Hypermethylated in cancer 1 (HIC1) suppresses bladder cancer progression by targeting yes-associated protein (YAP) pathway

Advances in research on the carcinogenic mechanisms and therapeutic potential of YAP1 in bladder cancer (Review)

Bladder cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the urinary system with high morbidity and no clear pathogenesis. The Hippo signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates organ size and maintains tissue homeostasis. Yes‑associated protein 1 (YAP1) is a key effector of this pathway and regulates downstream target genes by binding to transcriptional co‑activators with PDZ binding sequences (TAZ). Several studies have demonstrated that YAP1 is overexpressed in bladder cancer and is involved in adverse outcomes such as bladder cancer occurrence, progression, resistance to cisplatin and the recurrence of tumours. The present review summarized the involvement of YAP1 in bladder cancer disease onset and progression, and the mechanism of YAP1 involvement in bladder cancer treatment. In addition, this study further explored the potential of YAP1 in the diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer. This study aimed to explore the potential mechanism of YAP1 in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Epigenetic Regulation in Urothelial Carcinoma

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is a common malignancy that remains a clinical challenge: Non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (NMIUC) has a high rate of recurrence and risk of progression, while muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (MIUC) has a high mortality. Although some new treatments, such as immunotherapies, have shown potential effects on some patients, most cases of advanced UC remain incurable. While treatments based on epigenetic mechanisms, whether combined with traditional platinum-based chemotherapy or emerging immunotherapy, show therapeutic advantages. With the advancement of sequencing and bioinformatics, the study of epigenomics, containing DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNA, is increasingly linked with the occurrence and progression of UC. Since the epigenetics of UC is a constantly developing field of medicine, this review aims to summarize the latest research on epigenetic regulation of UC, generalize the mechanism of epigenetics in UC, and reveal the potential epigenetic therapies in the clinical setting, in order to provide some new clues on the discovery of new drugs based on the epigenetics.

Ferroptosis-related gene HIC1 in the prediction of the prognosis and immunotherapeutic efficacy with immunological activity

Background

Hypermethylated in Cancer 1 (HIC1) was originally confirmed as a tumor suppressor and has been found to be hypermethylated in human cancers. Although growing evidence has supported the critical roles of HIC1 in cancer initiation and development, its roles in tumor immune microenvironment and immunotherapy are still unclear, and no comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of HIC1 has been conducted.

Methods

HIC1 expression in pan-cancer, and differential HIC1 expression between tumor and normal samples were investigated. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was employed to validate HIC1 expression in different cancers by our clinical cohorts, including lung cancer, sarcoma (SARC), breast cancer, and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). The prognostic value of HIC1 was illustrated by Kaplan-Meier curves and univariate Cox analysis, followed by the genetic alteration analysis of HIC1 in pan-cancer. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was conducted to illustrate the signaling pathways and biological functions of HIC1. The correlations between HIC1 and tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and the immunotherapy efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors were analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. Drug sensitivity analysis of HIC1 was performed by extracting data from the CellMiner™ database.

Results

HIC1 expression was abnormally expressed in most cancers, and remarkable associations between HIC1 expression and prognostic outcomes of patients in pan-cancer were detected. HIC1 was significantly correlated with T cells, macrophages, and mast cell infiltration in different cancers. Moreover, GSEA revealed that HIC1 was significantly involved in immune-related biological functions and signaling pathways. There was a close relationship of HIC1 with TMB and MSI in different cancers. Furthermore, the most exciting finding was that HIC1 expression was significantly correlated with the response to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in cancer treatment. We also found that HIC1 was significantly correlated with the sensitivity of several anti-cancer drugs, such as axitinib, batracylin, and nelarabine. Finally, our clinical cohorts further validated the expression pattern of HIC1 in cancers.

Conclusions

Our investigation provided an integrative understanding of the clinicopathological significance and functional roles of HIC1 in pan-cancer. Our findings suggested that HIC1 can function as a potential biomarker for predicting the prognosis, immunotherapy efficacy, and drug sensitivity with immunological activity in cancers.

ZBTB7A, a miR-144-3p targeted gene, accelerates bladder cancer progression via downregulating HIC1 expression

Background

Zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 7A (ZBTB7A) is a member of the POK family of transcription factors that plays an oncogenic or tumor-suppressive role in different cancers depending on the type and genetic context of cancer. However, the function and molecular mechanism of ZBTB7A in bladder cancer (BC) remain elusive.

Methods

The role of ZBTB7A in bladder cancer was detected by colony formation, transwell, and tumor formation assays. The expression levels of ZBTB7A, HIC1, and miR-144-3p were analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Bioinformatics analysis and a dual-luciferase reporter assay were used to assess the effect of ZBTB7A on the promoter activity of HIC1.

Results

The present study revealed that knockdown of ZBTB7A suppressed BC cell growth and migration, as indicated by an approximately 50% reduction in the number of colonies and an approximately 70% reduction in the number of migrated cells. Loss of ZBTB7A inhibited tumor growth in vivo, resulting in a 75% decrease in tumor volume and an 80% decrease in tumor weight. Further mechanistic studies revealed that ZBTB7A bound to the hypermethylated in cancer 1 (HIC1) promoter and downregulated HIC1 expression, accelerating the malignant behavior of BC. Increased expression of ZBTB7A in BC tissues was negatively corrected with the expression of HIC1. Moreover, ZBTB7A was a target of miR-144-3p, which decreased ZBTB7A expression in BC.

Conclusion

Our data demonstrate that ZBTB7A, a targeted gene of miR-144-3p, promoted tumorigenesis of BC through downregulating HIC1 expression.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02596-w.

PHF20L1 mediates PAX2 expression to promote angiogenesis and liver metastasis in colorectal cancer through regulating HIC1

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common cancer with poor prognosis. The research was designed to explore the role of PHF20L1 in angiogenesis and liver metastasis in CRC and discuss its molecular mechanism. Expression levels of PHF20L1, HIC1 and PAX2 in CRC tissues collected from CRC patients were detected using qRT-PCR, WB and immunohistochemical staining. CRC cells were transfected with PHF20L1, HIC1 and PAX2 overexpression or knockdown vectors and the proliferation, apoptosis, EMT and angiogenesis of the cells were determined. WB was utilized to assess protein levels of PHF20L1, HIC1, PAX2 and angiogenesis factor (ANGPT2, FGF1, PDGFA and VEGFA). The role of PHF20L1 regulating tumor formation and liver metastasis in vivo was detected as well. PHF20L1 was observed to express at a high level of CRC tissues. PHF20L1 promoted CRC cell growth, EMT and angiogenesis, and inhibited cell apoptosis. Knockdown of PHF20L1 had opposite effects on CRC cells. PHF20L1 negatively regulated HIC1 expression to promote PAX2 expression, thus promoting CRC cell progression. The in vivo results showed that PHF20L1 contributed to tumor formation and liver metastasis. PHF20L1 increases PAX2 expression to promote angiogenesis in CRC by inhibiting HIC1, therefore facilitating CRC cell EMT and liver metastasis. Our finding may provide a novel insight for CRC pathogenesis.

Aberrant DNA Methylation in Bladder Cancer among Saudi Arabia Population

Tumor biomarkers developed based on the aberrant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation patterns in bladder cancer (BC) hold great promise due to their stability, specificity, and known associations with the disease. No study has investigated DNA methylation patterns in BC patients from Saudi population. We analyzed DNA methylation levels of 48 tumor suppressor genes loci in 24 bladder tissues (19 BC and 5 control samples) using Human Tumour Suppressor Genes EpiTect Methyl II Complete PCR Array (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). We identified significant difference in DNA hypermethylation levels at E2F1, ERBB2, HIC1, OPCML, SFN, SFRP1, SFRP2, SPARC, and TERT gene loci between controls and cancerous samples. SCGB3A1 was differentially methylated in nonmuscle invasive versus muscle invasive BC samples. Results suggest that these aberrant DNA methylation patterns in BC are disease and population specific and can be developed as distinct DNA methylation-based biomarkers for BC detection.

The transcription factor Hypermethylated in Cancer 1 (Hic1) regulates neural crest migration via interaction with Wnt signaling

The transcription factor Hypermethylated in Cancer 1 (HIC1) is associated with both tumorigenesis and the complex human developmental disorder Miller-Dieker Syndrome. While many studies have characterized HIC1 as a tumor suppressor, HIC1 function in development is less understood. Loss-of-function mouse alleles show embryonic lethality accompanied with developmental defects, including craniofacial abnormalities that are reminiscent of human Miller-Dieker Syndrome patients. However, the tissue origin of the defects has not been reported. In this study, we use the power of the Xenopus laevis model system to explore Hic1 function in early development. We show that hic1 mRNA is expressed throughout early Xenopus development and has a spatial distribution within the neural plate border and in migrating neural crest cells in branchial arches. Targeted manipulation of hic1 levels in the dorsal ectoderm that gives rise to neural and neural crest tissues reveals that both overexpression and knockdown of hic1 result in craniofacial defects with malformations of the craniofacial cartilages. Neural crest specification is not affected by altered hic1 levels, but migration of the cranial neural crest is impaired both in vivo and in tissue explants. Mechanistically, we find that Hic1 regulates cadherin expression profiles and canonical Wnt signaling. Taken together, these results identify Hic1 as a novel regulator of the canonical Wnt pathway during neural crest migration.

Development and function of smooth muscle cells is modulated by Hic1 in mouse testis

In mammalian testis, contractile peritubular myoid cells (PMCs) regulate the transport of sperm and luminal fluid, while secreting growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins to support the spermatogonial stem cell niche. However, little is known about the role of testicular smooth muscle cells during postnatal testicular development. Here we report age-dependent expression of hypermethylated in cancer 1 (Hic1; also known as ZBTB29) in testicular smooth muscle cells, including PMCs and vascular smooth muscle cells, in the mouse. Postnatal deletion of Hic1 in smooth muscle cells led to their increased proliferation and resulted in dilatation of seminiferous tubules, with increased numbers of PMCs. These seminiferous tubules contained fewer Sertoli cells and more spermatogonia, and fibronectin was not detected in their basement membrane. The expression levels of genes encoding smooth muscle contractile proteins, Acta2 and Cnn1, were downregulated in the smooth muscle cells lacking Hic1, and the seminiferous tubules appeared to have reduced contractility. These data imply a role for Hic1 in determining the size of seminiferous tubules by regulating postnatal smooth muscle cell proliferation, subsequently affecting spermatogenesis in adulthood.