Association of NF-κB polymorphisms with clinical outcome of non-medullary thyroid carcinoma

Inflammation context in Alzheimer's disease, a relationship intricate to define

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau protein aggregates. Importantly, Aβ and tau species are able to activate astrocytes and microglia, which release several proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), together with reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS), triggering neuroinflammation. However, this inflammatory response has a dual function: it can play a protective role by increasing Aβ degradation and clearance, but it can also contribute to Aβ and tau overproduction and induce neurodegeneration and synaptic loss. Due to the significant role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of AD, several inflammatory mediators have been proposed as AD markers, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, Iba-1, GFAP, NF-κB, TLR2, and MHCII. Importantly, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as NSAIDs has emerged as a potential treatment against AD. Moreover, diseases related to systemic or local inflammation, including infections, cerebrovascular accidents, and obesity, have been proposed as risk factors for the development of AD. In the following review, we focus on key inflammatory processes associated with AD pathogenesis.

Genetic markers associated with resistance to radioiodine therapy in thyroid cancer patients: Prospective cohort study

Background. The indication for radiotherapy in oncological practice are metastases of differentiated thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy, the presence of distant metastases, or stage N1b, or negative dynamics of blood thyroglobulin levels after thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer. The mechanism of action of radiotherapy is based on provoking double-stranded DNA breaks. It is important to study the role of polymorphisms of NFKB1, ATM, ATG16L2 and ATG10 genes, products of which are involved in the processes of DNA damage response pathway and autophagy, in the formation of resistance to radioiodine therapy of thyroid cancer patients. Aim. To examine the association between NFKB1, ATM, ATG16L2 and ATG10 polymorphisms and resistance to radioiodine therapy in thyroid cancer patients. Materials and methods. The study included 181 patients (37 men, 144 women; mean age 53.515.7 years) with histologically confirmed thyroid cancer and a history of thyroidectomy who received radioiodine therapy. Carriage of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs230493) NFKB1, (rs11212570) ATM, (rs10898880) ATG16L2 and (rs10514231, rs1864183, rs4703533) ATG10 was determined by real-time PCR using TaqMan kits. Results. Among 181 patients, resistance to radioiodine therapy was observed in 11 (6.1%) cases. No significant associations between the individual polymorphisms and resistance to radioiodine therapy were obtained, p0.05. Haplotype analysis showed that carriage of the C-C ATG10 rs10514231-rs1864183 haplotype was associated with an increased risk of developing resistance to radioiodine therapy, p=0.04. Conclusion. Further studies on large samples of radioiodine therapy-resistant patients using whole-genome sequencing methods are required to specify the role of genetic factors in the response to 131I therapy.

NF-κB1 intronic region polymorphisms as risk factor for head and neck cancer in HPV-infected population from Pakistan

BACKGROUND

Head and neck cancer (HNC) developed due to the number of risk factors, including infection of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The genetic predisposition also plays an important role in deregulating the NF-κB pathway, and certain polymorphisms are reported to affect the pathway genes.

OBJECTIVES

The present study was conducted for the detection of HPV and polymorphisms in the NF-κB1 gene of HNC patients in the Pakistani population.

METHODS

Genomic DNA from HNC tumors samples were extracted using the Exgene SV DNA extraction Kit. Allele-specific PCR and direct sequencing were done for analysis of NF-κB1 SNPs, 94ins/del (rs28362491), rs1598858, and rs4648068.

RESULTS

The genotypes AG (36.2%/ 12%) of rs1598858, and AG (28.3%/ 12%) and GG (28.3%/ 22%) of rs4648068 were associated with significantly (p≤0.05) increased risk of head and neck cancer in studied population. Furthermore, among the HNC cases, genotypes AGrs1598858 (p≤0.014) and GGrs4648068 (p≤0.001) had increased risk of HPV related cancers. Tobacco use (OR-3.158442; [1.140, 8.754]), lymph nodes involvement (OR 4.05128; [1.854, 8.852]), and poorly differentiated tumors (OR 1.997155; [0.940, 4.245]) were positively associated with HPV induced cancers.

CONCLUSION

It was the first comprehensive study from Pakistan, to evaluate the polymorphic variants of NF-κB1. Genotypes AGrs4648068, GGrs4648068, and AGrs1598858 of NF-κB1 gene are associated with increased risk of head and neck cancers in the Pakistani population. It can be concluded that HPV infection, lymph nodes and tobacco use can act synergetic to each other and add up in modulating HNC when present together with intronic SNPs of NF-κB1 gene.

The Transcription Factor NF-κB Mediates Thyrotropin-Stimulated Expression of Thyroid Differentiation Markers

Background: The nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) transcription factor is a key regulator of cell survival, proliferation, and gene expression. Although activation of NF-κB signaling in thyroid follicular cells after thyrotropin (TSH) receptor (TSHR) engagement has been reported, the downstream signaling leading to NF-κB activation remains unexplored. Here, we sought to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate NF-κB signaling activation in response to TSH stimulation. Methods: Fisher rat-derived thyroid cell lines and primary cultures of NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO)-deficient mice thyrocytes were used as models. Signaling pathways leading to the activation of NF-κB were investigated by using chemical inhibitors and phospho-specific antibodies. Luciferase reporter gene assays and site-directed mutagenesis were used to monitor NF-κB-dependent gene transcriptional activity and the expression of thyroid differentiation markers was assessed by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was carried out to investigate NF-κB subunit p65 DNA binding, and small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated gene knockdown approaches were used for studying gene function. Results: Using thyroid cell lines, we observed that TSH treatment leads to protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated canonical NF-κB p65 subunit nuclear expression. Moreover, TSH stimulation phosphorylated the kinase TAK-1, and its knockdown abolished TSH-induced NF-κB transcriptional activity. TSH induced the transcriptional activity of the NF-κB subunit p65 in a protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation at Ser-276. In addition, p65 phosphorylation at Ser-276 induced acetyl transferase p300 recruitment, leading to its acetylation on Lys-310 and thereby enhancing its transcriptional activity. Evaluation of the role played by NF-κB in thyroid physiology demonstrated that the canonical NF-κB inhibitor BAY 11-7082 reduced TSH-induced expression of thyroid differentiation markers. The involvement of NF-κB signaling in thyroid physiology was confirmed by assessing the TSH-induced gene expression in primary cultures of NEMO-deficient mice thyrocytes. ChIP and the knockdown experiments revealed that p65 is a nuclear effector of TSH actions, inducing the transcripcional expression of thyroid differentiation markers. Conclusions: Taken together, our results point to NF-κB being a pivotal mediator in the TSH-induced thyroid follicular cell differentiation, a relevant finding with potential physiological and pathophysiological implications.

RORγt may Influence the Microenvironment of Thyroid Cancer Predicting Favorable Prognosis

We aimed to investigate the role of RORγt (Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma) in the tumor microenvironment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma. We retrospectively analyzed 56 patients (48 papillary and 8 follicular thyroid carcinomas). Immunohistochemical expression of RORγt was compared to other immune markers previously investigated by our group, clinical and pathological information. All patients presented cytoplasmic expression of RORγt in thyroid tumor cells. Seven (12.5%) patients presented no nuclear expression of RORγt. Positivity was few (up to 10%) in 14 patients; 10 to 50% in 5 patients (8.9%); and more than 50% in 30 patients (53.6%). Nuclear RORγt positivity was associated with absence of distant metastasis at diagnosis (p = 0.013) and the need of less cumulative doses of radioactive iodine (p = 0.039). Patients whose tumors were positive for nuclear RORγt presented higher 10-years relapse-free survival rate than those patients who were negative for RORγt (p = 0.023). We classified the patients according to the clustering of immunological immunohistochemical markers. We were able to distinguish a subset (A) of 38 patients who presented high expression of nuclear RORγt and tended to be scarce in proinflammatory immune markers. Other 16 patients integrated a second subset (B) whose tumor microenvironment accumulated proinflammatory markers and presented low expression of nuclear nuclear RORγt. Distant metastasis at diagnosis were more frequent among patients from cluster B than from cluster A (p = 0.008). Our results reinforce that the expression of RORγt together with other immune markers might help predict the prognosis of patients with thyroid cancer and help individualize clinical management.

Genetic polymorphism contributes to 131I radiotherapy-induced toxicities in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer

AIM

To investigate the association between SNPs in DNA damage response pathways and toxicities following ¹³¹I radiotherapy of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Materials & methods: We identified 22 functional SNPs of genes in DNA damage response pathways. MassArray was used to sequence SNP genotypes in 203 DTC patients. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the associations between the two alleles of each SNP and toxicity reactions were evaluated using χ² analysis.

RESULTS

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) rs620815 T-allele carriers were at increased risk of ¹³¹I radiation-induced gastrointestinal reaction compared with C allele carriers. TNFα rs1800629 GA genotype may increase the incidence of neck pain compared with GG genotype. Furthermore, TNFα rs1800629, ATM rs11212570, NF-κβ rs230493, and TGF-β rs1800469, rs2241716 were associated with throat pain following ¹³¹I radiotherapy.

CONCLUSION

The identified SNPs might serve as novel biomarkers for DTC treated with ¹³¹I radiotherapy.

Pathological processes and therapeutic advances in radioiodide refractory thyroid cancer

While in most patients with non-medullary thyroid cancer (TC), disease remission is achieved by thyroidectomy and ablation of tumor remnants by radioactive iodide (RAI), a substantial subgroup of patients with metastatic disease present tumor lesions that have acquired RAI resistance as a result of dedifferentiation. Although oncogenic mutations in BRAF, TERT promoter and TP53 are associated with an increased propensity for induction of dedifferentiation, the role of genetic and epigenetic aberrations and their effects on important intracellular signaling pathways is not yet fully elucidated. Also immune, metabolic, stemness and microRNA pathways have emerged as important determinants of TC dedifferentiation and RAI resistance. These signaling pathways have major clinical implications since their targeting could inhibit TC progression and could enable redifferentiation to restore RAI sensitivity. In this review, we discuss the current insights into the pathological processes conferring dedifferentiation and RAI resistance in TC and elaborate on novel advances in diagnostics and therapy to improve the clinical outcome of RAI-refractory TC patients.