A Network-Based Approach for Identification of Subtype-Specific Master Regulators in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Targeting HSP47 for cancer treatment

Heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) serves as an endoplasmic reticulum residing collagen-specific chaperone and plays an important role in collagen biosynthesis and structural assembly. HSP47 is encoded by the SERPINH1 gene, which is located on chromosome 11q13.5, one of the most frequently amplified regions in human cancers. The expression of HSP47 is regulated by multiple cellular factors, including cytokines, transcription factors, microRNAs, and circular RNAs. HSP47 is frequently upregulated in a variety of cancers and plays an important role in tumor progression. HSP47 promotes tumor stemness, angiogenesis, growth, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and metastatic capacity. HSP47 also regulates the efficacy of tumor therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. Inhibition of HSP47 expression has antitumor effects, suggesting that targeting HSP47 is a feasible strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we highlight the function and expression of regulatory mechanisms of HSP47 in cancer progression and point out the potential development of therapeutic strategies in targeting HSP47 in the future.

Macrophages direct cancer cells through a LOXL2-mediated metastatic cascade in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The lysyl oxidase-like protein 2 (LOXL2) contributes to tumour progression and metastasis in different tumour entities, but its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been evaluated in immunocompetent in vivo PDAC models.

DESIGN

Towards this end, we used PDAC patient data sets, patient-derived xenograft in vivo and in vitro models, and four conditional genetically-engineered mouse models (GEMMS) to dissect the role of LOXL2 in PDAC. For GEMM-based studies, K-Ras +/LSL-G12D;Trp53 LSL-R172H;Pdx1-Cre mice (KPC) and the K-Ras +/LSL-G12D;Pdx1-Cre mice (KC) were crossed with Loxl2 allele floxed mice (Loxl2Exon2 fl/fl) or conditional Loxl2 overexpressing mice (R26Loxl2 KI/KI) to generate KPCL2KO or KCL2KO and KPCL2KI or KCL2KI mice, which were used to study overall survival; tumour incidence, burden and differentiation; metastases; epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT); stemness and extracellular collagen matrix (ECM) organisation.

RESULTS

Using these PDAC mouse models, we show that while Loxl2 ablation had little effect on primary tumour development and growth, its loss significantly decreased metastasis and increased overall survival. We attribute this effect to non-cell autonomous factors, primarily ECM remodelling. Loxl2 overexpression, on the other hand, promoted primary and metastatic tumour growth and decreased overall survival, which could be linked to increased EMT and stemness. We also identified tumour-associated macrophage-secreted oncostatin M (OSM) as an inducer of LOXL2 expression, and show that targeting macrophages in vivo affects Osm and Loxl2 expression and collagen fibre alignment.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, our findings establish novel pathophysiological roles and functions for LOXL2 in PDAC, which could be potentially exploited to treat metastatic disease.

Gold Nanostars Combined with the Searched Antibody for Targeted Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Therapy

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common cancer in the oral and maxillofacial region. Due to the special physiological and anatomical position of the oral cavity, the disease often has a significant impact on the chewing, swallowing, language, and breathing functions of patients. In recent years, with the development of medical molecular biology, molecular targeted therapy has received increasing clinical attention and has gradually become a new method for the treatment of malignant tumors. In this research, gold nanostars with a high photothermal effect combined with the searched targeted antibody were used for OSCC therapy. We use the data set in the public database and construct a gene co-expression module by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). It was found that the turquoise module and the midnight blue module had the greatest connection to tumorigenesis. Cytoscape software was used to analyze the important modules, and the top 10 genes of each module were selected; the survival analysis of the top 10 genes was carried out by gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA), which indicated that these genes (SERPINH1, MMP11, ADAM12, FADS3, SLC36A2, C1QTNF7, SCRG1, and APOBEC2) have statistical significance as key genes that are related to the tumorigenesis of OSCC. Then, the anti-SERPINH1 antibody targeted to SERPINH1 was chosen as the inhibitor and combined with gold nanostars for photothermal assisted targeted therapy. Thus, the searched key genes can be regarded as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for further precise diagnosis.

Identifying Outcomes of Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and RECIST Stable Disease Using Radiomics Analysis

Few studies have explored the biomarkers for predicting the heterogeneous outcomes of patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma showing stable disease (SD) on the initial postchemotherapy computed tomography. We aimed to devise a radiomics signature (RS) to predict these outcomes for further risk stratification.

MiR-29c inhibits the metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma and promotes its cell cycle arrest by targeting SERPINH1

Background

A large number of studies have shown that the imbalance of micro RNA (miRNA) and its target genes can promote the development of tumors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological role and molecular mechanism of serpin peptidase inhibitor clade H member 1 (SERPINH1) and its upstream regulator miR-29c in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods

The expression levels of SERPINH1 and miR-29c were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. The proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and cell cycle were detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, would healing assay, transwell assay, flow cytometry, and dual luciferase reporter assay.

Results

High expression of SERPINH1 was detected in patients with OSCC and it can be used as a prognostic biomarker for OSCC. Cell function experiments showed that silencing the expression of SERPINH1 inhibited the proliferation and migration of OSCC cells and caused cell cycle arrest at S phase. Bioinformatics analysis showed that there was a binding site between miR-29c and SERPINH1, indicating that miR-29c may regulate the expression of SERPINH1. In addition, miR-29c overexpression inhibited the proliferation and metastasis of OSCC cells, and the subsequent rescue experiment showed that SERPINH1 overexpression can reverse the inhibitory effect of miR-29c in OSCC cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest.

Conclusions

The miRNA, miR-29c can regulate the proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle of OSCC cells by targeting SERPINH1.

Genomic Heterogeneity of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Its Clinical Impact

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death due to limited advances in recent years in early diagnosis and personalized therapy capable of overcoming tumor resistance to chemotherapy. In the last decades, significant advances have been achieved in the identification of recurrent genetic and molecular alterations of PDAC including those involving the KRAS, CDKN2A, SMAD4, and TP53 driver genes. Despite these common genetic traits, PDAC are highly heterogeneous tumors at both the inter- and intra-tumoral genomic level, which might contribute to distinct tumor behavior and response to therapy, with variable patient outcomes. Despite this, genetic and genomic data on PDAC has had a limited impact on the clinical management of patients. Integration of genomic data for classification of PDAC into clinically defined entities-i.e., classical vs. squamous subtypes of PDAC-leading to different treatment approaches has the potential for significantly improving patient outcomes. In this review, we summarize current knowledge about the most relevant genomic subtypes of PDAC including the impact of distinct patterns of intra-tumoral genomic heterogeneity on the classification and clinical and therapeutic management of PDAC.

Heat shock protein 47 confers chemoresistance on pancreatic cancer cells by interacting with calreticulin and IRE1α

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most chemoresistant cancers. An understanding of the molecular mechanism by which PDAC cells have a high chemoresistant potential is important for improvement of the poor prognosis of patients with PDAC. Here we show for the first time that disruption of heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) enhances the efficacy of the therapeutic agent gemcitabine for PDAC cells and that the efficacy is suppressed by reconstituting HSP47 expression. HSP47 interacts with calreticulin (CALR) and the unfolded protein response transducer IRE1α in PDAC cells. Ablation of HSP47 promotes both the interaction of CALR with sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ -ATPase 2 and interaction of IRE1α with inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor, which generates a condition in which an increase in intracellular Ca2+ level is prone to be induced by oxidative stimuli. Disruption of HSP47 enhances NADPH oxidase-induced generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent increase in intracellular Ca2+ level in PDAC cells after treatment with gemcitabine, resulting in the death of PDAC cells by activation of the Ca2+ /caspases axis. Ablation of HSP47 promotes gemcitabine-induced suppression of tumor growth in PDAC cell-bearing mice. Overall, these results indicated that HSP47 confers chemoresistance on PDAC cells and suggested that disruption of HSP47 may improve the efficacy of chemotherapy for patients with PDAC.