Upregulation of EPS8L3 is associated with tumorigenesis and poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer

Identification of prognostic biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma with vascular invasion

OBJECTIVE

Vascular invasion (VI) profoundly impacts the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet the underlying biomarkers and mechanisms remain elusive. This study aimed to identify prognostic biomarkers for HCC patients with VI.

METHODS

Transcriptome data from primary HCC tissues and HCC tissues with VI were obtained through the Genome Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the two types of tissues were analyzed using functional enrichment analysis to evaluate their biological functions. We examined the correlation between DEGs and prognosis by combining HCC transcriptome data and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, along with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method were utilized to develop a prognostic model. The effectiveness of the model was assessed through time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration diagram, and decision curve analysis.

RESULTS

In the GSE20017 and GSE5093 datasets, a total of 83 DEGs were identified. Gene Ontology analysis indicated that these DEGs were predominantly associated with xenobiotic stimulus, collagen-containing extracellular matrix, and oxygen binding. Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed that the DEGs were primarily involved in immune defense and cellular signal transduction. Cox and LASSO regression further identified 7 genes (HSPA8, ABCF2, EAF1, MARCO, EPS8L3, PLA3G1B, C6), which were used to construct a predictive model in the training cohort. We used X-tile software to calculate the optimal cut-off value to stratify HCC patients into low-risk and high-risk groups. Notably, the high-risk group exhibited poorer prognosis than the low-risk group (P < 0.001). The model demonstrated area under the ROC curve (AUC) values of 0.815, 0.730, and 0.710 at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year intervals in the training cohort, respectively. In the validation cohort, the corresponding AUC values were 0.701, 0.571, and 0.575, respectively. The C-index of the calibration curve for the training and validation cohorts were 0.716 and 0.665. Decision curve analysis revealed the model's efficacy in guiding clinical decision-making.

CONCLUSIONS

The study indicates that 7 genes may be potential prognostic biomarkers and treatment targets for HCC patients with VI.

The role of molecular subtypes and immune infiltration characteristics based on disulfidptosis-associated genes in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common type of lung cancer which accounts for about 40% of all lung cancers. Early detection, risk stratification and treatment are important for improving outcomes for LUAD. Recent studies have found that abnormal accumulation of cystine and other disulfide occurs in the cell under glucose starvation, which induces disulfide stress and increases the content of disulfide bond in actin cytoskeleton, resulting in cell death, which is defined as disulfidptosis. Because the study of disulfidptosis is in its infancy, its role in disease progression is still unclear. In this study, we detected the expression and mutation of disulfidptosis genes in LUAD using a public database. Clustering analysis based on disulfidptosis gene was performed and differential genes of disulfidptosis subtype were analyzed. 7 differential genes of disulfidptosis subtype were used to construct a prognostic risk model, and the causes of prognostic differences were investigated by immune-infiltration analysis, immune checkpoint analysis, and drug sensitivity analysis. qPCR was used to verify the expression of 7 key genes in lung cancer cell line (A549) and normal bronchial epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B). Since G6PD had the highest risk factor of lung cancer, we further verified the protein expression of G6PD in lung cancer cells by western blot, and confirmed through colony formation experiment that interference with G6PD was able to significantly inhibit the proliferation ability of lung cancer cells. Our results provide evidence for the role of disulfidptosis in LUAD and provide new ideas for individualized precision therapy of LUAD.

EPS8L3 promotes pancreatic cancer proliferation and metastasis by activating GSK3B

Background

We intended to investigate the role and regulatory mechanism of EPS8L3 in increase the development of pancreatic cancer (PC).

Methods

In order to analyze the relationship between EPS8L3 level and clinicopathological indicators of PC patients, qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of EPS8L3 in tumor specimens of 40 PC patients. EPS8L3 knockdown models were then constructed in PC cell lines. Furthermore, the effect of EPS8L3 on PC cell function was analyzed by CCK-8 and Transwell assay. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay and recovery assay were used to further investigate the underlying mechanism.

Results

qRT-PCR results indicated that EPS8L3 was highly expressed in PC tissues compared with adjacent ones. At the same time, the incidence of distant metastasis was higher in PC patients with high EPS8L3 level. In vitro analysis such as CCK-8 and Transwell experimentations indicated that knockdown of EPS8L3 markedly inhibited the proliferative and metastatic ability. Bio-informatics together with luciferase report assay proposing that EPS8L3 can target GSK3B. Western Blot results revealed that knockdown of EPS8L3 markedly reduced the GSK3B expression in PC cells, and there was a positively associated between the two in PC cells. In addition, the recovery experimentation proved that EPS8L3 and GSK3B have a mutual regulation effect. Overexpression of GSK3B can reversal the prohibitive effect of EPS8L3 knockdown on the malignant development of PC cells, thereby jointly regulating the occurrence and development of PC.

Conclusions

EPS8L3 promotes the development of PC by regulating GSK3B, suggesting that EPS8L3 can be used as a biomarker for early diagnosis and treatment of PC.

Dissecting novel mechanisms of hepatitis B virus related hepatocellular carcinoma using meta-analysis of public data

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Interestingly, this process is not necessarily mediated through cirrhosis and may in fact involve oncogenic processes. Prior studies have suggested specific oncogenic gene expression pathways were affected by viral regulatory proteins. Thus, identifying these genes and associated pathways could highlight predictive factors for HCC transformation and has implications in early diagnosis and treatment.

AIM

To elucidate HBV oncogenesis in HCC and identify potential therapeutic targets.

METHODS

We employed our Search, Tag, Analyze, Resource platform to conduct a meta-analysis of public data from National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Gene Expression Omnibus. We performed meta-analysis consisting of 155 tumor samples compared against 185 adjacent non-tumor samples and analyzed results with ingenuity pathway analysis.

RESULTS

Our analysis revealed liver X receptors/retinoid X receptor (RXR) activation and farnesoid X receptor/RXR activation as top canonical pathways amongst others. Top upstream regulators identified included the Ras family gene rab-like protein 6 (RABL6). The role of RABL6 in oncogenesis is beginning to unfold but its specific role in HBV-related HCC remains undefined. Our causal analysis suggests RABL6 mediates pathogenesis of HBV-related HCC through promotion of genes related to cell division, epigenetic regulation, and Akt signaling. We conducted survival analysis that demonstrated increased mortality with higher RABL6 expression. Additionally, homeobox A10 (HOXA10) was a top upstream regulator and was strongly upregulated in our analysis. HOXA10 has recently been demonstrated to contribute to HCC pathogenesis in vitro. Our causal analysis suggests an in vivo role through downregulation of tumor suppressors and other mechanisms.

CONCLUSION

This meta-analysis describes possible roles of RABL6 and HOXA10 in the pathogenesis of HBV-related HCC. RABL6 and HOXA10 represent potential therapeutic targets and warrant further investigation.