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Bremm JM, Boquett JA, Silva Michels M, Kowalski TW, Gomes FG, Vianna FSL, Vieira Sanseverino MT, Fraga LR. Investigating the role of EGF-CFC gene family in recurrent pregnancy loss through bioinformatics and molecular approaches. Syst Biol Reprod Med 2021; 67:450-462. [PMID: 34498535 DOI: 10.1080/19396368.2021.1965673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is the most common reproductive failure, reaching 1-5% of women throughout their lives, and having unknown etiology in 50% of the cases. In humans, EGF-CFC1 (Epidermal Growth Factors & Cripto/FRL-1/Cryptic) gene family is composed by TDGF1 and CFC1, two developmental genes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of EGF-CFC on RPL. To this, multiple approaches were performed; we conducted an expression analysis of TDGF1 and CFC1 using publicly available data from Gene Omnibus Expression (GEO), systems biology analyses and functional prediction; and a molecular analysis carried out in a case-control study. Our GEO analysis showed a decrease in TDGF1 expression in the endometrium (p=0.049) and CFC1 expression in placenta (p=0.015) of women with RPL. Network analysis, gene ontology and literature pointed to a strong connection between EGF-CFC1 gene family to pathways that play key roles during pregnancy, including TGF-β, c-Src/MAPK/AKT, Notch, TNFα, IFNγ and IL-6. A pathogenicity score developed for this gene family showed that the c.-14+1429T>C (rs3806702) variant in the TDGF1 and the p.Arg47Gln (rs201431919) variant in CFC1 gene would be the ones with the highest deleterious effect for RPL. In the case-control study, which involved 149 women with RPL and 159 controls, no statistical difference was observed in the allele and genotype distributions of the variants studied in the two groups. In this study, we performed extensive bioinformatics analysis for biomarker prioritization followed by experimental validation of proposed selected markers. Although there is no statistical difference in the frequencies of these variants between RPL and controls, the expression analysis results suggest that TDGF1 and CFC1 genes might play a role in RPL. In addition, systems biology analyzes raise the hypothesis that genes in other signaling pathways that may be related to RPL as good candidates for future studies.Abbreviations RPL: recurrent pregnancy loss; EGF-CFC1: Epidermal Growth Factors - Cripto/FRL-1; GEO: Gene Omnibus Expression; KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Matheus Bremm
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Juliano André Boquett
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Post-graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Marcus Silva Michels
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Thayne Woycinck Kowalski
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Laboratory of Genomic Medicine, Experimental Research Center, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Flávia Gobetti Gomes
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Sales Luiz Vianna
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Post-Graduate Program in Medicine: Medical Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Laboratory of Genomic Medicine, Experimental Research Center, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Maria Teresa Vieira Sanseverino
- Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Medical Genetics Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Lucas Rosa Fraga
- Post-Graduate Program in Medicine: Medical Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Laboratory of Genomic Medicine, Experimental Research Center, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Department of Morphological Science, Institute of Health Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Gomes FG, Almeida VH, Martins-Cardoso K, Martins-Dinis MMDC, Rondon AMR, Melo ACD, Tilli TM, Monteiro RQ. Epidermal growth factor receptor regulates fibrinolytic pathway elements in cervical cancer: functional and prognostic implications. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 54:e10754. [PMID: 33886813 PMCID: PMC8055187 DOI: 10.1590/1414-431x202010754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and components of the fibrinolytic system, including urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and thrombomodulin (TM), have been implicated in tumor progression. In the present study, we employed cBioPortal platform (http://www.cbioportal.org/), cancer cell lines, and an in vivo model of immunocompromised mice to evaluate a possible cooperation between EGFR signaling, uPA, and TM expression/function in the context of cervical cancer. cBioPortal analysis revealed that EGFR, uPA, and TM are positively correlated in tumor samples of cervical cancer patients, showing a negative prognostic impact. Aggressive human cervical cancer cells (CASKI) presented higher gene expression levels of EGFR, uPA, and TM compared to its less aggressive counterpart (C-33A cells). EGFR induces uPA expression in CASKI cells through both PI3K-Akt and MEK1/2-ERK1/2 downstream effectors, whereas TM expression induced by EGFR was dependent on PI3K/Akt signaling alone. uPA induced cell-morphology modifications and cell migration in an EGFR-dependent and -independent manner, respectively. Finally, treatment with cetuximab reduced in vivo CASKI xenografted-tumor growth in nude mice, and decreased intratumoral uPA expression, while TM expression was unaltered. In conclusion, we showed that EGFR signaling regulated expression of the fibrinolytic system component uPA in both in vitro and in vivo settings, while uPA also participated in cell-morphology modifications and migration in a human cervical cancer model.
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Affiliation(s)
- F G Gomes
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - V H Almeida
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - K Martins-Cardoso
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - M M D C Martins-Dinis
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - A M R Rondon
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - A C de Melo
- Clinical Research Division, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - T M Tilli
- Plataforma de Oncologia Translacional, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - R Q Monteiro
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
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