The Prognostic and Immunotherapeutic Significance of AHSA1 in Pan-Cancer, and Its Relationship With the Proliferation and Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The prognostic value of immune escape-related genes in lung adenocarcinoma

Background

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in humans, and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has become the most common histological type of lung cancer. Immune escape promotes progression of LUAD from the early to metastatic late stages and is one of the main obstacles to improving clinical outcomes for immunotherapy targeting immune detection points. Our study aims to explore the immune escape related genes that are abnormally expressed in lung adenocarcinoma, providing assistance in predicting the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma and targeted.

Methods

RNA data and related clinical details of patients with LUAD were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Through weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), 3112 key genes were screened and intersected with 182 immune escape genes obtained from a previous study to identify the immune escape-related genes (IERGs). The role of IERGs in LUAD was systematically explored through gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) analyses, which were used to enrich the relevant pathways of IERGs. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to identify the key prognostic genes, and a prognostic risk model was constructed. Estimation of Stromal and Immune Cells in Malignant Tumor Tissues Using Expression Data (ESTIMATE) and microenvironment cell populations (MCP) counter methods (which can accurately assess the amount of eight immune cell populations and two stromal cell groups) were used to analyze the tumor immune status of the high and low risk subgroups. The protein expression level of the differentially expressed genes in lung cancer samples was determined by using the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. A nomogram was constructed, and the prognostic risk model was verified via the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE72094 and GSE30219.

Results

Twenty differentially expressed IERGs were obtained. GO analysis of these 20 IERGs revealed that they were mainly associated with the regulation of immune system processes, immune responses, and interferon-γ enrichment in mediating signaling pathways and apoptotic signaling pathways; meanwhile, KEGG analysis revealed that IERGs were associated with necroptosis, antigen processing and presentation, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) pathway in tumors, cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, T helper cell 1 (Th1) and Th2 differentiation, and tumor necrosis factor signaling pathways. Using LASSO and Cox regression analysis, we constructed a four-gene model that could predict the prognosis of patients with LUAD, and the model was validated with a validation cohort. The immunohistochemical results of the HPA database showed that AHSA1 and CEP55 had low expression in normal lung tissue but high expression in lung cancer tissue.

Conclusions

We constructed an IERG-based model for predicting the prognosis of LUAD. Among the genes identified, CEP55 and AHSA1 may be potential prognostic and therapeutic targets, and reducing their expression may represent a novel approach in the treatment of LUAD.

Analysis of the Anticancer Mechanism of OR3 Pigment from Streptomyces coelicolor JUACT03 Against the Human Hepatoma Cell Line Using a Proteomic Approach

This study assessed OR3 pigment, derived from Streptomyces coelicolor JUACT03, for its anticancer potential on HepG2 liver cancer cells and its safety on HEK293 normal cells. OR3 induced apoptosis and inhibited HepG2 cell proliferation, confirmed by caspase activation, Sub-G1 phase cell cycle arrest, and reduced colony formation. Proteomic analysis revealed altered expression of proteins associated with ribosomal function, mRNA processing, nuclear transport, proteasome activity, carbohydrate metabolism, chaperone function, histone regulation, and vesicle-mediated transport. Downregulation of proteins in MAPKAP kinase1, EIF2, mTOR, and EIF4 pathways contributed to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Changes in c-MYC, FUBP1 target proteins and upregulation of Prohibitin-1 (PHB1) were also noted. Western blot analysis supported alterations in eIF2, mTOR, and RAN pathways, including downregulation of RAB 5, c-MYC, p38, MAPK1, and MAPK3. OR3 exhibited significant anti-angiogenic activity in the in ovo CAM assay. In summary, OR3 demonstrated strong anticancer effects, inducing apoptosis, hindering proliferation, and displaying antiangiogenic properties. These findings highlight OR3's potential as an anticancer drug candidate, warranting further in vivo exploration.

Research progress on molecular mechanism of pyroptosis caused by Helicobacter pylori in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a Gram-negative spiral bacterium, has the ability to colonize and persist in the human gastric mucosa. Persistent H. pylori infection has been identified as a major risk factor for ~80% of GC cases. The interplay between H. pylori pathogenicity, genetic background, and environmental factors collectively contribute to GC transformation. Eradicating H. pylori infection is beneficial in reducing the recurrence of gastric cancer and residual cancer. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in GC remain incompletely understood. Additionally, H. pylori reshapes the immune microenvironment within the stomach which may compromise immunotherapy efficacy in infected individuals. Clinical eradication of H. pylori infection still faces numerous challenges. In this review, the authors summarize recent research progress on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying H. pylori infection in GC development. Notably, CagA protein-a carcinogenic virulence factor predominantly expressed by Asian strains of H. pylori-induces inflammation and excessive ROS production within gastric mucosa cells. Dysregulation of multiple pyroptosis signalling pathways can lead to malignant transformation of these cells. MiRNA-1290 plays a crucial role in GC initiation and progression while serving as an indicator for disease progression dynamics. Pyroptosis exhibits dual roles both promoting carcinogenesis and inhibiting tumour growth; thus it holds potential clinical applications for drug-resistant GC treatment strategies. Furthermore, pyroptosis may play a regulatory role within the immune system during gastric cancer development. Lastly, the authors provide an overview on current concepts regarding pyroptosis as well as insights into miRNA-1290's pathogenicity and clinical value within immune mechanisms associated with GC, aiming to serve as reference material for researchers.

A glimpse into novel acylations and their emerging role in regulating cancer metastasis

Metastatic cancer is a major cause of cancer-related mortality; however, the complex regulation process remains to be further elucidated. A large amount of preliminary investigations focus on the role of epigenetic mechanisms in cancer metastasis. Notably, the posttranslational modifications were found to be critically involved in malignancy, thus attracting considerable attention. Beyond acetylation, novel forms of acylation have been recently identified following advances in mass spectrometry, proteomics technologies, and bioinformatics, such as propionylation, butyrylation, malonylation, succinylation, crotonylation, 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation, lactylation, among others. These novel acylations play pivotal roles in regulating different aspects of energy mechanism and mediating signal transduction by covalently modifying histone or nonhistone proteins. Furthermore, these acylations and their modifying enzymes show promise regarding the diagnosis and treatment of tumors, especially tumor metastasis. Here, we comprehensively review the identification and characterization of 11 novel acylations, and the corresponding modifying enzymes, highlighting their significance for tumor metastasis. We also focus on their potential application as clinical therapeutic targets and diagnostic predictors, discussing the current obstacles and future research prospects.

Identification of Novel Prognostic Long Non-coding RNAs in Lung Adenocarcinoma Using WGCNA Analysis

Long non-coding RNAs play crucial role in the tumorigenesis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the function of a large number of lncRNAs in LUAD has not been investigated yet. Weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to construct the co-expression module in the TCGA-LUAD cohort. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was used to explore the relationship of genes in the key module. The function of the key module on the prognosis in LUAD was analyzed using GO and KEGG analysis. Finally, we constructed the mRNA-lncRNA co-expression network in the key module to identify the hub lncRNAs that play crucial role in the prognosis in LUAD. The most highly expressed 2500 mRNAs and 2500 lncRNAs in the TCGA-LUAD cohort were clustered into 21 modules. After analyzing the correlation between the module and prognostic clinical traits, the Tan module, consisting of 130 genes, was selected as the key module on the prognosis in LUAD. And then, we found that genes in the key module were majorly enriched in ten multiple signaling pathways. Subsequently, we constructed the mRNA-lncRNA co-expression network based on the genes in the key module. Finally, we identified three lncRNAs and nineteen mRNAs that could be the promising prognostic biomarkers for LUAD. We identified three lncRNAs (MIR99AHG, ADAMTS9-AS2, and AC037459.2) and nineteen mRNAs as potential prognostic biomarkers in LUAD, which provided new insight for prognosis monitoring and therapy development in LUAD.

Unveiling the potential of HSPA4: a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of HSPA4 in diagnosis, prognosis, and immunotherapy

With the global rise in cancer incidence and mortality rates, research on the topic has become increasingly urgent. Among the significant players in this field are heat shock proteins (HSPs), particularly HSPA4 from the HSP70 subfamily, which has recently garnered considerable interest for its role in cancer progression. However, despite numerous studies on HSPA4 in specific cancer types, a comprehensive analysis across all cancer types is lacking. This study employs various bioinformatics techniques to delve into the role of HSPA4 in pan-cancer. Our objective is to assess its potential in clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and as a future molecular target for therapy. The research findings reveal significant differences in HSPA4 expression across different cancer types, suggesting its diagnostic value and close association with cancer staging and patient survival rates. Furthermore, genetic variations and methylation status of HSPA4 play critical roles in tumorigenesis. Lastly, the interaction of HSPA4 with immune cells is linked to the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immunotherapy. In summary, HSPA4 emerges as a promising cancer biomarker and a vital member of the HSPs family, holding potential applications in diagnosis, prognosis, and immunotherapy.

AHSA1 Regulates Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression via the TGF-β/Akt-Cyclin D1/CDK6 Pathway

Background

Activator of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) ATPase Activity 1 (AHSA1) regulates proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of osteosarcoma and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the novel mechanism of AHSA1 in the tumor biology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.

Methods

We analyzed AHSA1 expression in 85 pairs of clinical samples of HCC and the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The role of AHSA1 in HCC was proved by cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, cell cycle analysis in vitro, xenograft models and tumor metastasis assay in vivo, and bioinformatics.

Results

High AHSA1 expression was demonstrated in HCC and associated with invasive depth, clinical stage, and poor overall survival of patients. Univariate Cox analysis confirmed that AHSA1 was an independent prognostic factor for patients with HCC. Meanwhile, AHSA1 upregulation promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, and cell migration in vitro and tumor cell proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells in vivo. AHSA1 upregulation increased the cell cycle transition from G1 to S phase by increasing the expression of cyclinD1, cyclinD3, and cyclin-dependent kinase 6(CD). Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)-induced protein kinase B (Akt) signaling regulated the expression of downstream targets, including cyclinD1. AHSA1 expression was closely correlated with the expression of TGF-β, Akt, cyclinD1, cyclinD3, and CDK6 using the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. AHSA1 upregulation participated in HCC progression by regulating TGF-β/Akt-cyclinD1/CDK6 signaling.

Conclusion

AHSA1 might serve as a biomarker for predicting the clinical outcome of patients with HCC. It is vital in tumor metastasis and disease progression of HCC and may facilitate the development of clinical intervention strategies against HCC.

Overexpression of FNDC4 constrains ovarian cancer progression by promoting cell apoptosis and inhibiting cell growth

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. It has been reported that fibronection type III domain containing family plays an important role in the formation and development of a variety of tumors, but the role of FNDC4 is still unclear. In our study, we found that FNDC4 was highly expressed in normal liver tissues but abnormally expressed at low levels in liver cancer tissues. Enhanced apoptosis and decreased proliferation were shown in the FNDC4 overexpression model in HepG2 cells. In addition, FNDC4 was negatively correlated with AFP, a tumor marker of HCC, and other cancer-related genes such as AHSA1, GDF1, GPC3 and MDK. In addition, we found that FNDC4 was associated with the abundance of several tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the expression of chemokines and immunostimulators, and FNDC4 was enriched in response to transforming growth factor β. These results indicated that FNDC4 plays a key role in hepatocellular carcinoma progression and might be a promising biomarker for cancer diagnosis.

Integrative bioinformatics analysis of WDHD1: a potential biomarker for pan-cancer prognosis, diagnosis, and immunotherapy

BACKGROUND

Although WD repeat and high-mobility group box DNA binding protein 1 (WDHD1) played an essential role in DNA replication, chromosome stability, and DNA damage repair, the panoramic picture of WDHD1 in human tumors remains unclear. Hence, this study aims to comprehensively characterize WDHD1 across 33 human cancers.

METHODS

Based on publicly available databases such as TCGA, GTEx, and HPA, we used a bioinformatics approach to systematically explore the genomic features and biological functions of WDHD1 in pan-cancer.

RESULTS

WDHD1 mRNA levels were significantly increased in more than 20 types of tumor tissues. Elevated WDHD1 expression was associated with significantly shorter overall survival (OS) in 10 tumors. Furthermore, in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) and liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), WDHD1 expression was significantly associated with higher histological grades and pathological stages. In addition, WDHD1 had a high diagnostic value among 16 tumors (area under the ROC curve [AUC] > 0.9). Functional enrichment analyses suggested that WDHD1 probably participated in many oncogenic pathways such as E2F and MYC targets (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.05), and it was involved in the processes of DNA replication and DNA damage repair (p.adjust < 0.05). WDHD1 expression also correlated with the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of rapamycin (4 out of 10 cancers) and paclitaxel (10 out of 10 cancers). Overall, WDHD1 was negatively associated with immune cell infiltration and might promote tumor immune escape. Our analysis of genomic alterations suggested that WDHD1 was altered in 1.5% of pan-cancer cohorts and the "mutation" was the predominant type of alteration. Finally, through correlation analysis, we found that WDHD1 might be closely associated with tumor heterogeneity, tumor stemness, mismatch repair (MMR), and RNA methylation modification, which were all processes associated with the tumor progression.

CONCLUSIONS

Our pan-cancer analysis of WDHD1 provides valuable insights into the genomic characterization and biological functions of WDHD1 in human cancers and offers some theoretical support for the future use of WDHD1-targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and chemotherapeutic combinations for the management of tumors.

Prognostic and immune infiltrative biomarkers of CENPO in pan-cancer and its relationship with lung adenocarcinoma cell proliferation and metastasis

BACKGROUND

The centromere protein O (CENPO) is an important member of the centromere protein family. However, the role of CENPO in pan-cancer and immune infiltration has not been reported. Here, we investigated the role of CENPO in pan-cancer and further validated its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) by in vitro experiments.

METHOD

The UCSC Xena database and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-LUAD data were used to assess the expression levels of CENPO. The potential value of CENPO as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for pan-cancer was evaluated using TCGA data and the GEPIA database. The -expression profiles of LUAD patients and the corresponding clinical data were downloaded for correlation analysis. The role of CENPO in immune infiltration was investigated using the UCSC Xena database. Subsequently, qRT-PCR was performed to detect the expression of CENPO. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were determined using CCK-8, wound-healing assay, and transwell assay, respectively.

RESULTS

CENPO is highly expressed in most cancers, and the upregulation of CENPO is associated with poor prognosis in many cancers. CENPO expression correlates with age, TNM stage, N stage, T stage, and receipt of radiotherapy in LUAD patients, and LUAD patients with high CENPO expression have poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). In addition, CENPO expression is associated with immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Moreover, the expression of CENPO was closely related to the expression of tumor mutational load and microsatellite instability. In vitro experiments showed that CENPO expression was increased in LUAD cell lines and that knockdown of CENPO significantly inhibited the proliferation, cell invasion, and migration ability of LUAD cells.

CONCLUSION

CENPO may be a potential pan-cancer biomarker and oncogene, especially in LUAD. In addition, CENPO is associated with immune cell infiltration and may serve as a new molecular therapeutic target and effective prognostic marker for LUAD.

Identification of NOX4 as a New Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Effect on Sorafenib Therapy

To improve the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), new biomarkers and therapeutic targets are urgently needed. In this study, the GEO and TCGA dataset were used to explore the differential co-expressed genes and their prognostic correlation between HCC and normal samples. The mRNA levels of these genes were validated by qRT-PCR in 20 paired fresh HCC samples. The results demonstrated that the eight-gene model was effective in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients in the validation cohorts. Based on qRT-PCR results, NOX4 was selected to further explore biological functions within the model and 150 cases of paraffin-embedded HCC tissues were scored for NOX4 immunohistochemical staining. We found that the NOX4 expression was significantly upregulated in HCC and was associated with poor survival. In terms of function, the knockdown of NOX4 markedly inhibited the progression of HCC in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistic studies suggested that NOX4 promotes HCC progression through the activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In addition, the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib treatment was obviously decreased after NOX4 overexpression. Taken together, this study reveals NOX4 as a potential therapeutic target for HCC and a biomarker for predicting the sorafenib treatment response.