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Chaudhary S, Siddiqui JA, Appadurai MI, Maurya SK, Murakonda SP, Blowers E, Swanson BJ, Nasser MW, Batra SK, Lakshmanan I, Ganti AK. Dissecting the MUC5AC/ANXA2 signaling axis: implications for brain metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma. Exp Mol Med 2024; 56:1450-1460. [PMID: 38825648 PMCID: PMC11263355 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-024-01255-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) exhibits a heightened propensity for brain metastasis, posing a significant clinical challenge. Mucin 5ac (MUC5AC) plays a pivotal role in the development of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD); however, its role in causing brain metastases remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the contribution of MUC5AC to brain metastasis in patients with LUAD utilizing various brain metastasis models. Our findings revealed a substantial increase in the MUC5AC level in LUAD brain metastases (LUAD-BrM) samples and brain-tropic cell lines compared to primary samples or parental control cell lines. Intriguingly, depletion of MUC5AC in brain-tropic cells led to significant reductions in intracranial metastasis and tumor growth, and improved survival following intracardiac injection, in contrast to the observations in the control groups. Proteomic analysis revealed that mechanistically, MUC5AC depletion resulted in decreased expression of metastasis-associated molecules. There were increases in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, tumor invasiveness, and metastasis phenotypes in tumors with high MUC5AC expression. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation and proteomic analysis revealed a novel interaction of MUC5AC with Annexin A2 (ANXA2), which activated downstream matrix metalloproteases and facilitated extracellular matrix degradation to promote metastasis. Disrupting MUC5AC-ANXA2 signaling with a peptide inhibitor effectively abrogated the metastatic process. Additionally, treatment of tumor cells with an astrocyte-conditioned medium or the chemokine CCL2 resulted in upregulation of MUC5AC expression and enhanced brain colonization. In summary, our study demonstrates that the MUC5AC/ANXA2 signaling axis promotes brain metastasis, suggesting a potential therapeutic paradigm for LUAD patients with high MUC5AC expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjib Chaudhary
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Jawed Akhtar Siddiqui
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
- Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Muthamil Iniyan Appadurai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Shailendra Kumar Maurya
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Swathi P Murakonda
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Elizabeth Blowers
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-1850, USA
| | - Ben J Swanson
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-1850, USA
| | - Mohd Wasim Nasser
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
- Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA
| | - Surinder K Batra
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA.
- Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA.
| | - Imayavaramban Lakshmanan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA.
| | - Apar Kishor Ganti
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA.
- Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5870, USA.
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-1850, USA.
- Division of Oncology-Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System, Omaha, NE, 68105-1850, USA.
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2
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Ge L, Wang L, Pei D. Pulmonary mucinous adenocarcinoma: An overview of pathophysiology and advancements in treatment. Heliyon 2024; 10:e28881. [PMID: 38694119 PMCID: PMC11058725 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28881] [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: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Pulmonary mucinous adenocarcinoma (PMA), a distinct subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is characterized by an abundance of mucin-producing cells. Although this subtype comprises a relatively small fraction of lung adenocarcinomas, PMA stands apart due to its unique clinical, pathological, and molecular features. This review comprehensively discusses the pathophysiology and etiology, clinical features, diagnostic methods, treatment strategies, prognosis, and future directions for PMA, drawing from relevant literature and existing studies. Advances in PMA treatment includes surgical intervention, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and adjuvant therapy. Particularly, we discussed factors influencing the prognosis of PMAs, such as molecular markers, pathological features, and the impact of the latest treatment advances on prognosis. Moreover, we intended this review to be a comprehensive reference for diagnosing, treating, and assessing the prognosis of PMA, providing valuable guidance for clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihui Ge
- Department of Health Management, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Linlin Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shenyang Tenth People's Hospital, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Dongmei Pei
- Department of Health Management, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
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van Niekerk A, Wrzesinski K, Steyn D, Gouws C. A Novel NCI-H69AR Drug-Resistant Small-Cell Lung Cancer Mini-Tumor Model for Anti-Cancer Treatment Screening. Cells 2023; 12:1980. [PMID: 37566059 PMCID: PMC10416941 DOI: 10.3390/cells12151980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Small-cell lung cancer is a fast-growing carcinoma with a poor prognosis and a high level of relapse due to multi-drug resistance (MDR). Genetic mutations that lead to the overexpression of efflux transporter proteins can contribute to MDR. In vitro cancer models play a tremendous role in chemotherapy development and the screening of possible anti-cancer molecules. Low-cost and simple in vitro models are normally used. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) models have numerous shortcomings when considering the physiological resemblance of an in vivo setting. Three-dimensional (3D) models aim to bridge the gap between conventional 2D models and the in vivo setting. Some of the advantages of functional 3D spheroids include better representation of the in vivo physiology and tumor characteristics when compared to traditional 2D cultures. During this study, an NCI-H69AR drug-resistant mini-tumor model (MRP1 hyperexpressive) was developed by making use of a rotating clinostat bioreactor system (ClinoStar®; CelVivo ApS, Odense, Denmark). Spheroid growth and viability were assessed over a 25-day period to determine the ideal experimental period with mature and metabolically stable constructs. The applicability of this model for anti-cancer research was evaluated through treatment with irinotecan, paclitaxel and cisplatin for 96 h, followed by a 96 h recovery period. Parameters measured included planar surface area measurements, estimated glucose consumption, soluble protein content, intracellular adenosine triphosphate levels, extracellular adenylate kinase levels, histology and efflux transporter gene expression. The established functional spheroid model proved viable and stable during the treatment period, with retained relative hyperexpression of the MRP1 efflux transporter gene but increased expression of the P-gp transporter gene compared to the cells cultured in 2D. As expected, treatment with the abovementioned anti-cancer drugs at clinical doses (100 mg/m2 irinotecan, 80 mg/m2 paclitaxel and 75 mg/m2 cisplatin) had minimal impact on the drug-resistant mini-tumors, and the functional spheroid models were able to recover following the removal of treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alandi van Niekerk
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen™), North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa; (A.v.N.); (K.W.); (D.S.)
| | - Krzysztof Wrzesinski
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen™), North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa; (A.v.N.); (K.W.); (D.S.)
- CelVivo ApS, 5491 Blommenslyst, Denmark
| | - Dewald Steyn
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen™), North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa; (A.v.N.); (K.W.); (D.S.)
| | - Chrisna Gouws
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen™), North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa; (A.v.N.); (K.W.); (D.S.)
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Lu L, Zeng Y, Yu Z, Chen S, Xie J, Rao B, Yang B, Qiu F, Lu J, Yang L. EIF4a3-regulated circRABL2B regulates cell stemness and drug sensitivity of lung cancer via YBX1-dependent downregulation of MUC5AC expression. Int J Biol Sci 2023; 19:2725-2739. [PMID: 37324942 PMCID: PMC10266078 DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.78588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Identification of mucin modulators is of remarkable significance to facilitate mucin-based antineoplastic therapy. However, little is known about circular RNAs (circRNAs) on regulating mucins. Dysregulated mucins and circRNAs were identified via high-throughput sequencing and their relationships with lung cancer survival were analyzed in tumor samples of 141 patients. The biological functions of circRABL2B were determined via gain- and loss-of-function experiments and exosome-packaged circRABL2B treatment in cells, patient-derived lung cancer organoids and nude mice. We identified that circRABL2B was negatively correlated with MUC5AC. Patients with low circRABL2B and high MUC5AC displayed the poorest survival (HR=2.00; 95% CI=1.12-3.57). Overexpressed circRABL2B significantly inhibited cell malignant phenotypes, while it knock-down exerted opposite effects. CircRABL2B interacted with YBX1 to inhibit MUC5AC, and subsequently suppressed integrin β4/pSrc/p53 signaling and impoverished cell stemness, and promoted erlotinib sensitivity. Exosome-packaged circRABL2B exerted significant anti-cancer actions in cells, patient-derived lung cancer organoids and nude mice. Meanwhile, circRABL2B in plasma exosomes could distinguish early-stage lung cancer patients from healthy controls. Finally, we found circRABL2B was downregulated at the transcriptional level, and EIF4a3 involved the formation of circRABL2B. In conclusion, our data suggest that circRABL2B counteracts lung cancer progression via MUC5AC/integrin β4/pSrc/p53 axis, which provides a rationale to enhance the efficacy of anti-MUCs treatment in lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liming Lu
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Yuyuan Zeng
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Ziqi Yu
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Shizhen Chen
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Jianjiang Xie
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Boqi Rao
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Binyao Yang
- Innovation center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Medicine, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510735, China
| | - Fuman Qiu
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
| | - Jiachun Lu
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Lei Yang
- The State Key Lab of Respiratory Disease, Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
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5
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Pajic P, Shen S, Qu J, May AJ, Knox S, Ruhl S, Gokcumen O. A mechanism of gene evolution generating mucin function. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabm8757. [PMID: 36026444 PMCID: PMC9417175 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm8757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
How novel gene functions evolve is a fundamental question in biology. Mucin proteins, a functionally but not evolutionarily defined group of proteins, allow the study of convergent evolution of gene function. By analyzing the genomic variation of mucins across a wide range of mammalian genomes, we propose that exonic repeats and their copy number variation contribute substantially to the de novo evolution of new gene functions. By integrating bioinformatic, phylogenetic, proteomic, and immunohistochemical approaches, we identified 15 undescribed instances of evolutionary convergence, where novel mucins originated by gaining densely O-glycosylated exonic repeat domains. Our results suggest that secreted proteins rich in proline are natural precursors for acquiring mucin function. Our findings have broad implications for understanding the role of exonic repeats in the parallel evolution of new gene functions, especially those involving protein glycosylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petar Pajic
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA
| | - Shichen Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA
- Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Science, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
| | - Jun Qu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA
- Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Science, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
| | - Alison J. May
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Sarah Knox
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Stefan Ruhl
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA
| | - Omer Gokcumen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
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6
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Wang Y, Xue H, Aglave M, Lainé A, Gallopin M, Gautheret D. The contribution of uncharted RNA sequences to tumor identity in lung adenocarcinoma. NAR Cancer 2022; 4:zcac001. [PMID: 35118386 PMCID: PMC8807116 DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcac001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The identity of cancer cells is defined by the interplay between genetic, epigenetic transcriptional and post-transcriptional variation. A lot of this variation is present in RNA-seq data and can be captured at once using reference-free, k-mer analysis. An important issue with k-mer analysis, however, is the difficulty of distinguishing signal from noise. Here, we use two independent lung adenocarcinoma datasets to identify all reproducible events at the k-mer level, in a tumor versus normal setting. We find reproducible events in many different locations (introns, intergenic, repeats) and forms (spliced, polyadenylated, chimeric etc.). We systematically analyze events that are ignored in conventional transcriptomics and assess their value as biomarkers and for tumor classification, survival prediction, neoantigen prediction and correlation with the immune microenvironment. We find that unannotated lincRNAs, novel splice variants, endogenous HERV, Line1 and Alu repeats and bacterial RNAs each contribute to different, important aspects of tumor identity. We argue that differential RNA-seq analysis of tumor/normal sample collections would benefit from this type k-mer analysis to cast a wider net on important cancer-related events. The code is available at https://github.com/Transipedia/dekupl-lung-cancer-inter-cohort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunfeng Wang
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Annoroad Gene Technology Co., Ltd, 100176 Beijing, China
| | - Haoliang Xue
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marine Aglave
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Gustave Roussy, 114 rue Edouard Vaillant, 94800, Villejuif, France
| | - Antoine Lainé
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mélina Gallopin
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Daniel Gautheret
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, 1 avenue de la Terrasse, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Gustave Roussy, 114 rue Edouard Vaillant, 94800, Villejuif, France
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7
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Ye L, Wang L, Yang J, Hu P, Zhang C, Tong S, Liu Z, Tian D. Identification of Tumor Antigens and Immune Landscape in Glioblastoma for mRNA Vaccine Development. Front Genet 2021; 12:701065. [PMID: 34527020 PMCID: PMC8435740 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.701065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Clinical benefits from standard therapies against glioblastoma (GBM) are limited in part due to the intrinsic radio- and chemo-resistance. As an essential part of tumor immunotherapy for adjunct, therapeutic tumor vaccines have been effective against multiple solid cancers, while their efficacy against GBM remains undefined. Therefore, this study aims to find the possible tumor antigens of GBM and identify the suitable population for cancer vaccination through immunophenotyping. Method: The genomic and responding clinical data of 169 GBM samples and five normal brain samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The mRNA_seq data of 940 normal brain tissue were downloaded from Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). Potential GBM mRNA antigens were screened out by differential expression, copy number variant (CNV), and mutation analysis. K-M survival and Cox analysis were carried out to investigate the prognostic association of potential tumor antigens. Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) was used to explore the association between the antigens and tumor immune infiltrating cells (TIICs). Immunophenotyping of 169 samples was performed through consensus clustering based on the abundance of 22 kinds of immune cells. The characteristics of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in each cluster were explored through single-sample gene set enrichment analysis based on 29 kinds of immune-related hallmarks and pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to cluster the genes related to immune subtypes. Finally, pathway enrichment analyses were performed to annotate the potential function of modules screened through WGCNA. Results: Two potential tumor antigens selected were significantly positively associated with the antigen-presenting immune cells (APCs) in GBM. Furthermore, the expression of antigens was verified at the protein level by Immunohistochemistry. Two robust immune subtypes, immune subtype 1 (IS1) and immune subtype 2 (IS2), representing immune status "immune inhibition" and "immune inflamed", respectively, had distinct clinical outcomes in GBM. Conclusion: ARPC1B and HK3 were potential mRNA antigens for developing GBM mRNA vaccination, and the patients in IS2 were considered the most suitable population for vaccination in GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liguo Ye
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Long Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Ji'an Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Ping Hu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Chunyu Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Shi'ao Tong
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhennan Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Daofeng Tian
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
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Ratan C, Cicily K D D, Nair B, Nath LR. MUC Glycoproteins: Potential Biomarkers and Molecular Targets for Cancer Therapy. Curr Cancer Drug Targets 2021; 21:132-152. [PMID: 33200711 DOI: 10.2174/1568009620666201116113334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/04/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
MUC proteins have great significance as prognostic and diagnostic markers as well as a potential target for therapeutic interventions in most cancers of glandular epithelial origin. These are high molecular weight glycosylated proteins located in the epithelial lining of several tissues and ducts. Mucins belong to a heterogeneous group of large O-glycoproteins that can be either secreted or membrane-bound. Glycosylation, a post-translational modification affects the biophysical, functional and biochemical properties and provides structural complexity for these proteins. Aberrant expression and glycosylation of mucins contribute to tumour survival and proliferation in many cancers, which in turn activates numerous signalling pathways such as NF-kB, ERα, HIF, MAPK, p53, c-Src, Wnt and JAK-STAT, etc. This subsequently induces cancer cell growth, proliferation and metastasis. The present review mainly demonstrates the functional aspects of MUC glycoproteins along with its unique signalling mechanism and role of aberrant glycosylation in cancer progression and therapeutics. The importance of MUC proteins and its subtypes in a wide spectrum of cancers including but not limited to breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial and cervical cancer, lung cancer, primary liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer has been exemplified with significance in targeting the same. Several patents associated with the MUC proteins in the field of cancer therapy are also emphasized in the current review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chameli Ratan
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara P. O., Kochi, Kerala 682041, India
| | - Dalia Cicily K D
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara P. O., Kochi, Kerala 682041, India
| | - Bhagyalakshmi Nair
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara P. O., Kochi, Kerala 682041, India
| | - Lekshmi R Nath
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara P. O., Kochi, Kerala 682041, India
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