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Vedovatto S, Oliveira FD, Pereira LC, Scheffel TB, Beckenkamp LR, Bertoni APS, Wink MR, Lenz G. CD73 mitigates ZEB1 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Cell Commun Signal 2024; 22:145. [PMID: 38388432 PMCID: PMC10882796 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-024-01522-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND ZEB1, a core transcription factor involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), is associated with aggressive cancer cell behavior, treatment resistance, and poor prognosis across various tumor types. Similarly, the expression and activity of CD73, an ectonucleotidase implicated in adenosine generation, is an important marker of tumor malignancy. Growing evidence suggests that EMT and the adenosinergic pathway are intricately linked and play a pivotal role in cancer development. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the correlations between CD73 and ZEB1, considering their impact on tumor progression. METHODS We employed CRISPR/Cas9 technology to silence CD73 expression in cell lines derived from papillary thyroid carcinoma. These same cells underwent lentiviral transduction of a reporter of ZEB1 non-coding RNA regulation. We conducted studies on cell migration using scratch assays and analyses of cellular speed and polarity. Additionally, we examined ZEB1 reporter expression through flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry, complemented by Western blot analysis for protein quantification. For further insights, we applied gene signatures representing different EMT states in an RNA-seq expression analysis of papillary thyroid carcinoma samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. RESULTS Silencing CD73 expression led to a reduction in ZEB1 non-coding RNA regulation reporter expression in a papillary thyroid carcinoma-derived cell line. Additionally, it also mitigated ZEB1 protein expression. Moreover, the expression of CD73 and ZEB1 was correlated with alterations in cell morphology characteristics crucial for cell migration, promoting an increase in cell polarity index and cell migration speed. RNA-seq analysis revealed higher expression of NT5E (CD73) in samples with BRAF mutations, accompanied by a prevalence of partial-EMT/hybrid state signature expression. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, our findings suggest an association between CD73 expression and/or activity and the post-transcriptional regulation of ZEB1 by non-coding RNA, indicating a reduction in its absence. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the relationship between CD73 and ZEB1, with the potential for targeting them as therapeutic alternatives for cancer treatment in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samlai Vedovatto
- Department of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43431, sala 107, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Dittrich Oliveira
- Department of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43431, sala 107, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Luiza Cherobini Pereira
- Department of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43431, sala 107, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Thamiris Becker Scheffel
- Department of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43431, sala 107, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
- Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Liziane Raquel Beckenkamp
- Department of Basics Health Sciences and Laboratory of Cell Biology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Ana Paula Santin Bertoni
- Department of Basics Health Sciences and Laboratory of Cell Biology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Márcia Rosângela Wink
- Department of Basics Health Sciences and Laboratory of Cell Biology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Guido Lenz
- Department of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43431, sala 107, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
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Bertoni APS, Valandro C, Brasil RÁ, Zeiser FA, Wink MR, Furlanetto TW, da Costa CA. NT5E DNA methylation in papillary thyroid cancer: Novel opportunities for precision oncology. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2023; 570:111915. [PMID: 37059175 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2023.111915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The ectoenzyme CD73, encoded by the NT5E gene, has emerged as a potential prognostic and therapeutic marker for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), which has increased in incidence in recent decades. Here, from The Cancer Genome Atlas Thyroid Cancer (TCGA-THCA) database, we extracted and combined clinical features, levels of NT5E mRNA, and DNA methylation of PTC samples and performed multivariate and random forest analyses to evaluate the prognostic relevance and the potential of discriminating between adjacent non-malignant and thyroid tumor samples. As a result, we revealed that lower levels of methylation at the cg23172664 site were independently associated with BRAF-like phenotype (p = 0.002), age over 55 years (p = 0.012), presence of capsule invasion (p = 0.007) and presence of positive lymph node metastasis (LNM) (p = 0.04). The methylation levels of cg27297263 and cg23172664 sites showed significant and inversely correlations with levels of NT5E mRNA expression (r = -0.528 and r = -0.660, respectively), and their combination was able to discriminate between adjacent non-malignant and tumor samples with a precision of 96%-97% and 84%-85%, respectively. These data suggest that combining cg23172664 and cg27297263 sites may bring new insights to reveal new subsets of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Paula Santin Bertoni
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil; Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre-UFCSPA, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Cleiton Valandro
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil
| | - Rafael Ávila Brasil
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil
| | - Felipe André Zeiser
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil
| | - Márcia Rosângela Wink
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil
| | - Tania Weber Furlanetto
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina: Ciências Médicas, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Cristiano André da Costa
- Software Innovation Laboratory - SOFTWARELAB, Applied Computing Graduate Program, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil.
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Xia C, Yin S, To KKW, Fu L. CD39/CD73/A2AR pathway and cancer immunotherapy. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:44. [PMID: 36859386 PMCID: PMC9979453 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01733-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer development is closely associated with immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that attenuates antitumor immune responses and promotes tumor cell immunologic escape. The sequential conversion of extracellular ATP into adenosine by two important cell-surface ectonucleosidases CD39 and CD73 play critical roles in reshaping an immunosuppressive TME. The accumulated extracellular adenosine mediates its regulatory functions by binding to one of four adenosine receptors (A1R, A2AR, A2BR and A3R). The A2AR elicits its profound immunosuppressive function via regulating cAMP signaling. The increasing evidence suggests that CD39, CD73 and A2AR could be used as novel therapeutic targets for manipulating the antitumor immunity. In recent years, monoclonal antibodies or small molecule inhibitors targeting the CD39/CD73/A2AR pathway have been investigated in clinical trials as single agents or in combination with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. In this review, we provide an updated summary about the pathophysiological function of the adenosinergic pathway in cancer development, metastasis and drug resistance. The targeting of one or more components of the adenosinergic pathway for cancer therapy and circumvention of immunotherapy resistance are also discussed. Emerging biomarkers that may be used to guide the selection of CD39/CD73/A2AR-targeting treatment strategies for individual cancer patients is also deliberated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenglai Xia
- Affiliated Foshan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, China. .,School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 515150, China.
| | - Shuanghong Yin
- grid.284723.80000 0000 8877 7471Affiliated Foshan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000 China ,grid.488530.20000 0004 1803 6191State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong Esophageal Cancer Institute, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060 China
| | - Kenneth K. W. To
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482School of Pharmacy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Liwu Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong Esophageal Cancer Institute, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
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Purinergic signaling in thyroid disease. Purinergic Signal 2023; 19:221-227. [PMID: 35347568 PMCID: PMC9984614 DOI: 10.1007/s11302-022-09858-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
It is known that thyroid hormones play pivotal roles in a wide variety of pathological and physiological events. Thyroid diseases, mainly including hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer, are highly prevalent worldwide health problems and frequently associated with severe clinical manifestations. However, etiology of hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer is not fully understood. Purinergic signaling accounts for a complex network of receptors and extracellular enzymes responsible for the recognition and degradation of extracellular nucleotides and adenosine. It has been established that purinergic signaling modulates pathways in a wide range of physiopathological conditions including hypertension, diabetes, hepatic diseases, psychiatric and neurodegeneration, rheumatic immune diseases, and cancer. More recently, the purinergic system is found to exist in thyroid gland and play an important role in the pathophysiology of thyroid diseases. Therefore, throughout this review, we focus on elaborating the changes in purinergic receptors, extracellular enzymes, and extracellular nucleotides and adenosine in hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer. Profound understanding of the relationship between the purinergic signaling with thyroid diseases provides a promising research area for insights into the molecular basis of thyroid diseases and also develops new and exciting insights into the treatment of thyroid diseases, especially thyroid cancer.
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