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Zhou S, Xu H, Wei T. Inhibition of stress proteins TRIB3 and STC2 potentiates sorafenib sensitivity in hepatocellular carcinoma. Heliyon 2023; 9:e17295. [PMID: 37389061 PMCID: PMC10300369 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 06/10/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Sorafenib resistance is one of the main obstacles to the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Stress proteins TRIB3 and STC2 confer cell resistance to a variety of stresses, including hypoxia, nutritional deprivation, and other perturbations, which induce endoplasmic reticulum stress. However, the role of TRIB3 and STC2 in sorafenib sensitivity to HCC remains unclear. In this study, our results indicated that the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in sorafenib-treated HCC cells obtained from the NCBI-GEO database (Huh7 and Hep3B cells; GSE96796) included TRIB3, STC2, HOXD1, C2orf82, ADM2, RRM2, and UNC93A. The most significantly upregulated DEGs were TRIB3 and STC2, which were both stress protein genes. Bioinformatic analysis in NCBI public databases indicated that TRIB3 and STC2 were highly expressed in HCC tissues and closely associated with poor prognoses in HCC patients. Further investigation showed that inhibition of TRIB3 or STC2 with siRNA could enhance the anti-cancer effect of sorafenib in HCC cell lines. In conclusion, our study showed that stress proteins TRIB3 and STC2 are closely associated with sorafenib resistance in HCC. The combination of TRIB3 or STC2 inhibition and sorafenib may be a promising therapeutic strategy for HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Zhou
- Department of Ultrasound, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, 410000, China
| | - Huanji Xu
- Department of Abdominal Oncology, Cancer Center and Laboratory of Molecular Targeted Therapy in Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China
| | - Tianhong Wei
- Department of Ultrasound, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, 410000, China
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Deng H, Zhang J, Zheng Y, Li J, Xiao Q, Wei F, Han W, Xu X, Zhang Y. CCDC25 may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker of hepatocellular carcinoma: Results from microarray analysis. Front Surg 2022; 9:878648. [PMID: 36211267 PMCID: PMC9537757 DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.878648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a tumor with a high recurrence rate, poor prognosis, and rapid progression. Therefore, it is necessary to find a novel biomarker for HCC. Coiled-coil domain containing 25 (CCDC25) has been identified as a target molecule that mediates liver metastasis in colon cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of CCDC25 in HCC are unknown. This study aimed to explore the role of CCDC25 in HCC.MethodsThe expression of CCDC25 in HCC was identified through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) curves were drawn to evaluate the diagnostic value of CCDC25 for HCC. The effect of CCDC25 on the prognosis of HCC was analyzed by using the Kaplan–Meier plotter. Co-expressed genes and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to explore the related functions and regulatory signaling pathways of CCDC25. Moreover, we employed the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database and CIBERSORT algorithm to investigate the relationship between CCDC25 and the tumor immune microenvironment (TME) in HCC. Meanwhile, the effect of CCDC25 on the sensitivity of HCC patients to chemotherapy drugs was evaluated. Finally, we explored the prognostic methylation sites of CCDC25 using the MethSurv database.ResultsCCDC25 expression was low in HCC. Low CCDC25 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival of HCC and may be comparable to the ability of AFP to diagnose HCC. Dysregulation of glucose metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, ubiquitination modification, and apoptosis inhibition caused by CCDC25 downregulation may be the causes and results of HCC. In addition, CCDC25 was positively correlated with the infiltration level of various adaptive antitumor immune cells. The levels of immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression were lower in the samples with high CCDC25 expression. What is more, we found that downregulated CCDC25 may increase the sensitivity or resistance of HCC patients to multiple drugs, including sorafenib. We also identified a methylation site for CCDC25, which may be responsible for poor prognosis and low CCDC25 expression in HCC patients. Finally, CCDC25 may be associated with HCC ferroptosis.ConclusionsCCDC25 may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for HCC and is associated with immune infiltration and ferroptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongyang Deng
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jiaxing Zhang
- Key Laboratory of the Digestive System Tumors of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yijun Zheng
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jipin Li
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Qi Xiao
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Fengxian Wei
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Wei Han
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xiaodong Xu
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
| | - Youcheng Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic Institute, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
- Correspondence: Youcheng Zhang
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