Identification and validation of a CCL18-related signature for prediction of overall survival in patients with uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma (UM), the most frequent primary intraocular tumor in adults, has poor prognosis. High C-C motif chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) has been detected in various tumors and is closely correlated with patients' clinicopathological characteristics. However, the essential role of CCL18 in UM remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prognostic value of CCL18 in UM. Uveal melanoma cells (M17) were transfected with pcDNA3.1-CCL18 si-RNA using Lipofectamine™ 2000. Cell growth and invasion abilities were measured through Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and invasion assay. RNA expression data and clinical and histopathological details were downloaded from the UM in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA-UM) and GSE22138 datasets, which were defined as the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify significant prognostic biomarkers. The coefficients of these significant biomarkers generated by multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were used to establish a risk score formula. Functional enrichment analyses were also carried out. We found that downregulated CCL18 inhibits M17 cell growth and invasion in vitro. CCL18 may affect UM progression by altering C-C motif receptor 8 related pathways. Higher CCL18 expression was associated with worse clinical outcomes and tumor-specific death in the TCGA-UM dataset. Based on the coefficients obtained from the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, a CCL18-related prognostic signature formula was constructed as follows: risk score = 0.05590 × age +2.43437 × chromosome 3 status +0.39496 × Expression^CCL18. Notably, in this formula, the normal chromosome 3 was coded as 0, whereas the chromosome 3 loss was coded as 1. Each patient was assigned to either low-risk or high-risk groups using the median cut-off in the training cohort. High-risk patients survived for a shorter time than low-risk patients. The time-dependent and multivariate receiver operating characteristic curves showed promising diagnostic efficacy. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated the potential of this CCL18-related signature as an independent prognostic indicator. These results were validated using the GSE22138 dataset. In addition, in both TCGA-UM and GSE22138 datasets, stratification of clinical correlations and survival analyses based on this signature indicated the involvement of clinical progression and survival outcome in UM. In the high-risk group, Gene Ontology analyses mainly indicated the enrichment of immune response pathways, such as the T cell activation, response to interferon-gamma, antigen processing and presentation, interferon-gamma-mediated signaling pathway, MHC protein complex, MHC class II protein complex, antigen binding, and cytokine binding. Meanwhile, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses showed enrichments of pathways in cancer, cell adhesion, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, chemokine signaling pathway, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, and chemokine signaling pathway. Moreover, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis demonstrated the enrichment of almost all immune cells and immune functions in the high-risk group. In summary, a new prognostic CCL18-related signature was successfully established using the TCGA-UM dataset and validated using the GSE22138 dataset with meaningful predictive and diagnostic efficacies. This signature could serve as an independent and promising prognostic biomarker for patients with UM.

A Paradoxical Effect of Interleukin-32 Isoforms on Cancer

IL-32 plays a contradictory role such as tumor proliferation or suppressor in cancer development depending on the cancer type. In most cancers, it was found that the high expression of IL-32 was associated with more proliferative and progression of cancer. However, studying the isoforms of IL-32 cytokine has placed its paradoxical role into a wide range of functions based on its dominant isoform and surrounding environment. IL-32β, for example, was found mostly in different types of cancer and associated with cancer expansion. This observation is legitimate since cancer exhibits some hypoxic environment and IL-32β was known to be induced under hypoxic conditions. However, IL-32θ interacts directly with protein kinase C-δ reducing NF-κB and STAT3 levels to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This effect could explain the different functions of IL-32 isoforms in cancer. However, pro- or antitumor activity which is dependant on obesity, gender, and age as it relates to IL-32 has yet to be studied. Obesity-related IL-32 regulation indicated the role of IL-32 in cancer metabolism and inflammation. IL-32-specific direction in cancer therapy is difficult to conclude. In this review, we address that the paradoxical effect of IL-32 on cancer is attributed to the dominant isoform, cancer type, tumor microenvironment, and genetic background. IL-32 seems to have a contradictory role in cancer. However, investigating multiple IL-32 isoforms could explain this doubt and bring us closer to using them in therapy.

Role of Cytokines and Chemokines in NSCLC Immune Navigation and Proliferation

With over a million deaths every year around the world, lung cancer is found to be the most recurrent cancer among all types. Nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) amounts to about 85% of the entire cases. The other 15% owes it to small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Despite decades of research, the prognosis for NSCLC patients is poorly understood with treatment options limited. First, this article emphasises on the part that tumour microenvironment (TME) and its constituents play in lung cancer progression. This review also highlights the inflammatory (pro- or anti-) roles of different cytokines (ILs, TGF-β, and TNF-α) and chemokine (CC, CXC, C, and CX3C) families in the lung TME, provoking tumour growth and subsequent metastasis. The write-up also pinpoints recent developments in the field of chemokine biology. Additionally, it covers the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs), as alternate carriers of cytokines and chemokines. This allows the cytokines/chemokines to modulate the EVs for their secretion, trafficking, and aid in cancer proliferation. In the end, this review also stresses on the role of these factors as prognostic biomarkers for lung immunotherapy, apart from focusing on inflammatory actions of these chemoattractants.

Role of Macrophages and Related Cytokines in Kidney Disease

Inflammation is a key characteristic of kidney disease, but this immune response is two-faced. In the acute phase of kidney injury, there is an activation of the immune cells to fight against the insult, contributing to kidney repair and regeneration. However, in chronic kidney diseases (CKD), immune cells that infiltrate the kidney play a deleterious role, actively participating in disease progression, and contributing to nephron loss and fibrosis. Importantly, CKD is a chronic inflammatory disease. In early CKD stages, patients present sub-clinical inflammation, activation of immune circulating cells and therefore, anti-inflammatory strategies have been proposed as a common therapeutic target for renal diseases. Recent studies have highlighted the plasticity of immune cells and the complexity of their functions. Among immune cells, monocytes/macrophages play an important role in all steps of kidney injury. However, the phenotype characterization between human and mice immune cells showed different markers; therefore the extrapolation of experimental studies in mice could not reflect human renal diseases. Here we will review the current information about the characteristics of different macrophage phenotypes, mainly focused on macrophage-related cytokines, with special attention to the chemokine CCL18, and its murine functional homolog CCL8, and the macrophage marker CD163, and their role in kidney pathology.

Application of a classifier combining bronchial transcriptomics and chest computed tomography features facilitates the diagnostic evaluation of lung cancer in smokers and nonsmokers

Lung cancer screening by computed tomography (CT) reduces mortality but exhibited high false-positive rates. We established a diagnostic classifier combining chest CT features with bronchial transcriptomics. Patients with CT-detected suspected lung cancer were enrolled. The sample collected by bronchial brushing was used for RNA sequencing. The e1071 and pROC packages in R software was applied to build the model. Eventually, a total of 283 patients, including 183 with lung cancer and 100 with benign lesions, were included into final analysis. When incorporating transcriptomic data with radiological characteristics, the advanced model yielded 0.903 AUC with 81.1% NPV. Moreover, the classifier performed well regardless of lesion size, location, stage, histologic type or smoking status. Pathway analysis showed enhanced epithelial differentiation, tumor metastasis, and impaired immunity were predominant in smokers with cancer, whereas tumorigenesis played a central role in nonsmokers with cancer. Apoptosis and oxidative stress contributed critically in metastatic lung cancer; by contrast, immune dysfunction was pivotal in locally advanced lung cancer. Collectively, we devised a minimal-to-noninvasive, efficient diagnostic classifier for smokers and nonsmokers with lung cancer, which provides evidence for different mechanisms of cancer development and metastasis associated with smoking. A negative classifier result will help the physician make conservative diagnostic decisions.

The immunosuppressive and pro-tumor functions of CCL18 at the tumor microenvironment

Chemokines are essential mediators of immune cell trafficking. In a tumor microenvironment context, chemotactic cytokines are known to regulate the migration, positioning and interaction of different cell subsets with both anti- and pro-tumor functions. Additionally, chemokines have critical roles regarding non-immune cells, highlighting their importance in tumor growth and progression. CCL18 is a primate-specific chemokine produced by macrophages and dendritic cells. This chemokine presents both constitutive and inducible expression. It is mainly associated with a tolerogenic response and involved in maintaining homeostasis of the immune system under physiological conditions. Recently, CCL18 has been noticed as an important component of the complex chemokine system involved in the biology of tumors. This chemokine induces T regulatory cell differentiation and recruitment to the tumor milieu, with subsequent induction of a pro-tumor (M2-like) macrophage phenotype. CCL18 is also directly involved in cancer cell-invasion, migration, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and angiogenesis stimulation, pinpointing an important role in the promotion of cancer progression. Interestingly, this chemokine is highly expressed in tumor tissues, particularly at the invasive front of more advanced stages (e.g. colorectal cancer), and high levels are detected in the serum of patients, correlating with poor prognosis. Despite the promising role of CCL18 as a biomarker and/or therapeutic target to hamper disease progression, its pleiotropic functions in a context of cancer are still poorly explored. The scarce knowledge concerning the receptors for this chemokine, together with the insufficient insight on the downstream signaling pathways, have impaired the selection of this molecule as an immediate target for translational research. In this Review, we will discuss recent findings concerning the role of CCL18 in cancer, integrate recently disclosed molecular mechanisms and compile data from current clinical studies.

Insights into immunometabolism: A dataset correlating the 18FDG PET/CT maximum standard uptake value of the primary tumor with the CCL18 serum level in non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)1 is one of the most common malignancies in the western world [1]. Despite multiple therapeutic and diagnostic advances, the overall survival is low and recurrence of NSCLC is a common problem with different treatment regimens. The inclusion of ¹⁸fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in combination with computed tomography (CT) in clinical practice was revolutionary for the staging of NSCLC [2]. ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT provides morphological, functional, and metabolic information about the tumor, which is usually highly, metabolically active. Due to the increased glucose uptake, ¹⁸FDG is actively accumulatedin the tumor tissues, resulting in an increased standardized uptake value (SUV). The tumor tissue itself consists of neoplastic cells, extracellular matrix, fibroblasts, and various immune cells. These immune cells include tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, regulatory T cells, and macrophages. Macrophages have different activation patterns and play an essential role in inflammation and cancer. In particular, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a specialized group of alternatively activated or M2 macrophages. TAMs release several chemokines that are different from those released by classically activated macrophages found in an inflammatory environment. One of the most important chemokines released by TAMs is CC-chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18). Although CCL18 is present in healthy subjects, its levels are significantly elevated in the serum of patients with NSCLC. It correlates with overall survival and tumor stage in several malignant diseases [3,4]. A recurring problem is that increased glucose metabolism can be found in the inflammatory tissue, which can also lead to an increased SUV in ¹⁸FDG PET/CT, lowering its oncological specificity [5]. In a previous study, we demonstrated that serum CCL18 levels can be used to differentiate between patients with NSCLC and healthy subjects [3]. Hence, we investigated the correlation between serum CCL18 levels and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV_max) of the primary tumor using ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT. We found a significant correlation between the SUV_max of the primary tumor and the serum CCL18 level. The data are important because they can be used to draw conclusions about immunometabolism. Furthermore, they can serve as basis for future prospective clinical studies.

CCL18 in the Progression of Cancer

A neoplastic tumor consists of cancer cells that interact with each other and non-cancerous cells that support the development of the cancer. One such cell are tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). These cells secrete many chemokines into the tumor microenvironment, including especially a large amount of CCL18. This chemokine is a marker of the M2 macrophage subset; this is the reason why an increase in the production of CCL18 is associated with the immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment and an important element of cancer immune evasion. Consequently, elevated levels of CCL18 in the serum and the tumor are connected with a worse prognosis for the patient. This paper shows the importance of CCL18 in neoplastic processes. It includes a description of the signal transduction from PITPNM3 in CCL18-dependent migration, invasion, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cancer cells. The importance of CCL18 in angiogenesis has also been described. The paper also describes the effect of CCL18 on the recruitment to the cancer niche and the functioning of cells such as TAMs, regulatory T cells (T_reg), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and tumor-associated dendritic cells (TADCs). The last part of the paper describes the possibility of using CCL18 as a therapeutic target during anti-cancer therapy.

MiR-484 suppressed proliferation, migration, invasion and induced apoptosis of gastric cancer via targeting CCL-18

Gastric cancer is a common and high-incidence malignant gastro-intestinal cancer that seriously threatens human life. Evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in regulating the occurrence and development of gastric cancer, but the possible mechanisms and effects remain to be further explored. In the present study, a new tumour suppresser function of miR-484 was identified in gastric cancer. The expression of miR-484 was obviously decreased, and the expression of CCL-18 was obviously increased in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. In addition, upregulation of miR-484 suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced cell cycle arrest in G1 phase and cell apoptosis in gastric cancer cells. Besides, miR-484 mimics could block the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Moreover, CCL-18 was confirmed as a direct target of miR-484 by binding its 3'-UTR, and over-expression of CCL-18 could restore the effects of miR-484 on the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer. Finally, in vivo experiments showed that over-expression of miR-484 inhibited the subcutaneous tumorigenicity of gastric cancer cells, and the inhibition was blocked after over-expression of CCL-18. To conclude, miR-484 expression was downregulated in gastric cancer tissues and cells and played an anti-cancer role in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer, which may be achieved by inhibiting the expression of transcription factor CCL-18 and blocking the PI3K/AKT pathway.

CCL18-NIR1 promotes oral cancer cell growth and metastasis by activating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18) affects the malignant progression of varying cancers by activating chemokine receptors. Our previous work has shown that CCL18 promotes hyperplasia and invasiveness of oral cancer cells; however, the cognate receptors of CCL18 involved in the pathogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have not yet been identified. This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms which underlie promotive effects of CCL18 on OSCC progression by binding to functional receptors.

METHODS

The expression of CCL18 receptor-NIR1 in OSCC was determined by conducting western blot, immunofluorescence, and immunocytochemistry assays. Chi square test was applied to analyze the relationship between expression levels of NIR1 and clinicopathological variables. Recombinant CCL18 (rCCL18), receptor siRNA and JAK specific inhibitor (AG490) were used in experiments investigating the effects of the CCL18-NIR1 axis on growth of cancer cells (i.e., proliferation, and metastasis), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

RESULTS

NIR1 as functional receptor of CCL18 in OSCC, was found to be significantly upregulated in OSCC and positively related to the TNM stage of OSCC patients. rCCL18 induced the phenotypical alterations in oral cancer cells including cell growth, metastasis and EMT. The JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway was confirmed to be a downstream pathway mediating the effects of CCL18 in OSCC. AG490 and knockdown of NIR1 could block the effects of rCCL18-induced OSCC.

CONCLUSION

CCL18 can promote the progression of OSCC by binding NIR1, and the CCL18-NIR1 axis can activate JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. The identification of the mechanisms underlying CCL18-mediated promotion of OSCC progression could highlight potential therapeutic targets for treating oral cancer.

Extensive serum biomarker analysis in patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma

Lung cancer is a common malignant disease, nearly 2.09 million new patients occurred last year. Approximately 85% of the patients are classified as non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is therefore important to identify new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for the early detection of this disease. The presented study identifies biomarkers in the serum of NSCLC patients. The expression of 274 cytokines was measured by a novel antibody array methodology and ELISA was applied to validate the array results. The levels of MIP-1 α, IL-8, MIP-1 β, Resistin, GDF-15, HGF, CA125, FLRG, VCAM-1, DKK-3, sTNF-R1, CTACK, Acrp30, CXCL-16 and LYVE-1 were significantly higher in serum from NSCLC patients, while the level of TIMP-2 and IGFBP-6 were lower. More importantly, the validation supported the result of the antibody array. The result of the antibody array indicates that these cytokines might be novel auxiliary biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of NSCLC.