Correlation of matrix metalloproteinase-2, -9, tissue inhibitor-1 of matrix metalloproteinase and CD44 variant 6 in head and neck cancer metastasis

CD44v6, STn & O-GD2: promising tumor associated antigens paving the way for new targeted cancer therapies

Targeted therapies are the state of the art in oncology today, and every year new Tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) are developed for preclinical research and clinical trials, but few of them really change the therapeutic scenario. Difficulties, either to find antigens that are solely expressed in tumors or the generation of good binders to these antigens, represent a major bottleneck. Specialized cellular mechanisms, such as differential splicing and glycosylation processes, are a good source of neo-antigen expression. Changes in these processes generate surface proteins that, instead of showing decreased or increased antigen expression driven by enhanced mRNA processing, are aberrant in nature and therefore more specific targets to elicit a precise anti-tumor therapy. Here, we present promising TAAs demonstrated to be potential targets for cancer monitoring, targeted therapy and the generation of new immunotherapy tools, such as recombinant antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell (CAR-T) or Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Engineered Natural Killer (CAR-NK) for specific tumor killing, in a wide variety of tumor types. Specifically, this review is a detailed update on TAAs CD44v6, STn and O-GD2, describing their origin as well as their current and potential use as disease biomarker and therapeutic target in a diversity of tumor types.

Recapitulating thyroid cancer histotypes through engineering embryonic stem cells

Thyroid carcinoma (TC) is the most common malignancy of endocrine organs. The cell subpopulation in the lineage hierarchy that serves as cell of origin for the different TC histotypes is unknown. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) with appropriate in vitro stimulation undergo sequential differentiation into thyroid progenitor cells (TPCs-day 22), which maturate into thyrocytes (day 30). Here, we create follicular cell-derived TCs of all the different histotypes based on specific genomic alterations delivered by CRISPR-Cas9 in hESC-derived TPCs. Specifically, TPCs harboring BRAF^V600E or NRAS^Q61R mutations generate papillary or follicular TC, respectively, whereas addition of TP53^R248Q generate undifferentiated TCs. Of note, TCs arise by engineering TPCs, whereas mature thyrocytes have a very limited tumorigenic capacity. The same mutations result in teratocarcinomas when delivered in early differentiating hESCs. Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1)/Matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9)/Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) ternary complex, in cooperation with Kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R), is involved in TC initiation and progression. Increasing radioiodine uptake, KISS1R and TIMP1 targeting may represent a therapeutic adjuvant option for undifferentiated TCs.

Prognostic role of CD44 expression in osteosarcoma: evidence from six studies

Background

Numerous studies examining the relationship between CD44 expression and prognostic impact in patients with osteosarcoma have yielded inconclusive results. The aim of this meta-analysis was carried out to investigate the relationship between CD44 expression and the survival in patients with osteosarcoma.

Methods

We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the prognostic role of CD44 expression on the overall survival rate and metastasis, which compared the positive and negative expression of CD44 in patients of the available studies.

Results

A detailed search was made in MEDLINE and EMBASE for relevant original articles published in English. Finally, a total of six studies with 329 osteosarcoma patients were involved to estimate the relationship between CD44 expression and metastasis of tumor and overall survival. Positive expressions of CD44 did not predict neoplasm metastasis (RR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.00–1.84, P = 0.50), and the results indicated that higher expression of CD44 could not predict poorer survival in osteosarcoma with the pooled HR of 0.55 (95% CI: 0.27–1.13, P = 0.47).

Conclusions

The findings from this present meta-analysis suggest that CD44 expression is not associated with overall survival rate and metastasis in osteosarcoma.

Virtual Slides

The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1373995521295618

Significance of CD44 expression in head and neck cancer: a systemic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

CD44 has been reported to be involved with tumor growth and metastasis and has also been implicated as a CSC marker in head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). However, the prognostic value of CD44 still remains controversial; hence, we investigated the correlation between CD44 and the clinicopathological features of HNSCC by meta-analysis.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was performed using PubMed, ISI web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) up to April 2013. Only studies with immunohistochemical staining of HNSCC were considered. Data on TNM classification, tumor grade, disease free survival and 3- or 5-year overall survival rate were extracted.

RESULTS

Thirty studies with 2102 patients met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Fifteen studies used anti-pan-CD44 antibody, 9 used anti-CD44-v6 antibody, 2 used anti-CD44-v3 and 2 used anti-CD44s antibody, 1 used anti-CD44-v9, and 1 used anti-CD44-v6,-v3 and -v4-5 simultaneously. The total percentage of CD44 expression was 57.8%, with 49.3% in oral cancer patients, 66.4% in pharynx and 54.7% in larynx cancer patients expressing CD44. No significant correlation between clinical features and CD44 expression was revealed for oral cancer patients, but CD44 was shown to be associated with advanced T categories (larynx: RR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.01-1.76; larynx & pharynx RR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.08-1.35), worse N categories (larynx: RR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.99-3.21; larynx & pharynx RR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.35-2.82), higher tumor grades (larynx & pharynx RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.04-2.79) and 5-year OS rates (larynx: RR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.47-0.83; larynx & pharynx RR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.47-0.94) in patients with laryngeal and pharyngolaryngeal cancer. In stratified analysis, pan-CD44 and CD44-v6 expression were both correlated with 5-year OS rate of patients with laryngeal (CD44: RR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.46-0.95; CD44-v6 RR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.37-0.77) and pharyngolaryngeal cancer (CD44: RR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.34-0.93; CD44-v6 RR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.37-0.77).

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis suggested that CD44 is related to worse T category, N category, tumor grade and prognosis, in pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, but no clear association was revealed between CD44 expression and oral cancer.

Tumor suppressor activity of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha is epigenetically down-regulated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Tumor suppressor CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) is a transcription factor involved in cell cycle control and cellular differentiation. In a recent study, microarray expression profiling on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) samples identified significant C/EBPalpha down-regulation, correlating with poor prognosis. However, the mechanisms of C/EBPalpha down-regulation remained elusive. C/EBPalpha has been previously found to provide an antiproliferative role in lung cancer, and our laboratory showed that its down-regulation involves epigenetic mechanisms. This prompted us to investigate the involvement of epigenetics in down-regulating C/EBPalpha in HNSCC. Here, we show that C/EBPalpha is down-regulated in HNSCC by loss of heterozygosity and DNA methylation, but not by gene mutation. We found a consistently methylated upstream regulatory region (-1,399 bp to -1,253 bp in relation to the transcription start site) in 68% of the HNSCC tumor samples, and DNA demethylation using 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment was able to significantly restore C/EBPalpha mRNA expression in the HNSCC cell lines we tested. In addition, C/EBPalpha overexpression in a HNSCC cell line (SCC22B) revealed its ability to provide tumor suppressor activity in HNSCC in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, we showed for the first time not only that C/EBPalpha has tumor suppressor activity in HNSCC, but also that it is down-regulated by DNA promoter methylation.

Alpha-V-dependent outside-in signaling is required for the regulation of CD44 surface expression, MMP-2 secretion, and cell migration by osteopontin in human melanoma cells

The level of integrin alpha(v)beta3 and its ligand osteopontin (OPN) has been directly correlated to tumorigenicity of melanoma and other cancer cells. We have previously shown an increase in pp(60c-Src) kinase activity associated with integrin alpha(v)beta3 in melanoma cells (M21) treated with soluble OPN. pp(60c-Src) kinase activity was not observed in melanoma cells expressing alpha(v) that lacks the cytoplasmic domain (alpha(v)995). Results of the current study demonstrate that the amino acid sequence '995RPPQEEQERE1004' in the beta-turn of alpha(v) chain is required for the interaction of pp(60c-Src). Our results suggest that the beta-turn of alpha(v) chain may be indispensable for alpha(v)-associated signaling complex formation and outside-in signaling. To further analyze the alpha(v)beta3 signaling in melanoma cells, we over expressed OPN in M21 cells (M21/OPN). CD44 surface expression and MMP-2 activity in the conditioned medium were increased to a greater extent in M21/OPN cells as compared with M21 or alpha(v)995 cells. Also, M21/OPN cells exhibit increased motility, which is markedly reduced upon treatment with inhibitors to alpha(v) and MMP-2. Our findings suggest that the increase in MMP-2 activity is integrin-dependent as MMP-2 activity is reduced in cells treated with an inhibitor to alpha(v) or in alpha(v)995 cells expressing mutant alpha(v).

Expression of CD44v6 and vascular endothelial growth factor in hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization

AIM: To investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD44v6 in the recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

METHODS: The expression of CD44v6 and VEGF in 29 HCC samples obtained from the patients underwent secondary hepatectomy after TACE was examined by immunohistochemical staining and morphometric analysis. HCC samples (n = 30) obtained from the patients without TACE were used as the control group.

RESULTS: The value of VEGF absorbance in the TACE group was 0.149 ± 0.021, significantly higher than that in the controls (0.134 ± 0.018, P < 0.05). The positive rate of CD44v6 expression was 82.8% and 66.7% in the TACE group and control group, respectively, without significant difference between them (P > 0.05). The numbers of CD44v6 positive cells were also not markedly different between the two groups (112.4 ± 22.3 vs 102.4 ± 21.2, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: VEGF may take part in the recurrence and metastasis of HCC after TACE, while CD44v6 may not.

Expression of c-erbB receptors, MMPs and VEGF in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are characterized by a marked propensity for local invasion and cervical lymph node metastasis. The aim of this article was to review the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), c-erbB-2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metal loproteinases (MMPs) in HNSCC patients and to study their possible correlation to various clinicopathologic parameters. Based on this review, the expression of EGFR, c-erbB-2, VEGF, or MMPs play important roles for tumor growth, invasion and metastasis in HNSCC. c-erbB receptors, MMPs and VEGF might aid the clinician in the selection of an appropriate therapy for individual patients and help to predict the prognosis of patients.