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Zhan T, Gao X, Wang G, Li F, Shen J, Lu C, Xu L, Li Y, Zhang J. Construction of Novel lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Network Associated With Recurrence and Identification of Immune-Related Potential Regulatory Axis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2021; 11:626663. [PMID: 34336642 PMCID: PMC8320021 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.626663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant diseases globally. Despite continuous improvement of treatment methods, high postoperative recurrence rate remains an urgent problem. In order to determine the mechanism underlying recurrence of liver cancer and identify prognostic genes, data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were integrated and analyzed. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between HCC tissue and normal liver tissue were identified, and a protein–protein interaction network was constructed to find hub genes. Clinical correlation analysis and disease-free survival (DFS) analysis were performed using the R language and GEPIA to identify relapse-related genes. Correlation analysis was used to identify a potential regulatory axis. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was used to confirm the reliability of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)–microRNA (miRNA)–mRNA regulatory axis. Immune infiltration analysis was performed using the TIMER database. Correlations between immune gene markers and ASF1B were verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). In this work, we found that nine lncRNAs and five mRNAs were significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues from patients with recurrence. SNHG3, LINC00205, ASF1B, AURKB, CCNB1, CDKN3, and DTL were also closely related to HCC grade and stage. Survival analysis showed that these seven DEGs were significantly correlated with poor DFS. Correlation analysis identified SNHG3–miR-214-3p–ASF1B as a potential regulatory axis. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that SNHG3 and ASF1B directly bound to miR-214-3p. ASF1B was negatively regulated by miRNA-214-3p, and overexpression of SNHG3 could inhibit the expression of miRNA-214-3p. In addition, ASF1B was positively correlated with immune infiltration. A reduction in ASF1B could markedly inhibit the expression of CD86, CD8, STAT1, STAT4, CD68, and PD1 in HCC cells. Flow cytometry showed that SNHG3 promoted the PD-1 expression by regulating ASF1B. Meanwhile, elevated ASF1B predicted poor prognosis of HCC patients in subgroups with decreased B cells, CD8+ T cells, or neutrophils, and those with enriched CD4+ T cells. In conclusion, we found that a novel lncRNA SNHG3/miR-214-3p/ASF1B axis could promote the recurrence of HCC by regulating immune infiltration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Zhan
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiang Gao
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Guoguang Wang
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Fan Li
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jian Shen
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chen Lu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuan Li
- The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jianping Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.,The Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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Di Blasi D, Boldanova T, Mori L, Terracciano L, Heim MH, De Libero G. Unique T-Cell Populations Define Immune-Inflamed Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019; 9:195-218. [PMID: 31445190 PMCID: PMC6957799 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2019.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS The characterization of T cells infiltrating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) provides information on cancer immunity and also on selection of patients with precise indication of immunotherapy. The aim of the study was to characterize T-cell populations within tumor tissue and compare them with non-neoplastic liver tissue as well as circulating cells of the same patients. METHODS The presence of unique cell populations was investigated in 36 HCC patients by multidimensional flow cytometry followed by t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding analysis. Functional activity of tumor-infiltrating T cells was determined after activation by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin. RESULTS Within the tumor there were more cells expressing CD137 and ICOS than in non-neoplastic liver tissue, possibly after recent antigenic activation. These cells contained several populations, including the following: (1) functionally impaired, proliferating CD4+ cells co-expressing Inducible T-cell costimulator (ICOS) and T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT); (2) functionally active CD8+ cells co-expressing CD38 and Programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD1); and (3) CD4-CD8 double-negative T-cell receptor αβ and γδ cells (both non-major histocompatibility complex-restricted T cells). When the identified clusters were compared with histologic classification performed on the same samples, an accumulation of activated T cells was observed in immune-inflamed HCC. The same analyses performed in 7 patients receiving nivolumab treatment showed a remarkable reduction in the functionally impaired CD4+ cells, which returned to almost normal activity over time. CONCLUSIONS Unique populations of activated T cells are present in HCC tissue, whose antigen specificity remains to be investigated. Some of these cell populations are functionally impaired and nivolumab treatment restores their responsiveness. The finding of ongoing immune response within the tumor shows which lymphocyte populations are impaired within the HCC and identifies the patients who might take benefit from immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Di Blasi
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland,Hepatology Laboratory, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tujana Boldanova
- Hepatology Laboratory, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland,Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lucia Mori
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Luigi Terracciano
- Institute of Pathology, Division of Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Markus H. Heim
- Hepatology Laboratory, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland,Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland,Correspondence Address correspondence to: Gennaro De Libero, MD, or Markus H. Heim, MD, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Hebelstrasse 20, 4031 Basel, Switzerland. fax: +41 61 265 23 50.
| | - Gennaro De Libero
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland,Correspondence Address correspondence to: Gennaro De Libero, MD, or Markus H. Heim, MD, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Hebelstrasse 20, 4031 Basel, Switzerland. fax: +41 61 265 23 50.
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