TSPAN1 inhibits metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma via suppressing NF-kB signaling

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) originates in the epithelial cells of the nasopharynx and is a common malignant tumor in southern China and Southeast Asia. Metastasis of NPC remains the main cause of death for NPC patients even though the tumor is sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Here, we found that the transmembrane protein tetraspanin1 (TSPAN1) potently inhibited the in vitro migration and invasion, as well as, the in vivo metastasis of NPC cells via interacting with the IKBB protein. In addition, TSPAN1 was essential in preventing the overactivation of the NF-kB pathway in TSPAN1 overexpressing NPC cells. Furthermore, reduced TSPAN1 expression was associated with NPC metastasis and the poor prognosis of NPC patients. These results uncovered the suppressive role of TSPAN1 against NF-kB signaling in NPC cells for preventing NPC metastasis. Its therapeutic value warrants further investigation.

Ulinastatin inhibits the metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by involving uPA/uPAR signaling

Distant metastasis is the primary reason for treatment failure in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we investigated the effect of ulinastatin (UTI) on NPC metastasis and its underlying mechanism. Highly-metastatic NPC cell lines S18 and 58F were treated with UTI and the effect on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were determined by MTS and Transwell assays. S18 cells with luciferase-expressing (S18-1C3) were injected into the left hind footpad of nude mice to establish a model of spontaneous metastasis from the footpad to popliteal lymph node (LN). The luciferase messenger RNA (mRNA) was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and the metastasis inhibition rate was calculated. Key molecular members of the UTI-related uPA, uPAR, and JAT/STAT3 signaling pathways were detected by qPCR and immunoblotting. UTI suppressed the migration and infiltration of S18 and 5-8F cells and suppressed the metastasis of S18 cells in vivo without affecting cell proliferation. uPAR expression decreased from 24 to 48 h after UTI treatment. The antimetastatic effect of UTI is partly due to the suppression of uPA and uPAR. UTI partially suppresses NPC metastasis by downregulating the expression of uPA and uPAR.

Correlated with better prognosis, CSTA inhibits metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via suppressing AKT signaling through promoting METTL3 degradation

BACKGROUND

Metastasis is one of the main obstacles impeding the survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, with the molecular mechanism underlying NPC metastasis still unclear.

RESULTS

In this study, Cystatin A (CSTA) was found downregulated in NPC tissues with metastasis compared with those without metastasis. Shorter overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival were found in NPC patients with lower CSTA expression. Using functional assays, we found that CSTA prevented both the in vitro motility of NPC cells and their ability to metastasize in vivo. Transcriptome sequencing and western blot analysis revealed that CSTA inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT. Moreover, activating AKT using AKT agonist SG79 rescued the motility of CSTA-overexpressing NPC cells, whereas, treatment with AKT inhibitor MK2206 inhibited the motility of CSTA-knockdown NPC cells. Mechanically, immunoprecipitation coupled mass spectrometry found that CSTA interacted with the N6-adenosine-methyltransferase subunit METTL3 and promoted its ubiquitin-proteasome-mediated degradation following the upregulation of NKX3-1 and LHPP, which are negative regulators of AKT. Furthermore, knock-down of NKX3-1 and LHPP enhanced the motility of CSTA-overexpressing NPC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

The inhibitory effect of CSTA upon NPC metastasis mainly depended on suppressing AKT signaling by the upregulation of NKX3-1 and LHPP expression resulting from the binding between CSTA and METLL3. Our study suggests that the CSTA-METLL3-NKX3-1/LHPP-AKT axis could be of therapeutic value for inhibiting NPC metastasis.

Geographical disparities in the prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy: a large institution-based cohort study from an endemic area

OBJECTIVES

Geographical disparities have been identified as a specific barrier to cancer screening and a cause of worse outcomes for patients with cancer. In the present study, our aim was to assess the influence of geographical disparities on the survival outcomes of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

DESIGN

Cohort study.

SETTING

Guangzhou, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1002 adult patients with NPC (724 males and 278 females) who were classified by area of residence (rural or urban) received IMRT from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014, at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Following propensity score matching (PSM), 812 patients remained in the analysis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We used PSM to reduce the bias of variables associated with treatment effects and outcome prediction. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox regression was used to identify independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

In the matched cohort, 812 patients remained in the analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the rural group was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS, p<0.001), disease-free survival (DFS, p<0.001), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS, p=0.003) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS, p<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression showed worse OS (HR=3.126; 95% CI 1.902 to 5.138; p<0.001), DFS (HR=2.579; 95% CI 1.815 to 3.665; p<0.001), LRRFS (HR=2.742; 95% CI 1.359 to 5.533; p=0.005) and DMFS (HR=2.461; 95% CI 1.574 to 3.850; p<0.001) for patients residing in rural areas.

CONCLUSIONS

The survival outcomes of patients with NPC who received the same standardised treatment were significantly better in urban regions than in rural regions. By analysing the geographic disparities in outcomes for NPC, we can guide the formulation of healthcare policies.

LACTB promotes metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma via activation of ERBB3/EGFR-ERK signaling resulting in unfavorable patient survival

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) originates in the nasopharyngeal epithelium and has the highest metastatic rate among head and neck cancers. Distant metastasis is the main reason for treatment failure with the underlying mechanisms remaining unclear. By comparing the expression profiling of NPCs versus non-cancerous nasopharyngeal tissues, we found LACTB was highly expressed in the tumor tissues. We found that elevated expression of the LACTB protein in primary NPCs correlated with poorer patient survival. LACTB is known to be a serine protease and a ubiquitous mitochondrial protein localized in the intermembrane space. Its role in tumor biology remains controversial. We found that the different methylation pattern of LACTB promoter led to its differential expression in NPC cells. Overexpressing LACTB in NPC cells promoted their motility in vitro and metastasis in vivo. While knocking down LACTB reduced the metastasis capability of NPC cells. However, LACTB did not influence cellular proliferation. We further found the role of LACTB in promoting NPC metastasis depended on the activation of ERBB3/EGFR-ERK signaling, which in turn, affected the stability and the following acetylation of histone H3. These findings may shed light on unveiling the mechanisms of NPC metastasis.

PTPN3 Inhibits the Growth and Metastasis of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma via Inhibition of PI3K/AKT Signaling

The underlying molecular mechanism driving clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) progression is still to be explored. The significant downregulation of protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 3 (PTPN3) expression in the tumor tissues suggested its protective role in ccRCC progression. IHC analysis of PTPN3 protein in 172 ccRCC tissue revealed that PTPN3 was an independently favorable prognostic factor for progression-free survival (P = 0.0166) and overall survival (P = 0.0343) of patients. The ccRCC cell lines SN12C, 1932, ACHN, and Caki-1 were used to evaluate, both in vitro and in vivo, the biological roles of PTPN3. We observed that overexpression of PTPN3 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ccRCC cells. In contrast, the knocking down of PTPN3 elicited opposite effects. Overexpressing PTPN3 inhibited xenograft tumor growth and lung metastasis displayed by the in vivo mice models. PTPN3 inhibited tumor cell motility by suppressing the phosphorylation of AKT, and subsequently inactivating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway of renal cell carcinoma cells. Furthermore, the inhibition of phospho-AKT^Thr308 and phospho-AKT^Ser473 reversed PTPN3-induced silencing in tumor cell migration. Our work revealed that the overexpression of PTPN3 could suppress kidney cancer progression by negatively regulating the AKT signaling pathway, and served as a favorable prognostic factor in patients with ccRCC. Our findings provided insight that PTPN3 could be a potential target for therapy aiming to inhibit the malignant behaviors of ccRCC. IMPLICATIONS: PTPN3 is an independent favorable prognostic factor for patients with ccRCC and could be a potential target for therapy aiming to inhibit the malignant behaviors of ccRCC.

Global expression profiling and pathway analysis of mouse mammary tumor reveals strain and stage specific dysregulated pathways in breast cancer progression

It is believed that the alteration of tissue microenvironment would affect cancer initiation and progression. However, little is known in terms of the underlying molecular mechanisms that would affect the initiation and progression of breast cancer. In the present study, we use two murine mammary tumor models with different speeds of tumor initiation and progression for whole genome expression profiling to reveal the involved genes and signaling pathways. The pathways regulating PI3K-Akt signaling and Ras signaling were activated in Fvb mice and promoted tumor progression. Contrastingly, the pathways regulating apoptosis and cellular senescence were activated in Fvb.B6 mice and suppressed tumor progression. We identified distinct patterns of oncogenic pathways activation at different stages of breast cancer, and uncovered five oncogenic pathways that were activated in both human and mouse breast cancers. The genes and pathways discovered in our study would be useful information for other researchers and drug development.

Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus Is a Risk Factor for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A 1:2 Matched Case-Control Study

Background

Diabetes has been identified as an adverse prognostic variable which associated with an increased mortality in various cancers, including colorectal, lung, and breast cancers. However, previous studies provided inconsistent results on the association between diabetes and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The main aim of this study was to investigate the associations between diabetes mellitus and the survival of NPC patients.

Methods

This study was designed as a 1:2 matched case–control study. Cases were patients who met the criteria for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetic mellitus (DM) below. Controls, matched 1:2, were patients who were normoglycemic (NDM). The survival rates were assessed by Kaplan–Meier analysis, and the survival curves were compared using a log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Cox proportional hazard regression model.

Results

Both locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in the NDM group were higher than that in the DM group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.033). Additionally, subset analyses revealed that the differences in OS, LRRFS, and DFS were all significant between the two groups in the N0-N1 subset (p = 0.007, p =.000 and p = 0.002). The LRRFS was higher in the NDM group in the III-IV, T3-T4 and N0-N1 subsets (p = 0.004, p = 0.002 and p =.000). In T3-T4 subset, the NDM group experienced higher DFS than the DM group (p = 0.039). In multivariate analysis, T stage and N stage were found to be independent predictors for OS, DMFS and DFS; chemotherapy was a significant prognostic factor for DMFS and DFS, age for OS, and diabetes for LRRFS and DFS.

Conclusions

Type 2 diabetic mellitus is associated with poorer prognosis among patients with NPC.

Plasma reproductive hormones in normal and vasectomized Chinese males

Plasma reproductive hormones (testosterone, LH, FSH and prolactin) were measured in 298 normal healthy males aged 30-73 years from rural areas of Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China, and in 505 similar men vasectomized between 1 year and 25 years previously. Age-related increases in LH and FSH but not in testosterone or prolactin were noted in normal men. No adverse effects of vasectomy were observed apart from a 16% increase in mean LH levels in the vasectomized compared to non-vasectomized men of similar ages.