Systematic Analysis of Molecular Characterization and Clinical Relevance of Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation Regulators in Digestive System Neoplasms

The global landscape and research trend of phase separation in cancer: a bibliometric analysis and visualization

Background

Cancer as a deathly disease with high prevalence has impelled researchers to investigate its causative mechanisms in the search for effective therapeutics. Recently, the concept of phase separation has been introduced to biological science and extended to cancer research, which helps reveal various pathogenic processes that have not been identified before. As a process of soluble biomolecules condensed into solid-like and membraneless structures, phase separation is associated with multiple oncogenic processes. However, there are no bibliometric characteristics for these results. To provide future trends and identify new frontiers in this field, a bibliometric analysis was conducted in this study.

Methods

The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was used to search for literature on phase separation in cancer from 1/1/2009 to 31/12/2022. After screening the literature, statistical analysis and visualization were carried out by the VOSviewer software (version 1.6.18) and Citespace software (Version 6.1.R6).

Results

A total of 264 publications, covering 413 organizations and 32 countries, were published in 137 journals, with an increasing trend in publication and citation numbers per year. The USA and China were the two countries with the largest number of publications, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most active institution based on the number of articles and cooperations. Molecular Cell was the most frequent publisher with high citations and H-index. The most productive authors were Fox AH, De Oliveira GAP, and Tompa P. Overlay, whilst few authors had a strong collaboration with each other. The combined analysis of concurrent and burst keywords revealed that the future research hotspots of phase separation in cancer were related to tumor microenvironments, immunotherapy, prognosis, p53, and cell death.

Conclusion

Phase separation-related cancer research remained in the hot streak period and exhibited a promising outlook. Although inter-agency collaboration existed, cooperation among research groups was rare, and no author dominated this field at the current stage. Investigating the interfaced effects between phase separation and tumor microenvironments on carcinoma behaviors, and constructing relevant prognoses and therapeutics such as immune infiltration-based prognosis and immunotherapy might be the next research trend in the study of phase separation and cancer.

Liquid-liquid phase separation throws novel insights into treatment strategies for skin cutaneous melanoma

BACKGROUND

In recent years, there has been growing evidence indicating a relationship between liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and cancer development. However, to date, the clinical significance of LLPS in skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM, hereafter referred to as melanoma) remains to be elucidated. In the current study, the impact of LLPS-related genes on melanoma prognosis has been explored.

METHODS

LLPS-related genes were retrieved from the DrLLPS database. The prognostic feature for LLPS in melanoma was developed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and verified in the GSE65904 cohort. Based on risk scores, melanoma patients were categorized into high- and low-risk groups. Thereafter, the differences in clinicopathological correlation, functional enrichment, immune landscape, tumor mutational burden, and impact of immunotherapy between the two groups were investigated. Finally, the role of key gene TROAP in melanoma was validated by in vitro and in vivo experiments.

RESULTS

The LLPS-related gene signature was developed based on MLKL, PARVA, PKP1, PSME1, RNF114, and TROAP. The risk score was a crucial independent prognostic factor for melanoma and patients with high-risk scores were related to a worse prognosis. Approximately, all immune-relevant characteristics, such as immune cell infiltration and immune scores, were extremely evident in patients with low-risk scores. The findings from the in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated that the viability, proliferation, and invasion ability of melanoma cells were drastically decreased after the knockdown of TROAP.

CONCLUSION

Our gene signature can independently predict the survival of melanoma patients. It provides a basis for the exploration of the relationship between LLPS and melanoma and can offer a fresh perspective on the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Phase separation drives the formation of biomolecular condensates in the immune system

When the external conditions change, such as the temperature or the pressure, the multi-component system sometimes separates into several phases with different components and structures, which is called phase separation. Increasing studies have shown that cells condense related biomolecules into independent compartments in order to carry out orderly and efficient biological reactions with the help of phase separation. Biomolecular condensates formed by phase separation play a significant role in a variety of cellular processes, including the control of signal transduction, the regulation of gene expression, and the stress response. In recent years, many phase separation events have been discovered in the immune response process. In this review, we provided a comprehensive and detailed overview of the role and mechanism of phase separation in the innate and adaptive immune responses, which will help the readers to appreciate the advance and importance of this field.