ZW10 interacting kinetochore protein may serve as a prognostic biomarker for human breast cancer: An integrated bioinformatics analysis

Evaluation of the role of KPNA2 mutations in breast cancer prognosis using bioinformatics datasets

Breast cancer, comprising of several sub-phenotypes, is a leading cause of female cancer-related mortality in the UK and accounts for 15% of all cancer cases. Chemoresistant sub phenotypes of breast cancer remain a particular challenge. However, the rapidly-growing availability of clinical datasets, presents the scope to underpin a data-driven precision medicine-based approach exploring new targets for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.We report the application of a bioinformatics-based approach probing the expression and prognostic role of Karyopherin-2 alpha (KPNA2) in breast cancer prognosis. Aberrant KPNA2 overexpression is directly correlated with aggressive tumour phenotypes and poor patient survival outcomes. We examined the existing clinical data available on a range of commonly occurring mutations of KPNA2 and their correlation with patient survival.Our analysis of clinical gene expression datasets show that KPNA2 is frequently amplified in breast cancer, with differences in expression levels observed as a function of patient age and clinicopathologic parameters. We also found that aberrant KPNA2 overexpression is directly correlated with poor patient prognosis, warranting further investigation of KPNA2 as an actionable target for patient stratification or the design of novel chemotherapy agents.In the era of big data, the wealth of datasets available in the public domain can be used to underpin proof of concept studies evaluating the biomolecular pathways implicated in chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer.

ZWINT is a Promising Therapeutic Biomarker Associated with the Immune Microenvironment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background

The prognosis of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still poor, effective therapeutic targets are needed. ZW10 interacting kinetochore protein (Zwint) is an essential component of the mitotic spindle checkpoint and is upregulated in cancers. Disappointing, the role of ZWINT in HCC has not been fully illuminated.

Methods

Multiple tools, including TIMER2.0, Oncomine, GEPIA2, UALCAN, LinkedOmics, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, cBioPortal, and MethSurv, etc. were applied to comprehensively analyze the expression, genetic alternations, clinicopathological relevance, prognostic value, and DNA methylation of ZWINT, along with its correlations with immune infiltration in HCC. Besides, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis were performed for the correlated genes of ZWINT, closely interconnected clusters and hub proteins in the PPI network were discovered to learn the underlying biological mechanisms.

Results

We found ZWINT was significantly upregulated in diverse cancers including HCC, compared with the corresponding normal controls. ZWINT upregulation was significantly associated with unfavorable clinicopathological features and survivals of HCC patients. Genetic alternations of ZWINT frequently occurred, which were linked to worse outcomes of HCC patients. The results of GSEA displayed ZWINT and its correlated genes might be components of condensed chromosomes and spindles, which participated in biological processes and signaling pathways involving DNA replication, cytokinesis, and cell cycle checkpoint, etc. Three highly interconnected clusters and 10 hub proteins were identified from the PPI network constructed with the correlated genes of ZWINT. Moreover, ZWINT expression was found positively correlated with infiltration levels of various immune cells, especially myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated ZWINT might be a promising unfavorable prognostic biomarker and a therapeutic target of HCC, which could regulate HCC progression through cell division and immunosuppression.

CDK4 has the ability to regulate Aurora B and Cenpp expression in mouse keratinocytes

Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) is a critical molecule that regulates key aspects of cell proliferation through phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma (Rb) family of proteins. In the last few years, it has been suggested that CDK4 plays alternative roles in cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. The main aim of the present study was to define a novel CDK4 function as a transcriptional regulator of genes involved in chromosome segregation, contributing to the G2/M phase transition. Herein, chromatin-immunoprecipitation reverse transcription-quantitative PCR assays were performed to demonstrate that CDK4 could occupy the promoter region of genes associated with chromosomal segregation, such as Aurora-B (Aurkb) and Centromere Protein P (CENP-P). Moreover, gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that CDK4 participated in the transcriptional regulation of Aurkb and CENP-P. The finding that Aurkb may have a crucial role in chromosome bi-orientation and the spindle assembly checkpoint, and that CENP-P could be required for proper kinetochore function suggests that dysregulation of CDK4 expression induces chromosomal instability and, in some cases, cancer development.

Zwint facilitates melanoma progression by promoting c-Myc expression

ZW10 interactor (Zwint) is upregulated in various types of tumors and exerts a carcinogenic effect. However, little is known about the expression profile, function and molecular mechanisms of action of Zwint in melanoma. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the expression levels of Zwint in melanoma cell lines and tissues. It was revealed that Zwint was highly expressed in melanoma samples. Functional experiments indicated that Zwint knockdown suppressed the proliferation and migration of A375 melanoma cells. Further mechanistic studies demonstrated that Zwint knockdown decreased the protein expression levels of c-Myc, MMP-2, Slug, mTOR, phosphorylated (p)-mTOR, p-p38 and fibronectin, while it increased the protein expression levels of E-cadherin and MMP-9. Among these genes, c-Myc, MMP-2 and Slug were overexpressed to investigate their effects on cell proliferation following Zwint knockdown. The results demonstrated that overexpression of c-Myc, but not MMP-2 or Slug, rescued the effects of Zwint knockdown on melanoma cell proliferation and migration. Taken together, the results of the present study suggested that Zwint may act as an oncogene in melanoma by regulating c-Myc expression.

KNTC1 knockdown suppresses cell proliferation of colon cancer

Kinetochore-associated protein 1 (KNTC1) is a kind of kinetochore components that ensure the proper functioning of the spindle-assembly checkpoint. To date, the functional information of KNTC1 in colon cancer remains unknown. This study was aimed to investigate the role of KNTC1 in colon cancer. We found KNTC1 was significantly upregulated in the colon cancer compared to the normal tissues. ROC curve showed the area under the curve value of KNTC1 for the prediction of colon cancer was 0.93. Kaplan-Meier revealed highly expressed KNTC1 was associated with poor prognosis. KNTC1 was widely expressed in different colon cancer cell lines. Compared with the control lentiviral infected cells, KNTC1-shRNA cells exhibited significant reduction in cell growth rates and increase in the proportion of cells in the S phase, while decrease in the G1 and G2/M phase. Furthermore, knockdown of KNTC1 dramatically increased apoptosis in the colon cancer cells. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) in gene ontology (GO) showed that KNTC1 is closely associated with cell mitosis-related components, such as nuclear chromatin, centrosome, and spindle. Moreover, upregulated KNTC1 is significantly enriched in the biological process of DNA repair, mRNA processing, microtubule cytoskeleton organization and the molecular function of helicase activity, protein heterodimerization activity and catalytic activity acting on DNA in molecular function. Our data reveal the important roles of KNTC1 in driving tumor progression in colon cancers.

To Ubiquitinate or Not to Ubiquitinate: TRIM17 in Cell Life and Death

TRIM17 is a member of the TRIM family, a large class of RING-containing E3 ubiquitin-ligases. It is expressed at low levels in adult tissues, except in testis and in some brain regions. However, it can be highly induced in stress conditions which makes it a putative stress sensor required for the triggering of key cellular responses. As most TRIM members, TRIM17 can act as an E3 ubiquitin-ligase and promote the degradation by the proteasome of substrates such as the antiapoptotic protein MCL1. Intriguingly, TRIM17 can also prevent the ubiquitination of other proteins and stabilize them, by binding to other TRIM proteins and inhibiting their E3 ubiquitin-ligase activity. This duality of action confers several pivotal roles to TRIM17 in crucial cellular processes such as apoptosis, autophagy or cell division, but also in pathological conditions as diverse as Parkinson's disease or cancer. Here, in addition to recent data that endorse this duality, we review what is currently known from public databases and the literature about TRIM17 gene regulation and expression, TRIM17 protein structure and interactions, as well as its involvement in cell physiology and human disorders.

Construction of Prognostic Risk Prediction Model of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Based on Nine Survival-Associated Metabolic Genes

The aim was to investigate the independent prognostic factors and construct a prognostic risk prediction model to facilitate the formulation of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) clinical treatment plan. We constructed a prognostic model using univariate COX, Lasso, and multivariate COX regression analysis and conducted statistical analysis. In this study, 195 randomly obtained sample sets were defined as training set, while 390 samples constituted validation set for testing. A prognostic model was constructed using regression analysis based on nine survival-associated metabolic genes, among which PIP5K1B, NAGK, and HADHB significantly down-regulated, while MINPP1, PYGL, AGPAT4, ENTPD1, CA12, and CA9 significantly up-regulated. Statistical analysis used to evaluate the prognostic model showed a significant different between the high and low risk groups and a poor prognosis in the high risk group (P < 0.05) based on the training set. To further clarify, validation sets showed a significant difference between the high-risk group with a worse prognosis and the low-risk group (P < 0.05). Independent prognostic analysis based on the training set and validation set indicated that the risk score was superior as an independent prognostic factor compared to other clinical characteristics. We conducted Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) among high-risk and low-risk patients to identify metabolism-related biological pathways. Finally, nomogram incorporating some clinical characteristics and risk score was constructed to predict 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates (C-index = 0.7). The proposed nine metabolic gene prognostic model may contribute to a more accurate and individualized prediction for the prognosis of newly diagnosed OSCC patients, and provide advice for clinical treatment and follow-up observations.

Prognostic and Clinicopathological Value of ZWINT Expression Levels in Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The current study found that high Zeste White 10 interactor (ZWINT) expression is related to the poor prognosis of patients with a variety of cancers. This study mainly explored the relationship between the expression level of ZWINT and the prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Briefly, four English databases and two high-throughput sequencing databases were searched and relevant data for meta-analysis were extracted. Pooled mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the relationships between clinical features and the expression of ZWINT. Pooled hazard ratio and 95% CI were also used to assess the relationships between clinical features and the expression level of ZWINT. This meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021249475). A total of 16 high-quality datasets comprising 2,847 LUAD patients were included in this study. Higher ZWINT expression levels were found in patients younger than 65 years, males, and smokers, and were correlated with advanced TNM stages and poor prognosis. Notably, there was no publication bias in this meta-analysis. Overall, our findings indicate that ZWINT is a potential biomarker for poor prognosis and clinicopathological outcomes of patients with LUAD.

DNAJB4 identified as a potential breast cancer marker: evidence from bioinformatics analysis and basic experiments

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of tumor-related death in women worldwide, but its pathogenesis is not clear. The efficient screening of new therapeutic targets for BC through bioinformatics and biological experimental techniques has become a hot topic in BC research.

Methods

The bioinformatics method was used to analyze the gene chips and obtain the hub genes, playing an important role in the development of BC. The biological processes (BP) involved in the hub genes were analyzed by Bingo, and the impact of each hub gene on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in BC patients was evaluated in the Kaplan-Meier Plotter database. The expression of DNAJB4, the hub gene with the greatest degree and having an effect on the prognosis of BC patients, was detected in BC cell lines and clinicopathological specimens. And DNAJB4 was selected for further biological experiments and clinical prognosis verification.

Results

Ten hub genes including DNAJB4, the greatest degree genes, were found by bioinformatics analysis of BC gene chips. DNAJB4 expressions in both BC cell lines and clinicopathological specimens were detected and the results showed that DNAJB4 was significantly down-regulated in BC cell lines and tissues. After interfering with the expression of DNAJB4, it was found that the invasion and migration ability of MDA-MB-231 cell line was significantly enhanced in vitro. The clinical survival data of BC patients showed that patients with high DNAJB4 expression had longer DFS.

Conclusions

DNAJB4 may be a tumor suppressor gene in BC as it could regulate invasion and migration of BC cells and its expression level is related to the prognosis of BC patients. Nevertheless, further researches are still necessary to verify its role in BC so as to provide evidences for clinical guidance regarding diagnosis and treatment.