Effects of T-cadherin expression on B16F10 melanoma cells

High PD-L1 expression associates with low T-cadherin expression and poor prognosis in human papillomavirus-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

This study aimed at exploring the correlation between T-cadherin and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), as well as their prognostic value in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

METHODS

Immunohistochemical staining was used to identify the protein expression of T-cadherin and PD-L1. Spearman linear correlation analysis was used to determine their association. Kaplan-Meier analysis was utilized to plot overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) curves. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to conduct univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed a negative association between protein expression of T-cadherin and PD-L1 (r = -0.760, p < 0.001), positive expression of T-cadherin was associated with a better OS (p < 0.001) and DFS (p < 0.001), while positive PD-L1 expression was associated with a worse OS (p = 0.002) and DFS (p < 0.001). The expression of T-cadherin and PD-L1 were independent prognostic predictors for OS and DFS.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, expression of T-cadherin and PD-L1 were largely inversely correlated and independent prognostic factors for patients with HPV-negative HNSCC.

Cadherin 13 Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Progression and Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition by Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling

Cadherin 13 (CDH13) is an atypical cadherin that exerts tumor-suppressive effects on cancers derived from epithelial cells. Although the CDH13 promoter is frequently hypermethylated in pancreatic cancer (PC), the direct impact of CDH13 on PC is unknown. Accordingly, the expression of CDH13 in PC cell lines and paired PC tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting. Our findings showed that CDH13 was downregulated in PC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, cell proliferation, migration and invasion were detected by CCK-8 assay, transwell migration assay and transwell invasion assay, respectively. Xenograft tumor experiments were used to determine the biological function of CDH13 in vivo. As revealed by our data, CDH13 overexpression significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of human PC cells in vitro. The inhibitory effect of CDH13 on PC was further confirmed in animal models. Mice subcutaneously or orthotopically transplanted with CDH13-overexpressing CFPAC-1 cells developed significantly smaller tumors with less liver metastases and mesenteric metastases than those of the control group. Next, transcriptomics and western blot analysis were used to identify the underlying mechanisms. Further molecular mechanism studies showed that CDH13 overexpression inhibited the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and regulated the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers. Our results indicated that CDH13 displayed an inhibitory effect on PC and suggested that CDH13 might be a potential biomarker and a new therapeutic target for PC.

Overexpression of T-cadherin inhibits the proliferation of oral squamous cell carcinoma through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR intracellular signalling pathway

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate T-cadherin gene expression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) and explore its effect on the proliferation of OSCC. Additionally, the present study aimed to determine whether the anti-proliferative effect of T-cadherin was associated with the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway.

DESIGN

A reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect T-cadherin mRNA expression. A Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to investigate the effect of T-cadherin on cellular proliferation. The survival curves were plotted by Kaplan-Meier method, and the differences between subgroups were determined by log-rank test. The protein expression of phosphorylated (p)-PI3K, total PI3K, p-AKT, total AKT, p-mTOR, total mTOR and cyclin D1was assessed using western blot.

RESULTS

It was revealed that the expression of T-cadherin mRNA was significantly decreased in OSCC samples compared with normal adjacent ones (P = 0.007), and that low T-cadherin expression was correlated with advanced clinical stage (P = 0.0249), higher pathological grade (P = 0.0288) and poor differentiation (P = 0.0295) of OSCC. In addition, T-cadherin negative expression was revealed to be associated with a worse progression‑free survival (PFS) in patients with OSCC. Furthermore, the overexpression of T-cadherin inhibited the proliferation of OSCC cell lines and suppressed the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Importantly, the combined treatment of T-cadherin with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 enhanced the inhibitory effect of T-cadherin on cellular proliferation and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the present study suggested that T-cadherin may function as a tumor suppressor gene in OSCC through suppressing the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and that it may be a potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

Obesity, adipokines and cancer: an update

Obesity causes dysfunction of adipose tissue, with resultant chronic inflammation and adverse interplay of various adipokines, sex steroids and endocrine hormones. All these drive tumourigenesis and explain the epidemiological link between obesity and cancer. Over the past decade, the associations among obesity, adipokines and cancer have been increasingly recognized. Adipokines and their respective signalling pathways have drawn much research attention in the field of oncology and cancer therapeutics. This review will discuss the recent advances in the understanding of the association of several adipokines with common obesity-related cancers and the clinical therapeutic implications.

Association between the expression of T-cadherin and vascular endothelial growth factor and the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer

T-cadherin has been identified as a tumor-suppressor gene in several types of cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the association of the expression of T-cadherin with angiogenesis, and to evaluate its prognostic value for patients with primary gastric cancer. Gastric cancer tissues and matched adjacent tissues from 166 patients receiving surgical resection were included in the present study. The expression of T-cadherin was detected using immunohistochemistry, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of vascular epidermal growth factor (VEGF) was detected using immunohistochemistry, and its association with the expression of T-cadherin was analyzed. In addition, the association between the expression of T-cadherin and clinicopathological features were analyzed. The mRNA and protein expression levels of T-cadherin were significantly lower in the gastric cancer tissue compared with the corresponding adjacent normal tissue (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF was not associated with the expression of T-cadherin in the gastric cancer tissue. The decreased protein expression of T-cadherin correlated with smoking, larger tumor size (diameter, >4 cm), lymph node metastasis and a higher tumor-lymph node-metastasis stage (P<0.05 or P<0.01). However, the expression of T-cadherin was not correlated with gender, age, alcohol intake, Helecobacter pylori infection or differentiation (P>0.05). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that the expression of T-cadherin was an independent prognostic factor for the overall survival rate of patients with gastric cancer. This data suggested that the downregulation of T-cadherin may contribute to gastric cancer progression, representing a useful biomarker for predicting the biological behavior and prognosis of gastric cancer. However, no significant association was observed between the expression of VEGF and T-cadherin.

Clinicopathological significance and potential drug target of T-cadherin in NSCLC

Background

Previous studies demonstrate that T-cadherin is a candidate tumor suppressor in several types of human tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lack of protein expression of T-cadherin by hypermethylation has been found to play an important role in lung alveolar differentiation regulation and epithelial tumorigenesis. However, the correlation between T-cadherin hypermethylation and clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC remains unclear. Here we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the effects of T-cadherin hypermethylation on the incidence of NSCLC and clinicopathological characteristics.

Methods

A detailed literature search was carried out for related research publications. Analyses of pooled data were performed. Odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) were calculated and summarized, respectively.

Results

Final analysis of 1,172 NSCLC patients from 15 eligible studies was performed. T-cadherin hypermethylation was observed to be significantly higher in NSCLC than in normal lung tissue, based on the pooled OR from nine studies including 532 NSCLC and 372 normal lung tissue samples (OR=8.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]=5.41–12.39, P<0.00001). T-cadherin hypermethylation may also be associated with pathological types. The pooled OR was obtained from four studies including 111patients with squamous cell carcinoma and 106 with adenocarcinoma (OR=0.35, 95% CI=0.19–0.66, P=0.001), which indicated that T-cadherin hypermethylation plays a more important role in the pathogenesis of adenocarcinoma. We did not find that T-cadherin hypermethylation was correlated with the sex or smoking status, clinical stages, or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status. However, T-cadherin hypermethylation was found to be significantly higher in poorly differentiated NSCLC than in moderately and highly differentiated NSCLC, and NSCLC patients with T-cadherin hypermethylation had a lower survival rate than those without T-cadherin hypermethylation.

Conclusion

The results of this meta-analysis suggest that T-cadherin hypermethylation is associated with an increased risk and worse survival in NSCLC. T-cadherin hypermethylation, which induces the inactivation of T-cadherin gene, plays an important role in the carcinogenesis, cancer progression, as well as clinical outcome.

Prognostic significance of CDH13 hypermethylation and mRNA in NSCLC

Aberrant methylation of CpG dinucleotides is a commonly observed epigenetic modification in human cancer. Thus, detection of aberrant gene promoter methylation as a tool for diagnosis of tumors or as a prognostic marker has been widely described for many types of cancers, including nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Emerging evidence indicates that CDH13 is a candidate tumor suppressor in several types of human tumors, including NSCLC. However, the correlation between CDH13 hypermethylation and clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC remains unclear. In the current study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the effects of CDH13 hypermethylation on the incidence of NSCLC and clinicopathological characteristics. Final analysis of 803 NSCLC patients from eleven eligible studies was performed. CDH13 hypermethylation was observed to be significantly higher in NSCLC than in normal lung tissue, with the pooled odds ratio (OR) from seven studies including 448 NSCLC and 345 normal lung tissue (OR, 7.85; 95% confidence interval, 5.12-12.03; P<0.00001). CDH13 hypermethylation was also associated with pathological types. The pooled OR was obtained from four studies, including 111 squamous cell carcinoma and 106 adenocarcinoma (OR, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-0.66; P=0.001), which indicated that CDH13 hypermethylation plays a more important role in the pathogenesis of adenocarcinoma. NSCLC with CDH13 hypermethylation was found more frequently in poorly differentiated NSCLC patients. NSCLC patients with CDH13 hypermethylation had a lower survival rate than those without CDH13 hypermethylation. In addition, CDH13 mRNA high expression was found to correlate with better overall survival for all NSCLC patients followed for 20 years (hazard ratio, 0.81; P=0.0056). Interestingly, CDH13 mRNA overexpression was found to correlate with better overall survival only in adenocarcinoma patients (hazard ratio, 0.42; P=9.6e-09), not in squamous cell carcinoma patients (hazard ratio, 0.93; P=0.59). The results of this meta-analysis suggest that CDH13 hypermethylation is associated with an increased risk and worse survival in NSCLC. CDH13 hypermethylation and mRNA expression play an important role in carcinogenesis, progression, and development, as well as clinical outcomes.