Intensive Glucose Control Reduces the Risk Effect of TRIB3, SMARCD3, and ATF6 Genetic Variation on Diabetic Vascular Complications

Metformin Prevents Tumor Cell Growth and Invasion of Human Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer (HR+ BC) Cells via FOXA1 Inhibition

Women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer and have worse survival than non-diabetic women if they do develop breast cancer. However, more research is needed to elucidate the biological underpinnings of these relationships. Here, we found that forkhead box A1 (FOXA1), a forkhead family transcription factor, and metformin (1,1-dimethylbiguanide hydrochloride), a medication used to treat T2D, may impact hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC) tumor cell growth and metastasis. Indeed, fourteen diabetes-associated genes are highly expressed in only three HR+ breast cancer cell lines but not the other subtypes utilizing a 53,805 gene database obtained from NCBI GEO. Among the diabetes-related genes, FOXA1, MTA3, PAK4, FGFR3, and KIF22 were highly expressed in HR+ breast cancer from 4032 breast cancer patient tissue samples using the Breast Cancer Gene Expression Omnibus. Notably, elevated FOXA1 expression correlated with poorer overall survival in patients with estrogen-receptor-positive/progesterone-receptor-positive (ER+/PR+) breast cancer. Furthermore, experiments demonstrated that loss of the FOXA1 gene inhibited tumor proliferation and invasion in vitro using MCF-7 and T47D HR+ breast cancer cell lines. Metformin, an anti-diabetic medication, significantly suppressed tumor cell growth in MCF-7 cells. Additionally, either metformin treatment or FOXA1 gene deletion enhanced tamoxifen-induced tumor growth inhibition in HR+ breast cancer cell lines within an ex vivo three-dimensional (3D) organoid model. Therefore, the diabetes-related medicine metformin and FOXA1 gene inhibition might be a new treatment for patients with HR+ breast cancer when combined with tamoxifen, an endocrine therapy.

Association of RASGRP1 polymorphism with vascular complications in Chinese diabetic patients with glycemic control and antihypertensive treatment

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown that RASGRP1 was potently associated with the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and RASGRP1 rs7403531 was significantly correlated with islet function in T2DM patients. However, the effect of RASGRP1 polymorphism on blood glucose and blood pressure in T2DM patients after continuous treatment has yet to be fully elucidated.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the association between RASGRP1 genetic polymorphism and cardiovascular complications in T2DM patients, so as to provide more evidence for the individualized treatment of T2DM patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed a large-scale multicenter drug clinical study cohort that based on a 2 × 2 factorial (glucose control axis and blood pressure lowering axis) randomized controlled design, with follow-up for 5 years. The major vascular endpoint events included cardiovascular death, non-fatal stroke, coronary heart disease, new-onset or worsening renal disease, and diabetic retinopathy. RASGRP1 rs12593201, rs56254815 and rs7403531 were finally selected as candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms. Mixed linear model and Cox hazard ratio (HR) model were used for data analysis with IBM SPSS (version 20.0 for windows; Chicago, IL).

RESULTS

Our study enrolled 1357 patients with high-risk diabetes, with a mean follow-up duration of 4.8 years. RASGRP1 rs7403531 was associated with vascular events in hypoglycemic and antihypertensive therapy. Specifically, compared with CC carriers, patients with CT/TT genotype had fewer major microvascular events (HR = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21-0.80, P = 0.009), and reduced the risk of major eye disease events (HR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.20-0.94, P = 0.03). For glucose lowering axis, CT/TT carriers had a lower risk of secondary nephropathy (HR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.25-0.92, P = 0.03) in patients with standard glycemic control. For blood pressure lowering axis, all cerebrovascular events (HR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.11-4.51, P = 0.025) and stroke events (HR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.03-4.15, P = 0.04) were increased in patients with CC genotype compared to those with CT/TT genotype in the placebo group, respectively. Furthermore, patients with CC genotype showed a reduced risk of major cerebrovascular events in antihypertensive group (HR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.15-0.86, P = 0.021). For RASGRP1 rs56254815, compared with the AA genotype carriers, the systolic blood pressure of AG/GG carriers in the antihypertensive group decreased by 1.5mmhg on average (P = 0.04). In the placebo group, the blood pressure of AG/GG carriers was 1.7mmHg higher than that of AA carriers (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

We found that patients with G allele of RASGRP1 (rs56254815) showed a better antihypertensive therapy efficacy in T2DM patients. The rs7403531 T allele could reduce the risk of major microvascular events and major eye diseases in T2DM patients receiving either hypoglycemic or antihypertensive therapy. Our findings suggest that RASGRP1 genetic polymorphism might predict the cardiovascular complications in T2DM patients.

lncRNA UCA1 promotes tumor progression by targeting SMARCD3 in cervical cancer

Long noncoding RNA urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) has been identified as a key molecule in human cancers. However, its functional implications remain unspecified in the context of cervical cancer (CC). This research aims to identify the regulatory mechanism of UCA1 in CC. UCA1 was identified through microarray and confirmed through a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Proteins that bind with UCA1 were recognized using RNA pull-down assays along with RNA immunoprecipitation. Ubiquitination assays and coimmunoprecipitation were performed to explore the molecular mechanisms of the SWI/SNF-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily d, member 3 (SMARCD3) downregulated in CC. The effects of UCA1 and SMARCD3 on the progression of CC were investigated through gain- and loss-of-function assays and xenograft tumor formation in vivo. In this study, UCA1 was found to be upregulated in CC cells as well as in human plasma exosomes for the first time. Functional studies indicated that UCA1 promotes CC progression. Mechanically, UCA1 downregulated the SMARCD3 protein stabilization by promoting SMARCD3 ubiquitination. Taken together, we revealed that the UCA1/SMARCD3 axis promoted CC progression, which could provide a new therapeutic target for CC.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Metabolism in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, accounting for 85% to 90% of all liver cancer cases. It is a hepatocyte-derived primary tumor, causing 550,000 deaths per year, ranking it as one of the most common cancers worldwide. The liver is a highly metabolic organ with multiple functions, including digestion, detoxification, breakdown of fats, and production of bile and cholesterol, in addition to storage of vitamins, glycogen, and minerals, and synthesizing plasma proteins and clotting factors. Due to these fundamental and diverse functions, the malignant transformation of hepatic cells can have a severe impact on the liver's metabolism. Furthermore, tumorigenesis is often accompanied by activation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways, which are known to be highly intertwined with several metabolic pathways. Because HCC is characterized by changes in the metabolome and by an aberrant activation of the ER stress pathways, the aim of this review was to summarize the current knowledge that links ER stress and metabolism in HCC, thereby focusing on potential therapeutic targets.

The functions and molecular mechanisms of Tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) implicated in the pathophysiology of cancer

Currently, cancer ranks as the second leading cause of death worldwide, and at the same time, the burden of cancer continues to increase. The underlying molecular pathways involved in the initiation and development of cancer are the subject of considerable research worldwide. Further understanding of these pathways may lead to new cancer treatments. Growing data suggest that Tribble's homolog 3 (TRIB3) is essential in oncogenesis in many types of cancer. The mammalian tribbles family's proteins regulate various cellular and physiological functions, such as the cell cycle, stress response, signal transduction, propagation, development, differentiation, immunity, inflammatory processes, and metabolism. To exert their activities, Tribbles proteins must alter key signaling pathways, including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways. Recent evidence supports that TRIB3 dysregulation has been linked to various diseases, including tumor development and chemoresistance. It has been speculated that TRIB3 may either promote or inhibit the onset and development of cancer. However, it is still unclear how TRIB3 performs this dual function in cancer. In this review, we present and discuss the most recent data on the role of TRIB3 in cancer pathophysiology and chemoresistance. Furthermore, we describe in detail the molecular mechanism TRIB3 regulates in cancer.

LncRNA SMARCD3-OT1 Promotes Muscle Hypertrophy and Fast-Twitch Fiber Transformation via Enhancing SMARCD3X4 Expression

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plays a crucial part in all kinds of life activities, especially in myogenesis. SMARCD3 (SWI/SNF-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily d, member 3) is a member of the SWI/SNF protein complex and was reported to be required for cell proliferation and myoblast differentiation. In this study, we identified a new lncRNA named SMARCD3-OT1 (SMARCD3overlappinglncRNA), which strongly regulated the development of myogenesis by improving the expression of SMARCD3X4 (SMARCD3transcripts4). We overexpressed and knockdown the expression of SMARCD3-OT1 and SMARCD3X4 to investigate their function on myoblast proliferation and differentiation. Cell experiments proved that SMARCD3-OT1 and SMARCD3X4 promoted myoblast proliferation through the CDKN1A pathway and improved differentiation of differentiated myoblasts through the MYOD pathway. Moreover, they upregulated the fast-twitch fiber-related genes and downregulated the slow-twitch fiber-related genes, which indicated that they facilitated the slow-twitch fiber to transform into the fast-twitch fiber. The animals’ experiments supported the results above, demonstrating that SMARCD3-OT1 could induce muscle hypertrophy and fast-twitch fiber transformation. In conclusion, SMARCD3-OT1 can improve the expression of SMARCD3X4, thus inducing muscle hypertrophy. In addition, SMARCD3-OT1 can facilitate slow-twitch fibers to transform into fast-twitch fibers.

Tribbles pseudokinase 3 (TRIB3) contributes to the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway

Background

Tribble pseudokinase 3 (TRIB3) plays a key role in regulating the malignancy of many tumors. This study examined its function in cancer cells and explored the potential mechanisms of action.

Methods

The expression of TRIB3 was examined in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A TRIB3 lentivirus with a flag label was constructed and transfected into Huh7 and Hep3B human hepatoma cell lines to generate cells that stably overexpress TRIB3. A small interfering RNA (siRNA) was designed to knockdown TRIB3 mRNA in HepG2 and Huh7. Cell viability and cell colony formation assays were conducted. Flow cytometry was performed to assess the cell cycle in cells overexpressing TRIB3. Western blotting were performed to examine the expression of (Mitogen-activated protein kinase, MAPKK) (MEK), phosphorylated-MEK (p-MEK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p-MEK in cells with TRIB3 knockdown. The correlation between TRIB3 and SMARCD3 was assessed using co-immunoprecipitation assays and immunofluorescence.

Results

TRIB3 was significantly overexpressed in advanced grade HCC tissues and was closely correlated with poor prognosis. TRIB3 overexpression promoted the cell growth and cell cycle but had little effect on migration capabilities in Huh7 and Hep3B cells. Conversely, knockdown of TRIB3 had slow down the cell growth in Huh7 and HepG2 cells detected by CCK8 and colony formation assay. The expression of MEK and ERK at both the protein and mRNA levels were downregulated when TRIB3 was knocked down. The protein expression of p-ERK and p-MEK were also downregulated upon TRIB3 silencing. SMARCD3 is a transcript factor that is belongs to the SWI/SNF complex and has been shown to regulate many genes. Indeed, co-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that TRIB3 interacts with SMARCD3 in the nucleus, suggesting that it may regulate TRIB3 in HCCs.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that TRIB3 promotes the malignancy of HCC cells and its expression may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for HCC progression.

Genetic association of hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1A) Pro582Ser polymorphism with risk of diabetes and diabetic complications

Diabetes is an age-related chronic disease associated with a number of complications, emerging as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several studies indicated that hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1A) genetic polymorphisms may be associated with diabetes and diabetic complications. However, this association remains ambiguous. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to provide more precise conclusion on this issue. Odds ratios (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were applied to assess the strength of the relationships. There was a protective association between HIF1A Pro582Ser polymorphism and diabetes under the heterozygous genetic model (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.55-0.91; P = 0.007). Similar associations were observed in diabetic complications risk under the allelic (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.57-0.83; P < 0.001), homozygous (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.30-0.87; P = 0.014), recessive (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.59-0.90; P = 0.004) and dominant (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.25-0.65; P < 0.001) genetic models. No effects of the HIF1A Ala588Thr polymorphism were found in risk of diabetes and diabetic complications. Taken together, these findings revealed the protective effect of HIF1A Pro582Ser polymorphism against diabetes and diabetic complications.

TRIB3 rs6037475 is a potential biomarker for predicting felodipine drug response in Chinese patients with hypertension

Background

Our previous studies have found that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) are related to the hypotensive effects of calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. In this study, we aimed at exploring and validating the effect of TRIB3 polymorphism on antihypertensive drugs responses.

Methods

A total of 830 hypertensive patients, who were administered with open-labeled hydrochlorothiazide (12.5 mg once daily) and randomly assigned to off-labeled felodipine (5 mg) or a matched placebo combination treatment (1:1), were selected from the Felodipine Event Reduction (FEVER) study. A strategy of screening 259 samples and validating the remaining 531 samples was implemented. Four functional SNPs were selected (rs2295490, rs11470129, rs4815567 and rs6037475 in TRIB3). A mixed linear model was performed to analyze the effects of TRIB3 SNPs on antihypertensive drugs responses.

Results

We found that TRIB3 rs6037475 CC genotype was associated with a reduction of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P=6.3×10⁻³) in the felodipine treatment group of screening set, and was also associated with a reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P=0.021), DBP (P=6.0×10⁻³) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (P=0.021) in the felodipine treatment group of the validation set. As for the reductions influenced by the rs2295490, rs11470129 and rs4815567 genetic variations, however, the adjusted P-value did not reach statistical significance. Combined screening and validation set analysis found that patients with TRIB3 rs6037475 CC genotype had a significant higher mean SBP, DBP and MAP than those with TT genotype in the felodipine treatment group (CC vs. TT −10.2±0.74 vs. −17.8±0.21, P=7.8×10⁻³; −4.6±0.50 vs. −10.2±0.23, P=3.0×10⁻⁴; −6.5±0.54 vs. −12.7±0.14, P=3.0×10⁻⁴, respectively).

Conclusions

These results suggest that TRIB3 rs6037475 genetic variation can be useful as a bio-marker for predicting felodipine drug response in Chinese patients with hypertension.

Polytropic Influence of TRIB3 rs2295490 Genetic Polymorphism on Response to Antihypertensive Agents in Patients With Essential Hypertension

Tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) mediating signaling pathways are closely related to blood pressure regulation. Our previous findings suggested a greater benefit on vascular outcomes in patients carrying TRIB3 (251, A > G, rs2295490) G allele with good glucose and blood pressure control. And TRIB3 (rs2295490) AG/GG genotypes were found to reduce primary vascular events in type 2 diabetic patients who received intensive glucose treatment as compared to those receiving standard glucose treatment. However, the effect of TRIB3 genetic variation on antihypertensives was not clear in essential hypertension patients. A total of 368 patients treated with conventional dosage of antihypertensives (6 groups, grouped by atenolol/bisoprolol, celiprolol, doxazosin, azelnidipine/nitrendipine, imidapril, and candesartan/irbesartan) were enrolled in our study. Genetic variations were successfully identified by sanger sequencing. A linear mixed model analysis was performed to evaluate blood pressures among TRIB3 (251, A > G) genotypes and adjusted for baseline age, gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol and other biochemical factors appropriately. Our data suggested that TRIB3 (251, A > G) AA genotype carriers showed better antihypertensive effect than the AG/GG genotype carriers [P = 0.014 for DBP and P = 0.042 for mean arterial pressure (MAP)], with a maximal reduction of DBP by 4.2 mmHg and MAP by 3.56 mmHg after azelnidipine or nitrendipine treatment at the 4th week. Similar tendency of DBP-change and MAP-change was found for imidapril (ACEI) treatment, in which marginally significances were achieved (P = 0.073 and 0.075, respectively). Against that, we found that TRIB3 (251, A > G) AG/GG genotype carriers benefited from antihypertensive therapy of ARBs with a larger DBP-change during the period of observation (P = 0.036). Additionally, stratified analysis revealed an obvious difference of the maximal blood pressure change (13 mmHg for the MAP between male and female patients with AA genotype who took ARBs). Although no significant difference in antihypertensive effect between TRIB3 (251, A > G) genotypes in patients treated with α, β-ADRs was observed, we found significant difference in age-, sex-dependent manner related to α, β-ADRs. In conclusion, our data supported that TRIB3 (251, A > G) genetic polymorphism may serve as a useful biomarker in the treatment of hypertension.