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Gong X, Liu Y, Liang K, Chen Z, Ding K, Qiu L, Wei J, Du H. Cucurbitacin I exerts its anticancer effects by inducing cell cycle arrest via the KAT2a-ube2C/E2F1 pathway and inhibiting HepG2-induced macrophage M2 polarization. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2024; 738:150508. [PMID: 39151295 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2024] [Revised: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies globally, particularly prevalent in China, where it accounts for nearly half of the world's new cases and deaths each year, but has limited therapeutic options. This study systematically investigated the impact of cucurbitacin I on HCC cell lines including SK-Hep-1, Huh-7, and HepG2. The results revealed that cucurbitacin I not only inhibited cell proliferation, cell migration and colony formation, but also induced apoptosis in HCC cells. The apoptotic induction was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of the anti-apoptotic factor B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2), and an elevation in the expression levels of pro-apoptotic factors, including tumor protein p53 (P53), bcl2 associated X-apoptosis regulator (Bax), and caspase3 (Cas3). Additionally, cucurbitacin I caused cell cycle arrest by modulating the lysine acetyltransferase 2A (KAT2A)-E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1)/Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 C (UBE2C) signaling axis. In terms of regulation on tumor microenvironment, cucurbitacin I was demonstrated the ability to inhibit HCC cell-induced M2 polarization of macrophages. This comprehensive study unveils the multifaceted anti-cancer mechanisms of cucurbitacin I, providing robust support for its potential application in the treatment of HCC, offering new avenues for the future development of HCC treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaocheng Gong
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Yunfei Liu
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Keying Liang
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Zixi Chen
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Ke Ding
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Li Qiu
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Jinfen Wei
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Hongli Du
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China.
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Zhu Z, Zhang W, Huo S, Huang T, Cao X, Zhang Y. TUBB, a robust biomarker with satisfying abilities in diagnosis, prognosis, and immune regulation via a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis. Front Mol Biosci 2024; 11:1365655. [PMID: 38756529 PMCID: PMC11096532 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1365655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose TUBB can encode a beta-tubulin protein. At present, the role of TUBB has not been ascertained in cancers. Hence, the importance of further systematic pan-cancer analyses is stressed to explore its value in the diagnosis, prognosis, and immune function of cancers. Methods By collecting and handling integrative data from the TCGA, Firehose, UCSC Xena, cBioPortal, GEO, CPTAC, TIMER2.0, TISCH, CellMiner, GDSC, and CTRP databases, we explored the potential diagnostic and prognostic roles of TUBB in pan-cancers from multiple angles. Moreover, the GSEA analysis was conducted to excavate the biological functions of TUBB in pan-cancers. In addition, survival profiles were described, and the differential expressions of TUBB in different molecular subtypes were discussed. Also, we utilized the cMAP function to search drugs or micro-molecules that have an impact on TUBB expressions. Results Based on the TCGA data, we found that TUBB was differentially expressed in a variety of tumors and showed an early-diagnostic value. Mutations, somatic copy number alterations, and DNA methylation would lead to its abnormal expression. TUBB expressions had relations with many clinical features. What's more, TUBB expressions were validated to be related to many metabolism-related, metastasis-related, and immune-related pathways. High TUBB expressions were proved to have a great impact on the prognosis of various types of cancers and would affect the sensitivity of some drugs. We also demonstrated that the expression of TUBB was significantly correlated to immunoregulator molecules and biomarkers of lymphocyte subpopulation infiltration. Conclusion TUBB and its regulatory genes were systemically analyzed in this study, showing that TUBB had satisfying performances in disease diagnosing and prognosis predicting of multiple cancers. It could remodel the tumor microenvironment and play an integral role in guiding cancer therapies and forecasting responses to chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaifu Zhu
- Department of Pediatrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Shaohu Huo
- Department of Pediatrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Tiantuo Huang
- Department of Pediatrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Xi Cao
- Department of Pharmacy, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
- The Grade 3 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Ying Zhang
- Department of Pathology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
- Pathology Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
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Xu Z, Wang X, Yu P, Zhang Y, Huang L, Mao E, Han Y. Lysine acetyltransferase KAT2A modulates ferroptosis during colorectal cancer development. Scand J Gastroenterol 2024; 59:437-444. [PMID: 38258976 DOI: 10.1080/00365521.2023.2301331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Histone modifications, especially the lysine acetylation, have drawn increasing attention in cancer research area. The aim of this research is to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of lysine acetyltransferase 2 A (KAT2A) on colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS Clinical samples were collected from patients with CRC. The expression and correlation between KAT2A and ferroptosis suppressor SLC7A11 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) were measured by qPCR and Pearson correlation analysis. NCP cells were transfected with KAT2A overexpression vectors or siRNAs. The proliferation of cells was measured by CCK-8 and colony formation assay. Cell migration and invasion was analyzed by Transwell. The accumulation of lipid peroxidation, ferrous iron, and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed to determine cell ferroptosis. The expression of cell metastasis biomarkers was measured by western blotting assay. Interaction between KAT2A with GPX4 gene was measured by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). RESULTS The KAT2A, GPX4, and SLC7A11 expression was notably elevated in tumor tissues compared with the paired non-tumor tissues from CRC patients. The expression of KAT2A showed positive correlation with GPX4 and SLC7A11. Overexpression of KAT2A recovered the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells that suppressed by ferroptosis inducer erastin, along with deceased levels of ROS, iron, Fe2+, and MDA. Overexpression of KAT2A suppressed E-cadherin level and increased N-cadherin, Snail, and Vimentin expression in CRC cells. KAT2A interacted with GPX4 promoter region. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that KAT2A modulates the histone acetylation of GPX4 to regulate proliferation, metastasis, and ferroptosis of CRC cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenye Xu
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wang
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ping Yu
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Liang Huang
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Enqiang Mao
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Han
- Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
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Wei PJ, Zhu AD, Cao R, Zheng C. Personalized Driver Gene Prediction Using Graph Convolutional Networks with Conditional Random Fields. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:184. [PMID: 38534453 DOI: 10.3390/biology13030184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Revised: 03/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Cancer is a complex and evolutionary disease mainly driven by the accumulation of genetic variations in genes. Identifying cancer driver genes is important. However, most related studies have focused on the population level. Cancer is a disease with high heterogeneity. Thus, the discovery of driver genes at the individual level is becoming more valuable but is a great challenge. Although there have been some computational methods proposed to tackle this challenge, few can cover all patient samples well, and there is still room for performance improvement. In this study, to identify individual-level driver genes more efficiently, we propose the PDGCN method. PDGCN integrates multiple types of data features, including mutation, expression, methylation, copy number data, and system-level gene features, along with network structural features extracted using Node2vec in order to construct a sample-gene interaction network. Prediction is performed using a graphical convolutional neural network model with a conditional random field layer, which is able to better combine the network structural features with biological attribute features. Experiments on the ACC (Adrenocortical Cancer) and KICH (Kidney Chromophobe) datasets from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) demonstrated that the method performs better compared to other similar methods. It can identify not only frequently mutated driver genes, but also rare candidate driver genes and novel biomarker genes. The results of the survival and enrichment analyses of these detected genes demonstrate that the method can identify important driver genes at the individual level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pi-Jing Wei
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 111 Jiulong Road, Hefei 230601, China
| | - An-Dong Zhu
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 111 Jiulong Road, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Ruifen Cao
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Anhui University, 111 Jiulong Road, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Chunhou Zheng
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Anhui University, 111 Jiulong Road, Hefei 230601, China
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Domentean S, Paisana E, Cascão R, Faria CC. Role of UBE2C in Brain Cancer Invasion and Dissemination. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15792. [PMID: 37958776 PMCID: PMC10650073 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GB) and brain metastases (BM) are the most common brain tumors in adults and are invariably associated with a dismal outcome. These highly malignant tumors share common features including increased invasion and migration of the primary or metastatic brain cancer cells, whose triggering mechanisms are largely unknown. Emerging evidence has suggested that the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C), essential for controlling cell cycle progression, is overexpressed in diverse malignancies, including brain cancer. This review highlights the crucial role of UBE2C in brain tumorigenesis and its association with higher proliferative phenotype and histopathological grade, with autophagy and apoptosis suppression, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, migration, and dissemination. High expression of UBE2C has been associated with patients' poor prognosis and drug resistance. UBE2C has also been proven as a promising therapeutic target, despite the lack of specific inhibitors. Thus, there is a need to further explore the role of UBE2C in malignant brain cancer and to develop effective targeted therapies for patients with this deadly disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefani Domentean
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício Egas Moniz, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal; (S.D.); (E.P.); (R.C.)
| | - Eunice Paisana
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício Egas Moniz, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal; (S.D.); (E.P.); (R.C.)
| | - Rita Cascão
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício Egas Moniz, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal; (S.D.); (E.P.); (R.C.)
| | - Claudia C. Faria
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício Egas Moniz, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal; (S.D.); (E.P.); (R.C.)
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital de Santa Maria, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
- Clínica Universitária de Neurocirurgia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
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Liang K, Wang Q, Qiu L, Gong X, Chen Z, Zhang H, Ding K, Liu Y, Wei J, Lin S, Fu S, Du H. Combined Inhibition of UBE2C and PLK1 Reduce Cell Proliferation and Arrest Cell Cycle by Affecting ACLY in Pan-Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15658. [PMID: 37958642 PMCID: PMC10650476 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Various studies have shown that the cell-cycle-related regulatory proteins UBE2C, PLK1, and BIRC5 promote cell proliferation and migration in different types of cancer. However, there is a lack of in-depth and systematic research on the mechanism of these three as therapeutic targets. In this study, we found a positive correlation between the expression of UBE2C and PLK1/BIRC5 in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, revealing a potential combination therapy candidate for pan-cancer. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blotting (WB), cell phenotype detection, and RNA-seq techniques were used to evidence the effectiveness of the combination candidate. We found that combined interference of UBE2C with PLK1 and UBE2C with BIRC5 affected metabolic pathways by significantly downregulating the mRNA expression of IDH1 and ACLY, which was related to the synthesis of acetyl-CoA. By combining the PLK1 inhibitor volasertib and the ACLY inhibitor bempedoic acid, it showed a higher synergistic inhibition of cell viability and higher synergy scores in seven cell lines, compared with those of other combination treatments. Our study reveals the potential mechanisms through which cell-cycle-related genes regulate metabolism and proposes a potential combined targeted therapy for patients with higher PLK1 and ACLY expression in pan-cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hongli Du
- School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; (K.L.); (Q.W.); (L.Q.); (X.G.); (Z.C.); (H.Z.); (K.D.); (Y.L.); (J.W.); (S.L.); (S.F.)
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7
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Qi L, Chen F, Wang L, Yang Z, Zhang W, Li Z. Integration analysis of senescence-related genes to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in soft-tissue sarcoma: evidence based on machine learning and experiments. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1229233. [PMID: 37497116 PMCID: PMC10367114 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1229233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is the malignancy that exhibits remarkable histologic diversity. The diagnosis and treatment of STS is currently challenging, resulting in a high lethality. Chronic inflammation has also been identified as a key characteristic of tumors, including sarcomas. Although senescence plays an important role in the progression of various tumors, its molecular profile remains unclear in STS. Methods: We identified the senescence-related genes (SRGs) in database and depicted characteristics of genomic and transcriptomic profiling using cohort within TCGA and GEO database. In order to investigate the expression of SRGs in different cellular subtypes, single-cell RNA sequencing data was applied. The qPCR and our own sequencing data were utilized for further validation. We used unsupervised consensus clustering analysis to establish senescence-related clusters and subtypes. A senescence scoring system was established by using principal component analysis (PCA). The evaluation of clinical and molecular characteristics was conducted among distinct groups. Results: These SRGs showed differences in SCNV, mutation and mRNA expression in STS tissues compared to normal tissues. Across several cancer types, certain shared features of SRGs were identified. Several SRGs closely correlated with immune cell infiltration. Four clusters related to senescence and three subtypes related to senescence, each with unique clinical and biological traits, were established. The senescence scoring system exhibited effectiveness in predicting outcomes, clinical traits, infiltrations of immune cells and immunotherapy responses. Conclusion: Overall, the current study provided a comprehensive review of molecular profiling for SRGs in STS. The SRGs based clustering and scoring model could help guiding the clinical management of STS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Qi
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Fangyue Chen
- Department of General Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Navy Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu Wang
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Zhimin Yang
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Long School of Medicine, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States
| | - Wenchao Zhang
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Zhihong Li
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
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Czerwinska P, Mackiewicz AA. Bromodomain (BrD) Family Members as Regulators of Cancer Stemness-A Comprehensive Review. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:995. [PMID: 36674511 PMCID: PMC9861003 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24020995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms involving DNA methylation and chromatin modifications have emerged as critical facilitators of cancer heterogeneity, substantially affecting cancer development and progression, modulating cell phenotypes, and enhancing or inhibiting cancer cell malignant properties. Not surprisingly, considering the importance of epigenetic regulators in normal stem cell maintenance, many chromatin-related proteins are essential to maintaining the cancer stem cell (CSC)-like state. With increased tumor-initiating capacities and self-renewal potential, CSCs promote tumor growth, provide therapy resistance, spread tumors, and facilitate tumor relapse after treatment. In this review, we characterized the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate the acquisition and maintenance of cancer stemness concerning selected epigenetic factors belonging to the Bromodomain (BrD) family of proteins. An increasing number of BrD proteins reinforce cancer stemness, supporting the maintenance of the cancer stem cell population in vitro and in vivo via the utilization of distinct mechanisms. As bromodomain possesses high druggable potential, specific BrD proteins might become novel therapeutic targets in cancers exhibiting de-differentiated tumor characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrycja Czerwinska
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 61-866 Poznan, Poland
- Department of Diagnostics and Cancer Immunology, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, 61-866 Poznan, Poland
| | - Andrzej Adam Mackiewicz
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 61-866 Poznan, Poland
- Department of Diagnostics and Cancer Immunology, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, 61-866 Poznan, Poland
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