Clinical significance of L1CAM expression and its biological role in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Cancer neuroscience in head and neck: interactions, modulation, and therapeutic strategies

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is an aggressive malignancy with significant effects on the innervation. Not only is it at the top of the cancer spectrum with a dismal prognosis, but it also imposes considerable stress on patients and society owing to frequent neurological symptoms. With progress in cancer neuroscience, the interactions between HNC and the nervous system, as well as the underlying mechanisms, have become increasingly clear. Compelling evidence suggests communication of information between cancer and nerve cells and devastation of the neurological system with tumor growth. However, the thorough grasp of HNC in cancer neuroscience has been severely constrained by the intricacy of HNC and fragmented research. This review comprehensively organizes and summarizes the latest research on the crosstalk between HNC and the nervous system. It aims to clarify various aspects of the neurological system in HNC, including the physiology, progression, and treatment of cancer. Furthermore, the opportunities and challenges of cancer neuroscience in HNC are discussed, which offers fresh perspectives on the neurological aspects of HNC diagnosis and management.

Targeting cancer stem cells by TPA leads to inhibition of refractory sarcoma and extended overall survival

Refractory cancer recurrence in patients is a serious challenge in modern medicine. Tumor regrowth in a more aggressive and invasive drug-resistant form is caused by a specific sub-population of tumor cells defined as cancer stem cells (CSCs). While the role of CSCs in cancer relapse is recognized, the signaling pathways of CSCs-driven chemoresistance are less well understood. Moreover, there are no effective therapeutic strategies that involve specific inhibition of CSCs responsible for cancer recurrence and drug resistance. There is a clinical need to develop new therapies for patients with refractory sarcomas, particularly fibrosarcoma. These aggressive tumors, with poor overall survival, do not respond to conventional therapies. Standard systemic chemotherapy for these tumors includes doxorubicin (DOX). A Tyr peptide analog (TPA), developed in our laboratory, specifically targets CSCs by drastically reducing expression of the polycomb group protein enhancer of zester (EZH2) and its downstream targets, specifically ALDH1A1 and Nanog. In vivo experiments demonstrated that TPA inhibited tumor growth in nu/nu mice with relapsed DOX-treated fibrosarcoma 7-fold and led to improved overall (2-fold) survival. In an experimental metastatic model, the combination of TPA with DOX treatment extended overall survival 3-fold, suggesting that targeting CSC can become an effective strategy in the treatment of refractory/relapse fibrosarcoma.

Dual T cell receptor/chimeric antigen receptor engineered NK-92 cells targeting the HPV16 E6 oncoprotein and the tumor-associated antigen L1CAM exhibit enhanced cytotoxicity and specificity against tumor cells

The human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) causes a large fraction of genital and oropharyngeal carcinomas. To maintain the transformed state, the tumor cells must continuously synthesize the E6 and E7 viral oncoproteins, which makes them tumor-specific antigens. Indeed, specific T cell responses against them have been well documented and CD8+ T cells engineered to express T cell receptors (TCRs) that recognize epitopes of E6 or E7 have been tested in clinical studies with promising results, yet with limited clinical success. Using CD8+ T cells from peripheral blood of healthy donors, we have identified two novel TCRs reactive to an unexplored E618-26 epitope. These TCRs showed limited standalone cytotoxicity against E618-26-HLA-A*02:01-presenting tumor cells. However, a single-signaling domain chimeric antigen receptor (ssdCAR) targeting L1CAM, a cell adhesion protein frequently overexpressed in HPV16-induced cancer, prompted a synergistic effect that significantly enhanced the cytotoxic capacity of NK-92/CD3/CD8 cells armored with both TCR and ssdCAR when both receptors simultaneously engaged their respective targets, as shown by live microscopy of 2-D and 3-D co-cultures. Thus, virus-specific TCRs from the CD8+ T cell repertoire of healthy donors can be combined with a suitable ssdCAR to enhance the cytotoxic capacity of the effector cells and, indirectly, their specificity.

Integrated network pharmacology and phosphoproteomic analyses of Baichanting in Parkinson's disease model mice

The incidence rate of Parkinson's disease (PD) is increasing yearly. Neuronal apoptosis caused by abnormal protein phosphorylation is closely related to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. At present, few PD-specific apoptosis pathways have been revealed. To investigate the effect of Baichanting (BCT) on apoptosis from the perspective of protein phosphorylation, α-syn transgenic mice were selected to observe the behavioral changes of the mice, and the apoptosis of substantia nigra cells were detected by the HE method and TUNEL method. Network pharmacology combined with phosphorylation proteomics was used to find relevant targets for BCT treatment of PD and was further verified by PRM and western blotting. BCT improved the morphology of neurons in the substantia nigra and reduced neuronal apoptosis. The main enriched pathways in the network pharmacology results were apoptosis, the p53 signaling pathway and autophagy. Western blot results showed that BCT significantly regulated the protein expression levels of BAX, Caspase-3, LC3B, P53 and mTOR and upregulated autophagy to alleviate apoptosis. Using phosphorylated proteomics and PRM validation, we found that Pak5, Grin2b, Scn1a, BcaN, L1cam and Braf are closely correlated with the targets of the web-based pharmacological screen and may be involved in p53/mTOR-mediated autophagy and apoptosis pathways. BCT can inhibit the activation of the p53/mTOR signaling pathway, thereby enhancing the autophagy function of cells, and reducing the apoptosis of neurons which is the main mechanism of its neuroprotective effect.

Cyclic increase in the ADAMTS1-L1CAM-EGFR axis promotes the EMT and cervical lymph node metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma

The matrix metalloprotease A disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs 1 (ADAMTS1) was reported to be involved in tumor progression in several cancer types, but its contributions appear discrepant. At present, the role of ADAMTS1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; OSCC) remains unclear. Herein, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database showed that ADAMTS1 transcripts were downregulated in head and neck SCC (HNSCC) tissues compared to normal tissues, but ADAMTS1 levels were correlated with poorer prognoses of HNSCC patients. In vitro, we observed that ADAMTS1 expression levels were correlated with the invasive abilities of four OSCC cell lines, HSC-3, SCC9, HSC-3M, and SAS. Knockdown of ADAMTS1 in OSCC cells led to a decrease and its overexpression led to an increase in cell-invasive abilities in vitro as well as tumor growth and lymph node (LN) metastasis in OSCC xenografts. Mechanistic investigations showed that the cyclic increase in ADAMTS1-L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) axis-mediated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation led to exacerbation of the invasive abilities of OSCC cells via inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression. Clinical analyses revealed that ADAMTS1, L1CAM, and EGFR levels were all correlated with worse prognoses of HNSCC patients, and patients with ADAMTS1high/L1CAMhigh or EGFRhigh tumors had the shortest overall and disease-specific survival times. As to therapeutic aspects, we discovered that an edible plant-derived flavonoid, apigenin (API), drastically inhibited expression of the ADAMTS1-L1CAM-EGFR axis and reduced the ADAMTS1-triggered invasion and LN metastasis of OSCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Most importantly, API treatment significantly prolonged survival rates of xenograft mice with OSCC. In summary, ADAMTS1 may be a useful biomarker for predicting OSCC progression, and API potentially retarded OSCC progression by targeting the ADAMTS1-L1CAM-EGFR signaling pathway.

An Increase in Mucin2 Expression Is Required for Colon Cancer Progression Mediated by L1

An induction in the expression of the cell adhesion receptor L1, a Wnt target gene, is a characteristic feature of Wnt/β-catenin activation in colon cancer cells at later stages of the disease. We investigated the proteins secreted following L1 expression in colon cancer cells and identified Mucin2 among the most abundant secreted proteins. We found that suppressing Mucin2 expression in L1-expressing colon cancer cells inhibits cell proliferation, motility, tumorigenesis, and liver metastasis. We detected several signaling pathways involved in Mucin2 induction in L1-expressing cells. In human colon cancer tissue, Mucin2 expression was significantly reduced or lost in the adenocarcinoma tissue, while in the mucinous subtype of colon cancer tissue, Mucin2 expression was increased. An increased signature of L1/Mucin2 expression reduced the survival rate of human colon cancer patients. Thus, induction of Mucin2 expression by L1 is required during mucinous colon cancer progression and can serve as a marker for diagnosis and a target for therapy.