Function of low ADARB1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma

Pyroptosis: A new insight of non-small-cell lung cancer treatment

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become one of the most common malignant tumors. Emerging evidence has shown that tumor resistance to apoptosis by damaging or bypassing apoptotic cell death is a major contributor to poor responses to therapy in patients with NSCLC. Pyroptosis is a new type of cytolytic and inflammatory programmed death distinct from apoptosis. Currently, pyroptosis has been reported to cause a strong inflammatory response and significant tumor suppression. It is considered a promising therapeutic strategy and prognosis for NSCLC. In this review, we summarized the characteristics of pyroptosis from its underlying basis and role in NSCLC, thereby providing the potential of pyroptosis as a therapeutic strategy and highlighting the challenges of activating pyroptosis in NSCLC treatment.

Public awareness and attitudes toward biobank and sample donation: A regional Chinese survey

Background

The biobank is an extraordinary aid to research and scientific progress. Public involvement in biobanks, necessary for their development, is limited due to inadequate knowledge of biobanking and concerns about sample donation. This study explores the effectiveness of different publicity methods in improving participants' willingness to donate, and assesses public motivations and concerns. It aims to identify an efficient method of improving participants' awareness of biobanking and promoting sample donation.

Methods

A structured 20-item questionnaire was formulated to evaluate participants' knowledge of and attitudes toward biobanks and sample donation. In total, 1,500 questionnaires were disseminated to three groups of 500 participants who received, respectively, picture-based promotional material, text-based promotional material, or who attended a biobank-related lecture. Of these, 945 completed questionnaires were received. All the participants completed the questionnaires twice, before and after the corresponding publicity education.

Results

After each of the three methods of publicity based on text, pictures and a lecture, respondents' willingness to donate samples was significantly increased (P < 0.001), the lecture being more effective than the other two methods (P = 0.001). Participants with a medical background were more willing to donate biospecimens after publicity than those without medical backgrounds (P < 0.005) but had common motivations for donation including altruism and aiding medical research. The main concern hindering respondents' willingness to donate was the security of personal information.

Conclusion

Different types of biobank-related publicity based on text material, pictorial material and a lecture all improved respondents' willingness to donate and reduced concerns regarding sample donation. Medical background was a critical factor affecting attitudes toward sample donation after publicity. The results of this study suggest strategies that may popularize biobanks and enhance sample donation, further promoting the development of biobanks.

Circ-GSK3B up-regulates GSK3B to suppress the progression of lung adenocarcinoma

GSK3B is the mRNA form of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β), which is a critical repressor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and generally inhibited in cancer cells. Plenty of researches have disclosed that circular RNAs, namely circRNAs exert important functions in the progression of various human malignancies including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Therefore, we attempted to explore whether there existed certain circRNAs that could mediate LUAD development by regulating GSK3B expression and Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In the present research, circ-GSK3B (hsa_circ_0066903) was found to be significantly down-regulated in LUAD tissues and cells and it suppressed the proliferation, migration and stemness of LUAD cells. Furthermore, it was discovered that circ-GSK3B competitively sponged miR-3681-3p and miR-3909 to elevate GSK3B expression. Circ-GSK3B could impair the binding ability of FKBP51 to GSK-3β to inhibit the phosphorylation of GSK-3β^S9, resulting in the inactivation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. In addition, the regulatory effect of circ-GSK3B on LUAD tumorigenesis and cell progression was testified through in vitro and in vivo rescue experiments. In conclusion, circ-GSK3B suppressed LUAD development through up-regulating and activating GSK3B.

Downregulated ADARB1 Facilitates Cell Proliferation, Invasion and has Effect on the Immune Regulation in Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer (OC) is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage and poses a significant challenge to treatment and recovery. Rencently, Adenosine deaminase RNA-specific B1 (ADARB1), an adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA-editing enzyme, has been found to play an essential role in the development of cancer. However, the specific function of ADARB1 in ovarian cancer is still not fully understood. Here, we investigated the effects of ADARB1 on OC biology. By conducting bioinformatics analyses of several public databases, we found significantly decreased ADARB1 expression in OC cells and tissues. Moreover, RT-PCR and western blot showed lower ADARB1 expression in OVCAR3, HO8910pm and A2780 OC cells compared to human normal ovarian epithelial cell IOSE. Cell proliferation assay and clone formation assay showed that overexpression of ADARB1 (ADARB1-OE) inhibited the proliferation of tumor cells. Wound healing and transwell assay indicated that ADARB1-OE could suppress OC cell invasion and metastasis. Kaplan-Meier methods revealed that the patients with low level of ADARB1 displayed poor prognosis. TISIDB databases were further used to analyze the roles of ADARB1 in tumor-immune system interactions in OC patients. Furthermore, ADARB1-OE down-regulated the expression of phosphorylated AKT. Combination of ADARB1-OE and AKT inhibitor MK2206 exerted stronger cell growth inhibition. Thus, our investigation demonstrated that low levels of ADARB1 might be a potential target in the tumorigenesis and prognostic evaluation of OC patients.

Diagnostic value of adenosine deaminase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for patients with lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is both the most common seen malignity and cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is a hydrolytic enzyme that catalyses the conversion of adenosine to inosine in the purine metabolism pathway. Studies examining ADA levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids of patients with lung malignancy are very limited in the literature. Our aim examine the clinical significance of ADA levels in BAL fluids of patients with lung malignancy.

METHODS

A total of 89 patients undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) with different indications from December 2017 to December 2018 were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups as malignancy and non-malignancy groups. Demographic, laboratory data and ADA levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were compared between the two groups. In addition, ADA levels in BAL were compared among the histopathological subtypes of patients in the malignant group.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 58.2 ± 14.5 years with 86% of male gender. ADA enzyme levels were statistically higher in the malignant patient group compared with the non-malignant group (37.2 [17.6-71] vs 17.1 [9-35.3], P < .001). When the patients in the malignant group were compared in terms of ADA levels according to their histopathological types, a statistically significant difference was obtained in small cell carcinoma patients (49 [12.5-75.3], P = .005).

CONCLUSION

ADA levels in BAL may be a diagnostic biomarker in lung malignancies. In patients where a biopsy cannot be taken or histopathological typing cannot be performed because of tissue insufficiency, ADA levels in BAL can be an auxiliary parameter in making malignancy / histopathological diagnosis accompanied by radiological and clinical findings.

Overexpressed PLAU and its potential prognostic value in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Background

Metastasis is a major event for survival and prognosis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). A primary cause of metastasis is the proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The plasminogen activator urokinase (PLAU) is involved in the transformation of plasminogen to plasmin leading to hydrolyzation of ECM-related proteins. However, the role of PLAU expression in HNSCC is unclear and the worth being investigated.

Methods

PLAU expression profiles and clinical parameters from multiple HNSCC datasets were used to investigate the relationship of PLAU expression and HNSCC survival. GO and PPI network were established on PLAU-related downstream molecular. The stroma score was deconvoluted for analysis of PLAU’s association with the immune environment. ROC analysis was applied to show the performance of PLAU in predicting HNSCC prognosis.

Results

PLAU mRNA was significantly elevated, as opposed to its methylation, in HNSCC tumor samples over normal specimens (all p < 0.01). Univariate and multivariate cox analysis showed PLAU could be an independent indicator for HNSCC prognosis. Combining with neck lymph node status, the AUC of PLAU in predicting 5-years overall survival reached to 0.862. GO enrichment analysis showed the major biological process (extracellular matrix organization and the P13K-Akt signaling pathway) may involve to the possible mechanism of PLAU’s function on HNSCC prognosis. Furthermore, PLAU expression was positively correlated with stroma cell score, M1 type macrophages, and negatively associated with CD4 + T cell, Tregs cell, and follicular helper T cell.

Conclusions

PLAU might be an independent biomarker for predicting outcomes of HNSCC patients. The elevated expression of PLAU was associated with HPV positivity and neck node status. The PI3K-Akt pathway and aberrant proportions of immune cells might underly the mechanism of PLAU’s oncogene role in HNSCC.

Nucleophosmin 1 overexpression correlates with 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters and improves diagnostic accuracy in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

PURPOSE

This study investigated the correlation of nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) expression with ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computerised tomography scan (PET/CT)-related parameters and compared the diagnostic value of NPM1 with that of the positive biomarker TTF1 in lung adenocarcinoma patients.

METHODS

Forty-six lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before pulmonary surgery were retrospectively analysed. Metabolic parameters including SUV_max, SUV_mean, metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were calculated from ¹⁸F-FDG PET imaging data. The expression levels of NPM1 and TTF1 were assessed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry of tumour tissues and adjacent normal lung tissues. We examined the association between the frequency of NPM1 and TTF1 expression and the metabolic parameters.

RESULTS

Lung adenocarcinoma samples expressed higher levels of NPM1 than adjacent normal lung epithelial tissues. NPM1 showed higher specificity and sensitivity for lung adenocarcinoma compared with TTF1 (p < 0.001). SUV_max, SUV_mean and TLG correlated with NPM1 expression (p < 0.001). MTV was inversely correlated with TTF1 (p < 0.01). SUV_max was the primary predictor of NPM1 expression by lung adenocarcinoma (p < 0.01). A cutoff value for the SUV_max of 3.93 allowed 90.9% sensitivity and 84.6% specificity for predicting NPM1 overexpression in lung adenocarcinoma.

CONCLUSION

NPM1 overexpression correlated with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters and improved diagnostic accuracy in lung adenocarcinoma. SUV_max on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT may estimate NPM1 expression for targeted therapy of lung adenocarcinoma.

Fibroblast Growth Factor-14 Acts as Tumor Suppressor in Lung Adenocarcinomas

Investigation of the molecular dynamics in lung cancer is crucial for the development of new treatment strategies. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 14 belongs to the FGF family, which might play a crucial role in cancer progression. We analyzed lung adenocarcinoma (LUAC) patients samples and found that FGF14 was downregulated, correlating with reduced survival and oncogenic mutation status. FGF14 overexpression in lung cancer cell lines resulted in decreased proliferation, colony formation, and migration, as well as increased expression of epithelial markers and a decreased expression of mesenchymal markers, indicating a mesenchymal to epithelial transition in vitro. We verified these findings using small interfering RNA against FGF14 and further confirmed the suppressive effect of FGF14 in a NOD.Cg-Prkdc^scid Il2rg^tm1Wjl/SzJ immunodeficient xenograft tumor model. Moreover, FGF14 overexpressing tumor cell RNA sequencing data suggests that genes affected by FGF14 were related to the extracellular matrix, playing a role in proliferation and migration. Notably, newly identified FGF14 target genes, adenosine deaminase RNA specific B1 (ADARB1), collagen and calcium-binding epidermal growth factor domain-containing protein 1 (CCBE1), α1 chain of collagen XI (COL11A1), and mucin 16 (MUC16) expression was negatively correlated with overall survival when FGF14 was downregulated in LUAC. These findings led us to suggest that FGF14 regulates proliferation and migration in LUAC.

Drug screening and identification of key candidate genes and pathways of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which normally manifests as a multi-joint inflammatory reaction, is a common immunological disease in clinical practice. However, the pathogenesis of RA has not yet been fully elucidated. Rituximab (RTX) is an effective drug in the treatment of RA, however its therapeutic efficacy and mechanism of action require further investigation. Thus, the present study aimed to screen the candidate key regulatory genes and explain the potential mechanisms of RA. Gene chips of RA and normal joint tissues were analyzed and, gene chips of RTX before and after treatment were investigated. In the present study, strong evidence supporting the pathogenesis of RA and mechanism of action of RTX were also revealed. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using the limma package of RStudio software. A total of 1,150 DEGs were detected in RA compared with normal joint tissues. The upregulated genes were enriched in ‘interleukin-12 production’, ‘I-κB kinase/NF-κB signaling’, ‘regulation of cytokine production involved in immune response’ and ‘cytokine metabolic process’. Functional enrichment analysis showed that RTX was primarily involved in the inhibition of ‘adaptive immune response’, ‘B cell activation involved in immune response’ and ‘immune effector process’. Subsequently, leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor subfamily B member 1 (LILRB1), a hub gene with high connectivity degree, was selected, and traditional Chinese medicine libraries were molecularly screened according to the structure of the LILRB1 protein. The results indicated that kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucoside exhibited the highest docking score. In the present study, the DEGs and their biological functions in RA and the pharmacological mechanism of RTX action were determined. Taken together, the results suggested that LILRB1 may be used as a molecular target for RA treatment, and kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucoside may inhibit the pathological process of RA.

Novel insight into the regulatory roles of diverse RNA modifications: Re-defining the bridge between transcription and translation

RNA modifications can be added or removed by a variety of enzymes that catalyse the necessary reactions, and these modifications play roles in essential molecular mechanisms. The prevalent modifications on mRNA include N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A), N1-methyladenosine (m¹A), 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C), 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hm⁵C), pseudouridine (Ψ), inosine (I), uridine (U) and ribosemethylation (2’-O-Me). Most of these modifications contribute to pre-mRNA splicing, nuclear export, transcript stability and translation initiation in eukaryotic cells. By participating in various physiological processes, RNA modifications also have regulatory roles in the pathogenesis of tumour and non-tumour diseases. We discussed the physiological roles of RNA modifications and associated these roles with disease pathogenesis. Functioning as the bridge between transcription and translation, RNA modifications are vital for the progression of numerous diseases and can even regulate the fate of cancer cells.

Role of downregulated ADARB1 in lung squamous cell carcinoma

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is prevalent worldwide. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is one of the main subtypes of NSCLC yet, currently, few biomarkers are available for the diagnosis of LUSC. The present study aimed to investigate the expression and role of adenosine deaminase RNA specific B1 (ADARB1) in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Integrative bioinformatics analysis was used to identify the effects of ADARB1 expression on the occurrence and prognosis of LUSC. The expression of ADARB1 was further examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Bioinformatics analysis suggested that ADARB1 was downregulated in LUSC, serving as a potential tumor suppressor, and these results were verified by IHC performed on a lung cancer tissue array. Clinical studies suggested that ADARB1 expression and methylation levels were significantly associated with patient characteristics in LUSC. Moreover, ADARB1 global methylation levels were upregulated in LUSC tissues compared with normal lung tissues. Higher methylation levels of cg24063645 were associated with shorter overall survival time of patients with LUSC. A negative correlation was identified between ADARB1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in LUSC. Using the Gene Expression Omnibus database, it was suggested that the expression of ADARB1 in LUSC was significantly different compared with that in lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, protein-protein interactions were studied and a biological process annotation analysis was conducted. The present study suggested that ADARB1 was downregulated in LUSC; therefore, ADARB1 may serve as a specific biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for LUSC.

Overexpression of GSDMC is a prognostic factor for predicting a poor outcome in lung adenocarcinoma

The gasdermin (GSDM) superfamily has been demonstrated to consist of several important molecules that modulate multifunctional signal processes, such as cell pyroptosis. In this research, the roles of the GSDM superfamily on the occurrence and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) were evaluated using integrative bioinformatic analyses and in vitro methods. Here, data from several bioinformatic platforms revealed that GSDMC is significantly upregulated in LUAD tissues and cell lines. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) demonstrated that GSDMC was obviously upregulated in radio-resistant LUAD cells, compared with their parental cells. Moreover, upregulated GSDMC expression was confirmed to be an independent indicator of poor first progression (FP) and overall survival (OS) in LUAD patients. DNA methylation analysis showed an evidently negative correlation between GSDMC expression and methylation status of one CpG site (cg05316065) in its DNA sequence. Patients with high methylation values had significantly higher Karnofsky performance scores (KPSs) and prolonged OS rates. Together, we confirmed that overexpression of GSDMC acts as a promising predictive factor for the poor prognosis of LUAD patients.