Nestin expression as an independent indicator of poor prognosis for patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer

Illuminating the role of lncRNAs ROR and MALAT1 in cancer stemness state of anaplastic thyroid cancer: An exploratory study

Background

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies in humans that accounts for a considerable rate of cancer-associated mortality. Since conventional therapies are lacking sufficient efficacy, new treatment approaches are required. This goal could be achieved through a better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of ATC. Thyroid tumorigenesis is initiated by a subpopulation of cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) with specific markers such as CD133 that confers to processes such as self-renewal and metastasis. Besides, some long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) promote tumorigenesis by mediating the aforementioned processes.

Methods

Here, we designed an exploratory study to investigate the role of lncRNAs ROR and MALAT1 and their related genes in CSC stemness. Using magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS), the CD133^- and CD133⁺ subpopulations were separated in SW1736 and C643 ATC cell lines. Next, the expression profiles of the CD133 marker, MALAT1, and its associated genes (CCND1, NESTIN, MYBL2, MCL1, IQGAP1), as well as ROR and its related genes (POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG), were explored by qRT-PCR.

Results

We found significant up-regulation of ROR, POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG, CD133, MALAT1, IQGAP1, and MCL1 in CD133⁺ SW1736 cells compared to CD133^- cells. As for CD133⁺ C643 cells, CCND1, IQGAP1, POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG, and NESTIN were significantly up-regulated compared to CD133^- cells.

Conclusions

This study suggests that these lncRNAs in CD133-positive SW1736 and C643 cells might regulate stemness behaviors in ATC.

Nestin-Expressing Cells in the Lung: The Bad and the Good Parts

Nestin is a member of the intermediate filament family, which is expressed in a variety of stem or progenitor cells as well as in several types of malignancies. Nestin might be involved in tissue homeostasis or repair, but its expression has also been associated with processes that lead to a poor prognosis in various types of cancer. In this article, we review the literature related to the effect of nestin expression in the lung. According to most of the reports in the literature, nestin expression in lung cancer leads to an aggressive phenotype and resistance to chemotherapy as well as radiation treatments due to the upregulation of phenomena such as cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Furthermore, nestin may be involved in the pathogenesis of some non-cancer-related lung diseases. On the other hand, evidence also indicates that nestin-positive cells may have a role in lung homeostasis and be capable of generating various types of lung tissues. More research is necessary to establish the true value of nestin expression as a prognostic factor and therapeutic target in lung cancer in addition to its usefulness in therapeutic approaches for pulmonary diseases.

Emodin suppresses angiogenesis and metastasis in anaplastic thyroid cancer by affecting TRAF6‑mediated pathways in vivo and in vitro

Emodin has been recognized to be an anti‑cancer agent against a number of types of human cancer. It was demonstrated that TNF receptor‑associated factor 6 (TRAF6) was correlated with cancer angiogenesis and metastasis. The present study confirmed the association between TRAF6 and the angiogenesis/metastasis of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). The anti‑angiogenesis and metastatic effects of emodin, in addition to its molecular mechanisms in ATC, were investigated. A total of two ATC cell lines, namely 8505c and SW1736, were studied. ATC cells were implanted into nude mice to form xenografts or to establish lung metastasis models. Emodin was used to incubate ATC cells or to treat animals orally. An MTT assay was used to assess cell proliferation. A wound healing assay was employed to evaluate cell migration. ELISA analysis was used to detect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) content. Western blotting was used to determine the protein expression levels. In the in vivo study, cancer angiogenesis was assessed by micro vascular density measurement. The lung metastatic rate was the criterion for cancer metastasis. The results of the present study demonstrated that the proliferation of ATC was inhibited by emodin. The activation of the TRAF6/hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)‑1α/VEGF and TRAF6/basigin (CD147)/matrix metalloproteinase‑9 (MMP9) pathways were associated with the angiogenesis and metastasis of ATC. In a concentration‑dependent manner, emodin inhibited the TRAF6/HIF‑1α/VEGF and TRAF6/CD147/MMP9 signaling pathways to suppress angiogenesis and metastasis. In conclusion, emodin exerted anti‑angiogenic and anti‑metastatic activities in ATC by affecting TRAF6‑mediated pathways.

Association of SOX2 and Nestin DNA amplification and protein expression with clinical features and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Up to now, the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor. With progress of cancer biology, a number of genes have been investigated for predicting prognosis of NSCLC, such as cancer stem cell markers SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (SOX2) and Nestin. Recently, a series of studies have been performed to examine the associations of SOX2 and Nestin with clinical parameters and prognosis in NSCLC, however, the results were not consistent. In the present study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the associations. Four English databases (PubMed, ISI web of science, Embase, and Ovid) were used to search the relevant studies with the last date of November 10, 2015. The pooling analyses were stratified by DNA amplification and protein expression. The pooling ORs or HRs were used to assess the strength of the associations. Finally, we included 19 articles for SOX2 and six articles for Nestin according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooling analyses revealed that there were significant associations between SOX2 DNA amplification and clinical features of NSCLC, gender, smoking status, squamous cell cancer (SCC) histology, and differentiations. And significant associations were also identified between SOX2 protein expression and clinical parameters, smoking status and SCC histology. For Nestin, its protein expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis and stage. Simultaneously, we found that high/positive SOX2 alterations, either DNA amplification or protein expression, were favorable for overall survival (OS) in NSCLC. On the contrary, high/positive Nestin protein expression was poor for OS.

Nestin servers as a promising prognostic biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide and it is important to identify the predictive and/or prognostic markers for the cancer. Nestin, a proliferative and multipotent biomarker has been reported to be associated with prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a few studies. In the present study, we retrospectively recruited 153 patients with NSCLC. Nestin protein expression in tumor samples was determined by immunohistochemistry staining. Nestin expression was related with tumor differentiation (P=0.036), lymphatic metastasis (N stage, P=0.011), and p-TNM stage (P=0.013), while there was no significant association between Nestin expression level and age, smoking habits, gender, histologic type, and T stage. Nestin was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in NSCLC with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.701 (95% CI, 1.616-4.513, P<0.001) after controlling the confounding factors. Then we determined the effects of Nestin on cell proliferation, colony formation, invasion, and apoptosis by knockout of Nestin with a new developed method, CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing. It was observed that knockout of Nestin caused enhancement of cancer cell apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation, colony formation, and invasion in A549 and H1299 cell lines. Furthermore, we examined the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related biomarkers such as E-cadherin and Vimentin in Nestin-depleted lung cancer cells and knockout of Nestin was found to inhibit EMT, suggesting the involvement of Nestin mediated EMT signaling in lung cancer. The finding above demonstrated that Nestin might serve as a prognostic factor and therapeutic target in NSCLCs.

The expression of P-glycoprotein in leukemia cells is associated with the upregulated expression of nestin, a class 6 filament protein

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a serious obstacle to the effective chemotherapeutic treatment of leukemia. Expression of plasma membrane P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a transporter involved in drug efflux, is the most frequently observed molecular causality of MDR. We observed the coexpression of P-gp and the filament protein nestin in the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines SKM-1 and MOLM-13 following the induction of P-gp expression using vincristine. Nestin is considered a marker of neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is causal relationship between the expression of P-glycoprotein and the expression of nestin in both of these AML cell lines. The expression of P-gp was induced in SKM-1 cells by selective pressure using vincristine (VCR), mitoxantrone (MTX), azacytidine (AzaC) and lenalidomide (LEN). Whereas the selective pressure of VCR, MTX and AzaC also induced P-gp expression in MOLM-13 cells, LEN was found to be ineffective in this regard. In all cases in which P-gp expression was induced in SKM-1 and MOLM-13 cells, its expression was associated with the induction of nestin mRNA expression and the presence of a 200-220kDa nestin-immunoreactive protein band in western blots. Silencing P-gp expression using s10418 siRNA (known as the P-gp silencer) was associated with the downregulation of the nestin transcript level, demonstrated using RT-PCR. Nestin mRNA was also observed in two P-gp-positive variants of L1210 cells that were obtained either by selection with VCR or by transfection with a retrovirus encoding human P-gp. Detectable levels of nestin transcripts were not observed in P-gp-negative parental L1210 cells. Taken together, these results indicated that the induction of P-gp expression is causally associated with the expression of nestin in leukemia cells.