Muscle-Derived Cytokines Reduce Growth, Viability and Migratory Activity of Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Resistance Exercise Training as a New Trend in Alzheimer's Disease Research: From Molecular Mechanisms to Prevention

Alzheimer's disease is a pathology characterized by the progressive loss of neuronal connections, which leads to gray matter atrophy in the brain. Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent type of dementia and has been classified into two types, early onset, which has been associated with genetic factors, and late onset, which has been associated with environmental factors. One of the greatest challenges regarding Alzheimer's disease is the high economic cost involved, which is why the number of studies aimed at prevention and treatment have increased. One possible approach is the use of resistance exercise training, given that it has been shown to have neuroprotective effects associated with Alzheimer's disease, such as increasing cortical and hippocampal volume, improving neuroplasticity, and promoting cognitive function throughout the life cycle. However, how resistance exercise training specifically prevents or ameliorates Alzheimer's disease has not been fully characterized. Therefore, the aim of this review was to identify the molecular basis by which resistance exercise training could prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease.

Mechanisms Underlying the Rarity of Skeletal Muscle Cancers

Skeletal muscle (SKM), despite comprising ~40% of body mass, rarely manifests cancer. This review explores the mechanisms that help to explain this rarity, including unique SKM architecture and function, which prohibits the development of new cancer as well as negates potential metastasis to SKM. SKM also presents a unique immune environment that may magnify the anti-tumorigenic effect. Moreover, the SKM microenvironment manifests characteristics such as decreased extracellular matrix stiffness and altered lactic acid, pH, and oxygen levels that may interfere with tumor development. SKM also secretes anti-tumorigenic myokines and other molecules. Collectively, these mechanisms help account for the rarity of SKM cancer.

Influence of Amino Acids and Exercise on Muscle Protein Turnover, Particularly in Cancer Cachexia

Cancer cachexia is a multifaceted syndrome that impacts individuals with advanced cancer. It causes numerous pathological changes in cancer patients, such as inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, which further diminish their quality of life. Unfortunately, cancer cachexia also increases the risk of mortality in affected individuals, making it an important area of focus for cancer research and treatment. Several potential nutritional therapies are being tested in preclinical and clinical models for their efficacy in improving muscle metabolism in cancer patients. Despite promising results, no special nutritional therapies have yet been validated in clinical practice. Multiple studies provide evidence of the benefits of increasing muscle protein synthesis through an increased intake of amino acids or protein. There is also increasing evidence that exercise can reduce muscle atrophy by modulating protein synthesis. Therefore, the combination of protein intake and exercise may be more effective in improving cancer cachexia. This review provides an overview of the preclinical and clinical approaches for the use of amino acids with and without exercise therapy to improve muscle metabolism in cachexia.

Revised contraindications for the use of non-medical WB-electromyostimulation. Evidence-based German consensus recommendations

Whole-body electromyostimulation has proven to be a highly effective alternative to conventional resistance-type exercise training. However, due to adverse effects in the past, very extensive contraindications have been put in place for the commercial, non-medical WB-EMS market. Considering recent positive innovations e.g., federal regulation, mandatory trainer education, revised guidelines, and new scientific studies on WB-EMS application, we believe that a careful revision of the very restrictive contraindications on WB-EMS is needed. This applies all the more because many cohorts with limited options for conventional exercise have so far been excluded. During a first meeting of an evidence-based consensus process, stakeholders from various backgrounds (e.g., research, education, application) set the priorities for revising the contraindications. We decided to focus on four categories of absolute contraindications: "Arteriosclerosis, arterial circulation disorders", "Diabetes mellitus" (DM), "Tumor and cancer" (TC), "Neurologic diseases, neuronal disorders, epilepsy". Based on scientific studies, quality criteria, safety aspects and benefit/risk assessment of the category, DM and TC were moved to the relative contraindication catalogue, while arteriosclerosis/arterial circulation disorders and neurologic diseases/neuronal disorders/epilepsy were still considered as absolute contraindications. While missing evidence suggests maintaining the status of neurologic diseases/neuronal disorders as an absolute contraindication, the risk/benefit-ratio does not support the application of WB-EMS in people with arteriosclerosis/arterial circulation diseases. Despite these very cautious modifications, countries with less restrictive structures for non-medical WB-EMS should consider our approach critically before implementing the present revisions. Considering further the largely increased amount of WB-EMS trials we advice regular updates of the present contraindication list.

Roflumilast inhibits tumor growth and migration in STK11/LKB1 deficient pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor of the digestive system. It is highly aggressive, easily metastasizes, and extremely difficult to treat. This study aimed to analyze the genes that might regulate pancreatic cancer migration to provide an essential basis for the prognostic assessment of pancreatic cancer and individualized treatment. A CRISPR knockout library directed against 915 murine genes was transfected into TB 32047 cell line to screen which gene loss promoted cell migration. Next-generation sequencing and PinAPL.py- analysis was performed to identify candidate genes. We then assessed the effect of serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) knockout on pancreatic cancer by wound-healing assay, chick agnosia (CAM) assay, and orthotopic mouse pancreatic cancer model. We performed RNA sequence and Western blotting for mechanistic studies to identify and verify the pathways. After accelerated Transwell migration screening, STK11 was identified as one of the top candidate genes. Further experiments showed that targeted knockout of STK11 promoted the cell migration and increased liver metastasis in mice. Mechanistic analyses revealed that STK11 knockout influences blood vessel morphogenesis and is closely associated with the enhanced expression of phosphodiesterases (PDEs), especially PDE4D, PDE4B, and PDE10A. PDE4 inhibitor Roflumilast inhibited STK11-KO cell migration and tumor size, further demonstrating that PDEs are essential for STK11-deficient cell migration. Our findings support the adoption of therapeutic strategies, including Roflumilast, for patients with STK11-mutated pancreatic cancer in order to improve treatment efficacy and ultimately prolong survival.

Secretome from Magnetically Stimulated Muscle Exhibits Anticancer Potency: Novel Preconditioning Methodology Highlighting HTRA1 Action

Briefly (10 min) exposing C2C12 myotubes to low amplitude (1.5 mT) pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) generated a conditioned media (pCM) that was capable of mitigating breast cancer cell growth, migration, and invasiveness in vitro, whereas the conditioned media harvested from unexposed myotubes, representing constitutively released secretome (cCM), was less effective. Administering pCM to breast cancer microtumors engrafted onto the chorioallantoic membrane of chicken eggs reduced tumor volume and vascularity. Blood serum collected from PEMF-exposed or exercised mice allayed breast cancer cell growth, migration, and invasiveness. A secretome preconditioning methodology is presented that accentuates the graded anticancer potencies of both the cCM and pCM harvested from myotubes, demonstrating an adaptive response to pCM administered during early myogenesis that emulated secretome-based exercise adaptations observed in vivo. HTRA1 was shown to be upregulated in pCM and was demonstrated to be necessary and sufficient for the anticancer potency of the pCM; recombinant HTRA1 added to basal media recapitulated the anticancer effects of pCM and antibody-based absorption of HTRA1 from pCM precluded its anticancer effects. Brief and non-invasive PEMF stimulation may represent a method to commandeer the secretome response of muscle, both in vitro and in vivo, for clinical exploitation in breast and other cancers.

Non-Athletic Cohorts Enrolled in Longitudinal Whole-Body Electromyostimulation Trials-An Evidence Map

Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) can be considered as a time-efficient, joint-friendly, and highly customizable training technology that attracts a wide range of users. The present evidence map aims to provide an overview of different non-athletic cohorts addressed in WB-EMS research. Based on a comprehensive systematic search according to PRISMA, eighty-six eligible longitudinal trials were identified that correspond with our eligibility criteria. In summary, WB-EMS research sufficiently covers all adult age categories in males and females. Most cohorts addressed (58%) were predominately or exclusively overweight/obese, and in about 60% of them, diseases or conditions were inclusion criteria for the trials. Cohorts specifically enrolled in WB-EMS trials suffer from cancer/neoplasm (n = 7), obesity (n = 6), diabetes mellitus (n = 5), metabolic syndrome (n = 2), nervous system diseases (n = 2), chronic heart failure (n = 4), stroke (n = 1), peripheral arterial diseases (n = 2), knee arthrosis (n = 1), sarcopenia (n = 3), chronic unspecific low back pain (n = 4), and osteopenia (n = 3). Chronic kidney disease was an eligibility criterion in five WB-EMS trials. Finally, three studies included only critically ill patients, and two further studies considered frailty as an inclusion criterion. Of importance, no adverse effects of the WB-EMS intervention were reported. In summary, the evidence gaps in WB-EMS research were particular evident for cohorts with diseases of the nervous and cerebrovascular system.

Exercise to transform tumours from cold to hot and improve immunotherapy responsiveness

Exercise provides significant health benefits to patients diagnosed with cancer including improved survival outcomes, quality of life and reduced cancer recurrence. Across multiple murine cancer models, aerobic exercise and resistance training has exhibited anti-tumour properties illustrated by inhibited tumour growth, reduced metastatic potential and modulation of the tumour microenvironment to allow the recognition and destruction of cancer cells. Clinical studies have demonstrated the rapid mobilisation and circulatory release of mature lymphoid populations, myokines and cytokines that occurs with exercise along with tumour vasculature normalisation. Tumour microenvironments enriched with immune cells with anti-cancer potential, such as CD8+ T cells, are termed 'hot', whilst those favouring an immunosuppressive environment and lacking in effector immune cells are classed as 'cold'. Pre-clinical evidence suggests exercise training has the potential to reprogramme cold tumours to become hot, although this requires validation in clinical studies. This hot environment could potentiate immunotherapy responsiveness, improving survival outcomes of patients undergoing cancer immunotherapy and allow those with typically cold tumours to benefit from immunotherapy. This review discusses the complex interactions between exercise and cancer, including exercise-induced alterations within the tumour microenvironment and systemic immunity. The potential role exercise may play in improving cancer immunotherapy responsiveness is explored. This review also highlights the need for translational studies exploring the role of exercise in patients with cancer with the potential to widen the spectrum of tumours that derive significant benefit from immunotherapy.

Integrated procedures for accelerating, deepening, and leading genetic inquiry: A first application on human muscle secretome

PURPOSE

Beyond classical procedures, bioinformatic-assisted approaches and computational biology offer unprecedented opportunities for scholars. However, these amazing possibilities still need epistemological criticism, as well as standardized procedures. Especially those topics with a huge body of data may benefit from data science (DS)-assisted methods. Therefore, the current study dealt with the combined expert-assisted and DS-assisted approaches to address the broad field of muscle secretome. We aimed to apply DS tools to fix the literature research, suggest investigation targets with a data-driven approach, predict possible scenarios, and define a workflow.

METHODS

Recognized scholars with expertise on myokines were invited to provide a list of the most important myokines. GeneRecommender, GeneMANIA, HumanNet, and STRING were selected as DS tools. Networks were built on STRING and GeneMANIA. The outcomes of DS tools included the top 5 recommendations. Each expert-led discussion has been then integrated with an DS-led approach to provide further perspectives.

RESULTS

Among the results, 11 molecules had already been described as bona-fide myokines in literature, and 11 molecules were putative myokines. Most of the myokines and the putative myokines recommended by the DS tools were described as present in the cargo of extracellular vesicles.

CONCLUSIONS

Including both supervised and unsupervised learning methods, as well as encompassing algorithms focused on both protein interaction and gene represent a comprehensive approach to tackle complex biomedical topics. DS-assisted methods for reviewing existent evidence, recommending targets of interest, and predicting original scenarios are worth exploring as in silico recommendations to be integrated with experts' ideas for optimizing molecular studies.

Mechanisms of exercise in the treatment of lung cancer - a mini-review

Lung cancer constitutes a formidable menace to global health and well-being, as its incidence and mortality rate escalate at an alarming pace. In recent years, research has indicated that exercise has potential roles in both the prevention and treatment of lung cancer. However, the exact mechanism of the coordinating effect of exercise on lung cancer treatment is unclear, limiting the use of exercise in clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to explore the mechanisms through which exercise exerts its anticancer effects against lung cancer. This review will analyze the biological basis of exercise's anticancer effects on lung cancer, with a focus on aspects such as the tumor microenvironment, matrix regulation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. Finally, we will discuss future research directions and potential clinical applications.

Exercise-induced IL-15 acted as a positive prognostic implication and tumor-suppressed role in pan-cancer

Objective: Exercise can produce a large number of cytokines that may benefit cancer patients, including Interleukin 15 (IL-15). IL-15 is a cytokine that has multiple functions in regulating the adaptive and innate immune systems and tumorigenesis of lung and breast cancers. However, the roles of IL-15 in other types of cancer remain unknown. In this article, we try to systematically analyze if IL-15 is a potential molecular biomarker for predicting patient prognosis in pan-cancer and its connection with anti-cancer effects of exercise. Methods: The expression of IL-15 was detected by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, Human protein Atlas (HPA), and Genotype Tissue-Expression (GTEX) database. Analysis of IL-15 genomic alterations and protein expression in human organic tissues was analyzed by the cBioPortal database and HPA. The correlations between IL-15 expression and survival outcomes, clinical features, immune-associated cell infiltration, and ferroptosis/cuproptosis were analyzed using the TCGA, ESTIMATE algorithm, and TIMER databases. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to evaluate the biological functions of IL-15 in pan-cancer. Results: The differential analysis suggested that the level of IL-15 mRNA expression was significantly downregulated in 12 tumor types compared with normal tissues, which is similar to the protein expression in most cancer types. The high expression of IL-15 could predict the positive survival outcome of patients with LUAD (lung adenocarcinoma), COAD (colon adenocarcinoma), COADREAD (colon and rectum adenocarcinoma), ESCA (esophageal carcinoma), SKCM (skin cutaneous melanoma), UCS (uterine carcinosarcoma), and READ (rectum adenocarcinoma). Moreover, amplification was found to be the most frequent mutation type of IL-15 genomic. Furthermore, the expression of IL-15 was correlated to the infiltration levels of various immune-associated cells in pan-cancer assessed by the ESTIMATE algorithm and TIMER database. In addition, IL-15 is positively correlated with ferroptosis/cuproptosis-related genes (ACSL4 and LIPT1) in pan-cancer. Levels of IL-15 were reported to be elevated in humans for 10-120 min following an acute exercise. Therefore, we hypothesized that the better prognosis of pan-cancer patients with regular exercise may be achieved by regulating level of IL-15. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that IL-15 is a potential molecular biomarker for predicting patient prognosis, immunoreaction, and ferroptosis/cuproptosis in pan-cancer and partly explained the anti-cancer effects of exercise.

Myokines derived from contracting skeletal muscle suppress anabolism in MCF7 breast cancer cells by inhibiting mTOR

There is strong evidence that physical activity has a profound protective effect against multiple types of cancer. Here, we show that this effect may be mediated by factors released from skeletal muscle during simulated exercise, in situ, which suppress canonical anabolic signaling in breast cancer. We report attenuated growth of MCF7 breast cancer cells in the presence of a rodent-derived exercise conditioned perfusate, independent of prior exercise training. This reduction was concomitant with increased levels of DEPTOR protein and reduced mTOR activity.

Immunoprotecting Effects of Exercise Program against Ovarian Cancer: A Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial

Exercise is known to help the immune function of cancer survivors after cancer cell removal, but there is little information about the effect of exercise on ovarian cancer survivors. We conducted this study to investigate the effects of exercise training on the physical fitness and innate immunity of ovarian cancer survivors (OCS). Twenty-seven OCS between forty-two and sixty-one years of age volunteered for this study. The participants were divided into a control group (COG, n = 15) and an exercise group (EXG, n = 12). The mean (SD) age was 51.07 (5.67) years, and the mean post-operation period was 45.96 (5.88) months. EXG participated in regular exercise training 6 days a week for 12 weeks. Body weight, fat mass, and body mass index of EXE were significantly decreased compared with those of COG. The muscle mass in EXE was increased compared to that of COG. Physical fitness factors showed positive changes in EXG compared to COG. We found that exercise training enhanced lymphocyte and neutrophil counts of leucocytes and total natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cell counts of lymphocytes through improved body composition and physical fitness after 12 weeks. Moreover, we found that improved innate immune cells through the exercise program were achieved through an increase in NKG2D+NK receptors and a decrease in KIR2DL3+NK receptors in OCS.

Preoperative Pectoralis Muscle Index Predicts Distant Metastasis-Free Survival in Breast Cancer Patients

Background

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in females worldwide. Sarcopenia is related to adverse clinical outcomes in patients with malignancies. Muscle index is a key parameter in evaluating sarcopenia. However, there is no data investigating the association between muscle index and distant metastasis in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to explore whether muscle index can effectively predict distant metastasis and death outcomes in breast cancer patients.

Study Design

The clinical data of 493 breast cancer patients at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between January 2014 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Quantitative measurements of pectoralis muscle area and skeletal muscle area were performed at the level of the fourth thoracic vertebra (T4) and the eleventh thoracic vertebra (T11) of the chest computed tomography image, respectively. The pectoralis muscle index (PMI) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) were assessed by the normalized muscle area (area/the square of height). Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.

Result

The patients with metastases had lower PMI at T4 level (PMI/T4) and SMI at T11 level (SMI/T11) compared with the patients without metastases. Moreover, there were significant correlations between PMI/T4 and lymphovascular invasion, Ki67 expression, multifocal disease, and molecular subtype. In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that PMI/T4, not SMI/T11, was an independent prognostic factor for distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) in breast cancer patients.

Conclusions

Low PMI/T4 is associated with worse DMFS and OS in breast cancer patients. Future prospective studies are needed.