Overexpression of Anillin (ANLN) is correlated with colorectal cancer progression and poor prognosis

ANLN Promotes the Proliferation and Migration of Gallbladder Cancer Cells via STRA6-Mediated Activation of PI3K/AKT Signaling

The ANLN gene encodes anillin, a protein that binds to actin. Recent research has identified ANLN's function in the initiation and advancement of different cancers. However, its impact on gallbladder cancer (GBC) remains unexplored. This study aimed to elucidate its possible molecular mechanisms in GBC. ANLN expression was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR), Western blotting (WB), and immunohistochemistry (IHC), revealing elevated levels in GBC tissues. ANLN knockdown resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration, leading to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Conversely, ANLN overexpression had the opposite effects on GBC cells. In vivo experiments confirmed that ANLN knockdown inhibited GBC cell growth. RNA-seq and bioinformatics analysis revealed ANLN's function in activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. We further confirmed that ANLN could upregulate STRA6 expression, which activated PI3K/AKT signaling to enhance the growth and movement of GBC cells. These findings demonstrate ANLN's involvement in GBC initiation and progression, suggesting its potential as a novel target for GBC.

Dysregulated ANLN reveals immune cell landscape and promotes carcinogenesis by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Background

Abnormal anillin (ANLN) expression has been observed in multiple tumours and is closely associated with patient prognosis and clinical features. In this study, we systematically elucidated the clinical significance and biological roles of ANLN in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

Methods

We obtained transcriptome and clinical data of patients with ccRCC from public databases. Multi-omics data and clinical samples were combined to analyse the correlation between ANLN expression and the clinical characteristics of patients with renal cancer. Additionally, the immune cell landscape of ANLN expression was evaluated using different immune algorithms in the tumour microenvironment. The tumour-promoting potential of ANLN was confirmed using in vitro assays, including CCK8 and Transwell assays.

Results

Bioinformatics analysis showed that ANLN is over-expressed in patients with ccRCC, as validated by clinical samples. Publicly available clinical data suggest that high ANLN expression may indicate poor outcomes in patients with ccRCC. Moreover, biological function analysis revealed a marked enrichment of the cell cycle and PI3K-Akt pathways. The distribution of immune cells, particularly M2 macrophages, differed in patients with ccRCC. Furthermore, ANLN silencing inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of renal cancer cells in vitro. After ANLN expression was knocked down in 786-O cells, the protein levels of important PI3K signalling pathway components, including PI3K, Akt, and mTOR, drastically decreased.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that ANLN is dysregulated in renal cancer tissues and promotes tumour progression by activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway.

Identification of Key Genes and Related Drugs of Adrenocortical Carcinoma by Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a malignant carcinoma with an extremely poor prognosis, and its pathogenesis remains to be understood to date, necessitating further investigation. This study aims to discover biomarkers and potential therapeutic agents for ACC through bioinformatics, enhancing clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ACC and normal adrenal cortex were screened out from the GSE19750 and GSE90713 datasets available in the GEO database. An online Venn diagram tool was utilized to identify the common DEGs between the two datasets. The identified DEGs were subjected to functional assessment, pathway enrichment, and identification of hub genes by performing the protein-protein interaction (PPI), Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. The differences in the expressions of hub genes between ACC and normal adrenal cortex were validated at the GEPIA2 website, and the association of these genes with the overall patient survival was also assessed. Finally, on the QuartataWeb website, drugs related to the identified hub genes were determined. A total of 114 DEGs, 10 hub genes, and 69 known drugs that could interact with these genes were identified. The GO and KEGG analyses revealed a close association of the identified DEGs with cellular signal transduction. The 10 hub genes identified were overexpressed in ACC, in addition to being significantly associated with adverse prognosis in ACC. Three genes and the associated known drugs were identified as potential targets for ACC treatment.

Constructing an APOBEC-related gene signature with predictive value in the overall survival and therapeutic sensitivity in lung adenocarcinoma

Background

APOBEC family play an important role in cancer mutagenesis and tumor development. The role of APOBEC family in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has not been studied comprehensively.

Materials and methods

The expression data of pan-cancer as well as LUAD was obtained from public databases. The expression level of APOBEC family genes was analyzed in different normal and cancer tissues. APOBEC mutagenesis enrichment score (AMES) was utilized to evaluate the APOBEC-induced mutations and the relation of APOBEC with genomic instability. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to identify differentially enriched pathways. Univariate Cox regression and Lasso regression were applied to screen key prognostic genes. The immune cell infiltration was estimated by CIBERSORT. RT-qPCR assay, CCK-8 and Transwell assay were conducted to explore gene expression and lung cancer cell invasion.

Results

Cancer tissues had significantly altered expression of APOBEC family genes and the expression patterns of APOBEC family were different in different cancer types. APOBEC3B was the most aberrantly expressed in most cancer types. In LUAD, we observed a significantly positive correlation of AMES with intratumor heterogeneity (ITH), tumor neoantigen burden (TNB), and tumor mutation burden (TMB). High AMES group had high mutation counts of DNA damage repair pathways, and high enrichment of cell cycle and DNA repair pathways. We identified four prognostic genes (LYPD3, ANLN, MUC5B, and FOSL1) based on AMES, and constructed an AMES-related gene signature. The expressions of four genes were enhanced and accelerated the invasion ability and viability of lung cancer cells. Furthermore, we found that high group increased oxidative stress level.

Conclusions

APOBEC family was associated with genomic instability, DNA damage-related pathways, and cell cycle in LUAD. The AMES-related gene signature had a great potential to indicate the prognosis and guide immunotherapy/chemotherapy for patients suffering from LUAD.

Native Size-Exclusion Chromatography-Based Mass Spectrometry Reveals New Components of the Early Heat Shock Protein 90 Inhibition Response Among Limited Global Changes

The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) works in concert with co-chaperones to stabilize its client proteins, which include multiple drivers of oncogenesis and malignant progression. Pharmacologic inhibitors of HSP90 have been observed to exert a wide range of effects on the proteome, including depletion of client proteins, induction of heat shock proteins, dissociation of co-chaperones from HSP90, disruption of client protein signaling networks, and recruitment of the protein ubiquitylation and degradation machinery-suggesting widespread remodeling of cellular protein complexes. However, proteomics studies to date have focused on inhibitor-induced changes in total protein levels, often overlooking protein complex alterations. Here, we use size-exclusion chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry (SEC-MS) to characterize the early changes in native protein complexes following treatment with the HSP90 inhibitor tanespimycin (17-AAG) for 8 h in the HT29 colon adenocarcinoma cell line. After confirming the signature cellular response to HSP90 inhibition (e.g., induction of heat shock proteins, decreased total levels of client proteins), we were surprised to find only modest perturbations to the global distribution of protein elution profiles in inhibitor-treated HT29 cells at this relatively early time-point. Similarly, co-chaperones that co-eluted with HSP90 displayed no clear difference between control and treated conditions. However, two distinct analysis strategies identified multiple inhibitor-induced changes, including known and unknown components of the HSP90-dependent proteome. We validate two of these-the actin-binding protein Anillin and the mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase 3 complex-as novel HSP90 inhibitor-modulated proteins. We present this dataset as a resource for the HSP90, proteostasis, and cancer communities (https://www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/shiny/HSP90/SEC-MS/), laying the groundwork for future mechanistic and therapeutic studies related to HSP90 pharmacology. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD033459.

Clinical implication and immunological landscape analyses of ANLN in pan-cancer: A new target for cancer research

BACKGROUND

Anillin is a F-actin binding protein (ANLN) mainly involved in the process of cytokinesis and known to be dysregulated in diverse cancers. However, the role of ANLN in pan-cancer prognosis and tumor immunity remains unclear.

METHODS

Gene expression profiles of 31 solid tumors were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. ANLN mRNA and protein expression were quantified using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Protein expression of ANLN was further confirmed in Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis were utilized to assess the prognostic value of ANLN in pan-cancer. The correlation between ANLN and different immune gene markers and infiltration cells was analyzed via ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT. A BLCA immunotherapy cohort: IMvigor (210) was used to confirm the role of ANLN in immune response.

RESULTS

ANLN upregulation was detected in 21 types of cancers and was associated with poor overall survival (OS), disease-free interval (DFI), and progression-free interval (PFI) in most cancers except in THYM (Thymoma). Additionally, correlation analysis revealed a significantly positive association between ANLN expression and tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), immune cells infiltration. and immune checkpoint genes in various cancers. The BLCA immunotherapy cohort confirmed that patients with higher ANLN level had better immune responses and longer OS.

CONCLUSION

ANLN may serve as a prognostic biomarker for pan-cancer. ANLN upregulation is associated with higher TMB, MSI, and immune cell infiltration in multiple types of tumors, shedding new light for cancer treatment.

In silico analysis revealed the potential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulative network of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

BACKGROUND

The primary source of death in the world is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, NSCLCs pathophysiology is still not completely understood. The current work sought to study the differential expression of mRNAs involved in NSCLC and their interactions with miRNAs and circRNAs.

METHODS

We utilized three microarray datasets (GSE21933, GSE27262, and GSE33532) from the GEO NCBI database to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in NSCLC. We employed DAVID Functional annotation tool to investigate the underlying GO biological process, molecular functions, and KEGG pathways involved in NSCLC. We performed the Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, MCODE, and CytoHubba analysis from Cytoscape software to identify the significant DEGs in NSCLC. We utilized miRnet to anticipate and build interaction between miRNAs and mRNAs in NSCLC and ENCORI to predict the miRNA-circRNA relationships and build the ceRNA regulatory network. Finally, we executed the gene expression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to validate the significant DEGs in the ceRNA network utilizing TCGA NSCLC and GEPIA data.

RESULTS

We revealed a total of 156 overlapped DEGs (47 upregulated and 109 downregulated genes) in NSCLC. The PPI network, MCODE, and CytoHubba analysis revealed 12 hub genes (cdkn3, rrm2, ccnb1, aurka, nuf2, tyms, kif11, hmmr, ccnb2, nek2, anln, and birc5) that are associated with NSCLC. We identified that these 12 genes encode 12 mRNAs that are strongly linked with 8 miRNAs, and further, we revealed that 1 circRNA was associated with this 5 miRNA. We constructed the ceRNAs network that contained 1circRNA-5miRNAs-7mRNAs. The expression of these seven significant genes in LUAD & LUSC (NSCLC) was considerably higher in the TCGA database than in normal tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival plot reveals that increased expression of these hub genes was related to a poor survival rate in LUAD.

CONCLUSION

Overall, we developed a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulation network to study the probable mechanism of NSCLC.

Exosomal LINC00460/miR-503-5p/ANLN positive feedback loop aggravates pancreatic cancer progression through regulating T cell-mediated cytotoxicity and PD-1 checkpoint

BACKGROUND

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) LINC00460 is an onco-lncRNA in a variety of cancers, including pancreatic cancer (PC). This study is aimed to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of LINC00460 in PC.

METHODS

The tumor and adjacent normal tissues were collected from 73 PC patients. The expression of LINC00460, miR-503-5p, and ANLN was detected using qRT-PCR. We then analyzed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis/cell cycle of PC cells by performing the MTT/EdU, transwell, and flow cytometry assays, respectively. The xenograft tumor model were utilized to confirm the effect of LINC00460 knockdown on PC through anti-PD-1 therapy in vivo, and the sensitivity of PANC-1 cells to the cytotoxicity of CD8⁺ T cells in vitro. Western blotting was used to determine the protein levels. A co-culture model was utilized to explore the effects of exosomes on macrophages.

RESULTS

LINC00460 was up-regulated in PC tissues and cells. LINC00460 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, facilitated cell apoptosis and G0/G1 phase arrest, and inhibited the tumor growth through anti-PD-1 therapy. Both miR-503-5p down-regulation and ANLN up-regulation reversed the effects of LINC00460 knockdown on inhibiting the proliferation, migration and invasion, and on promoting the apoptosis, G0/G1 phase arrest, and the sensitivity of PC cells to the cytotoxicity of CD8⁺ T cells. Exosomes were uptaken by the ambient PC cells. PANC-1 cells-derived exosomal LINC00460-induced M2 macrophage polarization accelerates the cell migration and invasion.

CONCLUSIONS

LINC00460 silencing attenuates the development of PC by regulating the miR-503-5p/ANLN axis and exosomal LINC00460-induced M2 macrophage polarization accelerates the migration and invasion of PANC-1 cells, thus LINC00460 may act as a possible therapeutic target for treating PC.

Bioinformatics Analysis of RNA-seq Data Reveals Genes Related to Cancer Stem Cells in Colorectal Cancerogenesis

Cancer stem cells (CSC) play one of the crucial roles in the pathogenesis of various cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Although great efforts have been made regarding our understanding of the cancerogenesis of CRC, CSC involvement in CRC development is still poorly understood. Using bioinformatics and RNA-seq data of normal mucosa, colorectal adenoma, and carcinoma (n = 106) from GEO and TCGA, we identified candidate CSC genes and analyzed pathway enrichment analysis (PEI) and protein–protein interaction analysis (PPI). Identified CSC-related genes were validated using qPCR and tissue samples from 47 patients with adenoma, adenoma with early carcinoma, and carcinoma without and with lymph node metastasis and were compared to normal mucosa. Six CSC-related genes were identified: ANLN, CDK1, ECT2, PDGFD, TNC, and TNXB. ANLN, CDK1, ECT2, and TNC were differentially expressed between adenoma and adenoma with early carcinoma. TNC was differentially expressed in CRC without lymph node metastases whereas ANLN, CDK1, and PDGFD were differentially expressed in CRC with lymph node metastases compared to normal mucosa. ANLN and PDGFD were differentially expressed between carcinoma without and with lymph node metastasis. Our study identified and validated CSC-related genes that might be involved in early stages of CRC development (ANLN, CDK1, ECT2, TNC) and in development of metastasis (ANLN, PDGFD).

Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis reveals the prognostic value, predictive value, and immunological roles of ANLN in human cancers

Anillin (ANLN) is a unique scaffolding, actin-binding protein, which is essential for the integrity and ingression of the cleavage furrow. It is mainly involved in the cytokinesis process, while its role in various tumors has not been fully addressed and remains largely elusive. To provide a thorough perspective of ANLN’s roles among diverse malignancies, we conducted a comprehensive, pan-cancer analysis about ANLN, including but not limited to gene expression levels, prognostic value, biological functions, interacting proteins, immune-related analysis, and predictive value. As a result, when compared to normal tissues, ANLN expression is elevated in most cancers, and its expression also differs in different immune subtypes and molecular subtypes in diverse cancers. In addition, in 17 types of cancer, ANLN expression is increased in early tumor stages, and higher ANLN expression predicts worse survival outcomes in more than ten cancers. Furthermore, ANLN shows close correlations with the infiltration levels of most immune cells, and enrichment analysis using ANLN co-expressed genes reveals that ANLN plays essential roles in cell cycle, mitosis, cellular senescence, and p53 signaling pathways. In the final, ANLN exhibits high accuracy in predicting many cancers, and subsequent multivariate analysis suggests ANLN could be an independent prognostic factor in specific cancer types. Taken together, ANLN is proved to be a novel and promising biomarker for its excellent predictive utility, promising prognostic value, and potential immunological roles in pan-cancer. Targeting ANLN might be an attractive approach to tumor treatment.

Pan-cancer analysis of the prognostic and immunological role of ANLN: An onco-immunological biomarker

Anillin actin-binding protein (ANLN) is crucially involved in cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, ANLN is significantly in tumor progression in several types of human malignant tumors; however, it remains unclear whether ANLN acts through common molecular pathways within different tumor microenvironments, pathogeneses, prognoses and immunotherapy contexts. Therefore, this study aimed to perform bioinformatics analysis to examine the correlation of ANLN with tumor immune infiltration, immune evasion, tumor progression, immunotherapy, and tumor prognosis. We observed increased ANLN expression in multiple tumors, which could be involved in tumor cell proliferation, migration, infiltration, and prognosis. The level of ANLN methylation and genetic alteration was associated with prognosis in numerous tumors. ANLN facilitates tumor immune evasion through different mechanisms, which involve T-cell exclusion in different cancer types and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in colon adenocarcinoma, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, and prostate adenocarcinoma. Additionally, ANLN is correlated with immune or chemotherapeutic outcomes in malignant cancers. Notably, ANLN expression may be a predictive biomarker for the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Taken together, our findings suggest that ANLN can be used as an onco-immunological biomarker and could serve as a hallmark for tumor screening, prognosis, individualized treatment design, and follow-up.

Ultrasound microbubble-mediated delivery of ANLN silencing-repressed EZH2 expression alleviates cervical cancer progression

Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) is a new gene therapy method that uses ultrasound and microbubbles carrying target genes to achieve gene transfection. However, whether UTMD-mediated ANLN silencing transfection helps to restrain the growth of cervical cancer (CC) is obscure. ANLN level in tumor tissues, adjacent tissues, and cells was tested using the database, qRT-PCR, and western blot. The optimal concentration of SF6 was determined by MTT assay. Mechanical index (MI) was selected by flow cytometry. After transfection with liposome or UTMD-mediated liposome, cell function experiments, qRT-PCR, and western blot were employed to assess CC cell biological behaviors and EZH2 level. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related marker and apoptosis-related marker expressions were examined utilizing qRT-PCR and western blot. 10% SF6 and MI of 0.28 were selected for subsequent tests. ANLN was highly expressed in CC and cells. The transfection efficiency of the UTMD-siANLN group was higher than that of the L-siANLN group. Moreover, the repression of UTMD-siANLN on CC cell malignant phenotypes was stronger than L-siANLN. UTMD-siANLN attenuated EZH2 expression in CC cells. The modulatory role of UTMD-siANLN on EMT- and apoptosis-related markers was reversed by EZH2 overexpression. UTMD can improve the efficiency of siANLN transfection into CC cells to induce suppression of CC cell malignant phenotypes, which may become a new target of gene therapy for CC.

Anillin governs mitotic rounding during early epidermal development

Background

The establishment of tissue architecture requires coordination between distinct processes including basement membrane assembly, cell adhesion, and polarity; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The actin cytoskeleton is ideally situated to orchestrate tissue morphogenesis due to its roles in mechanical, structural, and regulatory processes. However, the function of many pivotal actin-binding proteins in mammalian development is poorly understood.

Results

Here, we identify a crucial role for anillin (ANLN), an actin-binding protein, in orchestrating epidermal morphogenesis. In utero RNAi-mediated silencing of Anln in mouse embryos disrupted epidermal architecture marked by adhesion, polarity, and basement membrane defects. Unexpectedly, these defects cannot explain the profoundly perturbed epidermis of Anln-depleted embryos. Indeed, even before these defects emerge, Anln-depleted epidermis exhibits abnormalities in mitotic rounding and its associated processes: chromosome segregation, spindle orientation, and mitotic progression, though not in cytokinesis that was disrupted only in Anln-depleted cultured keratinocytes. We further show that ANLN localizes to the cell cortex during mitotic rounding, where it regulates the distribution of active RhoA and the levels, activity, and structural organization of the cortical actomyosin proteins.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that ANLN is a major regulator of epidermal morphogenesis and identify a novel role for ANLN in mitotic rounding, a near-universal process that governs cell shape, fate, and tissue morphogenesis.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-022-01345-9.

Comprehensive Analysis of ANLN in Human Tumors: A Prognostic Biomarker Associated with Cancer Immunity

Background

Anillin (ANLN), a ubiquitously expressed actin-binding protein, plays a critical tumor-promoting role in cell growth, migration, and cytokinesis. Numerous studies have suggested that ANLN is upregulated in many cancer types, as well as significantly associated with patient prognosis and malignant cancer characteristics. Herein, we performed an integrated pan-cancer analysis of ANLN and highlighted its underlying mechanism, which may benefit further exploration of the potential therapeutic options for cancer.

Methods

ANLN expression data were extracted from online databases, including TCGA, GTEx, and CCLE databases. The TIMER database was used to study the association between ANLN expression with immune checkpoint genes and immunocyte infiltration. The ScanNeo pipeline was adopted for neoantigen discovery. KEGG analysis and the STRING tool were used to elucidate the potential mechanism of ANLN in cancer development.

Results

ANLN is abnormally overexpressed in almost all cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. The high-ANLN expression level was positively associated with various malignant characteristics, suggesting its potential role in the immune microenvironment and poor prognosis. In addition, ANLN expression was correlated with the number of neoantigens and different phosphorylation pattern in various cancer types, revealing a functional role of genetic mutation accumulation and high phosphorylation in ANLN-mediated oncogenesis. Moreover, we found that ANLN was an important regulatory factor participating in many signaling events, especially the cell cycle and nucleocytoplasmic transport pathways.

Conclusions

ANLN expression is generally overexpressed in various types of cancers, and it may have an important influence on tumor progression and development. ANLN expression is significantly associated with the immune checkpoint biomarkers and tumor immunity. Together, these findings suggest that ANLN may be a predictive marker for patient prognosis across cancers.

A Network-Based Methodology to Identify Subnetwork Markers for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer

The development of reliable methods for identification of robust biomarkers for complex diseases is critical for disease diagnosis and prognosis efforts. Integrating multi-omics data with protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks to investigate diseases may help better understand disease characteristics at the molecular level. In this study, we developed and tested a novel network-based method to detect subnetwork markers for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). We performed an integrated omics analysis using whole-genome gene expression profiling and copy number alterations (CNAs) datasets followed by building a gene interaction network for the significantly altered genes. We then clustered the constructed gene network into subnetworks and assigned a score for each significant subnetwork. We developed a support vector machine (SVM) classifier using these scores as feature values and tested the methodology in independent CRC transcriptomic datasets. The network analysis resulted in 15 subnetwork markers that revealed several hub genes that may play a significant role in colorectal cancer, including PTP4A3, FGFR2, PTX3, AURKA, FEN1, INHBA, and YES1. The 15-subnetwork classifier displayed over 98 percent accuracy in detecting patients with CRC. In comparison to individual gene biomarkers, subnetwork markers based on integrated multi-omics and network analyses may lead to better disease classification, diagnosis, and prognosis.

MiR-16-5p suppresses breast cancer proliferation by targeting ANLN

BACKGROUND

In recent years, gene expression-based analysis has been used for disease biomarker discovery, providing ways for better diagnosis, leading to improvement of clinical treatment efficacy. This study aimed to explore the role of miR-16-5p and ANLN in breast cancer (BC).

METHODS

Cohort datasets of BC were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and analyzed by bioinformatics tools. qRT-PCR and western blotting were applied to validate ANLN and its protein expression. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to prove the regulatory relationship of miR-16-5p and ANLN. Finally, MTT, wound healing, Transwell invasion and flow cytometry analyses of the cell cycle and apoptosis were performed to assess cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle and apoptosis, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 195 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 50 overlapping microRNAs (miRNAs) were identified. Among these DEGs and miRNAs, ANLN, associated with poor overall survival in BC, overlapped in the GSE29431, GSE42568, TCGA and GEPIA2 databases. Moreover, ANLN was highly expressed, while miR-16-5p was lower in BC cells than in breast epithelial cells. Then, we confirmed that ANLN was directly targeted by miR-16-5p in BC cells. Over-expression of miR-16-5p and knock-down of ANLN remarkably inhibited cell proliferation and migration as well as cell invasion, arrested the cells in G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in BC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that miR-16-5p restrains proliferation, migration and invasion while affecting cell cycle and promotes apoptosis by regulating ANLN, thereby providing novel candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of BC.

Identification and Validation of Potential Candidate Genes of Colorectal Cancer in Response to Fusobacterium nucleatum Infection

Objective: Recent investigations revealed the relationship between Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) infection and colorectal cancer (CRC). However, how the host genes changes contribute to CRC in response to Fn infection remains largely unknown.

Materials and methods: In the present study, we aimed to comprehensively analyze microarray data obtained from a Caco-2 infection cell model using integrated bioinformatics analysis and further identify and validate potential candidate genes in Fn-infected Caco-2 cells and CRC specimens.

Results: We identified 10 hub genes potentially involved in Fn induced tumor initiation and progression. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the expression of centrosomal protein of 55 kDa (CEP55) is significantly higher in Fn-infected Caco-2 cells. Knocking down of CEP55 could arrest the cell cycle progression and induce apoptosis in Fn-infected Caco-2 cells. The expression of CEP55 was positively correlated with the Fn amount in Fn-infected CRC patients, and these patients with high CEP55expression had an obviously poorer differentiation, worse metastasis and decreased cumulative survival rate.

Conclusion: CEP55 plays an important role in Fn-infected colon cancer cell growth and cell cycle progression and could be used as a new diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for Fn-infected CRC.

Determination of a six-gene prognostic model for cervical cancer based on WGCNA combined with LASSO and Cox-PH analysis

AIM

This study aimed to establish a risk model of hub genes to evaluate the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer.

METHODS

Based on TCGA and GTEx databases, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened and then analyzed using GO and KEGG analyses. The weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA) was then used to perform modular analysis of DEGs. Univariate Cox regression analysis combined with LASSO and Cox-pH was used to select the prognostic genes. Then, multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to screen the hub genes. The risk model was established based on hub genes and evaluated by risk curve, survival state, Kaplan-Meier curve, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

We screened 1265 DEGs between cervical cancer and normal samples, of which 620 were downregulated and 645 were upregulated. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that most of the upregulated genes were related to the metastasis of cancer cells, while the downregulated genes mostly acted on the cell cycle. Then, WGCNA mined six modules (red, blue, green, brown, yellow, and gray), and the brown module with the most DEGs and related to multiple cancers was selected for the follow-up study. Eight genes were identified by univariate Cox regression analysis combined with the LASSO Cox-pH model. Then, six hub genes (SLC25A5, ENO1, ANLN, RIBC2, PTTG1, and MCM5) were screened by multivariate Cox regression analysis, and SLC25A5, ANLN, RIBC2, and PTTG1 could be used as independent prognostic factors. Finally, we determined that the risk model established by the six hub genes was effective and stable.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supplies the prognostic value of the risk model and the new promising targets for the cervical cancer treatment, and their biological functions need to be further explored.

Alternatively spliced ANLN isoforms synergistically contribute to the progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer with high mortality. Anilin actin-binding protein (ANLN) has been reported to be associated with carcinogenesis in multiple tumors. However, the expression pattern and functional effects of ANLN in HNSCC remain to be unclear. Clinical data and online databases were used to analyze the expression of ANLN and its relationship with HNSCC patient survival. Expression of two major splice variants of ANLN was assessed in HNSCC tissues and cell lines. The functional effects and related mechanisms of ANLN isoforms were investigated in HNSCC in vitro and in vivo. Our study showed that patients with high expression of ANLN had a poor prognosis. The two primary isoforms of ANLN transcripts ANLN-201 and ANLN-210 were highly expressed in HNSCC tissues and cell lines. Knockout of ANLN restrained cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of SCC-9 cells. Mechanically, ANLN-201 could interact with c-Myc to keep its protein stability, thereby playing a oncogenic role in HNSCC. ANLN-210 could be transferred to macrophages via exosomes by binding to RNA-binding protein hnRNPC. Exosomal ANLN-210 promoted macrophage polarization via PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, thus stimulating tumor growth of HNSCC. ANLN was an independent prognostic factor in patients with HNSCC. Alternatively spliced ANLN isoforms collaboratively promote HNSCC tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo, which might provide the in-depth role and mechanism of ANLN in HNSCC development.

Overexpression of anillin is related to poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Anillin (ANLN) is required for tumor growth. It has been proven that knockdown of ANLN effectively reduces the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in transgenic mice. However, the functional role of ANLN in HCC patients remains to be elucidated.

METHODS

Both microarray and TCGA project were used for the analyses of ANLN expression and regulation in HCC. The effect of ANLN on proliferation and cell cycle was detected by CCK-8, colony formation assay and flow cytometry. ANLN expression was measured by immunohistochemistry. Correlation between ANLN expression and clinicopathological features was assessed by Pearson Chi-square test and 5-year overall survival after liver resection was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Increased copy number, decreased methylation levels in the CpG island and upregulated histone hypermethylation of ANLN were found in HCC. Knockdown of ANLN inhibited proliferation and induced G2/M phase arrest in SMMC-7721 cells. ANLN was mainly expressed in the nucleus and showed significantly higher expression levels in cancerous tissues than those in paired adjacent tissues. Moreover, nuclear ANLN expression levels in HCC metastases were significantly higher than those in primary HCC. The results of Cox proportional hazards regression model suggested that ANLN nuclear expression in HCC was an independent risk factor for poor 5-year overall survival of patients after liver resection.

CONCLUSIONS

ANLN is a potential therapeutic target for HCC. Patients with nuclear ANLN overexpression in HCC tissue may need adjuvant therapy after liver resection.

Exome hits demystified: The next frontier

Severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have complex inheritance patterns, involving both common and rare variants. Whole exome sequencing is a promising approach to find out the rare genetic variants. We had previously reported several rare variants in multiplex families with severe mental illnesses. The current article tries to summarise the biological processes and pattern of expression of genes harbouring the aforementioned variants, linking them to known clinical manifestations through a methodical narrative review. Of the 28 genes considered for this review from 7 families with multiple affected individuals, 6 genes are implicated in various neuropsychiatric manifestations including some variations in the brain morphology assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Another 15 genes, though associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations, did not have established brain morphological changes whereas the remaining 7 genes did not have any previously recorded neuropsychiatric manifestations at all. Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway was associated with 6 of these genes and PI3K/AKT, calcium signaling, ERK, RhoA and notch signaling pathways had at least 2 gene associations. We present a comprehensive review of biological and clinical knowledge about the genes previously reported in multiplex families with severe mental illness. A 'disease in dish approach' can be helpful to further explore the fundamental mechanisms.

Actin-binding protein anillin promotes the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in mice

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common type of tumor with high mortality worldwide. Investigations associated with the molecular etiology of HCC and screening novel therapeutic targets are still urgently in need. Anillin (ANLN), as a type of evolutionarily conserved actin-binding protein, is involved in multiple cellular processes. ANLN widely affected the progression and metastasis of several types of cancer, and its overexpression was frequently demonstrated in previous studies. The present study demonstrated high expression of ANLN in human HCC tissues, which was also associated the prognosis of patients with HCC. The associations between ANLN expression and the clinicopathological features were determined, including the number of tumor nodes (P=0.011) and tumor size (P=0.003) of patients with HCC. It was found that ANLN promoted cell proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells in vitro, and affected tumor growth in vivo. Therefore, ANLN is suggested as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

ANLN, Regulated by SP2, Promotes Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Proliferation via PI3K/AKT and MAPK Signaling Pathway

BACKGROUND

Aberrant expression of Anillin (ANLN) has been shown to function in the development of multiple cancers. However, its effects on colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remain unclear. We aimed to explore the role of ANLN in CRC development.

METHODS

By real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC), we assessed the expression level of ANLN in CRC tissues and cell lines. The role of ANLN in CRC cell proliferation was evaluated by CCK-8 assays, colony formation assays, EdU assays and cell cycle assays. A mouse tumorigenic model was established to evaluate the in vivo function of ANLN.

RESULTS

We found that ANLN was overexpressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Highly expressed ANLN correlated with tumor size, tumor number, and stage in patients with CRC. Silencing ANLN in CRC cell lines suppressed proliferation both in vitro and in vivo and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. Downregulation of ANLN led to reduced phosphorylated levels of AKT and ERK. However, total AKT protein showed no change. SP2, a critical transcription factor, was implicated in the upregulation of ANLN.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated that ANLN regulates CRC cell proliferation via the PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways, indicating that ANLN may represent a novel and effective target for CRC treatment.

Anillin is a prognostic factor and is correlated with genovariation in pancreatic cancer based on databases analysis

Pancreatic cancer has a low survival rate globally. Anillin (ANLN) is involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer (PC). The present study used databases and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR to investigate the association between ANLN expression, clinical variables and the survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer. Gene expression of ANLN in normal and cancer tissues was analyzed using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Oncomine and Gene Expression database of Normal and Tumor tissues 2 and ANOVA, and the association between ANLN mRNA expression and ANLN genovariation was analyzed using cBioPortal. The association between ANLN expression and the survival, clinical, pathological and prognostic characteristics of PC was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival analysis, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney-U tests, and logistic and Cox regression models. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed the molecular pathways underpinning ANLN function in PC. Overexpression of ANLN was observed in PC cells (normal vs. tumor, P<0.01) and tissues (normal vs. tumor, P=0.008). Enhanced ANLN expression was associated with high tumor grade (grade 1 vs. grade 3, odds ratio: 5.662, P<0.001). However, ANLN expression was not associated with other clinical features (all P>0.05). K-M analysis suggested that increased ANLN expression was associated with poor survival (P=0.002). Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed the ANLN is an independent prognostic factor for PC (P<0.001). GSEA demonstrated the p53, cell cycle, DNA replication, mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair and PC pathways were associated with low expression of ANLN. Overall, ANLN is more highly expressed in PC compared with in normal tissue, and is associated with poor differentiation. The expression of ANLN may be a novel prognostic marker of poor survival. Finally, ANLN exert its functions in PC through the p53, cell cycle, DNA replication, mismatch repair and nucleotide excision repair and pathways.

Anillin is an emerging regulator of tumorigenesis, acting as a cortical cytoskeletal scaffold and a nuclear modulator of cancer cell differentiation

Remodeling of the intracellular cytoskeleton plays a key role in accelerating tumor growth and metastasis. Targeting different cytoskeletal elements is important for existing and future anticancer therapies. Anillin is a unique scaffolding protein that interacts with major cytoskeletal structures, e.g., actin filaments, microtubules and septin polymers. A well-studied function of this scaffolding protein is the regulation of cytokinesis at the completion of cell division. Emerging evidence suggest that anillin has other important activities in non-dividing cells, including control of intercellular adhesions and cell motility. Anillin is markedly overexpressed in different solid cancers and its high expression is commonly associated with poor prognosis of patient survival. This review article summarizes rapidly accumulating evidence that implicates anillin in the regulation of tumor growth and metastasis. We focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms of anillin-dependent tumorigenesis that include both canonical control of cytokinesis and novel poorly understood functions as a nuclear regulator of the transcriptional reprogramming and phenotypic plasticity of cancer cells.

Establishment of a Colorectal Cancer-Related MicroRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network by Microarray and Bioinformatics

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most malignant cancers with high morbidity and mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that affect biological processes by binding to mRNAs and regulating their expression, and epigenetic alterations including miRNA dysregulation are significantly involved in CRC development. Determining the effect of the miRNA-mRNA network on CRC could be helpful for developing novel therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers, and even improving survival. In this study, microarray assays were used to screen differentially expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) and mRNAs (DE mRNAs) in CRC and the adjacent normal tissues. Among the detected genes, 42 miRNAs and 142 mRNAs were significantly upregulated in CRC, while 23 miRNAs and 279 mRNAs were significantly downregulated. Through overlapping of predicted targets of DE miRNAs and anti-expressed DE mRNAs, networks of DE miRNAs and DE mRNAs in CRC were established. Additionally, the formation of a protein-protein interaction network of DE mRNAs possibly targeted by DE miRNAs, functional annotation and pathway analysis, stable subnetwork mining, and determination of hub genes provided the probable mechanism used by DE miRNAs and DE mRNAs to regulate CRC growth. Finally, validation of expression and prognostic potential of hub genes provided further support for the results above and indicated that CCL-28, GPR15, PNOC, NUSAP1, and their interacted miRNAs may be a potential signature for prognosis of CRC patients. In sum, we successfully established miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks based on microarray results targeting CRC, and these findings may elucidate the mechanisms used for CRC growth and identify miRNA-related signatures for prognosis and treatment of CRC.

A two-gene-based prognostic signature for pancreatic cancer

The purpose of this study was to identify a vital gene signature that has prognostic value for pancreatic cancer based on gene expression datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus. A total of 34 genes were obtained by the univariate analysis, which were significantly associated with the overall survival of PC patients. After further analysis, Anillin (ANLN) and Histone H1c (HIST1H1C) were identified and considered to be the most significant prognostic genes among the 34 genes. A prognostic model based on these two genes was constructed, and successfully distinguished pancreatic cancer survival into high-risk and low-risk groups in the training set and testing set. Subsequently, independent predictive factors, including the age, margin condition and risk score, were then employed to construct the nomogram model. The area under curve for the nomogram model was 0.826 at 0.5 years and 0.726 at 1 year, and the C-index of the nomogram model was 0.664 higher than the others variables alone. These findings have indicated that high expression of ANLN and HIST1H1C predicted poor outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. The nomogram model based on the expression of two genes could be valuable for the guidance of clinical treatment.

Role of Anillin in Tumour: From a Prognostic Biomarker to a Novel Target

Anillin (ANLN), an actin-binding protein, reportedly plays a vital role in cell proliferation and migration, particularly in cytokinesis. Although there have been findings pointing to a contribution of ANLN to the development of cancer, the association of ANLN to cancer remains not fully understood. Here, we gather evidence to determine the applicability of ANLN as a prognostic tool for some types of cancer, and the impact that ANLN has on the hallmarks of cancer. We searched academic repositories including PubMed and Google Scholar to find and review studies related to cancer and ANLN. The conclusion is that ANLN could be a potent target for cancer treatment, but the roles ANLN, other than in cytokinesis and its influence on tumour microenvironment remodeling in cancer development, must be further elucidated, and specific ANLN inhibitors should be found.

High mobility group AT-hook 2 promotes tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cells via upregulating ANLN

HMGA2 is associated with the regulation of cellular biological processes in various human disorders and cancer progression, yet little is known about how HMGA2 controls tumorigenesis. This study uncovered the mechanism of HMGA2-mediated regulation of tumorigenicity in pancreatic cancer. We showed that HMGA2 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer cells and correlated with poor prognosis. HMGA2 expression knockdown inhibited the tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cells. Conversely, overexpression of HMGA2 promoted tumorigenicity. Combination of ChIP-Seq, RNA-Seq and dual-luciferase reporter assays revealed HMGA2 could directly regulate ANLN expression. Furthermore, we found ANLN could mediate the HMGA2-induced effects on pancreatic cancer cells. The identification of the regulatory mechanism of HMGA2 and ANLN will provide insights into the progression for human pancreatic cancer.

Identification of Core Prognosis-Related Candidate Genes in Cervical Cancer via Integrated Bioinformatical Analysis

Purposes

Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the highest frequently occurred malignant gynecological tumors with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Here, we aimed to identify significant genes associated with poor outcome. Materials and methods. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between CC tissues and normal cervical tissues were picked out by GEO2R tool and Venn diagram software. Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) was performed to analyze gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway. The protein-protein interactions (PPIs) of these DEGs were visualized by Cytoscape with Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING). Afterwards, Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied to analyze the overall survival among these genes. The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was applied for further validation of the expression level of these genes.

Results

The mRNA expression profile datasets of GSE63514, GSE27678, and GSE6791 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO). In total, 76 CC tissues and 35 normal tissues were collected in the three profile datasets. There were totally 73 consistently expressed genes in the three datasets, including 65 up-regulated genes and 8 down-regulated genes. Of PPI network analyzed by Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) plug-in, all 65 up-regulated genes and 4 down-regulated genes were selected. The results of the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that 3 of the 65 up-regulated genes had a significantly worse prognosis, while 3 of the 4 down-regulated genes had a significantly better outcome. For validation in GEPIA, 4 of 6 genes (PLOD2, ANLN, AURKA, and AR) were confirmed to be significantly deregulated in CC tissues compared to normal tissues.

Conclusion

We have identified three up-regulated (PLOD2, ANLN, and AURKA) and a down-regulated DEGs (AR) with poor prognosis in CC on the basis of integrated bioinformatical methods, which could be regarded as potential therapeutic targets for CC patients.

Screening of potential biomarkers and their predictive value in early stage non-small cell lung cancer: a bioinformatics analysis

Background

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the first leading cause of death in malignancies worldwide. Despite the early screening of NSCLC by low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) in high-risk individuals caused a 20% reduction in the mortality, there still exists imperative needs for the identification of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

Methods

mRNA microarray datasets GSE19188, GSE33532, and GSE44077 were searched, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained using GEO2R. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were performed for the DEGs using DAVID database. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was plotted with STRING and visualized by Cytoscape. Module analysis of the PPI network was done through MCODE. The overall survival (OS) analysis of genes from MCODE was performed with the Kaplan Meier-plotter.

Results

A total of 221 DEGs were obtained, which were mainly enriched in the terms related to cell division, cell proliferation, and signal transduction. A PPI network was constructed, consisting of 221 nodes and 739 edges. A significant module including 27 genes was identified in the PPI network. Elevated expression of these genes was associated with poor OS of NSCLC patients, including UBE2T, UNF2, CDKN3, ANLN, CCNB2, and CKAP2L. The enriched functions and pathways included protein binding, ATP binding, cell cycle, and p53 signaling pathway.

Conclusions

The DEGs in NSCLC have the potential to become useful targets for the diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC.

ANLN and TLE2 in Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Functional and Clinical Evaluation Based on In Silico and In Vitro Data

Anilin actin binding protein (ANLN) and transducing-like enhancer protein 2 (TLE2) are associated with cancer patient survival and progression. The impact of their gene expression on progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) treated with radical cystectomy (RC) and subtype association has not yet been investigated. qRT-PCR was used to measure the transcript levels of ANLN and TLE2 in the Mannheim cohort, and validated in silico by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses identified predictors for disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS). In the Mannheim cohort, tumors with high ANLN expression were associated with lower OS and DSS, while high TLE2 expression was associated with a favorable OS. The TCGA cohort confirmed that high ANLN and low TLE2 expression was associated with shorter OS and disease-free survival (DFS). In both cohorts, multivariate analyses showed ANLN and TLE2 expression as independent outcome predictors. Furthermore, ANLN was more highly expressed in cell lines and patients with the basal subtype, while TLE2 expression was higher in cell lines and patients with the luminal subtype. ANLN and TLE2 are promising biomarkers for individualized bladder cancer therapy including cancer subclassification and informed MIBC prognosis.

ANLN and KDR Are Jointly Prognostic of Breast Cancer Survival and Can Be Modulated for Triple Negative Breast Cancer Control

Purpose: Kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) is the primary vascular endothelial growth factor receptor mediating survival, growth, and migration of endothelial cells and is expressed also in various tumor cells through autocrine production. The PI3K/Pten pathway is one of the downstream signalings affected by KDR activation and most commonly altered in breast cancer. Here, we investigate whether KDR expression is associated with members in PI3K/Pten signaling on the prognosis of breast cancer patients.

Methods: PI3K/Pten pathway components were defined by mapping The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) protein data to the KEGG database complemented by literature searching, accounting for 36 proteins subject to the interaction analysis with KDR on breast cancer patient survival. The identified interaction gene pair was subjected to in vitro validation following functional analysis.

Results: Anillin (ANLN) was found to interact with KDR at translational and transcriptional levels using the public TCGA protein expression data and five gene expression datasets. Favorable prognosis corresponds to high protein but low gene expression of ANLN when KDR is highly expressed. Externally modulating cells toward low ANLN and high KDR gene expression was shown to transit triple negative cells toward a luminal-like state with increased level of ER and elevated sensitivity to Tamoxifen.

Conclusion: Our study proposes a two-gene panel prognostic of breast cancer survival and a novel therapeutic strategy for triple negative breast cancer control via transiting cancer cells towards a luminal-like state sensitive to established targeted therapy.

Anillin is required for tumor growth and regulated by miR-15a/miR-16-1 in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Anillin (ANLN) is an actin-binding protein essential for assembly of cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. Although reportedly overexpressed in various human cancers, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. To address this issue, we confirmed that in 436 liver samples obtained from surgically removed HCC tissues, higher ANLN expression was detected in tumor tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues of HCC as measured by immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting. Correlation and Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with higher ANLN expression were associated with worse clinical outcomes and a shorter survival time, respectively. Moreover, ANLN inhibition resulted in growth restraint, reduced colony formation, and a lower sphere number in suspension culture. Mechanistically, ANLN deficiency induced an increasing number of multinucleated cells along with the activation of apoptosis signaling and DNA damage checkpoints. Furthermore, HBV infection increased ANLN expression by inhibiting the expression of microRNA (miR)-15a and miR-16-1, both of which were identified as ANLN upstream repressors by targeting its 3’ untranslated region. Thus, we conclude that ANLN promotes tumor growth by ways of decreased apoptosis and DNA damage. Expression level of ANLN significantly influences the survival probability of HCC patients and may represent a promising prognostic biomarker.

Identification of significant gene and pathways involved in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor affecting the digestive system and causes serious financial burden worldwide. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the main causative agent of HCC in China. The present study aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying HBV-related HCC and to identify core biomarkers by integrated bioinformatics analyses.

Methods

In the present study, HBV-related HCC GSE19665, GSE55092, GSE94660 and GSE121248 expression profiles were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. These databases contain data for 299 samples, including 145 HBV-related HCC tissues and 154 non-cancerous tissues (from patients with chronic hepatitis B). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from each dataset were integrated and analyzed using the RobustRankAggreg (RRA) method and R software, and the integrated DEGs were identified. Subsequently, the gene ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed using the DAVID online tool, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING and visualized using Cytoscape software. Finally, hub genes were identified, and the cBioPortal online platform was used to analyze the association between the expression of hub genes and prognosis in HCC.

Results

First, 341 DEGs (117 upregulated and 224 downregulated) were identified from the four datasets. Next, GO analysis showed that the upregulated genes were mainly involved in cell cycle, mitotic spindle, and adenosine triphosphate binding. The majority of the downregulated genes were involved in oxidation reduction, extracellular region, and electron carrier activity. Signaling pathway analysis showed that the integrated DEGs shared common pathways in retinol metabolism, drug metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, caffeine metabolism, and metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450. The integrated DEG PPI network complex comprised 288 nodes, and two important modules with high degree were detected using the MCODE plug-in. The top ten hub genes identified from the PPI network were SHCBP1, FOXM1, KIF4A, ANLN, KIF15, KIF18A, FANCI, NEK2, ECT2, and RAD51AP1. Finally, survival analysis revealed that patients with HCC showing altered ANLN and KIF18A expression profiles showed worse disease-free survival. Nonetheless, patients with FOXM1, NEK2, RAD51AP1, ANLN, and KIF18A alterations showed worse overall survival.

Conclusions

The present study identified key genes and pathways involved in HBV-related HCC, which improved our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development and recurrence of HCC and identified candidate targets for the diagnosis and treatment of HBV-related HCC.

Overexpression of ANLN in lung adenocarcinoma is associated with metastasis

Background

ANLN has been identified as an actin‐binding protein and previous studies have suggested that ANLN is associated with actin cytoskeletal dynamics. Lung adenocarcinoma is a poor prognosis tumor. Metastasis is a very common complication and is regarded as the main cause for an unsatisfactory treatment outcome. Whether ANLN is involved in the metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma is unknown.

Methods

We performed immunohistochemical staining and analyzed the correlation between the expression level and pathological parameters. We tested the migration and invasion of A549 and PC9 cell after interference with ANLN expression by Transwell and scratch wound healing assays. Protein expression of E‐cadherin, vimentin and N‐cadherin were detected using Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. The same experiment was also tested after overexpression of ANLN.

Results

The metastasis of patients with high expression of ANLN was significantly more than that of patients with low expression of ANLN. In vitro, after interfering with ANLN expression, E‐cadherin and vimentin expression were increased and N‐cadherin expression was decreased in A549 and PC9 cells. Migration and invasion ability of A549 and PC9 cells were decreased,vice versa.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that the expression of ANLN in lung adenocarcinoma is associated with metastasis of cancer cells. ANLN may be involved in the metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma by promoting epithelial mesenchymal transformation of tumor cells.

Eleven genes associated with progression and prognosis of endometrial cancer (EC) identified by comprehensive bioinformatics analysis

Background

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the female malignant tumors. Endometrial cancer predominately affects post-menopausal women. Bioinformatics analysis has been widely applied to screen and analyze genes in linkage to various types of cancer progression.

Methods

Download the gene expression profile from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Calculate raw expression data according to pre-processing procedures. We performed the “limma” R language package to screen DEGs between Endometrial cancer tissue samples and normal uterus tissue samples. Enrichment of the functions and pathways was analyzed by using clusterprofiler. We utilized Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes Database (STRING) to assess protein–protein interaction (PPI) information, and then we used plug-in Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) to screen hub modules of PPI network in Cytoscape. We also performed functional analysis on the genes in the hub module by using clusterprofiler. Next, we utilized the “WGCNA” package in R to establish co-expression network for the DEGs. The Venn diagram was performed to overlap the gene in key module and hub PPI cluster. We validated the key genes in TCGA, GEPIA, UALCAN and Immunohistochemistry staining obtained from The Human Protein Atlas database. And then we did ROC curve analysis by SPSS. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and mutation analysis were also performed for hub genes.

Results

Functional and pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that the upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in CXCR chemokine receptor binding, chemokine activity, chemokine receptor binding, G-protein coupled receptor binding, RAGE receptor binding, cytokine activity, microtubule binding, receptor regulator activity and microtubule motor activity, and the down-regulated genes were highly enriched in collagen binding. After using STRING software to construct PPI network, 30 prominent proteins were identified and the first two significant modules were selected. In co-expression network, 5 EC-related modules were identified. Among them, the turquoise module has the highest correlation with the EC. We further analyzed the genes in the PPI and turquoise module, and selected eleven key genes related to EC after validation of TCGA database, GEPIA, UALCAN and immunohistochemistry. Six of them had mutation significance.

Conclusions

In summary, these 11 genes may become new therapy targets for EC treatment.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0859-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

NUF2 is a valuable prognostic biomarker to predict early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection

Early tumor recurrence after curative surgical resection poses a great challenge to the clinical management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We conducted whole genome expression microarrays on 64 primary HCC tumors with clinically defined recurrence status and cross-referenced with RNA-seq data from 18 HCC tumors in the Cancer Genome Atlas project. We identified a 77-gene signature, which is significantly associated with early recurrent (ER) HCC tumors. This ER-associated signature shows significant enrichment in genes involved in cell cycle pathway. We performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to evaluate the prognostic biomarker potential of these 77 genes and Pearson correlation analysis to identify 11 close clusters. The one gene with the best area under the ROC curve in each of the 11 clusters was selected for validation using reverse-transcription quantitative PCR in an independent cohort of 24 HCC tumors. NUF2 was identified to be the minimal biomarker sufficient to discriminate ER tumors from LR tumors. NUF2 in combination with liver cirrhosis could significantly improve the detection of ER tumors with an AUROC of 0.82 and 0.85 in the test and validation cohort, respectively. In conclusion, NUF2 in combination with liver cirrhosis is a promising prognostic biomarker for early HCC recurrence.

Anillin regulates epithelial cell mechanics by structuring the medial-apical actomyosin network

Cellular forces sculpt organisms during development, while misregulation of cellular mechanics can promote disease. Here, we investigate how the actomyosin scaffold protein anillin contributes to epithelial mechanics in Xenopus laevis embryos. Increased mechanosensitive recruitment of vinculin to cell-cell junctions when anillin is overexpressed suggested that anillin promotes junctional tension. However, junctional laser ablation unexpectedly showed that junctions recoil faster when anillin is depleted and slower when anillin is overexpressed. Unifying these findings, we demonstrate that anillin regulates medial-apical actomyosin. Medial-apical laser ablation supports the conclusion that that tensile forces are stored across the apical surface of epithelial cells, and anillin promotes the tensile forces stored in this network. Finally, we show that anillin's effects on cellular mechanics impact tissue-wide mechanics. These results reveal anillin as a key regulator of epithelial mechanics and lay the groundwork for future studies on how anillin may contribute to mechanical events in development and disease.

Src-transformed cells hijack mitosis to extrude from the epithelium

At the initial stage of carcinogenesis single mutated cells appear within an epithelium. Mammalian in vitro experiments show that potentially cancerous cells undergo live apical extrusion from normal monolayers. However, the mechanism underlying this process in vivo remains poorly understood. Mosaic expression of the oncogene vSrc in a simple epithelium of the early zebrafish embryo results in extrusion of transformed cells. Here we find that during extrusion components of the cytokinetic ring are recruited to adherens junctions of transformed cells, forming a misoriented pseudo-cytokinetic ring. As the ring constricts, it separates the basal from the apical part of the cell releasing both from the epithelium. This process requires cell cycle progression and occurs immediately after vSrc-transformed cell enters mitosis. To achieve extrusion, vSrc coordinates cell cycle progression, junctional integrity, cell survival and apicobasal polarity. Without vSrc, modulating these cellular processes reconstitutes vSrc-like extrusion, confirming their sufficiency for this process.

Potentially cancerous cells undergo live apical extrusion from normal monolayers and vSrc expression induces this in zebrafish epithelia. Here, the authors show that vSrc coordinates cytokinetic ring formation, cell cycle progression, junctional integrity, cell survival and apicobasal polarity to induce extrusion of transformed cells.

ANLN functions as a key candidate gene in cervical cancer as determined by integrated bioinformatic analysis

Background

Cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of female deaths, remains a top cause of mortality in gynecologic oncology and tends to affect younger individuals. However, the pathogenesis of cervical cancer is still far from clear. Given the high incidence and mortality of cervical cancer, uncovering the causes and pathogenesis as well as identifying novel biomarkers are of great significance and are desperately needed.

Materials and methods

First, raw data were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The Robuse Multi-Array Average algorithm and combat function of the sva package were subsequently applied to preprocess and remove batch effects. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analyzed with the limma package were followed by gene ontology and pathway analysis, and a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network based on the STRING website and the Cytoscape software was constructed. Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to build the coexpression network. Subsequently, UALCAN websites were employed to conduct survival analysis. Finally, the oncomine database was used to validate the expression of ANLN in other datasets.

Results

GSE29570 and GSE89657, including 49 cervical cancer tissues and 20 normal cervical tissues, were screened as the datasets. Three-hundred-twenty-four DEGs were identified and, among them, 123 were upregulated, while 201 were downregulated. The DEGs PPI network complex, contained 305 nodes and 4,962 edges, and 8 clusters were calculated according to k-core =2. Among them, cluster 1, which had 65 nodes and 1,780 edges, had the highest score in these clusters. In coexpression analysis, there were 86 hubgenes from the Brown modules that were chosen for further analysis. Sixty-one key genes were identified as the intersecting genes of the Brown module of WGCNA and DEGs. In survival analysis, only ANLN was a prognostic factor, and the survival was significantly better in the low-expression ANLN group.

Conclusion

Our study suggested that ANLN may be a potential tumor oncogene and could serve as a biomarker for predicting the prognosis of cervical cancer patients.

Knockdown of Anillin Actin Binding Protein Blocks Cytokinesis in Hepatocytes and Reduces Liver Tumor Development in Mice Without Affecting Regeneration

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Cytokinesis can fail during normal postnatal liver development, leading to polyploid hepatocytes. We investigated whether inhibiting cytokinesis in the liver slows tumor growth without compromising the health of normal hepatocytes. We inhibited cytokinesis in cancer cells by knocking down ANLN, a cytoskeletal scaffolding protein that regulates cytokinesis and might promote tumorigenesis, in mice with liver disease.

METHODS

We analyzed clinical and gene expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Oncomine, PrognoScan, and a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue microarray. We knocked down ANLN with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in H2.35 liver cells and performed image analyses of cells undergoing cytokinesis. siRNAs were delivered to LAP-MYC mice, which develop hepatoblastoma, using lipid nanoparticles. H2.35 cells with knockdown of ANLN or control cells were injected into FRG mice, which develop chronic liver damage, and tumor growth was monitored. We also developed mice with inducible expression of transgenes encoding small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) against Anln messenger RNA and studied liver tumorigenesis after administration of diethylnitrosamine and carbon tetrachloride. siRNAs against Anln messenger RNA were conjugated to N-acetylgalactosamine to reduce toxicity and increase hepatocyte tropism; their effects were studied in mouse models of liver cancer and regeneration.

RESULTS

Levels of ANLN messenger RNA were increased in human HCC tissues compared to non-tumor liver tissues. siRNA knockdown of ANLN blocked cytokinesis in H2.35 liver cells. Administration of siRNA against ANLN increased survival times of LAP-MYC mice, compared to mice given a control siRNA. H2.35 liver cells with shRNA knockdown of ANLN formed tumors more slowly in FRG mice than control H2.35 cells. Mice with inducible expression of shRNAs against Anln mRNA developed fewer liver tumors after administration of diethylnitrosamine and carbon tetrachloride than control mice. Knockdown of ANLN did not affect liver regeneration after acute and chronic liver injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

Knockdown of ANLN in liver cells blocks cytokinesis and inhibits development of liver tumors in mice. Agents that inhibit ANLN in the liver might be effective for prevention or treatment of HCC.

Dual strands of the miR-223 duplex (miR-223-5p and miR-223-3p) inhibit cancer cell aggressiveness: targeted genes are involved in bladder cancer pathogenesis

Analyses of microRNA (miRNA) expression signatures obtained by RNA sequencing revealed that some passenger miRNAs (miR-144-5p, miR-145-3p, miR-149-3p, miR-150-3p, and miR-199a-3p) acted as anti-tumor miRNAs in several types of cancer cells. The involvement of passenger strands in the pathogenesis of human cancer is a novel concept. Based on the miRNA signature of bladder cancer (BC) obtained by RNA sequencing, we focused on both strands of the miR-223-duplex (miR-223-5p and miR-223-3p) and investigated their functional significance in BC cells. Ectopic expression of these miRNAs showed that both miR-223-3p (the guide strand) and miR-223-5p (the passenger strand) inhibited cancer cell migration and invasion of BC cells. The role of miR-223-5p (the passenger strand) has not been well studied. Combining gene expression studies and in silico database analyses, we demonstrated the presence of 20 putative target genes that could be regulated by miR-223-5p in BC cells. Among these targets, high expression of five genes (ANLN, INHBA, OIP5, CCNB1, and CDCA2) was significantly associated with poor prognosis of BC patients based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Moreover, we showed that a gene (ANLN) encoding a multifunctional actin-binding protein was directly regulated by miR-223-5p in BC cells. Overexpression of ANLN was observed in BC clinical specimens and high expression of ANLN was significantly associated with poor prognosis of BC patients. We suggest that studies of regulatory cancer networks, including the passenger strands of miRNAs, may provide new insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of BC.

Transcriptome sequencing identifies ANLN as a promising prognostic biomarker in bladder urothelial carcinoma

The prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) varies greatly even for patients with similar pathological characteristics. We conducted transcriptome sequencing on ten pairs of BLCA samples and adjacent normal tissues to identify differentially expressed genes. Anillin (ANLN) was identified as a transcript that was significantly up-regulated in BLCA samples compared with normal tissues. Prognostic power of candidate gene was studied using qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry on 40 and 209 patients, respectively. Patients with elevated ANLN expression level was correlated with poorer cancer-specific (median, 22.4 vs. 37.3 months, p = 0.001), progression-free (median, 19.7 vs. 27.9 months, p = 0.001) and recurrence-free survival (median, 17.1 vs. 25.2 months, p = 0.011) compared with low ANLN expression. Public datasets TCGA and NCBI-GEO were analyzed for external validation. Knockdown of ANLN in J82 and 5637 cells using small interfering RNA significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion ability. Moreover, knockdown of ANLN resulted in G2/M phase arrest and decreased expression of cyclin B1 and D1. Microarray analysis suggested that ANLN played a major role in cell migration and was closely associated with several cancer-related signaling pathways. In conclusion, ANLN was identified as a promising prognostic biomarker which could be used to stratify different risks of BLCA.

Overexpression of ANLN contributed to poor prognosis of anthracycline-based chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

PURPOSE

To investigate the associations of ANLN expression with prognosis of breast cancer and clinical outcome of anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

METHODS

This study enrolled 308 breast cancer patients in which 264 of them received anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect ANLN expression level of the patients. Clinical characteristics of the patients were collected, and associations of ANLN expression with prognosis were analyzed.

RESULTS

Our results showed that ANLN expression was associated with survival of breast cancer patients, and it was also related to clinical outcome of patients received anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Breast cancer patients with high expression of ANLN would have poor prognosis and poor clinical outcome to anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

ANLN could be an independent prognosis predictor for breast cancer, and its expression might be used to predict the anthracycline-based chemotherapy clinical outcome in breast cancer patients.

ANLN truncation causes a familial fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome in Dalmatian dogs

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the leading cause of death in critical care medicine. The syndrome is typified by an exaggerated inflammatory response within the lungs. ARDS has been reported in many species, including dogs. We have previously reported a fatal familial juvenile respiratory disease accompanied by occasional unilateral renal aplasia and hydrocephalus, in Dalmatian dogs. The condition with a suggested recessive mode of inheritance resembles acute exacerbation of usual interstitial pneumonia in man. We combined SNP-based homozygosity mapping of two ARDS-affected Dalmatian dogs and whole genome sequencing of one affected dog to identify a case-specific homozygous nonsense variant, c.31C>T; p.R11* in the ANLN gene. Subsequent analysis of the variant in a total cohort of 188 Dalmatians, including seven cases, indicated complete segregation of the variant with the disease and confirmed an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Low carrier frequency of 1.7% was observed in a population cohort. The early nonsense variant results in a nearly complete truncation of the ANLN protein and immunohistochemical analysis of the affected lung tissue demonstrated the lack of the membranous and cytoplasmic staining of ANLN protein in the metaplastic bronchial epithelium. The ANLN gene encodes an anillin actin binding protein with a suggested regulatory role in the integrity of intercellular junctions. Our study suggests that defective ANLN results in abnormal cellular organization of the bronchiolar epithelium, which in turn predisposes to acute respiratory distress. ANLN has been previously linked to a dominant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in human without pulmonary defects. However, the lack of similar renal manifestations in the affected Dalmatians suggest a novel ANLN-related pulmonary function and disease association.