T-Box Transcription Factor 22 Is an Immune Microenvironment-Related Biomarker Associated With the BRAF V600E Mutation in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Context-dependent T-BOX transcription factor family: from biology to targeted therapy

T-BOX factors belong to an evolutionarily conserved family of transcription factors. T-BOX factors not only play key roles in growth and development but are also involved in immunity, cancer initiation, and progression. Moreover, the same T-BOX molecule exhibits different or even opposite effects in various developmental processes and tumor microenvironments. Understanding the multiple roles of context-dependent T-BOX factors in malignancies is vital for uncovering the potential of T-BOX-targeted cancer therapy. We summarize the physiological roles of T-BOX factors in different developmental processes and their pathological roles observed when their expression is dysregulated. We also discuss their regulatory roles in tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and the newly arising questions that remain unresolved. This review will help in systematically and comprehensively understanding the vital role of the T-BOX transcription factor family in tumor physiology, pathology, and immunity. The intention is to provide valuable information to support the development of T-BOX-targeted therapy.

T-box transcription factor 19 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis through upregulating EGFR and RAC1

The effect of targeted therapy for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unsatisfactory. Exploring the underlying mechanism of HCC metastasis is favorable to provide new therapeutic strategies. T-box (TBX) transcription factor family genes, which are crucial regulators in embryo and organ development, are vital for regulating tumor initiation, growth and metastasis. Here we explored the role of TBX19 in HCC metastasis, which is one of the most upregulated TBX family genes in human HCC tissues. TBX19 expression was markedly upregulated in HCC tissues and elevated TBX19 expression predicted poor prognosis. Overexpression of TBX19 enhanced HCC metastasis through upregulating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Rac family small GTPase 1 (RAC1) expression. Downregulation of EGFR and RAC1 inhibited TBX19-mediated HCC metastasis, while upregulation of EGFR and RAC1 restored inhibition of HCC metastasis mediated by TBX19 knockdown. Furthermore, epidermal growth factor (EGF)/EGFR signaling upregulated TBX19 expression via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/nuclear factor (NF)-kB axis. Besides, the combined application of EGFR inhibitor Erlotinib and RAC1 inhibitor NSC23766 markedly inhibited TBX19-mediated HCC metastasis. In HCC cohorts, TBX19 expression was positively associated with EGFR and RAC1 expression. Patients with positive coexpression of TBX19/EGFR or TBX19/RAC1 displayed the poorest prognosis. In conclusion, EGF/EGFR signaling upregulated TBX19 expression via ERK/NF-kB pathway and TBX19 fostered HCC metastasis by enhancing EGFR and RAC1 expression, which formed an EGF-TBX19-EGFR positive feedback loop. Targeting this signaling pathway may offer a potential therapeutic strategy to efficiently restrain TBX19-mediated HCC metastasis.

Aberrant expression of PROS1 correlates with human papillary thyroid cancer progression

Background

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer (TC). Considering the important association between cellular immunity and PTC progression, it is worth exploring the biological significance of immune-related signaling in PTC.

Methods

Several bioinformatics tools, such as R software, WEB-based Gene SeT AnaLysis Toolkit (WebGestalt), Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) and Cytoscape were used to identify the immune-related hub genes in PTC. Furthermore, in vitro experiments were adopted to identify the proliferation and migration ability of PROS1 knockdown groups and control groups in PTC cells.

Results

The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of five datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) contained 154 upregulated genes and 193 downregulated genes, with Protein S (PROS1) being the only immune-related hub gene. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) have been conducted to prove the high expression of PROS1 in PTC. Moreover, PROS1 expression was significantly correlated with lymph nodes classification. Furthermore, knockdown of PROS1 by shRNAs inhibited the cell proliferation and cell migration in PTC cells.

Conclusions

The findings unveiled the clinical relevance and significance of PROS1 in PTC and provided potential immune-related biomarkers for PTC development and prognosis.