistent. Therefore, we performed an updated meta-analysis based on 37 case-control studies from 33 articles (16,271 cases and 22,781 controls) to clarify the relationship. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to determine the strength of the association. We found that the NFKB1 −94ins/del ATTG promoter polymorphism was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to cancer in the recessive (II vs. ID+DD, OR = 1.140, 95% CI = 1.029–1.263, p =0.012), homozygote (II vs. DD, OR = 1.259, 95% CI = 1.068–1.485, p =0.006), and allele (I vs. D, OR = 1.109, 95% CI = 1.025–1.199, p =0.010) genetic models. The subgroup analysis for ethnicity found that the NFKB1 −94ins/del ATTG promoter polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased susceptibility to cancer in Asians and with a decreased susceptibility in Caucasians. The stratified analyses revealed significant associations between the polymorphism and increased susceptibility to ovarian cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Rediscovery of NF-κB signaling in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: How genetic defects of NF-κB pathway interplay with EBV in driving oncogenesis?

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a unique EBV-associated subtype of head and neck cancer, which has the highest incidence in Southern China and eastern South Asia. The interaction between genetic risk factors and environmental challenge, have been considered to contribute to the development of nasopharyngeal carcinogenesis. Constitutive activation of NF-κB signaling has been seen in NPC tissues and is associated with unfavorable prognosis. Recently, several whole exome sequencing study consistently revealed that high frequency mutations of NF-κB pathway negative regulators is common in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which reinforce the importance of NF-κB driving oncogenesis. This review focuses on the current state of research in role of NF-κB in NPC carcinogenesis. We summarized the newly identified loss of function (LOF) mutations on NF-κB negative regulators leading to it's activation bypass LMP-1 stimulation. We discussed the critical role of NF-κB activation in immortalization and transformation of nasopharygeal epithelium. We also depicted how NF-κB signaling mediated chronic inflammation contribute to persistent EBV infection, immune evasion of EBV infected cells, metabolic reprogramming, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) formation in NPC. Lastly, we discussed the clinical resonance of targeting NF-κB for NPC precise therapy.

Nuclear factor-kappa B1 inhibits early apoptosis of glioma cells by promoting the expression of Bcl-2

Glioma is one of the most common types of adult primary brain tumors, and the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. Nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NF-κB1) is involved in a variety of malignancies and is widely expressed in malignant tumors. However, the expression of NF-κB1 in different grades of glioma, the correlation between NF-κB1 and Bcl-2 expressions in gliomas, and the research between NF-κB1 and early apoptosis of glioma cells have not been reported so far. In this study, the expression level of NF-κB1 in 31 human glioma tissues and six nonneoplastic brain tissues was determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that the expression of NF-κB1 in human glioma tissues and glioma cell lines, SHG44 and U87, was significantly higher compared to noncancerous brain tissues and that the expression increased with increasing degrees of tumor malignancy. Similar results were demonstrated with the expression of Bcl-2 in the same human glioma specimens. Flow cytometry results showed that inhibition of NF-κB1 expression significantly promoted apoptosis of SHG44 and U87 in human glioma cells. Western blot analysis further confirmed decreased expression of Bcl-2 protein after inhibition of NF-κB1 protein expression. Taken together, NF-κB1 overexpression inhibits early apoptosis of glioma cells and high expression of NF-κB1 promotes the expression of antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2. Therefore, our study results provide a theoretical basis for antiapoptotic mechanism of tumor cells in association with NF-κB1.

Association of NF-κB polymorphisms with clinical outcome of non-medullary thyroid carcinoma

The NF-κB inflammatory pathway plays a major role in cancer development and clinical progression. Activation of NF-κB signaling is promoted by NFKB1 and inhibited by NFKBIA. The present study aimed to determine the relevance of NFKB1 rs4648068 and NFKBIA rs2233406 genetic variants for non-medullary thyroid cancer (NMTC) susceptibility, progression and clinical outcome. This case-control and cohort study consists of a Romanian discovery cohort (157 patients and 258 controls) and a Dutch validation cohort (138 patients and 188 controls). In addition, patient cohorts were analyzed further for the association of genetic variants with clinical parameters. Functional studies were performed on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. No associations were observed between the studied genetic variants and TC susceptibility. Although no statistically significant associations with clinical parameters were observed for NFKB1 rs4648068, the heterozygous genotype of NFKBIA rs2233406 was correlated with decreased radioactive iodide sensitivity requiring higher cumulative dosages to achieve clinical response. These findings were discovered in the Romanian cohort (P < 0.001) and confirmed in the Dutch cohort (P = 0.01). Functional studies revealed that this NFKBIA rs2233406 genotype was associated with elevated TLR4-mediated IL-1β production. In conclusion, genetic variation in NFKBIA, an inhibitor of NF-κB signaling, is associated with clinical response to RAI therapy and with increased production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β, providing a potential mechanism for the observed clinical associations. These data suggest that NF-κB signaling is involved in NMTC pathogenesis and that the inflammatory tumor microenvironment could contribute to RAI resistance.

NFKB1 -94insertion/deletion ATTG polymorphism and cancer risk: Evidence from 50 case-control studies

Nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NF-κB1) is a pleiotropic transcription factor and key contributor to tumorigenesis in many types of cancer. Numerous studies have addressed the association of a functional insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism (-94ins/delATTG, rs28362491) in the promoter region of NFKB1 gene with the risk of various types of cancer; however, their conclusions have been inconsistent. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to reevaluate this association. PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), and WANFANG databases were searched through July 2016 to retrieve relevant studies. After careful assessment, 50 case-control studies, comprising 18,299 cases and 23,484 controls were selected. Crude odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to determine the strength of the association. The NFKB1 -94ins/delATTG polymorphism was associated with a decreased risk of overall cancer in the homozygote model (DD vs. II): OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.64-0.87); heterozygote model (ID vs. II): OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.83-0.99; recessive model (DD vs. ID/II): OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.71-0.91; dominant model (ID/DD vs. II): OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.78-0.95; and allele contrast model (D vs. I): OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.81-0.95). Subgroup and stratified analyses revealed decreased risks for lung cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and oral squamous cell carcinoma, and this association held true also for Asians (especially Chinese subjects) in hospital-based studies, and in studies with quality scores less than nine. Well-designed, large-scale case-control studies are needed to confirm these results.

Association between IL-27 gene polymorphisms and risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma

AIM

IL-27 has potent antitumor effects. We aimed to examine the contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms in IL-27 to the risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

MATERIALS & METHODS

 IL-27 rs153109 and rs17855750 were analyzed in 496 PTC patients and 629 controls, using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

RESULTS

The rs153109 AG and AG/GG genotypes were significantly associated with increased risks for PTC. Significantly increased PTC risk was also associated with rs17855750 GT and GT/GG genotypes. Combined genotypes of rs153109 AG/GG and rs17855750 GT/GG increased the risk of PTC (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

These findings showed that IL-27 rs153109 and rs17855750 might be related to the tumorigenesis of PTC.

Genetic association between NFKB1 -94 ins/del ATTG Promoter Polymorphism and cancer risk: a meta-analysis of 42 case-control studies

Accumulating evidences have indicated that the functional -94 ins/del ATTG polymorphism in the promoter region of human nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NFKB1) gene may be associated with cancer risk. However, some studies yielded conflicting results. To clarify precise association, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 42 case-control studies involving 43,000 subjects (18,222 cases and 24,778 controls). The overall results suggested that the -94 ins/del ATTG polymorphism had a decreased risk for cancer, reaching significant levels in five genetic models (dominant model: OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.79–0.95, P = 0.002; recessive model: OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.74–0.94, P = 0.003; homozygous model: OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.66–0.90, P = 0.001; heterozygous model: OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.83–0.98, P = 0.011; allelic model: OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.83–0.96, P = 0.002). Furthermore, the -94 ins/del ATTG polymorphism could confer a decreased or increased risk for cancer development among Asians and Caucasians, respectively. Additionally, the stratification analysis revealed a significant association between the variant and decreased risk of oral, ovarian, and nasopharyngeal cancer in Asians. After we adjusted p values using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate method to account for multiple comparisons, these associations remained.