Neural Signaling in Cancer

Glioblastoma disrupts cortical network activity at multiple spatial and temporal scales

The emergence of glioblastoma in cortical tissue initiates early and persistent neural hyperexcitability with signs ranging from mild cognitive impairment to convulsive seizures. The influence of peritumoral synaptic density, expansion dynamics, and spatial contours of excess glutamate upon higher order neuronal network modularity is unknown. We combined cellular and widefield imaging of calcium and glutamate fluorescent reporters in two glioblastoma mouse models with distinct synaptic microenvironments and infiltration profiles. Functional metrics of neural ensembles are dysregulated during tumor invasion depending on the stage of malignant progression and tumor cell proximity. Neural activity is differentially modulated during periods of accelerated and inhibited tumor expansion. Abnormal glutamate accumulation precedes and outpaces the spatial extent of baseline neuronal calcium signaling, indicating these processes are uncoupled in tumor cortex. Distinctive excitability homeostasis patterns and functional connectivity of local and remote neuronal populations support the promise of precision genetic diagnosis and management of this devastating brain disease.

Identification of crucial inflammaging related risk factors in multiple sclerosis

Background

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease characterized by inflammatory demyelinating lesions in the central nervous system. Studies have shown that the inflammation is vital to both the onset and progression of MS, where aging plays a key role in it. However, the potential mechanisms on how aging-related inflammation (inflammaging) promotes MS have not been fully understood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate the underlying mechanisms between inflammaging and MS, where meaningful prediction models are needed.

Methods

First, both aging and disease models were developed using machine learning methods, respectively. Then, an integrated inflammaging model was used to identify relative risk factors, by identifying essential "aging-inflammation-disease" triples. Finally, a series of bioinformatics analyses (including network analysis, enrichment analysis, sensitivity analysis, and pan-cancer analysis) were further used to explore the potential mechanisms between inflammaging and MS.

Results

A series of risk factors were identified, such as the protein homeostasis, cellular homeostasis, neurodevelopment and energy metabolism. The inflammaging indices were further validated in different cancer types. Therefore, various risk factors were integrated, and even both the theories of inflammaging and immunosenescence were further confirmed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our study systematically investigated the potential relationships between inflammaging and MS through a series of computational approaches, and could present a novel thought for other aging-related diseases.

Clinical Significance and Immune Infiltration Analyses of a Novel Nerve-Related lncRNA Signature in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a progressive disease with high morbidity and mortality. Accumulating evidence indicated that nervous system-cancer crosstalk can affect the occurrence and progression of GC. However, the role of nerve-related lncRNAs (NRLs) in GC remains largely unexplored. In this study, a total of 441 nerve-related genes were collected from the KEGG database, and two approaches, unsupervised clustering and WGCNA, were employed to identify NRLs. Lasso regression analysis was then used to construct the nerve-related lncRNA signature (NRLS). Based on the expression profiles of 5 lncRNAs, we developed a stable NRLS to predict survival in GC patients, and survival analyses showed significantly shorter overall survival (OS) in patients with high NRLS. In addition, the NRLS was found to be positively correlated with immune characteristics, including tumor-infiltrating immune cells, immune modulators, cytokines and chemokines. We then analyzed the role of NRLS in predicting chemotherapy and immunotherapy responses, and constructed the OS nomogram combining NRLS and other clinical features. In conclusion, we constructed a robust NRLS model to stratify GC patients and predict the outcomes of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This study can provide a new perspective for future individualized treatment of GC.

Progress in cancer neuroscience

Cancer of the central nervous system (CNS) can crosstalk systemically and locally in the tumor microenvironment and has become a topic of attention for tumor initiation and advancement. Recently studied neuronal and cancer interaction fundamentally altered the knowledge about glioma and metastases, indicating how cancers invade complex neuronal networks. This review systematically discussed the interactions between neurons and cancers and elucidates new therapeutic avenues. We have overviewed the current understanding of direct or indirect communications of neuronal cells with cancer and the mechanisms associated with cancer invasion. Besides, tumor-associated neuronal dysfunction and the influence of cancer therapies on the CNS are highlighted. Furthermore, interactions between peripheral nervous system and various cancers have also been discussed separately. Intriguingly and importantly, it cannot be ignored that exosomes could mediate the "wireless communications" between nervous system and cancer. Finally, promising future strategies targeting neuronal-brain tumor interactions were reviewed. A great deal of work remains to be done to elucidate the neuroscience of cancer, and future more research should be directed toward clarifying the precise mechanisms of cancer neuroscience, which hold enormous promise to improve outcomes for a wide range of malignancies.

Methods behind oncolytic virus-based DC vaccines in cancer: Toward a multiphase combined treatment strategy for Glioblastoma (GBM) patients

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains an orphan cancer disease with poor outcome. Novel treatment strategies are needed. Immunotherapy has several modes of action. The addition of active specific immunotherapy with dendritic cell vaccines resulted in improved overall survival of patients. Integration of DC vaccination within the first-line combined treatment became a challenge, and immunogenic cell death immunotherapy during chemotherapy was introduced. We used a retrospective analysis using real world data to evaluate the complex combined treatment, which included individualized multimodal immunotherapy during and after standard of care, and which required adaptations during treatment, and found a further improvement of overall survival. We also discuss the use of real world data as evidence. Novel strategies to move the field of individualized multimodal immunotherapy forward for GBM patients are reviewed.

Interplay of Ca2+ and K+ signals in cell physiology and cancer

The cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration and the activity of K+ channels on the plasma membrane regulate cellular processes ranging from mitosis to oriented migration. The interplay between Ca2+ and K+ signals is intricate, and different cell types rely on peculiar cellular mechanisms. Derangement of these mechanisms accompanies the neoplastic progression. The calcium signals modulated by voltage-gated (KV) and calcium-dependent (KCa) K+ channel activity regulate progression of the cell division cycle, the release of growth factors, apoptosis, cell motility and migration. Moreover, KV channels regulate the cell response to the local microenvironment by assembling with cell adhesion and growth factor receptors. This chapter summarizes the pathophysiological roles of Ca2+ and K+ fluxes in normal and cancer cells, by concentrating on several biological systems in which these functions have been studied in depth, such as early embryos, mammalian cell lines, T lymphocytes, gliomas and colorectal cancer cells. A full understanding of the underlying mechanisms will offer a comprehensive view of the ion channel implication in cancer biology and suggest potential pharmacological targets for novel therapeutic approaches in oncology.

Circadian Rhythms and Astrocytes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This review explores the interface between circadian timekeeping and the regulation of brain function by astrocytes. Although astrocytes regulate neuronal activity across many time domains, their cell-autonomous circadian clocks exert a particular role in controlling longer-term oscillations of brain function: the maintenance of sleep states and the circadian ordering of sleep and wakefulness. This is most evident in the central circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, where the molecular clock of astrocytes suffices to drive daily cycles of neuronal activity and behavior. In Alzheimer's disease, sleep impairments accompany cognitive decline. In mouse models of the disease, circadian disturbances accelerate astroglial activation and other brain pathologies, suggesting that daily functions in astrocytes protect neuronal homeostasis. In brain cancer, treatment in the morning has been associated with prolonged survival, and gliomas have daily rhythms in gene expression and drug sensitivity. Thus, circadian time is fast becoming critical to elucidating reciprocal astrocytic-neuronal interactions in health and disease.

Brain tumors on slice: A novel platform for personalized therapeutic screening

Mann and Zhang et al. developed a robust ex vivo slice culture platform consisting of resected patient high- and low-grade glioma tissue engrafted onto rat organotypic brain slices, and interrogated tumor responses to clinically relevant therapeutics with a novel treatment-response algorithm.

Cancer hallmarks intersect with neuroscience in the tumor microenvironment

The mechanisms underlying the multistep process of tumorigenesis can be distilled into a logical framework involving the acquisition of functional capabilities, the so-called hallmarks of cancer, which are collectively envisaged to be necessary for malignancy. These capabilities, embodied both in transformed cancer cells as well as in the heterotypic accessory cells that together constitute the tumor microenvironment (TME), are conveyed by certain abnormal characteristics of the cancerous phenotype. This perspective discusses the link between the nervous system and the induction of hallmark capabilities, revealing neurons and neuronal projections (axons) as hallmark-inducing constituents of the TME. We also discuss the autocrine and paracrine neuronal regulatory circuits aberrantly activated in cancer cells that may constitute a distinctive "enabling" characteristic contributing to the manifestation of hallmark functions and consequent cancer pathogenesis.

Single cell spatial analysis reveals the topology of immunomodulatory purinergic signaling in glioblastoma

How the glioma immune microenvironment fosters tumorigenesis remains incompletely defined. Here, we use single-cell RNA-sequencing and multiplexed tissue-imaging to characterize the composition, spatial organization, and clinical significance of extracellular purinergic signaling in glioma. We show that microglia are the predominant source of CD39, while tumor cells principally express CD73. In glioblastoma, CD73 is associated with EGFR amplification, astrocyte-like differentiation, and increased adenosine, and is linked to hypoxia. Glioblastomas enriched for CD73 exhibit inflammatory microenvironments, suggesting that purinergic signaling regulates immune adaptation. Spatially-resolved single-cell analyses demonstrate a strong spatial correlation between tumor-CD73 and microglial-CD39, with proximity associated with poor outcomes. Similar spatial organization is present in pediatric high-grade gliomas including H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma. These data reveal that purinergic signaling in gliomas is shaped by genotype, lineage, and functional state, and that core enzymes expressed by tumor and myeloid cells are organized to promote adenosine-rich microenvironments potentially amenable to therapeutic targeting.