CCL20 Promotes Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy Resistance by Regulating ABCB1 Expression

A liquid biomarker signature of inflammatory proteins accurately predicts early pancreatic cancer progression during FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is often treated with FOLFIRINOX, a chemotherapy associated with high toxicity rates and variable efficacy. Therefore, it is crucial to identify patients at risk of early progression during treatment. This study aims to explore the potential of a multi-omics biomarker for predicting early PDAC progression by employing an in-depth mathematical modeling approach.

METHODS

Blood samples were collected from 58 PDAC patients undergoing FOLFIRINOX before and after the first cycle. These samples underwent gene (GEP) and inflammatory protein expression profiling (IPEP). We explored the predictive potential of exclusively IPEP through Stepwise (Backward) Multivariate Logistic Regression modeling. Additionally, we integrated GEP and IPEP using Bayesian Kernel Regression modeling, aiming to enhance predictive performance. Ultimately, the FOLFIRINOX IPEP (FFX-IPEP) signature was developed.

RESULTS

Our findings revealed that proteins exhibited superior predictive accuracy than genes. Consequently, the FFX-IPEP signature consisted of six proteins: AMN, BANK1, IL1RL2, ITGB6, MYO9B, and PRSS8. The signature effectively identified patients transitioning from disease control to progression early during FOLFIRINOX, achieving remarkable predictive accuracy with an AUC of 0.89 in an independent test set. Importantly, the FFX-IPEP signature outperformed the conventional CA19-9 tumor marker.

CONCLUSIONS

Our six-protein FFX-IPEP signature holds solid potential as a liquid biomarker for the early prediction of PDAC progression during toxic FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy. Further validation in an external cohort is crucial to confirm the utility of the FFX-IPEP signature. Future studies should expand to predict progression under different chemotherapies to enhance the guidance of personalized treatment selection in PDAC.

RBM15‑mediating MDR1 mRNA m6A methylation regulated by the TGF‑β signaling pathway in paclitaxel‑resistant ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer (OC) lacks effective biomarkers for diagnosis at an early stage and often develops chemoresistance after the initial treatment at an advanced stage. RNA‑binding motif protein 15 (RBM15) is an RNA m6A methylation mediator that serves an oncogenic role in some cancers. However, the function and molecular mechanisms of RBM15 in ovarian tumorigenesis and chemoresistance remain to be elucidated. The present study identified the overexpression of RBM15 in OC tissues and paclitaxel (PTX)‑resistant cells using reverse transcription‑quantitative (q)PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Clinical data analyses showed that high expression of RBM15 was associated with poor prognosis in patients with OC. Overexpression of RBM15 led to an increase in cell viability and colony formation and a decrease in cell sensitivity to PTX and apoptosis, whereas the knockdown of RBM15 resulted in the inhibition of cell viability and colony formation in vitro and tumor formation in vivo and increased cell apoptosis and sensitivity to PTX in a time‑ and dose‑dependent manner. Furthermore, RBM15 knockdown reduced the spheroid formation of PTX‑resistant OC cells. Silencing of RBM15 decreased multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) mRNA m6A methylation detected by the methylated RNA immunoprecipitation‑qPCR assay and downregulated the expression of a chemo‑drug efflux pump MDR1 at the mRNA and protein levels. Finally, RBM15 expression was suppressed by the activation of the TGF‑β signaling pathway. Thus, the findings revealed a TGF‑β/RBM15/MDR1 regulatory mechanism. Targeting RBM15 may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PTX‑resistant OC.

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and Their Natural Flavonoid Compounds in the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer: A Review

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common types of cancer in women with a high mortality rate, and the treatment of OC is prone to high recurrence rates and side effects. Scutellaria baicalensis (SB) is a herbal medicine with good anti-cancer activity, and several studies have shown that SB and its flavonoids have some anti-OC properties. This paper elucidated the common pathogenesis of OC, including cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation, cell invasion and metastasis, apoptosis and autophagy, drug resistance and angiogenesis. The mechanisms of SB and its flavonoids, wogonin, baicalein, baicalin, Oroxylin A, and scutellarein, in the treatment of OC, are revealed, such as wogonin inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, inhibits invasion and metastasis, and increases the cytotoxicity of the drug. Baicalein also inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression etc. Analyzing their advantages and disadvantages in treating OC provides a new perspective on the role of SB and its flavonoids in OC treatment. It serves as a resource for future OC research and development.

Multiplex immune profiling reveals the role of serum immune proteomics in predicting response to preoperative chemotherapy of gastric cancer

Responses toward preoperative chemotherapy are heterogeneous in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Existing studies in the field focus heavily on the tumor microenvironment (TME), whereas little is known about the relationship between systemic immunity and chemotherapy response. In this study, we collect serum samples from patients with gastric adenocarcinoma before, on, and after preoperative chemotherapy and study their immune proteomics using an antibody-based proteomics panel. We also collect surgically resected tumor samples and incorporate multiple methods to assess their TME. We find that both local and systemic immune features are associated with treatment response. Preoperative chemotherapy induces a sophisticated systemic immune response indicated by dynamic serum immune proteomics. A pretreatment serum protein scoring system is established for response prediction. Together, these findings highlight the fundamental but largely underestimated role of systemic immunity in the treatment of gastric cancer, suggesting a patient stratification strategy based on pretreatment serum immune proteomics.

Chemokines in colon cancer progression

Colon cancer is a major human cancer accounting for about a tenth of all cancer cases thus making it among the top three cancers in terms of incidence as well as mortality. Metastasis to distant organs, particularly to liver, is the primary reason for associated mortality. Chemokines, the chemo-attractants for various immune cells, have increasingly been reported to be involved in cancer initiation and progression, including in colon cancer. Here we discuss the available knowledge on the role of several chemokines, such as, CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL8 in colon cancer progression. CCL20 is one chemokine with emerging evidence for its role in influencing colon cancer tumor microenvironment through the documents effects on fibroblasts, macrophages and immune cells. We focus on CCL20 and its receptor CCR6 as promising factors that affect multiple levels of colon cancer progression. They interact with several cytokines and TLR receptors leading to increased aggressiveness, as supported by multitude of evidence from in vitro, in vivo studies as well as human patient samples. CCL20-CCR6 bring about their biological effects through regulation of several signaling pathways, including, ERK and NF-κB pathways, in addition to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Signaling involving CCL20-CCR6 has profound effect on colon cancer hepatic metastasis. Combined with elevated CCL20 levels in colon tumors and metastatic patients, the above information points to a need for further evaluation of chemokines as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers.

Accuracy of CCL20 expression level as a liquid biopsy-based diagnostic biomarker for ovarian carcinoma

Objective

The study aimed to investigate the potentiality of chemokines, including MCP-1, CCL15, CCL20, and CXCL14, as biomarkers for differential diagnosis between benign tumors and ovarian cancer (OC).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in women aged >18 years who had adnexal masses treated with elective surgery at the HRH Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center, Srinakharinwirot University, between 2020 and 2021. The preoperative MCP-1, CCL15, CCL20, and CXCL14 serum levels were measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Preoperative diagnosis was defined according to the risk of malignancy index. The histological diagnosis and cancer subtype were confirmed using pathological specimens.

Results

Ninety-eight participants were preoperatively diagnosed with malignant tumors. The pathological diagnosis confirmed OC in 33 patients and disclosed 27 misdiagnosed cases, of which endometriotic cyst was the most common (44.44%). CCL20 and CA125 serum levels were significantly higher in the patients with cancer than in those with benign. In addition, CCL20 level could differentiate between benign and early-stage malignancy. Furthermore, only CCL20 levels could distinguish endometriotic cysts from OC, whereas CA125 levels could not. Concordant with the serum protein level, the increased mRNA level of CCL20 was observed in ovarian cancers comparing with that in benign tissues. We found that CCL20 levels could differentiate between benign tumors and OC with 60.61% sensitivity and 75.44% specificity at the optimal cutoff value of 38.79 pg/ml. Finally, the logistic regression model integrating CCL20, CA125, and menopause status promoted diagnostic accuracy by increasing the specificity to 91.23%.

Conclusions

Our study revealed the potential usefulness of CCL20 level as a biomarker for diagnosing early-stage OC with endometriosis differentiation. We recommend further studies to confirm the accuracy of CCL20 levels with the current diagnosis in a large patient sample.

Host cells with transient overexpression of MDR1 as a novel in vitro model for evaluating on-target effect for activity against the epicellular Cryptosporidium parasite

OBJECTIVES

To rapidly generate host cells with resistance to multiple compounds for differentiating drug action on parasite target or the host cell target (i.e. on-target or off-target effect) against the zoonotic enteric parasite Cryptosporidium parvum.

METHODS

Transient overexpression of a multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) gene in host cells (HCT-8 cell line) was explored to increase drug tolerance of the host cells to selected anti-cryptosporidial leads. In vitro cytotoxicity and anti-cryptosporidial efficacy of selected compounds were evaluated on the parasite grown in WT parental and transiently transfected HCT-8 cells. The approach was based on the theory that, for an epicellular parasite receiving consistent exposure to compounds in culture medium, overexpressing MDR1 in HCT-8 cells would increase drug tolerance of host cells to selected compounds but would not affect the anti-cryptosporidial efficacy if the compounds acted solely on the parasite target and the drug action on host cell target played no role on the antiparasitic efficacy.

RESULTS

Six known anti-cryptosporidial leads were tested. Transient overexpression of MDR1 increased drug tolerance of HCT-8 cells on paclitaxel, doxorubicin HCl and vincristine sulphate (2.11- to 2.27-fold increase), but not on cyclosporin A, daunorubicin HCl and nitazoxanide. Increased drug tolerance in host cells had no effect on antiparasitic efficacy of paclitaxel, but affected that of doxorubicin HCl.

CONCLUSIONS

Data confirmed that, at efficacious concentrations, paclitaxel acted mainly on the parasite target, while doxorubicin might act on both parasite and host cell targets. This model can be employed for studying the action of additional anti-cryptosporidial leads, and adapted to studying drug action in other epicellular pathogens. The limitation of the model is that the anti-cryptosporidial leads/hits need to be MDR1 substrates.

Chemokine CCL20 promotes the paclitaxel resistance of CD44+CD117+ cells via the Notch1 signaling pathway in ovarian cancer

Studies have found that C‑C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20)/C‑C motif chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6)/notch receptor 1 (Notch1) signaling serves an important role in various diseases, but its role and mechanism in ovarian cancer remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the underlying mechanism of CCL20/CCR6/Notch1 signaling in paclitaxel (PTX) resistance of a CD44+CD117+ subgroup of cells in ovarian cancer. The CD44+CD117+ cells were isolated from SKOV3 cells, followed by determination of the PTX resistance and the CCR6/Notch1 axis. Notch1 was silenced in the CD44+CD117+ subgroup and these cells were treated with CCL20, followed by examination of PTX resistance and the CCR6/Notch1 axis. Furthermore, in nude mice, CD44+CD117+ and CD44‑CD117‑ cells were used to establish the xenograft model and cells were treated with PTX and/or CCL20, followed by proliferation, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mechanism analyses. Higher expression levels of Oct4, CCR6, Notch1 and ATP binding cassette subfamily G member 1 (ABCG1), increased sphere formation ability, IC50 and proliferative ability, as well as lower ROS levels and apoptosis were observed in CD44+CD117+ cells compared with the CD44‑CD117‑ cells. It was found that CCL20 could significantly increase the expression levels of Oct4, CCR6, Notch1 and ABCG1, enhance the IC50, sphere formation ability and proliferation, as well as decrease the ROS and apoptosis levels in the CD44+CD117+ cells. However, Notch1 knockdown could markedly reverse these changes. Moreover, CCL20 could significantly increase the proliferation and expression levels of Oct4, CCR6, Notch1 and ABCG1 in the CD44+CD117+ groups compared with the CD44‑CD117‑ groups. After treatment with PTX, apoptosis and ROS levels were decreased in the CD44+CD117+ groups compared with the CD44‑CD117‑ groups. Collectively, the present results demonstrated that, via the Notch1 pathway, CCL20/CCR6 may promote the stemness and PTX resistance of CD44+CD117+ cells in ovarian cancer.

GNAi2/gip2-Regulated Transcriptome and Its Therapeutic Significance in Ovarian Cancer

Increased expression of GNAi2, which encodes the α-subunit of G-protein i2, has been correlated with the late-stage progression of ovarian cancer. GNAi2, also referred to as the proto-oncogene gip2, transduces signals from lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-activated LPA-receptors to oncogenic cellular responses in ovarian cancer cells. To identify the oncogenic program activated by gip2, we carried out micro-array-based transcriptomic and bioinformatic analyses using the ovarian cancer cell-line SKOV3, in which the expression of GNAi2/gip2 was silenced by specific shRNA. A cut-off value of 5-fold change in gene expression (p < 0.05) indicated that a total of 264 genes were dependent upon gip2-expression with 136 genes coding for functional proteins. Functional annotation of the transcriptome indicated the hitherto unknown role of gip2 in stimulating the expression of oncogenic/growth-promoting genes such as KDR/VEGFR2, CCL20, and VIP. The array results were further validated in a panel of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma (HGSOC) cell lines that included Kuramochi, OVCAR3, and OVCAR8 cells. Gene set enrichment analyses using DAVID, STRING, and Cytoscape applications indicated the potential role of the gip2-stimulated transcriptomic network involved in the upregulation of cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, cellular metabolism, and therapy resistance. The results unravel a multi-modular network in which the hub and bottleneck nodes are defined by ACKR3/CXCR7, IL6, VEGFA, CYCS, COX5B, UQCRC1, UQCRFS1, and FYN. The identification of these genes as the critical nodes in GNAi2/gip2 orchestrated onco-transcriptome establishes their role in ovarian cancer pathophysiology. In addition, these results also point to these nodes as potential targets for novel therapeutic strategies.

Role of chemokines in hepatocellular carcinoma (Review)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent malignant tumor worldwide, with an unsatisfactory prognosis, although treatments are improving. One of the main challenges for the treatment of HCC is the prevention or management of recurrence and metastasis of HCC. It has been found that chemokines and their receptors serve a pivotal role in HCC progression. In the present review, the literature on the multifactorial roles of exosomes in HCC from PubMed, Cochrane library and Embase were obtained, with a specific focus on the functions and mechanisms of chemokines in HCC. To date, >50 chemokines have been found, which can be divided into four families: CXC, CX3C, CC and XC, according to the different positions of the conserved N‑terminal cysteine residues. Chemokines are involved in the inflammatory response, tumor immune response, proliferation, invasion and metastasis via modulation of various signaling pathways. Thus, chemokines and their receptors directly or indirectly shape the tumor cell microenvironment, and regulate the biological behavior of the tumor. In addition, the potential application of chemokines in chemotaxis of exosomes as drug vehicles is discussed. Exosomes containing chemokines or expressing receptors for chemokines may improve chemotaxis to HCC and may thus be exploited for targeted drug delivery.

Role of CC Chemokines Subfamily in the Platinum Drugs Resistance Promotion in Cancer

Cancer is a significant medical issue, being one of the main causes of mortality around the world. The therapies for this pathology depend on the stage in which the cancer is found, but it is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage in which the treatment is chemotherapy. Platinum drugs are among the most commonly used in therapy, unfortunately, one of the main obstacles to this treatment is the development of chemoresistance, which is the ability of cancer cells to evade the effects of drugs. Although some molecular mechanisms involved in resistance to platinum drugs are described, elucidation is still required of others. Secretion of inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and chemokines, by tumor microenvironment components or tumor cells, show direct influence on proliferation, metastasis and progression of cancer and are related to chemoresistance and poor prognosis. In this review, the general mechanisms associated with resistance to platinum drugs, inflammation on cancer development and chemoresistance in various types of cancer will be approached with special emphasis on the current history of CC chemokines subfamily-mediated chemoresistance.

CCL20 Signaling in the Tumor Microenvironment

CCL20, as a chemokine, plays an important role in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and other diseases by binding to its receptor CCR6. Recent 10 years' research has demonstrated that CCL20 also contributes to the progression of many cancers, such as liver cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and gastric cancer. This article reviews and discusses the previous studies on CCL20 roles in cancers from the aspects of its specific effects on various cancers, its remodeling on tumor microenvironment (TME), its synergistic effects with other cytokines in tumor microenvironment, and the specific mechanisms of CCL20 signal activation, illustrating CCL20 signaling in TME from multiple directions.

Platelet ATP, Thyroid Hormone Receptor on Integrin αvβ3 and Cancer Metastasis

Activated platelets may contribute to the metastatic behavior of tumor cells when the cancer cells and platelets interact. The interaction requires cell and platelet surface integrin. Thyroid hormone as L-thyroxine (T4) is the principal ligand for a hormone receptor on integrin αvβ3 on tumor cells and platelets. T4 activates the integrin, promoting platelet aggregation and degranulation (local ATP release) and stimulating tumor cell proliferation. By a variety of molecular mechanisms reviewed here, extracellular ATP promotes tumor cell invasiveness and metastasis and supports a role for T4 as a pro-metastatic factor.