ALCAM shedding at the invasive front of the tumor is a marker of myometrial infiltration and promotes invasion in endometrioid endometrial cancer

Glucose metabolism-based signature predicts prognosis and immunotherapy strategies for colon adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

The global prevalence and metastasis rates of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) are high, and therapeutic success is limited. Although previous research has primarily explored changes in gene phenotypes, the incidence rate of COAD remains unchanged. Metabolic reprogramming is a crucial aspect of cancer research and therapy. The present study aims to develop cluster and polygenic risk prediction models for COAD based on glucose metabolism pathways to assess the survival status of patients and potentially identify novel immunotherapy strategies and related therapeutic targets.

METHODS

COAD-specific data (including clinicopathological information and gene expression profiles) were sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE33113 and GSE39582). Gene sets related to glucose metabolism were obtained from the MSigDB database. The Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) method was utilized to calculate pathway scores for glucose metabolism. The hclust function in R, part of the Pheatmap package, was used to establish a clustering system. The mutation characteristics of identified clusters were assessed via MOVICS software, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were filtered using limma software. Signature analysis was performed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method. Survival curves, survival receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and multivariate Cox regression were analyzed to assess the efficacy and accuracy of the signature for prognostic prediction. The pRRophetic program was employed to predict drug sensitivity, with data sourced from the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) database.

RESULTS

Four COAD subgroups (i.e., C1, C2, C3 and C4) were identified based on glucose metabolism, with the C4 group having higher survival rates. These four clusters were bifurcated into a new Clust2 system (C1 + C2 + C3 and C4). In total, 2175 DEGs were obtained (C1 + C2 + C3 vs. C4), from which 139 prognosis-related genes were identified. ROC curves predicting 1-, 3- and 5-year survival based on a signature containing nine genes showed an area under the curve greater than 0.7. Meanwhile, the study also found this feature to be an important predictor of prognosis in COAD and accordingly assessed the risk score, with higher risk scores being associated with a worse prognosis. The high-risk and low-risk groups responded differently to immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic agents, and there were differences in functional enrichment pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

This unique signature based on glucose metabolism may potentially provide a basis for predicting patient prognosis, biological characteristics and more effective immunotherapy strategies for COAD.

The Clinical and Theranostic Values of Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule (ALCAM)/CD166 in Human Solid Cancers

Simple Summary

ALCAM (activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule) is an important regulator in human cancers, particularly solid tumours. Its expression in cancer tissues has prognostic values depending on cancer types and is also linked to distant metastases. A truncated form, soluble form of ALCAM (sALCAM) in circulation has been suggested to be a prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic tool. This article summarises recent findings and progress in ALCAM and its involvement in cancer, with a primary focus on its clinical connections and therapeutic values.

Abstract

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM), also known as CD166, is a cell adhesion protein that is found in multiple cell types. ALCAM has multiple and diverse roles in various physiological and pathological conditions, including inflammation and cancer. There has been compelling evidence of ALCAM’s prognostic value in solid cancers, indicating that it is a potential therapeutic target. The present article overviews the recent findings and progress in ALCAM and its involvement in cancer, with a primary focus on its clinical connections in cancer and therapeutic values.

ALCAM/CD166: A pleiotropic mediator of cell adhesion, stemness and cancer progression

Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule (ALCAM/CD166) is a glycoprotein involved in homotypic and heterotypic cell adhesion. ALCAM can be proteolytically cleaved at the cell surface by metalloproteases, which generate shedding of its ectodomain. In various tumors, ALCAM is overexpressed and serves as a valuable prognostic marker of disease progression. Moreover, CD166 has been identified as a putative cancer stem cell marker in particular cancers. Herein, we summarize biochemical aspects of ALCAM, including structure, proteolytic shedding, alternative splicing, and specific ligands, and integrate this information with biological functions of this glycoprotein including cell adhesion, migration and invasion. In addition, we discuss different patterns of ALCAM expression in distinct tumor types and its contribution to tumor progression. Finally, we highlight the role of ALCAM as a cancer stem cell marker and introduce current clinical trials associated with this molecule. Future studies are needed to define the value of shed ALCAM in biofluids or ALCAM isoform expression as prognostic biomarkers in tumor progression.

Characterizing the Invasive Tumor Front of Aggressive Uterine Adenocarcinoma and Leiomyosarcoma

The invasive tumor front (the tumor–host interface) is vitally important in malignant cell progression and metastasis. Tumor cell interactions with resident and infiltrating host cells and with the surrounding extracellular matrix and secreted factors ultimately determine the fate of the tumor. Herein we focus on the invasive tumor front, making an in-depth characterization of reticular fiber scaffolding, infiltrating immune cells, gene expression, and epigenetic profiles of classified aggressive primary uterine adenocarcinomas (24 patients) and leiomyosarcomas (11 patients). Sections of formalin-fixed samples before and after microdissection were scanned and studied. Reticular fiber architecture and immune cell infiltration were analyzed by automatized algorithms in colocalized regions of interest. Despite morphometric resemblance between reticular fibers and high presence of macrophages, we found some variance in other immune cell populations and distinctive gene expression and cell adhesion-related methylation signatures. Although no evident overall differences in immune response were detected at the gene expression and methylation level, impaired antimicrobial humoral response might be involved in uterine leiomyosarcoma spread. Similarities found at the invasive tumor front of uterine adenocarcinomas and leiomyosarcomas could facilitate the use of common biomarkers and therapies. Furthermore, molecular and architectural characterization of the invasive front of uterine malignancies may provide additional prognostic information beyond established prognostic factors.

EPS364, a Novel Deep-Sea Bacterial Exopolysaccharide, Inhibits Liver Cancer Cell Growth and Adhesion

The prognosis of liver cancer was inferior among tumors. New medicine treatments are urgently needed. In this study, a novel exopolysaccharide EPS364 was purified from Vibrio alginolyticus 364, which was isolated from a deep-sea cold seep of the South China Sea. Further research showed that EPS364 consisted of mannose, glucosamine, gluconic acid, galactosamine and arabinose with a molar ratio of 5:9:3.4:0.5:0.8. The relative molecular weight of EPS364 was 14.8 kDa. Our results further revealed that EPS364 was a β-linked and phosphorylated polysaccharide. Notably, EPS364 exhibited a significant antitumor activity, with inducing apoptosis, dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Huh7.5 liver cancer cells. Proteomic and quantitative real-time PCR analyses indicated that EPS364 inhibited cancer cell growth and adhesion via targeting the FGF19-FGFR4 signaling pathway. These findings suggest that EPS364 is a promising antitumor agent for pharmacotherapy.

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule expression correlates with the WNT subgroup in medulloblastoma and is involved in regulating tumor cell proliferation and invasion

Cluster of differentiation (CD) 166 or activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) is a transmembrane molecule known to be an intercellular adhesion factor. The expression and function of ALCAM in medulloblastoma (MB), a pediatric brain tumor with highly advanced molecular genetics, remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the significance and functional role of ALCAM expression in MB. ALCAM expression in 45 patients with MB was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded clinical specimens and the relationship between ALCAM expression and pathological type/molecular subgroup, such as WNT, SHH, Group 3, and Group 4, was examined. Eight ALCAM positive (18%), seven partially positive (16%), and 30 negative (67%) cases were detected. All seven cases of the WNT molecular subgroup were ALCAM positive and ALCAM expression strongly correlated with this subgroup (P < 0.0001). In addition, functional studies using MB cell lines revealed ALCAM expression affected proliferation and migration as a positive regulator in vitro. However, ALCAM silencing did not affect survival or the formation of leptomeningeal dissemination in an orthotopic mouse model, but did induce a malignant phenotype with increased tumor cell invasion at the dissemination sites (P = 0.0029). In conclusion, our results revealed that ALCAM exhibited highly specific expression in the WNT subgroup of MB. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the cell kinetics of MB cell lines can be altered by the expression of ALCAM.

The role of activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) in cancer progression, invasion, metastasis and recurrence: A novel cancer stem cell marker and tumor-specific prognostic marker

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) or CD166 is a 100 to 105 KDa transmembrane immunoglobulin which is involved in activation of T-cells, hematopoiesis, neutrophils trans-endothelial migration, angiogenesis, inflammation and tumor propagation and invasiveness through formation of homophilic and heterophilic interactions. Recently, many studies have proposed that the expression pattern of ALCAM is highly associated with the grade, stage and invasiveness of tumors. Although ALCAM is a valuable prognostic marker in different carcinomas, similar expression patterns in different tumor types may be associated with completely different prognostic states, making it to be a tumor-type-dependent prognostic marker. In addition, ALCAM isoforms provide ways for primary detection of tumor cells with metastatic potential. More importantly, this prognostic marker has shown to be considerably dependent on the cytoplasmic and membranous expression, indirect and direct regulation of post-transcriptional molecules, pro-apoptotic proteins functionalities and several other oncogenic proteins or signalling pathways. This review mainly focuses on the pathways involved in expression of ALCAM and its prognostic value of in different types of cancers and the way in which it is regulated.

Cell adhesion molecules in endometrial cancer - A systematic review

Adhesive molecules are responsible for the cell-cell interaction and the surrounding intercellular environment creating normal tissue architecture. The role of adhesion proteins in cancer refers to angiogenesis, loss of tissue continuity, and deprivation of intercellular contact with the extracellular matrix, promoting the spread of cancer through the formation of metastases. The integrity of the epithelium is disturbed - with disturbances in the whole mechanism of cell connections, thanks to which cancer cells infiltrate surrounding tissues, and move to lymphatic and blood vessels. Adhesive molecules are divided into five main families: cadherin, catenins, integrins, the immunoglobulin superfamily and non-classical adhesion molecules. In the present review we describe the role of all five families of adhesive molecules in endometrial cancer.

Immunohistochemical Features of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Feline Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is an aggressive malignancy with invasive and metastatic behavior. It is poorly responsive to chemotherapy and radiation. Neoplastic epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) portends highly malignant behavior and enhances resistance to therapy. In transitioning to a more malignant phenotype, carcinoma stem cells undergo transformation mediated by expression of proteins, endowing them with mesenchymal properties advantageous to cell survival. The goal of the current study was to identify proteins associated with EMT in FOSCC. This study documents protein expression patterns in 10 FOSCC biopsies and 3 FOSCC cell lines (SCCF1, SCCF2, SCCF3), compatible with an EMT phenotype. As markers of EMT, P-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin, nuclear transcription factors Twist and Snail, hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), programmed death ligand 1, and vascular endothelial growth factor D, as well as E-cadherin, were examined using immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. P-cadherin, Twist, HIF-1α, and programmed death ligand 1 were commonly expressed in biopsies and cell lines. N-cadherin, classically associated with EMT, was not highly expressed, and E-cadherin was coexpressed along with proteins characteristic of EMT in all specimens. Production of vascular endothelial growth factor A by cell lines, a process regulated by HIF-1α expression, was suppressed by the small-molecule inhibitor dasatinib. These data are consistent with EMT in FOSCC and shed light on cellular changes that could contribute to the aggressive behavior of FOSCC.