MET transcriptional regulator/serine peptidase inhibitor kunitz type 1 panel operating through HGF/c-MET axis as a prognostic signature in pan-cancer

A review of immunotargeted therapy for Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: making progress in chemotherapy-free regimens

Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (PH + ALL) is the most common cytogenetic abnormality of B-ALL in adults and is associated with poor prognosis. Previously, the only curative treatment option in PH + ALL was allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT). Since 2000, targeted therapy combined with chemotherapy, represented by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor Imatinib, has become the first-line treatment for PH + ALL. Currently, the remission rate and survival rate of Imatinib are superior to those of simple chemotherapy, and it can also improve the efficacy of transplantation. More recently, some innovative immune-targeted therapy greatly improved the prognosis of PH + ALL, such as Blinatumomab and Inotuzumab Ozogamicin. For patients with ABL1 mutations and those who have relapsed or are refractory to other treatments, targeted oral small molecule drugs, monoclonal antibodies, Bispecific T cell Engagers (BiTE), and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells immunotherapy are emerging as potential treatment options. These new therapeutic interventions are changing the treatment landscape for PH + ALL. In summary, this review discusses the current advancements in targeted therapeutic agents shift in the treatment strategy of PH + ALL towards using more tolerable chemotherapy-free induction and consolidation regimens confers better disease outcomes and might obviate the need for HSCT.

Ferroptosis regulating lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, and its occurrence and development involve complex biological processes. Iron death, as a new cell death mode, has attracted wide attention in recent years. However, the regulatory mechanism of iron death in gastric cancer and its effect on lipid peroxidation metabolism remain unclear.

AIM

To explore the role of iron death in the development of gastric cancer, reveal its relationship with lipid peroxidation, and provide a new theoretical basis for revealing the molecular mechanism of the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

METHODS

The process of iron death in gastric cancer cells was simulated by cell culture model, and the occurrence of iron death was detected by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The changes of gene expression related to iron death and lipid peroxidation metabolism were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technology. In addition, a mouse model of gastric cancer was established, and the role of iron death in vivo was studied by histology and immunohistochemistry, and the level of lipid peroxidation was detected. These methods comprehensively and deeply reveal the regulatory mechanism of iron death on lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

RESULTS

Iron death was significantly activated in gastric cancer cells, and at the same time, associated lipid peroxidation levels increased significantly. Through high-throughput sequencing analysis, it was found that iron death regulated the expression of several genes related to lipid metabolism. In vivo experiments demonstrated that increased iron death in gastric cancer mice was accompanied by a significant increase in lipid peroxidation.

CONCLUSION

This study confirmed the important role of iron death in regulating lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer. The activation of iron death significantly increased lipid peroxidation levels, revealing its regulatory mechanism inside the cell.

Identify novel inflammation-related prognostic signature in pancreatic cancer patients

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant tumor of the digestive system with a poor prognosis. PC patients with pancreatitis have a worse prognosis. But nobody reported the relationship between inflammation and prognosis in PC. Based on this, we are going to explore inflammation-related prognostic signature to predict patients' survival and potential therapeutic target. We screened gene expression profile and corresponding clinical information of patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumor and normal tissues with P value < .05. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was applied to identify possible prognostic inflammation genes and establish an inflammation-related risk score system, which was validated by Kaplan-Meier and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Finally, we used the TISIDB database to predict targeted drugs for up-regulated gene hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) and used AUTODOCK software for molecular docking. We built a prognostic model consisted of 3 inflammation-related genes (tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 1/TFAR1, tyrosine kinase 2/TYK2, MET). According to the median value of those genes' risk score, PC patients were ranked into high- (88) and low-risk (89) groups. Then, the results of the Kaplan-Meier curves and the area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curves showed this model had a good predictive power (P < .001, AUC = 0.806). The result of human protein atlas (HPA) database showed the expression of TRAF1 and TYK2 were low in pancreatic cancer, the expression of MET was high. TISIDB database founded brigatinib could target to MET. And AUTODOCK showed brigatinib had a nice docking with MET. Taken together, our study suggested that inflammation-associated prognostic signature might be used as novel biomarkers for predicting prognosis in PC patients and potential therapeutic target of the disease.

MACC1 Promotes the Progression and Is a Novel Biomarker for Predicting Immunotherapy Response in Colorectal Cancer

Aims

As one of the most prevalent malignant diseases in the world, the mechanisms of metastasis in colon cancer are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the HGF/c-MET axis in the proliferation and metastasis in colon cancer.

Methods

The effect of MACC1 on cell proliferation and metastasis was analyzed through a series of in vitro experiments. The role of MACC1 in cancer cells was demonstrated by overexpression and silencing of MACC1 in gain or loss function experiments. To investigate the relationship between MACC1 and c-MET/HGF, we detected c-MET protein expression by disrupting with or overexpressing MACC1. The bioinformatics analysis was used to investigate the correlation between MACC1 and c-MET, and the c-MET expression after the interference of HGF with MACC1 was determined. Subsequently, the function of c-MET was verified in colon cancer cells by a series of experiments. The mouse tumor transplantation model experiment is most suitable in vivo.

Results

The results indicated that the overexpression of MACC1 could accelerate proliferation and facilitate metastasis in colon cancer cell lines. Furthermore, c-MET was determined to be the downstream regulator of MACC1. The addition of HGF could stimulate the expression of MACC1. With further exploration, we proved that c-MET is downstream of MACC1 in colon cancer and that overexpression of c-MET in colon cancer enhances cell proliferation and migration capability. At last, MACC1 expression level negatively correlates with the infiltration levels and several immune checkpoint biomarkers. High MACC1 expression has a lower response rate with ICIs in COAD.

Conclusions

We found that, under the regulation of the MACC1/HGF/c-MET axis, the proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer are increased by MACC1, which can be a novel biomarker for predicting ICIs response in colorectal cancer. Our findings provide a new idea for the targeted treatment of colorectal cancer.

The Relationship between MACC1/c-Met/Cyclin D1 Axis Expression and Prognosis in ESCC

Background

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system, with high incidence and mortality.

Methods

Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of MACC1, c-Met, and cyclin D1 in ESCC and its adjacent tissues. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS 23.0.

Results

The high expression of MACC1 and cyclin D1 was significantly correlated with tumor size. High c-Met expression was associated with patient ethnicity. MACC1 expression was positively correlated with both c-Met and cyclin D1. c-Met expression was also positively correlated with cyclin D1. Patients with high expression of MACC1 and c-Met had worse OS; patients with high c-Met expression also had worse PFS.

Conclusion

MACC1, c-Met, and cyclin D1 proteins are closely related to the occurrence and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. MACC1 may affect the prognosis of ESCC by regulating the expression of the c-Met/cyclin D1 axis.

Alpha-fetoprotein can promote gastric cancer progression via upregulation of metastasis-associated colon cancer 1

High serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level is a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer (GC). AFP-producing GC (AFP-GC) is an aggressive subtype of GC characterized by a high incidence of liver metastasis and high c-Met expression. High expression of metastasis-associated colon cancer 1 (MACC1), which is the transcription activator of c-Met, also predicts a poor prognosis of GC. c-Met is known to be involved in tumor progression into malignant invasive phenotypes. Considering that high c-Met expression is simultaneously positively correlated with high AFP and MACC1 expression levels and that high expression of AFP or MACC1 predicts poor prognosis in GC, we hypothesized that an interaction may exist between AFP and MACC1. In the present study, GC cell lines with AFP-overexpression, MACC1-downregulation and the combination of both transfections were used as experimental models. The relative mRNA and protein expression of c-Met, AFP and MACC1 were analyzed using reverse transcription quantitative PCR and western blotting, respectively. Cell viability was evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell invasion and cell migration were examined using Transwell migration assay with and without Matrigel, respectively. The results demonstrated that, compared with the control group, the mRNA and protein expression of MACC1was significantly elevated in the AFP-overexpressed group and in the group with AFP overexpressed and MACC1 downregulated. Furthermore, a significantly enhanced cell viability, migration and invasion were observed in the AFP-overexpressing group, whereas opposite effects were found in the MACC1-downregulating group. In summary, the results from this study indicated that AFP may promote GC progression by stimulating MACC1. This finding may help illustrating the aggressive behaviors of GC in patients with high AFP serum level and AFP-GC.