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Kipcak A, Sezan S, Karpat O, Kaya E, Baylan S, Sariyar E, Yandim C, Karagonlar ZF. Suppression of CTC1 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and enhances RHPS4 cytotoxicity. Mol Biol Rep 2024; 51:799. [PMID: 39001931 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09756-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/15/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although DNA repair mechanisms function to maintain genomic integrity, in cancer cells these mechanisms may negatively affect treatment efficiency. The strategy of targeting cancer cells via inhibiting DNA damage repair has been successfully used in breast and ovarian cancer using PARP inhibitors. Unfortunately, such strategies have not yet yielded results in liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, is a treatment-resistant malignancy. Despite the development of guided therapies, treatment regimens for advanced HCC patients still fall short of the current need and significant problems such as cancer relapse with resistance still exist. In this paper, we targeted telomeric replication protein CTC1, which is responsible for telomere maintenance. METHODS CTC expression was analyzed using tumor and matched-tissue RNA-sequencing data from TCGA and GTEx. In HCC cell lines, q-RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect CTC1 expression. The knock-down of CTC1 was achieved using lentiviral plasmids. The effects of CTC1 silencing on HCC cells were analyzed by flow cytometry, MTT, spheroid and colony formation assays. RESULTS CTC1 is significantly downregulated in HCC tumor samples. However, CTC1 protein levels were higher in sorafenib-resistant cell lines compared to the parental groups. CTC1 inhibition reduced cell proliferation in sorafenib-resistant HCC cell lines and diminished their spheroid and colony forming capacities. Moreover, these cells were more sensitive to single and combined drug treatment with G4 stabilizer RHPS4 and sorafenib. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that targeting CTC1 might be a viable option for combinational therapies designed for sorafenib resistant HCC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arda Kipcak
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Sila Sezan
- Division of Bioengineering, Graduate School, İzmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Ozum Karpat
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Ezgi Kaya
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Sude Baylan
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Ece Sariyar
- Division of Bioengineering, Graduate School, İzmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
- Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute (IBG-Izmir), Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Cihangir Yandim
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Zeynep Firtina Karagonlar
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey.
- Division of Bioengineering, Graduate School, İzmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad, İzmir, Turkey.
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Wang H, Huang H, Liu T, Chen Y, Li J, He M, Peng J, Liang E, Li J, Liu W. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets predict the efficacy of TACE with or without PD-1 inhibitors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective clinical study. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1325330. [PMID: 38404585 PMCID: PMC10884244 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1325330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Although peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets, particularly PD-1+ T cells, are promising prognostic indicators for patients with cancer. However, their clinical significance remains unclear. Methods We prospectively enrolled 157 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with or without PD-1 inhibitors. Twenty peripheral lymphocyte subsets and cytokines were analyzed. We analyzed the differences in PD-1+ T cells between patients treated with and without PD-1 inhibitors and their associations with tumor response, survival prognosis, and clinical features. Results We found that the baseline CD8+PD-1+ and CD4+PD-1+ T-cell frequencies in patients who had received PD-1 inhibitors were lower than those in patients who had not received PD-1 inhibitors (p < 0.001). In the former patients, there were no differences in PD-1+ T-cell frequencies between the responder and non-responder subgroups (p > 0.05), whereas in the latter patients, the levels of CD8+PD-1+ T cells, CD4+PD-1+ T cells, and CD8+PD-1+/CD4+PD-1+ ratio did not predict tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), or overall survival (OS) (p>0.05). Furthermore, in multivariate analysis of patients treated with or without PD-1 inhibitors revealed that the levels of CD8+CD38+ T cells (OR = 2.806, p = 0.006) were associated with tumor response, whereas those of CD8+CD28+ T cells (p = 0.038, p = 0.001) and natural killer (NK) cells (p = 0.001, p = 0.027) were associated with PFS and OS. Although, these independent prognostic factors were associated with progressive tumor characteristics (p<0.05), with the exception of CD8+CD28+ T cells, changes in these factors before and after treatment were unassociated with tumor response (p > 0.05). Conclusion Circulating CD8+CD38+ T cells, CD8+CD28+ T cells, and NK cells were identified as potential prognostic factors for tumor response and survival in patients with HCC. Contrastingly, although PD-1 inhibitors can effectively block the T cell PD-1 receptor, the baseline PD-1+ T-cell frequencies and changes in the frequency of these cells have limited prognostic value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongyu Wang
- Department of Interventional Therapy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key laboratory of Chinese Medicine for Prevention and Treatment of Refractory Chronic Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huijie Huang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ting Liu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yaoming Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jinwei Li
- Department of Interventional Therapy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Min He
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianxin Peng
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Enyu Liang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiaping Li
- Department of Interventional Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wendao Liu
- Department of Interventional Therapy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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Xu Q, Ren L, Ren N, Yang Y, Pan J, Zheng Y, Wang G. Ferroptosis: a new promising target for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy. Mol Cell Biochem 2023:10.1007/s11010-023-04893-y. [PMID: 38051404 DOI: 10.1007/s11010-023-04893-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixed most common malignant tumor in the world. The study for HCC is mired in the predicament confronted with the difficulty of early diagnosis and high drug resistance, the survival rate of patients with HCC being low. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent cell death, has been discovered in recent years as a cell death means with tremendous potential to fight against cancer. The in-depth researches for iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation and dysregulation of antioxidant defense have brought about tangible progress in the firmament of ferroptosis with more and more results showing close connections between ferroptosis and HCC. The potential role of ferroptosis has been widely used in chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and nanotherapy, with the development of various new drugs significantly improving the prognosis of patients. Based on the characteristics and mechanisms of ferroptosis, this article further focuses on the main signaling pathways and promising treatments of HCC, envisioning that existing problems in regard with ferroptosis and HCC could be grappled with in the foreseeable future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiaoping Xu
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Cancer Center, Westlake University School of Medical, Hangzhou, 310006, China
| | - Lanqi Ren
- Fourth Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang, Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310051, China
| | - Ning Ren
- Fourth Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang, Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310051, China
| | - Yibei Yang
- Fourth Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang, Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310051, China
| | - Junjie Pan
- Fourth Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang, Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310051, China
| | - Yu Zheng
- Second Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang, Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310051, China
| | - Gang Wang
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Toxicology Research of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Cancer Center, Westlake University School of Medical, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
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Cao L, Ma X, Zhang J, Yang C, Rong P, Wang W. PTEN-related risk classification models for predicting prognosis and immunotherapy response of hepatocellular carcinoma. Discov Oncol 2023; 14:134. [PMID: 37470852 DOI: 10.1007/s12672-023-00743-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION PTEN often mutates in tumors, and its manipulation is suggested to be used in the development of preclinical tools in cancer research. This study aims to explore the biological impact of gene expression related to PTEN mutations and to develop a prognostic classification model based on the heterogeneity of PTEN expression, and to explore its sensitivity as an indicator of prognosis and molecular and biologic features in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS RNA-seq data and mutation data of the LIHC cohort sample downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The HCC samples were grouped according to the mean expression of PTEN, and the tumor microenvironment (TME) was evaluated by ESTIMATE and ssGSEA. The prognostic classification model related to PTEN were constructed by COX and LASSO regression analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PTEN-high and -low expressed group. RESULTS The expression of PTEN was affected by copy number variation (CNV) and negatively correlated with immune score, IFNγ score and immune cell infiltration. 1281 DEGs were detected between PTEN-high and PTEN-low expressed group, 8 of the DEGs were finally filtered for developing a prognosis classification model. This model showed better prognostic value than other clinicopathological parameters, and the prediction accuracy of prognosis and ICB treatment for immunotherapy cohorts was better than that of TIDE model. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the effect of CNV on PTEN expression and the negative immune correlation of PTEN, and constructed a classification model related to the expression of PTEN, which was of guiding significance for evaluating prognostic results of HCC patients and ICB treatment response of cancer immunotherapy cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Cao
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
- The Institute for Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
- Postdoctoral Research Station of Special Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiaoqian Ma
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
- The Institute for Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
| | - Juan Zhang
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
- The Institute for Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
| | - Cejun Yang
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
- The Institute for Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China
| | - Pengfei Rong
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China.
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China.
- The Institute for Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy, Central South University, Changsha, 410005, China.
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