TPX2 regulated by miR‑29c‑3p induces cell proliferation in osteosarcoma via the AKT signaling pathway

Survival and analysis of prognostic factors for fibroblastic osteosarcoma patients: a population-based study

Background

Osteosarcoma is the most common mesenchymal cell malignancy, 10% of which is fibroblastic osteosarcoma (FOS). Due to the low incidence of osteosarcoma, the impact of many pathological factors on survival is still unclear, especially FOS. The goal of this study was to assess the latest survival rates for FOS and the risk factors affecting survival using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Methods

Age, sex, race, SEER stage, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, site of FOS, and survival time were collected from the SEER database for survival and prognostic factor analysis. The patients were randomly assigned to either the training cohort or the testing cohort. The overall survival (OS) curves were obtained by Kaplan-Meier according to different factors. A multivariate Cox regression model and a predictive nomogram have also been constructed.

Results

The study enrolled a total of 120 patients. OS at 1, 3, and 5 years for all patients was 90.83%, 79.17%, and 70.83%, respectively. In the 5-year survival analysis, in distant of SEER stage (P<0.01), radiation (P=0.03), and no surgery (P<0.01) were associated with a worse prognosis in patients with FOS. Multivariate analysis showed that age, and in distant of SEER stage were independent indicators of unfavorable prognosis. A nomogram was used to predict the prognosis of FOS and a calibration curve was used to validate the nomogram prediction against the actual observed survival outcomes.

Conclusions

In summary, older age, and worse SEER stage were associated with poorer OS. The nomogram effectively predicted the probabilities of 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS, demonstrating strong concordance with the actual observed outcomes.

In silico analysis unveiling potential biomarkers in gallbladder carcinogenesis

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare but very aggressive most common digestive tract cancer with a high mortality rate due to delayed diagnosis at the advanced stage. Moreover, GBC progression shows asymptomatic characteristics making it impossible to detect at an early stage. In these circumstances, conventional therapy like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy becomes refractive. However, few studies reported some molecular markers like KRAS (Kirsten Rat Sarcoma) mutation, upregulation of HER2/neu, EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor), and microRNAs in GBC. However, the absence of some specific early diagnostic and prognostic markers is the biggest hurdle for the therapy of GBC to date. The present study has been designed to identify some specific molecular markers for precise diagnosis, and prognosis, for successful treatment of the GBC. By In Silico a network-centric analysis of two microarray datasets; (GSE202479) and (GSE13222) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, shows 50 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with GBC. Further network analysis revealed that 12 genes are highly interconnected based on the highest MCODE (Molecular Complex Detection) value, among all three genes; TRIP13 (Thyroid Receptor Interacting Protein), NEK2 (Never in Mitosis gene-A related Kinase 2), and TPX2 (Targeting Protein for Xklp2) having highest network interaction with transcription factors and miRNA suggesting critically associated with GBC. Further survival analysis data corroborate the association of these genes; TRIP13, NEK2, and TPX2 with GBC. Thus, TRIP13, NEK2, and TPX2 genes are significantly correlated with a greater risk of mortality, transforming them from mere biomarkers of the GBC for early detections and may emerge as prognostic markers for treatment.

Role of microRNAs in tumor progression by regulation of kinesin motor proteins

Aberrant cell proliferation is one of the main characteristics of tumor cells that can be affected by many cellular processes and signaling pathways. Kinesin superfamily proteins (KIFs) are motor proteins that are involved in cytoplasmic transportations and chromosomal segregation during cell proliferation. Therefore, regulation of the KIF functions as vital factors in chromosomal stability is necessary to maintain normal cellular homeostasis and proliferation. KIF deregulations have been reported in various cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and signaling pathways are important regulators of KIF proteins. MiRNAs have key roles in regulation of the cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. In the present review, we discussed the role of miRNAs in tumor biology through the regulation of KIF proteins. It has been shown that miRNAs have mainly a tumor suppressor function via the KIF targeting. This review can be an effective step to introduce the miRNAs/KIFs axis as a probable therapeutic target in tumor cells.

FBLN5 as One Presumably Prognostic Gene Potentially Modulating Tumor Immune Microenvironment for Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma in Children and Young Adults

Objective

To investigate the role of FBLN5in renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), in particular on the tumor's immune microenvironment, including children and young adults.

Methods

FBLN5 expression in tumor and normal samples was explored using SangerBox, TIMER2.0, GEPIA, UALCAN, HPA databases. The Linkedomics database was used to obtain FBLN5 co-expressed genes in KIRC tissue. SangerBox was also used to estimate immune infiltration of FBLN5 in KIRC. The Kaplan-Meier plotter was used to investigate the survival effects of FBLN5 expression in the presence of immune infiltration. We then collected 48 cases from 7 hospitals over a-20 year period to calculate the impact of FBLN5 on the prognosis of children and young adults with KIRC.

Results

FBLN5 expression was significantly reduced in KIRC tissue compared to normal adjacent tissue. FBLN5 was potentially involved in the immune-related biological processes. In addition, FBLN5 expression has been linked to a number of immune checkpoints, cytokines, chemokines and chemokine receptors in KIRC. At the same time, the expression of FBLN5 affected the survival rates differently in KIRC patients with high or low levels of immune infiltration. High expression of FBLN5 in children and young adults with KIRC was associated with a favorable prognosis.

Conclusion

This study shed light on the potential of FBLN5 as a prognostic marker in children and young adults with KIRC and as an immune-related target for clinical treatment.

Functional role of MicroRNA/PI3K/AKT axis in osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant bone tumor that occurs in children and adolescents, and the PI3K/AKT pathway is overactivated in most OS patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved endogenous non-protein-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression by repressing mRNA translation or degrading mRNA. MiRNAs are enriched in the PI3K/AKT pathway, and aberrant PI3K/AKT pathway activation is involved in the development of osteosarcoma. There is increasing evidence that miRNAs can regulate the biological functions of cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT pathway. MiRNA/PI3K/AKT axis can regulate the expression of osteosarcoma-related genes and then regulate cancer progression. MiRNA expression associated with PI3K/AKT pathway is also clearly associated with many clinical features. In addition, PI3K/AKT pathway-associated miRNAs are potential biomarkers for osteosarcoma diagnosis, treatment and prognostic assessment. This article reviews recent research advances on the role and clinical application of PI3K/AKT pathway and miRNA/PI3K/AKT axis in the development of osteosarcoma.

Oncogenic role of copper‑induced cell death‑associated protein DLD in human cancer: A pan‑cancer analysis and experimental verification

Copper ions can bind directly to lipoylated components of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, triggering the aggregation of mitochondrial lipoylated proteins and the destabilization of Fe-S cluster proteins, resulting in copper-dependent cell death. Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) is a key protein of the TCA cycle and constitutes the E3 component of the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, which is deeply interconnected with the mitochondrial electron transfer chain in the TCA cycle. Tumor cells demonstrate dependency on glutaminolysis fuelling to carry out the TCA cycle and essential biosynthetic processes supporting tumor growth. Therefore, DLD plays an important role in the tumor biological process. However, to the best of our knowledge, no pan-cancer analysis is currently available for DLD. Therefore, the present study first explored the DLD expression profile in 33 tumors in publicly available datasets, including TIMER2, GEPIA2, UALCAN, cBioPortal and STRING. TIMER2, GEPIA2 and UALCAN were used for exploring gene expression; survival prognosis was detected by GEPIA2; genetic alteration was analysed by cBioPortal; immune infiltration data was obtained from TIMER2; interacting proteins of DLD were detected by STRING. DLD was found to be highly expressed in colon, liver, lung, stomach, renal, corpus uteri endometrial and ovarian cancers compared with normal tissues, and its high expression was associated with poorer prognosis in ovarian cancer. To the best of our knowledge, the present study provided the first comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of the oncogenic role of DLD across different tumors types. As the expression of DLD in ovarian cancer was high, and high expression is associated with poor prognosis, experimental verification of DLD in ovarian cancer was conducted. In the present study, DLD expression was found to be high in the ovarian cancer OC3 cell line, compared with the normal ovarian epithelial IOSE80 cell line by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis. After knockdown of DLD expression, it was found that DLD regulated metabolic pathways by suppressing the intracellular NAD⁺/NADH ratio, which then in turn suppressed tumor cell proliferation detected by MTT assay. In conclusion, the present pan-cancer analysis of DLD demonstrated that DLD expression was associated with the clinical prognosis, immune infiltration and tumor mutational burden in 33 tumor types, and experimental verification in ovarian cancer was conducted. These results may contribute to the understanding of the role of DLD in tumorigenesis.

Identification of prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) can be divided into type 1 (PRCC1) and type 2 (PRCC2) and PRCC2 share a more invasive phenotype and worse prognosis. This study aims to identify potential prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in PRCC2.

METHODS

A cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas and two datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus were examined. Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened and potential biomarkers were explored by using Kaplan-Meier method and cox regression analysis. Functional enrichment analysis was utilized to evaluate the potential biological functions. Tumor infiltrating immune cells were estimated by CIBERSORT algorithm. Ninety-two PRCC2 samples from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were obtained, and immunostaining was performed to validate prognostic and therapeutic significance of the potential biomarker.

RESULTS

PRCC2 has worse overall survival and shares distinct molecular characteristics from PRCC1. There was significant higher expression level of Targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2) in PRCC2 compared with normal tissues. Higher expression level of TPX2 was significantly associated with worse overall survival in PRCC2 and kinesin family genes expression were found significantly elevated in high risk PRCC2. Abundance of tumor infiltrating M1 macrophage was significantly higher in PRCC2 and it was also associated with worse overall survival. In the FUSCC cohort, higher TPX2 expression was significantly correlated with worse overall and progression-free survival. Retrospective analysis indicated that mTOR inhibitor (everolimus) had greater efficacy in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group (overall response rate: 28.6% vs. 16.7%) and that everolimus had greater efficacy than sunitinib in the high-risk group (overall response rate: 28.6% vs. 20%).

CONCLUSIONS

TPX2 was a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in PRCC2. Higher abundance of tumor infiltrating M1 macrophage was significantly associated with worse overall survival in PRCC2. mTOR inhibitors may have good efficacy in patients with high-risk PRCC2.