C14orf159 suppresses gastric cancer cells' invasion and proliferation by inactivating ERK signaling

Advances of Wnt Signalling Pathway in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents one of the most common cancers worldwide, with a high mortality rate despite the decreasing incidence and new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. CRC arises from both epidemiologic and molecular backgrounds. In addition to hereditary factor and genetic mutations, the strongly varying incidence of CRC is closely linked to chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestine and terrible dietary habits. The Wnt signalling pathway is a complex regulatory network that is implicated in many CRC physiological processes, including cancer occurrence, development, prognosis, invasion, and metastasis. It is currently believed to include classical Wnt/β-catenin, Wnt/PCP, and Wnt/Ca²⁺. In this review, we summarise the recent mechanisms and potential regulators of the three branches of the Wnt signalling pathway in CRC.

Mitochondrial matrix protein C14orf159 attenuates colorectal cancer metastasis by suppressing Wnt/β-catenin signalling

BACKGROUND

The mechanisms underlying metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. C14orf159 is a mitochondrial matrix protein converting D-glutamate to 5-oxo-D-proline. Other metabolic functions of C14orf159, especially on mitochondrial metabolism, and its contribution to CRC metastasis, are not elucidated.

METHODS

Metabolome analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, RNA-sequencing analysis, flow cytometry, migration and invasion assay, sphere-formation assay using C14orf159-knockout and -stable expressing cells, immunohistochemistry of C14orf159 in human CRC specimens, and xenograft experiments using Balb/c nude mice were conducted.

RESULTS

C14orf159 maintained the mitochondrial membrane potential of human CRC cells, and its involvement in amino acid and glutathione metabolism was demonstrated. In human CRC specimens, a decrease in C14orf159 expression at the invasive front of the tumour and in metastasis was determined. C14orf159 was also shown to attenuate the migration, invasion, and spheroid growth of CRC cells in vitro and colorectal tumour growth and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, C14orf159 reduced the expression of genes involved in CRC metastasis, including members of the Wnt and MMP family, by maintaining the mitochondrial membrane potential.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings link mitochondrial membrane potential to Wnt/β-catenin signalling and reveal a previously unrecognised function of the mitochondrial matrix protein C14orf159 as a suppressor of CRC metastasis.

Deep learning-based clustering robustly identified two classes of sepsis with both prognostic and predictive values

BACKGROUND

Sepsis is a heterogenous syndrome and individualized management strategy is the key to successful treatment. Genome wide expression profiling has been utilized for identifying subclasses of sepsis, but the clinical utility of these subclasses was limited because of the classification instability, and the lack of a robust class prediction model with extensive external validation. The study aimed to develop a parsimonious class model for the prediction of class membership and validate the model for its prognostic and predictive capability in external datasets.

METHODS

The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and ArrayExpress databases were searched from inception to April 2020. Datasets containing whole blood gene expression profiling in adult sepsis patients were included. Autoencoder was used to extract representative features for k-means clustering. Genetic algorithms (GA) were employed to derive a parsimonious 5-gene class prediction model. The class model was then applied to external datasets (n = 780) to evaluate its prognostic and predictive performance.

FINDINGS

A total of 12 datasets involving 1613 patients were included. Two classes were identified in the discovery cohort (n = 685). Class 1 was characterized by immunosuppression with higher mortality than class 2 (21.8% [70/321] vs. 12.1% [44/364]; p < 0.01 for Chi-square test). A 5-gene class model (C14orf159, AKNA, PILRA, STOM and USP4) was developed with GA. In external validation cohorts, the 5-gene class model (AUC: 0.707; 95% CI: 0.664 - 0.750) performed better in predicting mortality than sepsis response signature (SRS) endotypes (AUC: 0.610; 95% CI: 0.521 - 0.700), and performed equivalently to the APACHE II score (AUC: 0.681; 95% CI: 0.595 - 0.767). In the dataset E-MTAB-7581, the use of hydrocortisone was associated with increased risk of mortality (OR: 3.15 [1.13, 8.82]; p = 0.029) in class 2. The effect was not statistically significant in class 1 (OR: 1.88 [0.70, 5.09]; p = 0.211).

INTERPRETATION

Our study identified two classes of sepsis that showed different mortality rates and responses to hydrocortisone therapy. Class 1 was characterized by immunosuppression with higher mortality rate than class 2. We further developed a 5-gene class model to predict class membership.

FUNDING

The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81,901,929).

Identification of GOLM1 as a positively regulator of tumor metastasis by regulating MMP13 in gastric carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Metastatic gastric carcinoma (GC) is a typically incurable disease. The progression of anti-metastatic treatment is hampered because the underlying mechanisms regulating the metastasis of GC cell are not well illuminated.

OBJECTIVE

Therefore, further elucidation of the molecular mechanism behind the metastatic traits of GC cells is needed for optimizing GC treatment.

METHODS

The levels of GOLM1 and MMP13 in GC cells and tissues were measured by using qPCR assay. The growth of GC cells in vitro was detected using MTS and colony formation assays. The migration and invasion of GC cells was analyzed using wound healing test and Transwell invasion assay. The level of MMP13 in GC cell was measured using immunoblotting and the level of GOLM1 was measured using immunofluorescence staining. The role of GOLM1 on the distant metastasis of GC SGC7910 cell was analyzed using experimental metastasis assay. Transplanted tumor model was constructed to analyze the influence of GOLM1 on GC cell growth in vivo.

RESULTS

Here, we report that GOLM1 is over-expressed in GC and knockdown GOLM1 impairs the aggressive phenotypes of GC cell in vitro. Furthermore, downregulation of GOLM1 restrains the tumor growth of GC cell in nude mice. Nevertheless, upregulation of GOLM1 distinctly elevated the growth, migration ability and invasiveness of GC SGC7910 cell. Finally, GOLM1 increases the metastatic phenotypes of GC cell in a MMP13-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONS

Altogether, this investigation demonstrates the crucial function of GOLM1 in the progression of GC, which indicating GOLM1 as a potential target for GC treatment.

ANO6 promotes cell proliferation and invasion in glioma through regulating the ERK signaling pathway

Purpose

Anoctamin6 (ANO6) plays a crucial role in several cancers, whereas the specific role of ANO6 in glioblastoma is unclear.

Methods

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to analysis the correlation between ANO6 and survival rate of patients with glioblastoma. Univariate Cox regression analysis was used to analysis the correlation among ANO6 expression level,and age, gender, WHO and overall survival rate. Immunohistocemical technique, RT-PCR and western blot were used to dected the ANO6 expression. CCK8, colony formation and transwell were used to detected cell viability, cell proliferation and cell invasion in glioblastoma cells transfected with sh-ANO6 and ANO6 overexpression. In addition, after SHG-44 cells trasfected with ANO6 overexpression were ERK inhibitor (PD98059), CCK8, colony formation and transwell were used to detected cell viability, cell proliferation and cell invasion. Western blot was used to detected ERK protein level and the phosphorylation level of ERK in T89G and U87MG cells tranfected wih sh-ANO6.

Results

The results indicated that the ANO6 expression level was significantly associated with patients' age and tumor stage. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that the ANO6 expression level, age, gender and tumor stage were not related to the overall survival rate. ANO6 inhibition significantly suppressed the viability, invasion and the ability of colony formation in glioma cells, while ANO6 overexpression led to the opposite results in SHG-44 cells. ANO6 knockdown strongly inhibits the phosphorylation level and nuclear translocation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) protein to inhibit ERK signaling. ERK inhibitor significantly decreased the cell proliferation and invasion in SHG-44 cells transfected with sh-ANO6.

Conclusion

This study revealed that ANO6 activited ERK signaling pathway through promoting the nuclear translocation of ERK to increase the proliferation and invasion of glioblastoma cells.