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Zhong R, Sullivan M, Upreti N, Chen R, De Ganzó A, Yang K, Yang S, Jin K, He Y, Li K, Xia J, Ma Z, Lee LP, Konry T, Huang TJ. Cellular immunity analysis by a modular acoustofluidic platform: CIAMAP. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadj9964. [PMID: 38134285 PMCID: PMC10745697 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj9964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
The study of molecular mechanisms at the single-cell level holds immense potential for enhancing immunotherapy and understanding neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases by identifying previously concealed pathways within a diverse range of paired cells. However, existing single-cell pairing platforms have limitations in low pairing efficiency, complex manual operation procedures, and single-use functionality. Here, we report a multiparametric cellular immunity analysis by a modular acoustofluidic platform: CIAMAP. This platform enables users to efficiently sort and collect effector-target (i.e., NK92-K562) cell pairs and monitor the real-time dynamics of immunological response formation. Furthermore, we conducted transcriptional and protein expression analyses to evaluate the pathways that mediate effector cytotoxicity toward target cells, as well as the synergistic effect of doxorubicin on the cellular immune response. Our CIAMAP can provide promising building blocks for high-throughput quantitative single-cell level coculture to understand intercellular communication while also empowering immunotherapy by precision analysis of immunological synapses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruoyu Zhong
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Matthew Sullivan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Neil Upreti
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Roy Chen
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Agustin De Ganzó
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Kaichun Yang
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Shujie Yang
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ke Jin
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Ye He
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Ke Li
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Jianping Xia
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Zhiteng Ma
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Luke P. Lee
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Institute of Quantum Biophysics, Department of Biophysics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
- Department of Chemistry and Nano Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Tania Konry
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tony Jun Huang
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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Correlation between DNA Methylation and Cell Proliferation Identifies New Candidate Predictive Markers in Meningioma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14246227. [PMID: 36551712 PMCID: PMC9776514 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14246227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Meningiomas are the most common primary tumors of the central nervous system. Based on the 2021 WHO classification, they are classified into three grades reflecting recurrence risk and aggressiveness. However, the WHO's histopathological criteria defining these grades are somewhat subjective. Together with reliable immunohistochemical proliferation indices, other molecular markers such as those studied with genome-wide epigenetics promise to revamp the current prognostic classification. In this study, 48 meningiomas of various grades were randomly included and explored for DNA methylation with the Infinium MethylationEPIC microarray over 850k CpG sites. We conducted differential and correlative analyses on grade and several proliferation indices and markers, such as mitotic index and Ki-67 or MCM6 immunohistochemistry. We also set up Cox proportional hazard models for extensive associations between CpG methylation and survival. We identified loci highly correlated with cell growth and a targeted methylation signature of regulatory regions persistently associated with proliferation, grade, and survival. Candidate genes under the control of these regions include SMC4, ESRRG, PAX6, DOK7, VAV2, OTX1, and PCDHA-PCDHB-PCDHG, i.e., the protocadherin gene clusters. This study highlights the crucial role played by epigenetic mechanisms in shaping dysregulated cellular proliferation and provides potential biomarkers bearing prognostic and therapeutic value for the clinical management of meningioma.
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Bai Y, Zheng J, Cheng L, Liu Q, Zhao G, Li J, Gu Y, Xu W, Wang M, Wei Q, Zhang R. Potentially functional genetic variants of VAV2 and PSMA4 in the immune-activation pathway and non-small cell lung cancer survival. J Gene Med 2022; 24:e3447. [PMID: 36039727 DOI: 10.1002/jgm.3447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lung cancer ranks the highest mortality among cancers, represented by a low 5-year survival rate. The function of the immune system has a profound influence on the development and progression of lung cancer. Thus genetic variants of the immune-related genes may serve as potential predictors of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survival. METHODS In the present study, we conducted a two-stage survival analysis in 1,531 NSCLC patients and assessed the associations between genetic variants in the immune-activation gene-set and overall survival (OS) of NSCLC. The validated variants were further subjected to functional annotation and in vitro experiments. RESULTS We identified 25 SNPs spanning 6 loci associated with NSCLC OS after multiple-testing corrections in all datasets, in which two variants, PSMA4 rs12901682 A>C and VAV2 rs12002767 C>T were shown to potentially affect lung cancer OS by cis-regulating the expression of the corresponding genes [(HR (95% CI) = 0.76 (0.65-0.89) and 1.36 (1.12-1.65), P=4.29E-04 and 0.002, respectively)]. CONCLUSION Our findings provide new insights into the role of genetic variants in the immune-activation pathway genes in lung cancer progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yushun Bai
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan University, Yiwu, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ji Zheng
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lei Cheng
- Department of Pulmonary, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qi Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Genming Zhao
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jingrao Li
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanzi Gu
- Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Wanghong Xu
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Mengyun Wang
- Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai, China
| | - Qingyi Wei
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Ruoxin Zhang
- School of Public Health|Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan University, Yiwu, Zhejiang, China
- Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai, China
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Li N, Cai H, Song K, Guo Y, Liang Q, Zhang J, Chen R, Li J, Wang X, Guo Z. A Five-Gene-Pair-Based Prognostic Signature for Predicting the Relapse Risk of Early Stage ER+ Breast Cancer. Front Genet 2020; 11:566928. [PMID: 33193655 PMCID: PMC7658391 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.566928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
About 20-30% of early-stage breast cancer patients suffer relapses after surgery. To identify such high-risk patients, many signatures have been reported, but they lack robustness in data measured on different platforms. Here, we developed a signature which is robust across multiple profiling platforms, and identified reproducible omics features characterizing metastasis of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer from the Gene Expression Omnibus database with the aid of the signature. Based on the stable within-sample relative expression orderings (REOs), we constructed a signature consisting of five gene pairs, named 5-GPS, whose REOs were significantly correlated with relapse-free survival using the univariate Cox regression model. Using 5-GPS, patients were classified into the low-risk and high-risk groups. Patients in the high-risk group have worse survival compared to those in the low-risk group using Kaplan-Meier curve analysis with the log-rank test. Applying 5-GPS to the RNA-sequencing data of stage I-IV breast cancer samples archived in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we found that the proportion of the high-risk patients increases with the stage. The proposed REO-based signature shows potential in identifying early-stage ER+ breast cancer patients with high risk of relapse after surgery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Li
- School of Medical and Information Engineering, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Hao Cai
- Medical Big Data and Bioinformatics Research Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China
| | - Kai Song
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - You Guo
- Medical Big Data and Bioinformatics Research Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China
| | - Qirui Liang
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Jiahui Zhang
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Rou Chen
- Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias of Ministry of Education, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Li
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xianlong Wang
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Zheng Guo
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fujian Key Laboratory of Medical Bioinformatics, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Gastrointestinal Cancer, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
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Maldonado MDM, Medina JI, Velazquez L, Dharmawardhane S. Targeting Rac and Cdc42 GEFs in Metastatic Cancer. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:201. [PMID: 32322580 PMCID: PMC7156542 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Rho family GTPases Rho, Rac, and Cdc42 have emerged as key players in cancer metastasis, due to their essential roles in regulating cell division and actin cytoskeletal rearrangements; and thus, cell growth, migration/invasion, polarity, and adhesion. This review will focus on the close homologs Rac and Cdc42, which have been established as drivers of metastasis and therapy resistance in multiple cancer types. Rac and Cdc42 are often dysregulated in cancer due to hyperactivation by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), belonging to both the diffuse B-cell lymphoma (Dbl) and dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) families. Rac/Cdc42 GEFs are activated by a myriad of oncogenic cell surface receptors, such as growth factor receptors, G-protein coupled receptors, cytokine receptors, and integrins; consequently, a number of Rac/Cdc42 GEFs have been implicated in metastatic cancer. Hence, inhibiting GEF-mediated Rac/Cdc42 activation represents a promising strategy for targeted metastatic cancer therapy. Herein, we focus on the role of oncogenic Rac/Cdc42 GEFs and discuss the recent advancements in the development of Rac and Cdc42 GEF-interacting inhibitors as targeted therapy for metastatic cancer, as well as their potential for overcoming cancer therapy resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Del Mar Maldonado
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Julia Isabel Medina
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Luis Velazquez
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Suranganie Dharmawardhane
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Liu F, Qiu F, Fu M, Chen H, Wang H. Propofol Reduces Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition, Invasion and Migration of Gastric Cancer Cells through the MicroRNA-195-5p/Snail Axis. Med Sci Monit 2020; 26:e920981. [PMID: 32115570 PMCID: PMC7067052 DOI: 10.12659/msm.920981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gastric cancer (GC) is a life-threating malignancy worldwide. Accumulating studies suggest propofol has anti-tumor functions in addition to the anesthetic effect. This study aimed to figure out the effects of propofol treatment in GC development. MATERIAL AND METHODS Human GC SGC-7901 and NCI-N87 cells were treated with different doses of propofol. Then the invasion and migration of GC cells was measured. SGC-7901 cells following 10 μM propofol treatment were applied in the following experiments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) with differential expression in cells with or without propofol treatment were analyzed. Expression of miR-195-5p, Snail, vimentin and E-cadherin in SGC-7901 cells was measured, and then loss-of-function of miR-195-5p and gain-of-function of Snail were performed. Target relation between miR-195-5p and Snail was confirmed using luciferase assay. Xenograft tumor was induced in nude mice to identify the effect of propofol on GC in vivo. RESULTS Propofol reduced epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and migration of GC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Propofol elevated miR-195-5p expression but reduced Snail expression, and it reduced vimentin but increased E-cadherin expression in SGC-7901 cells. miR-195-5p directly bound to Snail. miR-195-5p inhibition or Snail promotion reversed propofol-inhibited malignant behaviors of SGC-7901 cells. In vitro results were reproduced in in vivo experiments. CONCLUSIONS Our study found that propofol could inhibit EMT, invasion, and migration of GC cells by promoting miR-195-5p expression and suppressing Snail expression. This study may provide novel insights in GC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fenghua Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yidu Central Hospital, Weifang, Shandong, China (mainland)
| | - Fengyu Qiu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yidu Central Hospital, Weifang, Shandong, China (mainland)
| | - Min Fu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yidu Central Hospital, Weifang, Shandong, China (mainland)
| | - Huayong Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yidu Central Hospital, Weifang, Shandong, China (mainland)
| | - Hui Wang
- Operating Room, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong, China (mainland)
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Peritoneal metastatic gastric carcinoma cells exhibit more malignant behavior when co-cultured with HMrSV5 cells. Aging (Albany NY) 2020; 12:3238-3248. [PMID: 32139657 PMCID: PMC7066899 DOI: 10.18632/aging.102803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Metastasis and recurrence are major causes of death in gastric cancer patients. Because there are no obvious clinical symptoms during the early stages of metastasis, we sought to isolate highly invasive metastatic gastric cancer cells for future drug screening. We first established a mouse model to observe gastric cancer metastasis in vivo. The incidence of peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer was much higher than liver or lymph metastasis. Peritoneal metastatic and non-metastatic NUGC-4 cells were isolated from the mouse model. Cell proliferation was measured using CCK-8 assays, while migration and invasion were investigated in Transwell assays. Proteins involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition were detected by Western blotting. Metastatic gastric carcinoma cells were more proliferative and invasive than primary NUGC-4 cells. The supernatants of metastatic gastric carcinoma cells notably altered the morphology of HMrSV5 peritoneal mesothelial cells and promoted their epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, primary or metastatic gastric cancer cells co-cultured with HMrSV5 cells markedly increased cancer cell proliferation and invasiveness. Moreover, peritoneal metastatic gastric carcinoma cells in the presence of HMrSV5 cells exhibited most malignant behaviors. Thus, peritoneal metastatic gastric carcinoma cells exhibited high capacities for proliferation and invasion, and could be used as a new drug screening tool for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer and peritoneal metastatic gastric cancer.
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Nie K, Shi L, Wen Y, Pan J, Li P, Zheng Z, Liu F. Identification of hub genes correlated with the pathogenesis and prognosis of gastric cancer via bioinformatics methods. Minerva Med 2019; 111:213-225. [PMID: 31638362 DOI: 10.23736/s0026-4806.19.06166-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate is less than 10%. So, it is urgent to identified novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. METHODS Twelve GEO (gene expression omnibus) datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between GC and normal tissues were screened and integrated using limma and RobustRankAggreg (RRA) packages in R software. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analyses for DEGs were conducted via STRING and DAVID, respectively. Moreover, Cox regression model was used to construct a gene prognosis signature. RESULTS Ten genes (COL1A1, CXCL8, COL3A1, SPP1, COL1A2, TIMP1, CXCL1, BGN, MMP3 and SERPINE1) were identified and might be highly related to GC. Further analysis showed high expression of CXCL8, COL3A1, CXCL1, MMP3 and SERPINE1, were significantly associated with late stage of GC. Lastly, we build a seven-gene prognosis signature (CYP19A1, SERPINE1, CGB5, CALCR, ASGR2, CYTL1 and ABCB5), which can give a good prediction of OS. CONCLUSIONS Our article screened out key genes highly associating with GC's developments and prognosis, and it is useful for researcher to further understand GC's molecular basis and direct the synthesis medicine of GC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kechao Nie
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Laner Shi
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yi Wen
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jinglin Pan
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Peiwu Li
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhihua Zheng
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Fengbin Liu
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China -
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Fiori ME, Di Franco S, Villanova L, Bianca P, Stassi G, De Maria R. Cancer-associated fibroblasts as abettors of tumor progression at the crossroads of EMT and therapy resistance. Mol Cancer 2019; 18:70. [PMID: 30927908 PMCID: PMC6441236 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-019-0994-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 363] [Impact Index Per Article: 72.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decades, the role of the microenvironment in tumor progression and therapeutic outcome has gained increasing attention. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have emerged as key players among stromal cells, owing to their abundance in most solid tumors and their diverse tumor-restraining/promoting roles. The interplay between tumor cells and neighboring CAFs takes place by both paracrine signals (cytokines, exosomes and metabolites) or by the multifaceted functions of the surrounding extracellular matrix. Here, we dissect the most recent identified mechanisms underlying CAF-mediated control of tumor progression and therapy resistance, which include induction of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), activation of survival pathways or stemness-related programs and metabolic reprogramming in tumor cells. Importantly, the recently unveiled heterogeneity in CAFs claims tailored therapeutic efforts aimed at eradicating the specific subset facilitating tumor progression, therapy resistance and relapse. However, despite the large amount of pre-clinical data, much effort is still needed to translate CAF-directed anti-cancer strategies from the bench to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micol Eleonora Fiori
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Simone Di Franco
- Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Sciences, University of Palermo, 90127, Palermo, Italy
| | - Lidia Villanova
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Bianca
- Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Sciences, University of Palermo, 90127, Palermo, Italy
| | - Giorgio Stassi
- Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Sciences, University of Palermo, 90127, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Ruggero De Maria
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy. .,Scientific Vice-Direction - Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" - I.R.C.C.S, Largo Francesco Vito 1-8, 00168, Rome, Italy.
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