MRG-binding protein contributes to colorectal cancer development

Identification of odontogenic ameloblast associated as a novel target gene of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a key role in development and carcinogenesis. Although some target genes of this signaling have been identified in various tissues and neoplasms, the comprehensive understanding of the target genes and their roles in the development of human cancer, including hepatoma and colorectal cancer remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we searched for genes regulated by the Wnt signaling in liver cancer using HuH-7 hepatoma cells. A comparison of the expression profiles between cells expressing an active form of mutant β-catenin and cells expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) identified seven genes upregulated by the mutant β-catenin gene (CTNNB1). Among the seven genes, we focused in this study on ODAM, odontogenic, ameloblast associated, as a novel target gene. Interestingly, its expression was frequently upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal adenocarcinoma, and hepatoblastoma. We additionally identified a distant enhancer region that was associated with the β-catenin/TCF7L2 complex. Further analyses revealed that ODAM plays an important role in the regulation of the cell cycle, DNA synthesis, and cell proliferation. These data may be useful for clarification of the main molecular mechanism(s) underlying these cancers.

Mitochondrial Factor C20orf7 Facilitates the EMT-Mediated Cancer Cell Migration and the Proliferation of Colon Cancer In Vitro and In Vivo

Colon cancer is a major malignant neoplasm with a low survival rate for late-stage patients. Therefore, the investigation of molecules regulating colon cancer progression and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets is critical. Mitochondria play a vital role in maintaining the homeostasis of cells. Abnormal mitochondrial metabolism alterations and the induction of glycolysis can facilitate tumor growth; therefore, targeting mitochondrial molecules is suggested to be a promising strategy for cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated the role of this largely unknown mitochondrial factor, chromosome 20 open reading frame 7 (C20orf7), in colon cancer progression. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology was utilized for C20orf7 depletion, and functional assays were performed to examine the regulation of C20orf7 in colon cancer cells. We demonstrated that C20orf7 facilitates epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-mediated cell migration and promotes the proliferation of colon cancer. The anti-cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) was also applied, and C20orf7 was targeted with a combination of 5FU treatment, which could further enhance the anti-cancer effect in the colon cancer cell line and the xenograft mice model. In summary, this study demonstrated, for the first time, that C20orf7 plays a promotional role in cancer tumorigenesis and could be a promising therapeutic target in colon cancer treatment.

MRGBP: A New Factor for Diagnosis and Prediction of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

MRG-binding protein (MRGBP) is a transcription factor widely involved in physiological and pathological processes. Many studies have discussed the relationship between the expression level of MRGBP and the prognosis of various malignant tumours. However, the role and clinicopathological significance of MRGBP in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) are unclear. In this study, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and logistic regression were used to analyze the relationship between clinical characteristics and MRGBP expression in HNSC. The Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis and Cox regression analysis were established to evaluate the effect of MRGBP on prognosis, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and nomogram was constructed. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) were used to analyze the correlation between MRGBP and immune infiltration. The results showed that the expression of MRGBP in HNSC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues. The KM plotter analysis showed that the OS of HNSC patients was shorter. The multivariate Cox analysis further confirmed that increased expression of MRGBP was an independent risk factor for OS in HNSC patients. In addition, ROC analysis confirmed its diagnostic value and constructed prognostic nomograms, including age, T, M, N classification, pathological stage, and MRGBP. GSEA showed that MRGBP was associated with high expression of GPCR ligand binding, interleukin receptor binding, and neutrophil degranulation, and ssGSEA showed that MRGBP was associated with T cells and mast cells. In conclusion, MRGBP can serve as an independent prognostic biomarker related to immune invasion of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Prognostic Value and Immunological Role of MORF4-Related Gene-Binding Protein in Human Cancers

MORF4-related gene-binding protein (MRGBP) is the subunit of the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex which is involved in transcriptional activation of select genes principally by acetylation of nucleosomal histones H4 and H2A. Much of the research indicated an oncogenic role of MRGBP in the development of cancers. However, it is still unknown the role MRGBP plays in human cancers, which deserves further exploration. In this research, the expression profile, prognostic value of MRGBP, and the relationship between MRGBP and immune infiltration were explored in 33 types of cancer. The differences in MRGBP expression in tumor and normal tissues were explored using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and ONCOMINE. Analysis of the association between MRGBP and prognosis using Kaplan-Meier survival curve and COX analysis. The data of Tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) from TCGA. The relationship Between MRGBP expression and immunity was analyzed using the ESTIMATE algorithm and CIBERSORT. Furthermore, we explored MRGBP expression and the relationship between MRGBP expression and macrophage infiltration using immunohistochemical analysis in lower grade glioma (LGG). Our results revealed that MRGBP was highly expressed in most cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Tumors with increased MRGBP expression had a high clinicopathologic stage and poor prognosis. The expression of MRGBP was closely related to the TMB, MSI. We also found a significant negative correlation between MRGBP expression and stromal scores and immune scores in various types of cancer. Furthermore, MRGBP expression was associated with a variety of immune cells including B cells, NK cells, T cells, and macrophages. LGG and LIHC was selected as representative cancer types for further study, the results of immunohistochemistry indicated that the protein levels of MRGBP were significantly elevated in tumor tissues. Moreover, our LIHC data analysis showed that patients with high MRGBP expression were associated with short survival rates and MRGBP was a risk factor to determine OS. Immunohistochemistry also confirmed that M0 macrophage infiltration in the MRGBP-high group significantly increased. In conclusion, these results reveal that MRGBP can serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and it plays an important role in tumor immune infiltration in various tumors, especially in LGG and LIHC.

High-throughput screening and genome-wide analyses of 44 anticancer drugs in the 1000 Genomes cell lines reveals an association of the NQO1 gene with the response of multiple anticancer drugs

Cancer patients exhibit a broad range of inter-individual variability in response and toxicity to widely used anticancer drugs, and genetic variation is a major contributor to this variability. To identify new genes that influence the response of 44 FDA-approved anticancer drug treatments widely used to treat various types of cancer, we conducted high-throughput screening and genome-wide association mapping using 680 lymphoblastoid cell lines from the 1000 Genomes Project. The drug treatments considered in this study represent nine drug classes widely used in the treatment of cancer in addition to the paclitaxel + epirubicin combination therapy commonly used for breast cancer patients. Our genome-wide association study (GWAS) found several significant and suggestive associations. We prioritized consistent associations for functional follow-up using gene-expression analyses. The NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) gene was found to be associated with the dose-response of arsenic trioxide, erlotinib, trametinib, and a combination treatment of paclitaxel + epirubicin. NQO1 has previously been shown as a biomarker of epirubicin response, but our results reveal novel associations with these additional treatments. Baseline gene expression of NQO1 was positively correlated with response for 43 of the 44 treatments surveyed. By interrogating the functional mechanisms of this association, the results demonstrate differences in both baseline and drug-exposed induction.

In the burgeoning field of personalized medicine, genetic variation is recognized as a major contributor to patients’ differential responses to drugs. Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) are a consistent and convenient representation of cells used for in vitro research. Human genome sequencing with LCLs can identify new genes that influence individuals’ drug responses, including the dose-response relationship, which describes the relationship between physiological response and the amount of exposure to a substance. In this work, we conduct high-throughput screening and genome-wide association mapping using 680 LCLs from the 1000 Genomes Project to identify new genes that influence individual response to 44 widely used anticancer drugs. We found the NQO1 gene to be associated with the dose-response of several drugs, namely arsenic trioxide, erlotinib, trametinib, and the paclitaxel + epirubicin combination, and performed follow-up analyses to better understand its functional role in drug response. Our results indicate NQO1 expression is correlated with increased drug resistance and provide some evidence that SNP rs1800566 influences drug response by altering protein activity for these four treatments. With further research, NQO1 has potential use as a therapeutic target, for example, suppressing NQO1 expression to increase sensitivity to particular drugs.

MRGBP is a potential novel prognostic biomarker and is correlated with immune infiltrates in hepatocellular carcinoma

This study investigated the expression change, prognostic values, and potential regulatory mechanisms of mortality factor on chromosome 4 (MORF4)-related gene-binding protein (MRGBP) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MRGBP expression and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas were used to evaluate the associations between MRGBP expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to assess the factors contributing to prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to identify pathways associated with MRGBP expression. Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was used to comprehensively analyze the relative immune infiltration levels.High MRGBP expression was significantly associated with a higher T stage, pathologic stage, histologic grade, vascular invasion, tumor protein p53 status, and worse overall survival. MRGBP exhibited high diagnostic accuracy with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.980. GSEA revealed the enrichment of pathways related to tumorigenesis in the MRGBP high-expression phenotype, such as cell cycle and DNA replication pathways. ssGSEA revealed that MRGBP expression was significantly correlated with 15 types of immune cell infiltration levels. The Wilcoxon rank sum test revealed significantly high T helper (Th), T follicular helper, CD56 bright natural killer, and Th2 cell enrichment scores in the high MRGBP expression group and significantly low neutrophil, Th17, dendritic cell (DC), gamma delta T, cytotoxic cell, regulatory T cell, plasmacytoid DC, and immature DC enrichment scores.MRGBP may be a novel prognostic biomarker and a therapeutic target correlated with immune infiltrates in HCC.

Integrated Analysis of DNA Copy Number Changes and Gene Expression Identifies Key Genes in Gastric Cancer

This study was aimed at identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with copy number changes in gastric cancer (GC) pathogenesis. Microarray data GSE33429, including array-based comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression profiles, were obtained. DEGs were screened between GC and adjacent noncancerous tissues. Genes located at Minimum Common Regions (MCRs) were identified, and overlapped genes between DEGs and genes with amplification or deletion were identified. Gene Ontology function and pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs were performed. A protein-protein interaction network for DEGs was built, and significant modules were mined from the network. Functional annotation of genes in modules was also performed. A total of 677 up- and 583 downregulated DEGs were identified, including 37 overexpressed genes located at gained MCRs and 28 downregulated genes located at deleted MCRs. In significant modules, upregulated genes with amplification, including DSN1 (MIS12 kinetochore complex component), MAPRE1 (microtubule-associated protein, RP/EB family, member 1), TPX2 (microtubule-associated), UBE2C (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2C), and MYBL2 (v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog-like 2), were associated with cell cycle, but downregulated genes with deletion, including UGT2B15 (UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B15), UGT2B17 (UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B17), ADH1B (alcohol dehydrogenase 1B), and ADH1A (alcohol dehydrogenase 1A), were related to metabolism. The identified genes DSN1, MAPRE1, TPX2, UBE2C, and MYBL2 located at gained MCRs and UGT2B15, UGT2B17, ADH1B, and ADH1A located at deleted MCRs may play an important role in GC progression through regulating cell cycle and metabolism.

MRGBP as a potential biomarker for the malignancy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

MORF4-related gene-binding protein (MRGBP), which is also known as chromosome 20 open reading frame 20 (C20orf20), is commonly highly expressed in several types of malignant tumors and tumor progression. However, the expression pattern and underlying mechanism of MRGBP in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain unknown. In the study, we found that MRGBP was frequently upregulated in PDAC tissues and cell lines. In addition, the upregulation of MRGBP was positively associated with TNM stage, T classification, and poor prognosis. Knockdown of MRGBP in the PDAC cell lines ASPC-1 and Mia PaCa-2 by transiently transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) drastically attenuated the proliferation, migration, and invasion of those cells, whereas ectopic MRGBP overexpression in BxPC-3 cells produced exactly the opposite effect. Furthermore, we also found that overexpression of MRGBP remarkably led to cell morphological changes and induced an increased expression of mesenchymal marker Vimentin, whereas a decreased expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin. Taken together, this study indicates that MRGBP acts as a tumor oncogene in PDAC and is a promising target of carcinogenesis.

The aspirin metabolite salicylate inhibits lysine acetyltransferases and MUC1 induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition

MUC1 is a transmembrane mucin that can promote cancer progression, and its upregulation correlates with a worse prognosis in colon cancer. We examined the effects of overexpression of MUC1 in colon cancer cells, finding that it induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), including enhanced migration and invasion, and increased Akt phosphorylation. When the clones were treated with the aspirin metabolite salicylate, Akt phosphorylation was decreased and EMT inhibited. As the salicylate motif is necessary for the activity of the lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) inhibitor anacardic acid, we hypothesized these effects were associated with the inhibition of KAT activity. This was supported by anacardic acid treatment producing the same effect on EMT. In vitro KAT assays confirmed that salicylate directly inhibited PCAF/Kat2b, Tip60/Kat5 and hMOF/Kat8, and this inhibition was likely involved in the reversal of EMT in the metastatic prostate cancer cell line PC-3. Salicylate treatment also inhibited EMT induced by cytokines, illustrating the general effect it had on this process. The inhibition of both EMT and KATs by salicylate presents a little explored activity that could explain some of the anti-cancer effects of aspirin.