Deregulation of microcephalin and ASPM expression are correlated with epithelial ovarian cancer progression

Identification of potential regulatory mechanisms and therapeutic targets for lung cancer

Lung cancer poses a significant health threat globally, especially in regions like India, with 5-year survival rates remain alarmingly low. Our study aimed to uncover key markers for effective treatment and early detection. We identified specific genes related to lung cancer using the BioXpress database and delved into their roles through DAVID enrichment analysis. By employing network theory, we explored the intricate interactions within lung cancer networks, identifying ASPM and MKI67 as crucial regulator genes. Predictions of microRNA and transcription factor interactions provided additional insights. Examining gene expression patterns using GEPIA and KM Plotter revealed the clinical relevance of these key genes. In our pursuit of targeted therapies, Drug Bank pointed to methotrexate as a potential drug for the identified key regulator genes. Confirming this, molecular docking studies through Swiss Dock showed promising binding interactions. To ensure stability, we conducted molecular dynamics simulations using the AMBER 16 suite. In summary, our study pinpoints ASPM and MKI67 as vital regulators in lung cancer networks. The identification of hub genes and functional pathways enhances our understanding of molecular processes, offering potential therapeutic targets. Importantly, methotrexate emerged as a promising drug candidate, supported by robust docking and simulation studies. These findings lay a solid foundation for further experimental validations and hold promise for advancing personalized therapeutic strategies in lung cancer.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The neurological and non-neurological roles of the primary microcephaly-associated protein ASPM

Primary microcephaly (MCPH), is a neurological disorder characterized by small brain size that results in numerous developmental problems, including intellectual disability, motor and speech delays, and seizures. Hitherto, over 30 MCPH causing genes (MCPHs) have been identified. Among these MCPHs, MCPH5, which encodes abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM), is the most frequently mutated gene. ASPM regulates mitotic events, cell proliferation, replication stress response, DNA repair, and tumorigenesis. Moreover, using a data mining approach, we have confirmed that high levels of expression of ASPM correlate with poor prognosis in several types of tumors. Here, we summarize the neurological and non-neurological functions of ASPM and provide insight into its implications for the diagnosis and treatment of MCPH and cancer.

ASPM promotes migration and invasion of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma by stabilizing KIF11

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) protein is crucial to the mitotic spindle function during cell replication and tumor progression in multiple tumor types. However, the effect of ASPM in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) has not yet been understood. The present study is to elucidate the function of ASPM in the migration and invasion of ATC. ASPM expression is incrementally upregulated in ATC tissues and cell lines. Knockout (KO) of ASPM pronouncedly attenuates the migration and invasion of ATC cells. ASPM KO significantly reduces the transcript levels of Vimentin, N-cadherin, and Snail and increases E-cadherin and Occludin, thereby inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mechanistically, ASPM regulates the movement of ATC cells by inhibiting the ubiquitin degradation of KIF11 and thus stabilizing it via direct binding to it. Moreover, xenograft tumors in nude mice proved that KO of ASPM could ameliorate tumorigenesis and tumor growth accompanied by a decreased protein expression of KIF11 and an inhibition of EMT. In conclusion, ASPM is a potentially useful therapeutic target for ATC. Our results also reveal a novel mechanism by which ASPM inhibits the ubiquitin process in KIF11.

The emerging role of MCPH1/BRIT1 in carcinogenesis

The MCPH1 gene, also known as BRCT-repeat inhibitor of hTERT expression (BRIT1), has three BRCA1 carboxyl-terminal domains which is an important regulator of DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints and chromosome condensation. MCPH1/BRIT1 is also known as a tumour suppressor in different types of human cancer. The expression level of the MCPH1/BRIT1 gene is decreased at the DNA, RNA or protein level in a number of types of cancers including breast cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer compared to normal tissue. This review also showed that deregulation of MCPH1/BRIT1 is significantly associated with reduced overall survival in 57% (12/21) and relapsed free survival in 33% (7/21) of cancer types especially in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and renal clear cell carcinoma. A common finding of this study is that the loss of MCPH1/BRIT1 gene expression plays a key role in promoting genome instability and mutations supporting its function as a tumour suppressor gene.

Exploring Potential Biomarkers, Ferroptosis Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Targets Associated with Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma via Integrated Transcriptomic Analysis

Background

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the leading cause of death in patients with nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC). However, the unclear pathogenesis of cSCC limits the application of molecular targeted therapy.

Methods

Three microarray datasets (GSE2503, GSE45164, and GSE66359) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). After identifying the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tumor and nontumor tissues, five kinds of analyses, namely, functional annotation, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, hub gene selection, TF-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network analysis, and ferroptosis mechanism, were performed.

Results

A total of 146 DEGs were identified with significant differences, including 113 upregulated genes and 33 downregulated genes. The enriched functions and pathways of the DEGs included microtubule-based movement, ATP binding, cell cycle, P53 signaling pathway, oocyte meiosis, and PLK1 signaling events. Nine hub genes were identified (CDK1, AURKA, RRM2, CENPE, CCNB1, KIAA0101, ZWINT, TOP2A, and ASPM). Finally, RRM2, AURKA, and SAT1 were identified as significant ferroptosis-related genes in cSCC. The differential expression of these genes has been verified in two other independent datasets.

Conclusions

By integrated bioinformatic analysis, the hub genes identified in this study elucidated the molecular mechanism of the pathogenesis and progression of cSCC and are expected to become future biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein promotes proliferation by regulating cell cycle in epithelial ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) ranks first for female gynecological tumor-related deaths. Due to the limited efficacy of traditional chemotherapy strategies, potential therapeutic targets are urgently needed. Previous studies have reported a relationship between abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) and ovarian cancer based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) and bioinformatics analysis. However, the potential role of ASPM in the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and its molecular mechanism remain to be elucidated. Therefore, we aimed to further investigate the potential role of ASPM and its underlying mechanism in EOC using integrated online databases, clinical samples, and cell models.

METHODS

We used online databases (Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, Cbioportal and Kaplan-Meier Plotter) to analyze differential ASPM expression in ovarian carcinoma and explore its prognostic value in ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients. Immunohistochemistry staining based on a clinical tissue microarray (TMA) comprised 75 cases of EOC tissue and 5 cases of adjacent normal ovary tissue was used to detect the ASPM expression and analyze the relationship between ASPM expression and EOC characteristics. Various cell function experiments related to tumorigenesis were performed including the CCK8 assay, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), colony formation assay and Transwell assay in EOC cell models (A2780 and OVCAR3) with knocked down ASPM by small interfering RNA (siRNA) to observe its role. Finally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment was conducted to determine the signaling pathways in which ASPM was involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. Analysis of cell cycle distribution using flow cytometry was further performed to verify the pathways.

RESULTS

The expression profile based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database confirmed ASPM expression in EOC was higher compared with normal tissue, and further analysis suggested that higher expression was correlated with worse patient prognosis. Immunohistochemical analysis further indicated that ASPM was highly expressed in OvCa tissues and associated with a higher pathological stage, grade, and positive lymphatic metastasis. Cell models with knocked down ASPM by small interfering RNA (siRNA) significantly inhibited proliferation and migration. KEGG pathway enrichment and cell cycle analysis showed that ASPM silencing could inhibit ovarian cancer cell proliferation via synthesis (S) phase arrest.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirmed that ASPM promoted proliferation and caused S phase arrest in EOC cells. ASPM may become a potential molecular marker for early screening and a valuable therapeutic target in EOC.

KEYWORDS

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM); epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC); prognosis; proliferation.

ASPM Promotes the Progression of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas by Regulating the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

BACKGROUND

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) is closely correlated with several malignant tumors, whereas little is known about the role of ASPM in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Herein, we sought to investigate whether ASPM is involved in the pathogenesis of ATC and the underlying mechanisms.

METHODS

The data from two data sets (GSE76039 and GSE33630) were extracted and analyzed for the expression of ASPM, followed by a further validation in collected ATC patients using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. The effect of ASPM on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle was explored in ATC cell lines by in vitro inhibition of ASPM, while ASPM-mediated tumorigenicity was investigated in a xenograft tumor model. The involvement of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was also investigated.

RESULTS

ASPM was overexpressed in ATC patients and cell lines. In vitro knockdown of ASPM inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities of ATC cells and induced cell cycle arrest. Wnt/β-catenin signaling was suppressed in response to ASPM inhibition, while rescue of β-catenin expression restored the impaired biological functions of ATC cells. In vivo transplantation of ASPM-knockdown cells inhibited the growth of tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

Upregulation of ASPM promotes the malignant properties of ATC cells and contributes to tumorigenesis through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

ASPM combined with KIF11 promotes the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

To investigate the molecular mechanism of assembly factor for spindle microtubules (ASPM) in the regulation of the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), bioinformatics analysis was utilized to analyze the role of ASPM in the malignant progression of HCC and its potential interaction with the kinesin family member 11 (KIF11) gene. The expression levels of ASPM and KIF11 were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. Following knockdown of ASPM expression, Cell Counting Kit-8/colony formation assays were performed to detect cell viability and proliferation. Wound healing and Transwell assays were employed to detect cell migration and invasion. Additionally, a co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) assay was used to detect whether there was an interaction between ASPM and KIF11. KIF11 overexpression was performed to verify if ASPM exerted its effects via KIF11. ASPM was highly expressed in HCC tissues and cells, and was closely associated with a poor prognosis of patients with HCC. Interference with ASPM expression markedly inhibited the viability, proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells. Using a CO-IP assay, it was revealed that there was an interaction between ASPM and KIF11. Rescue experiments subsequently revealed the regulatory effects of ASPM on the activity, proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells via KIF11. Finally, western blot analysis demonstrated that ASPM in combination with KIF11 promoted the malignant progression of HCC by regulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that ASPM may interact with KIF11 in HCC cells to promote the malignant progression of HCC via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Identification of candidate biomarkers correlated with poor prognosis of breast cancer based on bioinformatics analysis

Breast cancer (BC) is a malignancy with high incidence among women in the world. This study aims to screen key genes and potential prognostic biomarkers for BC using bioinformatics analysis. Total 58 normal tissues and 203 cancer tissues were collected from three Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) gene expression profiles, and then the differential expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Subsequently, the Gene Ontology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) pathway were analyzed to investigate the biological function of DEGs. Additionally, hub genes were screened by constructing a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Then, we explored the prognostic value and molecular mechanism of these hub genes using Kaplan–Meier (KM) curve and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). As a result, 42 up-regulated and 82 down-regulated DEGs were screened out from GEO datasets. The DEGs were mainly related to cell cycles and cell proliferation by GO and KEGG pathway analysis. Furthermore, 12 hub genes (FN1, AURKA, CCNB1, BUB1B, PRC1, TPX2, NUSAP1, TOP2A, KIF20A, KIF2C, RRM2, ASPM) with a high degree were identified initially, among which, 11 hub genes were significantly correlated with the prognosis of BC patients based on the Kaplan–Meier-plotter. GSEA reviewed that these hub genes correlated with KEGG_CELL_CYCLE and HALLMARK_P53_PATHWAY. In conclusion, this study identified 11 key genes as BC potential prognosis biomarkers on the basis of integrated bioinformatics analysis. This finding will improve our knowledge of the BC progress and mechanisms.

ASPM promotes homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair by safeguarding BRCA1 stability

DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination (HR) is essential for ensuring genome stability. Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) gene encodes a spindle protein that is commonly implicated in primary microcephaly. We found that ASPM is recruited to sites of DNA damage in a PARP2-dependent manner. ASPM interacts with BRCA1 and its E3 ligase HERC2, preventing HERC2 from accessing to BRCA1 and ensuring BRCA1 stability. Inhibition of ASPM expression promotes HERC2-mediated BRCA1 degradation, compromises HR repair efficiency and chromosome stability, and sensitizes cancer cells to ionizing radiation. Moreover, we observed a synergistic effect between ASPM and PARP inhibition in killing cancer cells. This research has uncovered a novel function for ASPM in facilitating HR-mediated repair of DSBs by ensuring BRCA1 stability. ASPM might constitute a promising target for synthetic lethality-based cancer therapy.

•

ASPM is recruited to sites of DNA damage in a PARP2-dependent manner.

•

ASPM promotes DSB-end resection to facilitate HR repair.

•

ASPM prevents HERC2 from accessing to BRCA1 and ensuring BRCA1 stability.

•

Inhibition of ASPM sensitizes cancer cells to ionizing radiation and PARP inhibitor.

Oncogenic role of abnormal spindle‑like microcephaly‑associated protein in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common malignant cancer worldwide. It is urgent to explore its underlying molecular mechanism and identify novel diagnostic biomarkers. Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly (ASPM) has recently received considerable attention due to its function in tumor progression. However, its role in LUAD is unclear. The present study aimed to explore the clinical role of ASPM in LUAD. Seven pairs of LUAD and adjacent normal tissues were collected to identify potential LUAD biomarkers using transcriptome sequencing. The association between ASPM expression and LUAD progression was evaluated using bioinformatics analysis and data obtained from clinical specimens. Using small interfering RNA technology, the function of ASPM was analyzed in the LUAD H1299 and A549 cell lines. Transcriptional profiling of ASPM-deficient H1299 cells was then performed to determine the downstream targets of ASPM. Using databases and clinical specimens, it was revealed that ASPM expression was frequently elevated in LUAD tissues, and this upregulation was highly associated with LUAD progression. ASPM served as an oncogenic regulator of LUAD cell proliferation and metastasis. Mechanistically, ASPM facilitated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and 740 Y-P, an activator of this pathway, restored the migratory ability of ASPM-knockdown LUAD cells. The current study identified ASPM as an independent prognostic biomarker of LUAD that served an important oncogenic role in regulating LUAD cell metastasis by promoting EMT via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Targeting ASPM may therefore be a therapeutic strategy for treating LUAD.

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) gene expression in posterior fossa brain tumors of childhood and adolescence

PURPOSE

In neurogenesis, ASPM (abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated) gene is expressed mainly in the ventricular zone of posterior fossa and is the major determinant in the cerebral cortex. Besides its role in embryonic development, ASPM overexpression promotes tumor growth, including central nervous system (CNS) tumors. This study aims to investigate ASPM expression levels in most frequent posterior fossa brain tumors of childhood and adolescence: medulloblastoma (MB), ependymoma (EPN), and astrocytoma (AS), correlating them with clinicopathological characteristics and tumor solid portion size.

METHODS

Quantitative reverse transcription (qRT-PCR) is used to quantify ASPM mRNA levels in 80 pre-treatment tumor samples: 28 MB, 22 EPN, and 30 AS. The tumor solid portion size was determined by IOP-GRAACC Diagnostic Imaging Center. We correlated these findings with clinicopathological characteristics and tumor solid portion size.

RESULTS

Our results demonstrated that ASPM gene was overexpressed in MB (p = 0.007) and EPN (p = 0.0260) samples. ASPM high expression was significantly associated to MB samples from patients with worse overall survival (p = 0.0123) and death due to disease progression (p = 0.0039). Interestingly, two patients with AS progressed toward higher grade showed ASPM overexpression (p = 0.0046). No correlation was found between the tumor solid portion size and ASPM expression levels in MB (p = 0.1154 and r = - 0.4825) and EPN (p = 0.1108 and r = - 0.3495) samples.

CONCLUSION

Taking in account that ASPM gene has several functions to support cell proliferation, as mitotic defects and premature differentiation, we suggest that its overexpression, presumably, plays a critical role in disease progression of posterior fossa brain tumors of childhood and adolescence.

Identification of Abnormal Spindle Microtubule Assembly as a Promising Therapeutic Target for Osteosarcoma

Objective

To demonstrate the expression of abnormal spindle microtubule assembly (ASPM) in clinical osteosarcoma tissue specimens collected in our hospital, and to explore the function of ASPM in osteosarcoma in vitro and in vivo.

Methods

Tissue specimens from 82 cases of osteosarcoma were collected and analyzed by immunohistochemistry assay. We also investigated the relationship between ASPM expression and clinicopathological characteristics in the patients. We transfected shASPM plasmid and the empty control plasmid, respectively, and then used quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis to detect ASPM expression. Cell colony assay and MTT were used to observe the proliferation ability. In vivo study was undertaken to explore the ASPM function further.

Results

In this study, ASPM showed high expression in osteosarcoma tissue samples compared with non‐tumor normal tissues. ASPM was positively correlated with clinical pathological characteristics, including tumor size (P = 0.024) and clinical stage (P = 0.045). Our results further showed that ASPM depletion dramatically inhibited the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells (with fewer cells in the sh‐RNA‐ASPM group compared with the control group(P < 0.05, respectively), and the in vivo assays further confirmed that ASPM ablation markedly blocked tumor growth compared with control (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Our data provides strong evidence that the high expression of ASPM in osteosarcoma promotes proliferation in vitro and in vivo, indicating its potential role as an osteosarcoma therapeutic target.

ASPM predicts poor prognosis and regulates cell proliferation in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer (BCa) is one of the most common malignancies with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. In recent years, it is of great importance to investigate the molecular etiology associated with of BCa. Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated gene (ASPM) is the human orthologous of the Drosophila abnormal spindle (asp) and the most commonly mutated gene of autosomal recessive primary microcephaly. ASPM is overexpressed in several types of cancer cell lines and affects the progression and development of multiple types of cancers. However, its possible role in BCa progression is still unclear. Herein, we demonstrated the possible involvement of ASPM in the progression of BCa. We noticed that high expression of ASPM was positively associated with the poor prognosis. Its knockdown could significantly inhibit the proliferation of BCa cells in vitro and in mice. Therefore, we thought ASPM could act as a promising therapeutic target for BCa.

Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) contributes to the progression of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LSCC) by regulating CDK4

Lung cancer is a type of malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. Due to its complicated etiology and clinical manifestations, no significant therapeutic advance has been made. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the most common type of lung cancer. To combat this disease, novel therapeutic targets are badly requirement. ASPM (Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein) is involved in multiple cellular or developmental processes, such as neurogenesis and brain growth. ASPM is also reported widely expressed in multiple tumor tissues and involved in the development and progression of several cancers including lung cancer. However, the potential role on ASPM on LSCC is still unclear. In this study, we reported that ASPM was related to the poor prognosis of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Our results further showed that ASPM depletion dramatically inhibited the proliferation of LSCC cells, consistent with the obviously decreased of cyclin D1(CCND1) and cyclin dependent kinases 4 (CDK4) expression. In vivo assays further confirmed ASPM ablation markedly blocked tumor growth in vivo compared with control. In addition, a co-expression was found between ASPM and CDK4 in human tumor tissues. Taken together, our data provides strong evidence that ASPM promotes lung squamous cell carcinoma proliferation in vitro and in vivo, and indicates its potential role as a LSCC therapeutic target.

[Expression of ASPM in Lung Adenocarcinoma and Its Relationship with Development and Prognosis]

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown that ASPM is a tumorigenesis associated protein, mutations in ASPM can lead to MCPH. This study mainly explores the relationship between the ASPM expression of lung adenocarcinoma and the development and prognosis of lung cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) in lung adenocarcinoma and the development and prognosis in lung cancer.

METHODS

A total of 90 cases of lung adenocarcinoma tissue specimens and 90 cases of benign pulmonary lesions were collected, the expression of ASPM was detected by immunohistochemical technique, and the expression of ASPM in 12 pairs of tissues was detected by real-time quantity polymerase chain reaction and western blot.

RESULTS

(1) The expression of ASPM in the tissue specimens of benign pulmonary lesions was negative while the expression level of ASPM in lung adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than lung tissue of benign pulmonary lesions (P<0.05). (2) The expression level of ASPM has no remarkable difference in lung adenocarcinoma with lymph node development and the lung cancer without lymph node development, there was no statistically significant (P<0.05). (3) The ASPM expression level in the tumor's size ≥4 cm was significantly higher than than of the size<4 cm (P<0.05). (4) Hierarchical analysis results show that T stage is related to ASPM expression level (P<0.05). (5) The high expression level of ASPM in lung adenocarcinoma was significantly positively correlated with the poor prognosis (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

(1) The expression level of ASPM in lung cancer is obviously increased and closely related to the progress of lung adenocarcinoma. (2) The expression level of ASPM in lung adenocarcinoma was significantly positively correlated with poor prognosis (P<0.05). (3) Detection of the expression level of ASPM in lung adenocarcinoma help to predict the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma in advance.

Identification of molecular markers associated with the progression and prognosis of endometrial cancer: a bioinformatic study

Background

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one kind of women cancers. Bioinformatic technology could screen out relative genes which made targeted therapy becoming conventionalized.

Methods

GSE17025 were downloaded from GEO. The genomic data and clinical data were obtained from TCGA. R software and bioconductor packages were used to identify the DEGs. Clusterprofiler was used for functional analysis. STRING was used to assess PPI information and plug-in MCODE to screen hub modules in Cytoscape. The selected genes were coped with functional analysis. CMap could find EC-related drugs that might have potential effect. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to predict the risk of each patient. Kaplan–Meier curve analysis could compare the survival time. ROC curve analysis was performed to predict value of the genes. Mutation and survival analysis in TCGA database and UALCAN validation were completed. Immunohistochemistry staining from Human Protein Atlas database. GSEA, ROC curve analysis, Oncomine and qRT-PCR were also performed.

Results

Functional analysis showed that the upregulated DEGs were strikingly enriched in chemokine activity, and the down-regulated DEGs in glycosaminoglycan binding. PPI network suggested that NCAPG was the most relevant protein. CMap identified 10 small molecules as possible drugs to treat EC. Cox analysis showed that BCHE, MAL and ASPM were correlated with EC prognosis. TCGA dataset analysis showed significantly mutated BHCE positively related to EC prognosis. MAL and ASPM were further validated in UALCAN. All the results demonstrated that the two genes might promote EC progression. The profile of ASPM was confirmed by the results from immunohistochemistry. ROC curve demonstrated that the mRNA levels of two genes exhibited difference between normal and tumor tissues, indicating their diagnostic efficiency. qRT-PCR results supported the above results. Oncomine results showed that DNA copy number variation of MAL was significantly higher in different EC subtypes than in healthy tissues. GSEA suggested that the two genes played crucial roles in cell cycle.

Conclusion

BCHE, MAL and ASPM are tumor-related genes and can be used as potential biomarkers in EC treatment.

Construction and validation of an eight-gene signature with great prognostic value in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies in urinary system with a common malignancy in urinary system with a high mortality and recurrence rate, so we attempt to construct a gene signature to predict the prognosis of BCs. We initially established a co-expression network by performing WGCNA analysis and further identified magenta module as key module (P = 8e-05, R2 = 0.4). Subsequently, we screened 12 genes associated with survival from the key module, which were selected to construct an eight-gene signature by establishing a LASSO Cox model. Moreover, we reckoned the risk score (RS) of each sample, through which we could divide samples into two groups (the high-risk and low-risk groups) and verify the signature, in the training set and 3 validation sets (internal test set, GSE13507and E-MTAB-4321). This signature could distinguish between the high- and low- risk patients well (survival analysis: P = 0.015; AUC: 0.61 at 1 year, 0.61 at 3 years and 0.61 at 5 years). In the validation sets, this signature also showed good performance, which was consistent with the training test. Furthermore, we plotted a nomogram to predict the possibility of the overall survival (OS) and three calibration curves to predict the effectiveness of the nomogram, which suggested good value and clinical utility of the nomogram. In conclusion, we established an eight-gene signature, which was probably effective in the prediction of prognosis of patients with BC.

Screening and Identification of Key Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer: Evidence from Bioinformatic Analysis

Pancreatic cancer (PC) whose mortality is comparable to morbidity is a highly fatal disease. Early approaches of diagnosis and treatment for PC are quite limited, so it is of great urgency to figure out the exact tumorigenesis and development mechanism of PC. To identify the related molecular markers of pancreatic oncogenesis, we downloaded three microarray datasets (GSE63111, GSE101448, and GSE107610) from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among them were identified, and the corresponding function enrichment analyses were accomplished. The protein-protein interaction network was conducted by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING), and the corresponding module analysis was accomplished by Cytoscape. There were 55 DEGs found in total. The molecular function and biological processes (BP) of these DEGs mainly include cytokinesis, mitotic nuclear division, cell division, cell proliferation, microtubule-based movement, and mineral absorption. Among the 55 DEGs, 14 hub genes were further confirmed and it was concluded that they mainly function in mitotic cytokinesis, microtubule-based movement, mitotic chromosome condensation, and mitotic spindle assembly from the BP analysis. The survival analysis showed that all the 14 hub genes, especially nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 and abnormal spindle microtubule assembly, may involve in the tumorigenesis and development of PC. And they might be used as new biomarkers for auxiliary diagnosis and potential targets for immunotherapy of PC.

Eleven genes associated with progression and prognosis of endometrial cancer (EC) identified by comprehensive bioinformatics analysis

Background

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the female malignant tumors. Endometrial cancer predominately affects post-menopausal women. Bioinformatics analysis has been widely applied to screen and analyze genes in linkage to various types of cancer progression.

Methods

Download the gene expression profile from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Calculate raw expression data according to pre-processing procedures. We performed the “limma” R language package to screen DEGs between Endometrial cancer tissue samples and normal uterus tissue samples. Enrichment of the functions and pathways was analyzed by using clusterprofiler. We utilized Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes Database (STRING) to assess protein–protein interaction (PPI) information, and then we used plug-in Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) to screen hub modules of PPI network in Cytoscape. We also performed functional analysis on the genes in the hub module by using clusterprofiler. Next, we utilized the “WGCNA” package in R to establish co-expression network for the DEGs. The Venn diagram was performed to overlap the gene in key module and hub PPI cluster. We validated the key genes in TCGA, GEPIA, UALCAN and Immunohistochemistry staining obtained from The Human Protein Atlas database. And then we did ROC curve analysis by SPSS. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and mutation analysis were also performed for hub genes.

Results

Functional and pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that the upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in CXCR chemokine receptor binding, chemokine activity, chemokine receptor binding, G-protein coupled receptor binding, RAGE receptor binding, cytokine activity, microtubule binding, receptor regulator activity and microtubule motor activity, and the down-regulated genes were highly enriched in collagen binding. After using STRING software to construct PPI network, 30 prominent proteins were identified and the first two significant modules were selected. In co-expression network, 5 EC-related modules were identified. Among them, the turquoise module has the highest correlation with the EC. We further analyzed the genes in the PPI and turquoise module, and selected eleven key genes related to EC after validation of TCGA database, GEPIA, UALCAN and immunohistochemistry. Six of them had mutation significance.

Conclusions

In summary, these 11 genes may become new therapy targets for EC treatment.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0859-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Identification of Genes and Pathways Involved in Ovarian Epithelial Cancer by Bioinformatics Analysis

Ovarian epithelial cancer (OEC) is an often fatal disease with poor prognosis in women with high-stage disease. In contrast, ovarian low malignant potential (LMP) tumors with favorable prognosis behaves as a disease between benign and malignant tumors. The involved genes and pathways between benign-like LMP and aggressive OEC are largely unknown. This study integrated two cohorts profile datasets to investigate the potential key candidate genes and pathways associated with OEC. Gene expression in two datasets (GSE9891 and GSE12172), including 327 OECs and 48 LMP tumors, were analyzed. 559 differentially expressed genes were found to overlap, 251 up-regulated and 308 down-regulated. Subsequently, analysis of gene ontology, signaling pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was performed. Gene ontology analysis clustered the up-regulated and down-regulated genes based on significant enrichment. 282 nodes/ differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from DEGs PPI network complex, and two most significant k-clique modules were identified from PPI. In a summary, using integrated bioinformatics analysis, we are able to identify biomarkers potentially significant in the pathogenesis of OEC, which can improve our understanding of the cause and molecular events. These candidate genes and pathways could be used for further confirmation, and lead to better disease diagnose and therapy.

A New Way to Treat Brain Tumors: Targeting Proteins Coded by Microcephaly Genes?: Brain tumors and microcephaly arise from opposing derangements regulating progenitor growth. Drivers of microcephaly could be attractive brain tumor targets

New targets for brain tumor therapies may be identified by mutations that cause hereditary microcephaly. Brain growth depends on the repeated proliferation of stem and progenitor cells. Microcephaly syndromes result from mutations that specifically impair the ability of brain progenitor or stem cells to proliferate, by inducing either premature differentiation or apoptosis. Brain tumors that derive from brain progenitor or stem cells may share many of the specific requirements of their cells of origin. These tumors may therefore be susceptible to disruptions of the protein products of genes that are mutated in microcephaly. The potential for the products of microcephaly genes to be therapeutic targets in brain tumors are highlighted hereby reviewing research on EG5, KIF14, ASPM, CDK6, and ATR. Treatments that disrupt these proteins may open new avenues for brain tumor therapy that have increased efficacy and decreased toxicity.

Expression of ASPM in colonic adenocarcinoma and its clinicopathologic significance

BACKGROUND

ASPM is a newly reported stem cell marker and plays important roles in mitosis, cell cycle and tumorigenesis. It links with poor clinical prognosis in various tumors. However, the clinical significance of ASPM in colonic adenocarcinoma (CA) has not been fully studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate if ASPM is correlated with the clinicopathological features of CA.

METHODS

Primary CA tissue, adenoma and the matched normal mucosa from 99 patients, were detected using immunohistochemical analysis by primary antibodies against ASPM. Meanwhile, 20 CAs and 20 liver metastatic cases were examined by RNA in situ hybridization (RNAscope). To assess the clinical relevance of ASPM, we analyzed the survival follow-up information.

RESULTS

ASPM was found only in single cells in the base of normal colon mucosal crypts. But the expression of ASPM was detected high in colonic adenomas (49.5%, 49/99), and significantly higher in CA (56.6%, 56/ 99, P<0.001). In CAs, ASPM expression was more intense in stage III and IV than II and I stage patients (P=0.03), and positively correlated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.03), but not with the age at diagnosis, gender and histological grade (P>0.05). We also analyzed the survival follow-up information, the data showed that ASPM-positive expression was correlated with a shorter disease-free survival (DFS) time, the average DFS time of patients with ASPM positive and negative expression was 62.79±2.32 months and 71.30±2.72 months, respectively, and there was no statistical significance between the two groups (P>0.05). The results of ASPM mRNA measurement by RNAscope revealed ASPM mRNA expression was higher in primary CA than that in metastatic liver CA (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

ASPM might play an important role in colonic carcinogenesis and be a potential marker in predicting prognosis of CA.

The DNA damage response molecule MCPH1 in brain development and beyond

Microcephalin (MCPH1) is identified as being responsible for the neurodevelopmental disorder primary microcephaly type 1, which is characterized by a smaller-than-normal brain size and mental retardation. MCPH1 has originally been identified as an important regulator of telomere integrity and of cell cycle control. Genetic and cellular studies show that MCPH1 controls neurogenesis by coordinating the cell cycle and the centrosome cycle and thereby regulating the division mode of neuroprogenitors to prevent the exhaustion of the progenitor pool and thereby microcephaly. In addition to its role in neurogenesis, MCPH1 plays a role in gonad development. MCPH1 also functions as a tumor suppressor in several human cancers as well as in mouse models. Here, we review the role of MCPH1 in DNA damage response, cell cycle control, chromosome condensation and chromatin remodeling. We also summarize the studies on the biological functions of MCPH1 in brain size determination and in pathologies, including infertility and cancer.

Current status and perspectives in atomic force microscopy-based identification of cellular transformation

Understanding the complex interplay between cells and their biomechanics and how the interplay is influenced by the extracellular microenvironment, as well as how the transforming potential of a tissue from a benign to a cancerous one is related to the dynamics of both the cell and its surroundings, holds promise for the development of targeted translational therapies. This review provides a comprehensive overview of atomic force microscopy-based technology and its applications for identification of cellular progression to a cancerous phenotype. The review also offers insights into the advancements that are required for the next user-controlled tool to allow for the identification of early cell transformation and thus potentially lead to improved therapeutic outcomes.

Genes that Affect Brain Structure and Function Identified by Rare Variant Analyses of Mendelian Neurologic Disease

Development of the human nervous system involves complex interactions among fundamental cellular processes and requires a multitude of genes, many of which remain to be associated with human disease. We applied whole exome sequencing to 128 mostly consanguineous families with neurogenetic disorders that often included brain malformations. Rare variant analyses for both single nucleotide variant (SNV) and copy number variant (CNV) alleles allowed for identification of 45 novel variants in 43 known disease genes, 41 candidate genes, and CNVs in 10 families, with an overall potential molecular cause identified in >85% of families studied. Among the candidate genes identified, we found PRUNE, VARS, and DHX37 in multiple families and homozygous loss-of-function variants in AGBL2, SLC18A2, SMARCA1, UBQLN1, and CPLX1. Neuroimaging and in silico analysis of functional and expression proximity between candidate and known disease genes allowed for further understanding of genetic networks underlying specific types of brain malformations.

BioXpress: an integrated RNA-seq-derived gene expression database for pan-cancer analysis

BioXpress is a gene expression and cancer association database in which the expression levels are mapped to genes using RNA-seq data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas, International Cancer Genome Consortium, Expression Atlas and publications. The BioXpress database includes expression data from 64 cancer types, 6361 patients and 17 469 genes with 9513 of the genes displaying differential expression between tumor and normal samples. In addition to data directly retrieved from RNA-seq data repositories, manual biocuration of publications supplements the available cancer association annotations in the database. All cancer types are mapped to Disease Ontology terms to facilitate a uniform pan-cancer analysis. The BioXpress database is easily searched using HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee gene symbol, UniProtKB/RefSeq accession or, alternatively, can be queried by cancer type with specified significance filters. This interface along with availability of pre-computed downloadable files containing differentially expressed genes in multiple cancers enables straightforward retrieval and display of a broad set of cancer-related genes.

Database URL:http://hive.biochemistry.gwu.edu/tools/bioxpress

MCPH1 maintains long-term epigenetic silencing of ANGPT2 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The microcephalin gene (MCPH1) [also known as inhibitor of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression] is a tumor suppressor gene that is functionally involved in the DNA damage response. Angiopoietin 2 (ANGPT2) is a crucial factor regulating tumor angiopoiesis. Deregulation of angiogenesis is one of the hallmarks of many cancers, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In CLL, ANGPT2 is a well-studied potential prognostic marker. As MCPH1 overlaps with the ANGPT2 transcription unit on the same chromosome but in the opposite orientation, we wanted to study the functional role of MCPH1 in regulation of ANGPT2 in CLL. The mRNA expression levels of MCPH1 and ANGPT2, including the MCPH1 target gene hTERT, showed significant differences between two prognostic groups, i.e. IGHV-mutated and IGHV-unmutated (P = 0.007 for MCPH1, P = 0.0002 for ANGPT2, and P = 0.00001 for hTERT), in which the expression level of MCPH1 was inversely correlated with the expression levels of hTERT and ANGPT2. Downregulation of MCPH1 resulted in upregulation of ANGPT2, accompanied by loss of its promoter methylation. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and coimmunoprecipitation assays, we found that MCPH1 binds to the ANGPT2 promoter and recruits DNA methyltransferases, thereby silencing ANGPT2. Thus, our data suggest a novel function for MCPH1 in regulating and maintaining ANGPT2 silencing in CLL through regulation of promoter DNA methylation.

Molecular and cellular basis of autosomal recessive primary microcephaly

Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a rare hereditary neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a marked reduction in brain size and intellectual disability. MCPH is genetically heterogeneous and can exhibit additional clinical features that overlap with related disorders including Seckel syndrome, Meier-Gorlin syndrome, and microcephalic osteodysplastic dwarfism. In this review, we discuss the key proteins mutated in MCPH. To date, MCPH-causing mutations have been identified in twelve different genes, many of which encode proteins that are involved in cell cycle regulation or are present at the centrosome, an organelle crucial for mitotic spindle assembly and cell division. We highlight recent findings on MCPH proteins with regard to their role in cell cycle progression, centrosome function, and early brain development.