Identification of fatty acid signature to predict prognosis and guide clinical therapy in patients with ovarian cancer

Cell-free ascites from ovarian cancer patients induces Warburg metabolism and cell proliferation through TGFβ-ERK signaling

Ascites plays a key role in supporting the metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells. Shear stress and carry-over of cancer cells by ascites flow support carcinogenesis and metastasis formation. In addition, soluble factors may participate in the procarcinogenic effects of ascites in ovarian cancer. This study aimed to determine the biological effects of cell-free ascites on carcinogenesis in ovarian cancer cells. Cell-free ascites from ovarian cancer patients (ASC) non-selectively induced cell proliferation in multiple models of ovarian cancer and untransformed primary human dermal fibroblasts. Furthermore, ASC induced a Warburg-type rearrangement of cellular metabolism in A2780 ovarian cancer cells characterized by increases in cellular oxygen consumption and glycolytic flux; increases in glycolytic flux were dominant. ASC induced mitochondrial uncoupling and fundamentally reduced fatty acid oxidation. Ascites-elicited effects were uniform among ascites specimens. ASC-elicited transcriptomic changes in A2780 ovarian cancer cells included induction of the TGFβ-ERK/MEK pathway, which plays a key role in inducing cell proliferation and oncometabolism. ASC-induced gene expression changes, as well as the overexpression of members of the TGFβ signaling system, were associated with poor survival in ovarian cancer patients. We provided evidence that the activation of the autocrine/paracrine of TGFβ signaling system may be present in bladder urothelial carcinoma and stomach adenocarcinoma. Database analysis suggests that the TGFβ system may feed forward bladder urothelial carcinoma and stomach adenocarcinoma. Soluble components of ASC support the progression of ovarian cancer. These results suggest that reducing ascites production may play an essential role in the treatment of ovarian cancer by inhibiting the progression and reducing the severity of the disease.

Tumor glucose metabolism and the T cell glycocalyx: implication for T cell function

The T cell is an immune cell subset highly effective in eliminating cancer cells. Cancer immunotherapy empowers T cells and occupies a solid position in cancer treatment. The response rate, however, remains relatively low (<30%). The efficacy of immunotherapy is highly dependent on T cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the ability of these infiltrated T cells to sustain their function within the TME. A better understanding of the inhibitory impact of the TME on T cells is crucial to improve cancer immunotherapy. Tumor cells are well described for their switch into aerobic glycolysis (Warburg effect), resulting in high glucose consumption and a metabolically distinct TME. Conversely, glycosylation, a predominant posttranslational modification of proteins, also relies on glucose molecules. Proper glycosylation of T cell receptors influences the immunological synapse between T cells and tumor cells, thereby affecting T cell effector functions including their cytolytic and cytostatic activities. This review delves into the complex interplay between tumor glucose metabolism and the glycocalyx of T cells, shedding light on how the TME can induce alterations in the T cell glycocalyx, which can subsequently influence the T cell's ability to target and eliminate tumor cells.

Fatty acid metabolism-related lncRNA prognostic signature for serous ovarian carcinoma

Background: To explore the role of fatty acid metabolism (FAM)-related lncRNAs in the prognosis and antitumor immunity of serous ovarian cancer (SOC). Materials & methods: A SOC FAM-related lncRNA risk model was developed and evaluated by a series of analyses. Additional immune-related analyses were performed to further assess the associations between immune state, tumor microenvironment and the prognostic risk model. Results: Five lncRNAs associated with the FAM genes were found and used to create a predictive risk model. The patients with a low-risk profile exhibited favorable prognostic outcomes. Conclusion: The established prognostic risk model exhibits better predictive capabilities for the prognosis of patients with SOC and offers novel potential therapy targets for SOC.

Low expression of acyl-CoA thioesterase 13 is associated with poor prognosis in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma

Objective: Acyl-CoA thioesterase 13 (ACOT13) encodes a member of the thioesterase superfamily. It has not been reported in ovarian cancer. This research aimed at evaluating the expression and prognostic value of ACOT13 in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OSC). Methods: We extracted and analyzed TCGA, GEPIA, THPA, GTEx, miRWalk, and GDSC databases to investigate the potential carcinogenic mechanism of ACOT13 in OSC, including the correlation of ACOT13 with prognosis, immune checkpoint, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) score. The incidence of endpoint events was compared with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Independent prognostic factors for OSC were evaluated with univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, and a nomogram was established. Results: The expression of ACOT13 was increased in OSC and correlated with tumor stage, with higher expression in stages I and II than in stages III and IV. Besides, it was observed that low expression of ACOT13 is correlated with poor overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with OSC. There was a positive correlation between ACOT13 expression and immune checkpoint sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin (SIGLEC) 15 and TMB. Patients with low ACOT13 expression had higher cisplatin IC50 scores. Conclusion: ACOT13 is an independent prognostic factor and a promising clinical target for OSC. In the future, the carcinogenic mechanism and clinical application value of ACOT13 in ovarian cancer need to be further studied.