High mobility group A1 expression shows negative correlation with recurrence time in patients with glioblastoma multiforme

Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines on the Management of Progressive Glioblastoma in Adults: Update of the 2014 Guidelines

BACKGROUND

The Institute of Medicine best practice recommendation to review guidelines every 5 years is followed by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Guidelines Committee. The aim of this work was to provide an updated literature review and evidence-based recommendations on the topic of diagnosis and treatment of patients with progressive glioblastoma (pGBM).

OBJECTIVE

To review the literature published since the last guidelines on pGBM dated 2014, with literature search ending in June 2012.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched for the period July 1, 2012, to March 31, 2019, using search terms and search strategies to identify pertinent abstracts. These were then screened using published exclusion/inclusion criteria to identify full-text review articles. Evidence tables were constructed using data derived from full-text reviews and recommendations made from the evidence derived.

RESULTS

From the total 8786 abstracts identified by the search, 237 full-text articles met inclusion/exclusion criteria and were included in this update. Two new level II recommendations derived from this work. For the diagnosis of patients with GBM, the use of diffusion-weighted images is recommended to be included in the magnetic resonance images with and without contrast used for surveillance to detect pGBM. For the treatment of patients with pGBM, repeat cytoreductive surgery is recommended to improve overall survival. An additional 21 level III recommendations were provided.

CONCLUSION

Recent published literature provides new recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of pGBM. The Central Nervous System Guidelines Committee will continue to pursue timely updates to further improve the care of patients with diagnosis.https://www.cns.org/guidelines/browse-guidelines-detail/guidelines-management-of-progressive-glioblastoma.

GRP75-mediated upregulation of HMGA1 stimulates stage I lung adenocarcinoma progression by activating JNK/c-JUN signaling

Background

Recurrence is a major challenge in early‐stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) treatment. Here, we investigated the role and mechanism of high‐mobility group AT‐hook 1 (HMGA1) and glucose‐regulated protein 75‐kDa (GRP75) in stage I LUAD and evaluated their potential as biomarkers for predicting the recurrence and prognosis of stage I LUAD.

Methods

The TCGA dataset was used to investigate the clinical significance of HMGA1 and GRP75 in early‐stage LUAD. The biological functions of HMGA1 and GRP75 in LUAD were investigated both in vitro and in vivo through overexpression and knockdown experiments. The interaction and regulation between HMGA1 and GRP75 were evaluated with coimmunoprecipitation and ubiquitination assays. The downstream signaling pathway of the GRP75/HMGA1 axis was investigated by mRNA‐sequencing analysis.

Results

Both HMGA1 expression levels and GRP75 expression levels were associated with recurrence in stage I LUAD patients. In particular, HMGA1 had potential as an independent prognostic factor in stage I LUAD patients. Overexpression of GRP75 or HMGA1 significantly stimulated LUAD cell growth and metastasis, while silencing GRP75 or HMGA1 inhibited LUAD cell growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, GRP75 inhibited ubiquitination‐mediated HMGA1 degradation by directly binding to HMGA1, thereby causes HMGA1 upregulation in LUAD. In addition, the GRP75/HMGA1 axis played its role by activating JNK/c‐JUN signaling in LUAD.

Conclusions

The activation of GRP75/HMGA1/JNK/c‐JUN signaling is an important mechanism that promotes the progression of stage I LUAD, and a high level of HMGA1 is a novel biomarker for predicting recurrence and a poor prognosis in stage I LUAD patients.

RNA-Seq analysis of the protection by Dendrobium nobile alkaloids against carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity in mice

OBJECTIVE

Dendrobium nobile is a genuine Chinese medicine. Dendrobium nobile Lindl. alkaloids (DNLA) protects against CCl₄-induced acute liver injury. This study used RNA-Seq to explore the mechanisms.

METHODS

Mice were pretreated with DNLA (10 and 20 mg/kg, po) for 7 days, and subsequently intoxicated with CCl₄ (20 μL/kg, ip for 24 h). Liver RNA was extracted and subjected to RNA-Seq. The bioinformatics, including PCA, GO, KEGG, two-dimensional clustering, Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA), and Illumina BaseSpace Correlation Engine (BSCE) were used to analyze the data. qPCR was performed on selected genes to verify RNA-Seq results.

RESULTS

DNLA protection against CCl₄ hepatotoxicity was confirmed by histopathology. PCA revealed the distinct gene expression patterns between the different treatment groups. GO showed that CCl₄ induced the activation, adhesion and proliferation of immune cells. KEGG showed CCl₄ induced oxidative stress, diseases and compromised adaptive responses. CCl₄ induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by DESeq2 with Padj < 0.05 and 2D-clustered with other groups. DNLA reverted CCl₄-induced DEGs in a dose-dependent manner. qPCR analysis of S100 g, Sprr1, CCL3/7, Saa2/3, IL1rn, Cox7a2 and Rad15 confirmed RNA-Seq results. IPA showed that CCl₄ treatment altered some signaling and metabolic pathways, which were ameliorated or returned to normal following DNLA treatment. The CCl₄-activated mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation was illustrated as an example. IPA Upstream Regulator Analysis further revealed the activated or inhibited molecules and chemicals that are responsible for CCl₄-induced DEGs, and DNLA attenuated these changes. BSCE analysis verified that CCl₄-induced DEGs were highly correlated with the GEO database of CCl₄ hepatotoxicity in rodents, and DNLA dose-dependently attenuated such correlation.

CONCLUSION

RNA-Seq revealed CCl₄-induced DEGs, disruption of canonical pathways, activation or inhibition of upstream regulators, which are highly correlated with database for CCl₄ hepatotoxicity. All these changes were attenuated or returned to normal by DNLA, demonstrating the mechanisms for DNLA to protect against CCl₄ hepatotoxicity.

Oncogenic ZEB2/miR-637/HMGA1 signaling axis targeting vimentin promotes the malignant phenotype of glioma

Glioma is the most common primary tumor of the central nervous system. We previously confirmed that zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB) 2 promotes the malignant progression of glioma, while microRNA-637 (miR-637) is associated with favorable prognosis in glioma. This study aimed to investigate the potential interaction between ZEB2 and miR-637 and its downstream signaling pathway in glioma. The results revealed that ZEB2 could directly bind to the E-box elements in the miR-637 promoter and promote cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via miR-637 downregulation. Subsequent screening confirmed that HMGA1 was a direct target of miR-637, while miR-637 could drive the malignant phenotype of glioma by suppressing HMGA1 both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, interaction between cytoplasmic HMGA1 and vimentin was observed, and vimentin inhibition could abolish increased migration and invasion induced by HMGA1 overexpression. Both HMGA1 and vimentin were associated with an unfavorable prognosis in glioma. Additionally, upregulated HMGA1 and vimentin were found in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type and 1p/19q non-codeletion diffusely infiltrating glioma. In conclusion, we identified an oncogenic ZEB2/miR-637/HMGA1 signaling axis targeting vimentin that promotes both migration and invasion in glioma.

HMGA1 promoting gastric cancer oncogenic and glycolytic phenotypes by regulating c-myc expression

The high mobility group A1 (HMGA1) protein, an architectural transcription factor, is profoundly implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple malignant tumors. Reprogrammed energy metabolism is a hallmark of diverse types of cancer cells. However, little is known about the regulatory role of HMGA1 in aerobic glycolysis. In this study, we found that HMGA1 was highly expressed in many types of human cancers including gastric cancer and predicted a poor prognosis. However, high HMGA1 expression was not correlated with TNM stages. Gene set enrichment analysis result suggested a link between HMGA1 expression and glycolytic phenotype in gastric cancer. Genetic silencing of HMGA1 significantly inhibited gastric cancer glycolytic activity as revealed by reduced glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification ratio. In addition, cell proliferation and invasive capacity of gastric cancer cells were also suppressed by HMGA1 knockdown. Mechanistically, the key glycolysis regulator c-Myc was identified as a downstream target of HMGA1. In gastric cancer patients, HMGA1 and c-Myc expression were closely associated with the glycolysis gene signature. Taken together, our findings identify a novel function of HMGA1 in regulating aerobic glycolysis in gastric cancer.

HMGA1 in cancer: Cancer classification by location

The high mobility group A1 (HMGA1) gene plays an important role in numerous malignant cancers. HMGA1 is an oncofoetal gene, and we have a certain understanding of the biological function of HMGA1 based on its activities in various neoplasms. As an architectural transcription factor, HMGA1 remodels the chromatin structure and promotes the interaction between transcriptional regulatory proteins and DNA in different cancers. Through analysis of the molecular mechanism of HMGA1 and clinical studies, emerging evidence indicates that HMGA1 promotes the occurrence and metastasis of cancer. Within a similar location or the same genetic background, the function and role of HMGA1 may have certain similarities. In this paper, to characterize HMGA1 comprehensively, research on various types of tumours is discussed to further understanding of the function and mechanism of HMGA1. The findings provide a more reliable basis for classifying HMGA1 function according to the tumour location. In this review, we summarize recent studies related to HMGA1, including its structure and oncogenic properties, its major functions in each cancer, its upstream and downstream regulation associated with the tumourigenesis and metastasis of cancer, and its potential as a biomarker for clinical diagnosis of cancer.

Profiling of microRNAs modulating cytomegalovirus infection in astrocytoma patients

Astrocytoma is recognized as the most common neoplasm of the brain with aggressive progression. The therapeutic regime for glioblastoma, the most aggressive astrocytoma, often consists of aggressive chemo and radiotherapy. The present holistic approaches, however, have failed to influence the quality life of patients. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms of its progression for updated therapeutic evaluation. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is reported to be associated with glioblastoma progression. The hypothesis still remains controversial due to the lack of concrete evidences. Here, we report the profile of miRNAs encoded by human host and the cytomegalovirus (CMV) involved in modulation of CMV infection in surgically resected human astrocytoma tissue samples of various malignancy grades (n = 24). Total RNA from the control brain and tumor tissues was extracted by TriZol reagent. The expression levels of the mature form of miRNA were detected by real-time PCR. Primarily, we found the upregulation of miR-210-3p, miR-155-5p, miR-UL-112-3p, miR-183-5p, and miR-223-5p in high-grade astrocytic tumors as compared with low-grade tumor tissues. miR-214-3p is significantly expressed in control brain tissues and its expression decreased with astrocytoma grade progression. This miRNA was reported to be associated with antiviral proprieties. Among CMV-encoded miRNA, miR-UL-112-3p was significantly upregulated in glioblastoma tissue samples and may be involved in providing immune escape to the virus as well as involved in modulating the immune microenvironment of glioblastoma. Taken together, we conclude the possible involvement of miRNAs in modulating the CMV dependent astrocytoma progression.

CMV70-3P miRNA contributes to the CMV mediated glioma stemness and represents a target for glioma experimental therapy

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a rapidly progressive brain tumor with a median survival of 15–19 months. Therapeutic resistance and recurrence of the disease is attributed to cancer stem cells (CSC). Here, we report that CMV70-3P miRNA encoded by CMV increases GBM CSC stemness. Inhibition of CMV70-3P expression using oligo inhibitors significantly attenuated the ability of primary glioma cells to proliferate and form neurospheres. At the molecular level, we show that CM70-3P increases expression of cellular SOX2. Collectively, these findings indicate that CMV70-3P is a potential regulator of CMV- mediated glioma progression and cancer stemness.

The Long Non-coding RNA HIF1A-AS2 Facilitates the Maintenance of Mesenchymal Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells in Hypoxic Niches

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have an undefined role in the pathobiology of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). These tumors are genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous with transcriptome subtype-specific GBM stem-like cells (GSCs) that adapt to the brain tumor microenvironment, including hypoxic niches. We identified hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha-antisense RNA 2 (HIF1A-AS2) as a subtype-specific hypoxia-inducible lncRNA, upregulated in mesenchymal GSCs. Its deregulation affects GSC growth, self-renewal, and hypoxia-dependent molecular reprogramming. Among the HIF1A-AS2 interactome, IGF2BP2 and DHX9 were identified as direct partners. This association was needed for maintenance of expression of their target gene, HMGA1. Downregulation of HIF1A-AS2 led to delayed growth of mesenchymal GSC tumors, survival benefits, and impaired expression of HMGA1 in vivo. Our data demonstrate that HIF1A-AS2 contributes to GSCs' speciation and adaptation to hypoxia within the tumor microenvironment, acting directly through its interactome and targets and indirectly by modulating responses to hypoxic stress depending on the subtype-specific genetic context.