Leucine rich repeat LGI family member 3: Integrative analyses reveal its prognostic association with non-small cell lung cancer

A novel 8-gene panel for prediction of early biochemical recurrence in patients with prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy

Approximately 25% of prostate cancer (PCa) cases experience biochemical recurrence (BCR) following radical prostatectomy (RP). The patients with BCR, especially with BCR ≤2 year after RP (early BCR), are more likely to develop clinical metastasis and castration resistance. Now decision-making regarding BCR after RP relies solely on clinical parameters. We thus attempted to establish an early BCR-risk prediction model by combining a molecular signature with clinicopathological features for guiding clinical decision-making. In this study, an 8-gene signature was derived, and these eight genes were SPTBN2, LGI3, TGM3, LENG9, HAS3, SLC25A27, PCDHGA1, and ADPRHL1. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significantly prolonged BCR-free survival in the patients with low-risk scores compared to those with high-risk scores in both training and validation datasets. Harrell's concordance index and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that this gene signature tended to outperform three commercial panels at early BCR prediction. Moreover, this signature was also proven as an independent predictor of BCR-free survival. A nomogram, incorporating the gene signature and clinicopathologic features, was constructed and excellently predicted 1-, 2- and 3-year BCR-free survival of localized PCa patients after RP. Gene set enrichment analysis, tumor immunity, and mRNA expression profiling analysis showed that the high-risk group was more prone to the immunosuppressive microenvironment and impaired DNA damage response than the low-risk group. Collectively, we successfully developed a novel 8-gene signature as a powerful predictor for early BCR after RP and created a prognostic nomogram, which may help inform the clinical management of PCa.

Role of Cytokines and Chemokines in NSCLC Immune Navigation and Proliferation

With over a million deaths every year around the world, lung cancer is found to be the most recurrent cancer among all types. Nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) amounts to about 85% of the entire cases. The other 15% owes it to small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Despite decades of research, the prognosis for NSCLC patients is poorly understood with treatment options limited. First, this article emphasises on the part that tumour microenvironment (TME) and its constituents play in lung cancer progression. This review also highlights the inflammatory (pro- or anti-) roles of different cytokines (ILs, TGF-β, and TNF-α) and chemokine (CC, CXC, C, and CX3C) families in the lung TME, provoking tumour growth and subsequent metastasis. The write-up also pinpoints recent developments in the field of chemokine biology. Additionally, it covers the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs), as alternate carriers of cytokines and chemokines. This allows the cytokines/chemokines to modulate the EVs for their secretion, trafficking, and aid in cancer proliferation. In the end, this review also stresses on the role of these factors as prognostic biomarkers for lung immunotherapy, apart from focusing on inflammatory actions of these chemoattractants.

Integrative proteomic network analyses support depot-specific roles for leucine rich repeat LGI family member 3 in adipose tissues

LGI family member 3 (LGI3) is a member of the LGI protein family. In our previous studies, LGI3 was determined to be expressed in adipose tissues, skin and the brain, where it served as a pleiotropic cytokine. The results indicated that LGI3 levels are increased in adipose tissues of obese individuals in comparison with control individuals and that LGI3 suppressed adipogenesis via its receptor, disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 23. Additionally, it was reported that LGI3 upregulates tumor necrosis factor-α and downregulated adiponectin and hypothesized that LGI3 may act as a proinflammatory adipokine involved in adipose tissue inflammation. In the present study, cytokine arrays were used to analyze cytokine levels in adipose tissues and plasma of LGI3-knockout mice and signaling protein arrays used to analyze the expression and phosphorylation of these proteins in LGI3-treated preadipocytes. The results suggested that expression levels of 129 gene products (24 cytokines and 105 signaling proteins) were altered in response to LGI3 deficiency or LGI3 treatment, respectively. Protein-protein interaction network analysis of LGI3-regulated gene products revealed that 94% of the gene products (21 cytokines and 100 signaling proteins) formed an interaction network cluster. Functional enrichment analysis for the LGI3-regulated gene products, including those from our previous studies, revealed an association with numerous biological processes, including inflammatory responses, cellular differentiation and development and metabolic regulation. Gene co-expression network analysis revealed that these LGI3-regulated gene products were involved in various biological processes in an overlapping and differential manner between subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues. Notably, inflammatory responses were more strongly associated with the LGI3-regulated gene co-expression network in visceral adipose tissues than in subcutaneous adipose tissues. Analysis of expression quantitative trait loci identified four single nucleotide variants that affect expression of LGI3 in an adipose depot-specific manner. Taken together, the results suggested that LGI3 may serve depot-specific roles as an adipokine in adipose tissues.