CD147 expression was positively linked to aggressiveness and worse prognosis of gastric cancer: a meta and bioinformatics analysis

Role of CD147 in the development and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC is characterized by insidious onset, and most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage with a poor prognosis. Identification of biomarkers for HCC onset and progression is imperative to development of effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. CD147 is a glycoprotein that is involved in tumor cell invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis through multiple mechanisms. In this review, we describe the molecular structure of CD147 and its role in regulating HCC invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. We highlight its potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for HCC.

Expression of CD147 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and its relationship with prognosis in patients with triple negative breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has rapid development and a worse prognosis, without special treatment. It is necessary to explore targeted treatment.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the significance of CD147 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in TNBC and their influence on prognosis.

METHODS

81 TNBC patients admitted to our hospital and 86 healthy individuals undergoing physical examination from August 2014 to August 2016 were included. The concentrations of serum CD147 and MMP-9, their diagnostic value, and their relationship with clinicopathologic features were analyzed. A 3-year follow-up visit was conducted to assess the prognostic effect of CD147. Its effect on the biologic behavior of breast cancer cells was also determined.

RESULTS

Higher serum CD147 and MMP-9 levels were found in TNBC patients than healthy individuals (P<0.05). CD147 and MMP-9 were closely related to the pathologic stage, metastasis, and differentiation of the tumors (P<0.05). A positive correlation between CD147 and MMP-9 was detected before chemotherapy (n=127, r=0.609, P<0.01), with similar expression rates of CD147 (76.9%) and MMP-9 (80.67%) (P>0.05). The 2 markers were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in TNBC (P_CD147=0.023; P_MMP-9=0.015), and increased CD147/MMP-9 expression was significantly related to treatment failure. After chemotherapy, the expression of CD147 in TNBC patients decreased, and higher expression predicted death (P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of CD147 for death in 3-year follow-up were 76.92% and 88.89%, and the expression of CD147 in breast cancer cells was increased (P<0.001). Interfering with CD147 can decrease the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells and increase apoptotic rate (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

CD147 can promote the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells, which underlines its value in the diagnosis and treatment of TNBC.

Molecular basis of the potential interaction of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to CD147 in COVID-19 associated-lymphopenia

Lymphopenia is considered one of the most characteristic clinical features of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects host cells via the interaction of its spike protein with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor. Since T lymphocytes display a very low expression level of hACE2, a novel receptor might be involved in the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into T cells. The transmembrane glycoprotein CD147 is highly expressed by activated T lymphocytes, and was recently proposed as a probable route for SARS-CoV-2 invasion. To understand the molecular basis of the potential interaction of SARS-CoV-2 to CD147, we have investigated the binding of the viral spike protein to this receptor in-silico. The results showed that this binding is dominated by electrostatic interactions involving residues Arg403, Asn481, and the backbone of Gly502. The overall binding arrangement shows the CD147 C-terminal domain interacting with the spike external subdomain in the grove between the short antiparallel β strands, β1' and β2', and the small helix α1'. This proposed interaction was further confirmed using MD simulation and binding free energy calculation. These data contribute to a better understanding of the mechanism of infection of SARS-CoV-2 to T lymphocytes and could provide valuable insights for the rational design of adjuvant treatment for COVID-19. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Inhibition of EMMPRIN by microRNA-124 suppresses the growth, invasion and tumorigenicity of gliomas

MicroRNAs (miR) are a group of non-coding, small RNAs, 18-20 nucleotides in length, that are frequently involved in the development of a variety of different types of cancer, including glioma, which is a type of severe tumor in the brain. Previous studies reported that miR-124 levels were downregulated in glioma specimens; however, the potential role of miR-124 in glioma currently remains unclear. The present study performed experiments, including dual-luciferase reporter assay (DLRA), MTT assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry, with the aim of elucidating the molecular mechanism of miR-124 in glioma. The results indicated that miR-124 expression was decreased in glioma tissues, accompanied by the increased expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN). The expression of EMMPRIN was inhibited by miR-124 transfection. The DLRA results revealed that EMMPRIN directly targets miR-124. Furthermore, upon overexpression of miR-124 in the U87 cells, cell proliferation was significantly inhibited, apoptosis was increased, and cell migration and invasion were decreased. Furthermore, tumor growth was blocked by miR-124 in mice. Based on these results, the present study concluded that miR-124 is critical for amelioration of glioma by targeting EMMPRIN, thereby acting as a tumor suppressor. Thus, miR-124/EMMPRIN constitutes a plausible basis for the treatment of glioma.

Molecular and Biological Mechanisms Underlying Gender Differences in COVID-19 Severity and Mortality

Globally, over two million people have perished due to the recent pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. The available epidemiological global data for SARS-CoV-2 portrays a higher rate of severity and mortality in males. Analyzing gender differences in the host mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection and progression may offer insight into the more detrimental disease prognosis and clinical outcome in males. Therefore, we outline sexual dimorphisms which exist in particular host factors and elaborate on how they may contribute to the pronounced severity in male COVID-19 patients. This includes disparities detected in comorbidities, the ACE2 receptor, renin-angiotensin system (RAS), signaling molecules involved in SARS-CoV-2 replication, proteases which prime viral S protein, the immune response, and behavioral considerations. Moreover, we discuss sexual disparities associated with other viruses and a possible gender-dependent response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. By specifically highlighting these immune-endocrine processes as well as behavioral factors that differentially exist between the genders, we aim to offer a better understanding in the variations of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity.

Melanoma Cell Resistance to Vemurafenib Modifies Inter-Cellular Communication Signals

The therapeutic success of BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) and MEK inhibitors (MEKi) in BRAF-mutant melanoma is limited by the emergence of drug resistance, and several lines of evidence suggest that changes in the tumor microenvironment can play a pivotal role in acquired resistance. The present study focused on secretome profiling of melanoma cells sensitive or resistant to the BRAFi vemurafenib. Proteomic and cytokine/chemokine secretion analyses were performed in order to better understand the interplay between vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells and the tumor microenvironment. We found that vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells can influence dendritic cell (DC) maturation by modulating their activation and cytokine production. In particular, human DCs exposed to conditioned medium (CM) from vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells produced higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines—that potentially facilitate melanoma growth—than DCs exposed to CM derived from parental drug-sensitive cells. Bioinformatic analysis performed on proteins identified by mass spectrometry in the culture medium from vemurafenib-sensitive and vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells suggests a possible involvement of the proteasome pathway. Moreover, our data confirm that BRAFi-resistant cells display a more aggressive phenotype compared to parental ones, with a significantly increased production of interferon-γ, interleukin-8, vascular-endothelial growth factor, CD147/basigin, and metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2). Plasma levels of CD147/basigin and MMP-2 were also measured before the start of therapy and at disease progression in a small group of melanoma patients treated with vemurafenib or vemurafenib plus cobimetinib. A significant increment in CD147/basigin and MMP-2 was observed in all patients at the time of treatment failure, strengthening the hypothesis that CD147/basigin might play a role in BRAFi resistance.

Identification of LCA-binding Glycans as a Novel Biomarker for Esophageal Cancer Metastasis using a Lectin Array-based Strategy

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a unique and heterogeneous disease diagnosed mostly at advanced stages. Altered glycans presented on cell surfaces are involved in the occurrence and development of malignancy. However, the effects of glycans on EC progression are largely unexplored. Here, a lectin array was utilized to detect the glycan profiling of the normal esophageal mucosal epithelial cell line and two EC cell lines. The binding of Lens culinaris lectin (LCA) to EC cells was found to be stronger than that of the normal cells. Lectin immunohistochemical staining revealed that LCA-binding glycans were markedly elevated in EC tissues compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues. LCA staining was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion, TNM stage and poor overall survival of EC patients. Added LCA to block LCA recognized glycans could inhibit the migration and invasion of EC cells. Further analysis revealed that blocking the biosynthesis of LCA-binding glycans by tunicamycin attenuated cellular migratory and invasive abilities. Additionally, a membrane glycoprotein CD147 was recognized as a binder of LCA. There was a positive correlation between LCA-binding glycans and CD147 expression in clinical samples. Interestingly, CD147 inhibition also reduced cell migration and invasion. These findings indicated that LCA-binding glycans may function as a novel indicator to predict metastasis for patients with EC.

Analysis of the expression of D-dimer, CD147 and miR203 and their correlation in gastric cancer

Objectives:

To evaluate the relationship of D-dimer, CD147 and miR-203, and detect the influence of these biomarkers on the pathological characteristics in patients with gastric cancer.

Methods:

The patients with gastric cancer treated using radical gastrectomy between May 2013 and October 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. The expression of D-dimer, miR203 and CD147 was measured for all the patients, and the clinical data including age, gender, tumor size, tumor differentiation, invasion depth, lymphatic metastasis, TMN stage, and pathological type were retrieved and analyzed. The study was carried out in affiliated Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang Medical College, Qingzhou, China.

Results:

Two hundred sixty patients with gastric cancer were included. The patients with tumor metastasis, larger tumor diameter, lower differentiation, lymphatic metastasis, deeper invasion, and higher TMN stage presented with a significantly higher D-dimer and CD 147 expression, but the level of the two biomarkers didn’t show a significant difference in patients with different pathological type, gender and age. Compared with CD147 and D-dimer, miR203 presented with different characteristics of expression. In addition, the expression of miR203 was negatively correlated with CD147 and D-dimer, and there was a positive correlation between CD147 and D-dimer in patients with gastric cancer.

Conclusion:

In this study, a close correlation of D-dimer, miR203 and CD147 was found, and these three biomarkers should be screened in gastric cancer patients.

CD147 promotes progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma via NF-kappa B signaling

CD147/basigin (BSG) is highly upregulated in many types of cancer, our previous study has found that CD147/BSG is highly expressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) stem cells, but its role in HNSCC and the underlying mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of CD147 in the progression of HNSCC. Real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of CD147 in total 189 HNSCC tissues in compared with normal tissues. In addition, we used proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle and apoptosis, migration and invasion as well as wound-healing assay to determine the biological roles of CD147 in HNSCC. Then, a xenograft model was performed to evaluate tumor-promoting and metastasis-promoting role of CD147 in HNSCC. The results showed that upregulated CD147 expression was associated with aggressive clinicopathologic features in HNSCC. In addition, CD147 promoted proliferation, migration and reduced the apoptosis phenotype of HNSCC cells in vitro as well as tumor initiation and progression in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CD147 promoted HNSCC progression through nuclear factor kappa B signaling. Therefore, we concluded that CD147 promoted tumor progression in HNSCC and might be a potential prognostic and treatment biomarker for HNSCC.