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Conza D, Mirra P, Fiory F, Insabato L, Nicolò A, Beguinot F, Ulianich L. Metformin: A New Inhibitor of the Wnt Signaling Pathway in Cancer. Cells 2023; 12:2182. [PMID: 37681914 PMCID: PMC10486775 DOI: 10.3390/cells12172182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The biguanide drug metformin is widely used in type 2 diabetes mellitus therapy, due to its ability to decrease serum glucose levels, mainly by reducing hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. A considerable number of studies have shown that metformin, besides its antidiabetic action, can improve other disease states, such as polycystic ovary disease, acute kidney injury, neurological disorders, cognitive impairment and renal damage. In addition, metformin is well known to suppress the growth and progression of different types of cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, several epidemiological studies suggest that metformin is capable of lowering cancer risk and reducing the rate of cancer deaths among diabetic patients. The antitumoral effects of metformin have been proposed to be mainly mediated by the activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). However, a number of signaling pathways, both dependent and independent of AMPK activation, have been reported to be involved in metformin antitumoral action. Among these, the Wingless and Int signaling pathway have recently been included. Here, we will focus our attention on the main molecular mechanisms involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Domenico Conza
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
| | - Paola Mirra
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
| | - Francesca Fiory
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
| | - Luigi Insabato
- Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy;
| | - Antonella Nicolò
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
| | - Francesco Beguinot
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
| | - Luca Ulianich
- URT Genomics of Diabetes, Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology, National Research Council & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy; (D.C.); (P.M.); (F.F.); (A.N.); (F.B.)
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Zhang Q, Hu W, Xiong L, Wen J, Wei T, Yan L, Liu Q, Zhu S, Bai Y, Zeng Y, Yin Z, Yang J, Zhang W, Wu M, Zhang Y, Peng G, Bao S, Liu L. IHGA: An interactive web server for large-scale and comprehensive discovery of genes of interest in hepatocellular carcinoma. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:3987-3998. [PMID: 37635767 PMCID: PMC10457689 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Mining gene expression data is valuable for discovering novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although emerging data mining tools are available for pan-cancer-related gene data analysis, few tools are dedicated to HCC. Moreover, tools specifically designed for HCC have restrictions such as small data scale and limited functionality. Therefore, we developed IHGA, a new interactive web server for discovering genes of interest in HCC on a large-scale and comprehensive basis. Integrative HCC Gene Analysis (IHGA) contains over 100 independent HCC patient-derived datasets (with over 10,000 tissue samples) and more than 90 cell models. IHGA allows users to conduct a series of large-scale and comprehensive analyses and data visualizations based on gene mRNA levels, including expression comparison, correlation analysis, clinical characteristics analysis, survival analysis, immune system interaction analysis, and drug sensitivity analysis. This method notably enhanced the richness of clinical data in IHGA. Additionally, IHGA integrates artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted gene screening based on natural language models. IHGA is free, user-friendly, and can effectively reduce time spent during data collection, organization, and analysis. In conclusion, IHGA is competitive in terms of data scale, data diversity, and functionality. It effectively alleviates the obstacles caused by HCC heterogeneity to data mining work and helps advance research on the molecular mechanisms of HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiangnu Zhang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
- Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Postdoctoral Research Station, Jinan University, 510632 Guangzhou, China
| | - Weibin Hu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Lingfeng Xiong
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 510632 Guangzhou, China
| | - Jin Wen
- Department of Neurology, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, the First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Teng Wei
- Cytotherapy Laboratory, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, the First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Lesen Yan
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Quan Liu
- Laboratory Medicine Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital (Nanshan Hospital), 518000 Shenzhen, China
| | - Siqi Zhu
- Laboratory Medicine Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital (Nanshan Hospital), 518000 Shenzhen, China
| | - Yu Bai
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Yuandi Zeng
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Zexin Yin
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Jilin Yang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Wenjian Zhang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Meilong Wu
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Yusen Zhang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Gongze Peng
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Shiyun Bao
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
| | - Liping Liu
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020 Shenzhen, China
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Zhang Q, Xiong L, Wei T, Liu Q, Yan L, Chen J, Dai L, Shi L, Zhang W, Yang J, Roessler S, Liu L. Hypoxia-responsive PPARGC1A/BAMBI/ACSL5 axis promotes progression and resistance to lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncogene 2023; 42:1509-1523. [PMID: 36932115 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-023-02665-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Emerging evidence has indicated that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PPARGC1A) is involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its detailed function and up- and downstream mechanisms are incompletely understood. In this study, we confirmed that PPAGC1A is lowly expressed in HCC and is associated with poor prognosis using large-scale public datasets and in-house cohorts. PPAGC1A was found to impair the progression and sensitivity of HCC to lenvatinib. Mechanistically, PPAGC1A repressed bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor (BAMBI) by inhibiting WNT/β-catenin signaling. BAMBI mediated the function of PPARGC1A and regulated ACSL5 through TGF-β/SMAD signaling. PPARGC1A/BAMBI regulated ROS production and ferroptosis-related cell death by controlling ACSL5. PPARGC1A/BAMBI/ACSL5 axis was hypoxia-responsive. METTL3 and WTAP silenced PPARGC1A in an m6A-YTHDF2-dependent way under normoxia and hypoxia, respectively. Metformin restored PPARGC1A expression by reducing its m6A modification via inhibiting METTL3. In animal models and patient-derived organoids, consistent functional data of PPARGC1A/BAMBI/ACSL5 were observed. Conclusions: These findings provide new insights into the role of the aberrant PPARGC1A/BAMBI/ACSL5 axis in HCC. And the mechanism of PPARGC1A dysregulation was explained by m6A modification. Metformin may benefit HCC patients with PPARGC1A dysregulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiangnu Zhang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China.,Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Postdoctoral Research Station, Jinan University, 510632, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lingfeng Xiong
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Teng Wei
- Cytotherapy Laboratory, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; the First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Quan Liu
- Laboratory Medicine Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital (Nanshan Hospital), 518000, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lesen Yan
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jiaojuan Chen
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lu Dai
- School of Medcine, Southern University of Science and Technology, 518055, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Lulin Shi
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wenjian Zhang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jilin Yang
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China
| | - Stephanie Roessler
- Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Liping Liu
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), 518020, Shenzhen, China.
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Gao X, Xu M, Wang H, Xia Z, Sun H, Liu M, Zhao S, Yang F, Niu Z, Gao H, Zhu H, Lu J, Zhou X. Development and validation of a mitochondrial energy metabolism-related risk model in hepatocellular carcinoma. Gene 2023; 855:147133. [PMID: 36565797 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2022.147133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and ranks third inmortality. Mitochondria are the energy manufacturers of cells. Disruption of mitochondrial energy metabolism pathways is strongly correlated with the onset and progression of HCC. Aberrant genes in mitochondrial energy metabolism pathways may represent a unique diagnostic and therapeutic targets that act as indicators for HCC. METHODS Gene expression data from 374 HCC patients and 50 controls were acquired from TCGA database. A total of 188 mitochondrial energy metabolism-related genes (MMRGs) were obtained from KEGG PATHWAY database. A total of 368 patients with survival data were randomly split into training and validation groups in a 7: 3 ratio. Prognosis-related MMRGs were selected by univariate Cox and LASSO analyses. Kaplan-Meier and ROC curves were employed to analyze the model precision, whereas the validation set was used for model verification. Furthermore, clinical examinations, immune infiltration analysis, GSVA, and immunotherapy analysis were conducted in the high- and low-risk groups. Finally, the risk model was combined with the clinical variables of HCC patients to perform univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to obtain independent risk indicators and draw a nomogram. Therefore, we evaluated the accuracy of the predictions using calibration curves. RESULTS A total of 6032 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the HCC and control samples. After overlapping DEGs with 188 MMRGs, 42 mitochondrial energy metabolism-related DEGs (DEMMRGs) were identified. A 17 specific genes-based risk score model of HCC was created, which revealed effectiveness in each TCGA training and validation dataset. Moreover, patients categorized by risk scores exhibited distinct immune infiltration status, immunotherapy responsiveness, and functional properties. Finally, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that risk score and stage T were independent predictive variables. Based on the T stage and risk score, a nomogram for estimating the survival of HCC patients was created. The calibration curves demonstrated that the prediction model had a high level of accuracy. CONCLUSIONS Our study constructed a mitochondrial energy metabolism-related risk model, that may be utilized to anticipate HCC prognosis and represent the immunological microenvironment of HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Gao
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Mingyue Xu
- Department of Endocrinology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 250012 Jinan, China
| | - Heng Wang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Zhaozhi Xia
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Hongrui Sun
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Meng Liu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Shuchao Zhao
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Faji Yang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Zheyu Niu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Hengjun Gao
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China; Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Huaqiang Zhu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China; Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Jun Lu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China; Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China
| | - Xu Zhou
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 250021 Jinan, China; Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 250021 Jinan, China.
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