TINAGL1 promotes hepatocellular carcinogenesis through the activation of TGF-β signaling-medicated VEGF expression

YTHDF1 facilitates esophageal cancer progression via augmenting m6A-dependent TINAGL1 translation

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal RNA modification and plays a critical role in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. As a powerful m6A reader, YTHDF1 is implicated in multiple malignancies. However, the functions and underlying mechanisms of YTHDF1 in esophageal cancer (ESCA) are elusive. Here, we revealed that YTHDF1 expression was remarkably up-regulated in ESCA and linked with poor prognosis. Functionally, YTHDF1 promoted ESCA cell proliferation, migration, and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that TINAGL1 might be a potential target of YTHDF1. We revealed that YTHDF1 recognized and bound to m6A-modified sites of TINAGL1 mRNA, resulting in enhanced translation of TINAGL1. Furthermore, TINAGL1 knockdown partially rescued tumor-promoting effects of YTHDF1 overexpression. Therefore, we unveil that YTHDF1 facilitates ESCA progression by promoting TINAGL1 translation in an m6A-dependent manner, which offers an attractive therapeutic target for ESCA.

Proteomics Profiling of Bilirubin Nanoparticle Treatment against Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

In myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) poses a significant challenge due to a lack of effective treatments. Bilirubin, a natural compound known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, has been identified as a potential therapeutic agent for IRI. Currently, there are no reports about proteomic studies related to IRI and bilirubin treatment. In this study, we explored the effects of bilirubin nanoparticles in a rat model of myocardial IRI. A total of 3616 protein groups comprising 76,681 distinct peptides were identified using LC-MS/MS, where we distinguished two kinds of protein groups: those showing increased expression in IRI and decreased expression in IRI with bilirubin treatment, and vice versa, accounting for 202 and 35 proteins, respectively. Our proteomic analysis identified significant upregulation in the Wnt and insulin signaling pathways and increased Golgi markers, indicating their role in mediating bilirubin nanoparticle's protective effects. This research contributes to the proteomic understanding of myocardial IRI and suggests bilirubin nanoparticles as a promising strategy for cardiac protection, warranting further investigation in human models.

Implications of ZNF334 gene in lymph node metastasis of lung SCC: potential bypassing of cellular senescence

BACKGROUND

The primary goal of this work is to identify biomarkers associated with lung squamous cell carcinoma and assess their potential for early detection of lymph node metastasis.

METHODS

This study investigated gene expression in lymph node metastasis of lung squamous cell carcinoma using data from the Cancer Genome Atlas and R software. Protein-protein interaction networks, hub genes, and enriched pathways were analyzed. ZNF334 and TINAGL1, two less explored genes, were further examined through in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experiments to validate the findings from bioinformatics analyses. The role of ZNF334 and TINAGL1 in senescence induction was assessed after H2O2 and UV induced senescence phenotype determined using β-galactosidase activity and cell cycle status assay.

RESULTS

We identified a total of 611 up- and 339 down-regulated lung squamous cell carcinoma lymph node metastasis-associated genes (FDR < 0.05). Pathway enrichment analysis highlighted the central respiratory pathway within mitochondria for the subnet genes and the nuclear DNA-directed RNA polymerases for the hub genes. Significantly down regulation of ZNF334 gene was associated with malignancy lymph node progression and senescence induction has significantly altered ZNF334 expression (with consistency in bioinformatics, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo results). Deregulation of TINAGL1 expression with inconsistency in bioinformatics, in vitro (different types of lung squamous cancer cell lines), ex vivo, and in vivo results, was also associated with malignancy lymph node progression and altered in senescence phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS

ZNF334 is a highly generalizable gene to lymph node metastasis of lung squamous cell carcinoma and its expression alter certainly under senescence conditions.

Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 from cancer-associated fibroblasts contribute to the progression of diffuse-type gastric cancers through the interaction with integrin β1

BACKGROUND

Tumor cells of diffuse-type gastric cancer (DGC) are discohesive and infiltrate into the stroma as single cells or small subgroups, so the stroma significantly impacts DGC progression. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are major components of the tumor stroma. Here, we identified CAF-specific secreted molecules and investigated the mechanism underlying CAF-induced DGC progression.

METHODS

We conducted transcriptome analysis for paired normal fibroblast (NF)-CAF isolated from DGC patient tissues and proteomics for conditioned media (CM) of fibroblasts. The effects of fibroblasts on cancer cells were examined by transwell migration and soft agar assays, western blotting, and in vivo. We confirmed the effect of blocking tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 (TINAGL1) in CAFs using siRNA or shRNA. We evaluated the expression of TINAGL1 protein in frozen tissues of DGC and paired normal stomach and mRNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue using RNA in-situ hybridization (RNA-ISH).

RESULTS

CAFs more highly expressed TINAGL1 than NFs. The co-culture of CAFs increased migration and tumorigenesis of DGC. Moreover, CAFs enhanced the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and mesenchymal marker expression in DGC cells. In an animal study, DGC tumors co-injected with CAFs showed aggressive phenotypes, including lymph node metastasis. However, increased phosphorylation of FAK and migration were reduced by blocking TINAGL1 in CAFs. In the tissues of DGC patients, TINAGL1 was higher in cancer than paired normal tissues and detected with collagen type I alpha 1 chain (COL1A1) in the same spot. Furthermore, high TINAGL1 expression was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in several public databases and our patient cohort diagnosed with DGC.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that TINAGL1 secreted by CAFs induces phosphorylation of FAK in DGC cells and promotes tumor progression. Thus, targeting TINAGL1 in CAFs can be a novel therapeutic strategy for DGC.

Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 is a novel matricellular protein that promotes gastric bacterial colonization and gastritis in the setting of Helicobacter pylori infection

The interaction between the gastric epithelium and immune cells plays key roles in H. pylori-associated pathology. Here, we demonstrate a procolonization and proinflammatory role of tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 (TINAGL1), a newly discovered matricellular protein, in H. pylori infection. Increased TINAGL1 production by gastric epithelial cells (GECs) in the infected gastric mucosa was synergistically induced by H. pylori and IL-1β via the ERK-SP1 pathway in a cagA-dependent manner. Elevated human gastric TINAGL1 correlated with H. pylori colonization and the severity of gastritis, and mouse TINAGL1 derived from non-bone marrow-derived cells promoted bacterial colonization and inflammation. Importantly, H. pylori colonization and inflammation were attenuated in Tinagl1-/- and Tinagl1ΔGEC mice and were increased in mice injected with mouse TINAGL1. Mechanistically, TINAGL1 suppressed CCL21 expression and promoted CCL2 production in GECs by directly binding to integrin α5β1 to inhibit ERK and activate the NF-κB pathway, respectively, which not only led to decreased gastric influx of moDCs via CCL21-CCR7-dependent migration and, as a direct consequence, reduced the bacterial clearance capacity of the H. pylori-specific Th1 response, thereby promoting H. pylori colonization, but also resulted in increased gastric influx of Ly6Chigh monocytes via CCL2-CCR2-dependent migration. In turn, TINAGL1 induced the production of the proinflammatory protein S100A11 by Ly6Chigh monocytes, promoting H. pylori-associated gastritis. In summary, we identified a model in which TINAGL1 collectively ensures H. pylori persistence and promotes gastritis.

Lipocalin family proteins and their diverse roles in cardiovascular disease

The lipocalin (LCN) family members, a group of small extracellular proteins with 160-180 amino acids in length, can be detected in all kingdoms of life from bacteria to human beings. They are characterized by low similarity of amino acid sequence but highly conserved tertiary structures with an eight-stranded antiparallel β-barrel which forms a cup-shaped ligand binding pocket. In addition to bind small hydrophobic ligands (i.e., fatty acids, odorants, retinoids, and steroids) and transport them to specific cells, lipocalins (LCNs) can interact with specific cell membrane receptors to activate their downstream signaling pathways, and with soluble macromolecules to form the complex. Consequently, LCNs exhibit great functional diversity. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that LCN family proteins exert multiple layers of function in the regulation of many physiological processes and human diseases (i.e., cancers, immune disorders, metabolic disease, neurological/psychiatric disorders, and cardiovascular disease). In this review, we firstly introduce the structural and sequence properties of LCNs. Next, six LCNs including apolipoprotein D (ApoD), ApoM, lipocalin 2 (LCN2), LCN10, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), and Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGDS) which have been characterized so far are highlighted for their diagnostic/prognostic values and their potential effects on coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction injury. The roles of these 6 LCNs in cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, diabetes-induced cardiac disorder, and septic cardiomyopathy are also summarized. Finally, their therapeutic potential for cardiovascular disease is discussed in each section.

First Characterization of the Transcriptome of Lung Fibroblasts of SSc Patients and Healthy Donors of African Ancestry

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disorder that results in fibrosis of the skin and visceral organs. SSc-associated pulmonary fibrosis (SSc-PF) is the leading cause of death amongst SSc patients. Racial disparity is noted in SSc as African Americans (AA) have a higher frequency and severity of disease than European Americans (EA). Using RNAseq, we determined differentially expressed genes (DEGs; q < 0.1, log2FC > |0.6|) in primary pulmonary fibroblasts from SSc lungs (SScL) and normal lungs (NL) of AA and EA patients to characterize the unique transcriptomic signatures of AA-NL and AA-SScL fibroblasts using systems-level analysis. We identified 69 DEGs in "AA-NL vs. EA-NL" and 384 DEGs in "AA-SScL vs. EA-SScL" analyses, and a comparison of disease mechanisms revealed that only 7.5% of DEGs were commonly deregulated in AA and EA patients. Surprisingly, we also identified an SSc-like signature in AA-NL fibroblasts. Our data highlight differences in disease mechanisms between AA and EA SScL fibroblasts and suggest that AA-NL fibroblasts are in a "pre-fibrosis" state, poised to respond to potential fibrotic triggers. The DEGs and pathways identified in our study provide a wealth of novel targets to better understand disease mechanisms leading to racial disparity in SSc-PF and develop more effective and personalized therapies.

Recent progress in molecular mechanisms of postoperative recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatectomy is currently considered the most effective option for treating patients with early and intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Unfortunately, the postoperative prognosis of patients with HCC remains unsatisfactory, predominantly because of high postoperative metastasis and recurrence rates. Therefore, research on the molecular mechanisms of postoperative HCC metastasis and recurrence will help develop effective intervention measures to prevent or delay HCC metastasis and recurrence and to improve the long-term survival of HCC patients. Herein, we review the latest research progress on the molecular mechanisms underlying postoperative HCC metastasis and recurrence to lay a foundation for improving the understanding of HCC metastasis and recurrence and for developing more precise prevention and intervention strategies.

Low TINAGL1 expression is a marker for poor prognosis in breast cancer

PURPOSE

Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 (TINAGL1) was reported to suppress tumor metastasis and growth in triple-negative (TN) breast cancer. We aimed to determine the associations of TINAGL1 expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in breast cancer patients with long-term follow-up.

METHODS

A total of 599 consecutive primary invasive breast cancer patients with available tissue specimens from surgery in our hospital were included in the study. TINAGL1 mRNA expression was examined in all 599 tissue specimens using a TaqMan real-time PCR system. TINAGL1 protein expression was further examined in 299 patients with available tissue specimens for immunohistochemical staining. Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

The median follow-up period was 12.0 years. In the total patients, low TINAGL1 mRNA expression was associated with significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival than high expression (P = 0.003 and P = 0.01, respectively). Furthermore, hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer patients with low TINAGL1 mRNA expression had a worse prognosis. Multivariate analysis identified low TINAGL1 mRNA expression, combined with lymph node positivity, as an independent poor prognostic factor for DFS in invasive breast cancer patients (HR 1.41; 95% CI 1.02-1.96; P = 0.036). TINAGL1 mRNA expression also varied with menopausal status, with low TINAGL1 mRNA expression being positively associated with poor prognosis in premenopausal patients, but not in postmenopausal patients.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate that TINAGL1 may be a promising candidate biomarker and therapeutic target in breast cancer patients.

Down-regulated TINAGL1 in fibroblasts impairs wound healing in diabetes

Matricellular proteins, a group of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, are key regulators of skin repair and their dysregulation impairs wound healing in diabetes. Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen like 1 (TINAGL1) is a new member of matricellular protein family, and the understanding of its functional role is still relatively limited. In the current study, we detected the expression of TINAGL1 in diabetic skin wound tissues through RT-PCR, ELISA and Western blot analysis, investigated the contribution of TINAGL1 to wound healing through cutaneous administration of recombinant TINAGL1 protein, and characterized its regulation by hyperglycemia through RNA-seq and signal pathway inhibition assay. We showed that TINAGL1 expression has dynamic change and reaching a peak on day-9 after wound during the wound healing process in wild-type (WT) mice. Interestingly, decreased TINAGL1 expression is detected in skin tissues of diabetic patients and mice after wound. Then, we found that high glucose (HG), an important factor that impairs wound healing, reduces the expression of TINAGL1 in fibroblasts through JNK pathway. Notably, the histology analysis, Masson trichrome assay and IHC assay showed that exogenous TINAGL1 promotes wound healing in diabetic mice by accelerating the formation of granulation tissues. Our study provides evidence that TINAGL1 has an essential role in diabetic wound healing, and meanwhile, indicates that manipulation of TINAGL1 might be a possible therapeutic approach.

Tinagl1 Gene Therapy Suppresses Growth and Remodels the Microenvironment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains one of the most challenging subtypes of breast cancer to treat and is responsible for approximately 12% of breast cancer cases in the US per year. In 2019, the protein Tinagl1 was identified as a key factor for improved prognoses in certain TNBC patients. While the intracellular mechanism of action has been thoroughly studied, little is known about the role of Tinagl1 in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we developed a lipid nanoparticle-based gene therapy to directly target the expression of Tinagl1 in tumor cells for localized expression. Additionally, we sought to characterize the changes to the tumor microenvironment induced by Tinagl1 treatment, with the goal of informing future choices for combination therapies including Tinagl1. We found that Tinagl1 gene therapy was able to slow tumor growth from the first dose and that the effects held steady for nearly a week following the final dose. No toxicity was found with this treatment. Additionally, the use of Tinagl1 increases the tumor vasculature by 3-fold but does not increase the tumor permeability or risk of metastasis. However, the increase in vasculature arising from Tinagl1 therapy reduced the expression of Hif1a significantly (p < 0.01), which may decrease the risk of drug resistance.

Upregulation of Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen like 1 promotes gastric cancer growth and metastasis by regulating multiple matrix metallopeptidase expression

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 (TINAGL1), as a novel matricellular protein, has been demonstrated to participate in cancer progression, whereas the potential function of TINAGL1 in gastric cancer (GC) remains unknown.

METHODS

The expression pattern of TINAGL1 in GC was examined by immunohistochemistry, ELISA, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot. Correlation between TINAGL1 and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) was analyzed by the GEPIA website and Kaplan-Meier plots database. The lentivirus-based TINAGL1 knockdown, CCK-8, and transwell assays were used to test the function of TINAGL1 in vitro. The role of TINAGL1 was confirmed by subcutaneous xenograft, abdominal dissemination, and lung metastasis model. Microarray experiments, ELISA, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot were used to identify molecular mechanism.

RESULTS

TINAGL1 was increased in GC tumor tissues and associated with poor patient survival. Moreover, TINAGL1 significantly promoted GC cell proliferation and migration in vitro as well as facilitated GC tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. TINAGL1 expression in GC cells was accompanied with increasing MMPs including MMP2, MMP9, MMP11, MMP14, and MMP16. GEPIA database revealed that these MMPs were correlated with TINAGL1 in GC tumors and that the most highly expressed MMP was MMP2. Mechanically, TINAGL1 regulated MMP2 through the JNK signaling pathway activation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data highlight that TINAGL1 promotes GC growth and metastasis and regulates MMP2 expression, indicating that TINAGL1 may serve as a therapeutic target for GC.

Ancestry-dependent gene expression correlates with reprogramming to pluripotency and multiple dynamic biological processes

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be derived from differentiated cells, enabling the generation of personalized disease models by differentiating patient-derived iPSCs into disease-relevant cell lines. While genetic variability between different iPSC lines affects differentiation potential, how this variability in somatic cells affects pluripotent potential is less understood. We generated and compared transcriptomic data from 72 dermal fibroblast-iPSC pairs with consistent variation in reprogramming efficiency. By considering equal numbers of samples from self-reported African Americans and White Americans, we identified both ancestry-dependent and ancestry-independent transcripts associated with reprogramming efficiency, suggesting that transcriptomic heterogeneity can substantially affect reprogramming. Moreover, reprogramming efficiency-associated genes are involved in diverse dynamic biological processes, including cancer and wound healing, and are predictive of 5-year breast cancer survival in an independent cohort. Candidate genes may provide insight into mechanisms of ancestry-dependent regulation of cell fate transitions and motivate additional studies for improvement of reprogramming.

Inhibitory effect of dihydromyricetin on the proliferation of JAR cells and its mechanism of action

Dihydromyricetin (DMY) is a novel natural drug with antitumor activity against some cancer cells without obvious toxicity. Previously, its apoptotic effect on human choriocarcinoma was detected. The present study further investigated the therapeutic potential of DMY as a new drug for the treatment of choriocarcinoma, as well as its anti-proliferative effect and mechanism of action. The short-term proliferation of JAR cells was determined by MTT assay, whereas the effect of DMY on long-term cell proliferation was determined by colony forming assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect changes in the cell cycle. Furthermore, western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of proliferation-associated proteins such as cyclin A1, cyclin D1, SMAD3 and SMAD4. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to quantify mRNA expression levels. The results indicated that DMY inhibited short and long-term proliferation of JAR cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Flow cytometry demonstrated S/G₂/M cell cycle arrest, and western blotting revealed the downregulation of SMAD3, SMAD4, cyclin A1 and cyclin D1 expression levels. The results of RT-qPCR and western blotting were consistent. Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that DMY inhibits the proliferation of human choriocarcinoma JAR cells, potentially through cell cycle arrest via the downregulation of cyclin A1, cyclin D1, SMAD3 and SMAD4 expression levels.

Tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 deficiency alleviates age-dependent depressed ovulation associated with ovarian collagen deposition in mice

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine whether the Tinagl1 might be associated with ovulation in aged females and reproductive age-associated fibrosis in the stroma of the ovary.

METHODS

To address the ovulatory ability and quality of ovulated oocytes, we induced ovulation by treatment with equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) followed by in vitro fertilization. We also performed Picrosirius Red (PSR) staining to evaluate ovarian collagen deposition.

RESULTS

As compared to ovulation in 8- to 9-month-old Tinagl1flox/flox mice, the number of ovulated oocytes from Tinagl1flox/flox mice decreased in an age-dependent manner in mice more than 10-11 months old, whereas the ovulated oocyte numbers in Tinagl1 -/- mice decreased significantly at 14-15 months. In vitro fertilization followed by embryo culture demonstrated the normal developmental potential of Tinagl1-null embryos during the preimplantation period. PSR staining indicated that collagen was found throughout the ovarian stroma in an age-dependent manner in Tinagl1flox/flox females, whereas those distributions were delayed to 14-15 months in Tinagl1 -/- females. This timing was consistent with the delayed timing of age-related decline of ovulation in Tinagl1 -/- females.

CONCLUSIONS

The alleviation of age-associated depression of ovulation was caused by delayed ovarian collagen deposition in Tinagl1-null female mice.