Overexpression of p-4EBP1 associates with p-eIF4E and predicts poor prognosis for non-small cell lung cancer patients with resection

Global transcriptomic network analysis of the crosstalk between microbiota and cancer-related cells in the oral-gut-lung axis

Background

The diagnosis and treatment of lung, colon, and gastric cancer through the histologic characteristics and genomic biomarkers have not had a strong impact on the mortality rates of the top three global causes of death by cancer.

Methods

Twenty-five transcriptomic analyses (10 lung cancer, 10 gastric cancer, and 5 colon cancer datasets) followed our own bioinformatic pipeline based on the utilization of specialized libraries from the R language and DAVID´s gene enrichment analyses to identify a regulatory metafirm network of transcription factors and target genes common in every type of cancer, with experimental evidence that supports its relationship with the unlocking of cell phenotypic plasticity for the acquisition of the hallmarks of cancer during the tumoral process. The network's regulatory functional and signaling pathways might depend on the constant crosstalk with the microbiome network established in the oral-gut-lung axis.

Results

The global transcriptomic network analysis highlighted the impact of transcription factors (SOX4, TCF3, TEAD4, ETV4, and FOXM1) that might be related to stem cell programming and cancer progression through the regulation of the expression of genes, such as cancer-cell membrane receptors, that interact with several microorganisms, including human T-cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1), the human papilloma virus (HPV), the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and SARS-CoV-2. These interactions can trigger the MAPK, non-canonical WNT, and IFN signaling pathways, which regulate key transcription factor overexpression during the establishment and progression of lung, colon, and gastric cancer, respectively, along with the formation of the microbiome network.

Conclusion

The global transcriptomic network analysis highlights the important interaction between key transcription factors in lung, colon, and gastric cancer, which regulates the expression of cancer-cell membrane receptors for the interaction with the microbiome network during the tumorigenic process.

Targeted Degradation of CDK9 Potently Disrupts the MYC Transcriptional Network

Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) coordinates signaling events that regulate RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pause-release states. It is an important co-factor for transcription factors, such as MYC, that drive aberrant cell proliferation when their expression is deregulated. CDK9 modulation offers an approach for attenuating dysregulation in such transcriptional programs. As a result, numerous drug development campaigns to inhibit CDK9 kinase activity have been pursued. More recently, targeted degradation has emerged as an attractive approach. However, comprehensive evaluation of degradation versus inhibition is still critically needed to assess the biological contexts in which degradation might offer superior therapeutic benefits. We validated that CDK9 inhibition triggers a compensatory mechanism that dampens its effect on MYC expression and found that this feedback mechanism was absent when the kinase is degraded. Importantly, CDK9 degradation is more effective than its inhibition for disrupting MYC transcriptional regulatory circuitry likely through the abrogation of both enzymatic and scaffolding functions of CDK9.

Highlights

- KI-CDK9d-32 is a highly potent and selective CDK9 degrader. - KI-CDK9d-32 leads to rapid downregulation of MYC protein and mRNA transcripts levels. - KI-CDK9d-32 represses canonical MYC pathways and leads to a destabilization of nucleolar homeostasis. - Multidrug resistance ABCB1 gene emerged as the strongest resistance marker for the CDK9 PROTAC degrader.

High EIF4EBP1 expression reflects mTOR pathway activity and cancer cell proliferation and is a biomarker for poor breast cancer prognosis

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (EIF4EBP1) is regulated by the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) signaling pathway. Phosphorylated EIF4EBP1 protein leads to pathway activation and correlates with aggressive breast cancer features. However, the clinical relevance of EIF4EBP1 gene expression as a prognostic biomarker in bulk breast tumors is not understood. In this study, EIF4EBP1 expression was analyzed in over 5000 breast cancers from three large independent cohorts, TCGA, METABRIC, and SCAN-B (GSE96058), and expression was dichotomized into low and high groups by the median. We also performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and cell cybersorting via the xCell algorithm to investigate EIF4EBP1 biology and expression patterns within the tumor microenvironment (TME). We additionally confirmed EIF4EBP1 expression location in the TME via single cell RNA sequencing. EIF4EBP1 expression was highest in both triple negative and high-grade tumors (both P<0.001), and tumor mutational burden scores were highest in the high EIF4EBP1-expression groups (all P<0.001). High EIF4EBP1 expression significantly correlated to worse overall survival in all three cohorts (hazard ratios (HR) 1.4-1.9), and worse distant relapse-free survival in patients treated with neoadjuvant taxane-anthracycline chemotherapy (HR 2.4). GSEA demonstrated enriched mTOR and cell proliferation-related gene sets, including, MYC, G2M checkpoint, and E2F targets across all three bulk tumor and single cell RNA sequencing cohorts. Phenotypically, these pathways were reflected by increased Ki67 gene expression and signaling via pharmacologically-activated mTOR gene sets in EIF4EBP1 high-expressing tumors (all P<0.001). EIF4EBP1 expression was increased in whole breast tumors compared to normal breast tissue (P<0.001), and was expressed predominantly in cancer epithelial cells, particularly in basal epithelial cell subclasses. EIF4EBP1 expression did not correlate to a consistent immune system phenotype across all three cohorts. Overall, these findings support that high EIF4EBP1 gene expression in bulk breast tumors could represent a poor prognostic marker via mTOR signaling pathways activation and upregulation of cell cycling, ultimately leading to increased tumorigenesis.

Newly Synthesized Anticancer Purine Derivatives Inhibiting p-EIF4E Using Surface-Modified Lipid Nanovesicles

Translation of mRNA is one of the processes adopted by cancer cells to maintain survival via phosphorylated (p)-eIF4E overexpression. Once p-eIF4E binds to the cap structure of mRNA, it advocates a nonstop translation process. In this regard, 15 new-based GMP analogs were synthesized to target eIF4E and restrain its binding to cap mRNA. The compounds were tested against three types of cancer cell lines: Caco-2, HepG-2, MCF-7, and normal kidney cells (Vero cells). Most of the compounds showed high potency against breast cancer cells (MCF-7), characterized by the highest cancer type for overexpression of p-eIF4E. Compound 4b was found to be the most active against three cell lines, colon (Caco-2), hepatic (HepG-2), and breast (MCF-7), with positive IC50 values of 31.40, 27.15, and 21.71 μM, respectively. Then, chitosan-coated niosomes loaded with compound 4b (Cs/4b-NSs) were developed (as kinetically enhanced molecules) to improve the anticancer effects further. The prepared Cs/4b-NSs showed pronounced cytotoxicity compared to the free 4b against Caco2, Hepg2, and MCF-7 with IC50 values of 16.15, 26.66, and 6.90 μM, respectively. Then, the expression of both the phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated western blot techniques was conducted on MCF-7 cells treated with the most active compounds (based on the obtained IC50 values) to determine the total protein expression of both eIF4E and p-eIF4e. Interestingly, the selected most active compounds displayed 35.8-40.7% inhibition of p-eIF4E expression when evaluated on MCF-7 compared to Ribavirin (positive control). CS/4b-NSs showed the best inhibition (40.7%). The findings of the present joint in silico molecular docking, simulation dynamic studies, and experimental investigation suggest the potential use of niosomal nanovesicles as a promising nanocarrier for the targeted delivery of the newly synthesized compound 4b to eukaryotic initiation factor 4E. These outcomes support the possible use of Cs/4b-NSs in targeted cancer therapy.

A Systematic Role of Metabolomics, Metabolic Pathways, and Chemical Metabolism in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer (LC) is considered as one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortalities. Cancer cells' reprogrammed metabolism results in changes in metabolite concentrations, which can be utilized to identify a distinct metabolic pattern or fingerprint for cancer detection or diagnosis. By detecting different metabolic variations in the expression levels of LC patients, this will help and enhance early diagnosis methods as well as new treatment strategies. The majority of patients are identified at advanced stages after undergoing a number of surgical procedures or diagnostic testing, including the invasive procedures. This could be overcome by understanding the mechanism and function of differently regulated metabolites. Significant variations in the metabolites present in the different samples can be analyzed and used as early biomarkers. They could also be used to analyze the specific progression and type as well as stages of cancer type making it easier for the treatment process. The main aim of this review article is to focus on rewired metabolic pathways and the associated metabolite alterations that can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic targets in lung cancer diagnosis as well as treatment strategies.