CEMIP as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for breast cancer patients

An unexpected role for the ketogenic diet in triggering tumor metastasis by modulating BACH1-mediated transcription

We have found that the ketogenic (Keto) diet is able to, unexpectedly, promote the metastatic potential of cancer cells in complementary mouse models. Notably, the Keto diet-induced tumor metastasis is dependent on BTB domain and CNC homolog 1 (BACH1) and its up-regulation of pro-metastatic targets, including cell migration-inducing hyaluronidase 1, in response to the Keto diet. By contrast, upon genetic knockout or pharmacological inhibition of endogenous BACH1, the Keto diet-mediated activation of those targets is largely diminished, and the effects on tumor metastasis are completely abolished. Mechanistically, upon administration of the Keto diet, the levels of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) are markedly induced. Through direct interaction with BACH1, ATF4 is recruited to those pro-metastatic target promoters and enhances BACH1-mediated transcriptional activation. Together, these data implicate a distinct transcription regulatory program of BACH1 for tumor metastasis induced by the Keto diet. Our study also raises a potential health risk of the Keto diet in human patients with cancer.

Non-apoptotic regulatory cell death scoring system to predict the clinical outcome and drug choices in breast cancer

Background

Breast cancer (BC), the most common cancer among women globally, has been shown by numerous studies to significantly involve non-apoptotic regulatory cell death (RCD) in its pathogenesis and progression.

Methods

We obtained the RNA sequences and clinical data of BC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for the training set, while datasets GSE96058, GSE86166, and GSE20685 from The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were utilized as validation cohorts. Initially, we performed non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) clustering analysis on the BC samples from the TCGA database to discern non-apoptotic RCD-related molecular subtypes. To identify prognostically-relevant non-apoptotic RCD genes (NRGs) and construct a prognostic model, we implemented three machine learning algorithms: lasso regression, random forest, and XGBoost analysis. The expression of selected genes was verified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis, and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. The risk signature was evaluated concerning clinical characteristics and drug sensitivity. Furthermore, we developed a nomogram to predict BC patient survival.

Results

The NMF method successfully compartmentalized patients from the TCGA database into three distinct non-apoptotic RCD-related subtypes, with significant variations observed in immune characteristics and prognostic stratification across these subtypes. We identified 5 differentially expressed NRGs used in establishing the risk signature. Patients with different risk groups exhibited distinct clinicopathological features, drug sensitivity, and prognostic outcomes. A nomogram was subsequently developed, incorporating the NRGs-related risk signature, age, T stage, and N stage, to aid clinical decision-making.

Conclusion

We identified a novel NRGs-related risk signature, which was expected to become a potential prognostic marker in BC.

A Prognostic Methylation-Driven Two-Gene Signature in Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common pediatric brain tumors and it is estimated that one-third of patients will not achieve long-term survival. Conventional prognostic parameters have limited and unreliable correlations with MB outcome, presenting a major challenge for patients' clinical improvement. Acknowledging this issue, our aim was to build a gene signature and evaluate its potential as a new prognostic model for patients with the disease. In this study, we used six datasets totaling 1679 samples including RNA gene expression and DNA methylation data from primary MB as well as control samples from healthy cerebellum. We identified methylation-driven genes (MDGs) in MB, genes whose expression is correlated with their methylation. We employed LASSO regression, incorporating the MDGs as a parameter to develop the prognostic model. Through this approach, we derived a two-gene signature (GS-2) of candidate prognostic biomarkers for MB (CEMIP and NCBP3). Using a risk score model, we confirmed the GS-2 impact on overall survival (OS) with Kaplan-Meier analysis. We evaluated its robustness and accuracy with receiver operating characteristic curves predicting OS at 1, 3, and 5 years in multiple independent datasets. The GS-2 showed highly significant results as an independent prognostic biomarker compared to traditional MB markers. The methylation-regulated GS-2 risk score model can effectively classify patients with MB into high and low-risk, reinforcing the importance of this epigenetic modification in the disease. Such genes stand out as promising prognostic biomarkers with potential application for MB treatment.

The role of CEMIP in cancers and its transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation

CEMIP is a protein known for inducing cell migration and binding to hyaluronic acid. Functioning as a hyaluronidase, CEMIP primarily facilitates the breakdown of the extracellular matrix component, hyaluronic acid, thereby regulating various signaling pathways. Recent evidence has highlighted the significant role of CEMIP in different cancers, associating it with diverse pathological states. While identified as a biomarker for several diseases, CEMIP's mechanism in cancer seems distinct. Accumulating data suggests that CEMIP expression is triggered by chemical modifications to itself and other influencing factors. Transcriptionally, chemical alterations to the CEMIP promoter and involvement of transcription factors such as AP-1, HIF, and NF-κB regulate CEMIP levels. Similarly, specific miRNAs have been found to post-transcriptionally regulate CEMIP. This review provides a comprehensive summary of CEMIP's role in various cancers and explores how both transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms control its expression.

Research on the biological mechanism and potential application of CEMIP

Cell migration-inducing protein (CEMIP), also known as KIAA1199 and hyaluronan-binding protein involved in hyaluronan depolymerization, is a new member of the hyaluronidase family that degrades hyaluronic acid (HA) and remodels the extracellular matrix. In recent years, some studies have reported that CEMIP can promote the proliferation, invasion, and adhesion of various tumor cells and can play an important role in bacterial infection and arthritis. This review focuses on the pathological mechanism of CEMIP in a variety of diseases and expounds the function of CEMIP from the aspects of inhibiting cell apoptosis, promoting HA degradation, inducing inflammatory responses and related phosphorylation, adjusting cellular microenvironment, and regulating tissue fibrosis. The diagnosis and treatment strategies targeting CEMIP are also summarized. The various functions of CEMIP show its great potential application value.

A propitious role of marine sourced polysaccharides: Drug delivery and biomedical applications

Numerous compounds, with extensive applications in biomedical and biotechnological fields, are present in the oceans, which serve as a prime renewable source of natural substances, further promoting the development of novel medical systems and devices. Polysaccharides are present in the marine ecosystem in abundance, promoting minimal extraction costs, in addition to their solubility in extraction media, and an aqueous solvent, along with their interactions with biological compounds. Certain algae-derived polysaccharides include fucoidan, alginate, and carrageenan, while animal-derived polysaccharides comprise hyaluronan, chitosan and many others. Furthermore, these compounds can be modified to facilitate their processing into multiple shapes and sizes, as well as exhibit response dependence to external conditions like temperature and pH. All these properties have promoted the use of these biomaterials as raw materials for the development of drug delivery carrier systems (hydrogels, particles, capsules). The present review enlightens marine polysaccharides providing its sources, structures, biological properties, and its biomedical applications. In addition to this, their role as nanomaterials is also portrayed by the authors, along with the methods employed to develop them and associated biological and physicochemical properties designed to develop suitable drug delivery systems.

CEMIP promotes small cell lung cancer proliferation by activation of glutamine metabolism via FBXW7/c-Myc-dependent axis

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most malignant lung cancer with rapid growth and early metastasis, but still lacks effective targeted therapies to improve the prognosis. Here, we demonstrated that a novel oncogenic protein, cell migration inducing hyaluronic binding protein (CEMIP), was robustly overexpressed in SCLC tissues than that in noncancerous tissues and high expression of CEMIP predicted poor outcomes in clinical specimens and in large sample size cohorts from public databases (GEPIA 2 and CPTAC). Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and in vitro/in vivo functional assays indicated that CEMIP contributed to the proliferation by increasing glutamine consumption and their metabolites (glutamate and glutathione) levels in SCLC cells. Moreover, the addition of a GLS1 inhibitor CB-839 dramatically reduced CEMIP-induced SCLC cell proliferation. Mechanistically, beyond as a scaffold protein, CEMIP facilitates glutamine-dependent cell proliferation through inhibiting c-Myc ubiquitination and increasing c-Myc stabilization and nuclear accumulation via hindering the interaction between FBXW7 (a E3 ubiquitin ligase) and its target substrate c-Myc. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel oncogenic role of CEMIP in sustaining SCLC growth via FBXW7/c-Myc-dependent axis, and provide new evidence that inhibition of CEMIP might be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of SCLC.

CEMIP, a Promising Biomarker That Promotes the Progression and Metastasis of Colorectal and Other Types of Cancer

Simple Summary

CEMIP (cell migration-inducing and hyaluronan-binding protein) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including colorectal and other forms of cancer. The molecular functions of CEMIP are currently under investigation and include the degradation of the extracellular matrix component hyaluronic acid (HA), as well as the regulation of a number of signaling pathways. In this review, we survey our current understanding of how CEMIP contributes to tumor growth and metastasis, focusing particularly on colorectal cancer, for which it serves as a promising biomarker.

Abstract

Originally discovered as a hypothetical protein with unknown function, CEMIP (cell migration-inducing and hyaluronan-binding protein) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including deafness, arthritis, atherosclerosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and cancer. Although a comprehensive definition of its molecular functions is still in progress, major functions ascribed to CEMIP include the depolymerization of the extracellular matrix component hyaluronic acid (HA) and the regulation of a number of signaling pathways. CEMIP is a promising biomarker for colorectal cancer. Its expression is associated with poor prognosis for patients suffering from colorectal and other types of cancer and functionally contributes to tumor progression and metastasis. Here, we review our current understanding of how CEMIP is able to foster the process of tumor growth and metastasis, focusing particularly on colorectal cancer. Studies in cancer cells suggest that CEMIP exerts its pro-tumorigenic and pro-metastatic activities through stimulating migration and invasion, suppressing cell death and promoting survival, degrading HA, regulating pro-metastatic signaling pathways, inducing the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) program, and contributing to the metabolic reprogramming and pre-metastatic conditioning of future metastatic microenvironments. There is also increasing evidence indicating that CEMIP may be expressed in cells within the tumor microenvironment that promote tumorigenesis and metastasis formation, although this remains in an early stage of investigation. CEMIP expression and activity can be therapeutically targeted at a number of levels, and preliminary findings in animal models show encouraging results in terms of reduced tumor growth and metastasis, as well as combating therapy resistance. Taken together, CEMIP represents an exciting new player in the progression of colorectal and other types of cancer that holds promise as a therapeutic target and biomarker.