Activation of Janus kinase 1 confers poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

SIRPG promotes lung squamous cell carcinoma pathogenesis via M1 macrophages: a multi-omics study integrating data and Mendelian randomization

Background

Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (LUSC) is a severe and highly lethal malignant tumor of the respiratory system, and its molecular mechanisms at the molecular level remain unc\lear.

Methods

We acquired RNA-seq data from 8 surgical samples obtained from early-stage LUSC and adjacent non-cancerous tissues from 3 different centers. Utilizing Deseq2, we identified 1088 differentially expressed genes with |LogFC| > 1 and a p-value < 0.05 threshold. Furthermore, through MR analysis of Exposure Data for 26,153 Genes and 63,053 LUSC Patients, incorporating 7,838,805 SNPs as endpoints, we identified 213 genes as potential exposure factors.

Results

After intersecting the results, we identified 5 differentially expressed genes, including GYPE, PODXL2, RNF182, SIRPG, and WNT7A. PODXL2 (OR 95% CI, 1.169 (1.040 to 1.313)) was identified as an exposed risk factor, with p-values less than 0.01 under the inverse variance weighted model. GO and KEGG analyses revealed enhanced ubiquitin-protein transferase activity and activation of pathways such as the mTOR signaling pathway and Wnt signaling pathway. Immune infiltration analysis showed downregulation of Plasma cells, T cells regulatory (Tregs), and Dendritic cells activated by the identified gene set, while an enhancement was observed in Macrophages M1. Furthermore, we externally validated the expression levels of these five genes using RNA-seq data from TCGA database and 11 GEO datasets of LUSC, and the results showed SIRPG could induce LUSC.

Conclusion

SIRPG emerged as a noteworthy exposure risk factor for LUSC. Immune infiltration analysis highlighted Macrophages M1 and mTOR signaling pathway play an important role in LUSC.

JAK1 Is a Novel Target of Tumor- and Invasion-Suppressive microRNA 494-5p in Colorectal Cancer

MiR-494-5p expression has been suggested to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and its metastases in our previous studies. However, functional investigations on the molecule-mediating actions of this miR in CRC are lacking. In silico analysis in the present study revealed a putative binding sequence within the 3'UTR of JAK1. Overexpression of miR-494-5p in cultured CRC significantly reduced the luciferase activity of a reporter plasmid containing the wild-type JAK1-3'UTR, which was abolished by seed sequence mutation. Furthermore, the overexpression of miR-494-5p in CRC cell lines led to a significant reduction in JAK1 expression, proliferation, in vitro migration, and invasion. These effects were abolished by co-transfection with a specific double-stranded RNA that inhibits endogenous miR-494-5p. Moreover, IL-4-induced migration, invasion, and phosphorylation of JAK1, STAT6, and AKT proteins were reduced after an overexpression of this miR, suggesting that this miR affects one of the most essential pathways in CRC. A Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis revealed that patients with high JAK1 expression show reduced survival. Together, these data suggest that miR-494-5p physically inhibits the expression of JAK1 at the translational level as well as in migration and invasion, supporting the hypothesis of miR-494-5p as an early tumor suppressor and inhibitor of early steps of metastasis in CRC.

Discovery, Significance, and Utility of JAK2 Mutation in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Many studies show lung cancer is a histologically and molecularly heterogeneous group, even within the same histological subtype. Liquid biopsies are a new tool that can identify targetable genomic mutations and impact management. JAK2 p.V617F is a mutation commonly found in myeloproliferative neoplasms but rarely identified in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLCs). The significance of Janus Kinase (JAK2) mutation in lung cancer is not clearly understood. However, it is thought that it may have a role in treating solid tumors, such as lung cancer. We present two cases of patients diagnosed with NSCLC who were discovered to have JAK2 V617F mutation on liquid biopsy.

Comprehensive Analysis of Immune Implication and Prognostic Value of IFI44L in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Interferon-induced protein 44-like (IFI44L), a type I interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), has been reported to be involved in innate immune processes and to act as a tumor suppressor in several cancers. However, its immune implication on lung cancer remains unclear. Here, we systemically analyzed the immune association of IFI44L with multiple tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immunomodulators through bioinformatics methods in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) lung cancer cohorts. Then, the IFI44L-related immunomodulators were selected to construct the prognostic signatures in the lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cohort and the lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) cohort, respectively. Concordance index and time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were applied to evaluate the prognostic signatures. GSE72094 and GSE50081 were used to validate the TCGA-LUAD signature and TCGA-LUSC signature, respectively. A nomogram was established by risk score and clinical features in the LUAD cohort. Finally, the prognostic value and biological function of IFI44L were verified in a real-world cohort and in vitro experiments. The results indicated that IFI44L showed significant correlation with TIICs in LUAD and LUSC samples. Functional enrichment analysis showed that IFI44L may participate in various cancer/immune-related pathways, including JAK/STAT signaling pathway and NF-κB signaling pathway. A total of 44 immunomodulators presented obvious association with IFI44L in the TCGA-LUAD cohort and a robust 10-immunomodulator signature was constructed. Patients in the higher-risk group presented worse prognosis than those in the lower-risk group. Notably, the risk signature was successfully validated in GSE72094. Multivariate Cox regression suggested that the risk signature could act as independent prognostic factors in both TCGA-LUAD and GSE72094 cohorts. Besides, a 17-immunomodulator signature was established in the TCGA-LUSC cohort and similar results were presented through analysis. The nomogram exhibited good accuracy in predicting overall survival (OS) outcome among TCGA-LUAD patients than the risk signature and other clinical features, with the area under curve values being 0.782 at 1 year, 0.825 at 3 years, and 0.792 at 5 years. Finally, tissue microarray analysis indicated that higher expression of IFI44L presented opposite relationship with pathological stage (p = 0.016) and a better outcome among lung cancer patients (p = 0.024). Functional experiments found that IFI44L overexpression significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion in LUAD and LUSC cells; RT-qPCR experiments verified the correlation between the expression level of IFI44L with multiple immunomodulators in SPC-A-1 and NCI-H520 cells. In conclusion, our research highlighted that IFI44L is associated with tumor immune infiltration and provided information on IFI44L's immune implication, which indicates that IFI44L has potential clinical immunotherapeutic value and the proposed nomogram is a promising biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer patients.

The deubiquitinase USP16 functions as an oncogenic factor in K-RAS-driven lung tumorigenesis

K-RAS mutation and molecular alterations of its surrogates function essentially in lung tumorigenesis and malignant progression. However, it remains elusive how tumor-promoting and deleterious events downstream of K-RAS signaling are coordinated in lung tumorigenesis. Here, we show that USP16, a deubiquitinase involved in various biological processes, functions as a promoter for the development of K-RAS-driven lung tumor. Usp16 deletion significantly attenuates K-ras^G12D-mutation-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice. USP16 upregulation upon RAS activation averts reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced p38 activation that would otherwise detrimentally influence the survival and proliferation of tumor cells. In addition, USP16 interacts with and deubiquitinates JAK1, and thereby promoting lung tumor growth by augmenting JAK1 signaling. Therefore, our results reveal that USP16 functions critically in the K-RAS-driven lung tumorigenesis through modulating the strength of p38 and JAK1 signaling.

Anwulignan is a novel JAK1 inhibitor that suppresses non-small cell lung cancer growth

Anwulignan is a monomer compound derived from Schisandra sphenanthera lignans. It has been reported to possess a spectrum of pharmacological activities, including anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and hepatoprotective properties. However, its anticancer capacity and molecular mechanism(s) against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been fully elucidated. Anwulignan significantly inhibited cell growth and increased G1-phase cell cycle arrest in NSCLC cells. Anwulignan strongly attenuates the JAK1/STAT3 signalling pathway by directly targeting JAK1 protein kinase activity in vitro. The anticancer activity by Anwulignan is dependent upon the JAK1 protein expression. Remarkably, Anwulignan strongly inhibited tumour growth in vivo. In conclusion, Anwulignan is a novel JAK1 inhibitor that may have therapeutic implications for NSCLC management.

Development of a novel prognostic score combining clinicopathologic variables, gene expression, and mutation profiles for lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Integrating phenotypic and genotypic information to improve prognostic prediction is under active investigation for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, we developed a new prognostic model for event-free survival (EFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) based on the combination of clinicopathologic variables, gene expression, and mutation data.

METHODS

We enrolled a total of 408 patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas Lung Adenocarcinoma (TCGA-LUAD) project for the study. We pre-selected gene expression or mutation features and constructed 14 different input feature sets for predictive model development. We assessed model performance with multiple evaluation metrics including the distribution of C-index on testing dataset, risk score significance, and time-dependent AUC under competing risks scenario. We stratified patients into higher- and lower-risk subgroups by the final risk score and further investigated underlying immune phenotyping variations associated with the differential risk.

RESULTS

The model integrating all three types of data achieved the best prediction performance. The resultant risk score provided a higher-resolution risk stratification than other models within pathologically defined subgroups. The score could account for extra EFS-related variations that were not captured by clinicopathologic scores. Being validated for RFS prediction under a competing risks modeling framework, the score achieved a significantly higher time-dependent AUC as compared to that of the conventional clinicopathologic variables-based model (0.772 vs. 0.646, p value < 0.001). The higher-risk patients were characterized with transcriptional aberrations of multiple immune-related genes, and a significant depletion of mast cells and natural killer cells.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a novel prognostic risk score with improved prediction accuracy, using clinicopathologic variables, gene expression and mutation profiles as input, for LUAD. Such score was a significant predictor of both EFS and RFS.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study was based on public open data from TCGA and hence the study objects were retrospectively registered.

miR-140-3p inhibits progression of non-small cell lung cancer by targeting Janus kinase 1

microRNAs (miRNAs) have gained more attention due to the biological functions in many cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the roles and the mechanism of miR-140-3p in NSCLC progression remain poorly understood. In this study, the expression levels of miR-140-3p and Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) were measured in NSCLC tissues and cells by quantitative real-time PCR. Cell viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion were detected by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-trtrazolium bromide, flow cytometry, Western blot or trans-well assay, respectively. Murine xenograft model was conducted to analyze the anti-tumor effect of miR-140-3p in vivo. Interaction between miR-140-3p and JAK1 was probed by luciferase reporter activity and Western blot. We found that miR-140-3p expression was down-regulated and JAK1 expression was increased in NSCLC tissues and cells compared with those in corresponding controls. Moreover, overexpression of miR-140-3p inhibited cell viability, migration and invasion while promoted cell apoptosis in NSCLC cells and suppressed NSCLC xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Besides, JAK1 was proved as a target of miR-140-3p and its restoration reversed miR-140-3p-mediated regulatory effect on progression of NSCLC. We concluded that miR-140-3p inhibited NSCLC progression by targeting JAK1, providing a novel avenue for treatment of NSCLC.

[Research Advances of JAK/STAT Signaling Pathway in Lung Cancer]

Janus激酶（Janus kinase, JAK）/信号转导子和转录活化子（signal transducer and activator of transcription, STAT）信号通路是细胞因子信号传导的下游通路，调控细胞的发育、分化、增殖、凋亡等，不仅参与调节正常的生理过程，在肿瘤的发生发展中也起着重要作用，尤其是在血液系统肿瘤中意义重大。近年来，随着对JAK/STAT信号通路研究的深入，人们发现该通路在实体肿瘤的发生发展中也扮演关键角色。本文就近年来JAK/STAT信号通路参与肺癌发生发展、肺癌转移、肺癌耐药机制形成以及靶向该通路的抑制剂在肺癌治疗中的应用现状进行综述。