The mechanism of and the association between interleukin-27 and chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity in lung cancer

Identification of a tumor immune-inflammation signature predicting prognosis and immune status in breast cancer

Background

Breast cancer has become the malignancy with the highest mortality rate in female patients worldwide. The limited efficacy of immunotherapy as a breast cancer treatment has fueled the development of research on the tumor immune microenvironment.

Methods

In this study, data on breast cancer patients were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Invasive Carcinoma (TCGA-BRCA) and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) cohorts. Differential gene expression analysis, univariate Cox regression analysis, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis were performed to select overall survival (OS)-related, tumor tissue highly expressed, and immune- and inflammation-related genes. A tumor immune-inflammation signature (TIIS) consisting of 18 genes was finally screened out in the LASSO Cox regression model. Model performance was assessed by time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. In addition, the CIBERSORT algorithm and abundant expression of immune checkpoints were utilized to clarify the correlation between the risk signature and immune landscape in breast cancer. Furthermore, the association of IL27 with the immune signature was analyzed in pan-cancer and the effect of IL27 on the migration of breast cancer cells was investigated since the regression coefficient of IL27 was the highest.

Results

A TIIS based on 18 genes was constructed via LASSO Cox regression analysis. In the TCGA-BRCA training cohort, 10-year AUC reached 0.89, and prediction performance of this signature was also validated in the METABRIC set. The high-risk group was significantly correlated with less infiltration of tumor-killing immune cells and the lower expression level of the immune checkpoint. Furthermore, we recommended some small-molecule drugs as novel targeted drugs for new breast cancer types. Finally, the relationship between IL27, a significant prognostic immune and inflammation cytokine, and immune status was analyzed in pan-cancer. Expression of IL27 was significantly correlated with immune regulatory gene expression and immune cell infiltration in pan-cancer. Furthermore, IL27 treatment improved breast cancer cell migration.

Conclusion

The TIIS represents a promising prognostic tool for estimating OS in patients with breast cancer and is correlated with immune status.

Activation of the TGF-β Pathway Enhances the Efficacy of Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Background

Platinum-based chemotherapy is the first choice of treatment for patients diagnosed with small lung cell cancer (SCLC). However, many patients exhibit resistance to it. Therefore, it is imperative to further investigate a prognostic biomarker indicating sensitivity to this therapy.

Methods

We collected and performed RNA sequencing on 45 SCLC samples from the Zhujiang Hospital (Local-SCLC). In addition, we used a public cohort from George et al. as a validation cohort (George-SCLC). The transforming growth factor β signaling pathway (TGFB) activation status was determined according to the related ssGSEA score. We analyzed immune cell ratios, pathway activation scores, and immune-related genes in SCLC patients to further elucidate the potential mechanisms.

Results

A high activation status of the TGFB pathway was associated with improved prognosis in SCLC patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy (Local-SCLC: HR = 0.0238, (95% CI, 0.13-0.84), p = 0.0238; George-SCLC: HR = 0.0315, (95% CI, 0.28-0.98), p = 0.0315). Immune infiltration analysis showed that the TGFB-HIGH group had more M1 macrophages and Th1 cells, whilst fewer M2 macrophages, Th2 cells, and Treg cells were found in the Local-SCLC cohort. Mechanistic analysis showed that the TGBF-HIGH group was upregulated in STING-mediated immunity, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest, as well as being downregulated in the process of DNA damage repair.

Conclusions

SCLC patients exhibiting a high activation status of the TGFB pathway demonstrate an improved prognosis with platinum-based chemotherapy. The potential underlying mechanism may be related to antitumor immune enhancement and DNA damage repair inhibition.

Exploring the role of interleukin-27 as a regulator of neuronal survival in central nervous system diseases

Interleukin-27 is a pleiotropic cytokine that is involved in tissue responses to infection, cell stress, neuronal disease, and tumors. Recent studies in various tissues indicate that interleukin-27 has complex activating and inhibitory properties in innate and acquired immunity. The availability of recombinant interleukin-27 protein and mice with genetic deletions of interleukin-27, its receptors and signaling mediators have helped define the role of interleukin-27 in neurodegenerative diseases. Interleukin-27 has been well-characterized as an important regulator of T cell activation and differentiation that enhances or suppresses T cell responses in autoimmune conditions in the central nervous system. Evidence is also accumulating that interleukin-27 has neuroprotective activities in the retina and brain. Interleukin-27 is secreted from and binds to infiltrating microglia, macrophage, astrocytes, and even neurons and it promotes neuronal survival by regulating pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, neuroinflammatory pathways, oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, and epigenetic modifications. However, interleukin-27 can have the opposite effect and induce inflammation and cell death in certain situations. In this review, we describe the current understanding of regulatory activities of interleukin-27 on cell survival and inflammation and discuss its mechanisms of action in the brain, spinal cord, and retina. We also review evidence for and against the therapeutic potential of interleukin-27 for dampening harmful neuroinflammatory responses in central nervous system diseases.

Integrative Characterization of the Role of IL27 In Melanoma Using Bioinformatics Analysis

Background

IL27 has been reported to play dual roles in cancer; however, its effects on the tumor microenvironment (TME), immunotherapy, and prognosis in melanoma remain largely unclear. This study was aimed to uncover the effects of IL27 on TME, immunotherapy and prognosis in patients with melanoma.

Methods

RNA-seq data, drug sensitivity data, and clinical data were obtained from TCGA, GEO, CCLE, and CTRP. Log-rank test was used to determine the survival value of IL27. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to determine the independent predictors of survival outcomes. DAVID and GSEA were used to perform gene set functional annotations. ssGSEA was used to explore the association between IL27 and immune infiltrates. ConsensusClusterPlus was used to classify melanoma tissues into hot tumors or cold tumors.

Results

Clinically, IL27 was negatively correlated with Breslow depth (P = 0.00042) and positively associated with response to radiotherapy (P = 0.038). High IL27 expression showed an improved survival outcome (P = 0.00016), and could serve as an independent predictor of survival outcomes (hazard ratio: 0.32 - 0.88, P = 0.015). Functionally, elevated IL27 expression could induce an enhanced immune response and pyroptosis (R = 0.64, P = 1.2e-55), autophagy (R = 0.37, P = 7.1e-17) and apoptosis (R = 0.47, P = 1.1e-27) in patients with melanoma. Mechanistically, elevated IL27 expression was positively correlated with cytotoxic cytokines (including INFG and GZMB), enhanced immune infiltrates, and elevated CD8/Treg ratio (R = 0.14, P = 0.02), possibly driving CD8⁺ T cell infiltration by suppressing β-catenin signaling in the TME. Furthermore, IL27 was significantly associated with hot tumor state, multiple predictors of response to immunotherapy, and improved drug response in patients with melanoma.

Conclusions

IL27 was correlated with enriched CD8⁺ T cells, desirable therapeutic response and improved prognosis. It thus can be utilized as a promising modulator in the development of cytokine-based immunotherapy for melanoma.

The Role of the IL-6 Cytokine Family in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity in Cancer Progression

Epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) plays critical roles during embryonic development, wound repair, fibrosis, inflammation and cancer. During cancer progression, EMP results in heterogeneous and dynamic populations of cells with mixed epithelial and mesenchymal characteristics, which are required for local invasion and metastatic dissemination. Cancer development is associated with an inflammatory microenvironment characterized by the accumulation of multiple immune cells and pro-inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines and chemokines. Cytokines from the interleukin 6 (IL-6) family play fundamental roles in mediating tumour-promoting inflammation within the tumour microenvironment, and have been associated with chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, infectious diseases and cancer, where some members often act as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. All IL-6 family members signal through the Janus kinase (JAK)–signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway and are able to activate a wide array of signalling pathways and transcription factors. In general, IL-6 cytokines activate EMP processes, fostering the acquisition of mesenchymal features in cancer cells. However, this effect may be highly context dependent. This review will summarise all the relevant literature related to all members of the IL-6 family and EMP, although it is mainly focused on IL-6 and oncostatin M (OSM), the family members that have been more extensively studied.

Supramolecular Chemotherapy: Host-Guest Complexes of Heptaplatin-Cucurbit[7]uril toward Colorectal Normal and Tumor Cells

Supramolecular chemotherapy is a strategy that is currently used to improve the therapeutic efficacy of traditional chemotherapy while mitigating side effects. Heptaplatin, a platinum chemotherapeutic antitumor drug in colorectal tumors, is traditionally used in the clinic. However, its side effects and low efficiency in killing tumors remain unresolved. Herein, a facile supramolecular chemotherapy platform on account of the host-guest chemistry between cucurbit[7]uril and the commercially available heptaplatin was studied. At pH 7.4, heptaplatin showed a strong binding to the cucurbit[7]uril nanocarrier by ¹H NMR, whose K_a was (1.38 ± 0.06) × 10⁶ M^-1 by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). At pH 6.0 in a tumor microenvironment, overexpressed spermine can exchange competitively heptaplatin from heptaplatin-CB[7]. This supramolecular complex achieved higher antitumor activity on colorectal tumor cells and lower cytotoxicity than the drug alone on colorectal normal cells. Furthermore, the antitumor mechanisms of supramolecular complex were investigated by apoptosis, cell cycle, and spermine synthase. It was found that heptaplatin-CB[7] consumed more colorectal tumorous intracellular spermine by the spermine synthase assay (413.85 ± 0.004 pg/mL); hepataplatin-CB[7] caused early apoptosis (87.73%) of colorectal tumor cells; heptaplatin-CB[7] induced an inhibitory response in the G₁ phase of the tumor cell cycle. These findings demonstrated that heptaplatin-CB[7] had higher antitumor activity toward human colorectal tumor cells but lower cytotoxicity toward human colorectal normal cells. It is expected to promote the supramolecular chemotherapy and translational development of the nanocomplex into the clinical field.

IL-6 family cytokines in respiratory health and disease

Chronic lung diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung fibrosis represent a major burden on healthcare systems with limited effective therapeutic options. Developing effective treatments for these debilitating diseases requires an understanding of how alterations at the molecular level affect lung macroscopic architecture. A common theme among these lung disorders is the presence of an underlying dysregulated immune system which can lead to sustained chronic inflammation. In this respect, several inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in the pathogenesis of lung diseases, thus leading to the notion that cytokines are attractive therapeutic targets for these disorders. In this review, we discuss and highlight the recent breakthroughs that have enhanced our understanding of the role of the interleukin (IL)-6 family of cytokines in lung homeostasis and chronic diseases including asthma, COPD, lung fibrosis and lung cancer.