Elevated MYO10 Predicts Poor Prognosis and its Deletion Hampers Proliferation and Migration Potentials of Cells Through Rewiring PI3K/Akt Signaling in Cervical Cancer

The hsa-miR-3613-5p, a potential oncogene correlated with diagnostic and prognostic merits in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

MicroRNA-3613 (hsa-miR-3613-5p), a biomarker with a dual role as an oncogenic or tumor suppressor, is associated with different types of cancer. This study aimed to determine the correlation between the hsa-miR-3613-5p gene expression and Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). Utilizing several bioinformatics tools, we examined the expression level and clinicopathological value of hsa-miR-3613-5p in patients with KIRC compared to normal tissues. Other bioinformatic measures, including survival analysis, diagnostic merit of hsa-miR-3613-5p, downstream target prediction, potential upstream lncRNAs, network construction, and functional enrichment analysis of hsa-miR-3613-5p, were performed. We observed that overexpression of hsa-miR-3613-5p in KIRC tissues had valuable diagnostic merit and was significantly correlated with the poor overall survival of KIRC patients. We also realized a correlation between abnormal expression of hsa-miR-3613-5p and several clinical parameters such as pathological stage, race, age, and histological grades in patients with KIRC. Moreover, we constructed the most potential regulatory network of hsa-miR-3613-5p in KIRC with 17 different axes, including four pseudogenes, two lncRNAs, and three mRNAs. Besides, we uncovered six variants in the mature form of hsa-miR-3613-5p. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that the top-ranked pathways for hsa-miR-3613-5p are cell cycle, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), and hepatocellular carcinoma pathways. The present report suggests that the higher expression of hsa-miR-3613-5p is associated with the progression of KIRC. Therefore, it may be considered a valuable indicator for the early detection, risk stratification, and targeted treatment of patients with KIRC.

Whole-exome sequencing of rectal neuroendocrine tumors

The genetic characteristics of rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs) were poorly understood. Depicting the genetic characteristics may provide a biological basis for prognosis prediction and novel treatment development. Tissues of 18 R-NET patients were analyzed using whole-exome sequencing. The median tumor mutation burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) were 1.15 Muts/MB (range, 0.03-23.28) and 0.36 (range, 0.00-10.97), respectively. Genes involved in P53 signaling, PI3K-AKT signaling, DNA damage repair, WNT signaling, etc. were frequently altered. Higher TMB (P = 0.078), higher CNV (P = 0.110), somatic mutation of CCDC168 (P = 0.049), HMCN1 (P = 0.040), MYO10 (P = 0.007), and amplification of ZC3H13 (P < 0.001) were associated with shorter OS. Potentially targetable gene alterations (PTGAs) were seen in 72% of the patients. FGFR1 amplification (22%) was the most common PTGA followed by BARD1 and BRCA2 mutation (each 17%). As for gene variations associated with the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), FAT1 alteration (39%) and PTEN depletion (28%) were commonly observed. In conclusion, frequently altered oncogenic pathways might contribute to the development and progression of R-NETs. Gene alterations significantly associated with prognosis might be potential novel targets. Targeted therapy might be a promising strategy as targetable alterations were prevalent in R-NETs. FAT1 alteration and PTEN depletion might be the main genetic alterations influencing the response to ICB besides overall low TMB and MSI in R-NETs.

Integrated Analyses of the Expression and Prognostic Value of EPHB6 in Cervical Cancer and Its Correlation with Immune Infiltrates

Among women, cervical cancer (CC) ranks as the third most frequent form of carcinoma and the fourth greatest cancer-related cause of deaths. There is increasing evidence that points to the dysregulation of EPH receptor B6 (EPHB6) in various cancers. On the other hand, neither the expression nor the function of EPHB6 in CC has been researched. In the first part of this investigation, we analyzed the data from the TCGA and discovered that the level of EPHB6 was much lower in CC tissues than in normal cervical tissues. ROC assays revealed that high EPHB6 expression had an AUC value of 0.835 for CC. The survival study revealed that both the overall and disease-specific survivals in this condition were considerably lower among patients who had a low EPHB6 level compared to those who had a high EPHB6 level. It is important to note that the multivariate COX regression analysis indicated that the expression of EPHB6 was an independent predictive factor. In addition to this, the C-indexes and calibration plots of a nomogram derived from multivariate assays revealed an accurate prediction performance among patients with CC. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that the expression of EPHB6 was positively associated with the levels of Tcm, TReg, B cells, T cells, iDC, T helper cells, cytotoxic cells, and DC, while negatively associated with NK CD56bright cells and neutrophils. In summary, the downregulation of EPHB6 was strongly linked to a more aggressive clinical development of CC, suggesting its potential utility as a diagnostic and therapeutic target in CC.

Identification of a HOXD13 variant in a Mongolian family with incomplete penetrance syndactyly by exon sequencing

Background

Syndactyly (SD) refers to a deformity caused by the fusion and limb differentiation disorder of soft tissues and/or skeletons to varying extents between adjacent fingers (toes). The main features of this disease are phenotypic heterogeneity and genetic heterogeneity. In this study, we examined four generations of a Chinese Mongolian with different phenotypes of syndactylia and analysed and identified the pathogenic genetic variants of SD by exon sequencing.

Methods

The clinical phenotypes of patients were analysed, and the hands and feet were examined by X-ray. The pedigree was drawn, and the family data were analysed. Peripheral blood was collected from the family members, and genomic DNA was extracted. The candidate genes of SD were identified by exon sequencing, and the mutation sites of the captured candidate genes were amplified by PCR and verified by Sanger sequencing.

Results

The family has congenital syndactyly, which is an autosomal dominant disease. At present, this condition has been passed down for 4 generations and was identified in 9 patients, including 4 males and 5 females. Five patients, I₂, II₄, III₅, III_,7 and III₁₀, had unilateral syndactyly, and four patients, III₁₆, IV₃, IV₆ and IV₇, had bilateral finger syndactyly. All of their toes were unaffected. The proband and the other patients in this family had a c.917G > A (p.R306Q) mutation, which is located at position 917 of the second exon of the HOXD13 gene. This mutation results in a change in the amino acid at position 306, in which arginine is changed to glutamine. This mutation cosegregates in unaffected individuals and affected patients in this family. Moreover, 201 Mongolian genome databases and a thousand human genome databases were referenced to further confirm that the pathogenic genetic variant that causes syndactyly in this family is found in HOXD13.

Conclusion

This study found that the mutation site of the pathogenic gene in this family was HOXD13, c.917G > A (p.R306Q). The phenotype of the family member III₁₂ was normal, but this member was also a carrier of the pathogenic genetic variant. This indicates that the disease of this family has incomplete penetrance characteristics. Our results further enrich the expression profile of the HOXD13 gene.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12920-022-01360-3.

MYO10 contributes to the malignant phenotypes of colorectal cancer via RACK1 by activating integrin/Src/FAK signaling

Liver metastases still remain a major cause of colorectal cancer (CRC) patient death. MYO10 is upregulated in several tumor types, however, its significance and the underlying mechanism in CRC is not entirely clear. Here we found that MYO10 was highly expressed in CRC tumor tissues, especially in liver metastasis tissues. MYO10 knockout reduced CRC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro, and CRC metastasis in vivo. We identified RACK1 by LC-MS/MS and demonstrated that MYO10 interacts with and stabilizes RACK1. Mechanistically, MYO10 promotes CRC cell progression and metastasis via ubiquitination-mediated RACK1 degradation and integrin/Src/FAK signaling activation. Therefore, the MYO10/RACK1/integrin/Src/FAK axis may play an important role in CRC progression and metastasis.