Association of RUNX3 Methylation with Clinical Outcome and Cell Migration/Invasion in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Pan-cancer landscape of the RUNX protein family reveals their potential as carcinogenic biomarkers and the mechanisms underlying their action

Background

The RUNX family of transcription factors plays an important regulatory role in tumor development. Although the importance of RUNX in certain cancer types is well known, the pan-cancer landscape remains unclear.

Materials and Methods

Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) provides a pan-cancer overview of the RUNX genes. Hence, herein, we performed a pan-cancer analysis of abnormal RUNX expression and deciphered the potential regulatory mechanism. Specifically, we used TCGA multi-omics data combined with multiple online tools to analyze transcripts, genetic alterations, DNA methylation, clinical prognoses, miRNA networks, and potential target genes.

Results

RUNX genes are consistently overexpressed in esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, and pan-renal cancers. The total protein expression of RUNX1 in lung adenocarcinoma, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is consistent with the mRNA expression results. Moreover, increased phosphorylation on the T14 and T18 residues of RUNX1 may represent potential pathogenic factors. The RUNX genes are significantly associated with survival in pan-renal cancer, brain lower-grade glioma, and uveal melanoma. Meanwhile, various mutations and posttranscriptional changes, including the RUNX1 D96 mutation in invasive breast carcinoma, the co-occurrence of RUNX gene mutations in UCEC, and methylation changes in the RUNX2 promoter in KIRC, may be associated with cancer development. Finally, analysis of epigenetic regulator co-expression, miRNA networks, and target genes revealed the carcinogenicity, abnormal expression, and direct regulation of RUNX genes.

Conclusions

We successfully analyzed the pan-cancer abnormal expression and prognostic value of RUNX genes, thereby providing potential biomarkers for various cancers. Further, mutations revealed via genetic alteration analysis may serve as a basis for personalized patient therapies.

Fine particulate matter induces airway inflammation by disturbing the balance between Th1/Th2 and regulation of GATA3 and Runx3 expression in BALB/c mice

The present study aimed to examine the effects of 2.5 µm particulate matter (PM2.5) on airway inflammation and to investigate the possible underlying mechanism. Specifically, the focus was on the imbalance of T helper (Th)1/Th2 cells and the dysregulated expression of transcription factors, including trans-acting T cell-specific transcription factor 3 (GATA3), runt-related transcription factor 3 (Runx3) and T-box transcription factor TBX21 (T-bet). In this study, ambient PM2.5 was collected and analyzed, male BALB/c mice were sensitized and treated with PBS, ovalbumin (OVA), PM2.5 or OVA + PM2.5. The effects of PM2.5 alone or PM2.5 + OVA on immunopathological changes, the expression of transcription factors GATA3, Runx3 and T-bet, and the imbalance of Th1/Th2 were investigated. It was found that PM2.5 + OVA co-exposure significantly enhanced inflammatory cell infiltration, increased higher tracheal secretions in lung tissue and upregulated respiratory resistance response to acetylcholine compared with PM2.5 or OVA single exposure and control groups. In addition, higher protein and mRNA expression levels of Th2 inflammatory mediators interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5 and IL-13 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were observed in PM2.5 + OVA treated mice, whereas the expression levels of GATA3 and STAT6 were exhibited in mice exposed to OVA + PM2.5 compared with the OVA and PM2.5 groups. By contrast, PM2.5 exposure decreased the protein and mRNA expression levels of Th1 cytokine interferon-γ and transcription factors Runx3 and T-bet, especially among asthmatic mice, different from OVA group, PM2.5 exposure only failed to influence the expression of T-bet. To conclude, PM2.5 exposure evoked the allergic airway inflammation response, especially in the asthmatic mouse model and led to Th1/Th2 imbalance. These effects worked mainly by upregulating GATA3 and downregulating Runx3. These data suggested that Runx3 may play an important role in PM2.5-aggravated asthma in BALB/c mice.

Methylation Landscape of RUNX3 Promoter Region as a Predictive Marker for Th1/Th2 Imbalance in Bronchiolitis

Background

The methylation status of RUNX3 promoter region, its impact on RUNX3 gene expression, and Th1/Th2 imbalance are unknown in bronchiolitis. This study aimed to explore the predictors of bronchiolitis developing into asthma.

Material/Methods

The methylation status of RUNX3 promoter was assessed using Illumina HiSeq platform method. The relative RUNX3 mRNA levels in PBMCs were measured by qRT-PCR. Serum IL-4 and IFN-γ concentrations were measured by ELISA.

Results

A series of sites with significantly higher levels of methylation as compared to their corresponding controls were identified, including 24 sites in group Ba vs. group Cn, 13 sites in group Ba vs. group Ca, 7 sites in group Ba vs. group Bn, 16 sites in group Bn vs. group Cn, 11 sites in group Ca vs. group Cn, and 23 sites in group B vs. group C; P<0.05. The relative mRNA levels in group Ba were significantly lower than those in groups Cn, Ca, Bn; P<0.05. The serum IL-4 concentrations in group Ba were significantly higher than those in group Cn; P<0.05. The serum IFN-γ concentrations in group Ba were significantly lower than those in groups Cn, Ca, Bn; P<0.05. Correlation analysis showed that differentially methylated RUNX3 promoter region sites were significantly negatively correlated with levels of relative RUNX3 mRNA and IFN-γ, and were significantly positively correlated with IL-4 levels.

Conclusions

The methylation status of RUNX3 promoter region plays a role in Th1/Th2 imbalance by silencing RUNX3 gene expression, which can serve as predictive marker for the development of bronchiolitis into asthma.

Non-blood circulating tumor DNA detection in cancer

Tumor DNA contains specific somatic alterations that are crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Due to the spatial and temporal intra-tumor heterogeneity, multi-sampling is needed to adequately characterize the somatic alterations. Tissue biopsy, however, is limited by the restricted access to sample and the challenges to recapitulate the tumor clonal diversity. Non-blood circulating tumor DNA are tumor DNA fragments presents in non-blood body fluids, such as urine, saliva, sputum, stool, pleural fluid, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of tumor DNA in these non-blood body fluids and their application to the diagnosis, screening, and monitoring of cancers. Non-blood circulating tumor DNA has an enormous potential for large-scale screening of local neoplasms because of its non-invasive nature, close proximity to the tumors, easiness and it is an economically viable option. It permits longitudinal assessments and allows sequential monitoring of response and progression. Enrichment of tumor DNA of local cancers in non-blood body fluids may help to archive a higher sensitivity than in plasma ctDNA. The direct contact of cancerous cells and body fluid may facilitate the detection of tumor DNA. Furthermore, normal DNA always dilutes the plasma ctDNA, which may be aggravated by inflammation and injury when very high amounts of normal DNA are released into the circulation. Altogether, our review indicate that non-blood circulating tumor DNA presents an option where the disease can be tracked in a simple and less-invasive manner, allowing for serial sampling informing of the tumor heterogeneity and response to treatment.