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Castanho EN, Aidos H, Madeira SC. Biclustering data analysis: a comprehensive survey. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae342. [PMID: 39007596 PMCID: PMC11247412 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae342] [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: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Biclustering, the simultaneous clustering of rows and columns of a data matrix, has proved its effectiveness in bioinformatics due to its capacity to produce local instead of global models, evolving from a key technique used in gene expression data analysis into one of the most used approaches for pattern discovery and identification of biological modules, used in both descriptive and predictive learning tasks. This survey presents a comprehensive overview of biclustering. It proposes an updated taxonomy for its fundamental components (bicluster, biclustering solution, biclustering algorithms, and evaluation measures) and applications. We unify scattered concepts in the literature with new definitions to accommodate the diversity of data types (such as tabular, network, and time series data) and the specificities of biological and biomedical data domains. We further propose a pipeline for biclustering data analysis and discuss practical aspects of incorporating biclustering in real-world applications. We highlight prominent application domains, particularly in bioinformatics, and identify typical biclusters to illustrate the analysis output. Moreover, we discuss important aspects to consider when choosing, applying, and evaluating a biclustering algorithm. We also relate biclustering with other data mining tasks (clustering, pattern mining, classification, triclustering, N-way clustering, and graph mining). Thus, it provides theoretical and practical guidance on biclustering data analysis, demonstrating its potential to uncover actionable insights from complex datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo N Castanho
- LASIGE, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 16, P-1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Helena Aidos
- LASIGE, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 16, P-1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Sara C Madeira
- LASIGE, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 16, P-1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
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2
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Xue X, Feng Q, Hong X, Lin Z, Luo Y, Li Y, Yao G, Wang N, Chen L. Comprehensive analysis of ALG3 in pan-cancer and validation of ALG3 as an onco-immunological biomarker in breast cancer. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:2320-2339. [PMID: 38329424 PMCID: PMC10911369 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
ALG3 has significant modulatory function in the process of tumor development. Yet how ALG3 involves in the advancement of different malignancies isn't fully understood. We performed a pan-cancer assessment on ALG3 utilizing datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) to examine its tumor-related roles across malignancies and its link to particular molecules and cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Furthermore, we focused on breast cancer to examine the influence of ALG3-mediated signaling pathways and intercellular interactions in the advancement of tumors. The biological effects of ALG3 were verified by breast cancer cells. Enhanced ALG3 expression was discovered to be substantially linked to patients' grim prognoses in a number of malignancies. Furthermore, the expression of ALG3 in the TME was linked to the infiltration of stromal and immune cells, and ALG3-related immune checkpoints, TMB, and MSI were also discovered. We also discovered that cancer patients having a high level of ALG3 exhibited a lower probability of benefiting from immunotherapy. Furthermore, our research found that KEGG enrichment, single-cell RNA and spatial sequencing analyses were effective in identifying key signaling pathways in ALG3-associated tumor growth. In vitro, knockdown of ALG3 could decrease the proliferation of breast cancer cells. In summary, our research offers a comprehensive insight into the advancement of tumors under the mediation of ALG3. ALG3 appears to be intimately associated with tumor development in the TME. ALG3 might be a viable treatment target for cancer therapy, particularly in the case of breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Xue
- Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Qiaoli Feng
- Breast Center, Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Xi Hong
- Breast Center, Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Zhousheng Lin
- Breast Center, Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Yingrui Luo
- Basic Medical Academy, Cancer Research Institute, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Yingshi Li
- Basic Medical Academy, Cancer Research Institute, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Guangyu Yao
- Breast Center, Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Nisha Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
| | - Lujia Chen
- Breast Center, Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
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3
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Jaiswal A, Kaushik N, Choi EH, Kaushik NK. Functional impact of non-coding RNAs in high-grade breast carcinoma: Moving from resistance to clinical applications: A comprehensive review. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2023; 1878:188915. [PMID: 37196783 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2023.188915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Despite the recent advances in cancer therapy, triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are the most relapsing cancer sub-type. It is partly due to their propensity to develop resistance against the available therapies. An intricate network of regulatory molecules in cellular mechanisms leads to the development of resistance in tumors. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have gained widespread attention as critical regulators of cancer hallmarks. Existing research suggests that aberrant expression of ncRNAs modulates the oncogenic or tumor suppressive signaling. This can mitigate the responsiveness of efficacious anti-tumor interventions. This review presents a systematic overview of biogenesis and down streaming molecular mechanism of the subgroups of ncRNAs. Furthermore, it explains ncRNA-based strategies and challenges to target the chemo-, radio-, and immunoresistance in TNBCs from a clinical standpoint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apurva Jaiswal
- Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, Republic of Korea
| | - Neha Kaushik
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Engineering, The University of Suwon, Suwon 18323, Republic of Korea.
| | - Eun Ha Choi
- Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, Republic of Korea.
| | - Nagendra Kumar Kaushik
- Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, Republic of Korea.
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4
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Bou-Dargham MJ, Sha L, Sarker DB, Krakora-Compagno MZ, Chen Z, Zhang J, Sang QXA. TCGA RNA-Seq and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Imaging Data Reveal Cold Tumor Signatures of Invasive Ductal Carcinomas and Estrogen Receptor-Positive Human Breast Tumors. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24119355. [PMID: 37298307 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative studies of immune-active hot and immune-deserted cold tumors are critical for identifying therapeutic targets and strategies to improve immunotherapy outcomes in cancer patients. Tumors with high tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are likely to respond to immunotherapy. We used the human breast cancer RNA-seq data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) and classified them into hot and cold tumors based on their lymphocyte infiltration scores. We compared the immune profiles of hot and cold tumors, their corresponding normal tissue adjacent to the tumor (NAT), and normal breast tissues from healthy individuals from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database. Cold tumors showed a significantly lower effector T cells, lower levels of antigen presentation, higher pro-tumorigenic M2 macrophages, and higher expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness-associated genes. Hot/cold dichotomy was further tested using TIL maps and H&E whole-slide pathology images from the cancer imaging archive (TCIA). Analysis of both datasets revealed that infiltrating ductal carcinoma and estrogen receptor ER-positive tumors were significantly associated with cold features. However, only TIL map analysis indicated lobular carcinomas as cold tumors and triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) as hot tumors. Thus, RNA-seq data may be clinically relevant to tumor immune signatures when the results are supported by pathological evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayassa J Bou-Dargham
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Linlin Sha
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Drishty B Sarker
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | | | - Zhui Chen
- Abbisko Therapeutics, Shanghai 200100, China
| | - Jinfeng Zhang
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Qing-Xiang Amy Sang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
- Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
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5
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Li Q, Yuan H, Zhao G, Zhang J, Li S, Gong D, Feng T, Kou Q, Wang Q, Wang G, Li S, Li K, Lin P. ZNF32 prevents the activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts through negative regulation of TGFB1 transcription in breast cancer. FASEB J 2023; 37:e22837. [PMID: 36934389 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202201801r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/20/2023]
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the fundamental cellular components of the tumor microenvironment and play a critical role in the initiation, progression, and therapy resistance of breast cancer. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of CAFs activation from normal fibroblasts (NFs) are still not well understood. In the present study, we reported that ZNF32 expression in breast cancer cells was negatively correlated with CAF-related markers (FSP1, α-SMA, and FAP) in stromal fibroblasts, and loss of ZNF32 promoted the activation of CAFs, as evidenced by the enhanced proliferation and contractility of CAFs. ZNF32 deficiency-mediated fibroblast activation promoted the growth and metastasis of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that ZNF32 inhibited TGFB1 transcription by directly binding to the -1968/-1962 region of the TGFB1 promoter, leading to the prevention of fibroblast activation. Altogether, our findings reveal an important mechanism by which ZNF32 suppression increases the transcription of the TGFB1 gene in breast cancer cells, and subsequently, elevated levels of secretory TGF-β stimulate NFs transformation into CAFs, which in turn facilitates the malignant progression of breast cancer. Our data implicated ZNF32 as a potential therapeutic strategy against breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Li
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Hang Yuan
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Gang Zhao
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Siqi Li
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Di Gong
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Tianyu Feng
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Qiming Kou
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Qijing Wang
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Guanru Wang
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Shan Li
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Kai Li
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ping Lin
- Lab of Experimental Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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6
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Ali S, Rehman MU, Yatoo AM, Arafah A, Khan A, Rashid S, Majid S, Ali A, Ali MN. TGF-β signaling pathway: Therapeutic targeting and potential for anti-cancer immunity. Eur J Pharmacol 2023; 947:175678. [PMID: 36990262 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2023.175678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) is a pleiotropic secretory cytokine exhibiting both cancer-inhibitory and promoting properties. It transmits its signals via Suppressor of Mother against Decapentaplegic (SMAD) and non-SMAD pathways and regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis. In non-cancer and early-stage cancer cells, TGFβ signaling suppresses cancer progression via inducing apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, or anti-proliferation, and promoting cell differentiation. On the other hand, TGFβ may also act as an oncogene in advanced stages of tumors, wherein it develops immune-suppressive tumor microenvironments and induces the proliferation of cancer cells, invasion, angiogenesis, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. Higher TGFβ expression leads to the instigation and development of cancer. Therefore, suppressing TGFβ signals may present a potential treatment option for inhibiting tumorigenesis and metastasis. Different inhibitory molecules, including ligand traps, anti-sense oligo-nucleotides, small molecule receptor-kinase inhibitors, small molecule inhibitors, and vaccines, have been developed and clinically trialed for blocking the TGFβ signaling pathway. These molecules are not pro-oncogenic response-specific but block all signaling effects induced by TGFβ. Nonetheless, targeting the activation of TGFβ signaling with maximized specificity and minimized toxicity can enhance the efficacy of therapeutic approaches against this signaling pathway. The molecules that are used to target TGFβ are non-cytotoxic to cancer cells but designed to curtail the over-activation of invasion and metastasis driving TGFβ signaling in stromal and cancer cells. Here, we discussed the critical role of TGFβ in tumorigenesis, and metastasis, as well as the outcome and the promising achievement of TGFβ inhibitory molecules in the treatment of cancer.
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7
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Bou-Dargham MJ, Draughon S, Cantrell V, Khamis ZI, Sang QXA. Advancements in Human Breast Cancer Targeted Therapy and Immunotherapy. J Cancer 2021; 12:6949-6963. [PMID: 34729098 PMCID: PMC8558657 DOI: 10.7150/jca.64205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Human breast cancer treatment regimens have evolved greatly due to the significant advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathways of the common subtypes of breast cancer. In this review, we discuss recent progress in breast cancer targeted therapy and immunotherapy as well as ongoing clinical trials. We also highlight the potential of combination therapies and personalized approaches to improve clinical outcomes. Targeted therapies have surpassed the hormone receptors and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) to include many other molecules in targetable pathways such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6). However, resistance to targeted therapy persists, underpinning the need for more efficacious therapies. Immunotherapy is considered a milestone in breast cancer treatments, including the engineered immune cells (CAR-T cell therapy) to better target the tumor cells, vaccines to stimulate the patient's immune system against tumor antigens, and checkpoint inhibitors (PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA4) to block molecules that mediate immune inhibition. Targeted therapies and immunotherapy tested in breast cancer clinical trials are discussed here, with special emphasis on combinatorial approaches which are believed to maximize treatment efficacy and enhance patient survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayassa J Bou-Dargham
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
| | - Sophia Draughon
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
| | - Vance Cantrell
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
| | - Zahraa I Khamis
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences-I, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Qing-Xiang Amy Sang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.,Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
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8
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Chen X, Lin Y, Qu Q, Ning B, Chen H, Li X. An epistasis and heterogeneity analysis method based on maximum correlation and maximum consistence criteria. MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING : MBE 2021; 18:7711-7726. [PMID: 34814271 DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2021382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Tumor heterogeneity significantly increases the difficulty of tumor treatment. The same drugs and treatment methods have different effects on different tumor subtypes. Therefore, tumor heterogeneity is one of the main sources of poor prognosis, recurrence and metastasis. At present, there have been some computational methods to study tumor heterogeneity from the level of genome, transcriptome, and histology, but these methods still have certain limitations. In this study, we proposed an epistasis and heterogeneity analysis method based on genomic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. First of all, a maximum correlation and maximum consistence criteria was designed based on Bayesian network score K2 and information entropy for evaluating genomic epistasis. As the number of SNPs increases, the epistasis combination space increases sharply, resulting in a combination explosion phenomenon. Therefore, we next use an improved genetic algorithm to search the SNP epistatic combination space for identifying potential feasible epistasis solutions. Multiple epistasis solutions represent different pathogenic gene combinations, which may lead to different tumor subtypes, that is, heterogeneity. Finally, the XGBoost classifier is trained with feature SNPs selected that constitute multiple sets of epistatic solutions to verify that considering tumor heterogeneity is beneficial to improve the accuracy of tumor subtype prediction. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, the power of multiple epistatic recognition and the accuracy of tumor subtype classification measures are evaluated. Extensive simulation results show that our method has better power and prediction accuracy than previous methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Chen
- School of Basic Education, Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College, Changsha, Hunan 410124, China
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Yexiong Lin
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Qiang Qu
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Bin Ning
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Haowen Chen
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Xiong Li
- School of Software, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China
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9
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Dastmalchi N, Safaralizadeh R, Latifi-Navid S, Banan Khojasteh SM, Mahmud Hussen B, Teimourian S. An updated review of the role of lncRNAs and their contribution in various molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Expert Rev Mol Diagn 2021; 21:1025-1036. [PMID: 34334086 DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1962707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most significant threat to women's life. To demonstrate its molecular mechanisms, which results in BC progression, it is crucial to develop approaches to enhance prognosis and survival in BC cases.Areas covered: In the current study, we aimed to highlight the updated data on the oncogenic and tumor suppressive roles of lncRNAs in the progression of various subtypes of BC by specifically putting importance on the functional characteristics, modulatory agents, therapeutic potential, future perspectives and challenges of lncRNAs in BC. We reviewed recent studies published between 2019 and 2020.Expert opinion: The latest investigations have demonstrated that the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in different BC molecular subtypes via different molecular mechanisms; however, the exact functional information of the lncRNAs has yet to be elucidated. The studied lncRNAs could be more applicable as therapeutic targets in BC treatment after pre-clinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narges Dastmalchi
- Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Reza Safaralizadeh
- Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Saeid Latifi-Navid
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran
| | | | - Bashdar Mahmud Hussen
- Pharmacognosy Department, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Shahram Teimourian
- Department of Medical Genetics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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10
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Multifaceted roles of long non-coding RNAs in triple-negative breast cancer: biology and clinical applications. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 48:2791-2810. [PMID: 33258920 DOI: 10.1042/bst20200666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous breast cancer subtype that lacks targeted therapy due to the absence of estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Moreover, TNBC was shown to have a poor prognosis, since it involves aggressive phenotypes that confer significant hindrance to therapeutic treatments. Recent state-of-the-art sequencing technologies have shed light on several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), previously thought to have no biological function and were considered as genomic junk. LncRNAs are involved in various physiological as well as pathological conditions, and play a key role in drug resistance, gene expression, and epigenetic regulation. This review mainly focuses on exploring the multifunctional roles of candidate lncRNAs, and their strong association with TNBC development. We also summarise various emerging research findings that establish novel paradigms of lncRNAs function as oncogenes and/or tumor suppressors in TNBC development, suggesting their role as prospective therapeutic targets.
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11
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A structural perspective on the design of decoy immune modulators. Pharmacol Res 2021; 170:105735. [PMID: 34146695 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Therapeutic mAbs have dominated the class of immunotherapeutics in general and immune checkpoint inhibitors in particular. The high specificity of mAbs to the target molecule as well as their extended half-life and (or) the effector functions raised by the Fc part are some of the important aspects that contribute to the success of this class of therapeutics. Equally potential candidates are decoys and their fusions that can address some of the inherent limitations of mAbs, like immunogenicity, resistance development, low bio-availability and so on, besides maintaining the advantages of mAbs. The decoys are molecules that trap the ligands and prevent them from interacting with the signaling receptors. Although a few FDA-approved decoy immune modulators are very successful, the potential of this class of drugs is yet to be fully realized. Here, we review various strategies employed in fusion protein therapeutics with a focus on the design of decoy immunomodulators from the structural perspective and discuss how the information on protein structure and function can strategically guide the development of next-generation immune modulators.
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12
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Thakur KK, Kumar A, Banik K, Verma E, Khatoon E, Harsha C, Sethi G, Gupta SC, Kunnumakkara AB. Long noncoding RNAs in triple-negative breast cancer: A new frontier in the regulation of tumorigenesis. J Cell Physiol 2021; 236:7938-7965. [PMID: 34105151 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.30463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has emerged as the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer and is usually associated with increased mortality worldwide. The severity of TNBC is primarily observed in younger women, with cases ranging from approximately 12%-24% of all breast cancer cases. The existing hormonal therapies offer limited clinical solutions in completely circumventing the TNBC, with chemoresistance and tumor recurrences being the common hurdles in the path of TNBC treatment. Accumulating evidence has correlated the dysregulation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) with increased cell proliferation, invasion, migration, tumor growth, chemoresistance, and decreased apoptosis in TNBC. Various clinical studies have revealed that aberrant expression of lncRNAs in TNBC tissues is associated with poor prognosis, lower overall survival, and disease-free survival. Due to these specific characteristics, lncRNAs have emerged as novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for TNBC treatment. However, the underlying mechanism through which lncRNAs perform their actions remains unclear, and extensive research is being carried out to reveal it. Therefore, understanding of mechanisms regulating the modulation of lncRNAs will be a substantial breakthrough in effective treatment therapies for TNBC. This review highlights the association of several lncRNAs in TNBC progression and treatment, along with their possible functions and mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishan K Thakur
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Aviral Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Kishore Banik
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Elika Verma
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Elina Khatoon
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Choudhary Harsha
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
| | - Gautam Sethi
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Subash C Gupta
- Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory for Translational Cancer Research, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ajaikumar B Kunnumakkara
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Cancer Biology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India
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13
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Chen X, Lin Y, Qu Q, Ning B, Chen H, Cai L. A Multi-Source Data Fusion Framework for Revealing the Regulatory Mechanism of Breast Cancer Immune Evasion. Front Genet 2020; 11:595324. [PMID: 33304391 PMCID: PMC7693564 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.595324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
For precision medicine, there is an enormous need to understand the immune evasion mechanism of tumor development, especially when tumor heterogeneity significantly affects the effect of immunotherapy. Recognizing the subtypes of breast cancer based on the immune-related genes helps to understand the immune escape pathways dominated by different subtypes, so as to implement effective treatment measures for different subtypes. For that, we used non-negative matrix factorization and consistent clustering algorithm on The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA-seq breast cancer data and recognized 4 subtypes according to the curated immune-related genes. Then, we conducted differential expression analysis between each subtype of breast cancer and normal tissue of RNA-seq data from non-cancer individuals collected by the Genotype-Tissue Expression to find out subtype-related immune genes. After that, we carried out correlation analysis between copy number variants (CNV) and mRNA of immune genes and investigated the regulatory mechanism of the immune genes, which cannot be explained by CNV based on ATAC-seq data. The experimental results reveal that CDH1 and PVRL2 are potential for immune evasion in all 4 subgroups. The expression variations of CDH1 can be mainly explained by its CNV, while the expression variation of PVRL2 is more likely regulated by transcript factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Chen
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China.,School of Basic Education, Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College, Changsha, China
| | - Yexiong Lin
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China
| | - Qiang Qu
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China
| | - Bin Ning
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China
| | - Haowen Chen
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China
| | - Lijun Cai
- College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China
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14
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Gu X, Mao Z, Pan H, Zou C, Ding G, Fan Y. <p>Case–Control Study on <em>TNFRSF6B</em> Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Han Population</p>. Pharmgenomics Pers Med 2020; 13:749-756. [PMID: 33363398 PMCID: PMC7751833 DOI: 10.2147/pgpm.s283308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To explore the relationship between rs2297440 and rs2297441 polymorphisms of TNFRSF6B gene and susceptibility to gastric cancer. Methods A hospital-based case-control study was conducted. A total of 577 gastric cancer cases and 678 normal controls were recruited. Their genotypes were determined using the SnapShot method. Results The smoking rate in the case group (34.49%) was higher than that in the control group (27.29%). For TNFRSF6B rs2297440, among people <62 years old, the risk of gastric cancer in TC people was 1.84 times that in TT people. Among the non-drinking people, the risk of gastric cancer in the CC type was 0.66 times that in the TT+TC type. Among the drinking population, the risk of gastric cancer in the TC type was 1.67 times that in the TT type, and the risk in the TC+CC type was 1.70 times that in the TT type. As for TNFRSF6B rs2297441, in males and non-drinkers, the risk of gastric cancer in the AG type was less than that in the GG type. No matter how old the patient is, the risk of gastric cancer in the AA type was less than that in the AG+GG type. Conclusion A correlation exists between smoking and gastric cancer. For TNFRSF6B rs2297440, the TC genotype may be a risk factor for gastric cancer in people <62 years old. In the non-drinking population, the homozygous mutant of CC may be a protective factor for gastric cancer. In the drinking population, TC type may be a risk factor, whereas the TC+CC type dominated by C may be a protective factor. For TNFRSF6B rs2297441, the AG genotype may be a risk factor for gastric cancer in males and non-drinkers. The AA homozygous mutant may be a protective factor for gastric cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuyu Gu
- School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210009, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenwei Mao
- Cancer Institute, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, People's Republic of China
| | - Huiwen Pan
- Cancer Institute, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, People's Republic of China
| | - Chen Zou
- Cancer Institute, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, People's Republic of China
| | - Guowen Ding
- Cancer Institute, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Fan
- Cancer Institute, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, People's Republic of China
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15
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Qu J, Steppi A, Zhong D, Hao J, Wang J, Lung PY, Zhao T, He Z, Zhang J. Triage of documents containing protein interactions affected by mutations using an NLP based machine learning approach. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:773. [PMID: 33167858 PMCID: PMC7654050 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07185-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Information on protein-protein interactions affected by mutations is very useful for understanding the biological effect of mutations and for developing treatments targeting the interactions. In this study, we developed a natural language processing (NLP) based machine learning approach for extracting such information from literature. Our aim is to identify journal abstracts or paragraphs in full-text articles that contain at least one occurrence of a protein-protein interaction (PPI) affected by a mutation. RESULTS Our system makes use of latest NLP methods with a large number of engineered features including some based on pre-trained word embedding. Our final model achieved satisfactory performance in the Document Triage Task of the BioCreative VI Precision Medicine Track with highest recall and comparable F1-score. CONCLUSIONS The performance of our method indicates that it is ideally suited for being combined with manual annotations. Our machine learning framework and engineered features will also be very helpful for other researchers to further improve this and other related biological text mining tasks using either traditional machine learning or deep learning based methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinchan Qu
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Albert Steppi
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Dongrui Zhong
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Jie Hao
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Jian Wang
- CloudMedx, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA
| | - Pei-Yau Lung
- Verisk - Insurance Solutions, Middletown, CT, 06457, USA
| | - Tingting Zhao
- Department of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Zhe He
- College of Communication and Information, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Jinfeng Zhang
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA.
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16
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Lung PY, Zhong D, Pang X, Li Y, Zhang J. Maximizing the reusability of gene expression data by predicting missing metadata. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1007450. [PMID: 33156882 PMCID: PMC7673503 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Reusability is part of the FAIR data principle, which aims to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. One of the current efforts to increase the reusability of public genomics data has been to focus on the inclusion of quality metadata associated with the data. When necessary metadata are missing, most researchers will consider the data useless. In this study, we developed a framework to predict the missing metadata of gene expression datasets to maximize their reusability. We found that when using predicted data to conduct other analyses, it is not optimal to use all the predicted data. Instead, one should only use the subset of data, which can be predicted accurately. We proposed a new metric called Proportion of Cases Accurately Predicted (PCAP), which is optimized in our specifically-designed machine learning pipeline. The new approach performed better than pipelines using commonly used metrics such as F1-score in terms of maximizing the reusability of data with missing values. We also found that different variables might need to be predicted using different machine learning methods and/or different data processing protocols. Using differential gene expression analysis as an example, we showed that when missing variables are accurately predicted, the corresponding gene expression data can be reliably used in downstream analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Yau Lung
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, United States of America
| | - Dongrui Zhong
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, United States of America
| | - Xiaodong Pang
- Insilicom LLC, Tallahassee, United States of America
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Breast Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jinfeng Zhang
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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17
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Leung KL, Verma D, Azam YJ, Bakker E. The use of multi-omics data and approaches in breast cancer immunotherapy: a review. Future Oncol 2020; 16:2101-2119. [PMID: 32857605 DOI: 10.2217/fon-2020-0143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is projected to be the most common cancer in women in 2020 in the USA. Despite high remission rates treatment side effects remain an issue, hence the interest in novel approaches such as immunotherapies which aim to utilize patients' immune systems to target cancer cells. This review summarizes the basics of breast cancer including staging and treatment options, followed by a discussion on immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint blockade. After this, examples of the role of omics-type data and computational biology/bioinformatics in breast cancer are explored. Ultimately, there are several promising areas to investigate such as the prediction of neoantigens and the use of multi-omics data to direct research, with noted appropriate in clinical trial design in terms of end points.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Lun Leung
- School of Medicine, The University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
| | - Devika Verma
- School of Medicine, The University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
| | | | - Emyr Bakker
- School of Medicine, The University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
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18
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Kansara S, Pandey V, Lobie PE, Sethi G, Garg M, Pandey AK. Mechanistic Involvement of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Oncotherapeutics Resistance in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Cells 2020; 9:cells9061511. [PMID: 32575858 PMCID: PMC7349003 DOI: 10.3390/cells9061511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most lethal forms of breast cancer (BC), with a significant disease burden worldwide. Chemoresistance and lack of targeted therapeutics are major hindrances to effective treatments in the clinic and are crucial causes of a worse prognosis and high rate of relapse/recurrence in patients diagnosed with TNBC. In the last decade, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found to perform a pivotal role in most cellular functions. The aberrant functional expression of lncRNAs plays an ever-increasing role in the progression of diverse malignancies, including TNBC. Therefore, lncRNAs have been recently studied as predictors and modifiers of chemoresistance. Our review discusses the potential involvement of lncRNAs in drug-resistant mechanisms commonly found in TNBC and highlights various therapeutic strategies to target lncRNAs in this malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samarth Kansara
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Panchgaon, Manesar, Haryana 122413, India;
| | - Vijay Pandey
- Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518005, China; (V.P.); (P.E.L.)
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Peter E. Lobie
- Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518005, China; (V.P.); (P.E.L.)
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Gautam Sethi
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117600, Singapore
- Correspondence: (G.S.); (A.K.P.)
| | - Manoj Garg
- Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR), Amity University, Sector-125, Noida 201313, India;
| | - Amit Kumar Pandey
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Panchgaon, Manesar, Haryana 122413, India;
- Correspondence: (G.S.); (A.K.P.)
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19
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Bou-Dargham MJ, Sha L, Sang QXA, Zhang J. Immune landscape of human prostate cancer: immune evasion mechanisms and biomarkers for personalized immunotherapy. BMC Cancer 2020; 20:572. [PMID: 32552802 PMCID: PMC7302357 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-020-07058-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, the efficacy of these therapies for the treatment of human prostate cancer patients is low due to the complex immune evasion mechanisms (IEMs) of prostate cancer and the lack of predictive biomarkers for patient responses. METHODS To understand the IEMs in prostate cancer and apply such understanding to the design of personalized immunotherapies, we analyzed the RNA-seq data for prostate adenocarcinoma from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) using a combination of biclustering, differential expression analysis, immune cell typing, and machine learning methods. RESULTS The integrative analysis identified eight clusters with different IEM combinations and predictive biomarkers for each immune evasion cluster. Prostate tumors employ different combinations of IEMs. The majority of prostate cancer patients were identified with immunological ignorance (89.8%), upregulated cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) (58.8%), and upregulated decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) (51.6%). Among patients with immunologic ignorance, 41.4% displayed upregulated DcR3 expression, 43.26% had upregulated CTLA4, and 11.4% had a combination of all three mechanisms. Since upregulated programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and/or CTLA4 often co-occur with other IEMs, these results provide a plausible explanation for the failure of immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy for prostate cancer. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that human prostate cancer specimens are mostly immunologically cold tumors that do not respond well to mono-immunotherapy. With such identified biomarkers, more precise treatment strategies can be developed to improve therapeutic efficacy through a greater understanding of a patient's immune evasion mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayassa J Bou-Dargham
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
| | - Linlin Sha
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Qing-Xiang Amy Sang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. .,Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
| | - Jinfeng Zhang
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
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20
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Urbano AC, Nascimento C, Soares M, Correia J, Ferreira F. Clinical Relevance of the serum CTLA-4 in Cats with Mammary Carcinoma. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3822. [PMID: 32123292 PMCID: PMC7052166 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60860-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) serves an important role in breast cancer progression, which has led to the development of novel immunotherapies aimed at blocking tumor immune evasion. Although feline mammary carcinoma is increasingly recognized as a valuable cancer model, no studies on CTLA-4 function had been conducted in this species. The serum CTLA-4, TNF-α and IL-6 levels of 57 female cats with mammary carcinoma were determined by ELISA, and immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate CTLA-4 and FoxP3 expression in tumor cells and interstitial lymphocytes. The results obtained show that serum CTLA-4 levels are increased in cats with mammary carcinoma (P = 0.022), showing an association with a number of clinicopathological features: smaller tumor size, P < 0.001; absence of tumor necrosis, P < 0.001; non-basal status, P < 0.02 and HER-2-positive status. Additionally, a strong positive correlation was found between serum CTLA-4 levels and serum TNF-α (R = 0.88, P < 0.001) and IL-6 levels (R = 0.72, P < 0.001). Concerning the CTLA-4 and FoxP3 expression, although detected in both interstitial lymphocytes and tumor cells, a positive association was found only between interstitial CTLA-4 and FoxP3 expressions (R = 0.387, P = 0.01), which is negatively associated with the serum CTLA-4 levels (P = 0.03). These findings provide a preliminary step in the characterization of immune profiles in feline mammary carcinoma, uncovering a molecular rationale for targeted therapy with CTLA-4 pathway inhibitors. Finally, by strengthening the hypothesis of an immunomodulatory role for this regulator, we further validate the utility of spontaneous feline mammary carcinoma as a model for human breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Catarina Urbano
- CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Lisboa, 1300-477, Portugal
| | - Catarina Nascimento
- CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Lisboa, 1300-477, Portugal
| | - Maria Soares
- Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies (CBiOS), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT), Lisboa, 1749-024, Portugal
| | - Jorge Correia
- CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Lisboa, 1300-477, Portugal
| | - Fernando Ferreira
- CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Lisboa, 1300-477, Portugal.
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