Chromosome 4p16.3 variant modify bladder cancer risk in a Chinese population

Inhibiting of TACC3 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Cell Invasion and the EMT Pathway in Breast Cancer

Accumulating evidences indicate that transforming acidic coiled-coil 3 (TACC3) is a tumor-related gene, was highly expressed in a variety of human cancers, which is involved in cancer development. However, the potential role of TACC3 in breast cancer remains largely unknown. In the present study, we found that TACC3 was highly-expressed in breast cancer tissues, and its level was positively correlated with the clinical features of breast cancer patients. Specifically, TACC3 expression was significantly associated with the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, nodal status, the scarff-bloom-richardson (SBR) grade, nottingham prognostic index (NPI), age, subtypes, and triple-negative and basal-like status, suggesting that TACC3 may be a potential diagnostic indicator of breast cancer. Furthermore, functional studies have shown that inhibition of TACC3 can significantly promote the cell proliferation and viability of breast cancer cells. Moreover, TACC3 knockdown suppressed the expression of E-cadherin, but increased the expression of N-cadherin, Snail, ZEB1, and TWIST, which indicate that TACC3 may impact the migration of breast cancer cells in vitro. Taken together, these findings indicate that TACC3 may serve as a prognostic and therapeutic indicator of breast cancer.

Genetic risk scores based on risk-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms can reveal inherited risk of bladder cancer in Chinese population

Genome-wide association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with bladder cancer (BCa) risk in Caucasian and East Asian population. The objective of this study was to validate these SNPs in Chinese population and evaluate whether these SNPs could differentiate the individual inherited risk for BCa.A case-control study including 581 BCa cases and 1561 healthy controls was performed. Germline DNA samples from all individuals were genotyped for eight SNPs. Genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated for each individual based on the odds ratios and risk allele frequencies of five risk-associated SNPs.Among eight SNPs evaluated in this study, rs798766 at 4p16.3 [OR = 1.39 (1.15-1.67), P < .001], rs9642880 [OR = 1.17 (1.06-1.30), P < .001] and rs4813953 at 20p12.2 [OR = 1.09 (1.02-1.17), P = .016] were found associated with BCa risk in Chinese population. A genetic risk score was established based on five SNPs (including the above three SNPs and two other SNPs which have the consistent direction with previous reported genome-wide association study). The mean GRS was significantly higher in BCa cases than controls (1.22 vs. 1.01, P < .001). When subjects were categorized into low- (<0.8), average- (0.8-1.2), and high-risk (>1.2) groups, the likelihoods of BCa were 25.2%, 33.7% and 55.0%, respectively (P-trend < 2.2 × 10). In subgroup analyses, no significant difference was observed in mean GRS among BCa patients with different stages or grades.In conclusion, two SNPs derived from East Asian and one SNP from Caucasian were associated with BCa risk in Chinese population. These results provided additional information of genetic risks for BCa in Chinese population. Genetic risk score based on these SNPs can reveal inherited risk of BCa, and may have potential for modifying personalized cancer screening strategy.

The Rare Variant rs35356162 in UHRF1BP1 Increases Bladder Cancer Risk in Han Chinese Population

Background: Seventeen loci have been found to be associated with bladder cancer risk by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in European population. However, little is known about contribution of low-frequency and rare variants to bladder cancer susceptibility, especially in Eastern population.

Methods: We performed a three-stage case-control study including 3,399 bladder cancer patients and 4,647 controls to identify low-frequency and rare variants associated with bladder cancer risk in Han Chinese. We examined exome-array data in 1,019 bladder cancer patients and 1,008 controls in discovery stage. Two replication stages were included to validate variants identified. Bonferroni adjustment was performed to define statistical significance. Logistic regression was conducted to evaluate single marker association with bladder cancer risk. We used SKAT-O method to perform gene level-based analysis. We also conduct additional experiments to explore the underlying mechanism of filtered gene(s).

Results: We identified a novel rare coding variant (rs35356162 in UHRF1BP1: G > T, OR = 4.332, P = 3.62E-07 < 7.93E-07, Bonferroni cutoff) that increased bladder cancer risk in Han Chinese. Gene-level analysis showed a significant association of UHRF1BP1 (P = 4.47E-03) with bladder cancer risk. Experiments indicated down-regulation of UHRF1BP1 promoted migration and invasion through epithelial-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer cell lines.

Conclusion: The rare variant of UHRF1BP1, rs35356162, increases bladder cancer risk in Han Chinese and UHRF1BP1 might act as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer development and progression.

Summary: Little is known about potential contribution of low-frequency and rare variants to bladder cancer susceptibility. We performed a three-stage case-control study and identified a new rare variant, rs35356162 in UHRF1BP1, which increased bladder cancer risk in Han Chinese.

Overexpression of TACC3 in Breast Cancer Associates With Poor Prognosis

Increasing evidences suggest that transforming acidic coiled-coil protein 3 (TACC3) is associated with various types of human cancer. However, the expression of TACC3 in breast cancer tissues remains largely unknown. To identify whether TACC3 can serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry staining were utilized to detect the expression of TACC3. The mRNA and protein levels of TACC3 in breast cancer samples were novelty higher compared with nontumorous breast tissues. Immunohistochemistry results revealed TACC3 expression was significantly correlated to lymphoid nodal metastasis (P=0.035) and HER-2 status (P=0.021). The patients with high expression of TACC3 had a significantly poor prognosis compared with patients with low expression (P=0.017), especially in the patients with pathological tumor size 2-4 status (P=0.028). Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that TACC3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer patients (P=0.029). This study, first, suggested TACC3 might be an important molecular marker for diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.

Association between the TACC3 rs798766 Polymorphism and Risk of Urinary Bladder Cancer: A Synthesis Based on Current Evidence

Background

A possible association between the TACC3 rs798766 polymorphism and urinary bladder cancer risk has been indicated in published literature. We performed this meta-analysis as a synthesis of all relevant data to summarize currently available evidence and to provide estimation with increased precision.

Methods

EMBASE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Wanfang Data were searched. “rs798766” and “urinary bladder cancer” were used as the search terms. A total of 6 eligible studies were identified, in which 8194 cases and 50,165 controls were investigated. Meta-analysis was performed using extracted data. Subgroup analysis by ethnicity was also performed. Population attributable risk (PAR) was calculated.

Results

We found a significant association between rs798766[T] and increased risk of bladder cancer, allelic[T] OR = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.20–1.33. Subgroup analysis by ethnicity revealed similar results, allelic[T] OR = 1.24, 95%CI = 1.17–1.32 in Caucasian subjects and allelic[T] OR = 1.33, 95%CI = 1.21–1.46 in Asian subjects. PAR based on pooled allelic ORs and the frequency of the risk allele in control subjects was 4.63% in the overall population and 3.92% in Asians and 4.36% in Caucasians.

Conclusion

rs798766 is associated with increased risk of bladder cancer, and no ethnic difference was found.

The Functional Haplotypes of CHRM3 Modulate mRNA Expression and Associate with Bladder Cancer among a Chinese Han Population in Kaohsiung City

Bladder cancer is one of the major cancer types and both environmental factors and genetic background play important roles in its pathology. Kaohsiung is a high industrialized city in Taiwan, and here we focused on this region to evaluate the genetic effects on bladder cancer. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M3 (CHRM3) was reported as a key receptor in different cancer types. CHRM3 is located at 1q42-43 which was reported to associate with bladder cancer. Our study attempted to delineate whether genetic variants of CHRM3 contribute to bladder cancer in Chinese Han population in south Taiwan. Five selected SNPs (rs2165870, rs10802789, rs685550, rs7520974, and rs3738435) were genotyped for 30 bladder cancer patients and 60 control individuals and genetic association studies were performed. Five haplotypes (GTTAT, ATTGT, GCTAC, ACTAC, and ACCAC) were found significantly associated with low CHRM3 mRNA level and contributed to increased susceptibility of bladder cancer in Kaohsiung city after rigid 10000 consecutive permutation tests. To our knowledge, this is the first genetic association study that reveals the genetic contribution of CHRM3 gene in bladder cancer etiology.

C14orf166 is a high-risk biomarker for bladder cancer and promotes bladder cancer cell proliferation

BACKGROUND

C14orf166 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 166) plays a crucial role in some tumors, but its role in bladder cancer hasn't been explored.

METHOD

We determined C14orf166 expression in uroepithelial cell, bladder cancer cells, normal bladder tissues and bladder cancer tissues using quantitative RT-PCR and western blot, we then analyzed the correlation between C14orf166 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics in a cohort of 149 patients with bladder cancer. Finally we downregulated C14orf166 and determined its role in the proliferation of bladder cancer cell lines using MTT assay, colony formation assay and cell cycle assay.

RESULTS

We demonstrated C14orf166 was upregulated in bladder cancer cells and tissues, C14orf166 expression was significantly correlated with larger tumor size (P = 0.001), lymph node involvement (P < 0.001), histological differentiation (P < 0.001), survival time and vital states, and high C14orf166 expression correlated with poor survival, these results suggested C14orf166 served as a high-risk marker for bladder cancer. Knockdown of C14orf166 decreased the proliferation rate and colony formation ability of bladder cancer cells, and arrested cell cycle in G1/S transition. Further analysis showed that C14orf166 knockdown caused abnormal expression of key proteins for G1/S transition, such as Cyclin D1, P21, P27 and Rb phosphorylation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that C14orf166 promotes bladder cancer cell proliferation and can be a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with bladder cancer.

High expression of TACC3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma correlates with poor prognosis

To analyze the expression of the transforming acidic coiled-coil protein 3 (TACC3) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) samples, and to identify whether TACC3 can serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC, qPCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) were utilized to detect the expression of TACC3. Furthermore, cell growth, colony formation, migration ability and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers of ESCC cells in which TACC3 were knocked-down were measured. The mRNA and protein levels of TACC3 were higher in ESCC specimens compared to non-tumorous esophageal epithelial tissues. IHC results revealed TACC3 expression was significantly correlated to differentiation (p = 0.017) and lymphoid nodal status (p = 0.028). The patients with high-expression of TACC3 had a significantly poor prognosis compared to those of low-expression (p = 0.017), especially in the patients at stages I–II (p = 0.028). Multivariate analysis indicated that TACC3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients (p = 0.025). Knockdown of TACC3 inhibited the ability of cell proliferation, colony formation and migration. This study first identifies TACC3 not only as a useful biomarker for diagnose and prognosis of ESCC, but also as a potential therapeutic target for patients with ESCC.

MicroRNA-34a functions as an anti-metastatic microRNA and suppresses angiogenesis in bladder cancer by directly targeting CD44

BACKGROUND

Metastasis have considered as an important clinical obstacle in the treatment of human cancer including bladder cancer. Post-transcriptional regulation has emerged as robust effectors of metastasis. MiRNAs are involved in cancer development and progression, acting as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. In this study, we focus on it that microRNA-34a functions as an anti-metastatic microRNA and suppress angiogenesis in bladder cancer by directly targeting CD44.

METHODS

The expression of mir-34a was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Oligonucleotide and lentivirus were used to overexpress miR-34a. Tube formation assay and transwell assay were used to examine the effect on bladder cancer tube formation, migration and invasion in vitro. Animal models were used to examine the effect on metastasis and angiogenesis in vivo. Luciferase assay was carried out to verify the precise target of miR-34a.

RESULTS

We not only proved that mir-34a was significantly downregulated in bladder cancer tissues and cell lines but also that circulating miR-34a levels are reduced in bladder cancer, and their levels were positively relevance. Gain-of-function experiments investigated that increased mir-34a expression suppressed tube formation and reduced cell migration and invasion. In vivo metastasis, assays also demonstrated that overexpression of mir34a markedly inhibited bladder cancer metastasis. CD31, an endothelial cell-specific marker which stained in T24 tumors to evaluate for blood vessel density, the immunohistochemistry results showed that blood vessel quantification reduced dramatically in the T24 tumors over-expressing mir-34a. Combining with our previous studies and bioinformatics analysis, we expected that CD44 gene was a direct target of mir-34a, siRNA-mediated knockdown of CD44 partially phenocopied mir-34a overexpression suggesting that the pro-apoptotic role of mir-34a may be mediated primarily through CD44 regulation, whereas restoring the expression of CD44 attenuated the function of mir-34a in bladder cancer cells. Additionally, we identified that EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) related proteins could be regulated by mir-34a which indicated that mir-34a could partially reserve EMT.

CONCLUSION

Our study defines a major metastasis and angiogenesis suppressive role for mir-34a, a microRNA functions as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer by directly targeting CD44, which would be helpful as a therapeutic approach to block bladder cancer metastasis.

Genetic variations rs11892031 and rs401681 are associated with bladder cancer risk in a Chinese population

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of genetic variants associated with risk of bladder cancer in populations of European descent. Here, we assessed association of two of these variants, rs11892031 (2q37.1 region) and rs401681 (5p15.33 region) in a Chinese case-control study, which included 367 bladder cancer cases and 420 controls. We found that the AC genotype of rs11892031 was associated with remarkably decreased risk of bladder cancer (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.09–0.81; p = 0.019), compared with the AA genotype of rs11892031; and that CT/CC genotypes of rs401681 were associated with significantly increased risk of bladder cancer (adjusted OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.10–2.91; p = 0.02), compared with the TT genotype of rs401681. We further conducted stratification analysis to examine the correlation between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs11892031/rs401681 and tumor grade/stage. Results showed that heterogeneity in ORs of tumor categories was not significant for either rs11892031 or rs401681 (p > 0.05), indicating that the two SNPs seemingly do not associate with tumor grade and stage of bladder cancer in our study population. The present study suggests that the SNPs rs11892031 and rs401681 are associated with bladder cancer risk in a Chinese population. Future analyses will be conducted with more participants recruited in a case-control study.

Cumulative effect of genome-wide association study-identified genetic variants for bladder cancer

Recent genome-wide association studies have identified 14 genetic variants associated with bladder cancer in Caucasians. The effects of these risk variants and their cumulative effects in Asian populations are unknown. We genotyped these newly identified variants in a case-control study of 1,050 patients diagnosed with bladder cancer and 1,404 controls in the Chinese population. Odds rations (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed by logistic regression, and cumulative effect of risk alleles were evaluated. Overall, seven of the 14 variants were significantly associated with bladder cancer risk (p = 9.763 × 10(-3) for rs9642880 at 8q24.21, p = 3.004 × 10(-3) for rs2294008 at 8q24.3, p = 0.012 for rs798766 at 4p16.3, p = 0.034 for rs1495741 at 8p22, p = 2.306 × 10(-4) for GSTM1, p = 8.507 × 10(-8) for rs17674580 at 18q12.3, p = 7.179 × 10(-4) for rs10936599 at 3q26.2) and the odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 1.13 to 1.65. Moreover, there were a significant increased risk for bladder cancer positively correlated numbers of risk alleles and smoking status (Ptrend  = 7.060 × 10(-16) ). However, no allelic interaction effects on bladder cancer risk were observed between cumulative effects of variants and clinical characteristics. These findings suggest that seven bladder cancer risk-associated variants (rs9642880, rs2294008, rs798766, rs1495741, GSTM1 null, rs17674580 and rs10936599) may be used, collectively, to effectively measure inherited risk for bladder cancer.

Genetic score of multiple risk-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms is a marker for genetic susceptibility to bladder cancer

Genome-wide association studies have identified 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with bladder cancer; three of these SNPs were validated in the Chinese population. This study assessed the performance of these three SNPs, in combination, to predict genetic susceptibility to bladder cancer in Chinese. Three previously established bladder cancer risk-associated SNPs (rs798766 in TACC3, rs9642880 in MYC, and rs2294008 in PSCA) were genotyped in 1,210 bladder cancer patients and 1,008 control subjects in Shanghai, China. A genetic score was calculated for each subject based on these three SNPs. Each of these three SNPs was significantly associated with bladder cancer risk in this independent study population, P < 0.05. The genetic score based on these three SNPs was significantly higher in cases than controls, with a mean of 1.05 and 0.99, respectively, P = 1.03E-05. Compared with subjects with a genetic score <= 1.00, subjects with an elevated genetic score (>1.00) had a significantly increased risk for bladder cancer after adjusting for age, gender, and smoking status, OR = 1.58, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.21 - 2.06, P = 0.0007. When tested separately for lower (Ta) or higher (Tis, T1-T4) tumor stage, the association was significantly stronger for lower (OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.66 - 3.01, P = 1.02E-07) than higher tumor stage (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.00 - 1.78, P = 0.05), P = 0.001. In conclusion, A combination of three previously implicated bladder cancer risk-associated SNPs is a significant predictor of genetic susceptibility to bladder cancer in Chinese.

TACC3 is essential for EGF-mediated EMT in cervical cancer

The third member of transforming acidic coiled-coil protein (TACC) family, TACC3, has been shown to be an important player in the regulation of centrosome/microtubule dynamics during mitosis and found to be deregulated in a variety of human malignancies. Our previous studies have suggested that TACC3 may be involved in cervical cancer progression and chemoresistance, and its overexpression can induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by activating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs) signal transduction pathways. However, the upstream mechanisms of TACC3-mediated EMT and its functional/clinical importance in human cervical cancer remain elusive. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to be a potent inducer of EMT in cervical cancer and associated with tumor invasion and metastasis. In this study, we found that TACC3 is overexpressed in cervical cancer and can be induced upon EGF stimulation. The induction of TACC3 by EGF is dependent on the tyrosine kinase activity of the EGF receptor (EGFR). Intriguingly, depletion of TACC3 abolishes EGF-mediated EMT, suggesting that TACC3 is required for EGF/EGFR-driven EMT process. Moreover, Snail, a key player in EGF-mediated EMT, is found to be correlated with the expression of TACC3 in cervical cancer. Collectively, our study highlights a novel function for TACC3 in EGF-mediated EMT process and suggests that targeting of TACC3 may be an attractive strategy to treat cervical cancers driven by EGF/EGFR signaling pathways.

Transforming acidic coiled-coil proteins (TACCs) in human cancer

Fine-tuned regulation of the centrosome/microtubule dynamics during mitosis is essential for faithful cell division. Thus, it is not surprising that deregulations in this dynamic network can contribute to genomic instability and tumorigenesis. Indeed, centrosome loss or amplification, spindle multipolarity and aneuploidy are often found in a majority of human malignancies, suggesting that defects in centrosome and associated microtubules may be directly or indirectly linked to cancer. Therefore, future research to identify and characterize genes required for the normal centrosome function and microtubule dynamics may help us gain insight into the complexity of cancer, and further provide new avenues for prognostic, diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. Members of the transforming acidic coiled-coil proteins (TACCs) family are emerging as important players of centrosome and microtubule-associated functions. Growing evidence indicates that TACCs are involved in the progression of certain solid tumors. Here, we will discuss our current understanding of the biological function of TACCs, their relevance to human cancer and possible implications for cancer management.

TACC3 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through the activation of PI3K/Akt and ERK signaling pathways

Transforming acidic coiled-coil protein 3 (TACC3) is a member of the TACC family, essential for mitotic spindle dynamics and centrosome integrity during mitosis. Mounting evidence suggests that deregulation of TACC3 is associated with various types of human cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms by which TACC3 contributes to the development of cancer remain largely unknown. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which TACC3 regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). By modulating the expression of TACC3, we found that overexpression of TACC3 leads to changes in cell morphology, proliferation, transforming capability, migratory/invasive behavior as well as the expression of EMT-related markers. Moreover, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs) signaling pathways are critical for TACC3-mediated EMT process. Notably, depletion of TACC3 is sufficient to suppress EMT phenotype. Collectively, our findings identify TACC3 as a driver of tumorigenesis as well as an inducer of oncogenic EMT and highlight its overexpression as a potential therapeutic target for preventing EMT-associated tumor progression and invasion.

hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism is associated with risk of bladder cancer in a Chinese population: a case-control study

Human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) is a DNA repair enzyme, which plays important roles in the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Several studies reported a common polymorphism Ser326Cys (rs1052133) in hOGG1, which conferred the susceptibility of bladder cancer. We hypothesized that the polymorphism is associated with risk of bladder cancer in a Chinese population. In a case-control study of 1050 histologically confirmed bladder cancer patients and 1404 age and sex matched healthy controls, we genotyped the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism using TaqMan technology and assessed its association with bladder cancer risk. We found that the hOGG1 Ser/Cys + Ser/Ser genotypes were associated with a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.41), compared with the Cys/Cys genotype. Furthermore, the increased risk was more pronounced among subjects over age 65 years (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.04-1.66), male subjects (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.00-1.47), ever smokers (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.00-1.68) and heavy smokers (>20 pack-years) (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.03-2.04). No significant association was observed in the stratification of tumor grade and tumor stage for bladder cancer. In conclusion, our results suggest that hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism may contribute to the susceptibility to bladder cancer in a Chinese population.

European genome-wide association study identifies SLC14A1 as a new urinary bladder cancer susceptibility gene

Three genome-wide association studies in Europe and the USA have reported eight urinary bladder cancer (UBC) susceptibility loci. Using extended case and control series and 1000 Genomes imputations of 5 340 737 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we searched for additional loci in the European GWAS. The discovery sample set consisted of 1631 cases and 3822 controls from the Netherlands and 603 cases and 37 781 controls from Iceland. For follow-up, we used 3790 cases and 7507 controls from 13 sample sets of European and Iranian ancestry. Based on the discovery analysis, we followed up signals in the urea transporter (UT) gene SLC14A. The strongest signal at this locus was represented by a SNP in intron 3, rs17674580, that reached genome-wide significance in the overall analysis of the discovery and follow-up groups: odds ratio = 1.17, P = 7.6 × 10(-11). SLC14A1 codes for UTs that define the Kidd blood group and are crucial for the maintenance of a constant urea concentration gradient in the renal medulla and, through this, the kidney's ability to concentrate urine. It is speculated that rs17674580, or other sequence variants in LD with it, indirectly modifies UBC risk by affecting urine production. If confirmed, this would support the 'urogenous contact hypothesis' that urine production and voiding frequency modify the risk of UBC.