Downregulated expression of CFHL1 is associated with unfavorable prognosis in postoperative patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

"Complimenting the Complement": Mechanistic Insights and Opportunities for Therapeutics in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver and a leading cause of death in the US and worldwide. HCC remains a global health problem and is highly aggressive with unfavorable prognosis. Even with surgical interventions and newer medical treatment regimens, patients with HCC have poor survival rates. These limited therapeutic strategies and mechanistic understandings of HCC immunopathogenesis urgently warrant non-palliative treatment measures. Irrespective of the multitude etiologies, the liver microenvironment in HCC is intricately associated with chronic necroinflammation, progressive fibrosis, and cirrhosis as precedent events along with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses. Central to these immunological networks is the complement cascade (CC), a fundamental defense system inherent to the liver which tightly regulates humoral and cellular responses to noxious stimuli. Importantly, the liver is the primary source for biosynthesis of >80% of complement components and expresses a variety of complement receptors. Recent studies implicate the complement system in liver inflammation, abnormal regenerative responses, fibrosis, carcinogenesis, and development of HCC. Although complement activation differentially promotes immunosuppressive, stimulant, and angiogenic microenvironments conducive to HCC development, it remains under-investigated. Here, we review derangement of specific complement proteins in HCC in the context of altered complement regulatory factors, immune-activating components, and their implications in disease pathogenesis. We also summarize how complement molecules regulate cancer stem cells (CSCs), interact with complement-coagulation cascades, and provide therapeutic opportunities for targeted intervention in HCC.

Diagnostic and prognostic values of upregulated SPC25 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

Spindle pole body component 25 (SPC25) plays a vital role in many cellular processes, such as tumorigenesis. However, the clinical significance of SPC25 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been investigated. This study aimed to explore the expression patterns of SPC25 in HCC and non-neoplastic tissues and to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of SPC25.

Method

The expression of SPC25 was examined in 374 HCC issues and 50 non-neoplastic tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. The diagnostic and prognostic values of SPC25 were analyzed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and survival analyses, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify the prognostic factors and to establish a nomogram. The diagnostic and prognostic values were further validated in an external cohort from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database.

Results

The expression of SPC25 in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues in both cohorts (all P < 0.001). The ROC curve analysis indicated that SPC25 expression has high diagnostic value in HCC with area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.969 (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.948-0.984]) and 0.945 (95% CI [0.920-0.965]) for TCGA and ICGC cohorts, respectively. Patients with HCC exhibiting high SPC25 expression were associated with worse prognosis than those exhibiting low SPC25 expression in both cohorts (all P < 0.001). SPC25 was independently associated with overall survival in both cohorts (all P < 0.001). The concordance indices of the nomogram for predicting overall survival in TCGA and ICGC cohorts were 0.647 and 0.805, respectively, which were higher than those of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system.

Conclusion

SPC25 was upregulated in HCC and independently predicted poor overall survival of patients with HCC. Therefore, SPC25 is an effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HCC. An SPC25-based nomogram was more accurate and useful than the AJCC staging system to predict prognosis of HCC.

Intermittent fasting from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days is associated with anticancer proteomic signature and upregulates key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism, circadian clock, DNA repair, cytoskeleton remodeling, immune system and cognitive function in healthy subjects

Murine studies showed that disruption of circadian clock rhythmicity could lead to cancer and metabolic syndrome. Time-restricted feeding can reset the disrupted clock rhythm, protect against cancer and metabolic syndrome. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that intermittent fasting for several consecutive days without calorie restriction in humans would induce an anticarcinogenic proteome and the key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism. Fourteen healthy subjects fasted from dawn to sunset for over 14 h daily. Fasting duration was 30 consecutive days. Serum samples were collected before 30-day intermittent fasting, at the end of 4th week during 30-day intermittent fasting, and one week after 30-day intermittent fasting. An untargeted serum proteomic profiling was performed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Our results showed that 30-day intermittent fasting was associated with an anticancer serum proteomic signature, upregulated key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism, circadian clock, DNA repair, cytoskeleton remodeling, immune system, and cognitive function, and resulted in a serum proteome protective against cancer, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, Alzheimer's disease, and several neuropsychiatric disorders. These findings suggest that fasting from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days can be preventive and adjunct therapy in cancer, metabolic syndrome, and several cognitive and neuropsychiatric diseases. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study has important clinical implications. Our results showed that intermittent fasting from dawn to sunset for over 14 h daily for 30 consecutive days was associated with an anticancer serum proteomic signature and upregulated key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin signaling, circadian clock, DNA repair, cytoskeleton remodeling, immune system, and cognitive function, and resulted in a serum proteome protective against cancer, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, Alzheimer's disease, and several neuropsychiatric disorders. Importantly, these findings occurred in the absence of any calorie restriction and significant weight loss. These findings suggest that intermittent fasting from dawn to sunset can be a preventive and adjunct therapy in cancer, metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer's disease and several neuropsychiatric diseases.

CDK1, CCNB1, CDC20, BUB1, MAD2L1, MCM3, BUB1B, MCM2, and RFC4 May Be Potential Therapeutic Targets for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Integrated Bioinformatic Analysis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor with high mortality. The abnormal expression of genes is significantly related to the occurrence of HCC. The aim of this study was to explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of HCC and to provide bioinformatics basis for the occurrence, prevention and treatment of HCC. The DEGs of HCC and normal tissues in GSE102079, GSE121248, GSE84402 and GSE60502 were obtained using R language. The GO function analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs were carried out using the DAVID database. Then, the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the STRING database. Hub genes were screened using Cytoscape software and verified using the GEPIA, UALCAN, and Oncomine database. We used HPA database to exhibit the differences in protein level of hub genes and used LinkedOmics to reveal the relationship between candidate genes and tumor clinical features. Finally, we obtained transcription factor (TF) of hub genes using NetworkAnalyst online tool. A total of 591 overlapping up-regulated genes were identified. These genes were related to cell cycle, DNA replication, pyrimidine metabolism, and p53 signaling pathway. Additionally, the GEPIA database showed that the CDK1, CCNB1, CDC20, BUB1, MAD2L1, MCM3, BUB1B, MCM2, and RFC4 were associated with the poor survival of HCC patients. UALCAN, Oncomine, and HPA databases and qRT-PCR confirmed that these genes were highly expressed in HCC tissues. LinkedOmics database indicated these genes were correlated with overall survival, pathologic stage, pathology T stage, race, and the age of onset. TF analysis showed that MYBL2, KDM5B, MYC, SOX2, and E2F4 were regulators to these nine hub genes. Overexpression of CDK1, CCNB1, CDC20, BUB1, MAD2L1, MCM3, BUB1B, MCM2, and RFC4 in tumor tissues predicted poor survival in HCC. They may be potential therapeutic targets for HCC.