Oestrogen inhibits PTPRO to prevent the apoptosis of renal podocytes

Crosstalk of methylation and tamoxifen in breast cancer (Review)

Tamoxifen is a widely used anti‑estrogen drug in the endocrine therapy of breast cancer (BC). It blocks estrogen signaling by competitively binding to estrogen receptor α (ERα), thereby inhibiting the growth of BC cells. However, with the long‑term application of tamoxifen, a subset of patients with BC have shown resistance to tamoxifen, which leads to low overall survival and progression‑free survival. The molecular mechanism of resistance is mainly due to downregulation of ERα expression and abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Moreover, the downregulation of targeted gene expression mediated by DNA methylation is an important regulatory mode to control protein expression. In the present review, methylation and tamoxifen are briefly introduced, followed by a focus on the effect of methylation on tamoxifen resistance and sensitivity. Finally, the clinical application of methylation for tamoxifen is described, including its use as a prognostic indicator. Finally, it is hypothesized that when methylation is used in combination with tamoxifen, it could recover the resistance of tamoxifen.

PTPRO knockdown protects against inflammation in hemorrhage shock-induced lung injury involving the NF-κB signaling pathway

Background

Hemorrhage shock (HS) is characterized by decreased tissue oxygenation and organ damage due to severe blood loss. Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type O (PTPRO) is abnormally up-regulated in the rat lungs after trauma/HS.

Methods

To elucidate the regulatory mechanism of PTPRO in lung inflammation following HS, we established a rat model of HS via withdrawing blood by a catheter inserted into the femoral artery followed by resuscitation. The rats were infected with lentivirus harboring short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting PTPRO by intratracheal instillation.

Results

PTPRO was significantly up-regulated in rat lungs after HS. PTPRO knockdown enhanced epithelial integrity and reduced capillary leakage by up-regulating tight junction proteins zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin (OCC) in the lungs. Besides, HS-induced myeloperoxidase activity and inflammatory cell infiltration was mitigated by PTPRO knockdown. The expression of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines (TNF-α, IL-6, MIP-2, MCP-1, and KC) in the lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was regressed after PTPRO knockdown. The nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway was involved in HS-induced lung inflammation. PTPRO down-regulation inhibited the NF-κB pathway activation by suppressing the phosphorylation of NF-κB and its translocation from the cytoplasm into the nucleus in HS.

Conclusion

Taken together, we demonstrated that PTPRO knockdown may contribute to attenuating inflammation in HS-induced lung injury via inhibiting NF-κB pathway activation.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12931-022-02118-2.

Mutational landscape of TRPC6, WT1, LMX1B, APOL1, PTPRO, PMM2, LAMB2 and WT1 genes associated with Steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome

BACKGROUND

Nephrotic syndrome appears as a group of symptoms like proteinuria, edema and hyperlipidemia. Identification of monogenic forms revealed the physiology and pathogenesis of the SRNS.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed Illumina panel sequencing of seven genes in 90 Indian patients to determine the role of these genetic mutations in nephrotic syndrome prognosis. Samtool was used for variants calling, and SnpEff and Snpsift did variants annotation. Clinical significance and variant classification were performed by the ClinVar database. In SSNS and SRNS patients, we found 0.78% pathogenic and 3.41% likely pathogenic mutations. Pathogenic mutations were found in LAMB2, LMX1B and WT1 genes, while likely pathogenic mutations were found in (6/13) LAMB2, (2/13) LMX1B, (2/13) TRPC6, (2/13) PTPRO and (1/13) PMM2 genes. Approximately 46% likely pathogenic mutations were contributed to the LAMB2 gene in SSNS and SRNS patients. We also detect 30 VUS (variants of uncertain significance), which were found (17/30) pathogenic and (13/30) likely pathogenic by different prediction tools.

CONCLUSIONS

Multigene panels were used for genetic screening of heterogeneous disorders like nephrotic syndrome in the Indian population. We found pathogenic, likely pathogenic and certain VUS, which were responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease. Therefore, mutational analysis of SSNS and SRNS is necessary to avoid adverse effects of corticosteroids, modify the intensity of immunosuppressing agents, and prevent the disease's progression.

Estrogen and estrogen receptors in kidney diseases

Acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are posing great threats to global health within this century. Studies have suggested that estrogen and estrogen receptors (ERs) play important roles in many physiological processes in the kidney. For instance, they are crucial in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis and modulating endothelin-1 (ET-1) system in the kidney. Estrogen takes part in the kidney repair and regeneration via its receptors. Estrogen also participates in the regulation of phosphorus homeostasis via its receptors in the proximal tubule. The ERα polymorphisms have been associated with the susceptibilities and outcomes of several renal diseases. As a consequence, the altered or dysregulated estrogen/ERs signaling pathways may contribute to a variety of kidney diseases, including various causes-induced AKI, diabetic kidney disease (DKD), lupus nephritis (LN), IgA nephropathy (IgAN), CKD complications, etc. Experimental and clinical studies have shown that targeting estrogen/ERs signaling pathways might have protective effects against certain renal disorders. However, many unsolved problems still exist in knowledge regarding the roles of estrogen and ERs in distinct kidney diseases. Further research is needed to shed light on this area and to enable the discovery of pathway-specific therapies for kidney diseases.

The Future of Anticancer Drugs: A Cytotoxicity Assessment Study of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots

Quantum dots (QDs), including CdSe/ZnS, are nanoparticles emitting various wavelengths of fluorescent light depending on their size. Fluorescence allows them to be exploited for in vivo sensing/imaging of cancer cells. Nevertheless, thorough assessments of the effects of these commonly used QDs on cell stability are essentially required prior to their full applications. To investigate the effects of Cd QDs on the growth of human cervical cancer cells (HeLa), we utilized a growth assay, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, an apoptosis assay, and RNA-seq. The growth assay results showed significant proliferation inhibition of HeLa cells by CdSe/ZnS. We revealed that smaller green CdSe/ZnS exerts more toxic effects than slightly larger yellow CdSe/ZnS. There were no significant increases of ROSs under the treatment of Cd QDs, which is consistent with the notion that low concentration of Cd QDs does not cause significant production of ROSs. In addition, we found that Cd QDs induced late apoptosis. RNA-Seq-based transcriptome analysis revealed that the exposure to green Cd QDs significantly upregulated antiapoptotic, antiproliferative, and antitumorigenic functions. The transcriptome profile also noted the downregulation of pro-proliferation, mitochondrial respiratory chain, detoxification, and receptor-mediated endocytosis. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that green CdSe/ZnS can be an alternative anticancer drug. In addition, our transcriptome analysis provides new insights into alteration of physiological state induced by CdSe/ZnS QDs in HeLa cancer cells.

PTPRO predicts patient prognosis and correlates with immune infiltrates in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The tumor-suppressive role of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type O (PTPRO) has been described in a variety of human cancers; however, the clinical significance of PTPRO in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unclear.

METHODS

PTPRO expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) was analyzed via the Oncomine database, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. The Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate the relationship of PTPRO with overall survival in ccRCC. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were performed to explore the signaling pathways in which PTPRO may be involved. The correlation between PTPRO and immune infiltrates in ccRCC was investigated via Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database. The association between PTPRO mRNA expression and its methylation in RCC was analyzed using the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) dataset, GEO dataset, and cBioPortal database. The impact of PTPRO methylation on overall survival was estimated by the MethSurv database.

RESULTS

We showed that the expression of PTPRO was significantly lower in human RCC. Moreover, the lower expression of PTPRO was associated with worse overall survival in ccRCC, particularly in the advanced stage patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed the expression of PTPRO as an independent prognostic predictor for overall survival of ccRCC. Of note, PTPRO was found to be associated with the activation of immune signaling and immune cell infiltration. Furthermore, methylation of PTPRO was prevalently observed in ccRCC, and methylation of PTPRO predicted the poor outcome of ccRCC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggested that PTPRO at both RNA and DNA methylation levels had the potential as a prognostic biomarker for predicting prognosis, and PTPRO expression was closely associated with immune infiltration in ccRCC patients.