1H, 13C and 15N chemical shift assignment of lissencephaly-1 homology (LisH) domain homodimer of human two-hybrid-associated protein 1 with RanBPM (Twa1)

The CTLH Complex in Cancer Cell Plasticity

Cancer cell plasticity is the ability of cancer cells to intermittently morph into different fittest phenotypic states. Due to the intrinsic capacity to change their composition and interactions, protein macromolecular complexes are the ideal instruments for transient transformation. This review focuses on a poorly studied mammalian macromolecular complex called the CTLH (carboxy-terminal to LisH) complex. Currently, this macrostructure includes 11 known members (ARMC8, GID4, GID8, MAEA, MKLN1, RMND5A, RMND5B, RANBP9, RANBP10, WDR26, and YPEL5) and it has been shown to have E3-ligase enzymatic activity. CTLH proteins have been linked to all fundamental biological processes including proliferation, survival, programmed cell death, cell adhesion, and migration. At molecular level, the complex seems to interact and intertwine with key signaling pathways such as the PI3-kinase, WNT, TGFβ, and NFκB, which are key to cancer cell plasticity. As a whole, the CTLH complex is overexpressed in the most prevalent types of cancer and may hold the key to unlock many of the biological secrets that allow cancer cells to thrive in harsh conditions and resist antineoplastic therapy.

Overexpression of TWA1 predicts poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer

TWA1 is associated with microtubule dynamics, cell migration, nucleokinesis and chromosome segregation. However, the role of TWA1 in gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. In this study, Cosmic database revealed that the expression level of TWA1 ranks in the top 20 of overexpressed genes in GC. Further bioinformatic analysis revealed that the expression level of TWA1 was not in connection with the infection status of HP or EB. IHC and IF showed that TWA1 protein was present in both the cytoplasm and nucleus, but mainly in the cytoplasm. The high expression level of TWA1 was also related to tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, cancerous node and vascular invasion. Furthermore, higher TWA1 expression was also associated with shorter PFS and OS in GC. The univariate and multivariate analysis suggested the expression of TWA1 was an independent poor prognostic factor in GC. DNA copy number gain contributes to TWA1 overexpression and promoter methylation of TWA1 predicts profitable prognosis. Co-expression showed that TAF4 may function as a transcription factor (TF) regulates TWA1 expression, which further to mediate tumor invasion and metastasis. These findings revealed that TWA1 plays an important role in the development of GC and is expected to become an important biomarker and therapeutic target of tumors.