The relationship between estrogen receptors and microtubule dynamics in post-menopausal rat brain

Two decades of a protooncogene HPIP/PBXIP1: Uncovering the tale from germ cell to cancer

Hematopoietic PBX interacting protein (HPIP or pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor interacting protein (PBXIP1) was discovered two decades ago as a corepressor of pre-B-cell leukemia homeobox (PBX) 1 with a vital functional role in hematopoiesis. Later it emerged as a potential biomarker of poor prognosis and tumorigenesis for more than a dozen different cancers. It regulates aggressive cancer phenotypes, cell proliferation, metastasis, EMT, etc. The anomaly in the regulation of HPIP is linked with physiological disorders like renal fibrosis, chronic kidney disease and osteoarthritis. Scientists have unraveled more than twenty interacting proteins of HPIP and its functional role in various physiological and cellular processes that involves normal neuronal development, embryogenesis, endometrium decidualization, and germ cell proliferation. Over the past 20 years, we have witnessed the emerging role of HPIP and its association with a myriad of cellular activities ranging from germ cell proliferation to cancer aggressiveness, modulating multitude of signaling cascades like TGF-β1, PI3K/AKT, Wnt, mTOR, and Sonic hedgehog signaling pathways. This review will give the current understanding of HPIP, in terms of its diverse functions, theoretical ideas, and further explore cellular links and promising areas that need to be investigated. We also provide a comprehensive overview of the transcript variants of HPIP and distinct sets of transcription factors regulating their expression, which may help to understand the role of HPIP in various cellular or physiological conditions.

HPIP: a predictor of lymph node metastasis and poor survival in cervical cancer

Background

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships of HPIP expression status with the clinicopathological variables and survival outcomes of patients with cervical cancer (CC).

Methods

We compared the HPIP expression of 119 samples from CC tissues, 20 from cervical intraepithelial tissues, and 20 from normal cervical tissues by using immunohistochemical staining.

Results

It was observed that the ratio of elevated HPIP expression was higher in CC tissues than in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (P=0.017) and normal cervical tissues (P=0.001). In addition, there was an association between HPIP and clinicopathological factors, such as histological grade (P<0.001), stromal infiltration (P=0.015), lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI; P=0.026), and recurrence (P=0.029). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that high HPIP expression (P=0.027 and P=0.042) as well as the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage (P=0.003 and P=0.009), lymph node metastasis (P=0.031 and P=0.017), and LVSI (P=0.024 and P=0.046) were independent prognostic factors. In addition, we demonstrated that high HPIP expression (P=0.003) and LVSI (P<0.001) were independently related to lymph node metastasis.

Conclusion

Elevated HPIP expression may contribute to the progression and metastasis of CC and may also serve as a new biomarker to predict the prognosis of CC.

Expression of HPIP in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: a clinicopathological study

Objectives

Hematopoietic pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor (PBX)-interacting protein (HPIP) plays an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of HPIP in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Patients and methods

Immunohistochemical method was performed using 42 normal ovarian specimens and 145 specimens with EOC. The correlations of HPIP expression with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis of EOC patients were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using the chi-square test, multivariate Cox proportional hazard, and Kaplan–Meier method.

Results

HPIP expression in EOC was higher than that in normal tissues (P<0.001). HPIP expression was significantly associated with histological grade, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, and lymphatic metastasis of EOC (P<0.05). Patients with high HPIP expression had poorer overall survival and disease-free survival (P<0.001) compared with patients with low HPIP expression. Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that HPIP was an independent factor for overall survival and disease-free survival (P<0.05).

Conclusion

HPIP may be a valuable biomarker for predicting the prognosis of EOC patients and may serve as a potential target for cancer therapy.