Dichotomy in the Epigenetic Mark Lysine Acetylation is Critical for the Proliferation of Prostate Cancer Cells

Emerging Proteins in CRPC: Functional Roles and Clinical Implications

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men in the western world, but the lack of specific and sensitive markers often leads to overtreatment of prostate cancer which eventually develops into castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Novel protein markers for diagnosis and management of CRPC will be promising. In this review, we systematically summarize and discuss the expression pattern of emerging proteins in tissue, cell lines, and serum when castration-sensitive prostate cancer (CSPC) progresses to CRPC; focus on the proteins involved in CRPC growth, invasion, metastasis, metabolism, and immune microenvironment; summarize the current understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of emerging proteins in CSPC progressed to CRPC at the molecular level; and finally summarize the clinical applications of emerging proteins as diagnostic marker, prognostic marker, predictive marker, and therapeutic marker.

Post-Translational Modifications That Drive Prostate Cancer Progression

While a protein primary structure is determined by genetic code, its specific functional form is mostly achieved in a dynamic interplay that includes actions of many enzymes involved in post-translational modifications. This versatile repertoire is widely used by cells to direct their response to external stimuli, regulate transcription and protein localization and to keep proteostasis. Herein, post-translational modifications with evident potency to drive prostate cancer are explored. A comprehensive list of proteome-wide and single protein post-translational modifications and their involvement in phenotypic outcomes is presented. Specifically, the data on phosphorylation, glycosylation, ubiquitination, SUMOylation, acetylation, and lipidation in prostate cancer and the enzymes involved are collected. This type of knowledge is especially valuable in cases when cancer cells do not differ in the expression or mutational status of a protein, but its differential activity is regulated on the level of post-translational modifications. Since their driving roles in prostate cancer, post-translational modifications are widely studied in attempts to advance prostate cancer treatment. Current strategies that exploit the potential of post-translational modifications in prostate cancer therapy are presented.

Clinical implications of vasohibin-1 in esophageal carcinoma cells: Inhibition of cell growth and migration

As one of the first-established negative feedback regulators of angiogenesis, mesenchymal vasohibin-1 (VASH1) serves important roles in the progression and prognosis of various types of tumor. However, the clinical implications of VASH1 in esophageal carcinoma (EC) cells have not been reported and the direct effects of VASH1 on EC cells remain unknown. In the present study, the expression of VASH1 in EC cells was observed using immunohistochemistry and western blotting; a χ2 test was used to analyze the correlation of VASH1 with clinical parameters, and it was observed that VASH1 was negatively-correlated with tumor size (r=‑0.399; P<0.01) and invasion depth (r=‑0.318; P<0.01). Survival analysis demonstrated that VASH1 was positively‑correlated with increased overall survival (P=0.039) and disease free survival (P=0.012). The direct effects of VASH1 on EC cells were analyzed by altering VASH1 expression, and it was observed that downregulation of VASH1 increased proliferation, clone formation and the migratory ability of EC9706 cells, whereas upregulation of VASH1 inhibited proliferation, clone formation and the migratory ability of EC1 cells. The results of the present study demonstrated that VASH1 in EC cells was negatively‑correlated with progression and poor prognosis of patients with EC. VASH1 was able to directly inhibit the growth and migration of EC cells.