Expression of neuronal markers, NFP and GFAP, in malignant astrocytoma

Endoplasmic reticulum stress in breast cancer: a predictive model for prognosis and therapy selection

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of mortality among women, underscoring the urgent need for improved therapeutic predictio. Developing a precise prognostic model is crucial. The role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress (ERS) in cancer suggests its potential as a critical factor in BC development and progression, highlighting the importance of precise prognostic models for tailored treatment strategies.

Methods

Through comprehensive analysis of ERS-related gene expression in BC, utilizing both single-cell and bulk sequencing data from varied BC subtypes, we identified eight key ERS-related genes. LASSO regression and machine learning techniques were employed to construct a prognostic model, validated across multiple datasets and compared with existing models for its predictive accuracy.

Results

The developed ERS-model categorizes BC patients into distinct risk groups with significant differences in clinical prognosis, confirmed by robust ROC, DCA, and KM analyses. The model forecasts survival rates with high precision, revealing distinct immune infiltration patterns and treatment responsiveness between risk groups. Notably, we discovered six druggable targets and validated Methotrexate and Gemcitabine as effective agents for high-risk BC treatment, based on their sensitivity profiles and potential for addressing the lack of active targets in BC.

Conclusion

Our study advances BC research by establishing a significant link between ERS and BC prognosis at both the molecular and cellular levels. By stratifying patients into risk-defined groups, we unveil disparities in immune cell infiltration and drug response, guiding personalized treatment. The identification of potential drug targets and therapeutic agents opens new avenues for targeted interventions, promising to enhance outcomes for high-risk BC patients and paving the way for personalized cancer therapy.

Advances in antibody-based drugs and their delivery through the blood-brain barrier for targeted therapy and immunotherapy of gliomas

Gliomas are highly invasive and are the most common type of primary malignant brain tumor. The routine treatments for glioma include surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, glioma recurrence and patient survival remain unsatisfactory after employing these traditional treatment approaches. With the rapid development of molecular immunology, significant breakthroughs have been made in targeted glioma therapy and immunotherapy. Antibody-based therapy has excellent advantages in treating gliomas due to its high specificity and sensitivity. This article reviewed various targeted antibody drugs for gliomas, including anti-glioma surface marker antibodies, anti-angiogenesis antibodies, and anti-immunosuppressive signal antibodies. Notably, many antibodies have been validated clinically, such as bevacizumab, cetuximab, panitumumab, and anti-PD-1 antibodies. These antibodies can improve the targeting of glioma therapy, enhance anti-tumor immunity, reduce the proliferation and invasion of glioma, and thus prolong the survival time of patients. However, the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) has caused significant difficulties in drug delivery for gliomas. Therefore, this paper also summarized drug delivery methods through the BBB, including receptor-mediated transportation, nano-based carriers, and some physical and chemical methods for drug delivery. With these exciting advancements, more antibody-based therapies will likely enter clinical practice and allow more successful control of malignant gliomas.

Characterization of a new human astrocytoma cell line SHG140: cell proliferation, cell phenotype, karyotype, STR markers and tumorigenicity analysis

Background: Primary tumor Cell was an important tool for tumor research. Here, a new astrocytoma cell line SHG-140 was established and its proliferation, phenotype, karyotype, STR authentication, pathological characteristics, and characteristics of the cells' intrancranial xenografts of nude mice were studied.

Methods: Primary SHG-140 culture was performed in DMEM/F12 medium with 10% FBS. Cell proliferation, karyotype analysis, cell immunofluorescence and STR authentication of SHG140 cells were performed. HE staining and immunohistochemistry, Whole oncogene high flux sequencing of the patient sample were carried out. SHG140 cells were injected into the brain of nude mice, HE staining and immunohistochemistry of intracranial xenograft tumor were detected.

Results: Cell immunofluorescence demonstrated that SHG140 cells were positive for A2B5 (Glial precursors ganglioside), GFAP (Glial fibrillary acidic protein), Nestin, S-100 (Acid calcium bingding protein), Olig2 (Oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2) and Ki67 (Nuclear-associated antigen), cells negatively stained for Vimentin. Cell proliferation curve revealed that SHG140 proliferated slightly within 48 h, which then significantly proliferated to the fourth day. Karyotype analysis demonstrated its total number of chromosomes was 55, having trisomy of chromosome 6, 7, 8, 9 and X, and tetrad of chromosome 1 and 21, chromosomal deletion and rearrangement were observed. STR markers analysis showed the cells were derived from human male. SHG140 cells had tumorigenic properties - the intracranial injection of these cells into nude mice gave rise to growing tumors. We found that the glioma tissue was diffusively positive for GFAP, Nestin, slightly positive for Olig2, S-100; the positive rate of Ki-67 was 65% and negative for Vimentin. SHG140 cells were tumorigenic, GFAP, Nestin, S-100 Olig-2, the proliferation marker Ki-67 were expressed in its intracranial xenograft, Vimentin was negative expressed. Whole oncogene high flux sequencing of the patient tissue showed TP53, PTEN, IDH1 and PTCH1 mutation were existed.

Conclusions: Our study showed that SHG140 was an astrocytoma glioma continuous cell line derived from a human adult male, having a strong tumorigenicity in nude mice, which made it wound be a useful model for the study of human glioblastoma multiforme.

Crocetin Extracted from Saffron Shows Antitumor Effects in Models of Human Glioblastoma

Over recent years, many authors discussed the effects of different natural compounds on glioblastoma (GBM). Due to its capacity to impair survival and progression of different cancer types, saffron extract (SE), named crocetin (CCT), is particularly noteworthy. In this work, we elucidated the antitumor properties of crocetin in glioma in vivo and in vitro models for the first time. The in vitro results showed that the four tumor cell lines observed in this study (U251, U87, U138, and U373), which were treated with increasing doses of crocetin, showed antiproliferative and pro-differentiative effects as demonstrated by a significant reduction in the number of viable cells, deep changes in cell morphology, and the modulation of mesenchymal and neuronal markers. Indeed, crocetin decreased the expression of Cluster of Differentiation CD44, CD90, CXCR4, and OCT3/4 mesenchymal markers, but increased the expression of βIII-Tubulin and neurofilaments (NFH) neuronal linage-related markers. Epigenetic mechanisms may modulate these changes, since Histone Deacetylase, HDAC1 and HDAC3 were downmodulated in U251 and U87 cells, whereas HDAC1 expression was downmodulated in U138 and U373 cells. Western blotting analyses of Fatty Acid Synthase, FASN, and CD44 resulted in effective inhibition of these markers after CCT treatment, which was associated with important activation of the apoptosis program and reduced glioma cell movement and wound repair. The in vivo studies aligned with the results obtained in vitro. Indeed, crocetin was demonstrated to inhibit the growth of U251 and U87 cells that were subcutaneously injected into animal models. In particular, the Tumor To Progression or TTP values and Kaplan-Meier curves indicated that crocetin had more major effects than radiotherapy alone, but similar effects to temozolomide (TMZ). An intra-brain cell inoculation of a small number of luciferase-transfected U251 cells provided a model that was able to recapitulate recurrence after surgical tumor removal. The results obtained from the orthotopic intra-brain model indicated that CCT treatment increased the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates, inducing a delay in appearance of a detectable bioluminescent lesion. CCT showed greater efficacy than Radio Therapy (RT) but comparable efficacy to temozolomide in xenograft models. Therefore, we aimed to continue the study of crocetin's effects in glioma disease, focusing our attention on the radiosensitizing properties of the natural compound and highlighting the ways in which this was realized.

Importance of GFAP isoform-specific analyses in astrocytoma

Gliomas are a heterogenous group of malignant primary brain tumors that arise from glia cells or their progenitors and rely on accurate diagnosis for prognosis and treatment strategies. Although recent developments in the molecular biology of glioma have improved diagnosis, classical histological methods and biomarkers are still being used. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a classical marker of astrocytoma, both in clinical and experimental settings. GFAP is used to determine glial differentiation, which is associated with a less malignant tumor. However, since GFAP is not only expressed by mature astrocytes but also by radial glia during development and neural stem cells in the adult brain, we hypothesized that GFAP expression in astrocytoma might not be a direct indication of glial differentiation and a less malignant phenotype. Therefore, we here review all existing literature from 1972 up to 2018 on GFAP expression in astrocytoma patient material to revisit GFAP as a marker of lower grade, more differentiated astrocytoma. We conclude that GFAP is heterogeneously expressed in astrocytoma, which most likely masks a consistent correlation of GFAP expression to astrocytoma malignancy grade. The GFAP positive cell population contains cells with differences in morphology, function, and differentiation state showing that GFAP is not merely a marker of less malignant and more differentiated astrocytoma. We suggest that discriminating between the GFAP isoforms GFAPδ and GFAPα will improve the accuracy of assessing the differentiation state of astrocytoma in clinical and experimental settings and will benefit glioma classification.

Monoamine oxidase B levels are highly expressed in human gliomas and are correlated with the expression of HiF-1α and with transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3

Monoamine oxidases A and B (MAOA and MAOB) are highly expressed in many cancers. Here we investigated the level of MAOB in gliomas and confirmed its high expression. We found that MAOB levels correlated with tumor grade and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HiF-1α) expression. HiF-1α was localized to the nuclei in high-grade gliomas, but it was primarily cytosolic in low-grade gliomas and normal human astrocytes. Expression of both glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and MAOB are correlated to HiF-1α expression levels. Levels of MAOB are correlated by the levels of transcription factor Sp3 in the majority of GBM examined, but this control of MAOB expression by Sp3 in low grade astrocytic gliomas is significantly different from control in the in the majority of glioblastomas. The current findings support previous suggestions that MAOB can be exploited for the killing of cancer cells. Selective cell toxicity can be achieved by designing non-toxic prodrugs that require MAOB for their catalytic conversion into mature cytotoxic chemotherapeutics.