Combination of plasma HA and circulating M2-like monocytes may serve as a diagnostic marker for breast cancer

IL21R hypomethylation as a biomarker for distinguishing benign and malignant breast tumours

Some benign and malignant breast tumours are similar in pathological morphology, which are difficult to be distinguished in clinical diagnosis. In this study, we intended to explore novel biomarkers for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumours. Methylation EPIC 850K beadchip and RNA-sequencing were used to analyse 29 tissue samples from patients with early-stage breast cancer (BC) and benign breast tumours for differently methylated and expressed genes. The altered methylation of IL21R was semi-quantitatively validated in an independent study with 566 tissue samples (279 BC vs. 287 benign breast tumours) using mass spectrometry. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between IL21R methylation and BC. BC-associated IL21R hypomethylation and overexpression were identified in the discovery round. In the validation round, BC patients presented significant IL21R hypomethylation compared to women with benign breast tumours (ORs ≥1.29 per-10% methylation, p-values ≤ 5.69E-14), and this hypomethylation was even enhanced in BC patients with ER-negative and PR-negative tumours as well as with triple-negative tumours. The methylation of IL21R showed efficient discriminatory power to distinguish benign breast tumours from BC (area under curve (AUC) = 0.88), and especially from ER-negative BC (AUC = 0.95), PR-negative BC (AUC = 0.93) and triple-negative BC (AUC = 0.96). We disclosed significant IL21R hypomethylation in patients with BC compared to women with benign breast tumours, and revealed the somatic change of DNA methylation could be a potential biomarker for molecular pathology of BC.

Role of Hyaluronic acid and its chemical derivatives in immunity during homeostasis, cancer and tissue regeneration

Over the last few decades, scientists have recognized the critical role that various components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) play in maintaining homeostatic immunity. Besides, dysregulation in the synthesis or degradation levels of these components directly impacts the mechanisms of immune response during tissue injury caused by tumor processes or the regeneration of the tissue itself in the event of damage. ECM is a complex network of protein compounds, proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the major GAGs of this network, whose metabolism is strictly physiologically regulated and quickly altered in injury processes, affecting the behavior of different cells, from stem cells to differentiated immune cells. In this revision we discuss how the native or chemically modified HA interacts with its specific receptors and modulates intra and intercellular communication of immune cells, focusing on cancer and tissue regeneration conditions.

Potential Resistance to Antineoplastic Aminated Fullerenes Mediated by M2-Like Monocyte-Derived Exosomes

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles critical for intercellular signaling via their delivery of cargoes, including proteins, DNA, RNA, lipids, and metabolites. Exosomes play essential roles in remodeling the tumor microenvironment (TME) for tumor growth, metastasis, and drug resistance. Aminated fullerenes (e.g., C₇₀-ethylenediamine [EDA]) exhibit antineoplastic effects by targeting multiple functional proteins. Nanosized C₇₀-EDA with positive surface charges tends to be taken up by monocytes in the bloodstream and monocyte-derived macrophages in the TME. Herein, the alterations of monocytes and monocyte-derived exosomes by C₇₀-EDA have been investigated. C₇₀-EDA reprogramed THP-1 monocyte to an M2-like state and substantially increased the protein content in exosomes secreted by M2-like monocytes. Notably, C₇₀-EDA-induced M2-like monocytes released exosomes that triggered the proliferation of recipient tumor cells, which may alleviate the antineoplastic efficacy of C₇₀-EDA. As revealed by proteomic profiling of exosomes, this outcome is probably a result of Rho GTPase/p21-activated kinase (PAK) pathway activation in recipient tumor cells induced by upregulated exosomal proteins. This work indicates a promising strategy in which aminated fullerenes can be combined with PAK inhibitors for cancer therapy.

Relationship Between PTEN and Angiogenesis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the Underlying Mechanism

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has high morbidity and mortality rates owing to its ability to infiltrate and metastasize. Microvessels formed in early-stage ESCC promote metastasis. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) mediates macrophage polarization, but its effect and mechanism on early ESCC angiogenesis are unclear. To explore the molecular mechanism underlying early ESCC metastasis through blood vessels, we investigated the relationship between PTEN/phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/p-AKT protein levels, number of infiltrated macrophages, and angiogenesis in ESCC and ESCC-adjacent normal esophageal mucosa tissues from 49 patients. Additionally, PTEN was overexpressed or silenced in the esophageal cancer cell line EC9706, and its supernatant served as conditioning medium for M1 tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). The culture medium of macrophages served as conditioning medium for esophageal tumor-associated vascular endothelial cells (TECs) to study the biological behavior of PTEN-plasmid, PTEN-siRNA, and control TECs. We found that M1 TAM infiltration in ESCC tissues was low, whereas M2 TAM infiltration was high. Microvessel density was large, PTEN was down-regulated, and the PI3K/AKT pathway was activated in ESCC specimens. These parameters significantly related to the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and pathological staging of ESCC. Silencing of PTEN in EC9706 cells significantly activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in macrophages, promoting M1-to-M2 TAM polarization and enhancing TECs’ ability to proliferate, migrate, invade, form tubes, and secrete vascular endothelial growth factor. We believe that PTEN silencing in esophageal cancer cells activates the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in macrophages via the tumor microenvironment, induces M2 TAM polarization, and enhances the malignant behavior of TECs, thereby promoting ESCC angiogenesis. Our findings lay an empirical foundation for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for ESCC.

Hyaluronic acid predicts poor prognosis in breast cancer patients: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND

Hyaluronic acid (HA) may be a novel prognostic biomarker of breast cancer. However, the available evidence is controversial. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to determine the prognostic role of HA in breast cancer.

METHODS

The data were extracted from seven articles by searching the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang data for the prognostic role of HA in breast cancer. In reference to survival outcomes, the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) of HA were calculated given a 95% confidence interval (CI).

RESULTS

A total of seven articles were included in our study involving 2664 cases. The result of meta-analysis showed that a high HA level predicts poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.28-2.71, P = .001) and shortened disease-free or recurrence-free survival or progression free survival (DFS/RFS/PFS) (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.14-2.33, P = .007) in breast cancer patients. Moreover, a high HA level in stroma (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.06-2.51, P = .025) and plasma (HR = 3.26, 95% CI: 2.25-4.73, P < .001) significantly predicted poor OS. Besides, a tendency shows that HA was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 0.96-2.49, P = .070) and tumor grade (HR = 2.10, 95% CI: 0.89-4.96, P = .089) on the clinical characteristics of patients.

CONCLUSION

These results suggested that HA has a potential to be prognostic biomarker in breast cancer patients, especially location in stroma and plasma.