Osteopontin Is an Integral Mediator of Cardiac Interstitial Fibrosis in Models of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Overexpression of SPP1 is a prognostic indicator of immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The extracellular phosphoprotein, secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), plays a crucial role in various tumors and regulating the immune system. This study aimed to evaluate its prognostic value and relationship to immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

METHODS

In the TCGA and GEO datasets, the information on clinic and transcriptome analysis of SPP1 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was examined accordingly. The association of SPP1 expression with overall survival and clinicopathologic characteristics was investigated by univariate and multivariate analysis. CancerSEA database was utilized to investigate the role of SPP1 at the cellular level by single-cell analysis. Additionally, the CIBERSORT algorithm was utilized to assess the correlation among the immune cells that infiltrated.

RESULTS

NSCLC tissues exhibited a notable rise in SPP1 expression compared with that of normal tissues. Furthermore, the overexpression of SPP1 was substantially associated with clinicopathological features and unfavorable survival outcomes in individuals with LUAD, whereas no such correlation was observed in lung squamous cell carcinoma. Immune cells that infiltrate tumors and their corresponding genes were associated with SPP1 expression levels in LUAD.

CONCLUSIONS

SPP1 is a reliable indicator for assessing LUAD immune infiltration status and prognosis. With this approach, SPP1 can help earlier LUAD diagnosis and act as a possible immunotherapy target.

Hypoxia-sensitive cells trigger NK cell activation via the KLF4-ASH1L-ICAM-1 axis, contributing to impairment in the rat epididymis

Male infertility is a global health problem especially prevalent in high-altitude regions. The epididymis is essential for sperm maturation, but the influence of environmental cues on its reshaping remains poorly understood. Here, we use single-cell transcriptomics to track the cellular profiles of epidydimal cells in rats raised under normoxia or extended hypoxia. The results show that hypoxia impairs epididymal function, evident in reduced epithelial cells, compromised blood-epididymis barrier integrity, and increased natural killer cells. Through combined analysis of gene-regulatory networks and cell-cell interaction maps, we identify epididymal hypoxia-sensitive cells that communicate with natural killer (NK) cells via increased intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) driven by KLF4 recruitment of the histone methyltransferase ASL1L to the Icam1 promoter. Taken together, our study offers a detailed blueprint of epididymal changes during hypoxia and defines a KLF4-ALSH1L-ICAM-1 axis contributing to NK cell activation, yielding a potential treatment targeting hypoxia-induced infertility.