Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-308 gene promoter polymorphism associates with survival of cancer patients: A meta-analysis

Systematic Review of the Role of Alpha-Protein Kinase 1 in Cancer and Cancer-Related Inflammatory Diseases

Simple Summary

Aside from the basic phosphorylation function of alpha-kinase 1 (ALPK1), little is known about its major functions. Researchers have used various forms of biotechnology and human, animal, and cellular models to better understand the relationship of ALPK1 with cancer and cancer-related inflammatory diseases. ALPK1 is involved in the progression of breast, lung, colorectal, oral, and skin cancer as well as lymphoblastic leukemia. ALPK1 has also been implicated in gout, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, which are thought to be associated with breast, lung, colorectal, urinary tract, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers and lymphoblastic leukemia. ALPK1 upregulates inflammatory cytokines and chemokines during carcinogenesis. The major cytokine involved in carcinogenesis is TNF-α, which activates the NF-κB pathway, and similar inflammatory responses exist in gout, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. ALPK1 regulates downstream inflammatory mechanisms that lead to cancer development through certain pathways and plays a key role in cancer initiation and metastasis.

Abstract

Background: Deregulation of conventional protein kinases is associated with the growth and development of cancer cells. Alpha-kinase 1 (ALPK1) belongs to a newly discovered family of serine/threonine protein kinases with no sequence homology to conventional protein kinases, and its function in cancer is poorly understood. Methods: In this systematic review, we searched for and analyzed studies linking ALPK1 to cancer development and progression. Results: Based on the current evidence obtained using human, animal, cellular, and tissue models, ALPK1 is located upstream and triggers cancer cell development and metastasis by regulating the inflammatory response through phosphorylation. Its mRNA and protein levels were found to correlate with advanced tumor size and lymph node metastasis, which occur from the cellular cytoplasm into the nucleus. ALPK1 is also strongly associated with gout, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes, which are considered as inflammatory diseases and associated with cancer. Conclusion: ALPK1 is an oncogene involved in carcinogenesis. Chronic inflammation is the common regulatory mechanism between cancer and these diseases. Future research should focus on identifying inhibitors of serine/threonine and ALPK1 at their phosphorylation sites, which would block various signal transductions and potentially offer kinase-targeted therapeutic agents for patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Preliminary investigation of two promoter region polymorphisms of the TNFA gene in patients with recurrent depressive disorder

Immune system dysregulation plays a role in the pathogenesis of complex human diseases, including psychiatric disorders. In addition, elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) may be conditioned by the presence of specific polymorphic variants. The present case-controlled preliminary study evaluated the prevalence of TNFA gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) G-308A (rs1800629) and T-1031C (rs1799964) in 83 Polish patients with depression by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The results were compared with the frequencies of genotypes in a geographically- and ethnically-matched group of individuals without depression. No statistically significant difference in genotype/allele frequency was observed for either SNP between the two groups. No association was found between the particular genotypes and selected demographic/clinical features, including sex, age at diagnosis or severity of depressive symptoms before/after pharmacotherapy. Thus, there does not appear to be any connection between the studied SNPs and the development and progression of depression; however, further studies are required with larger cohorts to better understand this aspect of depression.

The Role of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) Polymorphisms in Gastric Cancer: a Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is an inflammatory cytokine which may play a role in the development of gastric cancer (GC). This study aimed to investigate the association of five TNF-α polymorphisms including TNF-α-857, TNF-α-1031, TNF-α-863, TNF-α-308, and TNF-α-238 polymorphisms with GC risk.

METHODS

All eligible case-control studies were collected by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The association of the risk of GC with TNF-α polymorphisms was estimated using odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed via Cochrane's Q and I² analyses.

RESULTS

A total of 46 publications involving 16, 715 cases with GC and 27, 998 controls were recruited. The study revealed a significant association for TNF-α 308 (recessive model: OR = 0.646, P = 0.035), TNF-α-1031 (homozygote model: OR = 1.584, P = 0.027), and TNF-α-857 (homozygote model: OR = 1.760, P = 0.001) polymorphisms with the GC risk. The results of subgroup analysis based ethnicity found a significant association between GC risk and TNF-α-857 polymorphism in Caucasian subgroup (P = 0.005) and TNF-α-1031 polymorphism and GC risk in Asians (P = 0.018).

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggested that TNF-α-857 and TNF-α-1031 polymorphisms may be associated with the increased gastric cancer risk.

Harnessing Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha to Achieve Effective Cancer Immunotherapy

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is a pleiotropic cytokine known to have contradictory roles in oncoimmunology. Indeed, TNFα has a central role in the onset of the immune response, inducing both activation and the effector function of macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and B and T lymphocytes. Within the tumor microenvironment, however, TNFα is one of the main mediators of cancer-related inflammation. It is involved in the recruitment and differentiation of immune suppressor cells, leading to evasion of tumor immune surveillance. These characteristics turn TNFα into an attractive target to overcome therapy resistance and tackle cancer. This review focuses on the diverse molecular mechanisms that place TNFα as a source of resistance to immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibodies against cancer cells or immune checkpoints and adoptive cell therapy. We also expose the benefits of TNFα blocking strategies in combination with immunotherapy to improve the antitumor effect and prevent or treat adverse immune-related effects.

Identification of Key Modules and Hub Genes of Annulus Fibrosus in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration impairs the quality of patients lives. Even though there has been development of many therapeutic strategies, most of them remain unsatisfactory due to the limited understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the intervertebral disc degeneration. Questions/purposes: This study is meant to identify the key modules and hub genes related to the annulus fibrosus in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) through: (1) constructing a weighted gene co-expression network; (2) identifying key modules and hub genes; (3) verifying the relationships of key modules and hub genes with IDD; and (4) confirming the expression pattern of hub genes in clinical samples. Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus provided 24 sets of annulus fibrosus microarray data. Differentially expressed genes between the annulus fibrosus of degenerative and non-degenerative intervertebral disc samples have gone through the Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway analysis. The construction of a gene network and classification of genes into different modules were conducted through performing Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis. The identification of modules and hub genes that were most related to intervertebral disc degeneration was proceeded. In order to verify the relationships of the module and hub genes with intervertebral disc degeneration, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was operated. Clinical samples were adopted to help verify the hub gene expression profile. Results: One thousand one hundred ninety differentially expressed genes were identified. Terms and pathways associated with intervertebral disc degeneration were presented by GO and pathway analysis. The construction of a Weighted Gene Coexpression Network was completed and clustering differentially expressed genes into four modules was also achieved. The module with the lowest P-value and the highest absolute correlation coefficient was selected and its relationship with intervertebral disc degeneration was confirmed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. The identification of hub genes and the confirmation of their expression profile were also realized. Conclusions: This study generated a comprehensive overview of the gene networks underlying annulus fibrosus in intervertebral disc degeneration. Clinical Relevance: Modules and hub genes identified in this study are highly associated with intervertebral disc degeneration, and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for intervertebral disc degeneration.

Tumor Necrosis Factor α Blockade: An Opportunity to Tackle Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the principal cause of mortality by malignancy in women and represents a main problem for public health worldwide. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine whose expression is increased in a variety of cancers. In particular, in breast cancer it correlates with augmented tumor cell proliferation, higher malignancy grade, increased occurrence of metastasis and general poor prognosis for the patient. These characteristics highlight TNFα as an attractive therapeutic target, and consequently, the study of soluble and transmembrane TNFα effects and its receptors in breast cancer is an area of active research. In this review we summarize the recent findings on TNFα participation in luminal, HER2-positive and triple negative breast cancer progression and metastasis. Also, we describe TNFα role in immune response against tumors and in chemotherapy, hormone therapy, HER2-targeted therapy and anti-immune checkpoint therapy resistance in breast cancer. Furthermore, we discuss the use of TNFα blocking strategies as potential therapies and their clinical relevance for breast cancer. These TNFα blocking agents have long been used in the clinical setting to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. TNFα blockade can be achieved by monoclonal antibodies (such as infliximab, adalimumab, etc.), fusion proteins (etanercept) and dominant negative proteins (INB03). Here we address the different effects of each compound and also analyze the use of potential biomarkers in the selection of patients who would benefit from a combination of TNFα blocking agents with HER2-targeted treatments to prevent or overcome therapy resistance in breast cancer.

Importance of TNF-alpha and its alterations in the development of cancers

TNF-alpha is involved in many physiologic and pathologic cellular pathways, including cellular proliferation, differentiation, and death, regulation of immunologic reactions to different cells and molecules, local and vascular invasion of neoplasms, and destruction of tumor vasculature. It is obvious that because of integrated functions of TNF-alpha inside different physiologic systems, it cannot be used as a single-agent therapy for neoplasms; however, long-term investigation of its different cellular pathways has led to recognition of a variety of subsequent molecules with more specific interactions, and therefore, might be suitable as prognostic and therapeutic factors for neoplasms. Here, we will review different aspects of the TNF-alpha as a cytokine involved in both physiologic functions of cells and pathologic abnormalities, most importantly, cancers.

The concentration of tumor necrosis factor in the blood serum and in the urine and selected early organ damages in patients with primary systemic arterial hypertension

Arterial hypertension is considered to be an inflammatory condition with low intensity. Therefore, an elevated concentration of inflammatory cytokines can be expected in patients with systemic arterial hypertension, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF).The study included a group of 96 persons aged 18 to 65 years: 76 patients with primary arterial hypertension and 20 healthy individuals (control group). Blood pressure was measured in all individuals using the office and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) measurement, blood was collected for laboratory tests [tumor necrosis factor (TNF), tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1)], and 24-hour urine collection was performed in which albuminuria and TNF concentration were assessed. Moreover, assessment of the intima-media thickness (IMT) in ultrasonography and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in echocardiography were carried out.Statistically elevated TNF concentration in the blood serum (P = .0001) and in the 24-hour urine collection (P = .0087) was determined in patients with hypertension in comparison with the control group. The TNF and TNFR1 concentration in the serum and TNF in the 24-hour urine in the group of patients with arterial hypertension and organ damages and without such complications did not differ statistically significantly.We observed a positive and statistically significant correlation between TNFR1 concentration in the serum and TNF urine excretion in patients with hypertension (r = 0.369, P < .05)Patients with arterial hypertension are characterized by higher TNF concentrations in blood serum and higher TNF excretion in 24-hour urine than healthy persons.TNF and TNFR1 concentration in blood serum and TNF excretion in 24-hour urine in patients with early organ damages due to arterial hypertension do not differ significantly from those parameters in patients with arterial hypertension without organ complications.There is a positive correlation between TNFR1 concentration in the serum and TNF urine excretion in patients with hypertension.