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Wu M, Xia X, Hu J, Fowlkes NW, Li S. WSX1 act as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by downregulating neoplastic PD-L1 expression. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3500. [PMID: 34108491 PMCID: PMC8190270 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23864-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
WSX1, a receptor subunit for IL-27, is widely expressed in immune cells and closely involved in immune response, but its function in nonimmune cells remains unknown. Here we report that WSX1 is highly expressed in human hepatocytes but downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Using NRAS/AKT-derived spontaneous HCC mouse models, we reveal an IL-27–independent tumor-suppressive effect of WSX1 that largely relies on CD8+ T-cell immune surveillance via reducing neoplastic PD-L1 expression and the associated CD8+ T-cell exhaustion. Mechanistically, WSX1 transcriptionally downregulates an isoform of PI3K—PI3Kδ and thereby inactivates AKT, reducing AKT-induced GSK3β inhibition. Activated GSK3β then boosts PD-L1 degradation, resulting in PD-L1 reduction. Overall, we demonstrate that WSX1 is a tumor suppressor that reinforces hepatic immune surveillance by blocking the PI3Kδ/AKT/GSK3β/PD-L1 pathway. Our results may yield insights into the host homeostatic control of immune response and benefit the development of cancer immunotherapies. The biological functions of WSX1, the alpha subunit of the interleukin-27 receptor, in non-immune cells are largely unknown. Here, the authors propose an IL-27-independent tumor suppressor role for WSX1 in hepatocytes, showing that WSX1 restricts tumor progression by down-regulating PD-L1 expression in tumour cells and maximizing T cell mediated antitumor immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Wu
- Liver Cancer Institute & Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, PR China.,Department of Pediatrics-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Xueqing Xia
- Department of Pediatrics-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Jiemiao Hu
- Department of Pediatrics-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Natalie Wall Fowlkes
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Shulin Li
- Department of Pediatrics-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
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Li AL, Zhu YM, Gao LQ, Wei SY, Wang MT, Ma Q, Zheng YY, Li JH, Wang QF. Exploration of the Immune-Related Signatures and Immune Infiltration Analysis in Melanoma. Anal Cell Pathol (Amst) 2021; 2021:4743971. [PMID: 33511023 PMCID: PMC7826228 DOI: 10.1155/2021/4743971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study, we aimed to investigate immune-related signatures and immune infiltration in melanoma. The transcriptome profiling and clinical data of melanoma were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, and their matched normal samples were obtained from the Genotype-Tissue Expression database. After merging the genome expression data using Perl, the limma package was used for data normalization. We screened the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and obtained immune signatures associated with melanoma by an immune-related signature list from the InnateDB database. Univariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify potential prognostic immune genes, and LASSO analysis was used to identify the hub genes. Next, based on the results of multivariate Cox regression analysis, we constructed a risk model for melanoma. We investigated the correlation between risk score and clinical characteristics and overall survival (OS) of patients. Based on the TIMER database, the association between selected immune signatures and immune cell distribution was evaluated. Next, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed using CIBERSORT, which confirmed the differential distribution of immune-infiltrating cells between different risk groups. We obtained a list of 91 differentially expressed immune-related signatures. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that these immune-related DEGs participated in several areas of immune-related crosstalk, including cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, chemokine signaling pathway, and Th17 cell differentiation pathway. A risk model was established based on multivariate Cox analysis results, and Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed. The Kruskal-Wallis test suggested that a high risk score indicated a poorer OS and correlated with higher American Joint Committee on Cancer-TNM (AJCC-TNM) stages and advanced pathological stages (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the association between hub immune signatures and immune cell distribution was evaluated in specific tumor samples. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to estimate immune infiltration density in the two groups, and results showed that the high-risk group exhibited a lower infiltration density, and the dominant immune cells included M0 macrophages (P = 0.023) and activated mast cells (P = 0.005).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ai-lan Li
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Yong-mei Zhu
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Lai-qiang Gao
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Shu-yue Wei
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Ming-tao Wang
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Qiang Ma
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - You-you Zheng
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Jian-hua Li
- Department of Dermatology, Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying 257091, China
| | - Qing-feng Wang
- College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Liaoning University of traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang 110079, China
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Neagu M, Constantin C, Caruntu C, Dumitru C, Surcel M, Zurac S. Inflammation: A key process in skin tumorigenesis. Oncol Lett 2019; 17:4068-4084. [PMID: 30944600 PMCID: PMC6444305 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2018.9735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The extremely delicate shift from an inflammatory process to tumorigenesis is a field of major scientific interest. While the inflammation induced by environmental agents has well known underlying mechanisms, less is known concerning the oncogenic changes that follow an inflammatory chronic status in the tissue microenvironment that can lead to pro-tumorigenic processes. Regardless of the origin of the environmental factors, the maintenance of an inflammatory microenvironment is a clear condition that favors tumorigenesis. Inflammation sustains the proliferation and survival of malignant transformed cells, can promote angiogenesis and metastatic processes, can negatively regulate the antitumoral adaptive and innate immune responses and may alter the efficacy of therapeutic agents. There is an abundance of studies focusing on molecular pathways that trigger inflammation-mediated tumorigenesis, and these data have revealed a series of biomarkers that can improve the diagnosis and prognosis in oncology. In skin there is a clear connection between tissue destruction, inflammation and tumor onset. Inflammation is a self-limiting process in normal physiological conditions, while tumor is a constitutive process activating new pro-tumor mechanisms. Among skin cancers, the most commonly diagnosed skin cancers, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) have important inflammatory components. The most aggressive skin cancer, melanoma, is extensively research in regards to the new context of novel developed immune-therapies. In skin cancers, inflammatory markers can find their place in the biomarker set for improvement of diagnosis and prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Neagu
- Immunobiology Laboratory, ‘Victor Babes’ National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania
- Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 050107 Bucharest, Romania
- Department of Pathology, Colentina Clinical Hospital, 020125 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Carolina Constantin
- Immunobiology Laboratory, ‘Victor Babes’ National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania
- Department of Pathology, Colentina Clinical Hospital, 020125 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Constantin Caruntu
- Department of Physiology, ‘Carol Davila’ University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Carmen Dumitru
- Department of Pathology, Colentina Clinical Hospital, 020125 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Mihaela Surcel
- Immunobiology Laboratory, ‘Victor Babes’ National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania
- Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 050107 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Sabina Zurac
- Department of Pathology, Colentina Clinical Hospital, 020125 Bucharest, Romania
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, ‘Carol Davila’ University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
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Investigation of Interleukin-27 in the Sera of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Patients. Dermatol Res Pract 2018; 2018:8321302. [PMID: 30581461 PMCID: PMC6276429 DOI: 10.1155/2018/8321302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Revised: 10/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
IL-27 has been shown to have both tumor promoting and suppressing functions. IL-27, with its diverse influences on immune responses, has not been studied extensively in nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC), including Squamous and Basal Cell Carcinomas (SCC and BCC), and its roles in tumor initiation, progression, and its probable use in NMSC treatment have yet to be unveiled. A cross-sectional analytical study was designed to investigate the serum levels of IL-27 in NMSC patients in comparison to normal individuals. Levels of IL-27 in the sera of 60 NMSC patients along with 28 healthy controls were measured by means of quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In this study we observed that IL-27 serum levels were significantly higher in NMSC patients in comparison to healthy individuals (0.0134 versus 0.0008 ng/ml; P<0.001). Furthermore, when subcategorized based on pathological diagnosis, both BCC and SCC patients had higher levels of IL-27 in their sera compared to controls (P=0.002 and P=0.033; respectively). However, these levels were not different among SCC and BCC patients. According to our results, it seems that IL-27 is involved in antitumor immune responses in NMSCs. On the other hand, these observations might be indicative of this cytokine involvement in NMSC tumorigenesis and progression. Therefore, administration of this cytokine for therapeutic purposes in patients with such conditions should be erred on the side of caution.
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