Overexpression of Nemo-like Kinase Promotes the Proliferation and Invasion of Lung Cancer Cells and Indicates Poor Prognosis

Unlocking the Potential of Kinase Targets in Cancer: Insights from CancerOmicsNet, an AI-Driven Approach to Drug Response Prediction in Cancer

Deregulated protein kinases are crucial in promoting cancer cell proliferation and driving malignant cell signaling. Although these kinases are essential targets for cancer therapy due to their involvement in cell development and proliferation, only a small part of the human kinome has been targeted by drugs. A comprehensive scoring system is needed to evaluate and prioritize clinically relevant kinases. We recently developed CancerOmicsNet, an artificial intelligence model employing graph-based algorithms to predict the cancer cell response to treatment with kinase inhibitors. The performance of this approach has been evaluated in large-scale benchmarking calculations, followed by the experimental validation of selected predictions against several cancer types. To shed light on the decision-making process of CancerOmicsNet and to better understand the role of each kinase in the model, we employed a customized saliency map with adjustable channel weights. The saliency map, functioning as an explainable AI tool, allows for the analysis of input contributions to the output of a trained deep-learning model and facilitates the identification of essential kinases involved in tumor progression. The comprehensive survey of biomedical literature for essential kinases selected by CancerOmicsNet demonstrated that it could help pinpoint potential druggable targets for further investigation in diverse cancer types.

The Mechanism of Nemo-Like Kinase (NLK) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Cells by Regulating Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)

Nemo-like kinase (NLK) is abnormally expressed in several tumors, but its role in NSCLC have not been reported. Real time PCR and Western blot were used to assess NLK level in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues of NSCLC. NSCLC cell line A549 cells were divided into three groups; NC group and si-NLK group which was transfected with NLK negative control or NLK siRNA respectively followed by analysis of NLK expression by real time PCR and Western blot, cell proliferation by MTT assay, cell migration by cell wound healing assay, cell invasion by transwell chamber and MMP-9 and VEGF expression by Western blot. The expression of NLK in NSCLC tumor tissue was increased, and the difference was statistically significant compared with adjacent tissues (P <0.05), and it was related to tumor size, degree of differentiation, metastasis and survival time (P <0.05). A549 cells showed significantly increased NLK. Transfection of NLK siRNA could significantly inhibit tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and decrease the expression of MMP-9 and VEGF proteins (P <0.05). Elevated NLK level in NSCLC tumor tissues is related to clinicopathological characteristics. Decreased the expression of NLK can inhibit VEGF and MMP-9 expression, and inhibit cell function.

Nemo-like kinase (NLK) gene regulates apoptosis via the p53 signaling pathway in Litopenaeus vannamei under low-temperature stress

The Nemo-like kinase (NLK) is an important serine/threonine-protein kinase in many signaling pathways. However, its function in crustaceans, such as shrimps, is still poorly understood and needs to be further explored. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of NLK from Litopenaeus vannamei (LvNLK) was cloned. The full-length LvNLK cDNA has 2497 bp, including an open reading frame (ORF) of 1524 bp encoding a protein with 507 amino acids and a predicted molecular mass of 56.1 kDa. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that LvNLK shared high similarities with NLK from other known species. Low-temperature stress markedly upregulated the expression of LvNLK. Its overexpression in hemocytes suppressed the expression of BCL2-associated X (Bax) and tumor protein P53 (p53) in vitro. Meanwhile, the BCL2 apoptosis regulator (Bcl-2), MDM2 proto-oncogene (MDM2), and Yin Yang 1 (YY1) were upregulated. Moreover, LvNLK silencing in vivo increased the susceptibility of shrimps to low-temperature stress. The generation of ROS and the rate of hemocyte apoptosis also increased when LvNLK was silenced. Additionally, qPCR results indicated that LvNLK might participate in apoptosis via the p53 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. These results suggested that LvNLK is indispensable for the environmental adaptation of L. vannamei. Our current findings also demonstrated that NLK is evolutionarily conserved in crustaceans and provided insights into the environmental adaptation of invertebrates.

Atractylodin Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits the Migration of A549 Lung Cancer Cells by Regulating ROS-Mediated Signaling Pathways

Atractylodin (ATR) has anticancer effects on some tumor cells by inducing apoptosis, but its mechanism in lung cancer remains unclear. This study investigates the inhibitory effect of ATR on A549 lung cancer cells. Cell viability was detected by the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and results showed that ATR could significantly inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells. Apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, and apoptosis rate and mitochondrial membrane potential were detected by flow cytometry. Results showed that the effect of ATR on the apoptosis of A549 cells was negatively correlated with the change in mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blot analysis showed that ATR regulated apoptosis induced by mitogen-activated protein kinase, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, and nuclear factor kappa B signaling pathways. Analyses of reactive oxygen species (ROS), cell cycle, and cell migration showed that ATR induced intracellular ROS accumulation as an initiation signal to induce cell cycle arrest regulated by the AKT signaling pathway and cell migration inhibition regulated by the Wnt signaling pathway. Results showed that ATR can inhibit cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis, induce cell cycle arrest, and inhibit the migration of A549 cells (p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001).

The expression of NLK is functionally associated with colorectal cancers (CRC)

The regulatory mechanism of NLK in the carcinomagenesis and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. Here, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) site of NLK (rs2125846) as a new susceptibility locus for CRC risk located within an intron of the human NLK gene in a Chinese population. NLK downregulation led to a decrease in the ability of proliferation and migration of RKO cells in vitro. The proportion of RKO apoptotic cells increased by interfering with the endogenous expression of NLK. We speculate that LncRNA XIST may upregulate NLK expression by downregulating miR-92b-3p, thereby promote the development of CRC. These results provide important information for the identification of novel potential targets for the prevention or treatment of CRC.

c-Rel Is the Pivotal NF-κB Subunit in Germinal Center Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A LYSA Study

Relationships between c-Rel and GCB-DLBCLs remain unclear. We found that strong c-Rel DNA-binding activity was mostly found in GCBs on two independent series of 48 DLBCLs and 66 DLBCLs, the latter issued from the GHEDI series. c-Rel DNA-binding activity was associated with increased REL mRNA expression. Extending the study to the whole GHEDI and Lenz DLBCL published series of 202 and 233 cases, it was found that the c-Rel gene expression profile (GEP) overlapped partially (12%) but only with the GCB GEP and not with the GEP of ABC-DLBCLs. Cases with both overexpression of REL mRNA and c-Rel GEP were defined as those having a c-Rel signature. These cases were GCBs in 88 and 83% of the GHEDI or Lenz's DLBCL series respectively. The c-Rel signature was also associated with various recurrent GCB-DLBCL genetic events, including REL gains, BCL2 translocation, MEF2B, EZH2, CREBBP, and TNFRSF14 mutations and with the EZB GCB genetic subtype. By CGH array, the c-Rel signature was specifically correlated with 2p15-16.1 amplification that includes XPO1, BCL11A, and USP34 and with the 22q11.22 deletion that covers IGLL5 and PRAME. The total number of gene copy number aberrations, so-called genomic imbalance complexity, was decreased in cases with the c-Rel signature. These cases exhibited a better overall survival. Functionally, overexpression of c-Rel induced its constitutive nuclear localization and protected cells against apoptosis while its repression tended to increase cell death. These results show that, clinically and biologically, c-Rel is the pivotal NF-κB subunit in the GCB-DLBCL subgroup. Functionally, c-Rel overexpression could directly promote DLBCL tumorigenesis without need for further activation signals.

Therapeutic Targeting of Nemo-like Kinase in Primary and Acquired Endocrine-resistant Breast Cancer

PURPOSE

Endocrine resistance remains a major clinical challenge in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. Despite the encouraging results from clinical trials for the drugs targeting known survival signaling, relapse is still inevitable. There is an unmet need to discover new drug targets in the unknown escape pathways. Here, we report Nemo-like kinase (NLK) as a new actionable kinase target that endows previously uncharacterized survival signaling in endocrine-resistant breast cancer.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The effects of NLK inhibition on the viability of endocrine-resistant breast cancer cell lines were examined by MTS assay. The effect of VX-702 on NLK activity was verified by kinase assay. The modulation of ER and its coactivator, SRC-3, by NLK was examined by immunoprecipitation, kinase assay, luciferase assay, and RNA sequencing. The therapeutic effects of VX-702 and everolimus were tested on cell line- and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor models.

RESULTS

NLK overexpression endows reduced endocrine responsiveness and is associated with worse outcome of patients treated with tamoxifen. Mechanistically, NLK may function, at least in part, via enhancing the phosphorylation of ERα and its key coactivator, SRC-3, to modulate ERα transcriptional activity. Through interrogation of a kinase profiling database, we uncovered and verified a highly selective dual p38/NLK inhibitor, VX-702. Coadministration of VX-702 with the mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, demonstrated a significant therapeutic effect in cell line-derived xenograft and PDX tumor models of acquired or de novo endocrine resistance.

CONCLUSIONS

Together, this study reveals the potential of therapeutic modulation of NLK for the management of the endocrine-resistant breast cancers with active NLK signaling.