High expression of S100A12 on intratumoral stroma cells indicates poor prognosis following surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma

Copper-binding proteins genes set predicting the overall survival and immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma by bioinformatic analysis

Abnormal Copper (Cu) accumulation shared a close association with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the regulatory role of Copper-binding proteins in HCC remains largely unknown. The aim of study was to identify the potential regulatory role of Cu-binding proteins, including copper homeostasis maintainer and the downstream effectors of Cu, in the progression of HCC. We conducted a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of Cu-binding proteins in HCC using data from TCGA and ICGC database. Univariate cox regression analysis was conducted, and four prognostic Cu-binding proteins was identified to be differentially expressed between the normal liver tissues and HCC tissues. In addition, the Cu-binding proteins-based predictive signature (CuPscore) model was generated using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) cox regression model. Here, we identified the crucial prognostic value of CuPscore in HCC. The pathological stage and CuPscore were independent risk factors for the prognosis of HCC patients. Pathological stage and CuPscore-based nomogram model exhibited great performance in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients. We also observed that the CuPscore shared a close association with several immunomodulatory molecules and the proportion of several tumor infiltrating immune cells, suggesting a potential value of CuPscore in predicting the response to immunotherapy in HCC. Our results demonstrated the prognostic value of Cu-binding proteins and its correlation with immune microenvironment in HCC, providing a therapeutic basis for the precision medicine strategy through targeting Cu-binding proteins in HCC.

Tissue S100/calgranulin expression and blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in dogs with lower urinary tract urothelial carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common neoplasm of the canine lower urinary tract, affecting approximately 2% of dogs. Elderly female patients of certain breeds are predisposed, and clinical signs of UC can easily be confused with urinary tract infection or urolithiasis. Diagnosis and treatment are challenging given the lack of disease-specific markers and treatments. The S100A8/A9 complex and S100A12 protein are Ca²⁺-binding proteins expressed by cells of the innate immune system and have shown promise as urinary screening markers for UC. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can also aid in distinguishing certain neoplastic from inflammatory conditions. Our study aimed to evaluate the tissue expression of S100/calgranulins and the blood NLR in dogs with UC. Urinary bladder and/or urethral tissue samples from dogs with UC (n = 10), non-neoplastic inflammatory lesions (NNUTD; n = 6), and no histologic changes (n = 11) were evaluated using immunohistochemistry. Blood NLRs were analyzed in dogs with UC (n = 22) or NNUTD (n = 26).

RESULTS

Tissue S100A12-positive cell counts were significantly higher in dogs with lower urinary tract disease than healthy controls (P = 0.0267 for UC, P = 0.0049 for NNUTD), with no significant difference between UC and NNUTD patients. Tissue S100A8/A9-positivity appeared to be higher with NNUTD than UC, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. The S100A8/A9⁺-to-S100A12⁺ ratio was significantly decreased in neoplastic and inflamed lower urinary tract tissue compared to histologically normal specimens (P = 0.0062 for UC, P = 0.0030 for NNUTD). NLRs were significantly higher in dogs with UC than in dogs with NNUTD, and a cut-off NLR of ≤ 2.83 distinguished UC from NNUTD with 41% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Higher NLRs were also associated with a poor overall survival time (P = 0.0417).

CONCLUSIONS

These results confirm that the S100/calgranulins play a role in the immune response to inflammatory and neoplastic lower urinary tract diseases in dogs, but the tissue expression of these proteins appears to differ from their concentrations reported in urine samples. Further investigations of the S100/calgranulin pathways in UC and their potential as diagnostic or prognostic tools and potential therapeutic targets are warranted. The NLR as a routinely available marker might be a useful surrogate to distinguish UC from inflammatory conditions.

High Monocyte Count and Expression of S100A9 and S100A12 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Are Associated with Poor Outcome in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Increasing evidence indicates calcium-binding S100 protein involvement in inflammation and tumor progression. In this prospective study, we evaluated the mRNA levels of two members of this family, S100A9 and S100A12, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in a cohort of 121 prostate cancer patients using RT-PCR. Furthermore, monocyte count was determined by flow cytometry. By stratifying patients into different risk groups, according to TNM stage, Gleason score and PSA concentration at diagnosis, expression of S100A9 and S100A12 was found to be significantly higher in patients with metastases compared to patients without clinically detectable metastases. In line with this, we observed that the protein levels of S100A9 and S100A12 in plasma were higher in patients with advanced disease. Importantly, in patients with metastases at diagnosis, high monocyte count and high levels of S100A9 and S100A12 were significantly associated with short progression free survival (PFS) after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). High monocyte count and S100A9 levels were also associated with short cancer-specific survival, with monocyte count providing independent prognostic information. These findings indicate that circulating levels of monocytes, as well as S100A9 and S100A12, could be biomarkers for metastatic prostate cancer associated with particularly poor prognosis.

Comprehensive Analysis of the Prognosis and Correlations With Immune Infiltration of S100 Protein Family Members in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

S100 protein family members (S100s) are commonly dysregulated in various tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the diverse expression, mutation, prognosis and associations with immune infiltration of S100s in HCC have yet to be analyzed. Herein we investigated the roles of S100s in HCC from the Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), Human Protein Atlas, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, cBioPortal and TIMER databases. Compared with para-cancer tissues, the expression levels of S100A4/S100A6/S100A10/S100A11/S100A13/S100A14/S100P were higher in HCC tissues, while the expression levels of S100A8/S100A9/S100A12 were decreased in tumor tissues. The mRNA levels of S100A2/S100A7/S100A7A/S100A8/S100A9/S100A11 were correlated with advanced tumor stage. Besides, higher mRNA expressions of S100A6/S100A10/S100A11/S100A13/S100A14/S100P were shown to have shorter overall survival (OS), while higher expression of S100A12 was associated with favorable OS. Further, the mutation rate of S100s was investigated, and the high mutation rate (53%) was associated with shorter OS. Additionally, the expressions of S100s were found to be significantly associated with various immune infiltrating cells. Hence, our results showed that S100A6/S100A10/S100A11/S10012/S100A13/S100A14/S100P may be regarded as new prognostic or therapeutic markers and S100s inhibitors may be helpful in the combination of immunotherapies.

S100 family members: potential therapeutic target in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A STROBE study

Proteins in S100 family exhibit different expressions patterns and perform different cytological functions, playing substantial roles in certain cancers, carcinogenesis, and disease progression. However, the expression and role of S100 family members in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. To investigate the effect of S100 family members for the prognosis of liver cancer, we assessed overall survival (OS) using a Kaplan-Meier plotter (KM plotter) in liver cancer patients with different situation. Our results showed that 15 members of the S100 family exhibited high levels of expression and these levels were correlated with OS in liver cancer patients. The higher expression of S100A5, S100A7, S100A7A, S100A12, S100Z, and S100G was reflected with better survival in liver cancer patients. However, worse prognosis was related to higher levels of expression of S100A2, S100A6, S100A8, S100A9, S100A10, S100A11, S10013, S100A14, and S100P. We then evaluated the prognostic values of S100 family members expression for evaluating different stages of AJCC-T, vascular invasion, alcohol consumption, and the presence of hepatitis virus in liver cancer patients. Lastly, we studied the prognostic values of S100 family members expression for patients after sorafenib treatment. In conclusion, our findings show that the proteins of S100 family members exhibit differential expression and may be useful as targets for liver cancer, facilitating novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in cancer.