Expression of Protein 4.1 Family in Breast Cancer: Database Mining for 4.1 Family Members in Malignancies

Cytoskeletal Protein 4.1R in Health and Diseases

The protein 4.1R is an essential component of the erythrocyte membrane skeleton, serving as a key structural element and contributing to the regulation of the membrane's physical properties, including mechanical stability and deformability, through its interaction with spectrin-actin. Recent research has uncovered additional roles of 4.1R beyond its function as a linker between the plasma membrane and the membrane skeleton. It has been found to play a crucial role in various biological processes, such as cell fate determination, cell cycle regulation, cell proliferation, and cell motility. Additionally, 4.1R has been implicated in cancer, with numerous studies demonstrating its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for tumors. In this review, we provide an updated overview of the gene and protein structure of 4.1R, as well as its cellular functions in both physiological and pathological contexts.

Expression of EPB41L2 in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts: Prognostic Implications for Bladder Cancer and Response to Immunotherapy

BACKGROUND

Immunotherapy response in patients with bladder cancer (BLCA) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is variable. The accurate evaluation of immunotherapy efficacy may be facilitated by the tumor microenvironment (TME). Erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.1 like 2 (EPB41L2), a cytoskeletal protein with a regulatory role in the TME was intensively investigated to determine its biological characterization, clinical relevance, and predictive value for immunotherapy in BLCA.

METHODS

Comprehensive bioinformatics and statistical analyses were conducted to examine gene expression profile, TME components, immune contexture, molecular features, and prediction of immunotherapy response. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) validated the results of the bioinformatics analysis. Association between immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) and EPB41L2-based risk stratification was validated in the IMvigor210 cohort, and their association with ICI response was assessed.

RESULTS

EPB41L2 mRNA levels were decreased in BLCA compared to normal tissue. IHC showed reduced EPB41L2 staining intensity in early BLCA tissue. Nevertheless, elevated EPB41L2 expression was observed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) with higher histological grade and pathological stage. High EPB41L2 expression served as a poor prognostic factor for BLCA. Single-cell RNA-seq and further analyses revealed that EPB41L2 was mainly expressed in CAFs and promoted TME remodeling. EPB41L2low/ICGshigh patients showed greater benefit from immunotherapy. Gene mutation analysis revealed a close relationship between EPB41L2 and the frequency of oncogenic mutations, including TP53 and FGFR3.

CONCLUSION

Comprehensive analysis and IHC confirmed the upregulation of EPB41L2 in BLCA CAFs and its association with TME remodeling. EPB41L2 and ICG expression were identified as combinatorial biomarkers to predict the response to immunotherapy.

Identification of Genetic Risk Factors for Keratinocyte Cancer in Immunosuppressed Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Case-Control Study

Because of long-term immunosuppression, solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk for keratinocyte cancer. We matched solid organ transplant patients (n = 150), cases with keratinocyte cancers and tumor-free controls, considering the most important risk factors for keratinocyte cancer in solid organ transplant recipients. Using whole exome data of germline DNA from this patient cohort, we identified several genetic loci associated with the occurrence of multiple keratinocyte cancers. We found one genome-wide significant association of a common single nucleotide polymorphism located in EXOC3 (rs72698504). In addition, we found several variants with a p-value of less than 10^-5 associated with the number of keratinocyte cancers. These variants were located in the genes CYB561, WASHC1, PITRM1-AS1, MUC8, ABI3BP, and THBS2-AS1. Using whole exome sequencing data, we performed groupwise tests for rare missense variants in our dataset and found robust associations (p < 10^-6, Burden Zeggini test) between MC1R, EPHA8, EPO, MYCT1, ADGRG3, and MGME1 and keratinocyte cancer. Thus, overall, we detected genes involved in pigmentation/UV protection, tumor suppression, immunomodulation, intracellular traffic, and response to UV as genetic risk factors for multiple keratinocyte cancers in solid organ transplant recipients. We also grouped selected genes to pathways and found a selection of genes involved in the "cellular response to UV" to be significantly associated with multiple keratinocyte cancers.

4.1N-Mediated Interactions and Functions in Nerve System and Cancer

Scaffolding protein 4.1N is a neuron-enriched 4.1 homologue. 4.1N contains three conserved domains, including the N-terminal 4.1-ezrin-radixin-moesin (FERM) domain, internal spectrin–actin–binding (SAB) domain, and C-terminal domain (CTD). Interspersed between the three domains are nonconserved domains, including U1, U2, and U3. The role of 4.1N was first reported in the nerve system. Then, extensive studies reported the role of 4.1N in cancers and other diseases. 4.1N performs numerous vital functions in signaling transduction by interacting, locating, supporting, and coordinating different partners and is involved in the molecular pathogenesis of various diseases. In this review, recent studies on the interactions between 4.1N and its contactors (including the α7AChr, IP3R1, GluR1/4, GluK1/2/3, mGluR8, KCC2, D2/3Rs, CASK, NuMA, PIKE, IP6K2, CAM 1/3, βII spectrin, flotillin-1, pp1, and 14-3-3) and the 4.1N-related biological functions in the nerve system and cancers are specifically and comprehensively discussed. This review provides critical detailed mechanistic insights into the role of 4.1N in disease relationships.

Integrative analysis of transcriptional profile reveals LINC00052 as a suppressor of breast cancer cell migration

BACKGROUND

Long-non-coding RNAs, a class of transcripts with lengths > 200 nt, play key roles in tumour progression. Previous reports revealed that LINC00052 (long intergenic non-coding RNA 00052) was strongly downregulated during breast cancer multicellular spheroids formation and suggested a role in cell migration and oxidative metabolism.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the function of LINC00052 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

METHODS

Loss-of-function studies were performed to evaluate LINC00052 role on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Microarray expression assays were performed to determine genes and cellular functions modified after LINC00052 knockdown. Next, the impact of LINC00052 depletion on MCF-7 cell respiration and migration was evaluated.

RESULTS

1,081 genes were differentially expressed upon LINC00052 inhibition. Gene set enrichment analysis, Gene Ontology and Key Pathway Advisor analysis showed that signalling networks related to cell migration and oxidative phosphorylation were enriched. However, whereas LINC00052 knockdown in MCF-7 cells revealed marginal difference in oxygen consumption rates when compared with control cells, LINC00052 inhibition enhanced cell migration in vitro and in vivo, as observed using a Zebrafish embryo xenotransplant model.

CONCLUSION

Our data show that LINC00052 modulates MCF-7 cell migration. Genome-wide microarray experiments suggest that cancer cell migration is affected by LINC00052 through cytoskeleton modulation and Notch/β-catenin/NF-κB signalling pathways.

EPB41 suppresses the Wnt/β-catenin signaling in non-small cell lung cancer by sponging ALDOC

Despite advancements in therapeutic options, the overall prognosis for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor. Further exploration of the etiology and targets for novel treatments is crucial for managing NSCLC. In this study, we revealed the significant potential of EPB41 for inhibiting NSCLC proliferation, invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Consistent with its tumor suppressor role in NSCLC, the expression of EPB41 in NSCLC specimens evidently decreased compared to that in normal tissues, and low EPB41 expression was associated with poor prognoses for NSCLC patients. We further demonstrated the importance of EPB41 protein as a novel inhibitor of the Wnt signaling, which regulates β-Catenin stability, and elucidated the crucial role of the EPB41/ALDOC/GSK3β/β-Catenin axis in NSCLC. Suppression of EPB41 expression in cancer cells elevated the levels of free ALDOC protein released from the EPB41-ALDOC complex, leading to disassembly of the β-catenin destruction complex, reduced proteolytic degradation of β-catenin, elevated cytoplasmic accumulation and nuclear translocation of β-catenin, thereby activating the expression of multiple oncogenes and, thus, NSCLC pathogenesis. Our study highlights the potential of EPB41 as a future therapeutic target for lung cancer.

Comprehensive analysis and establishment of a prediction model of alternative splicing events reveal the prognostic predictor and immune microenvironment signatures in triple negative breast cancer

Background

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is widely concerning because of high malignancy and poor prognosis. There is increasing evidence that alternative splicing (AS) plays an important role in the development of cancer and the formation of the tumour microenvironment. However, comprehensive analysis of AS signalling in TNBC is still lacking and urgently needed.

Methods

Transcriptome and clinical data of 169 TNBC tissues and 15 normal tissues were obtained and integrated from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), and an overview of AS events was downloaded from the SpliceSeq database. Then, differential comparative analysis was performed to obtain cancer-associated AS events (CAAS). Metascape was used to perform parent gene enrichment analysis based on CAAS. Unsupervised cluster analysis was performed to analyse the characteristics of immune infiltration in the microenvironment. A splicing network was established based on the correlation between CAAS events and splicing factors (SFs). We then constructed prediction models and assessed the accuracy of these models by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and Kaplan–Meier survival analyses. Furthermore, a nomogram was adopted to predict the individualized survival rate of TNBC patients.

Results

We identified 1194 cancer-associated AS events (CAAS) and evaluated the enrichment of 981 parent genes. The top 20 parent genes with significant differences were mostly related to cell adhesion, cell component connection and other pathways. Furthermore, immune-related pathways were also enriched. Unsupervised clustering analysis revealed the heterogeneity of the immune microenvironment in TNBC. The splicing network also suggested an obvious correlation between SFs expression and CAAS events in TNBC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that the survival-related AS events were detected, including some significant participants in the carcinogenic process. A nomogram incorporating risk, AJCC and radiotherapy showed good calibration and moderate discrimination.

Conclusion

Our study revealed AS events related to tumorigenesis and the immune microenvironment, elaborated the potential correlation between SFs and CAAS, established a prognostic model based on survival-related AS events, and created a nomogram to better predict the individual survival rate of TNBC patients, which improved our understanding of the relationship between AS events and TNBC.

Detecting Prognosis Risk Biomarkers for Colon Cancer Through Multi-Omics-Based Prognostic Analysis and Target Regulation Simulation Modeling

Background

Colon cancer is one of the most common health threats for humans since its high morbidity and mortality. Detecting potential prognosis risk biomarkers (PRBs) is essential for the improvement of therapeutic strategies and drug development. Currently, although an integrated prognostic analysis of multi-omics for colon cancer is insufficient, it has been reported to be valuable for improving PRBs’ detection in other cancer types.

Aim

This study aims to detect potential PRBs for colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) samples through the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) by integrating muti-omics.

Materials and Methods

The multi-omics-based prognostic analysis (MPA) model was first constructed to systemically analyze the prognosis of colon cancer based on four-omics data of gene expression, exon expression, DNA methylation and somatic mutations on COAD samples. Then, the essential features related to prognosis were functionally annotated through protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and cancer-related pathways. Moreover, the significance of those essential prognostic features were further confirmed by the target regulation simulation (TRS) model. Finally, an independent testing dataset, as well as the single cell-based expression dataset were utilized to validate the generality and repeatability of PRBs detected in this study.

Results

By integrating the result of MPA modeling, as well the PPI network, integrated pathway and TRS modeling, essential features with gene symbols such as EPB41, PSMA1, FGFR3, MRAS, LEP, C7orf46, LOC285000, LBP, ZNF35, SLC30A3, LECT2, RNF7, and DYNC1I1 were identified as PRBs which provide high potential as drug targets for COAD treatment. Validation on the independent testing dataset demonstrated that these PRBs could be applied to distinguish the prognosis of COAD patients. Moreover, the prognosis of patients with different clinical conditions could also be distinguished by the above PRBs.

Conclusions

The MPA and TRS models constructed in this paper, as well as the PPI network and integrated pathway analysis, could not only help detect PRBs as potential therapeutic targets for COAD patients but also make it a paradigm for the prognostic analysis of other cancers.