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KIT Expression Is Regulated by DNA Methylation in Uveal Melanoma Tumors. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms221910748. [PMID: 34639089 PMCID: PMC8509522 DOI: 10.3390/ijms221910748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Uveal melanoma (UM) is an ocular tumor with a dismal prognosis. Despite the availability of precise molecular and cytogenetic techniques, clinicopathologic features with limited accuracy are widely used to predict metastatic potential. In 51 UM tissues, we assessed a correlation between the expression of nine proteins evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) (Melan-A, S100, HMB45, Cyclin D1, Ki-67, p53, KIT, BCL2, and AIFM1) and the presence of UM-specific chromosomal rearrangements measured by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), to find IHC markers with increased prognostic information. Furthermore, mRNA expression and DNA methylation values were extracted from the whole-genome data, achieved by analyzing 22 fresh frozen UM tissues. KIT positivity was associated with monosomy 3, increasing the risk of poor prognosis more than 17-fold (95% CI 1.53–198.69, p = 0.021). A strong negative correlation was identified between mRNA expression and DNA methylation values for 12 of 20 analyzed positions, five located in regulatory regions of the KIT gene (r = −0.658, p = 0.001; r = −0.662, p = 0.001; r = −0.816; p < 0.001; r = −0.689, p = 0.001; r = −0.809, p < 0.001, respectively). DNA methylation β values were also inversely associated with KIT protein expression (p = 0.001; p = 0.001; p = 0.015; p = 0.025; p = 0.002). Our findings, showing epigenetic deregulation of KIT expression, may contribute to understanding the past failure to therapeutically target KIT in UM.
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Novel Prognostic Immunohistochemical Markers in Uveal Melanoma-Literature Review. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13164031. [PMID: 34439182 PMCID: PMC8391629 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13164031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The following study provides an overview of the English-language literature on the search for new prognostic factors for uveal melanoma. Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults, and although it is a relatively rare disease, it poses a significant health problem. About half of the patients develop distant metastases, and unfortunately there are currently no effective treatments for the disease at such an advanced stage. The search for new prognostic factors is important to understand the biology of the disease and to be able to monitor patients more effectively. At the same time, it creates an opportunity to find new therapeutic targets. We focused our attention on immunohistochemical research because it is a widely used method, relatively cheap, technically simple, and gives reproducible results. The analysis of this study will enable other researchers to verify their research plans and may also be a source of inspiration for creating new ones. Abstract Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular neoplasm in adults. As there are currently no effective methods of treating the disease in the metastatic stage, there is a need to search for new prognostic factors that would enable a reliable assessment of the patient’s condition and constitute a possible therapeutic target. In this review, we have prepared the results of English-language studies on new prognostic factors determined with immunohistochemical methods. We found 64 articles in which the expression of various proteins was associated in a statistically significant manner with the histopathological and clinical prognostic factors identified by AJCC. The results of our work clearly show that the biology of uveal melanoma is extraordinarily complex. Numerous studies have shed new light on the complexity of the processes involved in the development of this cancer. Moreover, a careful analysis of the expression of individual proteins may allow the identification of homogeneous groups of patients requiring different treatment regimens.
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Letkovska K, Babal P, Cierna Z, Schmidtova S, Liskova V, Kalavska K, Miskovska V, Horak S, Rejlekova K, Chovanec M, Mardiak J, Janega P, Mego M. Prognostic Value of Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF) in Germ Cell Tumors. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13040776. [PMID: 33668443 PMCID: PMC7917670 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13040776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are the most common solid malignancies in young men. GCTs are extraordinary sensitive to chemotherapy and represent a model of curable cancer. However, in a small proportion of patients the disease progresses or relapses despite administration of salvage chemotherapy. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. It is well established that dysregulation of apoptosis plays an important role in pathogenesis of malignant diseases and may be associated with tumor progression and resistance to cytotoxic treatment. This study aimed to evaluate expression of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) in GCTs. We observed lower AIF expression in GCTs compared to normal testicular tissue. We also showed prognostic significance of AIF in GCTs. AIF downregulation might represent one of the mechanisms of inhibition of apoptosis with subsequent facilitation of cell survival and metastatic dissemination of GCTs and perhaps could serve as a potential therapeutic target. Abstract Apoptosis is a strictly regulated process essential for preservation of tissue homeostasis. This study aimed to evaluate expression of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) in testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs) and to correlate expression patterns with clinicopathological variables. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens of non-neoplastic testicular tissue and GCTs obtained from 216 patients were included in the study. AIF expression was detected by immunohistochemistry, scored by the multiplicative quickscore method (QS). Normal testicular tissue exhibits higher cytoplasmic granular expression of AIF compared to GCTs (mean QS = 12.77 vs. 4.80, p < 0.0001). Among invasive GCTs, mean QS was the highest in embryonal carcinoma, yolk sac tumor and seminoma, lower in teratoma and the lowest in choriocarcinoma. No nuclear translocation of AIF was observed. Nonpulmonary visceral metastases were associated with lower AIF expression. Metastatic GCTs patients with high AIF expression had better overall survival compared to patients with low AIF expression (HR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.11–0.62, p = 0.048). We observed significantly lower AIF expression in GCTs compared to normal testicular tissue, which is an uncommon finding in malignant tumors. AIF downregulation might represent one of the mechanisms of inhibition of apoptosis and promotion of cell survival in GCTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Letkovska
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.L.); (P.B.); (Z.C.); (S.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Pavel Babal
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.L.); (P.B.); (Z.C.); (S.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Zuzana Cierna
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.L.); (P.B.); (Z.C.); (S.H.); (P.J.)
- Department of Pathology, Faculty Hospital, A. Zarnova, 917 75 Trnava, Slovakia
| | - Silvia Schmidtova
- Translational Research Unit, 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (S.S.); (K.K.)
- Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 39 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Veronika Liskova
- Institute of Clinical and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia;
| | - Katarína Kalavska
- Translational Research Unit, 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (S.S.); (K.K.)
- Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 39 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Vera Miskovska
- 1st Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, St. Elisabeth Cancer Institute, 812 50 Bratislava, Slovakia;
| | - Samuel Horak
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.L.); (P.B.); (Z.C.); (S.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Katarina Rejlekova
- 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.R.); (M.C.); (J.M.)
| | - Michal Chovanec
- 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.R.); (M.C.); (J.M.)
| | - Jozef Mardiak
- 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.R.); (M.C.); (J.M.)
| | - Pavel Janega
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.L.); (P.B.); (Z.C.); (S.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Michal Mego
- Translational Research Unit, 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (S.S.); (K.K.)
- 2nd Department of Oncology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; (K.R.); (M.C.); (J.M.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +421-2-59378366; Fax: +421-2-54774943
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Scott AJ, Walker SA, Krank JJ, Wilkinson AS, Johnson KM, Lewis EM, Wilkinson JC. AIF promotes a JNK1-mediated cadherin switch independently of respiratory chain stabilization. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:14707-14722. [PMID: 30093403 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.004022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2018] [Revised: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial flavoprotein occasionally involved in cell death that primarily regulates mitochondrial energy metabolism under normal cellular conditions. AIF catalyzes the oxidation of NADH in vitro, yet the significance of this redox activity in cells remains unclear. Here, we show that through its enzymatic activity AIF is a critical factor for oxidative stress-induced activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases JNK1 (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), p38, and ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase). AIF-dependent JNK1 signaling culminates in the cadherin switch, and genetic reversal of this switch leads to apoptosis when AIF is suppressed. Notably, this widespread ability of AIF to promote JNK signaling can be uncoupled from its more limited role in respiratory chain stabilization. Thus, AIF is a transmitter of extra-mitochondrial signaling cues with important implications for human development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Scott
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
| | - Sierra A Walker
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
| | - Joshua J Krank
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
| | - Amanda S Wilkinson
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
| | - Kaitlyn M Johnson
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
| | - Eric M Lewis
- the Department of Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania 16214
| | - John C Wilkinson
- From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108 and
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