Prognostic role of snail in lung cancer: Protocol for a systematic review

Methanol extract of Sedum oryzifolium and its constituent, trehalose, impede the invasiveness of oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines via downregulation of Slug

BACKGROUND

Sedum species are reported to possess diverse pharmacological activities in various solid tumors. However, the anticancer functions of Sedum orizyfolium and its constituents have never been determined in human cancers.

PURPOSE

The present study focused on addressing the inhibition efficacy of the methanol extract of S. orizyfolium (MESO) and its constituents and the molecular mechanism underlying invasion and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines.

STUDY DESIGN/METHODS

After MESO treatment, a wound-healing assay, an invasion assay, and immunocytochemistry were performed in OSCC cell lines, coupled with in silico analysis and immunohistochemistry in OSCC patient samples, to investigate the role of the EMT transcription factor Slug. Trehalose, an active component of MESO, was identified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

Among the methanol extracts of 18 various wild plants from South Korea, MESO exhibited the highest anticancer functionality in OSCC cells by downregulating Slug expression. In silico analysis and immunohistochemistry indicated that elevated Slug levels are remarkably associated with tumor progression and invasion in patients with OSCC, suggesting that changes in Slug expression alter EMT progression and invasion in OSCC. Notably, treatment with trehalose, a sugar component of MESO, inhibited invasiveness and Slug expression in OSCC cells.

CONCLUSION

Cumulatively, this study highlighted the beneficial role of MESO and trehalose in the inhibition of invasiveness of OSCC cells via suppression of Slug expression and suggested a new design for potential chemotherapeutic drugs against OSCC.

Studies in lung cancer cytokine proteomics: a review

INTRODUCTION

Proteins are molecules that have role in the progression of the diseases. Proteomics is a tool that can play an effective role in identifying diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for lung cancer. Cytokines are proteins that play a decisive role in activating body's immune system in lung cancer. They can increase the growth of the tumor (oncogenic cytokines) or limit tumor growth (anti-tumor cytokines) by regulating related signaling pathways such as proliferation, growth, metastasis, and apoptosis.

AREAS COVERED

In the present study, a total of 223 papers including 196 research papers and 27 review papers, extracted from PubMed and Scopus and published from 1997 to present, are reviewed. The most important involved-cytokines in lung cancer including TNF-α, IFN- γ, TGF-β, VEGF and interleukins such as IL-6, IL-17, IL-8, IL-10, IL-22, IL-1β and IL-18 are introduced. Also, the pathological and biological role of such cytokines in cancer signaling pathways is explained.

EXPERT OPINION

In lung cancer, the cytokine expression changes under the physiological conditions of the immune system, and inflammatory cytokines are associated with the progression of lung cancer. Therefore, the cytokine expression profile can be used in the diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of therapeutic responses, and survival of patients with lung cancer.

The expression of metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1, Snail, and KAI1 in esophageal carcinoma and their clinical significance

OBJECTIVE

Metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) is a key transcriptional regulator of mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) gene and so involved in the hepatocyte growth factor/MET signaling pathway. Snail has been reported to be associated with tumor epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and involved in the process of invasion and metastasis. KAI1 is a suppressor gene of tumor metastasis. The aim of this study is to explore the associations of MACC1, Snail, and KAI1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and clinicopathologic characteristics of ESCC patients and their associations with each other.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry was conducted to detect the expression of MACC1, Snail, and KAI1 in 214 whole-ESCC-tissue samples and corresponding normal esophageal mucosa tissues. All clinicopathologic, demographic, and follow-up data were collected.

RESULTS

MACC1 and Snail were significantly up-regulated in ESCC samples when compared with control samples; KAI1 was significantly down-regulated in ESCC group when compared with control group. Furthermore, positive expression of MACC1 and Snail was positively associated with tumor stages, lymph-node-metastasis (LNM) stages, and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages. Positive expression of KAI1 was negatively associated with tumor grade, tumor stage, and LNM stages as well as TNM stage. The MACC1- or Snail-positive expression group had more unfavorable overall survival (OS) time than did the MACC1- or Snail-negative group; the positive expression of KAI1 group had significantly longer OS time than did the KiSS-1 negative group. Multivariate analysis of OS showed that overexpression of MACC1 and Snail, and down expression of KAI1 and tumor stages as well as TNM stages were independent prognostic factors for patients with ESCC.

CONCLUSIONS

Levels of expression of MACC1, Snail, and KAI1 are associated with the duration of OS in patients with ESCC. MACC1, Snail, and KAI1 should be considered as useful biomarkers and therapeutic targets in ESCC.

IKKα Promotes the Progression and Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Independently of its Subcellular Localization

Lung cancer is the leading worldwide cause of cancer mortality, however, neither curative treatments nor substantial prolonged survival has been achieved, highlighting the need for investigating new proteins responsible for its development and progression. IKKα is an essential protein for cell survival and differentiation, which expression is enhanced in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and correlates with poor patient survival, appearing as a relevant molecule in lung cancer progression. However, there are not conclusive results about its role in this type of cancer. We have recently found that IKKα performs different functions and activates different signaling pathways depending on its nuclear or cytoplasmic localization in tumor epidermal cells. In this work, we have studied the involvement of IKKα in lung cancer progression through the generation of lung cancer cell lines expressing exogenous IKKα either in the nucleus or in the cytoplasm. We demonstrate that IKKα signaling promotes increased cell malignancy of NSCLC cells as well as lung tumor progression and metastasis in either subcellular localization, through activation of common protumoral proteins, such as Erk, p38 and mTor. But, additionally, we found that depending on its subcellular localization, IKKα has non-overlapping roles in the activation of other different pathways known for their key implication in lung cancer progression: while cytoplasmic IKKα increases EGFR and NF-κB activities in lung tumor cells, nuclear IKKα causes lung tumor progression through c-Myc, Smad2/3 and Snail activation. These results suggest that IKKα may be a promising target for intervention in human NSCLC.