MRVI1 and NTRK3 Are Potential Tumor Suppressor Genes Commonly Inactivated by DNA Methylation in Cervical Cancer

From genomic spectrum of NTRK genes to adverse effects of its inhibitors, a comprehensive genome-based and real-world pharmacovigilance analysis

Introduction: The discovery of neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusions has facilitated the development of precision oncology. Two first-generation NTRK inhibitors (larotrectinib and entrectinib) are currently approved for the treatment of patients with solid tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions. Nevertheless, comprehensive NTRK profiling at the pan-cancer genomic level and real-world studies pertaining to the adverse events of NTRK inhibitors are lacking. Methods: We characterize the genome of NTRK at the pan-cancer level through multi-omics databases such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Through the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database, we collect reports of entrectinib and larotrectinib-induced adverse events and perform a pharmacovigilance analysis using various disproportionality methods. Results: NTRK1/2/3 expression is lower in most tumor tissues, while they have higher methylation levels. NTRK gene expression has prognostic value in some cancer types, such as breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA). The cancer type with highest NTRK alteration frequency is skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) (31.98%). Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) has the largest number of NTRK fusion cases, and the most common fusion pair is ETV6-NTRK3. Adverse drug events (ADEs) obtained from the FAERS database for larotrectinib and entrectinib are 524 and 563, respectively. At the System Organ Class (SOC) level, both drugs have positive signal value for "nervous system disorder". Other positive signals for entrectinib include "cardiac disorders", "metabolism and nutrition disorders", while for larotrectinib, it is "hepatobiliary disorders". The unexpected signals are also listed in detail. ADEs of the two NTRK inhibitors mainly occur in the first month. The median onset time of ADEs for entrectinib and larotrectinib was 16 days (interquartile range [IQR] 6-86.5) and 44 days ([IQR] 7-136), respectively. Conclusion: Our analysis provides a broad molecular view of the NTRK family. The real-world adverse drug event analysis of entrectinib and larotrectinib contributes to more refined medication management.

Construction of prognostic risk markers for cervical cancer combined with anoikis-related genes and their clinical significance

CONTEXT

Several studies have demonstrated that anoikis affects the development, metastasis and prognosis of cancer.

AIMS

This study aimed to identify anoikis-related marker genes in cervical cancer (CC).

METHODS

Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) combined with Cox regression analysis was used to construct a prognostic model and analyse the independent prognostic ability of riskscore. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and survival curves were used to evaluate and verify the performance and accuracy of the model. The nomogram of CC prognostic model was drawn using riskscore combined with clinical information. We analysed the relationship between prognostic riskscore and immune infiltration level and analysed immunophenoscore. Finally, qRT-PCR assay was used to verify the feature genes.

KEY RESULTS

By Cox analysis, we found that the prognostic risk model could effectively predict the risk of CC in patients independently of other clinical factors. Both the levels of immune infiltration and the immunophenoscore were significantly lower in high-risk CC patients than those in low-risk patients, revealing that high-risk patients were likely to have bad response to immunotherapy. The qRT-PCR results of the feature genes were consistent with the results of gene expression in the database.

CONCLUSIONS

The prognostic model constructed, based on anoikis-related genes in CC, could predict the prognosis of CC patients.

IMPLICATIONS

The model described here can provide effective support for assessing prognostic risk and devising personalised protocols during clinical treatment.

Novel Functional Features of cGMP Substrate Proteins IRAG1 and IRAG2

The inositol triphosphate-associated proteins IRAG1 and IRAG2 are cGMP kinase substrate proteins that regulate intracellular Ca²⁺. Previously, IRAG1 was discovered as a 125 kDa membrane protein at the endoplasmic reticulum, which is associated with the intracellular Ca²⁺ channel IP₃R-I and the PKGIβ and inhibits IP₃R-I upon PKGIβ-mediated phosphorylation. IRAG2 is a 75 kDa membrane protein homolog of IRAG1 and was recently also determined as a PKGI substrate. Several (patho-)physiological functions of IRAG1 and IRAG2 were meanwhile elucidated in a variety of human and murine tissues, e.g., of IRAG1 in various smooth muscles, heart, platelets, and other blood cells, of IRAG2 in the pancreas, heart, platelets, and taste cells. Hence, lack of IRAG1 or IRAG2 leads to diverse phenotypes in these organs, e.g., smooth muscle and platelet disorders or secretory deficiency, respectively. This review aims to highlight the recent research regarding these two regulatory proteins to envision their molecular and (patho-)physiological tasks and to unravel their functional interplay as possible (patho-)physiological counterparts.