Prognostic significance of CD168 overexpression in colorectal cancer

The role of hyaluronic acid in the design and functionalization of nanoparticles for the treatment of colorectal cancer

Despite advances in new approaches for colorectal cancer (CRC) therapy, intravenous chemotherapy remains one of the main treatment options; however, it has limitations associated with off-target toxicity, tumor cell resistance due to molecular complexity and CRC heterogeneity, which lead to tumor recurrence and metastasis. In oncology, nanoparticle-based strategies have been designed to avoid systemic toxicity and increase drug accumulation at tumor sites. Hyaluronic acid (HA) has obtained significant attention thanks to its ability to target nanoparticles (NPs) to CRC cells through binding to cluster-determinant-44 (CD44) and hyaluronan-mediated motility (RHAMM) receptors, along with its efficient biological properties of mucoadhesion. This review proposes to discuss the state of the art in HA-based nanoparticulate systems intended for localized treatment of CRC, highlighting the importance of the mucoadhesion and active targeting provided by this polymer. In addition, an overview of CRC will be provided, emphasizing the importance of CD44 and RHAMM receptors in this type of cancer and the current challenges related to this disease, and important concepts about the physicochemical and biological properties of HA will also be addressed. Finally, this review aims to contribute to the advancement of accuracy treatment of CRC by the design of new platforms based on by HA.

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis identifies a highly replicating Cd168+ skeletal stem/progenitor cell population in mouse long bones

Skeletal stem/progenitor cells (SSPCs) are tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells localized within skeletons and contribute to bone development, homeostasis, and regeneration. However, the heterogeneity of SSPC populations in mouse long bones and their respective regenerative capacity remain to be further clarified. In this study, we perform integrated analysis using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets of mouse hindlimb buds, postnatal long bones, and fractured long bones. Our analyses reveal the heterogeneity of osteochondrogenic lineage cells and recapitulate the developmental trajectories during mouse long bone growth. In addition, we identify a novel Cd168+ SSPC population with highly replicating capacity and osteochondrogenic potential in embryonic and postnatal long bones. Moreover, the Cd168+ SSPCs can contribute to newly formed skeletal tissues during fracture healing. Furthermore, the results of multicolor immunofluorescence show that Cd168+ SSPCs reside in the superficial zone of articular cartilage as well as in growth plates of postnatal mouse long bones. In summary, we identify a novel Cd168+ SSPC population with regenerative potential in mouse long bones, which adds to the knowledge of the tissue-specific stem cells in skeletons.

The role of RHAMM in cancer: Exposing novel therapeutic vulnerabilities

Receptor for hyaluronic acid-mediated motility (RHAMM) is a cell surface receptor for hyaluronic acid that is critical for cell migration and a cell cycle protein involved in microtubule assembly and stability. These functions of RHAMM are required for cellular stress responses and cell cycle progression but are also exploited by tumor cells for malignant progression and metastasis. RHAMM is often overexpressed in tumors and is an independent adverse prognostic factor for a number of cancers such as breast and prostate. Interestingly, pharmacological or genetic inhibition of RHAMM in vitro and in vivo ablates tumor invasiveness and metastatic spread, implicating RHAMM as a potential therapeutic target to restrict tumor growth and improve patient survival. However, RHAMM’s pro-tumor activity is dependent on its subcellular distribution, which complicates the design of RHAMM-directed therapies. An alternative approach is to identify downstream signaling pathways that mediate RHAMM-promoted tumor aggressiveness. Herein, we discuss the pro-tumoral roles of RHAMM and elucidate the corresponding regulators and signaling pathways mediating RHAMM downstream events, with a specific focus on strategies to target the RHAMM signaling network in cancer cells.

Targeting Hyaluronic Acid and Peritoneal Dissemination in Colorectal Cancer

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) from colorectal cancer (CRC) carries a significant mortality rate for patients and treatment is challenging. The development of PM is a multistep process involving detachment, adhesion, invasion and colonization of the peritoneal cavity. Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC (hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy) for PM from CRC has some benefit but overall survival is poor and recurrence rates are high. Treatments to prevent the development of peritoneal metastasis could have the potential to improve CRC survival and disease-free outcomes. The ability of cancer cells to invade the peritoneum and become established as metastatic tumors is influenced by a multifactorial process. Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been shown to coat the mesothelial cells of the peritoneum and has been demonstrated to be utilized in various malignancies as part of the metastatic process in peritoneal dissemination. CD44, RHAMM (CD168) and ICAM-1 have all been shown to be binding partners for HA. Targeting HA-mediated binding may prevent adhesion to distant sites within the peritoneum through suppression of interaction of these molecules. Here we review the current literature and discuss key molecules involved with PM dissemination, with the potential to target these mechanisms in the delivery of future treatments.

Identification of the HMMR Gene as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

BACKGROUND

We aimed to investigate the expression of the hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (HMMR) gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and nonneoplastic tissues and to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of HMMR.

METHOD

With the reuse of the publicly available The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, 374 HCC patients and 50 nonneoplastic tissues were used to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of HMMR genes by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and survival analysis. All patients were divided into low- and high-expression groups based on the median value of HMMR expression level. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to identify prognostic factors. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore the potential mechanism of the HMMR genes involved in HCC. The diagnostic and prognostic values were further validated in an external cohort from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC).

RESULTS

HMMR mRNA expression was significantly elevated in HCC tissues compared with that in normal tissues from both TCGA and the ICGC cohorts (all P values <0.001). Increased HMMR expression was significantly associated with histologic grade, pathological stage, and survival status (all P values <0.05). The area under the ROC curve for HMMR expression in HCC and normal tissues was 0.969 (95% CI: 0.948-0.983) in the TCGA cohort and 0.956 (95% CI: 0.932-0.973) in the ICGC cohort. Patients with high HMMR expression had a poor prognosis than patients with low expression group in both cohorts (all P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analysis also showed that HMMR is an independent predictor factor associated with overall survival in both cohorts (all P values <0.001). GSEA showed that genes upregulated in the high-HMMR HCC subgroup were mainly significantly enriched in the cell cycle pathway, pathways in cancer, and P53 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

HMMR is expressed at high levels in HCC. HMMR overexpression may be an unfavorable prognostic factor for HCC.

AR-mTOR-SRF Axis Regulates HMMR Expression in Human Prostate Cancer Cells

The elevated expression of the hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (HMMR) is known to be highly associated with tumor progression in prostate cancer, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of HMMR expression remain unclear. Here, we report that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator of HMMR expression, for which its kinase activity is required. Pharmacological inhibitors of mTOR, such as rapamycin and Torin2, markedly suppressed the mRNA level as well as the protein level of HMMR in LNCaP and PC-3 cells. Our data demonstrate that such regulation occurs at the transcription level. HMMR promoter reporter assays revealed that the transcription factor SRF is responsible for the mTOR-mediated transcriptional regulation of HMMR gene. Consistently, the suppression of HMMR expression by Torin2 was noticeably reversed by the overexpression of SRF. Moreover, our findings suggest that the SRF binding sites responsible for the transcriptional regulation of HMMR through the mTOR-SRF axis are located in HMMR promoter sequences carrying the first intron, downstream of the translational start site. Furthermore, the upregulation of HMMR by DHT was abolished by stimulation with rapamycin, prior to DHT treatment, suggesting that mTOR activity is required for the induction of HMMR expression by androgen. Collectively, our study provides new mechanistic insights into the role of mTOR/SRF/AR signaling in HMMR regulation in prostate cancer cells.

Nano-delivery system targeting to cancer stem cell cluster of differentiation biomarkers

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are one of the most important origins of cancer progression and metastasis. CSCs have unique self-renewal properties and diverse cell membrane receptors that induced the resistance to the conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Therefore, the therapeutic removal of CSCs could result in the cancer cure with lack of recurrence and metastasis. In this regard, targeting CSCs in accordance to their specific biomarkers is a talented attitude in cancer therapy. Various CSCs surface biomarkers have been described, which some of them exhibited similarities on different cancer cell types, while the others are cancer specific and have just been reported on one or a few types of cancers. In this review, the importance of CSCs in cancer development and therapeutic response has been stated. Different CSCs cluster of differentiation (CD) biomarkers and their specific function and applications in the treatment of cancers have been discussed, Special attention has been made on targeted nano-delivery systems. In this regard, several examples have been illustrated concerning specific natural and artificial ligands against CSCs CD biomarkers that could be decorated on various nanoparticulated drug delivery systems to enhance therapeutic index of chemotherapeutic agents or anticancer gene therapy. The outlook of CSCs biomarkers discovery and therapeutic/diagnostic applications was discussed.