Targeting Toll-like receptor 4 with CLI-095 (TAK-242) enhances the antimetastatic effect of the estrogen receptor antagonist fulvestrant on non-small cell lung cancer

PURPOSE

Estrogen plays a critical role in the invasiveness and metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through estrogen receptor β (ERβ). However, the antimetastatic effect of the ERβ antagonist fulvestrant was still limited in NSCLC patients. Recently, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling was implicated in NSCLC metastasis. Our present study aimed to evaluate the synergistic antimetastatic effect of a combination of fulvestrant and the TLR4-specific inhibitor CLI-095 (TAK-242) on human NSCLC cells.

METHODS

The expression levels of ERβ and TLR4 were detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of 180 primary NSCLC and 30 corresponding metastatic lymph node samples. The association between ERβ and TLR4 expression was analyzed. The aggressiveness of NSCLC cells treated with fulvestrant, CLI-095 or the drug combination and formation status of their invadopodia, invasion-associated structures, were investigated. The protein levels in NSCLC cells in different groups were determined by Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses.

RESULTS

Here, a positive correlation between ERβ and TLR4 expression was observed in both primary NSCLC tissue (Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient = 0.411, p < 0.001) and metastatic lymph node tissue (Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient = 0.374, p = 0.009). The protein levels of ERβ in NSCLC cell lines were decreased by fulvestrant, and this suppressive effect was significantly enhanced when fulvestrant was combined with CLI-095 (p < 0.05). Both the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells were suppressed by fulvestrant or CLI-095 alone, and the combination of fulvestrant + CLI-095 showed the strongest inhibitory effect (p < 0.05). In addition, the results demonstrated that CLI-095 also helped fulvestrant restrict the formation and function of invadopodia in NSCLC cells (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, our study results suggested that CLI-095 enhances the antimetastatic effect of fulvestrant on NSCLC and provided support for further investigation of the antitumor activity of combined therapy with antiestrogen and anti-TLR4 agents in the clinic.

[Recommendations for public health protection against flood disaster]

Flood disaster is one of the most serious natural disasters in the world, and it could pose an inestimable impact on the affected people. Based on existing laws, regulations, and emergency manuals in China, extensive literature review, epidemiological and related protection evidence, and expert consultation, this study analyzed different health risk factors of flood disaster and proposed a multi-stage, multi-population, and multi-phase comprehensive protection measures for the public in the perspective of pre-event prevention, in-event intervention and post-event rescue strategy, which could provide a scientific basis for improving the level of public health protection against the flood disaster and corresponding health outcomes.

ETph: enhancers and their targets in pig and human database

Enhancers, as the genomic non-coding sequences, play a key role in the activation of gene expression. They have been widely identified in the human genome. Pig is an important biomedical model for human health. Few studies have been performed to explore the enhancers in the pig genome. The human enhancer information may be useful to identify enhancers in the pig genome. In addition, the genetic background of pig traits could be useful to annotate human enhancers and diseases. Thus, in order to further study enhancers and their potential roles in human and pig, we developed a public database, ETph (Enhancers and their Targets in pig and human). ETph integrates the information on human enhancers, pig putative enhancers, target genes, pig QTL terms, human diseases, GO terms and the KEGG pathway. A total of 25 182 enhancers were identified in the pig genome using the human homology sequence information. Among them, 6232 high-confidence enhancers were used to build the ETph. ETph provides a convenient platform to search, browse and download data. Moreover, a web-based analytical tool was designed to visualize networks and topology graphs among pig putative enhancers, target genes, pig QTL traits and human diseases. ETph might provide a useful tool for researchers to investigate the genetic background of pig traits and human diseases. ETph is freely accessible at http://klab.sjtu.edu.cn/enhancer/.

lncRNA HOXB-AS3 promotes hepatoma by inhibiting p53 expression

OBJECTIVE

We investigate the mechanism of HOXB-AS3 in promoting the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The expression of HOXB-AS3 in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma was detected by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the relationship between the expression of HOXB-AS3 and tumor tissues was analyzed. The effects of HOXB-AS3 and p53 on cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by plate cloning experiment and flow cytometry. The binding relationship between HOXB-AS3 and DNMT1 and the regulation mechanism of DNMT1 on p53 were tested by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expression of p53 after knockdown of HOXB-AS3. The torsion experiment was performed to assess whether HOXB-AS3 regulated the proliferation and apoptosis of hepatoma cells by inhibiting p53 expression.

RESULTS

The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of HOXB-AS3 was significantly higher in cancerous tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than in adjacent tissues. The expression of HOXB-AS3 in patients in stage III and IV was significantly higher than that in stage I and II. Inhibition of HOXB-AS3 expression in liver cancer cells including Hep3B and LM3 could promote cell proliferation, inhibit cell apoptosis and induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. The results of RIP and ChIP experiments showed that HOXB-AS3 inhibited the expression of p53 by binding to DNMT1, and overexpression of p53 in Hep3B cells could partially reverse the changes in cell proliferation and apoptosis induced by HOXB-AS3.

CONCLUSIONS

Highly expressed HOXB-AS3 was confirmed to promote the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and inhibit apoptosis, and the mechanism was related to the regulation role of HOXB-AS3 in p53 expression by binding to DNMT1.

miR-487b mitigates allergic rhinitis through inhibition of the IL-33/ST2 signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the potential effect of miR-487b/IL-33-ST2 axis on the pathology of allergic rhinitis (AR) and the relevant mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The expression level of interleukin-33 (IL-33), a homolog of sulfotransferase (ST2), and miR-487b were detected in patients with or without allergic rhinitis. Luciferase assay was performed to evaluate the interaction between miR-487b and IL-33, and the effects of miR-487b/IL-33-ST2 axis on allergic rhinitis mice were determined by established allergic rhinitis model in mice by ovalbumin (OVA). The levels of OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (Ig-E), proinflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13), and pathological alterations were detected.

RESULTS

The level of IL-33 and its specific ligand ST2 were found increased in allergic rhinitis patients while miR-487b expression level was markedly repressed. To confirm whether miR-487b has a regulation effect on IL-33, we checked it in three publicly available algorithms, TargetScan, miRDB, and microRNA. We found that IL-33 is a direct target of miR-487b, and Luciferase assays confirmed our hypothesis, the subsequent experiments showed that up-regulation of miR-487b could inhibit expression of IL-33 and ST2, resulting in the decrease of the immunoglobulin E (Ig-E), proinflammatory cytokines and mitigation of pathological alterations.

CONCLUSIONS

Our research discovered the suppressor function of miR-487b in allergic rhinitis and revealed that miR-487b/IL-33-ST2 axis may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

Characterization of 30 76 Ge enriched Broad Energy Ge detectors for GERDA Phase II

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) is a low background experiment located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, which searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76 Ge into 76 Se+2e - . Gerda has been conceived in two phases. Phase II, which started in December 2015, features several novelties including 30 new ⁷⁶Ge enriched detectors. These were manufactured according to the Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector design that has a better background discrimination capability and energy resolution compared to formerly widely-used types. Prior to their installation, the new BEGe detectors were mounted in vacuum cryostats and characterized in detail in the Hades underground laboratory in Belgium. This paper describes the properties and the overall performance of these detectors during operation in vacuum. The characterization campaign provided not only direct input for Gerda Phase II data collection and analyses, but also allowed to study detector phenomena, detector correlations as well as to test the accuracy of pulse shape simulation codes.

lncRNA CCHE1 increased proliferation, metastasis and invasion of non-small lung cancer cells and predicted poor survival in non-small lung cancer patients

OBJECTIVE

Lung cancer is common cancer worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of lung cancers. Thus, we studied whether long non-coding RNAs influence malignancy in NSCLC to discover new therapeutic targets for increasing the survival rate of NSCLC patients. lncRNA has been proven to be important in different cancer progression. In this study, we mainly focused on the role of lncRNA CCHE1 (cervical carcinoma high expressed 1) expressed PCNA regulatory lncRNA in NSCLC cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of CCHE1 in 126 cases of NSCLC tissue and adjacent tissue, and the clinical significance was also analyzed. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay was used to detect the proliferation ability of NSCLC cancer cell lines, and Western-blot was used to measure the expression of the protein when the expression of CCHE1 was suppressed.

RESULTS

We found that the CCHE1 was highly expressed in the NSCLC tissue, compared with the adjacent tissue. We also found that the expression of CCHE1 was closely related to the size and survival time of patients. Moreover, CCHE1 could promote the proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of NSCLC cell line via increasing the expression of ERK/MAPK signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

According to the results, we found that CCHE1 was closely related the progression of NSCLC, which could be a potential target for treating NSCLC.

[Spatial distribution of cancer-related burden in Guangzhou from 2010 to 2013]

Objective: To evaluate the burden and to describe the characteristics of spatial distribution caused by malignant tumors among different administrative areas in Guangzhou from 2010- 2013. Methods: Based on data from the Cancer Registry system and population in Guangzhou in 2010- 2013, disability-adjusted life year (DALY) was assessed on the disease burden of cancer, in accordance with the method used in the Global Burden of Disease study. Results: The crude incidence rates of cancer appeared as 256.22/10(5) in 2010-2011 and 270.04/10(5) in 2012-2013, with the crude mortality rates as 143.17/10(5) and 148.01/10(5), respectively, in Guangzhou. Cancers caused 606 238.95 DALYs in 2010-2011 and 623 763.80 DALYs in 2012-2013 for both sexes and 37.63 and 37.81 person year per 1 000 persons, with the standardized DALY rates as 34.51‰, 34.00‰ respectively. Three administrative districts (Yuexiu, Haizhu and Liwan) were with the largest disease burden of cancers that accounted for 45% of the DALYs for the whole Conghua district, with liver cancer was the leading cancer on DALYs, and tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer ranked the first in the other districts. Conclusions: In Guangzhou, disease burden caused by cancers was both prominently seen in the newly developed urban area and the old districts. It remains an arduous task to continue programs on control and prevention of cancers in this city.

Application of Multiple Genetic Markers in Determination of Full and Half Sibling Relationship： A Case Report

Abstract

Objective To investigate the application of the comprehensive use of multiple genetic markers in full and half sibling relationship testing through the identification of a case of suspected sibling relationship. Methods Genomic DNA were extracted from bloodstain samples from 4 subjects （ZHANG-1, ZHANG-2, male; ZHANG-3, ZHANG-4, female）. Autosomal STR loci, X-STR, Y-STR loci and polymorphisms of mtDNA HV-Ⅰ and Ⅱwere genotyped by EX20 STR kit, X19 kit, Data Y24 STR kit, and Sanger sequencing, respectively. Results According to autosomal STR based IBS scoring results, full sibling relationships were indicated among ZHANG-2, ZHANG-3 and ZHANG-4, but those were not indicated between ZHANG-1 and ZHANG-2 or ZHANG-3 or ZHANG-4. According to autosomal STR based FSI and HSI, with ITO method and discriminant function method, full sibling relationships among ZHANG-2, ZHANG-3 and ZHANG-4 were indicated, and half sibling relationships between ZHANG-1 and ZHANG-2 or ZHANG-3 or ZHANG-4 were also indicated. X-STR and mtDNA sequencing results showed that all the 4 samples came from a same maternal line, and Y-STR results showed that ZHANG-1 and ZHANG-2 did not come from a same paternal line, which supported the half sibling relationship between ZHANG-1 and ZHANG-2 or ZHANG-3 or ZHANG-4, verified by parental genotype reconstruction based on autosomal STR genotyping. Conclusion For the identification of sibling relationships, it is effective to have reliable results with the mutual verification and support of multiple genetic markers （autosomal STR, sex chromosomal STR and mtDNA sequence） and calculations （IBS, ITO, discriminant function method and family reconstruction）.

[Health-related quality of life and health-adjusted life expectancy among patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, in Guangdong province]

Objective: To estimate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) which were associated with chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in people from Guangdong province of China. Methods: Data on both NCDs prevalence and EuroQol-5 Dimensions-3 Levels measured HRQOL were gathered from the Fifth National Health Survey in Guangdong province, 2013. Logistic regression model and multiple linear regression model were employed to explore the impact of NCDs on HRQOL. Life expectancy (LE) and HALE were used to evaluate the comprehensive impact of chronic diseases on population health. Results: A total of 68 550 inhabitants were included in the analysis. Graded logistic regression showed that the impact of chronic diseases on all dimensions of quality of life was statistically significant after adjusting for social demographic characteristics. The greatest health impact was on the pain/discomfort health dimension [OR=4.48 (95%CI:4.20-4.77)], followed by anxiety/depression[OR=3.95 (95%CI: 3.62- 4.31)], daily activities [OR=3.69 (95%CI: 3.37-4.04)], mobility [OR=3.63 (95%CI: 3.34-3.94)]and ability on self-care [OR=3.30 (95%CI: 2.98-3.66)]. Losses of LE and HALE caused by NCDs were 12.7 and 14.6 years respectively while the overall expected gain was 3.8 years in HALE, when NCDs were taken away. Conclusions: Our data showed that NCDs had shortened the healthy life span of patients through reducing the HRQOL and also causing heavy disease burden on both patients with NCDs and the communities. Health-care related policies on NCDs need to be developed, for the elderly, in particular.

Aircraft soot from conventional fuels and biofuels during ground idle and climb-out conditions: Electron microscopy and X-ray micro-spectroscopy

Aircraft soot has a significant impact on global and local air pollution and is of particular concern for the population working at airports and living nearby. The morphology and chemistry of soot are related to its reactivity and depend mainly on engine operating conditions and fuel-type. We investigated the morphology (by transmission electron microscopy) and chemistry (by X-ray micro-spectroscopy) of soot from the exhaust of a CFM 56-7B26 turbofan engine, currently the most common engine in aviation fleet, operated in the test cell of SR Technics, Zurich airport. Standard kerosene (Jet A-1) and a biofuel blend (Jet A-1 with 32% HEFA) were used at ground idle and climb-out engine thrust, as these conditions highly influence air quality at airport areas. The results indicate that soot reactivity decreases from ground idle to climb-out conditions for both fuel types. Nearly one third of the primary soot particles generated by the blended fuel at climb-out engine thrust bear an outer amorphous shell implying higher reactivity. This characteristic referring to soot reactivity needs to be taken into account when evaluating the advantage of HEFA blending at high engine thrust. The soot type that is most prone to react with its surrounding is generated by Jet A-1 fuel at ground idle. Biofuel blending slightly lowers soot reactivity at ground idle but does the opposite at climb-out conditions. As far as soot reactivity is concerned, biofuels can prove beneficial for airports where ground idle is a common situation; the benefit of biofuels for climb-out conditions is uncertain.

Abstract PD6-05: Withdrawn

This abstract was withdrawn by the authors.

Citation Format: Kehm RD, Phillips K-A, Daly MB, Andrulis IL, Liao Y, Ma X, Zeinomar N, MacInnis RJ, Dite GS, John EM, Buys SS, Milne RL, Hopper JL, Terry MB. Withdrawn [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD6-05.

Abstract P4-09-02: Validation of iPrevent using the prospective family study cohort (ProF-SC)

Background: iPrevent (https://www.petermac.org/iprevent) provides women with highly-tailored risk management information after first estimating their breast cancer (BC) risk using the established risk prediction models, IBIS and BOADICEA. iPrevent has an internal switching algorithm that governs which model is used for each woman, depending on her risk factor data (i.e. LCIS/atypical hyperplasia status, BRCA status, and cancer family history). This study assessed the calibration and discriminatory accuracy of the 10-year BC risk estimates provided by iPrevent. Methods: Subjects were 16,574 women in the ProF-SC, aged 18-70 years and without BC or bilateral mastectomy at recruitment. After 10 years follow-up, 655 women (4%) were diagnosed with invasive BC. A “batch mode” for iPrevent is not available, so the iPrevent-assigned cumulative 10-year invasive BC risks were calculated by entering self-reported risk factors at cohort entry into either the IBIS (10,169 women) or BOADICEA (6,405 women) software packages (according to the iPrevent switching algorithm). To assess calibration, the mean iPrevent-assigned risk was compared with the mean 10-year observed invasive BC incidence, using a chi-squared goodness-of-fit statistic for the whole cohort, and by quartiles of risk. To evaluate discriminatory accuracy, the overall area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the development of invasive BC within 10 years was computed. Data were censored at date of invasive or in situ BC diagnosis, bilateral mastectomy, death, loss to follow-up, or at 10 years of follow-up. Results: For the whole cohort, iPrevent assigned risk was well-calibrated – 690 expected BCs (E) 655 observed (O) (E/O=1.05, 95% CI: 0.98-1.14), although for women in the highest risk quartile, i.e. &gt;6% 10-year risk, E/O=1.19, 95% CI: 1.07-1.32. The AUC was 0.70, 95% CI: 0.68-0.72. Conclusions: iPrevent is well calibrated overall and has good discriminatory accuracy for predicting 10-year BC risk, thus justifying its clinical use.

Citation Format: Phillips K-A, Liao Y, Collins IM, Buchsbaum R, Weideman P, Bickerstaffe A, MacInnis RJ, kConFab Investigators, Cuzick J, Antoniou A, Andrulis IL, John EM, Daly MB, Buys SS, Hopper JL, Terry MB. Validation of iPrevent using the prospective family study cohort (ProF-SC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-09-02.

Motivation for physical activity and the moderating effect of cancer diagnosis: A nationally representative cross-sectional study

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between types of motivation for physical activity and self-reported weekly aerobic moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in the 2012 and 2014 waves of the nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey 4 (n = 7307). We further explored differential associations between MVPA and types of motivation for physical activity by cancer survivor status. We found that those who were more motivated by "getting enjoyment from exercise" reported 26.4% more MVPA (+49.8 min/week) than those who were less motivated by this factor, adjusting for covariates (p = 0.025). Conversely, those who were more motivated by "concern over the way you look" reported 22.1% less MVPA (-55.5 min/week) than those who were less motivated by this factor, adjusting for covariates (p = 0.002). We found no evidence for a relationship between motivation from either "pressure from others" or "feeling guilty when you skip exercising" and MVPA. We identified a significant interaction for "feeling guilty when you skip exercising" and cancer survivor status, adjusting for covariates (p = 0.034). Cancer survivors who reported being more motivated by "feeling guilty when you skip exercising" reported 36.2% less MVPA (-71.75 min/week) than those who were less motivated by this factor; there was no statistically reliable difference in those without a history of cancer. Findings are concordant with previous literature highlighting the primacy of enjoyment for physical activity adherence. There is a need for further inquiry into guilt-related motivation for physical activity among cancer survivors, as it may have a unique, negative impact in this population.