NUP62CL as an Immunological and Prognostic Biomarker of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common head and neck malignancy with a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. The exploration and understanding of biomarkers will help to further improve the diagnosis and treatment of OSCC.

Methods

Tumor tissue samples from 319 OSCC patients were retrospectively collected, along with their clinical information. In combination with bioinformatics tools and multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) analyses, we evaluated NUP62CL protein expression and its relationship to tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immune checkpoints in the tumor microenvironment (TME), as well as its association with clinical features and prognosis of OSCC.

Results

We identified high-NUP62CL expression in OSCC tissues, and high-NUP62CL protein expression was associated with large tumor size, advanced clinical stage and poor prognosis. In addition, NUP62CL protein expression was positively associated with the abundance of CD3+CD4+ T cells (P<0.01), CD3+CD8+ T cells (P<0.01), CD56+ NK cells (P<0.05), CD68+CD86+ macrophages (P<0.01) and CD68+CD163+ macrophages (P<0.01), as well as the immune checkpoints, including PD-1 (P<0.001), PD-L1 (P<0.001), and CTLA-4 (P<0.001) protein expression.

Conclusion

In conclusion, NUP62CL could be an effective prognostic and immunological biomarker for OSCC patients.

Identification and validation of a CCL18-related signature for prediction of overall survival in patients with uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma (UM), the most frequent primary intraocular tumor in adults, has poor prognosis. High C-C motif chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) has been detected in various tumors and is closely correlated with patients' clinicopathological characteristics. However, the essential role of CCL18 in UM remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prognostic value of CCL18 in UM. Uveal melanoma cells (M17) were transfected with pcDNA3.1-CCL18 si-RNA using Lipofectamine™ 2000. Cell growth and invasion abilities were measured through Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and invasion assay. RNA expression data and clinical and histopathological details were downloaded from the UM in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA-UM) and GSE22138 datasets, which were defined as the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify significant prognostic biomarkers. The coefficients of these significant biomarkers generated by multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were used to establish a risk score formula. Functional enrichment analyses were also carried out. We found that downregulated CCL18 inhibits M17 cell growth and invasion in vitro. CCL18 may affect UM progression by altering C-C motif receptor 8 related pathways. Higher CCL18 expression was associated with worse clinical outcomes and tumor-specific death in the TCGA-UM dataset. Based on the coefficients obtained from the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, a CCL18-related prognostic signature formula was constructed as follows: risk score = 0.05590 × age +2.43437 × chromosome 3 status +0.39496 × Expression^CCL18. Notably, in this formula, the normal chromosome 3 was coded as 0, whereas the chromosome 3 loss was coded as 1. Each patient was assigned to either low-risk or high-risk groups using the median cut-off in the training cohort. High-risk patients survived for a shorter time than low-risk patients. The time-dependent and multivariate receiver operating characteristic curves showed promising diagnostic efficacy. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated the potential of this CCL18-related signature as an independent prognostic indicator. These results were validated using the GSE22138 dataset. In addition, in both TCGA-UM and GSE22138 datasets, stratification of clinical correlations and survival analyses based on this signature indicated the involvement of clinical progression and survival outcome in UM. In the high-risk group, Gene Ontology analyses mainly indicated the enrichment of immune response pathways, such as the T cell activation, response to interferon-gamma, antigen processing and presentation, interferon-gamma-mediated signaling pathway, MHC protein complex, MHC class II protein complex, antigen binding, and cytokine binding. Meanwhile, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses showed enrichments of pathways in cancer, cell adhesion, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, chemokine signaling pathway, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, and chemokine signaling pathway. Moreover, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis demonstrated the enrichment of almost all immune cells and immune functions in the high-risk group. In summary, a new prognostic CCL18-related signature was successfully established using the TCGA-UM dataset and validated using the GSE22138 dataset with meaningful predictive and diagnostic efficacies. This signature could serve as an independent and promising prognostic biomarker for patients with UM.

FCGBP Is a Promising Prognostic Biomarker and Correlates with Immunotherapy Efficacy in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common malignancies of the head and neck. In OSCC patients, the prognosis was dramatically different. In this research, we aimed to study the expressions and prognostic values of IgG Fc binding protein (FCGBP) in OSCC patients. The expression of FCGBP was analyzed using TCGA datasets and GEO datasets. FCGBP was evaluated for its predictive significance in OSCC patients by the use of a Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression model. Enrichment analysis for the GO and KEGG databases were conducted. CIBERSORT used TCGA datasets to show immune cell infiltration. In addition, researchers looked into the relationships between FCGBP and immune cells. The levels of FCGBP in OSCC cells was examined through the use of RT-PCR. FCGBP overexpression was tested for its effects on OSCC cell proliferation and invasion using CCK-8 and Transwell assays. We observed that FCGBP expressions were distinctly downregulated in OSCC specimens compared with nontumor tissues in both TCGA and GEO datasets, which was further confirmed by RT-PCR. OSCC patients with advanced clinical stages and poor prognoses had lower levels of FCGBP expression. Many immune-related biological activities and signaling pathways were found to be considerably abundant in KEGG tests and GO analysis results. The correlation analysis indicated that FCGBP was associated with a number of immune cells in a positive way. We found that FCGBP expressions were strongly and distinctly linked to the expressions of known immunological checkpoints, and FCGBP expression had significant positive connections with tumor mutational burden. FCGBP upregulation distinctly slowed the growth and invasion of OSCC cells in functional experiments. FCGBP has the potential to be a therapeutic target for OSCC and a biomarker for OSCC patients' prognosis.

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18/membrane-associated 3/forkhead box O1 axis promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Phosphatidylinositol Transfer Protein, Membrane-Associated 3 (PITPNM3) often bind with chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18) to promote tumor progression. However, the role of PITPNM3 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is unclear. We first searched GEPIA database and detected the PITPNM3 expression using immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that PITPNM3 is high expression in ICC tissues and cells. Then we investigated the cell function of CLL18 and PITPNM3 through cell clone formation assay and transwell assay. The results indicated that CCL18 treatment promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ICC cells. Silence of PITPNM3 reversed the effect of CCL18 on cell function. Simultaneously, we detected key protein expression of forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-KB) through western blotting and found that CCL18 activated NF-KB pathway while inhibited FOXO1 pathway, the effect of which were attenuated by silence of PITPNM3. Finally, we confirmed which pathway affected the cell function using inhibitor of FOXO1 (AS1842856) and activator of NF-KB (Asatone). The results showed that AS1842856, not Asatone, relieved the inhibitory effect of si-PITPNM3 on the cell function of CCL18. In short, CCL18 treatment activated PITPNM3 to promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ICC via FOXO1 signaling pathway. These results provided a new insight for the diagnosis and therapy of ICC.

Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphatase 2 Inhibits Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tumorigenesis and Glucose Metabolism via Downregulation of c-Myc

Background

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 2 (FBP2), known as a rate-limiting enzyme in gluconeogenesis, is a tumor suppressor downregulated in various cancers. However, the role of FBP2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains largely unclear.

Methods

The level of FBP2 in OSCC tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues was determined by western blot and RT-qPCR assays. In addition, analysis of FBP2 function in OSCC cells was assessed using both gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies.

Results

In this study, we found that the expression of FBP2 was remarkably downregulated in OSCC tissues and OSCC cells. Overexpression of FBP2 suppressed the viability, proliferation, migration, and glycolysis of OSCC cells, whereas FBP2 knockdown exhibited the opposite results. Moreover, downregulation of FBP2 promoted the growth and glycolysis of OSCC cells in nude mice in a xenograft model. Specifically, FBP2 colocalizes with the c-Myc transcription factor in the nucleus. Significantly, inhibitory effects of FBP2 overexpression on the viability, proliferation, migration, and glycolysis of OSCC cells were reversed by c-Myc overexpression.

Conclusion

Collectively, FBP2 could suppress the proliferation, migration and glycolysis in OSCC cells through downregulation of c-Myc. Our study revealed a FBP2-c-Myc signaling axis that regulates OSCC glycolysis and may provide a potential intervention strategy for OSCC treatment.

CCL18 Knockdown Suppresses Cell Growth and Migration in Thyroid Cancer

BACKGROUND

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18) is a chemokine that plays a key role in immune and inflammatory responses. In recent years, CCL18 participates in the development and progression of various cancers, but its expression and role in thyroid cancer (TC) remain unclear.

METHODS

RT-qPCR assay and Western blot assay were used to explore the expression level of CCL18 in TC tissues and cells. Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. Transwell assay was adopted to detect cell migration in TC cells. Dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to assess the relationship between CCL18 and miR-149-5p.

RESULTS

There was an uptrend of CCL18 in TC tissues and cells. Our findings indicated that CCL18 overexpression facilitated lymph node metastasis in patients with TC. CCL18 silencing was found to inhibit cell migration, proliferation, and EMT progression in TC cells. CCL18 was proved to be a target gene of miR-149-5p. Additionally, miR-149-5p weakened the effect of CCL18 in the progression of TC.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, our results indicated that CCL18 knockdown restrained TC progression and suggested that CCL18 might be a potential therapeutic target for TC.

Role of the Tumor Microenvironment and the Influence of Epigenetics on the Tumor Microenvironment in Oral Carcinogenesis: Potential Implications

Oral cancer has become a significant problem throughout the world, particularly in countries that are still developing. Recent literature supports the contribution of components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the effect of epigenetic changes happening in the cells of the TME on oral cancer development and progression. In this review, we comprehensively examine the significance of TME in the development of OC along with the current understanding of the epigenetic modifications that regulate the TME and their cohesive impact on tumor traits and their potential as therapeutic targets.

The immunosuppressive and pro-tumor functions of CCL18 at the tumor microenvironment

Chemokines are essential mediators of immune cell trafficking. In a tumor microenvironment context, chemotactic cytokines are known to regulate the migration, positioning and interaction of different cell subsets with both anti- and pro-tumor functions. Additionally, chemokines have critical roles regarding non-immune cells, highlighting their importance in tumor growth and progression. CCL18 is a primate-specific chemokine produced by macrophages and dendritic cells. This chemokine presents both constitutive and inducible expression. It is mainly associated with a tolerogenic response and involved in maintaining homeostasis of the immune system under physiological conditions. Recently, CCL18 has been noticed as an important component of the complex chemokine system involved in the biology of tumors. This chemokine induces T regulatory cell differentiation and recruitment to the tumor milieu, with subsequent induction of a pro-tumor (M2-like) macrophage phenotype. CCL18 is also directly involved in cancer cell-invasion, migration, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and angiogenesis stimulation, pinpointing an important role in the promotion of cancer progression. Interestingly, this chemokine is highly expressed in tumor tissues, particularly at the invasive front of more advanced stages (e.g. colorectal cancer), and high levels are detected in the serum of patients, correlating with poor prognosis. Despite the promising role of CCL18 as a biomarker and/or therapeutic target to hamper disease progression, its pleiotropic functions in a context of cancer are still poorly explored. The scarce knowledge concerning the receptors for this chemokine, together with the insufficient insight on the downstream signaling pathways, have impaired the selection of this molecule as an immediate target for translational research. In this Review, we will discuss recent findings concerning the role of CCL18 in cancer, integrate recently disclosed molecular mechanisms and compile data from current clinical studies.

CCL18 in the Progression of Cancer

A neoplastic tumor consists of cancer cells that interact with each other and non-cancerous cells that support the development of the cancer. One such cell are tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). These cells secrete many chemokines into the tumor microenvironment, including especially a large amount of CCL18. This chemokine is a marker of the M2 macrophage subset; this is the reason why an increase in the production of CCL18 is associated with the immunosuppressive nature of the tumor microenvironment and an important element of cancer immune evasion. Consequently, elevated levels of CCL18 in the serum and the tumor are connected with a worse prognosis for the patient. This paper shows the importance of CCL18 in neoplastic processes. It includes a description of the signal transduction from PITPNM3 in CCL18-dependent migration, invasion, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cancer cells. The importance of CCL18 in angiogenesis has also been described. The paper also describes the effect of CCL18 on the recruitment to the cancer niche and the functioning of cells such as TAMs, regulatory T cells (T_reg), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and tumor-associated dendritic cells (TADCs). The last part of the paper describes the possibility of using CCL18 as a therapeutic target during anti-cancer therapy.

Serum protein profile analysis in lysosomal storage disorders patients

INTRODUCTION

Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is a well-established technique to identify alterations in plasma protein profiles, caused by diseases as multiple myeloma (MM). In addition, it could be a cost-effective technique to discover new plasma biomarkers. Relation between MM and lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) as Gaucher disease has been set out but, it has not been evaluated on other LSDs nor the utility of the SPE as first step on LSDs biomarkers discovery projects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Stored plasma samples at diagnosis from several LSDs patients underwent analysis. Quality control was checked prior to the SPE was analyzed by capillary electrophoresis. The analysis for monoclonal spikes and the differences between each fraction on patients' samples vs the control data previously published, were evaluated. Furthermore, immunoprotein quantification and free light chains ratio were done by nephelometry and turbidimetry.

RESULTS

Seventy-five samples of LSD patients at diagnosis, were assessed. The frequency of the MGUS on LSDs patients was not higher than in general population whereas one lysosomal acid lipase deficiency infant showed increased IgA and kappa deviation. Regarding to the usefulness of SPE in biomarkers discovery, statistically significant differences were observed on SPE fractions between LSDs and healthy population.

DISCUSSION

The evaluation of SPE fractions can be a useful tool to understand pathophysiologic aspects in LDSs and, to simplify new marker discovery projects. In some of them, the MGUS appearance is a risk factor for the MM development despite its frequency is not increased on the studied LSDs at diagnosis.

Role of αVβ3 in Prostate Cancer: Metastasis Initiator and Important Therapeutic Target

In prostate cancer, distant organ metastasis is the leading cause of patient death. Although the mechanism of malignant tumor metastasis is unclear, studies have confirmed that integrin αVβ3 plays an important role in this process. In prostate cancer, αVβ3 mediates adhesion, invasion, immune escape and neovascularization through interactions with different ligands. Among these ligands and in addition to proteins that are directly related to tumor invasion, other proteins that contain the RGD structure could also bind to αVβ3 and cause a number of biological effects. In this article, we summarized the ligand and downstream proteins related to αVβ3-mediated prostate cancer metastasis as well as some diagnostic and therapeutic measures targeting αVβ3.